Lucrim

This page is a direct copy of the "Lucrim Mechanics" appendix included with the book.

Forms of Power

Lucrim is raw power, and in the modern world, that power is often used as money. When simply held in a person's body, it provides a slight enhancement to durability and it can be used to pay for goods or services anywhere in the world. Beyond that, lucrim alone is only a resource: it's the applications of lucrim that provide greater abilities.

Lucrim is a spiritual substance, neither energy nor mass, but it can be refined in all three forms:

1) Refined spiritual lucrim becomes Lucores, which can have more powerful effects than simply holding lucrim. It also allows for more power to be "stored" beyond what the user can normally contain. They have a constant beneficial effect, but their true potential is only seen when "liquid" lucrim is flowed through them. Almost all fighters possess a "Foundation" that inefficiently grants some permanent power, but more importantly allows for the development of stronger lucores.

2) Lucrim used to generate energy becomes aura. Aura is an energy field that can flow within the body or even in a visible halo beyond it. Depending on training, this process can be very efficient, but it does burn through current lucrim reserves to enhance strength and speed. Only Lucores can provide a benefit "for free".

3) Lucrim used to generate mass becomes ether. Unlike aura, the process to convert ether back into lucrim is very inefficient, so it is primarily used to create permanent objects. A common example is an ether-reinforced door, which would be strong enough to withstand even blows from lucrim users.

All living beings have at least some lucrim within them. Most people (but not all) know how to convert lucrim to aura - this isn't simply for fighters, but students or businesspeople generate aura to increase their mental focus, or it can be used to commute by running/flying. The ability to convert lucrim to ether is less commonly developed, generally by professionals who build their career around it.

Lucrim is normally too ephemeral to be stolen, though certain rare techniques can drain currently held lucrim. Sufficiently large Lucores can be extracted via a complex surgical process, though the total strength is reduced. This is generally only done by parents who want to give or leave something to their children, but is occasionally seen in martial arts sects.

Generation Rate

Lucrim falls from the sky evenly all over the world. In ancient times, people would naturally gather this lucrim into themselves - this is also the reason martial artists would tend to train on mountaintops, because they can gather more lucrim when higher than the rest of the population that might draw it.

But in the modern world, nearly all of the falling lucrim is harvested by international organizations. It is then distributed by reserves as currency. The vast majority of ordinary people rarely ever gather/generate any lucrim of their own, they simply get their supply of lucrim from their job as income.

For this reason, "generation rate" is an outdated term. It does still mean the amount of lucrim that a person can carry at once, and as such is it used as a shorthand measure of power. The value is essential for developing Lucores and for those who fight. For average people, generation rate is just their budget of overall lucrim to spend on things.

Note that there are exceptions to the above. It's possible to create Lucores that generate new lucrim, and this is an essential method of building power for some. However, it requires a significant initial investment of lucrim that can't be spent or used to increase power, so many people don't take advantage of it. Institutions like banks and sects have staff dedicated to lucrim generation to increase their wealth by these methods.

The most common exception is Birthright Cores. Technically these are any cores passed down through a family, but many people leave no cores, or only cores small enough that they are just liquidated. The derogatory term "Birthrighter" refers to people who received a sizable core from their parents, one that immediately grants them either an ability or (more commonly) a steady flow from free lucrim.

Though it's beyond the reach of most people, it's entirely possible to have enough Lucores generating lucrim that you could quit your job and just live off them. This is easier said than done.

Development

Lucrim doesn't come from nothing anymore, so development is limited without income. Fighters who want to improve can train or meditate to develop Lucores or increase efficiency overall, but this won't increase their generation rate or overall capacity. However, currently held lucrim can be invested into power, the process of which will slowly but surely increase generation rate.

Faster ways to gain strength include receiving lucores from other people and purchasing raw lucrim in some form (such as philosopher's elixir) then investing the surge of new strength. There are also more complex methods, such as techniques that improve the efficiency of one's current lucrima soul.

While a lucrim is a unit of measurement, the lucrima soul refers to the collective of all a person's power. Permanent investments like the foundation or Lucores form the core of the lucrima soul, while lucrim are held around it.

Though generation rate is a good measure of the total power available to someone, it's not an exact measure of combat strength. A highly trained fighter with well-invested Lucores could defeat someone with a higher generation rate who just attempts to throw that power around haphazardly. Between two fighters of equal skill, generation rate is a good measure of power, but there are many more or less efficient ways to invest that amount.

Lucrima Portfolios

Reading someone's lucrima portfolio is effectively seeing a list of which attributes and skills they have invested time and lucrim into. Items are ranked both by raw lucrim (a measure of power) and Level or Stage (a measure of skill and efficiency). Here are common items contained within a portfolio...

* Foundation: The bare minimum for a competent lucrim user, allowing the development of all other abilities. * Secondary Foundations: Highly advanced fighters may use different types of foundations or have more than one investment granting specific abilities. * Attribute Lucores: These cores grant a permanent improvement to a physical attribute, such as strength or durability. * Skill Lucores: More advanced cores that allow the use of a supernatural ability that would not be possible by any level of physical strength. * Investment Lucores: Non-combat cores that serve to keep or generate lucrim. These could either be for a bit of extra income, to save for retirement, or to leave a core to one's children. * Utility Lucores: Non-combat cores that serve a specific function. A common (but expensive) core is a Transportation Core that allows for flight at a level that isn't useful in combat, but makes it convenient to travel. * Aura Leeches: These unnatural creatures embody large lucrim debts, draining the user's strength in order to gather lucrim. They remain attached until the debt is completely paid, hindering stamina and also reducing available generation rate by the core value of the debt. * Demonic Bonds: Both debt and power, these bonds grant strength but require steady repayment. There are an exceedingly high number of variations with different requirements and restrictions.