Syntactic magic systems in Nephilim

A syntactic magic system is one in which casters can create spells on the fly using a system of "nouns" and "verbs" (or "realms", as GURPS parlance puts it). Ars Magica is the classic example. 

In the French version, both alchemy and sorcery would use some variation of the concept in different editions. 

Starting in the 1e Alchimie supplement and continuing thereafter, alchemy used verbs in the forms of processes: Destruction (Powder), Transformation (Liquor), Mastery (Metal), Revelation (Vapor) and Creation (Amber). The elements provided the noun. However, the actual lists of formulae didn't respect these themes at all

Sorcery, renamed Magie (Magic) in French, gained verbs starting in the third edition. Again, the elements provided the noun, with a table of analogs for each element being given at the back of the book. In third edition, the first circle had the verbs of Perceive, Modify and Sense, the second Commune, Displace, and Transform, and the third Create and Destroy. In fourth edition, these were simplified to perception in the first circle, manipulation in the second, and creation/destruction in the third. The fifth edition only had verbs at the third circle and these were Comprehend, Control, Create, Destroy and Transform (i.e. the same verbs as Ars Magica).

Summoning, or Kabbalah in French (the US version was renamed because the writers felt it was too reductive to limit the real occult belief system of Kabbalah to just summoning creatures), had ten Sefirot from which entities were drawn and each was assigned a loose theme. However, the actual capabilities of the entities absolutely didn't respect these themes at all. Again.

The Liber Ka and Enlightened Magic rules for sorcery and alchemy didn't have verbs or nouns. Instead, the elements served as realms, approximating both the verb and noun. E.g. Air was used for perception, Earth for healing, Fire for violence, etc.

While the LK rules might lose something as a result of combing the verbs and nouns, the French magic systems suffer from being hugely inconsistent in terms of capabilities and themes. Third edition certainly tried to fix this, but fifth edition completely undid all that work for no reason I can discern besides nostalgia for the second edition.

When it comes to the revised summoning rules I've been cooking on-off for a while, I'm solely gonna use the elemental associations from Liber Ka to guide the capabilities of entities. No realms or sefira, just the absolutely necessary simplicity.

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