Core

Description

The core is a body part that serves a similar purpose for Peremene life as hearts do for Earth life, regulating their flow of energy. Since most beings on the planet of Peremene are made up primarily of energy, their cores are extremely vital. For the common species--elves, norians, and the falician--it takes the place of where a chest would be on a human on Earth.

Although the core isn't made of skin, it's like skin in that it's equally capable of absorbing mana when directly exposed to the elements. However, since it has a large surface area, exposing it comes with an increased risk of manaburn and protective corewear (underwear) is recommended. Most cores also shine very brightly when they're not covered and it's considered rude to "flash" people.

History

Lighthearts

One discarded name for the game is "Lighthearts." Besides the entendre with the word lighthearted and the positive tone it would have set, it hints at a revelation that the characters have "hearts" of energy instead of flesh and blood. Traces of the Lightheart legacy still exist since Celty and Leaf wonder about the origin of their species, but that issue became a minor part of the game.

A Gameplay-First RPG

Cores might be the very best go-to example of the odd logical hoops I had to jump through because I chose to make a gameplay-first RPG where the story and setting had to be molded to fit the gameplay. Figuring out RPG physics is like figuring out superhero physics or Dragonball power levels: a royal pain for creators if you do because physical explanations aren't the point anyway, but a royal pain for fans if you don't because then physical explanations become the point until fans believe they've figured them out.

Here everything began with my idea that when characters hit 0 HP, they shouldn't pass out. Instead they'd start taking triple damage from attacks against a second EP (Energy Points) stat that would continuously drain like the rolling HP in EarthBound--and the character would be KOed when that stat hit 0. It looked great on paper as an element of battles, but then came the time to justify it from a story and setting standpoint.

• Were 0 HP characters simply bleeding to death or unconsciousness? No, way too gruesome.
• Were they running on final shots of adrenaline? Maybe, but a chemical explanation didn't feel right for a fantasy world.
• Should HP and EP be reversed: characters create energy shields and when their shields are gone, they're left with their physical HP, which gets eaten away by the mana flow? No, that didn't make sense. Even triple damage wouldn't be enough. A plain physical body wouldn't withstand most attacks at all.
• Should they be beings of pure energy? No, too broken.

Finally I settled on a combination of the last two. They're beings of mostly energy and have cores that create energy shields around their bodies. Hitting 0 HP signals that their cores have begun destabilizing. Of course, it didn't end there. One answer spiraled into many, many, many questions:

If these species are mostly made of energy, do they have muscles or bones? If not, then how are their body shapes so much like humans? Should I change their body shape? Do they store fat at all? Can they digest anything like Snorlax? (I had a good laugh at Dinosaur Comics' perfect dog years later.) Do they even need to eat? Can they even eat? Can they drink?

Are they self-sustaining or do they need to absorb mana? Do they take in vitamins from sunlight? Why would sexual dimorphism exist if they're mostly or completely self-sustaining? If I can't think of a reason for it to exist, does that mean girls and guys look the same? Does it mean they sound the same? Am I giving my characters skin, hair, and nails only because it looks nice and not because it makes sense in the context of this universe? If so, is that necessarily wrong? Would the presence of God in this universe justify such a thing? Would the presence of God justify everything?

Where in the body would a core be located anyway? Can you see it like Iron Man's replacement heart or Metallo's Kryptonite core? If the core is made of energy, how does it interact with skin? Is it like that one weird Metroid Prime creature with two independent halves connected by electricity? Do beings of mostly energy live forever? Do they age? Are they born full-sized? How do they reproduce anyway? Do they reproduce? Am I inadvertently creating the wackiest biology this side of E.V.O.: Search For Eden?

...and many, many, many more, which you can read about elsewhere. Thankfully I'm a curious person and don't mind going all Socratic method on myself.