Essence: Essence is a form of experience points (XP) earned primarily by writing words in the IC forums. Essence is spent on permanent changes to your character, such as new powers and skills. In the world, Essence is, simply, the essence of your very being, the stuff you are literally made of. You can use it to sprout wings and change everything about yourself, as is implied in our rules.

Essence is used to create Abilities and Master Skills, which have an Essence cost. Everyone starts out with 2,000 Essence to divide up among their chosen starting Abilities. Spent Essence can manifest in a variety of ways IC. Your character can acquire an Ability through working out a lot, buying a cool sword, or even through magic. Master Skills can be acquired through learning, already exist in your character's memory, or appear by other means. It's entirely up to you.

Keep in mind that while Essence gives you a larger toolkit of powers and skills to work with when writing your character, this does not automatically mean that Essence is the ultimate decider in conflicts. Someone with less Essence than another user could still triumph in combat if their writing is good.

You earn Essence by writing posts in the in-character forums, The Crossroads. You can write alone or with others to earn Essence, but to encourage cooperative writing you can earn a Participation Bonus when writing with others.

If two people are involved in a thread, that is a +10% participation bonus to the amount of Essence you would both earn after finishing the thread. This bonus increases by +5% per each additional writer, capping at a +30% bonus for 6 or more writers in a completed thread. Note that in order for the bonus to be applied, the other writers in the thread must make a reasonable contribution.

• 2 Writers equals a 10% participation bonus
• 3 Writers equals a 15% participation bonus
• 4 Writers equals a 20% participation bonus
• 5 Writers equals a 25% participation bonus
• 6 or more Writers equals a 30% participation bonus

To get your Participation Bonus after completing a thread, submit it to the Participation Bonus Request thread.

As you reach certain thresholds of Essence, you’ll ‘level up’. Unlike a traditional RPG, this doesn’t make you ‘better’ in the statistical sense.

Your Current Level is used to determine the Max Ranks you can use in your Abilities. It also tells you how many times you can use 'Focus' during situations like Challenges, Site Events, or during Quests.

• Level 1: 2,000 Rank Cap 5, Focus 1
• Level 2: 4,000 Rank Cap 6, Focus 1
• Level 3: 7,000 Rank Cap 6, Focus 3
• Level 4: 11,000 Rank Cap 7, Focus 3
• Level 5: 16,000 Rank Cap 7, Focus 5
• Level 6: 22,000 Rank Cap 8, Focus 5
• Level 7: 29,000 Rank Cap 8, Focus 7
• Level 8: 37,000 Rank Cap 9, Focus 7
• Level 9: 45,000 Rank Cap 9, Focus 9
• Level 10: 55,000 Rank Cap 10, Focus 10

There are two currencies in Multerra, split into in-game currency and site currency.

1. Coin: ‘Coin’ is an in-game currency that equates to cash and is spent on tangible goods and services in the game world. Coin is used to purchase things like Bases, Ships, and expendable Minions. You can also spend Coin to develop powerful Consumables. In the world, Coin is all made from a precious material that, when properly refined, can be made into any substance. This refining process requires skill and equipment, so you're more likely to buy finished products off of shelves than taking home raw material and zapping it into whatever form you want.

   Note: Things like a hot meal, a room in an inn, living supplies, or tickets to a concert do not have a Coin cost. Feel free to RP this however you like.

   Coin can be earned through Community Quests, World Quests, and Staff Events.

   Additionally, each member earns 500 Coin every week they are active (the “Active Bonus”), making a somewhat “passive” income that can be supplemented with Quests.

2. Tokens: Commonly called “Community Tokens,” these are a site currency awarded for community participation. Tokens can be earned by helping the community out in some way. Examples include voting each month, providing feedback, helping the wiki, or even running an event.

   Tokens can be redeemed for various occasions where you require staffer time, like character changes, asking for a World Quest, respecing your character, or putting a thread into the bookclub. Tokens may also be redeemed for temporary ‘luxury’ things like custom name colors, changing forum names, or getting smilies added.

   The concept is that if you ask us to do something for you, you have to be willing to help us run the community. This helps staff to focus on the stuff they actually enjoy doing.

   Please see the Community Tokens overview for more details.