On the ephemerality of elementals
These are my thoughts on elementals and some comparisons with the French.
See Nephilim rulebook p220, Gamemaster’s Companion p42, Serpent Moon p14, and this Chaosium Digest article for the rules on elementals. (A fan-made bestiary doc may be found here too.) What follows is a brief recap.
Elemental creatures are ephemeral compared to nephilim and mortals. Without Solar-Ka to anchor them, they require natural sources of Ka to maintain themselves. Those born from natural phenomena will vanish as soon as the weather clears. Those born from magical phenomena like a plexus or nexus last longer and can seek out new sources of Ka to counteract their expiration.
Orichalka creatures are inherently anathema to the magic fields and deteriorate even more rapidly. This is probably a blessing, as they are typically extremely dangerous even by the standards of elemental creatures. None of the normal methods for controlling elementals work on them!
Black Moon creatures cannot survive long away from the doomed fields. (Serpent Moon provides hard numbers in the form an “entropy” stat that says how much Ka it loses per time interval. This was never given for other elementals.) Some, like the Ebon Eels, have special attacks to drain Solar-Ka! Using the mysterious "Libido–Destrudo Complex" they may siphon Solar-Ka and refract it into Black Lunar-Ka within themselves.
The ephemerality of elemental creatures is suspected to have several explanations. Natural instability, lack of Solar-Ka, interference from other elements, etc. Creatures born of the magic fields may be ephemeral due to the trace amounts of Orichalka across the world, which steadily degrade them without elemental Ka to counter it. Creatures born of the Black Moon aren’t harmed by Orichalka at all, but conversely they lack a true field of their own to provide consistent sustenance. Creatures born of Orichalka plexi are mutually anathema to the five fields that dominate the world, and Saturn is so far away anyway that its influence is furthered weakened.
There don't seem to be any elemental creatures born of the Sun. Humans and mortal animals seem to be the only known manifestation. Not counting Agarthans and whatever else lurks in the subtle planes.
(The following information comes from notes for the cancelled Selenim book.) Though the Nephilim know nothing of it, the Solar-Ka of humans doesn't dissipate completely upon death. A residual core of Solar-Ka remains within the corpse, and this is the dead soul that may be augured by the Selenim's necromancy. These spirits generally cannot wander freely like elemental creatures, unless they have the assistance of a necromancer or are particularly powerful. On the upside, they persist for much longer: on average it takes a couple of centuries for the residue to dissipate.
In the French
(You can find a French bestiary here. You can probably auto-translate with your browser.)
In the French there was a phenomenon that afflicted elementals beasts: Essoufflement. This basically translates to "breathlessness", "exhaustion" or "expiration"—compare Ch'awe meaning "breath". This afflicted elementals and they needed to feed on sources of Ka to sustain themselves.
In the French rules, black lunar spirits had an "entropy" statistic that specified how much Ka they lost per interval and what the time interval was. (This was copied in the extracts translated and reprinted in Serpent Moon p14.)
I have no clue why two nigh-identical but different mechanics were used, but in my homebrew I'm using a unified mechanic for this.
Also... both could drain Ka from Immortals! The rules for draining Ka are explained and standardized for both elementals and black summonings in the 3e rulebook p152. Some online fan resources expand on this: Palimpseste #5 and a doc titled "dracomachie".
Draining Ka?
The US version never gave elementals any universal draining ability and it makes them vastly more dangerous. If you’d like rules for it, though, then I have some quick and dirty suggestions:
Elemental beasts lose Ka at a rate of 1 point per week on Saturday. To recover this loss, they must charge themselves from other sources, such as a mundane manifestation of its element, or from magical sources like permanent fields, plexi, nexi, dragon gates, artefacts, stasis items, and Nephilim!
When an elemental beast tries to drain Ka from a Nephilim, this maneuver works exactly like attack by The Orichalka Trumpet, Minister of Dissension (see Nephilim rulebook p162). For each Ka-element neutralized, the elemental recovers 1d6 Ka and the Nephilim adds equal points to his Khaiba Total. If the Ka vs Ka roll is a Critical Success, then the elemental neutralizes two Ka-elements at once. If the roll is a Fumble, then the elemental loses 1 CON instead.
Draining Ka from a magical item is automatic upon making contact. The elemental drains Ka of its own element at the rate of 1 point per round. If an Artefact’s Ka is reduced to 0, then it loses all magical properties (see Gamemaster’s Companion p32).
I’m working on more detailed rules for handling Pentacle distortions, which will tie into Ka damage inflicted by elementals. Look forward to that in a future post…
Hope you enjoyed!
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