My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

In this post, following parts one , point five , and two , I will compare the US version and offer my own ideas. The planned US version The planned Selenim supplement for the US version was cancelled before it could even be drafted, but some notes survived . These were based on the first edition French rules, so they lacked any innovations from later supplements or editions. Altho the notes are no substitute for complete rules, they do provide an overview of what the changes would've been. Personality Traits The US version had introduced Personality Traits in Chronicle of the Awakenings , and the Selenim rules would've integrated this into their Imago rules. Selenim had five Emotional Traits not unlike Nephilim, but these represented the emotions they preferred to Assuage. The Imago would have five Aspects, each linked to an Emotional Trait, and the Aspect itself represented and evoked that emotion. Although no rules were provided, presumably the Emotional Trait would've pl...

The rules and lore for Nephilim have always been in flux. Even during first and second edition, the writers changed their minds between books, retconned details, or cleaned and clarified previously vague information. Later books in each edition would commonly provide new rules and lore that superseded prior books. Nephilim: Revelation collected and condensed a truly huge amount of rules, lore, and revisions thereof. Even then it had to cut huge swathes to fit into the books. I don’t envy the writers. Going through all those books to make sure you had the most current revisions to rules and lore sounds like a huge pain. I’m glad NR did the bulk of the work for me! In parts one and one-and-a-half of this series I recapped the rules for Anamorphosis. In this post, I explain key differences between NR and prior editions as well as listing deprecated spells. I also note some comparisons to 5e, as that directly continues from 1e/2e while ignoring 3e.  A key difference between 3e and o...

Once the Anamorph has mastered the Morphs and completed her Imago, then she may advance to the Third Circle: constructing a Black Moon Realm.  Third Circle: The Realm At the Third Circle, the Anamorph is now able to construct a Cursed Realm within the Pavane, similar to how a Sorcerer of the Third Circle may construct an Elemental Realm within the Astral. The Realm is anchored both to a physical place on Earth and to the adjacent Pavane. As it absorbs more SK for the Anamorph to paint or sculpt with, the nascent Realm grows larger and detailed. It reflects both the geography of its earthly territory and the aesthetic desires of its Anamorph. It also acts as a bridge between the earthly plane and the Anti-Lands, allowing egress between them. With the Imago serving as her major-domo, the Anamorph may rule as her new Realm's Sovereign. The Realm is complex and has several parameters for the Anamorph to worry about. It has 4 Characteristics (adjective) of its own: Density (Dense), Atte...

As with Necromancy ( part 1  and part 2) and Black Summoning ( part 1 and part 2), I’m recapping the 3e Anamorphosis rules in anticipation of my own take for the US version. As with Necromancy and Conjuration, third edition set out to make Anamorphosis playable. I think it succeeded and I really like what they did. It isn't perfect and there's definitely room for expansion, but that's true of anything! “Anamorphosis”  is a pun  referring to a  real art technique . This technique is featured in the 2007 horror film  Anamorph , if you want the inspiration. The Imago itself is comparable to a  tulpa . Using Anamorphosis Theory and progression Unlike the other occult sciences, Anamorphosis doesn’t have foci, artifacts, or even conventional spells. Instead of conventional spells, this obscure science has "Aspects" that are personalized to each practitioner or "Anamorph" and his "Imago." Selenim don't have a metamorphosis like Nephilim. However,...

In a prior post , I went over how various editions ruled the "Sundering", the transformation into Selenim. Mostly verily clunkily, as usual for this game. It turns out that I forgot something, not that I'm surprised given how incoherent and scattered the Nephilim rules are in every single edition.  Bizarrely, 5e  La Toison d'Or  p127 introduces the rules for "Lunar Entropy" rather than the 5e  Selenim  book released prior. The latter lazily copyedited the text from the 1e supplement, ignoring every supplement published since, and which wasn't properly adapted to match the 5e rules. By contrast, the new Lunar Entropy is written in line with the other rules for Downfalls of Khaiba, Narcosis and Shouit. The text doesn't explain if this supersedes the older rule or not, but for simplicity's sake I will assume so.  Recap of Lunar Entropy rules Lunar Entropy "degrees" are gained by: Accepting a physical consequence from a Black Moon creature ...

I'm currently translating the chapter on the Yohual-Tecuhtlin from the French book Exils  published in January 2000, which provides a wealth of information on the Mesoamerican Selenim. (They're given rules for character creation in the third edition Codex des Selenim a few years later, but it's very light on fluff due to space constraints.) The US version developed its ideas independently a few years earlier , and Ian's notes for the canceled US Selenim book were never publicly shared until 2001, but I wonder if any of the US version influenced the French. For example, the US version posited in the rulebook that the Selenim's tombs were precursors to the Nephilim's Stasis, and Serpent Moon had Selenim in suspended animation, then lo and behold the Yohual-Tecuhtlin in Exils are described as using pyramids and obsidian figurines as Stasis items! Perhaps most damningly, the Amerindian Wowakan are given rules for Chronicle of the Awakening -style Emotional Metamor...

This is a repost of Jeff James’ rules for handling Selenim Realms.  I was planning on including an adaptation of this as part of my series on adapting Anamorphosis, but decided to share it in its own post. These were originally shared on the (now defunct) mailing list on July 14, 2003. These use random generation tables (roll 1d10) and thus are appropriate for the GM to generate NPC sovereigns and their realms. If desired then these rules may represent a Nephilim’s elemental realm, too.  Hope you enjoy! Selenim realms These are my rules for creating selenim realm. Their from my slow  revamp of my neph-hunter crossover rules. Basically transtory selenim are on the run, residential selenim are in residence, basically. A  note to the French newcommers. I know these aren't how realms are but  we've never had any real english selenim rules —Jeff James (July 14, 2003) Transitory Selenim A transitory Selenim (or a weak residential Selenim) has not had the  op...