Third Contact - Adventure

8/12/2019 Third Contact - Adventure

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Visions of Essence, LLC All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for thepurposes of reviews. Visions of Essence and Eoris are licensed trademarksof Visions of Essence LLC. All rights reserved. All characters, namesplaces, text herein are licensed copyrights by Visions of Essence LLC.Te mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages isnot a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

Tis book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. Allsupernatural elements are ction and intended for entertainment pur-poses only. Reader discretion is advised.

Visit www.visionsofessence.com and www.eorisessence.com for moreinformation and other products.


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Introduction Te Connection Between Te wo Te Essence System General Description Character Sheet raits & Character Attributes Psychological raits Skills Energy Points Life Rules Dice Checks / Dice Rolls

Difficulty Number Success Treshold & Successes Essence Die Action Checks Aura Character Psychology Luck Saeia

Combat: Physical and Social Battleground Physical Damage Social Interaction Adventure Te Connection Between Te woProtagonistsContext Te Mission: Destroy Te IdChapter 1: Te Finding Chapter 2: Te Palace of Shaballa

Chapter 3. Te Awakened Palace Chapter 4: Finality Chapter 5: Dark Dawn Important Places

Using Te Maps Equipment Antagonists

Characters Character Sheets Te End


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Gods pain is our pain and it is most terrible for us. We feel it like no other creature because we are Sil.


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Introduction Welcome to the Tird Contact of the role-playing game Eo-ris Essence. In order to enter this universe, you should be willingto incarnate an inhabitant of this world. By doing so, you will as-sume their personality, determine their reactions, and declare theiractions in accordance with a series of events that are described bya single individual called the Narrator. Everything that happens inthe universe of Eoris lies in your imagination. o aid you in thistask, Visions of Essence created a set of game rules called the Es-sence System. Te Second Contact provided a small insight into theuniverse of Eoris; the Tird Contact will give you a better notion ofEoris and what this new world can do for you.

The following is needed to play this Adventure:

- Print-outs of the Character Sheets (one for each player) *- Eight twenty-sided dice (8d20) or use the Alea Dice Roller **- Pencils and paper- A print-out of the maps (optional)- We recommend that the Narrator read the Second Contact tohave a better idea of what the world of Eoris is like.

* Specic Characters have been provided for this demo.However, with the Essence System you are able to create your ownCharacters by choosing from many species provided or by creatingyour own species.

** You can nd the Alea Dice Roller at www.eorisessence.com under the System section.

Te Adventure that follows is to be played with a group ofve Players: one is the Narrator and the other four take the part ofCharacters in the story. Te Narrators job is to read the Adventure,to share (and explain) the rules with the other Players, to makesure that the rules are applied/followed correctly, and to narratethe events as the story evolves depending on the Characters deci-sions and actions. Te other four Players will choose from amongst


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the Characters provided and play as the Characters themselves; thismeans making decisions as the story evolves given each Charac-ters history, personality, background, and purpose in life. Beforethe group begins playing, the Narrator should read this booklet tounderstand the events that are described, the stories of the protago-nists, and the maps that are provided. We encourage each Playerto make this Adventure their own, to be inspired by the tools weprovide, and to explore new dynamics within the storyline. Playersshould remember that the pillar of role-playing is to embrace anidea and make it their own; in this case, make Eoris and the EssenceSystem your own.

- The Essence System - Tis is a brief explanation of the fundamental rules of theEssence System: what is a Character Sheet, how to use the dice,and how to play with the Characters. Te Essence System is verycomplete and intuitive. It takes in to account a great deal of factorsand provides a vast amount of information for different game-playstyles and circumstances. Te following is only a mere taste of itsbasic principles.

The Character Sheet Players will take the role of a group of Characters that in-habit a planet named Eoris. Te Characters and their stories havebeen provided. Tere are two parts for every Character: their his-tory and their Character Sheet. Te Character Sheet provided is asummarized compilation of data that describes the things/actions a

Character can do and how well they can do them. Te points as-signed to each Attribute or Skill represents the ability level for each.Te more points, the better because this determines how manydice a Player may roll to determine if their Character is successfulat performing an action (see Dice Rolls for an explanation). TeCharacter Sheets that are provided were specically designed forthis Adventure demo and have been adjusted to t correctly withthe simplied set of rules of the Essence System that will be used.(For the complete Character Sheet of the Essence System you cango to the Players section at www.eorisessence.com.)

In the Character Sheet you will find:

1. Te Characters Physical, Mental, and Social Attributes (wheelon the left)2. Te Characters Psychological raits (list on the right)3. Te Appearance Grid (the grid on the left hand side)4. Te Emotional Status Grid (the grid on the right hand side)5. Te Aura Attribute (circle of dots in the centre)6. Te Characters Energy Points (small circle of dots below the

Aura Attribute)


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7. Te Characters illustration (on the right hand side)8. Te Characters Powers (on the right hand side below the illustra-tion)9. Te Characters Movement Skills (below the two grids)10. Te Characters Skills (below the Movement Skills)11. Te Characters Main Attack Forms (on the right hand side be-low the powers and/or spells)12. Te Characters Life Data (in the centre below the Skills) Traits Characters have a series of raits that describe their overallabilities and characteristics. Some are related to what a Characterinherently is, some to what they have learned, and others to theirpersonality and psychological prole. Each rait has different lev-els, which determine a Characters ability, control, or power in that

specic rait. Tese levels are represented by points or numbers, which are called Score in the Essence System.

Character Attributes A Characters Attributes describe their inherent raits. Tereare eleven (11) different Attributes: Constitution, Strength, Dexter-ity, Reexes, Senses, Presence, Charisma, Mind, Spirit, Willpower,and Aura. Since Aura is a special Attribute, it occupies a specialplace in the Character Sheet. Te number of points or Score as-signed measures a Characters level in an Attribute; the more pointsthe better the Character is at that Attribute. For all Characters, thedot in the centre of the Attribute wheel is always lled in because all

Attributes have a minimum level of one.

Character Psychological Traits A Characters Psychological raits determine their person-ality and Psychological Prole. Tere are seventeen (17) Psychologi-cal Impulses that describe a Characters tendency towards differentkinds of emotions. In other words, they determine how a Character

may act (or react) under different circumstances. Tese Impulses,however, only arise under extreme circumstances. Tink about howyou would react if you were angered by someone or something. Areyou always in control of yourself? For the most part, yes, but thereare times when your deepest Impulses arise and you lose control.

Although a Character will act (or react) in a certain way underunique circumstances given their natural Impulses, a Charactercan sometimes control themselves from succumbing to an Impulse.

When this happens, however, they will suffer Stress because a greateffort must be made to control a natural Impulse. Stress may ac-cumulate to a point where a Character is simply unable to controltheir Impulses no matter how mentally strong they are.

Stress

All Characters have a Stress Number that represents a Char-acters tolerance to Stress. Every time a Character acts contrary totheir Psychological Impulses they will accumulate one (1) StressPoint. When the limit is reached, the Character will be unable toact contrary to their Impulses for a period of time (this time mustbe determined by the Narrator according to the circumstances). TeStress Limit is marked by a black line in the Stress section in eachCharacter Sheet.


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Character Skills Skills describe things a Character has learned through prac-tise, instinct, study, etc. Tere are many Skills; some of them arebroken down into sub-categories. Points are assigned to measure aCharacters level in that Skill. Te more points the better a Charac-ter is at performing a Skill. For the purpose of this Tird Contact,Characters will only have the Skills that they will most likely useduring this Adventure, but the Essence System has many more.

Energy Points (EP) Energy Points are a measure of a Characters ability to will-ingly increase their capacities or to activate certain Powers andSpells. A Character can spend Energy Points to add additional diceto their Dice Pool for any given Dice Roll. In a single action, aCharacter may never use more Energy Points than the number of

points they have in Willpower. A Character can never have moreEnergy Points than the number of black dots lled in the Energysection in their Character Sheet. (Our suggestion for this Adven-ture is that Energy Points are recovered at a rate of one every thirtyminutes of game time, but the Narrator or the group can determineotherwise.)

Life All Characters have a series of raits that establish theirability to resist physical pain, damage, or the effects of anotherCharacters social actions. Te Life section is found at the bottomof the Character Sheet below the Skills.

RULESDice Te Essence System uses 20-sided dice. An ideal set of dicefor Eoris Essence (and for this Adventure) is eight 20-sided dice(8d20), one of which should be of different colour or size becausethis system uses the concept of a special die in every Dice Roll (thisspecial die is called the Essence Die).

Dice Rolls

In the Essence System, a Player will roll a number of diceequal to their selected rait Scores. Usually, the number of dicerolled is determined by adding their Attribute and Skill Scores.

For example: If a Character is trying to hit a target with their sword,the Player should roll Dexterity (Attribute) + Melee (Skill). If a

Character has two (2) points in Dexterity and three (3) points inMelee, then the Player will roll a Dice Pool of ve (5) dice (5 = 2 +3). In order to succeed in an action, a Player must roll enough Suc-cesses (sometimes one, sometimes more). Any additional Successesabove the Success Treshold improve (or perfect) the performanceof the action by the Character.

Difficulty Number

Before a Player rolls the dice, the Narrator must rst de-termine a Difficulty Number, except for Saeia which has predeter-

mined Difficulty Numbers. Tis number determines how manySuccesses a Player needs to roll in order to perform the action cor-rectly. A Success occurs when the number rolled in a die is equal toor higher than the Success Treshold.

Successes

Te Success Treshold is the number each die must reachor surpass in order for it to be considered a Success. Tis means thatany die with a result equal to or higher than the Success Tresholdnumber is considered a Success. Te standard Success Treshold is

fteen (15), but this number can be adjusted by Modiers. Some


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raits will have a number that is know as the Success TresholdModier. Depending on the value sign for this number, a Playermust either add or subtract its value to 15 in order to establish theeffective Success Treshold for a specic Dice Roll. Negative modi-ers increase the probability of obtaining a Success since the thresh-old is lowered, while positive modiers decrease this probability(hence, making it harder to achieve Successes).

If both the Attribute and the Skill have Success TresholdModiers, then the Character must use the one that benets themthe most. When calculating the number of Successes obtained in aroll, Players must remember that a result of twenty (20) on any diecounts as two (2) Successes and a result of one (1) counts as minusone (-1) Success.

The Essence Die

When rolling the dice, a Player (or the whole group) mustrst select one of these dice to be the Essence Die. Tis die shouldbe different in colour, size, or should be thrown before or after allothers in order for it to be distinguished from the rest. Te resultof the Essence Die determines special events such as Critical Hits,

ragedies, etc. Players should bear in mind that the Essence Die isnot an extra die to be rolled; it is simply a different or distinguish-able die in their Dice Pool. Tese are ve basic consequences deter-mined by the Essence Die:

Tragedy: When the Essence Die rolls a 1 and the number of Suc-cesses is 0 or less (after subtracting all the 1s), a Player will havefailed the action miserably with very unfortunate consequences. What happens exactly will be determined by the Narrator.

Unfortunate Success: When a Player achieves enough Successesbut rolls a 1 on the Essence Die, the Player was able to perform theaction correctly but something unfortunate happened. What hap-pens exactly is also determined at Narrators discretion.

Extreme Success: When a Player succeeds in performing the ac-tion and, in addition, rolls a 20 on the Essence Die, they will haveperformed the intended action tremendously well. What happensexactly will be determined by the Narrator.

Extraordinary Success: Should a Player achieve Successes on allthe dice rolled for a particular action, they may add further Suc-cesses by sequentially rolling the Essence Die until they fail to sur-pass the Success Treshold.

Energy Points: Whenever a Player rolls a 1 or a 20 on the Es-sence Die, they will immediately receive one (1) Energy Point.

Action Checks Players must roll the dice whenever a Character wishes toperform an action that directly affects the outcome of the storyline.*Given the particular action that a Character wishes to perform, the

Narrator must choose the Attribute and Skill that are best relatedto the action wished to be performed. For example, if a Characteris trying to hit a target with their sword, the most appropriate At-tribute would be Dexterity and the most appropriate Skill wouldbe Melee.

After the Narrator establishes which Attribute and Skill toadd together, the Player must add the number of points they havein the selected Attribute and Skill to determine their Dice Pool (v.gr. Dice Pools is the number of dice a Player is allowed to roll). TeCharacters that are provided in this Adventure are procient in a


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number of skills that are by no means comprehensive to all actionspossible in the Essence System. In other words, the Skills and At-tributes included in the Character Sheets in this Adventure are onlya small sample.

* Players do not need to roll the dice for actions that their Charac-ters can easily perform (use common sense).

Aura Some Characters in Eoris have the natural ability to ma-nipulate the Eos (the Waves of Existence). Tese Characters areknown as emplar. A emplar can easily use Saeia to redesignthe Wave of Existence. Saiea is an extremely advanced science thatmight be mistaken with magic. Characters with Aura instinctivelyunderstand the principles of Saeia and, thus, are able to remould the

Waves of Existence at will. On the other hand, those without Aurahave to learn these principles and undergo complex procedures (i.e.Saeia Skills) to achieve the same effects. All the Characters that areprovided in this Adventure are emplar; thus, they may inherentlyuse Saeia.

Aura also establishes the strength and power of a Charac-ters Life Wave and the effect it has on their environment. It grants aCharacter extra sensorial perception of things that are yet to happenor events that are yet to come. Aura grants the ability to perceivethings beyond the spectrum of our natural senses. Tis means that Aura is used to perceive everything that occurs around a Characterincluding premonitions, energies, sudden changes in the Eos, invis-ible things, etc.

In Eoris, Saeia is broken down into three different things:Saeia Patterns, which are predetermined spells with predeterminedeffects; Saeia Actions, which are magical actions declared by aCharacter; and Saeia Enhancing or Detrimental Patterns, whichare spells that directly improve or hinder a Characters efficiency intheir Skills and Attributes.

For the purpose of this Adventure, Characters will only beable to use Saeia Patters. o perform these Patters (or spells), a Char-acter must roll Aura + the specied Saeia Essence found below thePattern, which are found on the right hand side of the CharacterSheet. Saeia Essences have names such as Ilsia, Hesthia, Isthenia,etc.

Psychology Characters must roll one die for every point they have on

any specic Psychological Impulse when the probability of suc-cumbing to that Impulse is high. If at least one Success is rolled,the Characters succumbs to that Impulse. For example: If a Char-acter has to roll Wrath and obtains one Success, the Character isnecessarily angered unless they choose to suffer one (1) Stress Point.Characters have a maximum Stress limit; when this limit is reached,a Character necessarily succumbs to their Psychological Impulses.

Emotional Grid

Te Emotional Grid determines a Characters overall Emo-

tional Status. Tis is basically how they are feeling at any point intime. Te Emotional Status has a direct implication on how a Char-acter performs during specic circumstances.

Hope

All Characters in this Adventure begin with two (2) pointsin Hope. Characters can spend Hope Points to annul all negativeEmotional Status Points they may have in the Emotional StatusGrid. Hope Points can also be spent to move a Characters posi-tion in the Emotional Status Grid by one point towards Exalted

and one point towards Secure. Hope is only recovered when the


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circumstances (determined by the Narrator and story) may give aCharacter Hope. Its effects last for en entire Event.

Patience

All Characters in this Adventure begin an Event with thesame number of Patience Points they have in Willpower. Any timetheir Patience is tested, they must roll Patience (i.e. PatienceCheck) or, to make sure they will not act impulsively, consumeone Patience Point. Patience is recovered at the end of an Event or when the Narrator says so. Every time a Character looses a PatienceCheck, it will lose one Patience Point. If a Character loses a PatienceCheck, they can still remain patient as long as they accept to looseone Patience Point. If a Player refuses to loose a Patience Point, thentheir Character will lose their temper and reacts impulsively to thesituation.

Stress

Stress represents the number of times a Character can actcontrary to their Psychological Impulses. Every time a Charactersuccumbs to a Psychological Impulse but refuse to act accordingly,they will suffer one Stress Point. When a Characters accumulatedStress reaches its limit, they will necessarily succumb to their Im-pulses.

Emotional Damage

Tis represents how strongly a Characters social action mayaffect others.

Luck Luck determines how fortunate or unfortunate a Characteris. Te Narrator must ask a Player to roll Luck whenever the out-come of an event is best determined by this factor. Te Dice Poolfor Luck is determined by the number a Character has under this

rait. If they roll one (1) Success or more, it means the Character was lucky; no Successes means the Character was unlucky.

SAEIA

Tere is no such thing as magic in Eoris. Instead, there isa very advanced form of science that allows a trained scientist toremould the Waves of Existence. Although this ability to redesignthe Waves of Existence and create changes in the environment maybe considered magic, in Eoris Saeia is a science. A Character mustunderstand many Laws and Principles to use this science; one ofthe most important Principles is that everything is connected. Tismeans that if you change a particular set of Waves, all nearby Waves(including yours) may also be affected.

Since this is a preview of the Essence System, there will beno explanation on how this works. Tus, for the time being, when-ever a Character performs a Saeia Check to weave a pattern butfails, they will lose Hit Points (refer to Suffering Physical Damage

for an explanation of Hit Points). Te number of Hit Points lostequals the spells Difficulty Number, which can be found in eachCharacter Sheet. Tere is one kind of being that is born with the instinc-tive and innate ability to use Saeia without any previous scienticknowledge of it. Tese beings are called emplar and they havethe ability to remould the Waves of Existence through the powerof their Aura. In other words, any Character with points in Auracan use Saeia naturally. In this Adventure, all the Characters areemplar; thus, they are all able to use this science naturally. Bear in

mind that emplar are extremely rare.

Using Saeia:

Whenever a Character uses Saeia, the Player must read thedetails of the spell found in their Character Sheet. Te followinginformation will be provided for each spell:Name: Te name of the Pattern.Method: Te raits that must be added to establish the Dice Poolfor the weaving of the Pattern.


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Duration: Te duration of the Patterns effect.Difficulty: Te minimum number of Successes that must be rolledin order to successfully weave the Pattern.Description: A description of the Patterns effect.

Success:

If a Player rolls enough Successes, this means that the Pat-tern was performed correctly. A Character can weave any Pattern,at any time, and as many times as desired.

Failure:

Any time a Character fails to weave a Pattern, they will im-mediately loose one Hit Point for every Difficulty Number of thePattern. Example: If a Character attempts to weave a Pattern with aDifficulty of two (2) and fails, they will suffer a damage of two (2)Hit Points.

COMBATInitiative At certain moments in the story, it will be important todetermine which Character acts rst both in relation to their groupand in relation to any opposition (other characters, circumstances,etc.). When this happens, time is subdivided into Rounds which,in turn, are broken down into urns. Tus, in each Round Char-acters perform actions during their urn. A urn is the portion oftime for a Character to act during a single Round. At the beginningof every Round, all Characters involved in the event must roll Ini-tiative to determine who acts rst, second, third, etc. Te Character

with the highest number of Successes acts rst, and so on. Te Ini-tiative Dice Pool can be found in each Character Sheet.

Initiative Boost

Any time a Player rolls an Extreme Success (i.e. a 20) withthe Essence Die during an Initiative Roll, they get to act twice inthat Round in their urn. Initiative Failure

Any time a Player rolls a ragedy (i.e. a 1) with the EssenceDie during an Initiative Roll, their urn is cancelled and they can-not act in that Round.

Movement

If Players are using a battle grid to determine movement anddisplacement for the Characters, they must assume that all Charac-ters can move a distance equivalent to the number of points that re-sult from the following calculation: [ ( errestrial Skill + Strength/2)+ Modiers]. Each square on the grid is equal to two (2) meters.Movement does not affect a Characters ability to act.


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Physical Combat Combat works under a Versus Check dynamic: one Charac-ter attacks and the other responds with a Defence Roll. Te attack-ing Character is called the Attacker and the defending Characterthe Defender. Te Defender may roll a Defence Check every timethey are being attacked. An attack will be successful when the At-tacker rolls more Successes than the Defender. If they roll the samenumber of Successes, the attack deals half damage. If the Attackerrolls fewer Successes, then it fails. Te Damage that each Characterdeals is found in their Character Sheet. Te Attacker deals one ex-tra point of Damage for every Success the Attacker rolls above theDefender. Whenever a Character is attacked, they may immediatelyroll a Defence Check.

Attack Dice Pool =

Dexterity (Broad or Fine) + the specic Combat Skill usedDefence Dice Pool (Evasion) =Reexes + Dodge

Defence Dice Pool (Energy Barrier) =Spirit + Barrier

Parry* Dice Pool =Reexes + Parry

* After failing a Defence Check, a Character may choose to Parry.Te number of Successes rolled in a Parry Check is added to a Char-acters previous Defence Check. An attack is successfully parried when a Player is able to roll more Successes than the ones rolled bythe Attacker. A Character may not Parry if they dont have bracers,a shield, a weapon, or an object that allows them to do so. When aCharacter parries, they immediately sacrice their ability to act intheir following urn, except for the ability to roll Defence Checks.

Projectile Weapons

When targeted by a projectile weapon, different defencedynamics should be used. Since projectiles move so fast, they arealmost impossible to dodge or parry. For this reason, when attack-ing with a projectile weapon, a single Success in the Dexterity +Long Range Check will be enough to strike the target and inicthalf damage, two (2) Successes will deal full damage, and four (4)Successes will deal double damage. Te most effective way to avoida long-range weapon attack is through the use of the Barrier Skill;Characters with this Skill may block projectiles by simply rolling aSpirit + Barrier Check.

Critical Hit

If a Player achieves an Extreme Success during combat, they will generate Critical Damage (Critical Damage = Damage x 2).Tis applies for both Social and Physical Combat.


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Social Combat:(emotional alterations during Combat) Trough Social Combat, Characters have the ability (duringtheir urn) to improve or worsen their targets performance duringbattle. o do this, a Character must roll Mind, Charisma, or Pres-ence + Empathy, Enticement, Deception or Intimidation (depend-ing on the desired effect). In Combat, for example, Intimidation isused to lower an opponents Dice Pool, while Empathy is used toincrease an allys Dice Pool. Social Combat Dynamic:

Te Attackers Social Combat Dice Pool is determined bythe sum of one of their Social Skills Scores plus their Mind, Cha-risma, or Presence Attribute Score. Te Defenders Social CombatDice Pools is determined by the sum of their Willpower and Con-dence Scores. If the Attacker rolls more Successes than the Defender, the Attacker deals Emotional Damage equal to their Emotional Dam-age number (found in the Character Sheet) plus any Successesrolled above the Defenders roll. If the two Characters roll the samenumber of Successes, the Attacker deals only half damage. If the Attacker rolls fewer Successes than the Defender, this means the Attacker will have failed.

When the Defenders Emotional Hit Points fall to zero (0) orbelow, they suffer one Emotional Injury. Once the Character takes

this Injury, they will recover their original Emotional Hit Pointsbut one die will be subtracted from their Dice Pool for all Checksperformed until the end of that Event (a Character may never losemore than 50% of their total Dice Pool regardless of the number ofEmotional Injuries suffered). Te additional Damage Points dealtabove a Characters Emotional Hit Points is called Damage Over-ow (for example, if a Characters Emotional Hit Points is 10 andthey suffer 12 Damage Points, the Character will have an Overowof 2 points). If there is an Overow, the Defender will fully recovertheir Emotional Hit Points minus the Overow points.

THE BATTLEGROUND (Optional) In the les provided with this Adventure, you will nd agrid that represents the space where Characters face each other inbattle. Tis Battleground Grid may be used to represent Characterdisplacement and/or positioning during battle. A Character the sizeof a human will use up one square in the grid.

The Medium Skills:

All Characters have three Medium Skills that representtheir ability to move and act within a specic medium (i.e. land,air, or water). A Character cannot have points in the Aerial Skill ifthey do not have wings to y or unless there is a justiable reason.Having zero (0) points in a Medium Skill means that a Charactercannot move in that medium. For example, Jaaren will not be ableto move when he is not using his armour because he has zero pointsin the errestrial Skill.

Movement:

A Character can only move and act one time during theirurn. Te ratio at which a Character can move is called the Move-

ment Score, which is equal to the sum of the following Scores: Me-dium Skill + Strength/2 + any Modiers. So, for example, if a Char-acter has two (2) points in the errestrial Skill and four StrengthPoints (and assuming there are no Modiers), they can displace byfour (4) points in the grid (2 + 2 = 4) during each urn. If a Charac-

ter has any Modiers in the spaces named erra, Aqua, or Aria, thismeans they must add those additional points to their MovementScore. If a Character performs no other action besides moving/dis-placing, they can add another two (2) points to their MovementScore during that specic urn. Each square on the grid is equal totwo (2) meters.

Attack while moving:

If a Character wishes to move, attack, and continue mov-ing during the same action, they should add two (2) extra points


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to their Movement Score and two (2) extra Damage Points due totheir inertia, but they will loose two (2) dice in their attacking DicePool.

Support:

When two or more Characters are next to each other, theycan provide each other moral and tactical support (or intimidate theattacker). Tis gives them one (1) extra die to any Defence Roll.

Round Strike:

(only when in close combat: Melee or Body as a Weapon) A Character can perform a strong circular attack that allows

them to reach as many targets as they have points in the Melee orBody as a Weapon Skill. Te targets must necessarily be within thereach of the Character performing a Round Strike; it is importantto bear in mind that a Player must roll an Attack Roll for eachopponent/target. Tus, the opponents must Roll Defence indepen-dently. Tis type of attack will only generate half Damage.

Te weapons range is very important during any attack.Te following are examples of types of weapons and the suggestedstandard range: Weapon Type RangeBody (human) 1 = 2 metresSword 1 = 2 metres

Spear 2 = 4 metres Whip or Chain 3 = 6 metres

Suffering Physical Damage Suffering Damage is basically loosing Hit Points. A Charac-ter will only be able to act as long as they have Hit Points left. Oncea Character loses all Hit Points, they are either unconscious or un-able to move. When taking Damage, a Character can also suffer In- juries. Injuries can even affect the body in a lethal form; a Character with too many Injuries will die. Te following is an explanation onhow to record Physical Damage.

Hit Points:Hit Points indicate how much Damage a Character can

take before falling unconscious. A Character will recover all theirHit Points after resting for a period of time determined by the Nar-rator (a suggestion is half an hour).

Toughness: A Characters oughness determines the number of HitPoints they can lose in a single Round before they are thrown offbalance or knocked down. When this happens, two (2) Successesmust be subtracted from their next Initiative Roll. oughness alsodetermines how much Damage a Character can take before suffer-ing an Injury.

Injuries: Whenever the number of Hit Points lost from a single at-

tack is either equal to or greater than a Characters oughness, theCharacter will suffer an Injury. Tis means that their body willhave suffered severe physical damage. Unlike Hit Points, Injuriesare not recovered with time. Instead, a Character must actually dosomething or receive help to heal their Injury. Each Injury sufferedprevents a Character from recovering a number of Hit Points equalto their oughness Number.


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Effects of Injuries

Injuries can also cause side effects. A Character that is in- jured will not be in good shape to perform physical actions dueto the pain or improper limb response caused by the damage totheir body. o represent this during the game, a Character suffersa penalty of one (1) die to all Dice Pools related to physical actionfor every Injury they have. If this reduces a Dice Pool to zero dice,then the Character is incapable of performing any action due to the wounds.

Recovering from injuries:

A Character will only recover from an Injury by receivingmedical attention, whether magical or not. Characters with theMedicine Skill have the ability to heal Injuries. Of course, the moreInjuries a Character has suffered, the harder it will be to heal them.

Life Points Life Points represent how much Damage a Character cantake before dying. In other words, Life Points determine the num-ber of Injuries a Character can suffer.

Recording Physical Damage All Damage suffered by a Character is represented by anumber; the higher the number, the greater the Damage. A Playermust record all Damage in the space provided at the bottom of the

Character Sheet.

Damage Types (DT) Damage ypes are the main types of Damage an attackdeals when it strikes a target. Tere are ve types of Physical Dam-age and one kind of Mental Damage that a weapon or attack maydeal. Accordingly, armour provides protection for these same typesof Damage by absorbing Damage Points. It is very important forPlayers to specify the types of Damage that their action might gen-erate.

(P) Piercing Damage(S) Slash Damage(C) Concussive Damage(Cr) Crushing Damage(B) Burning Damage(M) Mental Damage

Armour

Armour protects a Characters body and mind from Dam-age, and provides six different types of protection (correspondingto the six Damage types). Damage is reduced by the number ofpoints a Character has in the corresponding area of protection. Ifprotection exceeds the Damage taken, the Character will suffernone. Some Powers, Impulses, and Patterns may raise a Characters

Armour protection. When no protection type is specied, the en-hanced protection applies to all six types.


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Added Difficulty

When a Character tries to convince another of somethingunreasonable or particularly hard to believe, that Character willhave a penalty to their Dice Poll determined by the Narrator.

THE TWO GRIDS Tere are two Grids in the Essence System that correspondto two fundamental and extremely important states of a beingscharacter. One is the Emotion Status Grid, which determines thegeneral Emotional Status of a Character and how it affects their ca-pacity to perform everyday tasks. Te other is the Appearance Sta-tus Grid, which determines the overall demeanour of a Character.Both grids work in the same manner: there are two axis, one hori-zontal and one vertical. A Characters current state in either grid isshown by a dot that is plotted. Each axis has two opposite extremes(ex. frightened and secure). Te degree of emotional alteration isdetermined by how far from the centre the dot is (the farther fromthe centre and the closer to an extreme, the higher the degree ofalteration). Tus, a Character with a dot in the centre is neutral inall aspects. Te position of a Characters dot will vary depending onvarious narrative and systemic factors.

Emotion Status Grid Tis grid determines the Emotional State of a Charactergiven four different emotional extremes (each in a scale from 0 to

4): Frightened, Secure, Depressed, and Exalted.

0 = (centre) Emotional neutrality. (Tis stands for a beings normalstate of mind whatever it may be.)1 = Slightly altered2 = Heavily altered3 = Overtaken4 = Utterly consumed

SOCIAL ENCOUNTERS Social encounters are resolved by rolling dice whenever ex-treme or intense situations put a Character in a position in whichtheir Psychological Impulses may prevail over their mental prefer-ence. Tere are two dynamics: one occurs during a normal SocialEncounter and the other during Physical Combat. Both dynamicsdetermine the effects of a Characters actions to the emotional re-sponse of another. When a Character is trying to convince another of doing some-thing or when a Characters actions push someone to succumbto a Psychological Impulse: Te Dice Pools for Social Encounters are the same as thoseused for Social Combat. o be successful at psychologically affect-ing a target, an Attacker must generate Emotional Damage equal

to or higher than the Defenders Emotional Resistance in a singleCheck. If the Attacker is successful, the Defender must roll thePsychological Impulse that best ts the situation. If the Defenderremains unaffected, the Attacker can try again but their Dice Poolsuffers a penalty of one (1) die in each additional try. When at-tempting to achieve a specic psychological effect, an Attacker maynot roll more times than their Willpower Score and may only at-tempt several times if the situation allows it.

When a Character tries to convince another about something

regarding specic areas of knowledge (mind skills):

Te attacking Character uses:Mind + (Empathy or Deception) + a specic Mind Skill related tothe topic

Defender uses:Mind + Condence + the same Mind Skill used by the Attacker


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Te Emotional State of a Character will change as it sociallyinteracts, both with others as well as with the world around them(see Social Combat). As a Characters Emotional State changes,they will receive either bonuses or penalties to the actions they per-form. Nevertheless, the Emotional Grid DOES NO necessarilydetermines a Characters choice of action or feeling towards a situ-ation. Also, it does not necessarily determine a constant or perma-nent effect. In many cases, the effects of an Emotional State will besuffered only in certain specic situations. In many circumstances,penalties may turn into bonuses at Narrators discretion; for exam-ple, if a Character is frightened and is trying to escape, they mayrun faster.

Bonuses

Exalted: A Player will receive one (1) die bonus to ALL Skill and Attribute Checks not related to Social Interaction for each pointcloser to the Exalted Emotional Status.

Secure: A Players will receive one (1) die bonus on ALL Social Inter-action Checks for each point closer to the Secure Emotional Status.

Penalties

Depressed: A Players will receive one (1) die penalty on ALL Skilland Attribute Checks not related to Social Interaction for eachpoint closer to the Depressed Emotional Status.

Frightened: A Player will receive one (1) die penalty on ALL SocialInteraction Checks for each point closer to the Frightened Emo-tional Status.

Appearance Status Grid Te Appearance Status Grid represents the overall (con-ceptual) nature and demeanour of a Character. Tere are four ap-pearance extremes: Menacing, Elegant, Rough, and Approachable.Before playing, a Player should dene their Characters initial posi-tion within the grid by lling the circle in the space they believedescribes their Characters appearance best. Tis will affect the waya Character is seen by all other beings. As a consequence, extremechoices should bring extreme reactions.

Menacing:Means a Character has a threatening and/or imposing ap-

pearance. For every point in Menacing, Characters will get a one (1)Dice Pool bonus to any Intimidation Check and one (1) Dice Poolpenalty on any Socialize Check.

Approachable:Means a Character is seen as friendly and/or loyal and easy

to relate to. For every point in Approachable, Characters will get aone (1) Dice Pool bonus to any Socialize Check and one (1) DicePool penalty on any Intimidation Check.

Elegant: Means a Character has a graceful and/or stylish appearance.Rough:

Means a Character has a rugged and/or coarse appearance.


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A Characters Roughness or Elegance rating determines the way others relate to them. For example, they might not be allowedinto an elegant social event if they do not look elegant enough. Also,in certain situations, an elegant appearance will make others believea Character is an important being and they will be treated as suchfor better or for worse. In some situations, looking rough might bethe best way to avoid getting mugged or mistreated. Te Narrator will establish a point on the grid that deter-mines the (average) appearance of all the beings under a given setof circumstances. For every point further in the grid from the onepreviously determined by the Narrator, bonuses and penalties mayapply to Social Interaction Checks.

- ADVENTURE -

Welcome to Eoris Essence Sample Adventure. Tis TirdContact will allow you to experience how a Character grows anddevelops in a well-dened Eoris environment. Te objective of this Adventure is to give you a sense of how life unravels in Eoris byshowing you different types of characters, locations, and situations(amongst others) and how everything interacts to form the EorisExperience. In this Adventure, you will be a key element in thegame as you take on the role of an individual within the setting. Inthis way, you will understand what can be done within Eoris and will get a preview of the mechanics of the Essence System. Your ac-

tions will only be limited by your imagination and, of course, yourCharacters abilities.

o begin the Adventure, each Player should choose a Char-acter, print the Characters Character Sheet, and become familiar with it. (Note: Tis Character Sheet is an abbreviated version of theactual ones in the Essence System.) Te drawings should give eachPlayer a fairly good idea of what their Character looks like. If thesedrawing are not enough, however, Players can complement them inany way that seems reasonable or appropriate.

The Connection Between the Two Tere is no Good or Evil in this world; only change, cre-ation, and destruction. Some say that in order to confront evil, onemust, in turn, perform evil acts. In other words, evil is a rationalresponse to evil and, therefore, a necessary thing. Tere are somethings that are unable to think; there are even some things that sim-ply follow rules and laws, being unbound by thought and unboundto reason. Under this philosophy, Justice is a variable concept. Inother words, there is no evil but that which we create. In this sense,Evil actions are only those that contradict our own. So, in order tounderstand a part of ones nature, one must realize that one is, inturn, evil to another and that only through this obvious connectioncan evil exist. Regardless of our point of view, we can say that thereis no evil in this world but that which we constantly create to justifyour existence, giving us a sense of purpose.

- Sil Mistress of the Palace of Shaballa Protagonists:

Kriss:He is a young warrior prince of the Empire of Eonir. He is com-mander of the team and a devoted follower of the emple of Solaria.

Lynn:She is an ancient princess of the nation of Inariel and she seeks des-perately to redeem her past sins.

Jaaren:He is a warrior who barely survived death after a battle and was leftparaplegic. Now, his body is fully covered in armour that allowshim to move freely, but it has disconnected him form the realitiesof life, pain, and death.

Kayalun:He is a vagabond thief and mercenary who is willing to risk his life just for the sake of fun.


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CONTEXT THE MISSION: DESTROY THE ID Te following events occured in the enth Age of history,approximately 300 years after the end of the War of the Fallen An-gels and some years after the arrival of God to Planet Eoris. Tis Age is a time of change, a time when the very Angels of God (theKalei), who descended from the heavens as escorts of God, haveslowly began to rise from their crystal cages.

After 300 years of wars and conict, the nations of Ystariasuddenly stopped battling each other out of solemn respect to Godand her descent to Planet Eoris. Te tensions that lingered, how-ever, have slowly begun to evolve. Cold wars have re-emerged andnow an era of politics, treason, and obscurity has begun. And yet,another secret danger lurks in the darkness of history. Fate is cruelfor the people of Eoris shall nd a greater, better reason to destroyeverything they have created. Te advent of war shall rise from the

very essence of what denes us and we shall prove ourselves to oneanother. But not yet. At this time, we still live in the fake harmony that the poli-

ticians of our lands have instilled because of her arrival. We cur-rently deal with demons we understand, and with hatred and pain we can sense. We still know where to place our blades and who ourenemies are. But, for how long?

The Xylen

All beings in the universe that are not God, Angels, or dei-

ties are called Xylen. Eorisian (humans), dogs, bears, bacteria, andall other species of the universe are Xylen.

The Sil

Te Sil are direct descendents of the Four Children of Godand are considered the most important Angels in existence. Teybelong to one of the four primordial bloodlines of the direct descen-dents of God and, thus, have a special connection to her and theuniverse. However, in all their grace and mythological splendour,they resemble Eorisien (humans) in most aspects and have lived as

members of society and citizens of the nations since the dawn of

time. In fact, they were rulers of the ancient nations and they helpedforge the civilizations of we know today.

Creation and destruction are the two ambivalent forms ofnature that intertwine to create change, evolution, and life. TeSil are aligned to the Essence of Creation and they are symbols ofProsperity and Beauty. Teir very essence, their energy, and theirexistence allow them to feed everything they see and touch witha subtle, almost invisible, aura of life and creation. Many believethem to be deities, and many worship them or consider them spe-cial creatures. In the very Essence of Creation, however, there isa darkness all too common to us. Tis darkness is the Essence ofDestruction and it is latent within every Sil. Should a Sil succumbto this, their aura would change to be in tune with the Sanctity ofDestruction. A Sil that has undergone this change is known as Id.

The Id

Te Id are Sil who once lived as regular members of society,but who, at some point, lost their connection to life and were driventowards the very Essence of Destruction: destruction of the body,the mind, and the soul. Tey live in anger and they hate everythingthat exists for it is their drive and necessity to end all. Tey hidefrom an outside world they can no longer comprehend, but stillmanage to live in calmness, maintaining their graceful and noble

ways. Tey understand the Essence of the world in a way few ever will and, as a consequence, they have deep emotional and rational

justications for their actions. Teir souls are driven by desire andtheir inner most primitive and fundamental passions are their mostimportant concerns. And so, they live with the constant necessity toobtain what they want regardless of the cost.

Obsessed with power, the Id have been known to gain im-pressive control of Saeia through cruel and obscure sacrices. Teirvery auras absorb the life of everything they come close to and storethis life and power within them. Consequently, beings that live nearthem age faster, become ill, develop various cancer-like conditions,and reach death very fast. All this happens even if the Id has no in-


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tention of causing harm. In fact, being an Id is not always a choice,its sometimes a curse. An Id must not be allowed to live for many will suffer and fade under the ames of their ever growing power.Terefore, the Scian emplar of the Cerian Foundation hunt the Idin an attempt to destroy them before they become an unstoppablethreat.

Cerian Foundation

In the universe of Eoris there is one true God and one truereligion aligned to the Cerian Foundation. Tis Foundation is theuniverses largest and most powerful religious organisation. It isconformed by twenty-four different branches called Emblems. EachEmblem has a different philosophical consideration of reality, God,and existence. Although in some cases these Emblems deny eachothers philosophy, they coexist in unity and relative harmony. Teambiguity of opposing one another and coexisting within a singleorganization is all a part of the institutions natural and fundamen-tal structure. According to the Cerian, the confrontation of differ-ent ideological positions regarding God and existence shall eventu-ally lead them to the underlying principle of existence: the ruth.Tis interactive structure of religion and philosophy embraces allconsiderations of what her spiritual or scientic her nature is, allow-ing almost every individual to have a place within the Cerian Foun-dation. Tus, this Foundation encourages its members to gatherand discuss various aspects of reality and to nd new ways to un-

derstand existence.Te organisation is so powerful that the members of theEmblems were given the holy duty to protect the worldorder bytravelling to the connes of the universe to divulge the voice oftheir Emblems. Tose charged with this duty are known as Scian

emplar. Since many wars have persisted throughout, most Scianemplar have become warriors that seek to full their Emblems

ultimate goal. Although the Cerian Foundations in general seeksto protect life, a few have no consideration regarding life and may

even seek to end it as part of their philosophy. Te Scian emplarare chosen from amongst the people because of a special power theyhave: the ability to instinctively use Saeia through the power of their Auras. During the enth Age, the Scian emplar were one of themost respected institution in the universe in terms of spirituality,diplomacy, and war.

The Scian Templar

Te Scian emplar are members of the Cerian Foundationand, consequently, belong to one of the twenty-four different Em-blems. Tey have been trained in the art of tactics and combat inorder to face the different threats that may endanger the people ofEoris, its nations, and the nations of deep space. Since they are de-voted followers of the Cerian Foundations doctrine, they are moreinterested in knowledge and philosophy than they are in power. Inthe eyes of the general public, their Divine Duty is to protect andserve all life. In this Adventure, three of these Scian emplar (theCharacters) have been given the mission to search and destroy anId. Te three emplar have been trained to accomplish this difficulttask, but they know they must hurry or the Id they hunt may gaina power they cannot overcome.


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CHAPTER ONE: THE FINDINGSummary:

A group of three emplar from different Emblems and dif-ferent nations have been assembled to stop a new threat: the rise ofan Id, a Sil that has been turned into a demon. Hence, the emplarmust travel to the Palace of Shaballa found in the once forgottenland of Haaren in the nation of Ceres to nd the Id and destroy it.Kriss, the leader of the team, travels to the nation of Kay to encoun-ter an old friend named Kayalun to convince him to join him in thedestruction of the Id. Kriss strongly believes in his friends talentsand so he ventures into the chaotic city of Kaiko in the nation ofKay. Tere, in a temple, he nds his old friend and convinces him.ogether they travel upon Krisss airship to the land of Ceres.

At the same time, Jaaren, a powerful Scian emplar of Eon-ir, waits patiently in the house of an ambassador who has offered

his help in the matter. Tere, Jaaren meets Lynn, a noble princessfrom the nation of Inariel. Teir nations have endured a long his-tory of war and hatred. Tus, Jaaren is unable to tolerate a memberof Inariel marching with him to battle. Te situation turns vio-lent when he discovers that Lynn not only belongs to a nation hedistrusts but is also something else, something he fears: a Kiel, aDragon of the Void. Tese Dragons are aligned to the Essence ofDestruction and common servants to the Id.

During the confrontation, the truth of their past sins isrevealed. Silence is all that remains. Although friendship between

them is impossible at this time, they will have to collaborate as alliesin the mission to destroy the Id for this demon threatens both ofthem. Later, Kriss, and Kayalun arrive and meet Jaaren and Lynn inthe village of Haaren. Tere, the group gathers and moves towardsthe Palace of Shaballa to face the Id and accomplish their mission.

And so, begins their quest.

EVENT ONE: GUILTY Te story begins with Kriss, a Cypher commander of theEmpire of Eonir and a emplar of Solaria, who received orders


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Eventually, Kriss should speak to Kayalun of the mission inCeres. He should explain the situation and convince him to partici-pate. If Kayalun refuses, Kriss may try to convince him by rolling:Charisma or Mind + Entice or Empathy (depending on how Kriss istrying to convince him). Charisma if Kriss is attempting to befriendKayalun or make him feel for what is to happen if he does not par-ticipate; Entice if Kriss is trying to persuade Kayalun through othermeans, such as appealing to Kayaluns pride. In order to be success-ful, Kriss must generate Emotional Damage equal to or higher thanKayaluns Emotional Resistance in a single roll. If Kriss is successful, Kayalun must roll a Check on a speci-ed Psychological Impulse depending on the situation (in this case,Duty, Justice, or even Kindness or Valour); the Narrator must de-cide which Psychological Impulse depending on the method usedby Kriss to convince Kayalun. If Kayalun rolls at least one Success,

he is driven to follow that Psychological Impulse; hence, agreeingto accompany Kriss. If Kayalun rolls no Successes, Krisss actionsare fruitless. Kriss may try once for every Willpower Point he has,but he will have one (1) die penalty in his Dice Pool for every failedCheck. If Kriss is denitely unable to convince Kayalun, he can relyon the Law of Kay, something that Kayalun may not refuse (seebelow).

The Law of Kay

In Kay, to impose ones will over another, one must invoke

the Law of Kay, under which two individuals ght for supremacy.Te victor is entitled to impose their will. In order to invoke theLaw, one must simply speak the name of the Kayens King: Kan-non. If Kayalun is determined not to go, Kriss will have to usethis Law for he knows Kayalun would never refuse. Be sure to letKriss know of this Law before he nds Kayalun. Kayalun may alsodecide invoke this Law at any moment and, although Kriss mayrefuse since he is not a citizen of Kay, Kriss must rst roll a PrideCheck. If at least one Success is rolled by Kriss, he will want to

tion was organized by the Empire of Eonir and executed by fourElite Cyphers (warriors), three were from Eonir and one was a hiredspecialist from Kay. You two remember all this for you were part of this assaultteam. You were the only ones to survive the raid and your successgave you a prestigious reputation, one that you both deserve andregret. Te events of that night still reverberate in your souls. Youknow that the spirit of war was unleashed when you murdered theloved dictator. Tis started a national wave of riots and civil chaosthat justied the invasion of Loren by Eonir. An event so devastat-ing that more than two million lives were lost after a year of con-frontations. Tis was exactly what a secret society of powerful Noblesin Loren had wanted. Tey had planned to use the insurrectionto justify the invasion. Ten, by using the very lives of those who

perished in the conict, they could feed the core engines of the Arie Aions** to create what they believed would be an indestructiblearmy. Te nation of Eonir had been deceived by this insurrectionand the menace of a nation with such a powerful army should neverhave been set lose. Te angered Empire destroyed the entire nationof Loren, leaving nothing but a barren, frozen land. More than 30million died in that war. You remember every second of it withgreat pain in your hearts.

(Stop reading out loud and let the Players interact/talk for a while.)

** Arie Aions are large and powerful bodies made of a materialknown as Universal Matter. Tese are extremely powerful vehicles.Te nature of the Arie Aions allows the pilot to instinctively use verypowerful Saeia. Te strong, swift, and almost indestructible body ofthe Arie Aions is made from the vanishing life-waves of those whopass away. For this reason, creating and using Arie Aions is strictlyforbidden by the Council of Atara and the nations of Eoris.


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EVENT TWO: ANCIENT SIN In the village of Haaren, a emplar of Neiu named Jaarenis trying to rest while waiting for the other members of the team toarrive. He resides in the house of an ambassador who has offeredhis help in the matter. For days he has been meditating and train-ing in silence for he still considers himself a murderer and wishesto redeem himself, to be forgiven, and to forget, but nightmaresstill accompany him every night. Tese nightmares bring back thememories of his actions (see Jaarens story). Restless, he leaves thehouse to nd comfort in the shadows of the forest and the light ofthe Blue Moon. Upon his return to the ambassadors house, he ndsthat a new member of the team has arrived: Lynn, a noble princessof Inariel.

During the wars of the Rebirth and up to this day, Inarielhas been Eonirs greatest enemy for the people of Eonir consider

the citizens of Inariel traitors of the universal order. Likewise, Lynnand the citizens of her beautiful nation have been unable to toleratethe rough and brutal ways of Eonir. As enemies, they have foreverconfronted their cultures, military powers, social orders, and noblelineages.

Lynn and Jaarens eyes meet. But, while Lynn can controlherself easily and forget the crimes perpetrated by Eonir to themembers of her nation, Jaaren is more susceptible to Anger. Tus,he must roll a Wrath Check and roll no Successes in order to remaincalm. If he rolls at least one Success, he will succumb to his anger.

Let the players interact for a while regardless of the result.If Jaaren is angered and the situation becomes tense, he must roll aPatience Check to see if he is able to control himself or if he will re-sort to insults or violence. In any case, Lynn can always try to calmhim down. o do this, she must roll Mind, Charisma or Presence+ Empathy with a Difficulty Number equal to Jaarens points inEmotional Resistance. If she is successful, Jaaren will have to roll a

Wrath Check again. In the unlikely event that Jaaren rolls no Suc-cesses, he will calm down and they may interact for a while underpeaceful terms.

ght. Nevertheless, if Kriss is defeated, he would lose his title asthe leader of the emplar during this mission for he would have toserve the will of Kayalun. If Kriss wishes to resist this, the Playermust roll a Duty Check with a penalty equal to his Pride Score;otherwise, Kriss and Kayalun will have no alternative but to faceeach other in combat.

Physical Combat:

Kriss and Kayalun face each other to determine leadership.Te battle is not supposed to be lethal, so, if a warrior is close todeath, they must roll a Valour Check to continue ghting. In anycase, the other warrior must roll a Kindness Check before continu-ing. If Kriss wins, Kayalun follows him. If Kayalun wins, he be-comes the leader and travels to the palace with Kriss as a memberof the team. However, Kayalun must roll a Pride Check to see if hereally wishes to keep the title of leader since he does not want to beanyones leader.If he rolls no Successes, he would be inclined to givethe title back to Kriss. If he rolls at least one Success, he would beinclined to keep the title. Eventually, both warriors should be travel-ling to Ceres and the Palace of Shaballa.

End of first event.


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remember their past sins and begin to feel really sad about it. At thispoint, Lynns Emotional Status will also be automatically movedtwo spaces towards the Depressed extreme in the Emotional Grid.Tis will a lso imply a two (2) Dice Pool penalty. If no ght occurs, both simply come to terms with theirsituation and spend the night waiting for the other members of theteam to arrive. At dawn, Jaaren and Lynns Emotional Status will beback to normal.

End of Event two.

If for some reason Lynn happens to mention that she wasonce a Kiel or if Jaaren is successful at an Awareness + Aura Checkto realize this, Jaaren must roll a Wrath Check again, but this time with a bonus of 2 dice (since this would be something that wouldreally anger him). If at least one Success is rolled, then, in his igno-rance, he is infuriated believing that Lynn is nothing but a traitoror spy for there is no way a Kiel can be anything but a servant ofthe Id. If this happens, a Physical Encounter may occur. Since both were once cold-blooded warriors, they are now extremely cautiousof whom they kill and for what reason for they want to mend their ways. For this reason, if either come close to dealing a nal blow,they must roll a Kindness Check. If at least one Success is rolled,then that person will restrain themselves from dealing the deadlyattack. If, however, one of the Characters does try to kill the otherin a nal blow, the Narrator should stop them by narrating a ash-back of who they once were, a vision of their past sins.

Note: Lynn performed a background check on all the team mem-bers (except on Kayalun) before accepting this mission. Tus, sheknows the stories of all Character except Kayaluns. Although Kay-aluns homeland is an independent nation, all nations of the Realmof Mia (Kay, Inariel, and Inaoris) offer allegiance to all nobles, re-gardless of the nation they belong to. Since Kayalun is a commonerof Kay, he must obey the orders of Lynn, a noble his Realm.

During or before the ght, Lynn can use Jaarens historyin her favour. If at any point she mentions Jaarens story, his Emo-tional Status will be automatically moved two spaces towards theDepressed extreme in the Emotional Status Grid. Tis will give Jaaren a two (2) dice penalty to his Dice Pool for all actions until herecovers his original Emotional Status (at Narrators discretion).

If this happens, both characters must roll an EmotionalBarrier check to see if they are affected by the situation and theremembrance of their past. If no Successes are rolled, it means both


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CHAPTER 2: THE PALACE OF SHABALLA Summary: Te team gathers at the house of the Ambassador in the vil-lage of Haaran. It is an ancient house made of petried wood andstone. Te house is decorated with dozens of small antique marblestatues, most of which represent creatures of different natures inthe company of men and women. Te large halls and rooms are well suited to accommodate over twenty guests. In the courtyard, alarge garden decorates the hangar where Kriss and Kayaluns airshiplanded. Te house is three stories high and has over forty rooms,including two kitchens, an auditorium, a library, and a large studio where a round table rests in front of a large window that overlooksthe village. In this special studio, the four meet to plan their incursioninto the Palace of Shaballa. After some planning and preparations,

the group begins their journey through the village and towards thepalace. As they walk through the village, they realize that some-thing is wrong for the streets are mostly empty, the villagers aresilent, and the children seem frightened. A mild mist lls the silentstreets. Tey now understand Haarens sorrow.

A group of villagers suddenly approach them to speak ofa terrible illness that has engulfed their mountain. According tothem, the spirit of their mountain is withering due to a fatal, in-curable wound. Since the Lady of their village has forever lockedherself away refusing to cure the wound, the spirit will surely die.

Te party realizes that the power of the Id has spread throughoutthese lands instilling a fate of dissolution upon the mountain. Uponrealizing this, they hurry towards the Palace to prepare for a battlethey all silently fear.

Rushing through the green forest pathway and deafenedby the roaring chant of the nearby cataract, the team is suddenlyambushed by a group of four strange creatures half men and halfmetal, bearing heavy swords that move furiously towards them. After a erce confrontation, the team notices that the bodies ofthese creatures are not natural; it seemed as if something had de-

ranged them and turned their bodies into what they were. Te team nally arrives at the palace to be welcomed bytwo armoured soldiers who gracefully greet them and lead theminto the vast palace. Inside, the team meets Arae, a beautiful andelegant woman who welcomes them offering shelter and food forthe night. Her kind words and gentle demeanour are not entirelysoothing, for the emplar can sense something is not right. Yet,they are worn-out from the previous battle. Nevertheless, both Araeand the emplar can sense what is to come. Foreseeing treason, thepalaces alarm is activated and the emplar hastily begin to movetowards the master bedroom where the Id rests.

EVENT ONE: VILLAGE OF HAAREN Te Characters meet at the house of the Ambassador in thevillage of Haaren. Let the Characters interact for some time andthen interrupt them by telling Kriss that time is running out andthat they should get on the move.

When they start their journey, read this out loud:

Te Village of Haaren once was a residence of peace andprosperity where wealthy families lived peacefully for over twentyyears in luxurious houses and ourishing gardens. oday, Haarenis a place marked by silence. Te once crowded stone streets layempty and only the vestiges of children games remain in the parks.

Autum leaves adorn the streets and the waterfalls that encircle the

village spread their dew throughout. Te Light of the White Ring(the Eoris sun) shines brightly through the leaves and the morningmist seems like shadows of moving winds in the distance. As youadvance through the village, you notice how the changing windsseem somewhat obscure. Tose of you who believe in omens feeluneasy. You feel as if some unexplainable forces are gathering here.(Stop reading out loud.)

As the group advances through the village, the few peoplethat still remain interrupt their chores to see them pass and to bow

their heads in a sign of noble respect.


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Have all Players roll a Senses + Empathy Check. Tose whoroll at least one Success notice a strange sadness in the villagers.

If the Players wish to inquire about their sorrow,Read this out load:

As you approach one of the villagers, others come closer

and soon you nd yourselves surrounded by a crowd. Tey are notbeing rude or aggressive in any way. Instead, they seem humble andsad. Tey seem eager to speak but apparently unwilling to breakthe silence of their village. At the moment you open your mouth tospeak, one of them interrupts you. He is a man of great stature andgentle manners. He bows as he speaks and with a strong and hur-ried voice he says, In the name of Haaren we welcome you to ourvillage with gracefulness and gratitude, but also with great pain andhumility. Te other villagers bow as well and, in silence, all waitfor your response.(Stop reading out loud.)

Te villagers explain that their Lord and Lady, the Mastersof the Palace, have forgotten about their holy chore to periodicallyheal the Animal Spirit named Ishequevaria who is bound to thelife of the mountain. Tis creature bears an incurable wound that would cause him to perish were he not to be blessed by the SilsBreath of Life once every thirty days. Te death of this creature would make the mountain a desert for many years.

Te forests have begun to wither and die; the rivers and waterfalls have dead sh that have fa llen prey to an illness that isstarting to reach the village; and harvests are rotting under darkand heavy clouds that carry storms of lightning and re. In order tosave the mountain, the Animal Spirit must be saved. However, novillager has the courage or the ability to aid such a creature. Teybelieve that this creature resides within the Palace of Shaballa. Te Villagers (as a group) roll Charisma (2) + Empathy (2)+ Bonus (2) (this Bonus is due to their pitiful situation). Tis meansthe Villagers have a Dice Pool of six (6) dice. Teir EmotionalDamage is ve (5).


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Te villagers (through the Narrator) will roll the above So-cial Interaction Check for every Character in an attempt to generateEmotional Damage. If they surpass a Characters Emotional Resis-tance, then that Character must roll a Patience Check. Any Char-acter that fails the Patience Check will impatiently advance towardsthe palace without any consideration for their own safety. Also, theCharacters that fail will suffer a 50% penalty to their Dice Pool inany Senses + Awareness Checks during the remainder of this eventand during the next event because they feel the need to accomplishtheir mission with haste. However, if a Character rolls no Successesin the Patience Check but still wishes to remain patient, they canconsume one of their Patience Points. (Patience Points are recoveredat Narrators discretion.)

End of first event.

EVENT TWO: THE DARK FIGURE

If the Characters continue to the Palace, read thisout loud:

As you exit the village, you notice a colossal cataract thatadorns the pathway to the palace. On your left, you can see a deepprecipice that ends on a blue lake and, to your right, you can seea deep green forest with penetrating, beaming lights. You can alsoperceive a wooden fence that frames the stone path that leads di-rectly to the Palace of Shaballa. Tis fortress was built during theFourth Age and it is a witness of time and creation in the continentof Ceres.(Stop reading out loud.)

As the players advance, let them interact. Lynn, for exam-ple, can use the information in the Character Proles to begin in-teresting discussions. If there is little discussion, simply describe thepath as they move through the mountain and into a place where thestorming sound of a river can be heard. Have all Players roll Senses + Awareness. Tose who roll at

least one Success will notice a dark gure that looks at them in thedistance of the moss-lled forest. Te gure simply watches themsilently without moving. As they continue walking, the emplarsuddenly encounter a group of heavily-armed warriors rushing outof the forest and into the passage-way in an attempt to ambushthem. Have all Players roll a Senses + Awareness Check again. Tose

who succeed will notice the coming foes and may decide to roll anInitiative Check. Tose who fail this Check will be caught unawareand may not act in the rst Round.

War tactics: Players may roll a Mind + War actics Check to pre-vent the armoured warriors from achieving a successful ambush.However, only Characters that were successful at both Senses +

Awareness Checks may attempt to do this. Te suggested DifficultyNumber for this Check is three (3). For every two (2) Successesabove this Difficulty Number, a Player will be able to act during anentire Round while the armoured soldiers cannot act. If a Player ac-complishes this level of success in their War actics Check, it meansthat they used a strategy that completely annulled the movementsand actions of the opponents. Te other Players must roll a Mind+ Dexterity Check to determine if they understood the war tacticstrategy. If they are not successful at this Check, they will only act

when the opponents do.

Encounter:

Armoured WarriorsNumber of Opponents : 3

Results:- Any Character that suffers one or more Injuries will be seriouslyhurt and will need medical attention.- For every Injury suffered, a Character must move their Appear-ance Status by two (2) points/levels towards the Rough state.- Te armoured creatures bear nothing but fused metal and skin.Not even their swords can be separated from their hands.End of event 2


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Read this out loud:

Te path that leads to the palace eventually leads you toa wide river that ends in an imposing waterfall. Te great Palaceof Shaballa resides above this river and waterfall. A portion of it issubmerged under the surface of the river whilst its three solemn andmagnicent oors reach high into the sky. A sign in front of you

reads in Ceresian Le taaroun virth (which means Entrance of theEarth). Te huge palace entrance is made of a white crystal-likerock. wo elegant and well-armoured soldiers approach and kneelgracefully to welcome you. Tey then lead you into a vast hall wheretwo ancient, ruined statues lie. Tey retreat silently to leave youalone for a while. From this hall, you notice how small streams ofriver water are channelled through the halls of the palace. Imbuedby means of Saeia, the water is given colour and light so that theentire hall is veiled by a silent, eerie green tone.(Stop reading out loud.)

After a short period of time, the Characters should beginto wonder what is going on, why they were expected, and why theyhave not been greeted by a proper palace escort.

- If the Characters wait in the hall, the guards return after a fewminutes to close the large stone doors. Ten, they simply wait andstand silently, one at each side of the closed doors. Before the Char-acters can begin to speak to the guards, a woman enters the hall.

- If the Characters decide to continue walking through the hallsthey will notice the elaborate carvings on the beautiful palace walls.Te carvings illustrate the story of an old hunter who seeks deathat the hands of the animals that he had for so long hunted for food.Because of their nature, the animals are incapable of harming him,until eventually the hunter meets his end in the jaws of a bear.

In the hall, they again encounter the two guards who bowonce more, but this time they are escorting a woman. Te woman

EVENT THREE: THE PALACE OF SHABALLA After the battle is over, all Characters should presumablycontinue towards the Palace. If they return to the village for aid,they will receive help but they will have to wait for two days foreach Injury to heal. So, if a Character suffered two Injuries, they will only recover four days after the medical treatment. Let the dayspass whilst explaining the cold and silent situation of the dyingmountain. Te ambassador that offered his house also pre-paid allservices the emplar might need in the village so forget about pricesand money. Also, after one day of rest, all Characters may recovertheir original Appearance Status.

Appearance:

In the Essence System, like in real life, a Characters generalappearance can change, whether willing or unwillingly. Te Ap-pearance Status Grid is used to represent a Characters current gen-eral appearance. o change a Characters appearance, a Player mustroll a Presence + Appearance Skill Check; if successful, the Playermay change the current position in the grid by one dot/space inonly one direction. In the Rough-Elegant axis, the Difficulty Num-ber for this type of Check is determined by the following formula:2 + the number of dots between the Rough extreme and the Playersdesired position on that axis. In the Menacing-Approachable axis,the Difficulty Number is determined by the following formula: 2+ the number of dots between the Characters current position and

the desired position on that axis. Characters may, for example, use their skills to improve the way they look before entering the palace. Auxiliary items may pro-vide bonuses when trying to change their appearance. In becomingmore elegant, for example, elements such as a comb, a shower, soap,and perfume can imply a Bonus in the Dice Pool at Narrators dis-cretion.


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bows gently to the Characters and with a very soft, yet penetratingvoice she welcomes them to the palace. At rst, she speaks in herlanguage but quickly changes to the common tongue so that every-one can understand: Kal um neygh Haaren verst icht nirr Arae...(interrupts) Welcome to Haarens vigil, the Palace of Shaballa, myname is Arae.

Arae Arae is a tall and slender woman whose body is covered by along and nely-elaborate red and black dress. Tis dress is adornedby silver and black crystal petals that emit a particular ringingsound as she moves. A nely-crafted silver sword hangs from her

waist. She appears to be no more than 20 years old, but her spar-kling eyes speak of more winters past. Her eyes glow vibrantly andher seemingly ethereal hair sometimes lets subtle gusts of electricityow through her body.

She is a beautiful woman with strong and penetrating eyes.Her very presence intimidates the guards who silently wait besideher and, yet, she is alluring and captivating to the visitors. Atten-tion is drawn from her beauty only by the fact that she belongs to avery rare race of Eorisian. Nevertheless, behind all that beauty andthose strong eyes, sadness spreads as a whisper through her soul. AllCharacters know that this species does not live for long because there in their veins consumes their souls; thus, ending their life fasterthan any other type of Eorisian. Her end is surely close, perhaps no

more than a year away. Arae welcomes the Characters and offers them somethingto drink and eat. If the Characters accept her offering they are takento the closest dining hall, but, if they refuse, then Arae begins to

walk towards the palace interior. In this case, if the Characters fol-low her, she inquires about the nature of their visit as they all movetowards a garden. Te guards follow closely behind. However, ifthe Characters do not follow her, she will stop and, with a slightlyenticing voice and gesture, ask if everything is alright. Te men inthe party must roll a Lust Check. If they roll at least one Success,


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then they gladly go with her with no regard for those who wish tostay behind. If they wish to control their Impulse, the Characters will suffer one point of Stress* .

If the group is divided, Arae betrays both groups and both are at-tacked.

If the Characters still refuse to move:

Let the Characters speak with her for a while. If they informher of their true purpose of their visit, she retreats leaving her guardsto protect her and sounds a general alarm. If the Characters aremore diplomatic, she offers to go with them to the dining hall andspeak of important matters. Tere, Arae plans to encounter 2 otherguards and dispose of the emplar. All male Characters will have toroll a Lust Check. Te ones that roll at least one Success follow heror suffer one point of Stress*. What is going on:

In addition to being the Guardian Mistress of the Palaceand the head servant of the Sil, Arae is also one of the few whoknows her masters secret. She knows why the emplar are here and wants to prevent them from reaching the second oor of the palace where her master resides. Although the guards sense something isnot right, they are completely ignorant of what is going on. Tey areloyal servants to their lady and will do what they are told withoutquestioning.

Arae needs to get rid of the emplar as silently and as quick-ly as possible for, if her new master, the Id, senses their presence hecould be angered and the entire palace and its inhabitants wouldswiftly feel his wrath. Terefore, her plan is to take them to a dininghall where she can offer them food and drink. In this way, it will beeasier to attack them because her soldiers will be able to catch themoff guard.

If she is unable to take them to the dining hall, she will tryto offer them to stay the night and then use silent powers to destroythem during sleep. If the emplar do not want to spend the night,she will have no other choice than to sound a general alarm and tryto dispose of them right where they stand.

If the Templar do not follow her to the diningroom, read this out loud:

I notice you are tired. I could have the servants prepare a room foryou to spend the night and rest. My master would gladly meet youfor dinner, but she has very recently given birth and she is stil l weak.Please accept my offer for it is impossible for her to see you today.(Stop reading out loud.)

If the Characters wish to rest, they may spend the remain-der of the day looking around and visiting different parts of the

palace. Te Characters will eventually notice that the access to thesecond oor is heavily guarded. If at any point they act in any man-ner that appears suspicious, Arae will notice this and send guards tond them. If this happens, the Characters can either refuse to fol-low the guards orders (go to Option A1) or comply with the ordersgiven by the guards (go to Option A2).

Option A1: As soon as the Characters refuse to follow the orders, theguards surround the Players and order them to wait for their com-mander to come. If the Characters decide to move, a battle betweenthe two groups begins. If the Characters decide to wait patiently,

Arae will arrive to inform the guards that the commander is notcoming and that the masters orders are to hastily dispose of theintruders. Te guards respond with elegant and gentle words insist-ing that the Scian emplar are never intruders, but symbols of Godin this forsaken land. Arae gazes deeply into their eyes and starts toretreat. Te guards turn to the Characters and regretfully unsheathetheir swords as they get ready to attack.* Remember: if a Character has more Stress Points than WillpowerPoints, they will necessarily act according to their Psychological Im-

pulses.


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Read this out loud:

You can see the shame and sorrow in the eyes of the fourguards that surround you. Bittersweet victory awaits them if theoutcome of a battle against a emplar group were ever to be suc-cessful. You can sense their regret in having reported your wrongdo-ings, not because they fear death, but because they lament attacking

the very messengers of the Cerian Foundation.(Stop reading out loud.)

Encounter

Soldiers of Shaballa Number of Opponent : 4 to 6

At the end of this battle, the entire palace is put on alert. When this happens, the emplar know that the palace will force-fully defend itself and that they are now in grave danger.

THE CHAPTER ENDS HERE. GO TO CHAPTER 3.

Option A2 Te Characters are given a place to sleep depending on theircurrent Appearance Status: if they managed to reach the palace inoptimum conditions, they are given a place to sleep on the secondoor; if, however, they are Rough or close to being Rough, they will sleep on the rst oor. During sleep, they are all caught up in ashared nightmare.

Appearance Status and the place where they sleep:

First Floor Guest Rooms: If at least one of the Characters has an Appearance Status of one (1) point towards the Elegant Extreme,they will all sleep on the rst oor.

Second Floor Important Guest Accommodation: If at least oneof the Characters has an Appearance Status of two (2) points towards the Elegant Extreme, they will all sleep on the second oor.

Second Floor Guest of Honour Accommodation: If at least oneof the Characters has an Appearance Status of three (3) or morepoints towards the Elegant extreme, they will all sleep on the sec-ond oor and the servants will provide them with food and re-freshment. All Characters must roll a emptation Check: nothinghappens to those who roll no Successes; those who roll at least oneSuccess are unable to restrain themselves from drinking too muchalcohol (unless the other team members are able to convince themto refrain from drinking). Anyone who drinks too much must rolla Constitution + Resilience Check:

Zero (0) Successes = Extremely drunk One (1) Success = Drunk

wo (2) Successes = Buzzed or ipsyTree (3) Successes = Character is unaffected by the alcohol

Second Floor centre platform Sil Accommodation: If all Char-acters have an Appearance Status of at least two (2) points towardsthe Elegant extreme and if at least one of them has four (4) pointstowards the Elegant extreme, go to Chapter 4 right after the night-mare.

Read this out loud:

You suddenly nd yourselves looking at a hollow space where only vestiges of the palace seem to oat or drift away. As youcome near the pieces of the drifting palace, you begin to feel some-thing strange. Suddenly, you are standing in a large round room with abeautiful circular red carpet and four large intricately carved stat-ues. In the centre, there is a fountain whose drops never touch theoor. Instead, they are lifted slowly into the air towards a smalllake that hangs inexplicably from the ceiling. You then realize thatthe other group members are also there, but any words they seemto speak are lost in the space between. Unexpectedly, a door thatdidnt seem to be there in the rst place opens and a group of sol-


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diers march in. You can see a dark gure behind them that looks atyou. Te soldiers suddenly attack!

Encounter

Soldiers of Shaballa Number of Opponent : 4 to 6

Note: Since this is a dream, the Characters will not die norsuffer any true physical damage during this encounter.

After the battle is over, the Characters are suddenly wokenby a resounding howl. Tose who die in the nightmare-battle arefrightened and depressed and must reduce their current EmotionalStatus by 2 points towards the Frightened and Depressed Emotion-al States. Tis immediately lowers the Characters Social and Physi-cal Action Dice Pools by 2. THE CHAPTER ENDS HERE. GO TO CHAPTER 3.


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CHAPTER 3: THE AWAKENED PALACESummary: Te emplar are faced with the challenge of survival in thepalace. Groups of soldiers and creatures lurk in the shadows search-ing for the party. Tey come to a room with three chairs and musicplaying; the last one standing when the music stops will have to just kidding, back to the Adventure. Te emplar advance quietlyand with great

Documents

Third Contact - Adventure