My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

I recently transcribed and auto-translated the rules for playing Khaibans from the third edition French supplement Le Codex des Nephilim . In this post, I would like to compare and contrast that with the Devil's Arcane Techniques given in the US version's Major Arcana . As I noted previously , Khaiba works different in the French and US versions. In the US version Khaiba total just affects how likely the Nephilim is to suffer a Khaiba episode during certain enthronements (but Khaiba total doesn't affect the Metamorphosis ratings), is decreased relatively easily, and won't kill the PC if it reaches 100. Whereas in the French version the effects are persistent, while Khaiba total determines how deformed the Nephilim is, how warped their emotional state is, and kills the PC when it maxes out. One bit I find interesting is in how the Metamorphosis changes between the two versions. In the US version, a Khaiba seizure raises all Metamorphosis traits to max and then warps it i...

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 ...

A key difference between the French version and the US version is the rules for Khaiba.  In the French version, the effects of Khaiba were persistent. The more Khaiba points accrued, the more Khaiban the Nephilim grew physically and mentally. This gradually replaced the Metamorphosis with the corresponding Khaiban form. In the US version, this was changed to the Nephilim suffering Khaiba episodes . Khaiba points had no effect on their own, but affected the chances of the Nephilim suffering an episode during certain enthronements. During an episode, the Nephilim would become indistinguishable from an elemental beast.  I don’t know why this change was made. So that the Nephilim could more easily blend into human society? To match how Shouit operated? It was thought redundant to Metamorphosis Transformations? I can only ever guess why.  I didn’t know about this change until recently, but now it really helps me to understand details in the French version that I didn’t underst...

In the original rules and setting, the Nephilim are elemental spirits that possess hapless human hosts they call Simulacra. Whenever the Simulacrum was possessed by some other elemental, such as a ruptured summoning or a Necromancy spell, then the Nephilim was ejected from the host. The astrological Nephilim aka Ar-KaIm were awakened humans, so when they were possessed their soul wasn't forced out. Otherwise, the Nephilim could only be forced out by killing the Simulacrum. In my campaigns, all Nephilim fusional beings formed by the fusion of an elemental beast's magic and a human soul's awareness, will and identity. Basically like the Ar-KaIm, but with Pentacles and Occult Sciences instead of Hearts and Talents. So whenever a Nephilim is possessed, then their soul remains trapped in their body… usually. There is no way to sever the fusion without causing death or at least severe spiritual damage, unless it was a temporary incarnation to begin with. The terminal stages of Kh...

In this post I will recap the rules for khaiba, offer an etymology, explain how the khaiba rules changed across the French editions, compare some house rules from the US mailing list, and finally offer my own thoughts on Khaiba. Khaiba rules Let's recap the rules for khaiba, since they're scattered throughout the Nephilim rulebook (p27, 43, 122-4, 130, 140, 220). I also do some minor simplifications here and there. The Khaiba total is recorded on the character sheet as a percentage. This is the base chance for Khaiba rolls. See  Nephilim  rulebook p122-4 for details. Nephilim increase Khaiba total under the following circumstances: +1 point when the Nephilim fumbles a magical technique, Ka or Ka-element roll ( Nephilim rulebook p27, 122, 139, 175). +1 point per hour disembodied ( Nephilim  rulebook p117).  +1 point when a disembodied Nephilim fails to dominate a new Simulacrum ( Nephilim rulebook p117). +1d6 points for each Ka-element drained into an Elixir vess...