Background count refers to a measure of mana in a given area.
Mana is created from emotions and life. Areas with a heavy emotional impact like a concert hall or a sight of a mass murder often have excess mana from the heightened emotions associated with that location. This creates a positive background count in the form of domains, which often makes casting spells more difficult.[1] On the extreme end of excess mana that are mana warps.[2]
On the opposite spectrum areas devoid of life, such as outer space, often have a negative background count as there isn't enough life to create ambient mana. Beginning with mana ebbs, the extreme end of a lack of mana is known as a mana void, where casting spells inflict more drain at lesser effects as there is just not enough mana to create spells.[3] Background count also affects Awakened beings, many of which dislike or are hurt by areas with very high or very low background counts.[4] Background count also affects astral visibility, making perceiving in astral more difficult.[5]
Casting magic in areas with both high and low background count can be often challenging and dangerous, the more so the more the mana level deviates from the standard.[6] Notable exceptions are the areas known as manalines and power sites, where despite the generally high background count, casting magic is often easier than normal.[7] Using mana can also be easier in some specific domains, which can be created artificailly through the use of geomancy.[8]
Background count is usually recorded on an ordinal scale, with 0 considered normal mana level.[9] The background scale has been revised over time. In the 2060s the scale used to divide the locations on a scale of 1 to 10, with the 6-10 areas being described as mana warps.[10] In 2070 the scale[11] was described as a range from -12 to 12, with the neative numbers used for describing areas of mana ebbs and mana voids, and postiive, for domains and mana warps.[12]. In 2075 the scale was described as ranging from -24 to +24.[13]
Below is the background count scale used in the year 2070.[14]
-12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
|____________________| |___________________| | |___________________| |______________________|
Mana void Mana ebb Domain Mana warp
References[]
- ↑ Street Magic p. 118
- ↑ Source:Magic in the Shadows, page 83-84
- ↑ Source:Street Grimoire, page 30
- ↑ Street Magic p. 118
- ↑ Street Magic p. 118
- ↑ Street Magic p. 118
- ↑ Source:Magic in the Shadows, page 84
- ↑ Street Magic p. 118-119
- ↑ Source:Street Grimoire, page 30
- ↑ Source:Magic in the Shadows, page 83-86
- ↑ The scale is was indirectly identified as the Metzger-Typhus scale of power in Parageology 5
- ↑ Shadowrun: Street Magic, p. 122
- ↑ Source:Street Grimoire, page 30-31
- ↑ Shadowrun: Street Magic, p. 119