Past lives for Ar-Kaïms?

In my campaign setting, Ar-Kaïms or "Astrological Nephilim" have appeared sporadically throughout history as mere legends but started appearing in greater numbers since the 20th century. This coincides with the subsequent increased awakenings of Nephilim due to the magic disturbances caused by the Golden Dawn, and the subsequent increase in Ar-Kaïms awakening was probably caused/aggravated by the same. (This is the case in the French too.)

In the French version, Ar-Kaïm didn’t have past lives even after reincarnation (and they could only reincarnate in willing blood relatives too). Where the nephilim were alien body snatchers, the Ar-Kaïms were enlightened humans or Aberrant-inspired superheroes. They didn’t prove very popular, so the 5th edition put them all on a bus and they vanished from canon.

The other difference between the symbolic Nephilim and the astrological Nephilim aka Ar-Kaïm is that the latter may incorporate any combination of elements within their Ka-Heart. This makes them insensitive to Orichalc poisoning and Black Moon infection, the two magical banes of Nephilim. It allows them to learn potentially any occult sciences, even those of the Selenim.

In my campaign setting, I treat them as a variant of Nephilim since my Nephilim are already changed to enlightened humans rather than alien body snatchers. As such, I would give them access to past lives. I present rules for this below.

Past Lives

Starting Ar-Kaïm PCs are generally limited to one or two past lives from circa 1900 onward, if any. No past lives is an option for PCs still in their first incarnation, either awakening at the start of the present campaign or barely more than a decade or two prior. Available incarnation eras include:

  • London, England, 1900 AD (NE77).
  • The World Wars, 1910-1949 AD (linked here).
  • The Great War, 1916 AD (CA45).
  • Berlin, Germany, 1933 AD (CA48).
  • San Francisco, 1969 AD (linked here).

More advanced players may start with more and older past lives at the GM's discretion, although in that case such players are encouraged to play Nephilim instead. An important aspect of the Ar-Kaïms is their rarity, youth and the revelation of their existence in the 21st century.

Ar-Kaïm PCs don't necessarily have a Stasis item like Nephilim do, particularly if they didn't interact with the Major Arcana. Some went through their incarnations barely aware of the occult world, only upon their deathbed passing on their elemental essence to a watching relative. As if directed by fate, the essence only seemed to reincarnate in blood relatives of the prior simulacrum. So the PC's past lives will all be linked by this relation, making their journey far easier to track through history than their Nephilim compatriots. [In the French version, Ar-Kaïms could only ever reincarnate within blood relatives, but here I leave it ambiguous and at the GM's discretion.]

If the past lives didn't join the Nephilim community nor get a Stasis item, then players may only place ODPs in solar magic/psychic powers (see my post on that for details) and not any other magical techniques, lore, or inscriptions. These PCs are exoteric members of The Hanged Man (receiving that exaltation bonus), or honorary solitaires (no exaltation), until the player decides otherwise. In their latest incarnation the PC will probably join the Major Arcana through contact with the other PCs and bond their Stasis item.

Unlike older Nephilims, Ar-Kaïms almost always seem to identify as their current Simulacrum’s name and don’t take an Enochian name to signify their continuity of incarnation to other Immortals. It’s possible this quirk is due to their relative youth and solitaire status, but nobody knows for sure.

You’ll still need rules for assigning Ka-elements and so on. I’ll get to those in a later post.

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Hope you enjoy!

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