A rough character creation overview
In order to collect my thoughts I've decided to do a rough character creation overview to explain how characters work in my simplified rules. This is based primarily on the Chaosium/American adaptation with some additions from the various French editions. I cannot read French, the French books are difficult to acquire and the worldbuilding differs significantly between different editions, so the additions will not be accurate to the French version will not be faithful renditions and are not trying to be.
All of this information is subject to change.
Families
Characters are divided into Families. There are two broad supergroups: Immortals and Mortals. Immortals include the three families of Nephilim, Selenim, and Ar-KaIm. Mortals include Awakened Mortal, Bohemian, and Living Dead.
Immortals
Nephilim are immortals characterized by their “pentacle” of the five elements, practice of elemental magic, and reincarnation across history. They are the most populous family of immortals.
Selenim are immortals characterized by their Black Lunar-Ka “core”, their practice of black magic, and feeding on Solar-Ka to power their magic. Unlike nephilim, selenim are ageless and don’t reincarnate.
Ar-KaIm are immortals characterized by their “heart” that can potentially contain all eight of the elements and their mysterious nature as the youngest family of immortals.
All characters have the attributes of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Willpower/Solar-Ka, and Charisma. Nephilim have the five elements of Air-Ka, Earth-Ka, Fire-Ka, Lunar-Ka and Water-Ka. Selenim have the element of Black Lunar-Ka. Ar-KaIm can have any combination of elements, but they always start with Saturnian-Ka.
Nephilim must select a Dominant Ka, which must always be their highest attribute. This determines their overall nature and temperament: Air is “Eolim”, Earth is “Faerim”, Fire is “Pyrim”, Lunar is “Onirim”, Water is “Hydrim”.
Selenim have Black Lunar-Ka as their Dominant Ka by definition. Instead of elemental temperaments, they have Origins: Ex-Nephilim and Natural. Ex-Nephilim were Nephilim that underwent the Sundering to become Selenim. Natural Selenim awakened as Selenim and know no other existence.
Ar-KaIm must select a Dominant Ka and an associated Zodiac House. Solar is associated with Leo, Lunar with Cancer and Capricorn, Fire with Aries and Scorpio, Water with Gemini and Virgo, Air with Pisces and Sagittarius, Earth with Libra and Taurus, Orichalka with Aquarius, and Black Lunar with Ophiuchus (a “hidden” house within Scorpio). They may further select a Decan within their House.
Mortals
Mortals are a potential option for players with the GM’s permission. These are normally NPCs.
Awakened Mortals have monochromatic Mystic Vision and have learned how to perform magic, though they require a source of Elemental Ka to power spells.
Bohemians are awakened mortals that have been grafted with a single Elemental Ka. This allows them to perform magic of that element, but renders them vulnerable to Orichalka. [Based on this house rules.]
Living Dead have been “infected” with Lunar Curse by a Selenim, which allows them to perform some black magic if properly trained and enchanted by a Selenim. [I'm not sure how to approach this. Will get to it while writing the black magic rules.]
Metamorphosis
Immortals have a metamorphosis composed of five personality traits that exhibit spiritual (and potentially physical) aspects as well. These aspects essentially give them limited superpowers.
For Nephilim and Ar-KaIm, these personality traits represent emotions they cultivate and learn to understand, control and exploit within themselves. For Selenim, these represent the emotions they prefer to evoke and assuage in others.
Nephilim and Ar-KaIm select a metamorphosis from a list of preset archetypes determined by their Dominant Ka. Nephilim have a symbolic metamorphosis that reflects a mythical creature like a dryad, ifrit, angel, hag, or so on. Ar-KaIm select an astrological metamorphosis based on their zodiac house/sign and decan.
Selenim build their own fuliginous or evocative metamorphosis, which is different for every Selenim.
Bohemians and Living Dead may develop a single personality trait and associated aspect. Under tutelage from a Selenim, Living Dead may develop additional aspects.
Arcana & Secret Societies
All immortal characters should select membership in a Major Arcanum. This doesn't necessarily mean they were formally initiated, but that they have sympathy with that path to Agartha and thus benefit from its bonus (see Major Arcana p9). If the immortal is formally initiated, the bonus increases.
Note that the Major Arcana as organizations represent the Western tradition of immortals descended from Akhenaten's teachings. Other traditions, such as the Chinese xian-ren, Afro-Caribbean loa, and Mesoamerican nagual, may differ significantly and will be explored in their own series.
Most of the Major Arcana are appropriate for PCs, although some are inappropriate or require GM permission (especially for beginners). These are Fool, Hermit, Hanged Man, Devil, Moon, and World. The World Arcanum is for Agarthans only, which the characters will join automatically upon reaching Agartha. The others are either disruptive to mixed groups (Fool, Devil), not inclined to go on expected adventures (Hermit, Hanged Man), or operate radically different from standard characters (Moon).
Selenim automatically have sympathy with the Unnamed Arcanum and thus benefit from the bonus under the sign of Scorpio. Only the Unnamed Arcanum will initiate them, while other Arcana will reject them even if they were previously initiates. The Unnamed Arcanum normally doesn't accept Nephilim (at least not unless they first undergo the rite of sundering) and doesn't yet have a policy regarding Ar-KaIm.
Secret Societies
Most secret societies are enemies of the immortals and thus not appropriate for mixed groups. Some secret societies are allies or neutral to the immortals and thus suitable for mixed groups.
Bohemians have their own set of 5 “chimerical” Minor Arcana supposedly founded legitimately by Akhenaten. While not enemies of the immortals, they pursue goals that the higher ups in the Major Arcana may not agree with. These are:
- Ruby Wand: defenders of freedom. Fight to end all tyranny, occult and mundane alike.
- Ivory Sword: keepers of traditions. Seek to preserve knowledge of the past.
- Sapphire Cup: seekers of despised lore. Seek wisdom in antinomian practices and traditions of the poor.
- Emerald Shield: gardeners of the world. Seek to enchant the land anew, healing orichalka’s wounds.
- Silver Dream: protectors of humanity. Seek to protect the human subconscious from those who would abuse it.
Living Dead with prior occult knowledge are often drawn from members of Les Cultes des Goules (see Secret Societies p64-5). Not so much a single secret society as a guiding philosophy, the Cultes worship Selenim and practice various gruesome rituals in the belief this brings them closer to their masters and may someday turn them into Selenim themselves. (As far as the immortals know, there is no way to deliberately turn a mortal into a Selenim.)
Arcana Factions
There are also a number of secret and not-so-secret factions within the Major Arcana that have their own goals and unique techniques. The Major Arcana book lists a number of them. Here are some more examples: [These factions are all loosely adapted from what I could find on the French version. Obviously the rules are gonna vary and I don't have the time or patience to try finding the original books and translating them faithfully.]
The 666 is a faction of the Unnamed Arcanum that are experimenting with hybridizing the 6 elements between Nephilim and Selenim (hence the name). Their attempts so far have ended in failure since they are unable to make Lunar-Ka and Black Lunar-Ka coexist in the same individual. They are very interested in the Ar-KaIm because of their unique ability to maintain up to all 8 elements within a single individual.
The Orichalcians are a faction of the Unnamed Arcanum that are experimenting with Saturnian-Ka. Rather than an enemy to be hated and destroyed, they believe Saturnian-Ka can be exploited for the benefit of the immortals, potentially even be a path to Agartha. They are very interested in the Ar-KaIm for their ability to maintain Saturnian-Ka alongside the five elemental Ka.
The Cult of the Dragon is a faction of the Devil Arcanum that believes in achieving Agartha through controlled dragonization, i.e. becoming dragons.
The Tutors of the Four True Fields are an extremist faction of the Strength Arcanum that believes Lunar-Ka is dangerously tainted by the Black Moon and must be excised. To this end, they amputate the lunar branches of themselves and other Nephilim to become "cruxim".
Stasis Object
The stasis is the anchor for the nephilim’s pentacle and stores their Ka across incarnations. If the stasis is destroyed, then it can be replaced but the nephilim loses access to their past lives predating that stasis.
The stasis object, its physical form, was selected during the nephilim’s first incarnation. At character creation this past life doesn’t need to be detailed, but the nephilim cannot recall new past lives predating the period that the stasis object was chosen.
The Major Arcana’s spell for binding a stasis only works on nephilim, but not Selenim or Ar-KaIm. (The secret societies may have attempted to force the issue when trying to turn Selenim and Ar-KaIm into homunculi, though the results remain to be seen.)
Selenim do not have stases, unless they saved their stasis from being nephilim (though no longer attracts their Ka upon death), though they may have a sarcophagus that serves a similar role. (The selenim sarcophagi were first mentioned on Nephilim rulebook p55, but rules were never provided.)
Ar-KaIm do not have stases, though it may be possible to create one specifically for them.
Mortals don’t have stases, obviously.
[The French version did have brief rules for what happened when you tried to bind a stasis to a selenim or ar-kaim. Long story short, once they were sucked into it there was no way to get them out and they were probably going to die there once their their Ka disintegrated.]
Attributes
There are 7 total attributes, although not all character types will make use of them. Attributes are used for performing mundane and magical tasks. Most attributes consist of a mundane aspect and a magical aspect. While all characters have the mundane aspect, only some characters may have the magical aspect. [The idea of combining attributes and Ka-elements into single stats comes from the French 5e.]
Strength/Fire-Ka (STR). Used for tasks relating to physical strength and fire magic.
Dexterity/Water-Ka (DEX). Used for tasks relating to manual dexterity, agility, and water magic.
Constitution/Earth-Ka (CON). Used for tasks related to stamina, physical fortitude, and earth magic.
Intelligence/Air-Ka (INT). Used for tasks related to raw intellect, education, and air magic.
Willpower/Solar-Ka (POW). Used for resisting mental or magical influence, and sometimes for influencing others through sheer force of will. Determines the amount of Power Points the character may store. [In BRP this stat is called Power (POW). In Nephilim it is called Solar-Ka (SK).]
Charisma/Lunar-Ka/Black Lunar-Ka (CHA). Used for impressing and manipulating others, and for lunar magic. Charisma has two magical aspects: Lunar-Ka and Black Lunar-Ka. Most characters cannot have both Lunar-Ka and Black Lunar-Ka at the same time. The notable exception is Ar-KaIm. Black Lunar-Ka determines the amount of Black Lunar Points the character may store.
Saturnian-Ka. Sometimes known as Black Solar-Ka, but not related to Solar-Ka. As far as anyone knows, Saturnian-Ka is only used for performing Saturnian magic and has no mundane aspect. It determines the amount of Saturnian Points the character may store. At character creation it is only available to Ar-KaIm, Orichalcians, and Fraternitas Saturnii.
Dominant Ka and Pentacle Balance
A character's Dominant Ka must always be their highest attribute. Furthermore, Nephilim are limited in how high their other attributes can get: Primary Ka (Dominant Ka) > secondary Ka (two adjacent branches and Solar-Ka) > tertiary Ka (the remaining two branches). If this balance is broken then it contributes to Dragonization.
Ar-KaIm suffer a similar limitation. Primary Ka (Dominant Ka) > secondary Ka (Ka of decan’s planet, plus Solar-Ka and Saturnian-Ka if not already counted) > tertiary Ka (all others). If this balance is broken then it contributes to Instability.
Selenim need not worry about any of this. Not unless they were experimented on by the 666... (Rules for that will be written at a later date.)
Skills
Past Lives
Past Lives are the previous lives lived by an immortal. It is common for nephilim to have reincarnated multiple times over their existence. Every Past Life is assigned a historical period. The players and GM work together to describe the events of that life. Each Past Life provides a “Life Experience” skill that is used to perform tasks that Past Life excelled at and recall memories of that life. [The idea of simplifying Past Lives into their own skills comes from the French 5e.]
There are many published and fan-made past lives available, stretching back to at least 10,000 B.C. The Nephilim rulebook and Chronicle of the Awakenings contain all those officially published by Chaosium, while fan-made entries may be found at BRP Central (account required to download).
Players of natural Selenim cannot take past lives dating from earlier than the 1500s without GM permission. Altho natural Selenim have appeared sporadically throughout history, their prevalence has grown significantly since the 1500s. This is suspected to be precipitated by the destruction of the Black Moon crescent during the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs (see Gamemaster's Companion p19).
Players of Ar-KaIm cannot take past lives dating from earlier than the 20th century without GM permission. Altho Ar-KaIm have appeared sporadically throughout history (Jesus Christ may have been one!), their prevalence has increased significantly as the Age of Aquarius approaches. They are very much a recent phenomenon that the Arcana and Secret Societies are still learning about and have yet to form any consensus on.
Selenim do not possess past lives per se because they don't age (at least, they age so slowly that they might as not). Their past lives represent false identities they assumed, but the rules otherwise work the same. (It's not clear why selenim don't age. Is it a benefit of the Black Moon? Is it linked to their inability to recover ch'awe passively? It's a mystery!)
In additional to the Life Experience skill (which provides knowledge and expertise), Past Lives provide various social, material, and occult benefits and drawbacks depending on the events that occurred during that life. These are Assets, Burdens, and Goals; these aren't measured like attributes or skills, but are abstract and qualitative. Each past life starts with one of each, but the player may select more as appropriate. Each asset must be balanced by a burden. [The premise for assets, burdens, and goals was copied from Ex Oculis, altho similar ideas floated on the mailing list for years prior.]
Occult Sciences
All Occult Sciences are divided into three circles of proficiency. These skills are used not just for the practical application of magic, but also its theory and history. Thus, these double as lore skills.
The occult sciences available at character creation are Sorcery (Casual Magic, Ritual Magic, High Magic), Summoning (Lesser Theurgy, Greater Theurgy, High Theurgy), and Alchemy (Black Stone, White Stone, Philosopher's Stone).
Each Alchemy skill has an associated mundane skill chosen by the player. This proficiency is tracked separately from past lives.
The sorcery and alchemy rules are revised in accordance with Liber Ka, the unpublished Slaying the Dragon draft, and Enlightened Magic. I will be working on my own revision for summoning to match them.
To briefly recap how the EM magic works: after using mystic vision, performing a ritual, or preparing a procedure, the caster simply rolls the appropriate magic skill. No need to redundantly roll Ka/POW a second time (and thus no need for a sacrifice rite), but Ka/POW still determines the spell’s POW (POT in Nephilim rules). My revision to summoning will work the same: the summoner rolls his Theurgy skill and the spirit resists the spell’s POW/POT.
I’m still puzzling out how the rules for black magic will work. The Secret Societies book had Saturnian magic use the conventional occult sciences. Ian Young’s notes for adapting Selenim (which were probably written before Liber Ka revised the sorcery rules) make mention of six new skills: Tenebrae, Necromancy (Communion and Command), Black Summoning (First, Second, and Third Circles). As I’ve said in previous posts, my first idea was to use the original occult sciences and adapt black magic to the three circle structure.
Other Occult Skills
The Arcanum Lore and Secret Society Lore skills provide knowledge of that organization and in some cases access to proprietary spells and occult techniques.
Arcane Techniques, such as the Command and Travel skills, provide magical abilities without being full occult sciences. See Major Arcana and Secret Societies for details.
Certain magic spells can be “inscribed” onto the character’s magical aura and retained across incarnations. This makes them much easier/faster to cast/prepare. These inscribed spells have POW/POT fixed upon inscription, which should be noted on the character sheet.
Magic Points
Magic Points (MP), or Ch'awe in Enochian, are spent to power magical workings. Generally, the amount of points spent are equal to the circle of magic being performed. Inherited from the BRP rules, these act as a balancing limitation on casting too much magic at one time. I’m still trying to work out a suitable recovery rate.
There are three types of Magic Points: Power Points (PP), Black Lunar Points (BLP), and Saturnian Points (SP). PP is spent to power most magical workings. BLP is spent to cast Black Lunar magic. SP is spent to cast Saturnian magic.
PP are normally regained with rest and relaxation. BLP is typically regained by draining Solar-Ka from others through "assuaging". SP is recovered from Saturnian enthronements and natural sources of orichalka.
Nephilim only have PP pools. Selenim only have BLP pools (although if you want to increase book keeping then they have PP too used for everything but casting black magic). Members of the Fraternitas Saturnii lack SP and must rely on the presence of orichalka to cast Saturnian spells (this was the case in the Secret Societies rules, altho I'm open-minded). Ar-KaIm and Orichalcians have SP pools.
[In the French version, Nephilim didn't have ch'awe at all. They didn't need to spent points to cast spells. Furthermore, selenim lost BLK at regular intervals varying by edition, but for the sake of reducing book keeping I'm not doing that. Curiously, in 3e Ar-KaIm didn't lose their BLK and instead of assuaging regained it in ways unavailable to Selenim. I have no idea why. To recap for those unaware, Ar-KaIm had power points pools for each of their elements (imagine the book keeping!) and could recover it through astrology, from natural or unnatural concentrations like plexi, nexi, magic items, or even the aura of a spell being cast, and by performing actions symbolic of that element. I'm not sure whether I want to retrofit that for all immortals or not. Would it be too much book keeping? Inappropriate for the tone? Let me know in the comments!]
Degenerations
Degenerations are psychological and magical ailments that immortals can suffer. Degenerations are rated from 0-20 and divided into four stages of severity: mild (1-8), severe (9-14), extreme (15-19), and terminal (20). [This structure was inspired by the French 5e. The new ones you're probably unfamiliar with are adapted from the French version.]
Khaiba ("Instincts"). Khaiba occurs when an immortal's elemental instincts grow unchecked and overwhelm their human side, turning them into an elemental beast.
Shouit ("Shadow"). Shouit occurs when an immortal's mundane side rejects the occult, causing their elemental nature to shrink back and even their memories of the occult to retreat into their subconscious. Selenim refer to this condition as "Ahasverus sickness" and their experience of it is slightly different due to their agelessness.
Narcosis. Narcosis accumulates when an immortal's soul is disembodied for too long, such as during astral projection. This can result in them becoming attached to particular places, developing parasomnias, or in extreme cases their Ka detaches and turns into an elemental beast!
Lunar Entropy. Lunar Entropy accumulates when a Nephilim draws too deeply on the Lunar field or is exposed to strong concentrations of Black Lunar-Ka. Lunar Entropy cannot exceed a Nephilim's Lunar-Ka rating, so those with higher Lunar-Ka are the most at risk (contributing to the distrust for Onirim). This condition can also affect mortals, but since they have no Lunar-Ka its effects are different.
Dragonization. Dragonization is a condition where a Nephilim's pentacle becomes imbalanced and unstable. It renders them more susceptible to Khaiba, makes magical workings more unpredictable, and can cause strange effects like bits of Ka detaching and turning into elemental beasts. If not treated, then the Nephilim will eventually turn into an elemental beast known as a dragon.
Saturnian Corruption. Saturnian Corruption is a condition that afflicts those exposed to Saturnian-Ka, except for Ar-KaIm. Nephilim readily suffer it via injury by Orichalka (hence why Orichalka is a favored weapon against them), while Selenim and mortals are more resistant. [My mention of nephilim here is because I was considering replacing ka damage with this degeneration to reduce book keeping, altho I may scrap it.]
Instability. Instability is a condition that afflicts Ar-KaIm. Altho they can contain all 8 known elements in their Ka-Hearts, this configuration is unstable. As instability grows, it tries to relieve itself by releasing magical flares. If not relieved, then the instability will grow unchecked until the Heart violently explodes, killing the Ar-KaIm. Ar-KaIm suffer from Instability instead of many other Degenerations that afflict other immortals.
And that's basically it! Let me know what you think in the comments.
Comments
Post a Comment