Some ideas on astrological modifiers

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 month correspond to the same Element: this leads to great bonuses in this Element and great penalties in the opposed Elements.

The transition between two different Enthronements occurs in theory at midnight. The transition between the two Enthronements can be very slow, or on the contrary abrupt. Very often, the environment will influence both the time of the modification and the transition: thus being at the seaside will bring forward the time of the change and accelerate the transition to a Water Enthronement; on the contrary, the transition to a Fire Enthronement will be delayed and slowed down.

In terms of rules, the day brings a +4 bonus for the Element concerned, 0 for neutral Elements and −4 for opposed Elements. The month brings him +2, 0 and −2. These two conjunctions add up and provide a scaling of modifiers from −6 to +6. During a Grand Enthronement, the Favored Element sees any roll involving its use (Occult Sciences for example) receive a +6 bonus.

Commentary: in the Nephilim: Revelation rulebook, an Enthronement or Grand Enthronement shifts the Difficulty of a roll one or two steps in favor of or against the player. This house rule changes it to circumstance modifiers on the d20 threshold and makes months more important.

Astrology of the Week(src)

Day Planet Magic field Enthronement
Monday Moon Moon Moon
Tuesday Mars Fire Fire
Wednesday Mercury Water Water
Thursday Jupiter Air Air
Friday Venus Earth Earth
Saturday Saturn Orichalc None
Sunday Sun Solar Variable

Astrology of the Year(src)

MonthAsc. PlanetGrand EnthronementMagic field
Aries (March 21 – April 20)MarsTuesdayFire
Taurus (April 21 – May 20)VenusFridayEarth
Gemini (May 21 – June 21)MercuryWednesdayWater
Cancer (June 22 – July 22)MoonMondayMoon
Leo (July 23 – August 22)SunEvery DaySolar-Ka
Virgo (August 23 – September 22)MercuryWednesdayWater
Libra (September 23 – October 22)VenusFridayEarth
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)MarsTuesdayFire
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 20)JupiterThursdayAir
Capricorn (December 21 – January 19)MoonMondayMoon
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)SaturnSaturdayOrichalc
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)JupiterThursdayAir

Solar Enthronements

When the Sun dominates the magic fields, on Sundays and every day in the month of Leo, the element influencing the astrological modifier is determined randomly by rolling a d20.

1–4: Water • 5–8: Fire • 9–12: Earth • 13–16: Air • 17–20: Moon

On Sundays, outside Leo, that element is Enthroned. Spells of this element benefit from a +4 daily bonus, whereas spells from opposed elements suffer from a −4 daily penalty. The monthly modifier is applied as normal to calculate the final astrological modifier.

Every day in Leo is a Grand Enthronement. Spells of the enthroned element benefit from a +6 astrological bonus, whereas spells from opposed elements suffer from a −6 astrological penalty.

Saturnian Enthronements

Saturday is an unfavorable day to all Elements, inflicting a −4 daily penalty. The month of Aquarius is an unfavorable month to all Elements, inflicting a −2 monthly penalty.

More specific astrological terminology

The French rules only speak in terms of Enthronements and Grand Enthronements, while the US version briefly mentions Neutral and Opposed Enthronements. The following new and more specific terms are adapted from the 4th edition, then cross-referenced against the above modifiers.

TypeCircumstanceModifier
Grand Enthronementfavorable day, favorable month+6
Minor Enthronementfavorable day, neutral or unfavorable month+2 to +4
Neutral or no Enthronementneutral day, any month−2 to +2
Minor Opposed Enthronementunfavorable day, favorable or neutral month−4 to −2
Opposed Grand Enthronementunfavorable day, unfavorable month−6

Selenim Astrology

The residual Black Moon Field lacks its own planet but it is parasitic and insidiously insinuates itself within the other magical fields, so it receives astrological modifiers via ricochet effect. It derives less interference as the Moon waxes and wanes, but more interference under syzygy. Thus, Selenim receive modifiers based on the current planetary month and lunar phase instead of the day of the week. These modifiers are given on the table below:

Selenim Astrological Modifiers
PlanetMonthNew/FullWaxing/Waning
SunLeoVariableVariable
Mars, JupiterAries, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpio+0+2
Mercury, VenusGemini, Libra, Taurus, Virgo−1+0
Moon, SaturnAquarius, Cancer, Capricorn−3−2

The astrological modifier under Leo is determined randomly every day with a d20 roll. A result of 1-10 indicates a +3 bonus, while a result of 11-20 indicates a −3 penalty. 

Ex-Nephilim who became Selenim by sacrifice reduce astrological modifiers by 1 degree.

These modifiers are weaker than those of the five elements. However, Selenim can compensate for the deficit by finding places where the local concentration of the Black Moon field is stronger. The table below is adapted from one presented in the French webzine Vision Ka #6.

Field Typical Location Occult Sciences Entropy Tenebrae
Not Present (1) Rare Not possible Tripled Pianissimo
Li'l Present (2) Widespread in the countryside −3 penalty Doubled Piano
Present Enough (3) Frequent in towns and cities — Normal Mezzo forte
Present (4) In the shadow of Realms +3 bonus Normal Forte
Very Present (5) Inside Black Moon worlds Cost halved Halved Fortissimo

If the Black Moon field is Very Present, then the benefits stack: the Selenim benefits from a +3 circumstantial bonus to Black Moon-Ka rolls and the BMK cost of spells is halved.

Ar-Kaïm Astrology

The Revealed don't rely on the presence of the magic fields to fuel their Talents, so they don't apply astrological modifiers, but they do receive a small benefit from favorable astrology. The current day or month reduces the cost to exercise Talents of the linked Ka by 1 point. This reduction stacks, so a Grand Enthronement reduces the cost by 2 points.

Hope you enjoyed!

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