Hey, there! I've been talking about Essence Points for a bit now and this time I get to show you just what Essence Points can do. You've already seen some of what they can do with my expanded Hero Points options from a while back. To start, I'll give you a rundown of some of the basic traits for the essence power system, which tie into Essence Points, and then go into Essence Points themselves. I'd love to hear what you think about Essence Points and if you have any other fun abilities that you feel Essence Points should be able to do.
Essence Power Basics
Each Essence Tier uses a number of traits and other mechanics which are detailed here. Essence: The building blocks of the multiverse that are broken up into four components: life essence, matter essence, mind essence, and spirit essence. Essence Bonus: A bonus that comes from an essence-related effect. Essence Connection: The connection a creature has to a particular type of essence. A creature can only have one type of essence connection. That is, a creature with a life essence connection cannot also have a matter essence connection, and so on. An essence connection has an value to represent the strength of the connection known as the power value. Essence Penalty: A penalty that comes from an essence-related effect. Life: The life essence is the animating essence found in all things. A connection to life essence usually manifests in the ability to manipulate the instinctive responses of other creatures. Matter: The matter essence is the physical essence that builds all physical things. A connection to matter essence usually manifests in the ability to manipulate physical objects. Mind: The mind essence is the force that gives living things the ability to think. A connection to the mind essence usually manifests in the ability to manipulate the thinking of other creatures. Power Value: A value that represents the strength of a creature’s essence connection. A creature using the essence power rules always has a minimum power value of 1. Spirit: The spirit essence is the metaphysical essence that builds up the metaphysical and immaterial. A connection to the spirit essence usually manifests in the ability to alter souls and the metaphysical nature of the universe.
Essence Points
Essence Points follow rules similar to that of Hero Points, but provide far greater benefits than Hero Points can confer. Just as with Hero Points, the GM is in charge of awarding Essence Points, but GMs are encouraged to be more liberal when awarding Essence Points. Any references to Hero Points are interchangeable with Essence Points. That is, anytime you would use a Hero Point, you use an Essence Point instead.
Each character gets 3 Essence Points at the start of the session, contrasting the single Hero Point that characters without essence power gain. You can have a maximum of 5 Essence Points at a time, and you lose an remaining Essence Points at the end of a session. You can spend your Essence Points in a number of ways. Spending Essence Points is never an action and you can spend Essence Points even if you aren’t able to act. You can spend an Essence Point of behalf of a familiar or animal companion. Some abilities require spending multiple Essence Points at once to use.
Some of the following uses allow you to cast a spell, which is known as an essence spell. If you cast an essence spell, you must still spend the required actions to Cast the Spell as normal. If you use cast an essence spell outside of your turn, you become stunned with a value equal to the number of actions required to cast the spell. You can’t cast a spell that requires more than three actions to cast as an essence spells. You are always trained in spell attack rolls and spell DCs for essence spells you cast in this way, even if you aren’t otherwise trained in spell attack rolls or spell DCs. If your proficiency in spell attack rolls or spell DCs is expert or better, apply that proficiency to essence spells, too. You use your Charisma modifier as your spellcasting ability modifier for essence spells unless otherwise specified.
Cast a Cantrip (1 Essence Point): You cast a cantrip from a spell list of your choice. The cantrip is automatically heightened to half your level rounded up. Cast a Lesser Spell (2 Essence Points or more): You cast a spell from a spell list of your choice that has a level no higher than half your level -2 (minimum 1st level spell). Cast a Major Spell (3 Essence Points or more): You cast a spell from a spell list of your choice that has a level no higher than half your level +1 (minimum 2nd level spell). Challenge Fate (1 Essence Point): You force a creature you can see to reroll a check and take an essence penalty to the roll equal to your power value. The creature use the second result. This is a misfortune effect (which means you can’t use more than 1 Essence Point to force a creature to reroll). Extra Actions (2 Essence Points): You become quickened until the end of your turn. You can use the extra action to Stride, Strike, Step, Climb, Swim, Leap, or to provide one of the actions needed for a High Jump or Long Jump. Fast Healing (1 Essence Point): You gain fast healing value equal to your level times your power value (minimum 1) for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1 round). Focus Power (2 Essence Points): You can cast a single Focus Spell without needing to spend a Focus Point. Heroic Recovery (1 Essence Point or more): You use the heroic recovery ability as detailed in the core rules. If you spend all of your Essence Points (minimum 2) to make a heroic recovery, you are also restored to 1 Hit Point, conscious, and gain fast healing equal to your level times the number of Essence Points you spent in this way for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1 round). Second Chance (1 Essence Point): You reroll a check and gain an essence bonus to the roll equal to your power value. You must use the second result. This is a fortune effect (which means you can’t use more than 1 Essence Point on a check). Refill Reaction (1 Essence Point): You regain your reaction for the turn, as if it were the start of your turn. Temporary Hit Points (1 Essence Point): You gain a number of temporary Hit Points equal to your level times your power value. You lose any remaining temporary Hit Points after 1 minute.