This is more idle curiosity than anything else, but is there a way to restore Essence lost to cyberware? I've already done a search and found that Essence lost due to cyberware implantation is essentially a hole, and it remains there to be filled in by new cyberware, but I'm curious about being able to undo it- basically treat the Essence loss like a physical addiction. Remove the problem (cyberware) and let the body heal. So long as you don't touch the stuff again, you're fine.

The major reason for this in my mind is the simple fact that as it stands, you have a really cheesy option to take down any mystic: find them, knock them out, and load their body full of cybernetic drek for all of about two minutes. Once they're down to 0.1 Essence, take it back out, stabilize them and cue the ambulances. Congratulations- you're allowed to live, but you're not going to be tossing spells ever again. Unless you have the cash reserves and skills to suddenly go from spellslinger to street sammie, you're just another SINless unemployed.

So is there a way? Or if there isn't (officially) what would you think of as being a way to do this?

By the rules, essence lost is lost forever, however, if you beg your GM enough who knows? For a good argument read Blackjack:

I Want My Soul Back

IF you want to lower their essence I seem to remember something about drugs could do this. This may be more of a fluff thing though. You could just inject them with several addicting drugs.

As to the healing the essence, if you go by the raw then no. However this was the purpose of shamans throughout history. It is called Soul Retrieval and it is based on the idea that our spirit bodies are damaged by emotional trauma and it gets stuck in the place and time of the loss. The shaman must travel spiritually to the trauma and retrieve the lost fragment. Then they put it back into that person. They can heal from the trauma after that (basically they couldn't deal with it before because the necessary part was missing).

You could add that as a Shamanic metamagic technique.

I could see this happening to a mage if he was a part of some magical group and had really, really stepped out of line. But just to be clear, this isn't a good tactic, this is just a way to be exceptionally cruel to someone but leave them alive.

Haven't you read the rules of being an evil overlord? While not a direct contravention of rule 4, such torturous methods weaken you in the long run!

Hmm- the Blackjack article is a good one, and akin to what I'd normally expect. But allow me to explain to folks.

Let's take three PCs. They're all in different campaigns, but they all end up in the same situation- a run goes bad, and they find themselves utterly hosed.

Now, PC number 1, dies. The bad guys just chase him down into an alley and put half a dozen PAC rounds in what used to be his upper respiratory system. The odds of coming back are about the same as restoring a tomato from a jar of spaghetti sauce (and involves most of the same colors as well). It happens, you can live with it. Some days the dice just dislike you. But it can also crunch a good campaign. I've had more than one situation where, due to deaths and similar things, we ended up nixing the main story arc because no PC had any connection to the major villain.

PC number 2, he gets the Essence burn treatment. We're going pure rules as written. They let him live, and he's basically toast. Like most PCs he's got very little in the way of cash reserves, his gear's gone, and now his ace (magic) is out too. At best he's got a couple months of prepaid lifestyle before he's kicked to the curb. The player is likely highly upset- their character's basically been fubared, not quite dead, but with no options. Furthermore, they'll probably be just as good as dead, but instead of a painless death via dice, the player has to put the PC down.

PC number 3, same Essence burnout. However, this isn't as end-of-the-line as it seems. Not long after, the PC finds out from a contact that there might be a way back. It's not easy, it's not quick, but it is possible. Now, the PC's not toast. They're close, and everyone thinks they should be- but they have a chance to get back at those fraggers that put them in this position. The player might not be immediately happy, but you've given them an out, a way to stick with the PC if they would rather do that.

Personally, I like option 3. Why? Because it's really clear to the players that they screwed up and ended up having to pay for it- but in the end they can still succeed, and in the end the cost of their mistake is minor or nonexistent. Your mage can't ever get any new cyberware- not exactly a horrible penalty, but it still exists and it will stick in their mind. And so will the PC that dug themselves out of the deepest pit they've ever found.

Actually, there is a way for burn-out magicians to regain their lost magic rating without regaining essence. His name is Tutor. He's so worth it.


The basic idea is simple. Find this baddass free spirit who commands a rather large and powerful cult of ex-burnouts and make a pact with him. If you have a Quality that allows you to have a magic rating then this pact will increase your Maximum magic attribute for as long as it remains unbroken, even if you have already burnt out. It will also give you some free magic points because tutor is totally baddass like that and you won't have to spend so much karma up front to restore your magic rating.

Your awakened character will be right as rain if your GM allows this pact, he'll just be Tutor's bitch unless he wants to go back to never slinging a spell again. Come on, there is nothing more fun than being an insignificant cog in a possibly melavolent Free SPirit's grand master scheme. It is a great way to ensure a steady supply of jobs.

I couldn't find the topic, but I remember reading house-rules how some GMs would allow the healing of essence over a long period of time. Something that felt like a year or two per essence (assuming the cyberware was removed).

Normally, it was more into allowing a PC shift to an NPC and not really run anymore, with no intentions of every getting more cyberware. I'd say I would allow something like that, but its really not for the short term.

I guess I could see a group of players, if they wanted, to fast forward their PCs a decade or two, semi-retire and then get back into the game, but that would be a special case. I would probably try to avoid the non-permanent nature of essence loss as much as possible...

We use this particular house rule, in the spirit of Blackjack's article. Plus, it increases the pathos a bit I find.

Regaining Essence – Essence lost to cybernetic implantation can be regained if the cyberware is removed, and if the character has the spiritual stamina and determination to restore the damage. The process takes time, and virtually requires the character to be under the treatment of an individual with the Holistic Medicine Active skill. The treating character must make a Holistic Medicine (10 - the patient’s Essence rating; three months) test. If the patient undertakes more than light physical activity during the treatment period, the threshold is increased by +2. Unlike other extended tests, if this test fails if the treating character does not achieve the necessary hits within a year of treatment, the test fails. If the test fails, all subsequent tests made to rebuild the patient’s Essence have a +2 modifier to their threshold, cumulative per failure.

If the test is successful, the patient may buy back up to 0.1 Essence points per success at the cost of 3 Karma per 0.1 Essence or fraction thereof. A character’s Essence can never be restored above 5.9 in this manner, however, and Magic lost due to previous Essence loss does not regenerate due to the rebuilding of the patient’s Essence nor does the patient’s maximum Magic score increase. Essence loss to other sources (primarily the Essence Drain critter power) may or may not be recoverable. Temporary Essence Drain allows the victim to recover from the attack if he survives, regaining lost Essence points at the rate of one point per day. Permanent Essence Drain, on the other hand, causes Essence damage that cannot be healed.

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Also, sorry to correct ya hyzmarca, but that's Gaf (Threats 2) not Tutor (Threats 1)

Wraithshadow-

I like you point. I've always thought there should be a way to get at least some of your essence back. I would assume it would include healthy living and "new-age-ish" or full-on magical rituals. Maybe you can only get up to 1 point back this easy way, and getting the rest back would include a whole plot-arc involving quests and such.

Mages and adepts wouldn't be the only ones to seek out this. Any mundanes looking to put their cybered pasts behind them and rejoin the less-freaky of us would be likely to give it a try.

I also like this being a metamagic ability. I don't really see it being abused. Any awakened PC unlucky enough to be subjected to this by his GM would have a way out, and it makes for a nice plot element for NPCs as well.

Dread Polack

Thanks for the correction, NightmareX. There is a way to regain essence that I completely forgot about. Make a Power Pact with a Free Blood Spirit for the Essence Drain power and then eat a homeless person.

Really, it is so simple that anyone can do it and it requires far less effort than has been speculated.

It seems like a great way to get revenge on somebody that you want to live in order to suffer.

True, although with the same resources I think I'd run the target through BTL Grade Sim-Sense, that way I could torment him for all enternity from his perspective since minutes can become days and days can become years.

Well plus even if he does escape from his "treatment" he'll still be under your control and you won't have to worry about him cybering up and becoming the baddest Street Sammy out there gunning for a little pay-back.