Creatures that can interact with the world have three main essences:

1. Body,
2. Mind,
3. and Soul.

Is a character muscle-bound, insightful, brilliant, charming, nimble, or hardy? Essences define these qualities—a creature’s strengths as well as weaknesses.

The four main rolls of the game:

1. the Essence Roll,
2. the Skill Roll,
3. the Contesting Roll,
4. and the Attack Roll,

They rely on The Three Essence which act as modifier to the Main Roll.

Each of these rolls use the essence to add or subtract using a modifier on a 1d20 Main Roll.

The lowest and essence can get is -5. There is no cap to how high an essence can go.

If an essence reaches -6 typically the creature is considered Dead or Unconscious and unable to act.

Essence Cap Calculation:

1. Start with the Original Essence Value (also referred to as the input essence).
2. Apply Ancestral, Background, and Feat Bonuses.
3. These cannot increase the total essence beyond 5 or the original essence value—whichever is higher.
4. This represents the caster's natural limit.
5. Add Inventory Essences (which can exceed the cap).
6. Add Ability Essences (typically from spells, abilities, or effects with a duration, which can also exceed the cap).