Advancement

Cultivation – the refinement of one’s own body, mind, and spirit.

Cultivation across Seln

The overarching goal of cultivation is the refinement of one’s body and spirit. Some aspire to this for physical perfection; others the thrill of the challenge; and others for ambition of power, immortality, or even godhood.

There is no one proven method of cultivation. One cultivator may expand his mind with illicit substances; another may ferociously train the body in search of ever greater limits. Some tap into the ley lines, meditate in strange places, or seek bargains with the strange Realms.

Similarly, there is no one outlook on cultivation. Some schools have exacting, academic vocabulary: Ki, Chakra, Aura. Others cloak their understanding in mystery and poetry. Yet others do not consider their practice ‘cultivation’ but rather a simple extension of their lifestyle.

In Seln Alora, both the farmer and the mystic may cultivate. Their methods might be diametrically opposed, but as long as both seek to better themselves and their artforms, they are cultivators.

Essence and Arts

Regardless of how you cultivate, you will accrue Essence.

• 1 Essence is equivalent to 1 Experience Point in many other systems

You will then expend this latent Essence to learn Arts. In this world, practice is the way forward!

• To advance in cultivation, learn enough Arts
• All acquired Arts will count, regardless of source
  • This includes lineage Arts, path Arts, Grace Arts, and general Arts

Learning Arts

Arts are smaller power boosts granted by mystical technique, elemental affinity, or fighting style. Arts will be either boons (small permanent buffs) or specify Chakra for sync.

You purchase individual Arts by spending Essence.

• Arts always cost 1 Essence

Arts often specify additional restrictions, such as prior requirements. Most commonly, you will require previous Arts in a chain. More rarely, some Arts require specific Harmonies or more esoteric restrictions.

Path Arts are specific to that Path and may never be shared or learned by outsiders to that Path.

You may know an unlimited number of Arts.

Essence Limit

You may hold no more than 10 Essence at any time. If you would gain an 11th, it is instead lost.

• The storyteller may be merciful and allow you to spend 1 or more Essence to avoid overflowing the cap, but this is entirely at the storyteller’s mercy

Circle

Circle is a measure of your overall power.

• C1: Common folk
• C2: Path students, young cultivators, dilettantes
• C3: Path warriors, experienced cultivators
• C4: Path masters, grandmasters of a craft or profession
• C5: The most powerful known cultivators of all Seln, such as the King

You will begin play in C2 and advance through C4 in play. C5 is unavailable.

Steps

Every Path is made up of Steps, after all

C2, C3, and C4 are broken into smaller steps. These are equivalent to levels in other systems. There are ten steps in total, with the first being acquired automatically at the start of play. In other words, you will level 9 times over the course of a single journey.

The total number of Arts you must know grows over time. All Arts count for this.

Advancement

Each time you advance a Step, you improve your body and mind. Every step comes with new resources such as additional Charges to spend, Chakra for equipment, and improvements to your Attributes.

• If you have both Path and Grace, then each advancement increases both together
• If you have only Grace, then you advance that alone

Certain advancements are the same for all cultivators.

• Step 5 brings you to Circle 3; Step 8 brings you to Circle 4
• You gain six profession advancements, one each at Steps 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10
• Each step improves your Attributes by 1
  • At start of play, you will have +1 in each element
  • With +9 through advancement, the baseline at full mastery is +10 in each Attribute
  • Paths and Graces will both target individual Attributes to enhance further
• Harmonies grant free points for character customization. These are covered in the Harmonies section

Here is the baseline progression shared by all cultivation. Each Path will have a separate table that incorporates and expands these baselines.

Other resources will vary

• The number of Charges per element varies based on your Path and Grace
• The number of Chakra per element varies based on your Path and Grace
• The number of Aura varies based on your Path

Time spent

Steps take longer as you grow to increasing heights. As a student, you may cultivate quickly. As you grow to C3 and C4, however, you will require longer periods of concentration. These are tracked as Downtimes, actions taken during lulls between activity.

Gathering Essence

As a form of experience points, Essence are most commonly granted by the Storyteller for completion of sessions or major arcs in play. The exact amount depends on the storyteller’s discretion. (Rumor has it that bringing food to one’s game session can influence this celestial occurence.)

Additional Sources of Essence

Additionally, Essence may be found in many unexpected places. Here we will cover common sources. The storyteller exerts complete control of Essence and may restrict or expand all sources of this power to suit the pacing of the campaign.

A few examples:

• You solve a major Mystery
• You inspire Harmony in those around you, such as:
  • A rousing speech in the face of danger
  • A kind word when no one else will listen
  • Encouragements to peace when tensions are high
• You pursue novel Harvests and strange reagents out of cultivator’s curiosity
• You tread to secret places and uncover forgotten lore such as:
  • Restoring the Arts of a lost school
  • Recovering a language lost to time
  • Discovering a lost settlement, whether intact or overgrown
  • Exposing the corruption of Kingdom officials or clans
  • Learning the true names of powerful shades
  • Experiencing the beauty and tranquility of a long-lost grove
• You impress a Spirit or Shade (some additional effects below)

Note one important omission: the mere act of combat and conquest grants no Essence! Though violence may be necessary as you travel Seln, you gain no intrinsic reward for it!

Gifts

Spirits and shades impart fragments of their power to those they find worthy

Both Spirits and Shades are capable of granting Essence directly to favored cultivators. These favors come with additional benefits.

The storyteller should feel free to tailor these effects as necessary. A few suggestions below.

Suggested spirit benefits:

• Immediately Degrade the Severity of a Condition by Td10
  • For particularly powerful spirits, Td20!
• Immediately heal all Aura damage and reduce Severity of a Wound by Td10
• Refund all Affinity from one element and spend in another of your choice
• Regain Td10 years of youth (minimum of adolescence unless the spirit thinks you could use a lesson)
• Gain innate Spiritsight and Spirittouch until next Equilibrium
• Vanish from the current Scene; reappear next Scene. You do not experience the interim time

Suggested Shade benefits:

• Break all Restraints, regardless of Severity and duration
• Instantly heal a Wound
• Learn the exact location of a treasured secret
• Commune with a departed friend, family member, or master
• Experience a vision of the past; this vision is so potent you may interact and Challenge during the vision as though it were real
  • Anything that you secure during the vision appears on your person
  • Strongly recommended you try not to die
• Gain innate Shadesight and Shadetouch until next Equilibrium

Harmonious Essence

Villainous cultivators may harvest Essence through drug, blood sacrifice, or forbidden techniques. While these grant faster power, there is always a catch. Especially when the man selling you the secret says there is no catch.