My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

The US version made a lot of changes compared to the French version. In the French, all the Arcana had basically the same structure with centralized leadership in the form of a “Prince/ss” for each Arcanum. In the US version, as expounded on in Major Arcana , each Arcanum had a unique structure ranging from extremely hierarchical to completely disorganized. The closest in structure to the French version seems to be The Devil. To match that, I thought I would do a similar rewrite for the Unnamed Arcanum (“Death”) and the Cult of Lilith. Much like how The Devil is divided into the debased Shabs and a minority of solitary old true Devils (see  my post on that ), the Unnamed Arcanum is divided between the Arcanum proper and the debased Cult of the Black Moon. Most Nephilim are unfamiliar with Selenim, so they rely on rumors and hearsay propagated by encounters with the Cult. This self-fulfilling prophecy makes it easy for newly sundered ex-Nephilim, overcome with horror and self-loathi...

In this post I provide an overview of the various Selenim tribes in my campaign setting. This draws from the US version, the leaked notes for the canceled Selenim book ( source , although I'm making my own adjustments), and the French version 3e to fill the gaps. Though the Nephilim of the Major Arcana are largely ignorant of it, the Selenim do not stand united under the banner of the Unnamed Arcanum. Even in the "Western" world dominated by the Major Arcana, they are divided between multiple secret societies particular to their locales. The United States is the setting of my campaigns, so I speak mainly from that perspective. As a general rule of thumb, stated in the 3e GM book, the population ratio between Nephilim and Selenim is 8:1. Ar-Kaïm are fewer still. Despite this, the book recommends mixed groups consisting of 2-3 Nephilim, 1-2 Selenim and 1-2 Ar-Kaïm. Locales and origins In the Americas, the Selenim are divided between the Unnamed Arcanum of the Bohemian Tradi...

The Orichalcans ( Orichalquiens in French) were a fraternity of Selenim in the French version who specialized in studying Orichalc and experimented to combine it with the other Ka-elements. They’re explained in Codex des Selenim for third edition. They were founded by a Selenim named Vul-Cain. Vul-Cain was former Kaïm who was horrified by the Coming of Orichalka and the degeneration it wrought upon the Kaïm. He deliberately underwent the Ritual of Sundering, believing that he could achieve Agartha through the Black Moon-Ka. Later he became fascinated by Orichalc and studied it in a manner resembling alchemy, founding the workshops. The Orichalcans were divided into four “workshops”. Each workshop had an associated occult skill that affected the power of their effects. They all suffered from the Corruption flaw, which reduced their BMK pool. The Workshop of the Somber Alliance: experiment with forging links between Saturnian-Ka and their Black Lunar Core. Their skill reduces...

Source The following extract was translated from the fourth edition’s  Le Codex de la Lune p30-1. The 666 is a secret organization organized by a Nephilim called the Devourer who resembles the god Seth or Anubis. Its existence was only hypothetical until the Major Conclave of the Apocalypse where the identity of the members of 666 was revealed. Some think that it has existed for more than three millennia. The Nephilim have long believed that the 666 was only a sect of Khaiban or Selenim dissidents, or even a new Minor Arcanum. Everyone now knows that the 666 is an initiative of five Nephilim whose Pentacle has a Black Moon Core instead of the Moon-Ka. Their members are perceived as aberrations by the Nephilim. However, they may sort their modified Pentacle and do not seek pure and simple destruction but renewal by a radical magical tabula rasa . The organization of the 666 is very opaque: around the council of the five gravitates a nebula of occult actors who act on its behalf. Th...

In the French version, a type of organization known as a “fraternity” was introduced. Fraternities are secret societies in which only Immortals and their allies hold membership. They encompass the role of the Arcana factions described in Major Arcana , but include organizations with pan-Arcana membership. A faction within an Arcanum is an example of a fraternity, as would be a faction that straddles multiple Arcana, or one with relatively fluid membership. A fraternity is an alliance of Immortals that doesn’t necessarily limit itself to any particular Arcanum, but exists in parallel to the Arcana. A given immortal may have positive or negative relations with a given fraternity. A PC may have a contact in a fraternity or be owed a favor by one as a past life asset, or as a past life burden may have an enemy in a fraternity, hatred from a fraternity, or owe an obligation to a fraternity. (I’ll explain assets and burdens in a later post.) I like the idea because it fills a void in the US ...

The Devil Arcanum has consistently gotten a bad rap in the official books, which has been unable to paint them as anything other than an NPC-only villain faction. Even in the Major Arcana book! The only times I've seen someone try redeeming them was in two old articles from the Chaosium Digest : "The Devil Arcanum" by Peter Larsen and "The Devil Arcanum and the Future" by Nick Christoforidis . Even the French version tried a similar route when they realized The Devil wasn't very interesting as is. I also need to revise The Devil for my reinterpretation of Nephilim psychology in which they're a "higher self" brought about by the fusion of a human soul and an elemental spirit. What you would call a symbiotic perspective, I guess? One way I thought of to reimagine The Devil is as the occult equivalent of the “Return to Monke” internet meme. The Devil rejects human civilization and culture, even despises it for its decadence and hypocrisy. They h...