Pacing

Leveling

As a storyteller, you will decide the pacing of your campaign. You have broad discretion to decide when an event qualifies for Essence.

Here are a few baseline rules of thumb.

• Default pacing: Aim for 2 to 3 Essence per player per game
  • This will result in players cultivating about once every 3 games
• Fast pacing: Aim for 5 Essence per player per game
  • Players will cultivate about every other game

How much Essence to grant for one event?

• When in doubt, grant Essence equal to the number of game sessions the trial took to overcome
• For example, a long-running mystery that spanned multiple real world weeks might grant 6 Essence while a novel harvest might grant 1

Help! My players are abusing the vague nature of these prompts to–

• Tell them no
• The intent of the Essence system is that you should cultivate faster if you act like a cultivator
• Reward players for exploration and curiosity
• Tell players that try to treat Essence like a treadmill to sit on their hands