My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

In most editions of Nephilim , the Selenim are relegated to membership in the Unnamed Arcanum. In third edition, however, this changed. The Unnamed Arcanum was formally rechristened as "Rebirth", accepting only Immortals whose Dominant Ka was Black Moon: Selenim and Ar-Kaïm of Serpentarius. Meanwhile, it was explained that the other Major Arcana were not limited to Nephilim: they could theoretically accept Selenim and Ar-Kaïm. This is a bombshell revelation that raises numerous questions. Of particular interest: how can Selenim contribute as members of the other Arcana if they cannot practice the elemental Occult Sciences of the Nephilim? Well, I had a few ideas of my own regarding that. In the US Major Arcana book, it is mentioned that Selenim can learn certain Arcane Techniques like The Emperor's Thes and The High Priestess' Shemmut. A number of the Arcane Techniques do not seem to rely on particular elemental spells and could perhaps be adapted for Selenim use. But...

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 ...

In part 1 of this series I recapped the rules for Conjuration in 3e. In this part 2, I will compare the bits of prior editions that were altered or deprecated. The exact nature of the entities summoned varied by edition. In the first and second edition, the  Selenim  and  Le Livre Noir  supplements couldn't agree if the entities lived in their own world or were created by the summoner. Examples of both were given and even in-universe the summoners debated the truth. Entities were described as traveling through the Black Moon fields even without being summoned and visible in black Ka-vision, spying on summoners, and new invocations being created by the summoner astral projecting and conjuring the desired entity out of the hypothetical "dark dreams" of the Black Moon. Altered and deprecated summons The first edition Selenim supplement included the first round of black summons and other spells. The supplement Le Livre Noir reprinted the spells from the Selenim supplem...

In a prior post I mentioned the "black elements." These were basically evil versions of the conventional elements, briefly mentioned in both Serpent Moon and Major Arcana . I find that idea a bit silly, though. But the third edition French version has an idea that I think salvages this... The Black Moon is most strongly linked to the Moon field, but in truth it insidiously insinuates itself within and parasitizes all the magic fields. There is no Black Fire-Ka, Green Fire-Ka, Bitter Water-Ka, Dead Air-Ka, or whatever else you could think of... these are all manifestations of Black Moon-Ka. In the French version, there's a black summon named "Those whose Touch is a Red Iron." They're creepy green fireballs. The text states that they seem to echo Fire-Ka in their appearance in Ka-Vision. Are these Black or Green Fire-Ka entities? More or less, if you interpret Black Fire-Ka as the Black Moon's parasitizing of the Fire Field. In my planned rules for Black...

As of third edition, the strength of the local Black Moon field is irrelevant unless using house rules. The Black Moon is either present or it is not: in the latter case, the Selenim’s occult sciences are impossible.  However, to complement  my post on Black Moon sites , I present spells for dowsing and manifesting Black Moon Fields similarly to Sorcery from Liber Ka . These spells may be cast using either Necromancy or Black Summoning, since there’s not really a Black Sorcery equivalent. Both involve manipulation of the Tenebrae: corruption and domination, respectively. (I’m currently working on proper rules for black magic. Stay tuned…) Dowse Black Moon Field   Circle : Initiate Spell (Unnamed Arcanum) Ka-element: Black Moon  Threshold : First Circle (Necromancy) or First Circle (Black Summoning) Range: Ka-vision  Duration: 10 minutes  Description: This spell allows the caster to know the direction of the nearest Black Moon Field. Once the spell has bee...

As with 3rd edition Necromancy, I decided to recap the Evocations from the Nephilim: Revelation Player's Book  in anticipation of my own adaptation.  What is Black Summoning? Black Summoning is the Selenim counterpart to the Nephilim's elemental Summoning.  The name of this occult science varies by editions. In 1st, 2nd and 5th edition it is named "Black Kabbalah" ( Kabbale Noire  in French), while in 3rd edition it is named "Conjuration" (the French uses the English word). In the US version, only snippets were printed in  Serpent Moon  and here it was named "Black Summoning".  Like Summoning, it is divided into three Circles. The Circles are further divided into occult techniques named “Appeals” ( Appels in French), comparable to the Sefirot of the Nephilim's Kabbalah. (The Sefirot were renamed to "Realms" in the US rulebook.) Black Kabbalists linked these to Da'ath and the Qlippoth. The entities The Players’ Book explains that...

As I alluded to in prior posts, I came up with the idea to divide Summoning into a number of separate Traditions that view its function differently. Here I explain the traditions of Kabbalah and Theurgy most common among the Western Tradition. While all summoning traditions use the same basic rules, they're considered distinct circles and techniques. Kabbalah (This based directly on the rulebooks and the French.) The Kabbalist Tradition or Kabbalah views Summoning in terms of the Olamot and Sefirot . It developed at least few centuries prior to the birth of Christ, but exploded in popularity through the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. This is the most common summoning tradition among Nephilim of the Western Tradition. Each Circle corresponds to an Olamot: 0th Circle Assiah , 1st Circle Yetzira , 2nd Circle Briah , 3rd Circle Atziluth . Each Circle is separated from next by a series of occult veils: the Veil of the Profane or Maya , the Veil of Paroketh , the Veil of the Abys...

The ghost wyrm (see Nephilim rulebook p223-4) and the ghoul (see Gamemaster's Companion p57-8) are both lunar elementals but exhibit traits reminiscent of black lunar elementals. Particularly the consumption of corpses: the ghost wyrm traps the souls of its meals (including Nephilim!), whereas the ghoul mimics their external appearance. Is this a reflection of the lunar field's duality? Are these black lunar elementals misidentified? Are they combination elementals of lunar and black lunar-Ka? I would allow these elementals to be summoned and commanded by both lunar summoning and black lunar conjuration without changing their statistics, just to muddy the waters.

Rather than going on a case-by-case basis, here I’m providing general guidelines for the visibility of elemental beasts, summoned beings, black summons, ghosts, disembodied Nephilim, etc. This is partly inspired by the French. These guidelines make reference to passive mystic vision from Enlightened Magic (see that book and my post on passive vision for details). I posit several degrees of Visibility: Passive : The elemental is directly visible to passive Ka-vision of all types. Mundane folks may catch glimpses from the corner of their eye or notice the shadow it casts. Ka-vision : The elemental is directly visible when the viewer activates Ka-vision. Passive Ka-vision detects its presence in the vicinity with a Spot roll but doesn’t see it directly. This includes all types of passive and active Ka-vision. Tenebrae : The elemental is only perceptible to Black Moon Ka-senses; indirectly to passive and directly to active. Other types of Ka-vision may catch glimpses but cannot see it dir...