What is the mana circle that is used to gauge a level of a magician?

NotaNuffian

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Mana circle... not referring to those drawn on the ground and the SFX effect as the mages cast their spells. I am referring to something like the 8th circle magician (there are two manhwas with the similar name...) and in KR, they often just use how many mana circles in the heart as the gauge of a person's level. 8th circle is always the peak of humans and they are called Archmages, the 10th level is for gods (even though D&D has a 12th level spell... wtf) and anymore higher is unfathomable.

So what exactly is a mana circle in heart/ body? I understand it is a gauge to a mage's mana cap and competency level but there is no template. Unlike the standard cultivation (variants ignored) where it is just suck air to Mpreg, the method to gauge mage is to just see what is their highest level of spell casted (Mushoku style) or how long their white beards are. Having an actual numerical scale is nice only when it makes sense, but for magic users, I can make no sense of what they do.
 

K5Rakitan

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Unless you are writing a fanfic, you can always just come up with your own name for it.
 

NotaNuffian

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Honestly I never understand what any of your posts are about.
You know. Thanks to my fucked up word sentences, sometimes I myself would not understand what I am talking about as well.

Not now though, TLDR: Mana circles that inscribed/ etched into the mage's heart, what exactly are they?

My short answer for them is that just like in xianxia and wuxia, they are just a simple ranking system (that I hate due to their vague and simplistic background) .
it isn't just because i've been awake for too long i can't uderstand this?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

Zirrboy

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Honestly I never understand what any of your posts are about.
Remember him recently saying that talking to yourself was weird and unhealthy? That's his workaround.

Mana circle... not referring to those drawn on the ground and the SFX effect as the mages cast their spells. I am referring to something like the 8th circle magician (there are two manhwas with the similar name...) and in KR, they often just use how many mana circles in the heart as the gauge of a person's level. 8th circle is always the peak of humans and they are called Archmages, the 10th level is for gods (even though D&D has a 12th level spell... wtf) and anymore higher is unfathomable.

So what exactly is a mana circle in heart/ body? I understand it is a gauge to a mage's mana cap and competency level but there is no template. Unlike the standard cultivation (variants ignored) where it is just suck air to Mpreg, the method to gauge mage is to just see what is their highest level of spell casted (Mushoku style) or how long their white beards are. Having an actual numerical scale is nice only when it makes sense, but for magic users, I can make no sense of what they do.
You can fill it with whatever you want, or need. I don't see the point of actively seeking established interpretations unless you have absolutely no idea what to do.

A basic concept could be that each circle has a certain function in casting that is required for spells of the corresponding tier.
Those then rely on previous ones, enforcing the order of acquisition, maybe absolutely, maybe in the approach the majority uses.
 

NotaNuffian

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Remember him recently saying that talking to yourself was weird and unhealthy? That's his workaround.
LOL I have got to be careful on what I post on the net then.
You can fill it with whatever you want, or need. I don't see the point of actively seeking established interpretations unless you have absolutely no idea what to do.

A basic concept could be that each circle has a certain function in casting that is required for spells of the corresponding tier.
Those then rely on previous ones, enforcing the order of acquisition, maybe absolutely, maybe in the approach the majority uses.
Well, my plan was to have something like how wizards in D&D does, a signature spell that can be casted without using their spell slots. So for a first circle mage, they can have a first tier spell like fireball etched inside them and instacast as long as they have the capability to wield mana.

When they reach second circle, they have the choice of either picking two first tier spells or one second tier spell. Third circle and it is either three first tiers, one second and one first tiers or one three tier spell.

OR I can just go ham and let the mages who reached second tier to hold one first tier and one second tier spells... OP IMBA at later stage.
 

Daitengu

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IIRC in D&D the magic circles are based on the body's magic capacity as well as intelligence to hold a spell. The higher tiers cost more mana as well as having increasing complexity.

Note: this depends entirely on the edition. The D&D I played didn't have permanent spells. The wizard had to memorize the spells he wanted from his grimoire. When cast, the spell burns itself out of the wizard's mind, so they have to reread their grimoire after a long rest to get it back.
 

NotaNuffian

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EDIT:

I think I have to rewrite the question a bit.

What is the mana circle to you?

For context, a mana circle is a type of measurement of the highest level a mage can cast? It is like annual rings, more rings a tree has, the older it is. The more circles a mage has, the more powerful he is

My understanding of this is that each circle represents mana circulation inside the mage's body, more circles equals to more mana pathways.

So what's your general idea of it?
 

Mephi

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This is nothing more than a game mechanic from D&D that made it into general fantasy.

An 8th circle mage is just one that can cast level 8 magic. The higher the level of magic, the more powerful it is, and the more difficult it is to learn/cast. Circle is just another word for level or tier.

There's no mana circle in the heart or body. As this is based on D&D, the magic depends on your intelligence and how complex of magic you can memorize. Different authors can do different things, but this is the original. There weren't even mana levels at first- it's all about storing the spell pattern in your mind- though many authors change that, it's going to be author dependent.

Seriously, this is all just based on wizards using D&D magic. There's not much to reinterpret.

If you want to engrave spell sigils on your body, that's doable, but it's just tattooing a spell book on your body.
 
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EDIT:

I think I have to rewrite the question a bit.

What is the mana circle to you?

For context, a mana circle is a type of measurement of the highest level a mage can cast? It is like annual rings, more rings a tree has, the older it is. The more circles a mage has, the more powerful he is

My understanding of this is that each circle represents mana circulation inside the mage's body, more circles equals to more mana pathways.

So what's your general idea of it?
more circles means more mana capacity and regenration

LOL I have got to be careful on what I post on the net then.

Well, my plan was to have something like how wizards in D&D does, a signature spell that can be casted without using their spell slots. So for a first circle mage, they can have a first tier spell like fireball etched inside them and instacast as long as they have the capability to wield mana.

When they reach second circle, they have the choice of either picking two first tier spells or one second tier spell. Third circle and it is either three first tiers, one second and one first tiers or one three tier spell.

OR I can just go ham and let the mages who reached second tier to hold one first tier and one second tier spells... OP IMBA at later stage.
could also have 2nd ring hold 2 1st tier spells of the same kind, resulting in a much stronger 1st tier spell
 

NotaNuffian

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You know, a part of me was asking if there is any lore/ history of using mana circles as a measurement.

I understand that the trend probably started in games like JRPGs or mobile games (the bronze, silver, gold and legend tier etc) , but I wanted to know if there is any deeper meaning in using circles as an indication.

In Supreme Magus, the core color system is ok for me by saying things like following the wave spectrum of visible light with red being low frequency wave and violet being high, therefore the amount of mana within the core is properly indicated by the color it gives out.

In xianxia term, you need to suck in true air to start rebuild your body from the foundation up, then you need to create an embryo for yourself in the form of a gold ball that will grow into a nascent soul.

I am looking for that; a deeper meaning to circles.

Or am I running in circles to a whole lot of nothing, like the stupid tiering in Honor of Kings?
 

Asdark

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did you know according to the yoga practice in India there are defined eight chakras or level in human body associated with certain aspects of our existence
 

NotaNuffian

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did you know according to the yoga practice in India there are defined eight chakras or level in human body associated with certain aspects of our existence
Yes.
 

Mephi

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I understand that the trend probably started in games like JRPGs or mobile games (the bronze, silver, gold and legend tier etc) , but I wanted to know if there is any deeper meaning in using circles as an indication.
As I said before, its not a trend that started with jrpgs, its a trend that started with Dungeons and Dragons, back half a century ago, which in turn was based on the works of Jack Vance's Dying Earth novels. JRPGs actually are actually heavily based on translated copies of D&D, especially Final Fantasy.

"Circle Magic" is based on memorizing magical formula that function as a kind of fantasy-science using arcane mathematics. The higher circles are just more complex formula you memorized. A low tier of magic would be the equivalent of memorizing a²+b²=c², while a mid level would be a²+b²-cos(a*b)=c², including memorizing what the cosign values are, and a high circle magic would be performing multi-dimensional matrix multiplication.

Or, if you'd rather, think of it as college level courses. First circle magic is Math 1001, second circle is Math 2001, etc. while Math 1005 would be, say, first circle summoning magic and Math 1004 would be first circle necromancy.
In xianxia term, you need to suck in true air to start rebuild your body from the foundation up, then you need to create an embryo for yourself in the form of a gold ball that will grow into a nascent soul.

I am looking for that; a deeper meaning to circles.
The key thing to remember here is that its all mental / academic. Xianxia is all about internal alchemy to turn your body and soul into a pill of immortality - yes, that gold ball is supposed to be a medical pill, which, yes, can be extracted to use as actual medicine. Wizardry and its spell circles is about using the scientific study of magic to directly shape and control the world. Wizardry is more based on external alchemy and the physical sciences, so there's really not much tied to anything within the body.
 

NotaNuffian

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"Circle Magic" is based on memorizing magical formula that function as a kind of fantasy-science using arcane mathematics. The higher circles are just more complex formula you memorized. A low tier of magic would be the equivalent of memorizing a²+b²=c², while a mid level would be a²+b²-cos(a*b)=c², including memorizing what the cosign values are, and a high circle magic would be performing multi-dimensional matrix multiplication.

Or, if you'd rather, think of it as college level courses. First circle magic is Math 1001, second circle is Math 2001, etc. while Math 1005 would be, say, first circle summoning magic and Math 1004 would be first circle necromancy.
Which begged the question of how much did KR butchered the poor boy. From memorizing spell circles and formulas to turning it into something that a wizard can carve into their hearts and unlock the power of mana like wuxia people unlocking their merdians.

The reason why I am fascinated by this butchered form is that it follows the a loose taoism thought of human and universe as one. The human blood circulation represents the river flow, muscles as land and bones as ridges. It is this kind of vague kind of philosophical shit that makes me interested in the mechanism.

It is basically xianxia with wizard skin.

Ps. Apologies as I understand you are trying to teach me but I keep on pulling the topic to hyperspecific events that had been pulled from asses of KR authors.
 
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