Botania
Botania (botania, v1.20.1-451-FABRIC, by Vazkii and a large community team — wiiv, williewillus, dylan4ever, Hubry, Alwinfy, artemisSystem, Falkory220) bills itself in its own fabric.mod.json as “a tech mod themed around natural magic” — an accurate description. There’s no traditional spellcasting here; instead you plant Generating Flora that convert nearby resources (sunlight, lava, redstone, mob kills, etc.) into Mana, pipe that mana through Spreaders and Pools, and spend it on Functional Flora that automate farming, mob-killing, item transport, and terraforming. The mod ships its own in-game guidebook, the Lexicon Botania (a Patchouli book with 11 categories — Basics, Mana, Generating Flora, Functional Flowers, Baubles, Tools, Ender, Alfhomancy, Devices, Misc, Challenges), and it has its own dedicated Quest Book chapter in this pack (config/ftbquests/quests/chapters/botania.snbt, ~2350 lines) walking players through Seedling’s First Steps, mana batteries, Manasteel/Manaweave gear, terraforming tools, and the endgame “Gaia Ritual”-adjacent content.
The Alfhomancy progression track is Botania’s most distinctive system: it frames the endgame as building a portal to Alfheim, the elves’ realm, requiring 8 Livingwood, 3 Glimmering blocks, and other rare components to craft an Elven Gateway Core. Trinkets (also called Baubles/Curios in-mod) are wearable magic accessories equipped via a dedicated Curios screen. Server-side, botania-common.json5 keeps most systems at their defaults but explicitly disables the Mana Enchanter (“since some people find it OP”) while leaving the Relic system enabled, and tunes Mana Spreader trace-time and Mana Lens harvest levels for balance.
In this pack Botania also functions as a bridge into the tech side of the game: the Applied Botanics mod (present in mods/) connects Botania’s mana economy with Applied Energistics 2’s ME network, letting a mana-and-flower base feed into (or draw from) an AE2 autocrafting setup. Botania depends on patchouli and trinkets per its mod metadata, both also present in the pack.
Anticipated questions
How do I actually start Botania and make mana? Craft a Lexica Botanica first — it’s the in-game guidebook and unlocks the quest track. Then plant Generating Flora, place a Mana Pool to store the mana, and a Mana Spreader (aimed with the Wand of the Forest) to pipe it where you need it. There’s no spellcasting; you spend mana on Functional Flora and gear. See Magic & Spells Mods.
Can I use the Mana Enchanter? No. It’s disabled server-side in this pack (the config flags it as too strong). The Relic system is left enabled, so relic drops still work.
Can Botania feed my automation / AE2 base? Yes — the Applied Botanics mod bridges Botania’s mana economy to Applied Energistics 2’s ME network, so a flower-and-mana farm can drive (or draw from) AE2 autocrafting.
How do I get Manasteel and Terrasteel? Manasteel comes from mana-infusing items in a Mana Pool; Terrasteel is far more expensive, made on a special agglomeration plate that infuses three mana-dipped objects and burns through half a Mana Pool’s capacity per craft. Terrasteel gear (including the rank-up Terra Shatterer) is stronger than the Manasteel set and the Terrasteel armor passively charges Mana Tablets in your inventory.
Is there a quest chapter for it? Yes — Botania has its own Quest Book chapter walking you from Seedling’s First Steps through mana batteries, Manasteel/Manaweave gear, terraforming tools, and the Alfhomancy endgame (building an Elven Gateway to Alfheim).