Essence

Essence is a Essential Aspect of a character; It is a life-force representation used to make Bonds and Attunements, Pacts, and fuel Augmentations and powers through Mystic Offerings of sacrifice and Ritual. It is reflected in a character’s Aura.

Essence Pool

Most living things have a natural Essence Pool based on their Order of Being that binds them firmly to a continuum, while others are more connected to the Aether or even tied to the Void or the The World Beyond. A setting, locale, and/or race can limit how a character may spend Essence at the time of Character Inception and beyond. Some have specific uses of their initial Essence dictated or adjusted.

Starting: (based on Order of Being of your species/race; typically 5) + Weave Factor (factors in Sanity and Charisma) @ Character Inception

  • Pool: Current maximum total, “Free” and unaccounted for Essence.
  • Pledged: This is Essence that has been set aside for Features, Empowered Bonds & Attunements. Aptitude can offset the cost of Pledged Essence for Empowered Items using Natural Affinity. All items requiring Attunement take 1 Essence to bond with. Pledged Essence returns to the Essence Pool when the pledge is dissolved, permanent pledges are spent forever.

Adjusting: Permanent Sanity and Charisma changes recalculate the Weave Factor and trigger a moment of Actuated Awareness. It can be sacrificed for many gains, including those of Pacts, signs/portents, as well as deep Bonds and Attunements. Additionally, there are dark arts and strange ways of transferring it between beings. Certain events may trigger a spontaneous change:

  • Visited more than 2 Planes of Existence: +1 (“Pocket” planes do not count)

Essence Perspectives > Design Guide/Ref | Player's Guide/Ref

i20™ Essence Details

Starting Essence

Weave Factor = Half of Sanity OR Charisma (round down/whichever is highest) + Proficiency Bonus
BASELINE Example: Sanity 11 | Charisma 15 = 5 + (15/2=7) + 2 = 14

iCore™ Essence Details

Starting Essence

Weave Factor: Sanity * Charisma
BASELINE Example: Sanity 4 | Charisma 4 = 5 + (4*4=16) = 21 @ Character Inception

Other Aspects of Essence

  • ZERO Essence:
  • Every time an entity pledges Essence, it creates more Elan attached to the target, even if the bond is later severed.
  • Used: An amount of Essence from the Free amount used to activate or trigger an effect. This returns at the rate of 1/Short Rest cycle.
  • Allocated: To be assigned from future gains to the Pool; Note amounts and uses.
  • spent: It is not necessary to track permanent decreases – this is player choice.
    Example: Permanent sacrifice of 1 Essence can be used to gain 3 Character Weaves.


Essence Materials