Effects of Essences

First question, should essences have magical effects?

Initially, as your can read in this post, i decide not include any effects for base/collected essences.

As you can read in many lore books, all items of our world can be used for alchemy. Herbs, vegetables, flowers, mushrooms, human and creature parts - all of this has own properties, magic power. Some to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent. It's based on myth of world's creation -  Nirn/Mundus was created by god's power, so all of this created with magic, and contain it.

This means that the nature of the abilities of all living races is also magical, conditioned by centuries of evolution, and is contained in their bodies, body parts, bodily fluids.

So now, in current version, i decide add all effects of each race to essences.

As example, Argonian race, has initial (at character creation) bonuses for this skills - +10 for Lockpicking, +5 for Alteration, Light Armor, Pickpocket, Restoration, Sneak. also they have passive Waterbreathing ability, higher unarmed damage, disease resist 50%. So essences, collected from this race, will have this/simillar effects.

Power and Cost of Effects

The second question is, how strong should the effect be, what should be its magnitude/area/duration?

This is a rather difficult question. Answer based on correct game balance. And main problem - effects cost.

For Argonian's essences example, it can have effect  "Waterbreathing (AlchWaterbreathing)" - one of most expensive game effects. It has base cost value 30, so if you add this effect with duration 5 minutes, you get item with min price 1264 gold. And it only first effect! 

In game, passive abilities actually costless, but related alchemical effects (if exists) can be very expensive. My main rule is not to set extra objects/effects if you can do without them. So if i have effect in game - i use it. If you introspect all usage of this alchemy effect in game you see next. 4 vanilla/base DLC ingredients have this effect with duration 5 seconds, and 1 ingredient with duration 60 seconds. Rare Curious has 6 ingredients with this effect and duration 8 secs. Also game have 4 standard waterbreathing potions with duration 15/30/45/60 seconds, and 1 HearthFire food with effect duration 50 seconds.

So for game balance, the added ingredients should not be significantly stronger than the specified/exist ingredients/potions. Or we receive fully imbalanced gameplay.

Effect's cost is a one of the base game characteristics, which manage many gae aspects - cost of items and potions, skill experience and other mechanics.

One of methods of fast alchemy boosting - create more expensive potions, with expensive effects. 

And related problem - what magnitude/area/duration/base cost i should set to newly createed effects, which not exists in game? For aphrodisiacs, complex potions, transformation potion, perfumes? 

Therefore, if I used the standard alchemy mechanics to create potions from my ingredients, then even with a simple improvement in the quality of the essence, I would get huge alchemy experience and a very expensive potion.  It also almost fully break game balance.

But at the same time, these essences are rare, they are not as easy to get in the game as the rest. So they should have a higher value, give stronger effects.

Craft by recipes at custom workbench

In the end, in order to avoid a lot of problems, I decided to use the recipe system for creating potions.

• All of essences are Ingestible (Potion, ALCH). So you can't combine it with other ingredients on usual alchemical workbench.
• It also got rid of the 4 magic effect limit that exists in the game for all Ingredient (INGR) type objects. Each race has a significant bonus to one of the main skills, as well as several others, and even passive abilities. And it is desirable to add most of them, as available potion/essence effects.
• The production of potions and other mixtures, including intermediate ingredients, is carried out on a special alchemy table. You do not gain standard alchemy experience using this equipment.
• This protects against game balance disturbances associated with an overestimated gain of alchemical experience, the creation of too expensive potions.
• Since I have disabled the standard alchemy experience gain when crafting on this alchemy table, an alternative script to control the crafting process has been implemented. He controls not only the acquisition of alchemical experience, but also the mechanisms for obtaining additional results, sided products, higher quality products, the mechanism for returning the original ingredients.
• To achieve the necessary logic, the script combines the technique of controlling the player's inventory and using custom meta-objects that are replaced with real production results, as it works in harvest scripts for planters in HearthFire.
• When producing according to recipes, it is easier to control, adjust the balance of prices and effects. We always know the price of the original ingredients, and we always know what result we are guaranteed to get. And we can mathematically justify all the changes.
• In addition, in the lore of the game there are references to many effects even for existing ingredients that are not actually in it. Making according to recipes made it possible to "reveal" these effects, to pre-process ingredients to obtain new properties.

On top of that, an interesting way of adjusting ingredient prices has been devised that will add value to an ingredient without having to create an imbalance with overly strong effects. This method consists in adding a special effect that does not actually perform any effect on the gameplay at this stage.

In fact, this is a common effect for all essences, which tracks the statistics of their consumption and calculates the experience of the corresponding skill. Previously, it was without a price, but I decided to add an effect cost to it and use it to adjust the prices of individual essences and potions.

Perhaps in the future I will get rid of this temporary solution (an empty effect with a cost). After all, in fact, in order to perform any action when consuming a potion, it is not at all necessary to add a magical effect to it - all this can be done from the player's control script. But at the moment, until the effects of all essences are balanced, this is the optimal solution.

Custom Ingredients

This is a base list of all ingredients which i add to my mod

• Ingredients obtained after sexual intercourse
  • About 60  ingredients of playable races. List will be extended with addons for custom races. This include sperm, squirt, blood
  • About 20 essences from animal/creature races.
  • All essences basically has no effect and use ALCH (Ingestible/Potion/Food) type of object. So create potions with this ingredients you can only on special workbench.
• Ingredients from other games of TES series (Morrowind, Oblivion) 
  • Currently its about 10 ingredients, as standard INGR. I assign it original magic effects from other TES games. 
  • All of this can be purchased from vendors, khajiit caravans, and planted (currently only in my mod orangery)
• Some special ingredients, such as solvents, catalysts, powders, extracts which will be used in craft. Some of this can be obtained by craft, some only from vendors.

Custom Potions/Food

I concetrate my work on restoring some original/old game versions potions and add some extra, which have no lore version.

• Elixir of Exploration (Oblivion) - amazing potion which you can get from Sinderion's quest in Oblivion.
• Potion of Herbalist (4 tiers) - custom potion with effect similar to the perk "Green Thumb". With some chance (based on potion tier) you can get extra ingredients from harvesting plants.
• Improved (combined) potions - various potions, which can be crafted through mixing 2+ potions with special solvent. As example, health restore and regenerate potions can be mixed to potion with both effects and extra magnitude. Also i create similar potions for battle/sneak/magic skills, and some other combinations, depended on game style.
• Alchemy boost potions. I always wondered why there is no potion with the effect of Fortify Alchemy in the game, there is no ingredient, but at the same time there is such a magical effect. So i restore this effect, create speciall processing for Death Bell (read book Special Flora of Tamriel), to create extract with required effect. Also i create effects for alchemy experience boost potion and for similar to the Sinderion's Surprise ability. Of course, it's need balancing of effects.
• Set of potions with racial effects which can be crafted from "special essences".
• Pheromones (still need test) - potions with cloak effect, which change behavior/relation to you from other NPCs.
• Other various ingestibles - food, drinks, alcohols, drugs. 

Ingredients collecting 

I provide some mechanics of collecting different types of ingredients.

• Sexual essences automatically obtainable through SL OrgasmEnd Hook after sex-scene.
• Also it can drop from corpse with some chance. I update all Leveled List with "safe way" so you no need to use special tools to merge it.
  • But I'm still in doubt about how "realistic" it is. Is it possible that a wolf, before dying, will pour his sperm into a jar, and indeed where does he get a bottle from?
  • Perhaps I will make an option with the addition of a new activation menu. Something in the style of "I'll take a syringe and pump it out of his testicles." It will be more realistic, especially if you add the chances of a successful collection.
• Accordingly, I already have a syringe for collecting blood and a separate skill that allows me to use it. For all playable races, you can collect blood with it. It can be used in potions or drunk by a vampire.
  • This works in the same way as it is done in one of the main storyline quests. With one difference - instead of changing the quest variable, you get a real ingredient, and you need empty vessels to collect.
  • While the effect of the collector's potion does not work on the collection of blood. Just because formally the blood is not INGR, but an object of the ALCH type. But most likely I will fix it.
  • From some creatures with syringe you can get some extra ingredients - its add new activation menu. For example, Spriggan Sap from Spriggan's corpse. 
• Plantable ingredients. All of plant-type ingredients can be growned on HearthFire planters. Some of this will be available only for planters in shop's orangery. And, yes, you will be able to plant Nirnroot, Crimson Nirnroot, Moon Sugar Cane. 
• Archmage's magic chest. It's unique artifact from Oblivion. It will allow you to put 1 ingredient and get 10 on next day. 
• Vendors. I update assortiment of all apothecaries, caravan merchants and some innkeepers to sell new ingredients, some rare items. For example, Babette, after completing her special quest chain, will sell the Jarrin Root. Of course, it permanently will have some "sexual essences", catalysts, solvents and other specific substances, required for alchemy recipes.

Actually i also work on "collector's tools and armor set". This is a set of items - armor, jewelry, equipped tools. It allows you to collect additional ingredients and increases their quantity. I'm still thinking about the balance in the implementation of this set, I will be glad to hear your suggestions and wishes.

Quests

All quest lines currently uncompleted, i need write some dialogues, test conditions, debug scripts and find how to realize some my ideas for quests. But this current list of quest lines

• Main quest line. By completing this chain, you will learn about the use of "special" ingredients, learn how to get them, how to brew potions from them, their properties and recipes. As a reward for each stage, you get access to new goods from all alchemists (including but not limited to "special essences"), the posibility to use the store as your home, alchemy experience (including "lover's alchemy" skill), access to the laboratory and its supplies, and also some unique artifacts. And it's reuired for access to radiant quest and other quest lines.
• History of the great alchemist. This chain will bring you back to "life" one of the most famous alchemists. His ghost will dwell in the store lobby, sharing his experience and knowledge with you, teaching you a number of tricks and recipes.
• Black Book "Lover's Essences". We all know that Hermaeus Mora is reluctant to part with his knowledge. Discover a long-lost tome, explore the new Apocrypha zone and uncover its mysteries.
• Moon Sugar's Researching. Help the store owner in his research, learn the secrets of this "barelly legal" ingredient and learn how to make new potions from it.
• Some other quest lines, specified for concrete apothecaries and them lore-related stories - Arcadia, Nurelion, Babette. 
• Radiant alchemy/essence collecting/ingredients collecting quests. All quest give some various rewards - gold (leveled), ingredients ("special"/rare/uncommon), recipes, experience (vanilla alchemy, lover's alchemy, essence collecting). Some examples:
  • Bring some amount of vanilla ingredients for vendor. Rewards - alchemy experience, gold (related to ingredients cost + extra), potions of herbalist.
  • Bring some "special" essences to vendor.
  • Create some vanilla/special potion. Rewards - recipes, ingredients, gold, experience
  • Deliver some items from one alchemist to another.

Vendor's assortment update.

So i update assortment of all apothecaries in game (Vanilla + Dragonborn + Dawnguard). All has specific assortiment, related to them speciality - some of them sell aphrodisiacs, another sell poisons and its recipes, another - fortify potions. All of them sell random "special essences"  and other new ingredients. 

List of goods changing dynamically, by completing quest and other conditions. 

I declined the method of directly editing "trader chests", replacing it with control through quest aliases, which allowed me to avoid compatibility problems with other add-ons, and also make a flexible assortment management system. The mechanic controls all major apothecaries, caravan merchants, and some inkeepers.

Completing specific quest lines from each alchemist, you can open extended goods list. 

Other staff

I share list of some other features, currently developing, without details. Some of thist can be changed in release

• Teleport system to major cities and some guilds. Of course, you need complete some quest to access it.
• Randomization of craft results. As example, when you craft Herbalist's Potion (tier 1), you can randomly with some chance - receive extra potion (duplicate), recieve potion with higher grade, return some of ingredients, or get some side products - for exchange, sell or craft.
• Leveled Skill Experience. For some reasons, i disable alchemy exp gain for my specficic workbenches (my potion valuable, so give too much EXP), and i realize alternative progressive experience system for craft and quest. 
• Book of conjuration. Allows you to summon some creatures that are rarely found in the game, or hard-to-reach locations.
• Book of Ingredients. Teach you random effect of any ingredient. 
• Dwemer Analyze Cube. Allow you teach all effects of ingredient, which gifted/placed to artifact. Also can decompose any potion, create list of effects, and try to find recipe for crafting.
• Notes with information about custom added ingredients. Allow you teach properties of mod-added ingredients.
• Recipe Knowledges System. For some of my new potions, you need have recipe to create it. Works through hidden Perks.
• Some amount of lore-friendly alchemy-related books from other games (Morrowind, Oblivion, Online). Some of this are Skill Books (teach skills)
• Some amount of erotic stories, sex-related books - just for fun)
• Erotic wallart with custom viewable descriptions ("decorator's spirit", created through Talking Activators)
• Scribe's Desk - for book/notes duplicating and knowledges recording. For one of quest, you will need destroy one of quest book, so with this tool you can create its copy.
• Also i auto-enable function "take without read" for all skill books.
• Collectible jars with ingredients. Not anything new, but i randomize amount of received ingredients. So from jar with lavender you can for example recieve 5-6 items.
• Of course, some plants in Shop's Orangery also "extra fertilized" and give more ingredients.
• Side products system for alchemy/cooking. As i write earlier, due to craft you can get extra items. This items you can exchange for alchemy experience, ingredients or sell it to vendors. Some of this will be only for sale, with high price (about 1000-3000 gold), but will drop with very low chance (about 1-2 %)

Part of this features fully implemented, some of this in testing state, for some i know how to do it and need to realize.

My main idea on race-specific  properties/effects of essences. Essences collected from being (human, elf, beastfolk race, aimal, creature), contains its race effects. As example, for Nords - cold resist, for Argonian - water breathing, horse - increasing stamina. 

For playable/custom races we have possibility to collect gender-specific essence - sperm or squirt. So if you play male character, you get after sex your sperm and squirt  of your female partner (as example).  For animal races you get it's sperm - wolf, bear, horse, troll and other - because most creatures a males. Yes, we have some male-on-female-creature animations, but it uncommon variant.

Playable race essences (human, elfs, beastfolk races) have some grades of quality

• Raw Essence - fresh collected essence, not so effective.
• Distilled Essence - you get it through distiallation process on alchemy table. 
• Concetrated Essence - you get it after concetration with special sellable ingredient (catalyst)
• Racial Essence - high-level essence, required for some potions with race effects.

Essence collecting process full-controlled by my mod, use Sexlab hook system, and no need other mods to work. Essence collecting requires bottles in inventory and special collector skill, which you get due to quest line. Skill level affects on count of received essences, their quality.

For collecting purposes in shop basement i place some animals in cells.  New creatures will be accessible by quest line. Also, i provide "Conjuring Book" for some unusual creatures - Seekers, Atronachs, Dremora, Ghost and other non-animal creatures. This also can be accessible as quest reward.

The main difference between these essences and ordinary ingredients is the absence of a magical effect. Technicaly, it realized by consumables/ingestibles (ALCH-form) with blank effect. You can't use standard alchemy table for its combining, you can teach effect by consumming. Mixing will be carried out strictly according to specified recipes, the availability of which will depend on the skill level.

Other ingredients

Also i add some other ingredients, from other games (Oblivion, Morrowind, TES Online). They will work as regular, standard effects based on TES Wiki/Lore Books description. Some of its will be collectible/plantable, some sellable by vendors (i update leveled lists of vendors).

For some of its i plan use Special Flora ingredients, or public models of some IRL herbs/plants.

May be in future i add some harvesting functions - tree sap, blood, organs.

Ingredients effect book

I provide custom mechanic for teaching properties/effects of all vanilla ingredients - Book of Alchemist's Knowledges. This special book will be placed in main laboratory, and with it activator you can randomly teach new effects of vanilla ingredients - no more consuming. Access to this feature, of course will be granted due to quest line, and will be limited and time (once a day). 

Exterior/Location

Shop located near Half-Moon Mill and Evergreen Groove, slightly north of the road. It's have 2 buildings, on Whiterun-style, small pound.

Main building - alchemy shop, second buulding - tavern/bakery for future release. Near shop growth some herbs, spawns moth. Also i plan add stable with horse (for quest line).

Main building

Main building is an ordinary/typical alchemy shop - shelves with ingredients, books, potions, a merchant behind the counter. Nothing unusual. 

Shop building divided for several areas/zones.

• Main shop area. As i say, shelves with books, ingredients, potions, standard alchemy table. 
• Owner's living area. Small kittchen, storage, bedroom on second floor. Locked by key.
• On second floor - Player's room. You can own it after quest line completing. Locked.
• Small room with no appointment. Previously, I used it to test alchemy equipment, but now I have transferred the functionality to the main laboratory. May be i replace it with something else.

Main functionality located at Basement floor. Door to this cell located on shop's first floor, in front of the store entrance.

Basement floor

This cell separated for 2 zones.

First zone with public/everyone access. Its tavern/inn. It's have 4 guest rooms, long hall with tables, bookshelves, various decorations.

Also i plan add kittchen zone, party room, bathroom and some special (kinky) rooms.

Second - restricted access area. You will get key to enter it due quest line.

This area needed for special mod functionality and contains this rooms.

• Alchemy Lab  and Storage - with books, ingredients, special apparature
• Orangery 
• Creature cells
• Small internal hall for future purposes.

Decoration, assets, resources, arts, content

Commonly i use mostly vanilla assets and some popular modders resources packs.

• Oaristys clutters
• Balcer's animated door for storages
• k13ran64 planters
• Blary's OpenBooks, BookSets, WallArt, IngredientsDrawers
• AwesomePotions for new ingredients and potions.

But i create new textures for some books/wallarts, some new models of laboratory flasks/equipment, and other assets.

In basement cell. public area i use some NSFW arts from differents authors, for location themization.

It's semi-vanilla wallarts, fantasy, with different thematics(moslty straight, toying, orgy, cum collecting, bestiality)  and fantasy characters (elfs, orcs, demons, draenei, demons/succubus). Now its about 30 different arts, that i use in location.

I plan add some erotic statues in public halls and some special rooms, some adult furniture, some books with erotics content.

For quest/story reasons i currently writing some books about alchemy and add some vanilla alchemy book from other games of TES universe.

Lover's Essences is about sex alchemy. Collect essences (from human NPCs, creatures, animals) and brew special potions from this. 

Ok, there are some mods about this on LL, why i decide to make my own?

Original idea that i have about year ago - sex magic mode with Incubus/Succubus storyline. Through quest line you search powerfull person, who start his education of magic, and finally become sexual demon. He needs sex and cum for his life, it's his power source. And finally, after quest line, he tech you some new skills, spells. And part of this mod - sexual alchemy, cum collecting. 

Of course, we have some similar mods. I inspired by Besstial Essences, love Milking Mod Economy. But mostly of mods oriented for female PC. And actually, i have not seen any amazing Sex Alchemy System, such as CACO and other base alchemy overhauls.

So i decide to make my own mod. Let's I tell about its functions

• Custom Skills System
  • Essence Collecting mechanics. It's a base skill. You can collect essences throug sex with differents NPCs, animals, creatures. You not only receive cum/sperm, but also other essences. It's based on actors race, gender, animation tags. Essences you collect automatically after sex scene, if you have this skill and required items. When you collect essences, you gain skill exp. Increasing skill level allow you receive mote essences, or more quality essences.
  • Essence Contributor Skill. Most of essences have one side effect - arousement increasing. Leveling of this skill decrease this effect, and increase positive effects of potions.
  • Essence Alchemyst Skill. Main skill required for crafting potions, elixirs and poisons from this natural essences. Leveling this skill allow you craft more powerfull potions, use alternate recipes, get more results.
• Special alchemy shop, vendor, tavern. It's standard package. Large shop with vanilla and special ingredients, some NPCs for mod and story line functionality. Underground tavern with erotic styled decor (books, arts, statues). Special section with alchemy lab, storage, orangery, creature cells - all that needed for new alchemy.
• Of course, storyline, quests. 
• Integration with same theme mods - Besstial Essence, Mild Mod Economy, and other SexLab mods - SLAX, SOS, SLEN, 
• Custom race supporting - i provide mechanics for essence generation for other, non-vanilla races. Such as Selachii, Lykaious and other. 

It seems to look as small piece of work. But it's only overview, details will be published soon.