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How do I handle the cycles of the soul?

My campaign changes the nature of Nephilim from elemental spirits possessing human bodies to paredri symbiotically bonding with human bodies to awaken the higher self. This has consequences for how my cosmology handles magic like resurrection, exorcisms, and the link to past lives. I'm not giving concrete game rules since I'm still thinking about what system to use. The incarnation and awakening A paredrus is little more than another elemental beast. It operates purely on instinct. However, it is linked to the stars and can find suitable hosts to merge with. In general, a prospective host fulfills two criteria: 1) they currently sit at an emotional crossroads in their life that makes their Solar-Ka permeable to the Ka-elements, on some level desiring the bond and inviting it into themselves; a paredrus cannot bond with just any human in proximity. 2) the host's personality and life experience is preferably analogically linked to the Dominant Ka-element of the paredrus , but

Some ideas on lunar entropy

In this post I wanted to discuss some ideas for handling Lunar Entropy, a fifth Khaiba form in which the Nephilim is gradually corrupted by the Black Moon. (This post assumes that Khaiba forms are persistent and noted on the character sheet, rather than determined randomly when the PC suffers a Khaiba episode.)  While Onirim are the most sensitive to it, Lunar Entropy can strike any Nephilim. While the vulnerability scales with the Nephilim’s own Moon-Ka, even a Cruxim whose lunar branch was amputated by anti-lunar extremists entirely is still vulnerable to it. Lunar Entropy points may accrued from a variety of sources: performing the sacrifice ritual for a moon spell, certain fumbles on the occult sciences, casting certain spells that flirt with the darkside, being exposed to aggressive or concentrated sources of Black Moon-Ka… Once it has asserted itself as their persistent Khaiba form, anything that aggravates Khaiba will progress it. When contaminated, the motes of Black Moon-Ka in

Saurians as an old race of KaIm?

This idea was inspired by a conversation on discord. I was chatting with someone who criticized the backstory about how the Saurians awakened the Kaïm by creating the Black Moon. His argument was that it took agency and focus away from the title characters of the game. So that was his justification for removing the Saurians entirely. I disagreed, so I quickly thought of a way to reconcile our opposing viewpoints. What if the Saurians were actually a type of Nephilim? A type of Onirim dragon? This would allow them to stay, while putting the focus back on the Nephilim. So my idea is that Saurians were an early evolution of Kaïm, specifically the old race of dragons: lunar dragons. They had a pentacle of five Ka-elements, but Moon-Ka was hypertrophied and eclipsed the other branches, a ka-imbalance typical of dragons. This meant it was easy to confuse them as beings of purely Moon-Ka, even while they manipulated all the magic fields to create their civilization. The Saurians were the firs

Some ideas for Narcosis

The rules for Narcosis underwent a number of revisions in the French version. For my own campaigns, I wanted to have some guidelines for handling this. While this post won't provide detailed rules, I will go over my ideas so far. Progression of Narcosis Narcosis actually has two stages progression: crystallization and anchorage. Furthermore, the effects of anchorage vary depending on whether the Nephilim is incarnate or not. A paredrus outside of a human body, and unable to return to stasis, is subject to crystallization. The exact cause is unknown, but some suspect it is an immune response to the trace amounts of Orichalc present in all the magic fields. Its Ka-elements retract and contract, like Sektet, eventually rendering it unable to move. At this point, the paredrus enters Narcosis shock and anchorage begins.  Once fully crystalized, the paredrus' Ka-elements bleed into and gradually merge with the surrounding magic fields, a process known as encysting or fossilizing. Thi

Selenim in other Arcana?

In most editions of Nephilim , the Selenim are relegated to membership in the Unnamed Arcanum. In third edition, however, this changed. The Unnamed Arcanum was formally rechristened as "Rebirth", accepting only Immortals whose Dominant Ka was Black Moon: Selenim and Ar-Kaïm of Serpentarius. Meanwhile, it was explained that the other Major Arcana were not limited to Nephilim: they could theoretically accept Selenim and Ar-Kaïm. This is a bombshell revelation that raises numerous questions. Of particular interest: how can Selenim contribute as members of the other Arcana if they cannot practice the elemental Occult Sciences of the Nephilim? Well, I had a few ideas of my own regarding that. In the US Major Arcana book, it is mentioned that Selenim can learn certain Arcane Techniques like The Emperor's Thes and The High Priestess' Shemmut. A number of the Arcane Techniques do not seem to rely on particular elemental spells and could perhaps be adapted for Selenim use. But

Natural Onirim?

The origins of the Nephilim have been subject to various revisions and retcons over the course of the game's editions and adaptations. In the first edition, French and English, it was mentioned in passing that new Nephilim could be born from Nexuses. In the English version, it is assumed that a Nephilim's first incarnation occurs shortly after the Nephilim was born from the magic fields. In the second edition, French only, it was clarified that all Nephilim were former KaIm. After the Fall of Atlantis, no Nephilim were ever born again. Instead, the beings born from Nexuses are "astrological Nephilim" who lack pentacles and incorporate Orichalc into their essence. In the third edition, French only, the astrological Nephilim were named Ar-KaIm. Furthermore, it was established that "natural Selenim" were born on the astral plane and incarnated in passing dreamers, bypassing existence as Nephilim entirely. Incidentally, Nephilim disembodied on the astral plane c

Who are the Ar-Kaïm?

The Ar-Kaïm were introduced in the third edition of the French version, Nephilim: Revelation . Although they received their rules in this edition, they existed in the lore as far back as the first edition's reference to new Nephilim being born from nexuses. In second edition, this reference was revised as referring to "astrological Nephilim," who are different from the "symbolic" Nephilim that are usually meant. Rather than a Pentacle of the five elements, they may possess all eight Ka, including Solar, Black Moon and Orichalc. The Ar-Kaïm were introduced as an option for beginner players, as their backstory was far shorter than that of the Nephilim. Ar-Kaïm only started being born as of 1900 and could only reincarnate within their own descendants within their current simulacrum's lifetime, so they weren't as involved in the occult history like Nephilim and Selenim. An Ar-Kaïm PC knew about as much as a beginner player. Ar-Kaïm didn't learn Occult Sc