On the visibility of elementals

Rather than going on a case-by-case basis, here I’m providing general guidelines for the visibility of elemental beasts, summoned beings, black summons, ghosts, disembodied Nephilim, etc. This is partly inspired by the French. These guidelines make reference to passive mystic vision from Enlightened Magic (see that book and my post on passive vision for details).

I posit several degrees of Visibility:

  • Passive: The elemental is directly visible to passive Ka-vision of all types. Mundane folks may catch glimpses from the corner of their eye or notice the shadow it casts.
  • Ka-vision: The elemental is directly visible when the viewer activates Ka-vision. Passive Ka-vision detects its presence in the vicinity with a Spot roll but doesn’t see it directly. This includes all types of passive and active Ka-vision.
  • Tenebrae: The elemental is only perceptible to Black Moon Ka-senses; indirectly to passive and directly to active. Other types of Ka-vision may catch glimpses but cannot see it directly. Detection spells may reveal it.
  • None: The elemental is completely invisible. Spells to detect invisible magical phenomena may reveal it. Its summoner, if any, is usually able to see it with passive Ka-vision.

As a rule of thumb: materialized elementals of any Ka-element (i.e. those subject to harm from mundane weapons) have "Visibility: Passive", immaterial spirits (i.e. those only subject to harm from magic weapons and spells) have "Visibility: Ka-vision", whereas immaterial black summons and ghosts have "Visibility: Tenebrae", and any summoned entity whose description specifies only the summoner sees it has "Visibility: None".

Even if someone cannot normally perceive a given elemental, they are still entitled to detect it just like with seeing a Metamorphosis (see Nephilim rulebook p129). This detectability is affected by several factors: the blatancy of the elemental’s behavior, the daily astrological modifier, the local strength of the magic fields, the elemental’s Ka rating, the viewer’s Ka rating, etc.

Hope you enjoyed!

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