Ranks of membership and initiations

As explained in Major Arcana, there are several ranks of membership and non-membership in the “Western” Tradition (or as I call it: the Bohemian Tradition). To reiterate these and add my own clarifications:

  • Adopters: the majority of Bohemians are Adopters, also known Adoptees and "outer members". They have self-identified with or "adopted" an Arcanum as their path to Agartha, but only hold exoteric or outer membership. They fraternize with and perform favors for other members, but aren't trusted with the same level of knowledge or responsibilities as Initiates.
  • Initiates: a minority of Bohemians are Initiates or "inner members". They have been initiated into their Arcanum. They have access to greater occult knowledge, such as Initiate Spells, but are obligated to perform tasks for higher ranking initiates.
  • Orphans: Orphans have dropped out of their former Arcanum, been expelled from a stricter one like Strength or The Hermit, or are one of the 1-in-10,000 Nephilim who have yet to join an Arcanum since their first Incarnation. They're allowed as PCs, but not recommended.
  • Solitaires: The Solitaires are Nephilim of the Western occult world who predate and reject Akhenaton's Arcana. In other words, they are Nephilim who have not joined the Bohemian Tradition but are not members of another established Tradition like the Loa or Xian-Ren. They are rare due to the attrition inflicted by The Emperor, The Hierophant, the secret societies, and 4000 years of loneliness. They're not allowed as PCs.

As I mentioned in a prior post, I'm adopting a rule from Nephilim: Revelation in which I divide Arcanum Lore into Uninitiate Lore available to Adopters and others versus Initiate Lore available only to Initiates. It's typical for Nephilim to have a smattering of Uninitiate Lore in multiple other Arcana than their own. The benefit of Initiate Lore is that it grants greater access to the Arcane Techniques of that Arcanum. While many Arcane Techniques are learnable by non-members and outer members, the highest levels are generally unavailable without initiation and some are only available to Initiates period.

In game terms, this means an Initiate may use their Initiate Lore level to substitute for an Arcane Technique level when attempting to use that Arcane Technique. They do not need to learn the Arcane Technique separately and may refund redundant Technique levels for XP to spent elsewhere. A certain level in Initiate Lore is a prerequisite for Initiate Spells.

The US version handles Arcanum membership differently from the French version. In the French version it isn't even a step at character creation and the different Arcana don't have their own Arcane Techniques like in the US version. Indeed, in the French version it is considered normal for a Nephilim PC to change Arcanum membership multiple times as he develops his occult knowledge. This is very different from the US version, where Initiates practically never change Arcanum (see Major Arcana p8).

However, the supplement Le Codex des Nephilim includes several new options for Nephilim characters that are loosely analogous to the US version's Arcane Techniques. These include Dragonslayers (magical martial arts used against elemental beasts), Primes (cultivate prime essence within themselves), Prometheans (merge their souls with their simulacra) and Khaibans (control and exploit their Khaiba transformations). I intend to do something similar for all the Arcana when converting the US version to NR rules.

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