Acquiring Essence

Mortal magicians only regain Essence naturally at the rate of 1 mote per day, but during their apprenticeships, all learn a handful of methods of replenishing their supplies of Essence more quickly.

• Adherance to a Taboo: Some Quirks are noted as being viable as Taboos. A Taboo is identical to the base Quirk except the magician may voluntarily violate it at any time. If he chooses to do so, he loses the benefit of the Taboo until he has spent a number of consecutive weeks equal to the rating of the base Quirk obeying the Taboo. For as long as the wizard adheres to the Taboo, he gains a number of motes of Essence each day equal to the rating of the Quirk upon which the Taboo is based. A magician cannot begin play with more than (Heroism x 2) points of Taboos and no magician may adhere to more than (Heroism x 5) points of Taboos.
• Blood Magic: Essence suffuses even the bodies of mortals, and magicians learn to tap this fountain of energy by ritually injuring themselves. The hero spends at least one turn inflicting the wound with any sharp object on hand. For every health level of lethal damage she chooses to inflict in this fashion, she gains motes of Essence equal to her Stamina. Note that this damage cannot be healed with magic or avoided by means of a Heroic. Only time will heal this injury. The normal rules for bleeding, infection, and wound penalties apply, though if the wizard has time to sanitize the blade in fire before harming herself, the difficulty to resist infection is only 1.
• Elaborate Rituals: The magician gathers ambient Essence to himself by means of a specific combination of objects and movements performed at the right time. A player should describe the nature of the ritual in some detail, and the Storyteller should grant up to 3 additional motes of Essence for a well-described or particularly apt ritual (similar to the system used for granting stunt dice). At the end of the ritual, the hero gains a number of motes of Essence equal to the Resources cost of the materials used. The ritual must last a minimum of 4 hours per mote of Essence gained. This activity is exhausting, and the magician can neither perform more than one such ritual in a day nor perform another ritual before she has had a full night's rest. Any interruption spoils the ritual.
• Familiar: Once a day, a magician in skin-to-skin contact with his Familiar may reflexively gain a number of motes of Essence equal to his Familiar rating.
• Feats of Heroism: Magicians are still heroes, and many regain Essence according to their deeds. Whenever the hero would regain a feat of Heroism as a result of an action related to her primary Virtue, she may choose, instead, to gain a mote of Essence.
• Force of Will: Indominable will is one of the defining attributes of the magician. The hero may reflexively spend 1 point of temporary Willpower to gain a number of motes of Essence equal to his Wits.
• Heroic: The Occult Heroic Tap the Endless Font allows the magician to refresh motes of Essence at the cost of feats of Heroics.
• Meditation at a Demesne or Manse: If the hero sleeps, meditates, or otherwise takes her ease in a Demesne or Manse to which she is attuned, she regains the Demesne rating in motes of Essence every eight hours. If the magician performs an elaborate ritual (see above) to gather ambient Essence in a Demesne or Manse to which he is attuned, the ritual yields additional motes of Essence equal to the Demesne rating.
• Spells: Some spells and rituals allow the magician to steal or otherwise acquire Essence.
• Spirit Pact: If the hero gains the favor of a spirit, Elemental, or other being capable of returning or donating Essence (such as the Spirit Charm Tiny Gift or the Solar Charm Essence-Lending Method), this patron might prove a very useful source of Essence. The amount of Essence donated by the being follows the normal rules for the Charms that do these things. Some gods will provide Essence if successfully beseeched for their aid (see Exalted p. 335-6). A system is not necessary for this, but a simple one would be that a god grants a number of motes equal to the hero's Heroism, plus 1 mote per additional success. Other spirits might require more direct favors in exchange for Essence. Extremely weak spirits might even be coerced into donating their power to a powerful magician, but this is dangerous, as the Celestial Bureaucracy tends to take a dim view of those who kidnap and abuse their servants.