Harness Ability skill
The Harness Ability skill represents a magician's skill at tapping into the mana streams of Elanthia.
About Harness
Streams of raw mana flow all over Elanthia in various forms, and this mana can be tapped into by a mage and used to fuel his spells. In fact, most magic must be fueled by mana, or it simply won't work.
Your Harness skill represents your ability at manipulating this raw mana, which can often involve some tricky maneuvering by the harnessing mage. Harnessing is just that; the mage taps into these flowing lines of mana and attempts to use their power for his own means. Obviously, you can not actually remove the mana from the streams, or surely Elanthia would be barren of mana by now -- all you can really do is try to keep a regular flow of it channeling through your system for as long as your skill allows.
As such, your HARNESS (or MANA) represents your current connection to these mana streams. Harnessing mana is a demanding and strenuous process, and requires that the mage attune himself to the mana he has been trained to use. Casting too many spells or harnessing too much mana weakens this attunement, making it harder and harder for the mage to channel more mana without pausing to let his attunement restore itself.
It may be easier to think of this as your 'current mana sensitivity,' though that is not an entirely accurate way of looking at this process. It would be more accurate to think of Harness as your current ability to plug yourself into those flowing streams of mana.
Wait -- If mana can't be held, then what's going on in group harnessing?
When others in the caster's group harness mana, it does help the caster but does not actually contribute that mana to the spell. The group's mana helps by reducing the natural resistance mana has to being harnessed -- a single mage harnessing mana will have a more difficult time than if his comrades are 'softening' the surrounding streams with their own efforts.
Upon casting, that helpful group energy dissipates, making the caster's own use of mana as efficient as if he'd harnessed more than he really did. However, since mana types are not truly compatible, this is also why like-mana is more efficient than mismatched mana in group harnessing efforts.
It is assumed that HARNESS SHARE OFF/ON simulates 'proximity' to the casting mage -- someone standing away from him would not be contributing to the effort of reducing natural mana resistance nor helping efficiency.
Harness Ability is the primary sphere of influence for Clerical magic.
Harness Verbose
This is a toggle that, with enough skill in Power Perceive, allows you to see how the much of your currently available mana will be effected by whatever spell you prepare.
- USAGE - HARNESS VERB ON
- NOTE HARNESS QUIET will toggle this back off.
The Use of Harness Verbose
You allow yourself to be more aware of your mana use and sensitivity.
[...If your Power Perception skill is high enough.]
- That will disrupt less than a quarter of your current attunement.
- You're pretty sure that will disrupt less than half your current attunement.
- You feel as if that will disrupt about half your current attunement.
- You're pretty sure that will disrupt a large part of your current attunement.
- That will disrupt most of your current attunement.
Attunement
Attunement is your total mana pool and functions like magical fatigue. The formula is:
Attunement = 100 + Harness Ability/10
For more information see the attunment regen table.
Harness Warn
This is a toggle that displays an ASCII graph when you use the command MANA. It displays your mana in relation to how much is available and how much is not.
- Example
- You have a significantly intact attunement to the mana flowing through this area.
- You are currently harnessing a moderate amount of mana into a localized line around you.
- Attunement: [0%>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>50%>>>>>>>>>>>>>|_________100%]
- NOTE HARNESS QUIET will toggle this back off.
Harnessed Mana Levels
| Messaging | Num. of Streams |
|---|---|
| tiny amount of mana | 1 |
| little amount of mana | 2 |
| small amount of mana | 3 |
| meager amount of mana | 4 |
| minor amount of mana | 5 |
| modest amount of mana | 6 |
| average amount of mana | 7- 8 |
| moderate amount of mana | 9-10 |
| good amount of mana | 11-12 |
| substantial amount of mana | 13-14 |
| significant amount of mana | 15-16 |
| generous amount of mana | 17-20 |
| appreciable amount of mana | 21-25 |
| large amount of mana | 26-31 |
| huge amount of mana | 32-35 |
| great amount of mana | 36-40 |
| massive amount of mana | 41-50 |
| vast amount of mana | 46-55 |
| impressive amount of mana | 56-65 |
| extreme amount of mana | 66-75 |
| immense amount of mana | 76-90 |
| tremendous amount of mana | 91-120 |
| unbelievable amount of mana | 121-200 |
| insane amount of mana | 201-285 |
| godlike amount of mana | 286-??? |
Training
In general, the Harness skill is best learned by casting spells with large amounts of mana and a full preparation.
- Repeated spell casting with small amounts harnessed will provide a moderate effect.
- Raw harnessing and charging cambrinth provides a modest experience.