Hello everyone! From my personal view, X+, FirstX, and even Freestyle are very useful tools something that seems sad to see sitting in the corner gathering dust like this. I'm just wondering how many people use X-Mapping and find it a useful tool?

I've only very recently begun to grasp the concept of Essence. I've never personally tried it though, and I don't think I'd be very good at it, but I do like reading through other people's work. (Because it gives me an idea of what it should look like)

I find it more work than I get from the results. I did a couple of essence maps, but that was because I wanted to see the essence avatars that people used to offer. The syntax just causes too much of a disconnect between the character and the traits for me to learn any more about them from what is in the map. I prefer giving them scenarios to try them out against various challenges in order to know what they're like. I find that essence maps reduce them to a pile of characteristics and removes the cohesive essence of who they really are as characters.

Thanks everyone for the replies, that definitely makes sense. I as someone who is a web designer & programmer find the syntax and method fairly easy to pick up. But I could understand without that background (or any need for that background) it being something not worth the effort.

So second question, is there something you use instead of essence mapping? For example detailed character sheets.

Well, the syntax is easy to do, it just becomes too clinical. I have a literal mind, so when I say a character is brave>lion and hard-working>ant, I get conflicting pictures in my head of a character that is an ant lion rather than a human. I'm better with settings. My mental laboratory puts them in the mountains and has them hunt goats, just to see what they do and how they manage the task. Unless I find a picture that captures their essence, I don't really go trying to find their appearance, because it develops over time in my head until I can document the specifics. Barraging them with questions helps too.

Really though, the best way to get to know essence is just try it and see if it works. I know some people found it useful, I was just really not one of them.

I'm not smart enough to figure out how essence stuff works...

Ah OK, I understand what you're saying now Lady Kitra.


Is it a question of being smart enough or being worth it?

I just don't understand how it works or what it's supposed to do...

Ummm.... *racks brain trying to remember how it was explained to him*

I think it's like your interpretation of an image or imagery....

Like, if you looked at a red background with a rose on it, you might think of love, but if I took the rose and put a knife on it, you might think of murder...

So when using Essence for characters, if you said that one of them has "a heart of a lion", you'd be saying that the person is "courageous" or something, right?

*nods* That's pretty much it Balec... Essence mapping is basically the idea of capturing essence. The base ingredients or substance of something would be one way of putting it.

If that's useful to you, it might be worth learning. Something that I think we do need a better tutorial on. Otherwise, it can take time and may not be worth it.

Also, while your examples were good, Balec, on the courageous example, it's better syntax to do something like: "lion heart".