My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

A Cruxim is a Nephilim who is missing one of his Ka-elements. He cannot practice magic of that element and his magical aura appears as a Cross in Ka-vision rather than the usual Pentacle. A Nephilim cannot have fewer than four Ka-elements, or they enter a permanent state of Narcosis (or Semktet while incarnated) and their Ka gradually disperses into the magic fields. In Nephilim: Revelation , Cruxim was part of a flaw available at character creation: "Second Downfall". Like other flaws, it was rated Apprentice (•), Journeyman (••), or Master (•••). Regardless of level, the Nephilim could no longer cast spells of linked to the lost Ka-element (except Alchemy, as the Athanor had its own Ka-elements).  At Apprentice level, the Nephilim merely saw one of his Ka-elements atrophy following a magical injury, rendering him unable to cast spells of that Ka. It isn't gone, but the game value is negligible. At Journeyman level, he became a Cruxim with the affected Ka-element absent ...

As mentioned in the Nephilim rulebook p55 and the Gamemaster's Companion  p11 and Major Arcana p11, the Pact with Menes resulted in the Nephilim being allowed to incarnate within royal bloodlines for before being mummified and sealed within tombs. At the funeral Solar-Ka was sacrificed to sanctify the tomb, itself an "inferior" replica of the Selenim's tombs. Within the tomb they would retain consciousness and be allowed to progress towards Agartha in silent contemplation. How was this feat accomplished? We don't receive further info in the US version, but the French version offers some insights that may be applicable despite the extensive changes to the lore in the US version. One thing to keep in mind is that the Tombs didn't exist in the French version, but are an original creation of the US version. Otherwise, the material on mummification seems equally applicable to both versions. I have referred to the third edition GM's screen booklet, the third ed...

In a  prior post  I mentioned that I had the idea to call the Major Arcana tribes and their members “bohemians” in order to reclaim and distance the word from its application to Romany people in the gaming space. Since then I have changed my mind and decided to call them  Atenists  instead. I feel this name is both accurate and avoids confusion with mundane and magical “bohemians” found elsewhere. I apologize for the confusion. 

I'm currently studying the fourth edition from 2012 and it has given me some new ideas... The following rules are for the third edition d20 system. Some text translated and adapted from articles by "Ethaniael" and "Tchakaha", which I previously quoted in another older post. I recap that all here for ease of reference. Long story short, I nixed the rule for Solar Enthronements and some new astrology jargon from 4e and retrofitted it to 3e. Weirdly, the 3e rules never explained how to determine the element of Solar Enthronements, but I suppose this might count as unofficially errata. Magical Enthronements ( src ) Enthronements are the result of the concentrations of different magical fields. They depend on the current astrological day and month. The day influences more than the month, which is why we speak of Fire Enthronement on Tuesdays for example and not during the entire month of Aries or Scorpio. We speak of a Grand Enthronement when the day and the mo...

I thought it would be a nice exercise to compare the rules for Orichalc damage across editions. First edition (This also applies to the US version.) If a Nephilim is cut by an Orichalc weapon, then roll 1d20. The Nephilim's Ka is reduced by that amount and the Ka-elements are recalculated accordingly. The Orichalc weapon's Capacity is reduced by the same amount, turned into Litharge. Second edition Orichalc weapons have a Capacity and a Virulence Potential. The latter cannot exceed Capacity. When the Orichalc touches the Nephilim, the Nephilim rolls Ka vs Virulence POT. Upon failure, then the Nephilim's Ka and the weapon's Capacity are permanently reduced by the Virulence. Upon success, then this loss is halved (rounded down). A disembodied Nephilim automatically fails to resist. On Saturdays when the Saturnian astrological modifier exceeds 7, then the Virulence increases by the excess (+1 if the modifier is 8, +2 if 9, etc.). This cannot raise Virulence above three tim...

This post is an addendum to part 1 of this series, listing a few summons I forgot to mention from 3e as well as a few new summons introduced in 5e. (Links to Part 2 and Part 3 here.) Black Kabbalah or Conjuration? In first and second edition this occult science was called Black Kabbalah, while in third edition it was renamed Conjuration. The rules and fluff for Conjuration across the editions have flip-flopped over whether this occult sciences conjures Black Moon creatures from scratch or summons existing entities from another world. First and second edition were indecisive, while third edition stated specifically in the rulebook that entities were created by the conjurer. Nonetheless, there are confirmed examples of both cases in the published books across editions, including the summoning of Imagoes and Agarthan Selenim. Although only the Anti-Lands and Cursed Realms have been confirmed as Black Moon planes, the lore contains speculations on the forbidden Sefira Da'ath and a n...

In this post I will go over the surviving notes on the canceled US adaptation and share a few ideas of my own. (Links for Part 1 and Part 2 .) The canceled US version Ian's surviving notes  were only working from a translation of the first edition  Selenim  supplement, and lacked access to the second edition supplement or  Le Livre Noir . Nonetheless, he devised a three circle structure for Black Summoning independently of the third edition published a few years later. To quote his notes: BLACK SUMMONING This occult science involves three circles of invocations that draw quite bizarre creatures out from the Black Moon fields. Black Summoning is actually quite seldom used among the Selenim for four reasons: 1) it is generally too expensive in BMK to cast the spells; 2) the creatures summoned are often too dangerous to control safely; 3) Black Moon creatures can only be summoned in the very strongest of Black Moon fields, which are few and far between; and 4) because ...

 A Sphinx metamorphosis was never officially published in the US version, but it did appear in the French version and in fanbooks. What follows is the information I uncovered In the French version In the French version, the Sphinx is officially a Faerim (Earth) metamorphosis. It was first published in the fanzine  Hermes Trimegiste 02 (1993), subsequently reprinted in Nephilim: Seconde édition (1996), and adapted to fourth edition in L'Assemblée du Seuil (2021) on p53.  Prior to the official publication, the fanbook Liber Metamorphosis  (2019) by Lehoux Florian included an unofficial conversion to fourth edition. Additionally, an Onirim (Moon) version of the Sphinx was included in the fanbook Métamorphoses Nephilim (2003) by Philippe Bergevin. (The latter was originally published by French fansite “ La Spirale des Éléments ”.) Quotes I have left the quotes untranslated from the original French. You should be able to use your browser to automaticall...

As I mentioned in a prior post , brief rules for the Chinese Zodiac Houses for Ar-Kaïm were introduced in a French fanzine. In these rules, determining the House and Dominant Ka worked differently from Western Ar-Kaïm. The year of the Ar-Kaïm's rebirth determined their House and thus their favorable and unfavorable Talents. Like the Western Zodiac each Chinese House has eight unique Talents, one for each Ka. Houses weren't linked to specific Dominant Ka: the location of the Nexus they were reborn in determined their Dominant Ka. E.g. a Nexus in a forest birthed dominant Earth-Ka, or a river birthed dominant Water-Ka.  Also, Air-Ka and Moon-Ka were replaced by Wood-Qi and Metal-Qi due to Feng Shui. The French cosmology was weird. However, these rules were incomplete. Only two Houses, Dragon and Pig, were detailed with their emotional natures and eight Talents. It wasn't explained how the Houses related for the purposes of learning and exercising Talents. It wasn't expla...