My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

The Dracomachy (Greek for "dragon battle") is a technique introduced in French supplements that specializes in fighting elemental beasts, or "dragon-effects" in the French version. The third edition rules were presented in Codex des Nephilim . It was divided into three independent techniques: Dracology , Dracomachy , and Dracosophy . Dracology focused on predicting and weakening, Dracomachy on domination and capture, and Dracosophy on transforming elementals into tattoos and weapons. These techniques didn't have Spells as such, but provided combat maneuvers as a magical martial art. Practitioners are known as Dracomaques  in French. Notably, Dracomachy allows Nephilim to fight and bind Black and Orichalc Elementals, which are otherwise very difficult or impossible to affect with elemental magic. However, the third edition rules for elementals were incomplete and only the fanzine Vision Ka 5  and  Palimpseste 5 provided complete guidelines.  The fifth edition ...

In (my)  Nephilim cosmology, there are a few different types of spirits contrasting the Immortals and their Paredri. The three broad categories are: Summoned Beings are spirits called by Summoning from the astral plane and other planes within the magic fields that seem linked to the collective unconscious. Unlike Elemental Beasts, and like humans, they operate on seeming intelligence rather than instinct. They assume countless forms, including those resembling animals. Summoners argue over whether summoned beings naturally live on some other plane, are conjured into existence by the summoner's will and imagination from the personal or collective unconscious, or if there's even a difference. Elemental Beasts  are to the Immortals what mortal animals are to mortal humans. As with mortal animals, Elemental Beasts operate on instinct rather than humanlike intelligence. They typically have a single Ka-element, sometimes two, but rarely more. All Beasts have a defining Personality ...

For purposes of assisting myself and any other GMs interested, I collated a list of all the Elemental Beasts published officially and semi-officially on the table below: Cʀᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ Eᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴ Nephilim rulebook (pg. 220-224) Basilisk  Earth  Cruel  Flame Snake Fire  Unpredictable  Ghost Wyrm Moon  Vengeful  Ghruuul  Earth/Fire Destructive  Gorgon  Moon  Private  Gryphon  Air/F...

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...

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...

These are my thoughts on elementals and some comparisons with the French. See  Nephilim  rulebook p220,  Gamemaster’s Companion  p42,  Serpent Moon  p14, and  this  Chaosium Digest  article  for the rules on elementals. (A fan-made bestiary doc may be  found here too .) What follows is a brief recap. Elemental creatures are ephemeral compared to nephilim and mortals. Without Solar-Ka to anchor them, they require natural sources of Ka to maintain themselves. Those born from natural phenomena will vanish as soon as the weather clears. Those born from magical phenomena like a plexus or nexus last longer and can seek out new sources of Ka to counteract their expiration.  Orichalka creatures are inherently anathema to the magic fields and deteriorate even more rapidly. This is probably a blessing, as they are typically extremely dangerous even by the standards of elemental creatures. None of the normal methods for controlling elemen...