My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

I've explored some of these ideas in previous posts, but I thought it would be prudent to put them all here for consolidation and comparison. This is all purely my homebrew and is completely non-canonical to the official games. The Saurians, the KaIm, the Old Races, the Nephilim, the Selenim, the Ar-KaIm... they are all Ka-beings. Their Ka dissolves into the magic fields upon disintegration, recycled into the births of future Ka-beings, making them both immortal in a sense and different generations of the same magical meta-race. The first generation of the Immortals are the Basal Immortals: the KaIm and the Saurians. The Basal Immortals are so named due to their practice of Basal Cycles, in which they would exist in purely spiritual form barely distinct from the magic fields and incarnate within natural phenomena; this is a stable version of the Elementalist Khaiba form. The Saurians were the first Onirim, born in the dreamlands, and the first to awaken to consciousness by incarnat...

My campaign changes the nature of Nephilim from elemental spirits possessing human bodies to paredri symbiotically bonding with human bodies to awaken the higher self. This has consequences for how my cosmology handles magic like resurrection, exorcisms, and the link to past lives. I'm not giving concrete game rules since I'm still thinking about what system to use. The incarnation and awakening A paredrus is little more than another elemental beast. It operates purely on instinct. However, it is linked to the stars and can find suitable hosts to merge with. In general, a prospective host fulfills two criteria: 1) they currently sit at an emotional crossroads in their life that makes their Solar-Ka permeable to the Ka-elements, on some level desiring the bond and inviting it into themselves; a paredrus cannot bond with just any human in proximity. 2) the host's personality and life experience is preferably analogically linked to the Dominant Ka-element of the paredrus , but...

The rules for Narcosis underwent a number of revisions in the French version. For my own campaigns, I wanted to have some guidelines for handling this. While this post won't provide detailed rules, I will go over my ideas so far. Progression of Narcosis Narcosis actually has two stages progression: crystallization and anchorage. Furthermore, the effects of anchorage vary depending on whether the Nephilim is incarnate or not. A paredrus outside of a human body, and unable to return to stasis, is subject to crystallization. The exact cause is unknown, but some suspect it is an immune response to the trace amounts of Orichalc present in all the magic fields. Its Ka-elements retract and contract, like Sektet, eventually rendering it unable to move. At this point, the paredrus enters Narcosis shock and anchorage begins.  Once fully crystalized, the paredrus' Ka-elements bleed into and gradually merge with the surrounding magic fields, a process known as encysting or fossilizing. Thi...

The origins of the Nephilim have been subject to various revisions and retcons over the course of the game's editions and adaptations. In the first edition, French and English, it was mentioned in passing that new Nephilim could be born from Nexuses. In the English version, it is assumed that a Nephilim's first incarnation occurs shortly after the Nephilim was born from the magic fields. In the second edition, French only, it was clarified that all Nephilim were former KaIm. After the Fall of Atlantis, no Nephilim were ever born again. Instead, the beings born from Nexuses are "astrological Nephilim" who lack pentacles and incorporate Orichalc into their essence. In the third edition, French only, the astrological Nephilim were named Ar-KaIm. Furthermore, it was established that "natural Selenim" were born on the astral plane and incarnated in passing dreamers, bypassing existence as Nephilim entirely. Incidentally, Nephilim disembodied on the astral plane c...

A Cruxim is a Nephilim who is missing one of his Ka-elements. He cannot practice magic of that element and his magical aura appears as a Cross in Ka-vision rather than the usual Pentacle. A Nephilim cannot have fewer than four Ka-elements, or they enter a permanent state of Narcosis (or Semktet while incarnated) and their Ka gradually disperses into the magic fields. In Nephilim: Revelation , Cruxim was part of a flaw available at character creation: "Second Downfall". Like other flaws, it was rated Apprentice (•), Journeyman (••), or Master (•••). Regardless of level, the Nephilim could no longer cast spells of linked to the lost Ka-element (except Alchemy, as the Athanor had its own Ka-elements).  At Apprentice level, the Nephilim merely saw one of his Ka-elements atrophy following a magical injury, rendering him unable to cast spells of that Ka. It isn't gone, but the game value is negligible. At Journeyman level, he became a Cruxim with the affected Ka-element absent ...

In a  prior post  I mentioned that I had the idea to call the Major Arcana tribes and their members “bohemians” in order to reclaim and distance the word from its application to Romany people in the gaming space. Since then I have changed my mind and decided to call them  Atenists  instead. I feel this name is both accurate and avoids confusion with mundane and magical “bohemians” found elsewhere. I apologize for the confusion. 

The Nephilim have developed several “Grand Rituals” (distinct from the rituals used for casting Ritual Magic) used as aids in their learning and casting of the Occult Sciences. In this post I'll be explaining how I'm adapting those to my campaign setting, based both on the US version, a fan wiki , and the French version's Nephilim: Revelation and Nephilim: Legend . The ideas presented here are tentative. The Ritual of Stasis: Nephilim use this ritual to tap charges from their Stasis item to boost spells and other uses of Ka-energies. Ar-Kaïm who have been bonded to a Stasis item may do the same, but may only charge the five elements available to Nephilim. Selenim require Sarcophagi or other special means to charge and tap Black Moon-Ka. The Ritual of Sacrifice : Nephilim use this ritual in emergences to ensure a spell succeeds. This costs Occult Development Points (my translation of the French version's XP mechanics) and may only be used when performing a Sorcery ritu...

In a prior post I briefly recapped the Bohemians (Roma; the g-word is a slur like the n-word so I'm reticent to use it) from the French version and some ideas for salvaging their lore from its racist conceptions. Since then, I've done a lot more thinking and revising of my setting to make my Nephilim true composite beings rather than body-snatchers. One idea that came to me was to rename the "Western Tradition" as it's called in Major Arcana to the Bohemian Tradition: i.e. the Western Nephilim who adopted the Major Arcana would be known as the Bohemians, to contrast them from the pre-Arcana Western Nephilim and to denote their philosophical origins as refugees from Akhet-Aton. So where does that leave Roma and other nomadic ethnic groups? It leaves them in the same place as everyone else. Depicting Roma as having magical powers due to their ethnicity is racist drivel and I'm not using it in my campaign settings. In my campaigns some Roma are Nephilim and som...

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 ...

The word paredrus is Latin and refer to the power of a familiar spirit in magic or wizardry. I first learned the word on Montgomery's blog and, as I noted in a prior post, adopted it to refer to the elemental half of my setting's vision of Nephilim as hybrid beings. A Nephilim is created when a Paredrus merges with a mortal and creates a microcosm of the Solar system: on its own the Paredrus has no awareness, identity or will, which is provided by the mortal's Solar-Ka. The Paredrus is what allows a Nephilim to work magic and to access past lives' experiences.  So how does that fit with the backstory involving the KaIm? Well, I'm still using the secret history as recounted in the Gamemaster's Companion . The difference is the introduction of the Paredri and their role in the creation of Nephilim. After the fall of the Orichalka meteor, many KaIm were destroyed outright and most of the survivors were locked into permanent physical bodies. By the birth of Christ, ...

As I've mentioned before, Montgomery's blog provided a response to the "possession problem" that seemingly kept players from getting into Nephilim : On the other hand, the core principle of the game is accurate to the Western Mystery Tradition, which has always held that humanity cannot save itself.  Bound to the animal world of matter, only those who form a partnership with a higher spiritual power can become inhuman and ascend to higher reality;   ...The mutation of one’s deepest structure is the only thing that matters for the purposes of higher knowledge. This knowledge, which is at the same time wisdom and power, is essentially nonhuman; it can be achieved by following a way that presupposes the active and effective overcoming of the human condition...  Julius Evola, Introduzione alla Magia   To this end the Tradition has long embraced the principle of uniting with an alien, spiritual being;   (there) is an auxiliary divine, or semi-divine (daimô...

In the French third edition  Players' Book , two summoning spells allow Nephilim to flirt with necromantic effects.  The Veiled Sentinels of the Onyx Causeway  will resurrect any corpse, while  The Bearers of the Flame of Life  will repair and reanimate any corpse as a lifelike zombie with limited memory of its former life. Both spells inflict points of Black Moon contamination on the caster (risking sundering the Pentacle and turning the Nephilim into Selenim), discouraging Nephilim from casting them. The US version invented two spells dealing with death and resurrection. These were created independently of the French rules for Necromancy and thus aren't strictly compatible. The alchemy procedure  Universal Solvent  from  Slaying the Dragon  (unpublished, but reprinted in  Enlightened Magic ) allows the alchemist to contact the spirit of any corpse no matter its age. If cast on a Simulacrum, then it only contacts the Simulacrum unless t...

Over in the US version's fandom back in the day, a big deal was made over the Nephilim being body snatchers and how this made them unsympathetic. Furthermore, the role of the Simulacrum and the Nephilim's relationship to his Solar-Ka remained woefully undeveloped beyond "his family becomes concerned and stages an intervention that you have to escape." I agree to a large extent, which is why in my campaigns the Nephilim are hybrid entities akin to Star Trek 's trill, the Avatar from Avatar: The Last Airbender , Leto II from God Emperor of Dune , etc.  But one old recurring proposal I disagree with is the idea that Nephilim need to balance the mundane and magical sides of their life, or else suffer increased Shouit and other risks. The simple fact of the matter is that 1) their advancing metamorphoses make it increasingly difficult to blend in unless they're Hanged Men, and 2) dealing with mundane minutiae is boring when Chaosium tried to advertise play as a mix...

The voors are an alien race from the Radix Tetrad by A. A. Attanasio. Their name apparently comes from “ voorish ”. Here’s a review I found  here , which quotes mentions of voors, Iz, and kha! These aliens were an inspiration for the French writers, who incorporated them into the background. The Voors were alien “seeds” carried to Earth by the cosmic wind “Iz”, where they mixed with the magic fields and germinated into the Kaïm. They play a key role in The Star’s arcane quest for the Stellar Ones. According to rules given in Codex des Nephilim , some Star Initiates have cultivated “prime essence” within themselves that they speculate emulates the original composition of the Voors. In the French, every Nephilim and ex-Nephilim Selenim was originally a Kaïm who was cast down by Orichalka. Although it’s not clearly spelled out, the Ar-Kaïm and natural Selenim are implied to be native to Earth rather than children of the Voors. Could this be integrated into the US version? Shoul...

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...

In this post I will present a Nephilim perspective on Selenim for roleplay purposes. This includes myths and facts in order of how likely Nephilim would know it. Many are copied from the French , but modified for the US version. As of the Great Awakening, the old barriers are breaking down. Due to PC exceptionalism, a typical party will consist of 2–3 Nephilim, 1–2 Selenim and 1–2 Ar-Kaïm, thus knowing better. “The children of Lilith denied their blood. Cursed among the fallen angels. They were condemned to mourn death. That was when the curse of unlife began.”   —The Book of Enoch L 1:13 General beliefs Myth #1 : The Selenim are degenerate beings, no better than the Devil’s Shabs. Truth : The Selenim are just as diverse in their beliefs as the Nephilim.  Myth #2 : They are forever cut off from the Golden Path, and will never reach Agartha. Truth : The Anamorphs believe they can reach a pseudo-Agartha they call "Apotheosis" by constructing their own Realm within the resid...