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I wasn't sure if I should post this here or in the lore section, so mods please move it if that is more appropriate.

I got to thinking: how does one know when their magicka is full? In the game, we have little bars thanks to the HUD that tells us. But lets say that in the world of Skyrim, there is no HUD. I read an interesting book and the main character had a hand that turned red depending on how much magicka she had. I haven't read anything in the lore of the Elder Scrolls suggesting how a mage would know how much magicka they still had left to use. I suppose they would continue casting until they were out, but then that could prove deadly.

Anyone have suggestions or a link to such information? Just curious here.

I guess you would "feel" the level of Magika the same way we would feel,for example,hunger/fullness .Lack of magika would make you feel "empty","hungry" etc while a full rezervoir of Magika would make you feel like you just stepped out of McDonald's.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that you would have a inner body meter for such a thing that would let you know the level of Magika that you have at your disposal (through physical signals).

I agree. You could probably feel the power coursing through your veins.

most likely "feel" but I'd say more of "tired" then hungrry

Thanks for the responses guys. That makes a lot of sense. I was just a wee bit curious.

I'd imagine it as a feeling of "clarity". Much like you could tell your level of stamina by whether you felt energetic or tired, you could tell your level of magicka by whether your mental focus is sharp or fuzzy.

I'm going to put this into TES General since I think it is a good question that covers the whole series.

And an excellent question, too. I wanted to cite a book, but I realize...I'm not sure if any in game books have ever discussed this, which is rather curious. I imagine it's really much like what the others have mentioned above, but now I'm going to keep an eye out for any subtle references in the games!

I think "Magicka" is really just the level of mental strength anyone (Elder Scrolls or real-world) has. If you define health as how tired you feel and stamina as how physically exhausted, then magicka is your mental exhaustion. It's just a matter of focusing your mental strength into magic, which is something most people in real life can't do.

Gideon I really like your analogy. Thank you.

I also am wondering how fast magicka regenerates for people in lore, in D&D it was basically you could cast X amount of spells per day. And they all needed reagents (or atleast drow do im talking about the books btw) so magic was really something that you needed to prepare for just like a warrior keeping his sword with him.

I dont know about mental strength. That would be like saying if you didn't use magicka, you are dumb.

Considering how many senses the body has, anywhere from the five primary senses to the sub-senses that would tell how the environment is doing without any actual deduction required. I imagine that you would feel the magicka left as if you would direction or presence. (sub-senses)

DikaSmausha wrote:I dont know about mental strength. That would be like saying if you didn't use magicka, you are dumb.

And this would be the opposite of a thief, who's form is cleverness and trickery, so it doesn't make sense why an assassin would not be smart when he needs to think about every possible action.

But then again, he said how much one focuses their mental ability, kind of like spiritual meditation, or reasoning?

Its like Stamina , but for your Brain !

i think that when one runs out of Magicka , they feel like they are woozy and out of focus . similar to how when one gets Physically tired , they feel exhausted and their brain doesnt work right

I had a thgout, is there ANY lore reasson for there to be "run out of magic" we know dragon shouts can be used as much and as fast as they want, and the cool down is just for game play.

In other words, have we ran in ot anyone else who "runs out of magic"?

Wolfie wrote:I had a thgout, is there ANY lore reasson for there to be "run out of magic" we know dragon shouts can be used as much and as fast as they want, and the cool down is just for game play.

In other words, have we ran in ot anyone else who "runs out of magic"?

I have made other mages run out of magicka using Shock spells
so , in a way , yes

also , there is a book in which one of the mages refrences how his enemy ''Drained his magicka reserves too quickly'' , and i believe ''a Hypothetical treachery'' refrences running out of Magicka .

The first things that came into my head were the Artemis Fowl books which I enjoyed a few years back. Not the best source of Lore but I did enjoy the description of magic being another form of energy and thus subject to energy conservation laws. It was also IIRC extremely quantifiable with each user having a very distinct inner meter which had to be refilled every so often. When a character was down on magic they felt tired and worn out but after regenerating they were buzzing and felt alive.

Now in Skyrim if magic were a form of energy then it would play on the characters physical condition when drained. When we exercise we change chemical energy in our body to kinetic so you could consider magic usage to be a conversion from chemical to magic. Draining it would make a character hungry? Tired out?
Magicka doesn't affect stamina though..... damn.

I think mentally fuzzy is the best guess. A sore head doesn't affect your ability to sprint if you really need to after all.
One question. Could one keep casting for longer than their "magicka bar" allows at the risk of damaging themselves?

Jakarius321 wrote:I think mentally fuzzy is the best guess. A sore head doesn't affect your ability to sprint if you really need to after all.
One question. Could one keep casting for longer than their "magicka bar" allows at the risk of damaging themselves?

I think if they did try to keep casting , they would probably Collapse or Faint ... or have some sort of blood clot and die

Perhaps its more of an intuitive thing. Playing without the HUD the only way to check your bar is to go into your inventory. I figured that with my mage and her enormous pool of magicka, about 5-6 fireball spells could be cast before she was even near the halfway mark. After I figured it out, I could kind of sense when she would need to take a potion or, worst case scenario, hit the Highborn. I play with the HUD slightly turned on now because I like it better that way.

But I like all these ideas here. Its good to know I'm not the only one who thinks about these things. Ha.

Hahaha don't worry, everyone thinks about this stuff all the time ;>

I'll have to go with Gideon's headcanon, because it matches up with mine and makes the most sense imho :V I mean, mages tend to be the scholarly type, and Urag did mention something along the lines of "a mage is only as good as what he knows," which gets me to thinking that a lot of mental energy is put into being a better mage :V I mean, you have learn new spells by reading new spell tomes, regardless of your skill level.

If you talk with Tolfdir about wards, he mentions that, because wards need to be charged up and take a chunk out of your magicka reserves, they require a keen sense of concentration. Master level spells also take up some time to charge-- which leads me to thinking it's more of mental exhaustion more than anything.

Theificka wrote:

DikaSmausha wrote:I dont know about mental strength. That would be like saying if you didn't use magicka, you are dumb.

And this would be the opposite of a thief, who's form is cleverness and trickery, so it doesn't make sense why an assassin would not be smart when he needs to think about every possible action.

But then again, he said how much one focuses their mental ability, kind of like spiritual meditation, or reasoning?

I think it's a different form of "smarts". A thief character would obviously think about things a mage wouldn't ;> A thief would know what good vantage points are available to him, who goes where at what time, and being able to think lightly on their feet when things go sideways. A mage on the other hand, would require concentration and remembering things they have learned over the years.

A thief is smart, because they know how to think fast and slink their way out of trouble. A mage is smart, because they can concentrate on more difficult tasks or have impeccable memory/logical-thinking skills :> You can't ask either to do the other's job ;> A thief would have a terrible time trying to stay focused on learning a new spell, I think XD

Also this "Knowledge" would also involve the "feel" that each spell has and how you focus that strength the only problem with this whole focus=magicka is that how do you absorb focus?

Magicka is the mortals way of feeling Magnus. As such I believe it is a true energy, that we feel. A burst of divine power that can alter the world, just as Magnus himself could and planned. Why is magicka so great, because it is the power of a god that could shatter and rip the veil of Oblivion. It is the essence of power, just as the Thu'um is the essence of the soul.

Br3admax wrote:Magicka is the mortals way of feeling Magnus. As such I believe it is a true energy, that we feel. A burst of divine power that can alter the world, just as Magnus himself could and planned. Why is magicka so great, because it is the power of a god that could shatter and rip the veil of Oblivion. It is the essence of power, just as the Thu'um is the essence of the soul.

This is how i feel as well.

Hissien wrote:

Br3admax wrote:Magicka is the mortals way of feeling Magnus. As such I believe it is a true energy, that we feel. A burst of divine power that can alter the world, just as Magnus himself could and planned. Why is magicka so great, because it is the power of a god that could shatter and rip the veil of Oblivion. It is the essence of power, just as the Thu'um is the essence of the soul.

This is how i feel as well.

Yes this is why we can not Without a continuous flow of power from Magnus through the Sun(Magnus), I believe magicka would stop. And many, all probably, mortals have magicka. The mortals may change, or worst be harvested for power.

It like putting a lense over the sun, blocking out the harmful magic that hurts vampires but allowing the life giving magic to continue forth.