My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

A key distinction in my campaigns is that Nephilim are symbiotic hybrids of human and elemental, not elemental spirits possessing hapless human hosts, nor awakened humans with a connection to the magic fields. The human half provides a physical body and a soul (Sol, Solar-Ka), allowing the Nephilim to interact, travel and to have awareness, identity, and will. The elemental half provides the Ka-elements, allowing the Nephilim to exist in symbiosis with the magic fields and to practice the occult sciences. There is also a third portion, the stasis object, which anchors the soul and the Ka-elements so that the Nephilim can be immortal. Without a stasis object, the Nephilim's Solar-Ka and Ka-elements will dissolve into the magic fields upon death. With a stasis object, his Ka-elements are able to remain on the earthly plane as a spirit known as a daimonian or paredrus . Without Solar-Ka it is bestial and driven entirely by its passions, but as an insubstantial spirit it can do nothing...

A Nephilim is hypothetically immortal. How do you kill an immortal? Here are my thoughts: Orichalc . If a Nephilim is slain by Orichalc, then he dies. His remaining Ka-elements dissolve into the magic fields. Magic damage . Certain spells and certain attacks by magical creatures inflict damage directly on the Nephilim’s Ka. Sufficient damage results in the soul losing integrity and dissolving into the magic fields. Repeated death . Every time a Nephilim dies, it is a traumatic experience that leaves spiritual wounds. If his subsequent reincarnations are killed in quick succession, then it is possible to inflict so much trauma that his soul finally dissolves into the magic fields rather than reincarnating. Destroy his stasis object . Destroying the enchantment on a stasis object is possible by inflicting sufficient magical or Orichalc damage. This also inflicts sympathetic damage against the Nephilim. Even if he survives the psychic trauma, his soul will have no anchor when his body die...

So something I found confusing was the rationale for the Black Star to construct elaborate megaliths to calculate the best places to imprison Nephilim in stasis. This was also done in the original French version, albeit by the Sword suit (referenced in the US version as the "Men of the Sword"). For reference, let's recap the rules for stasis objects across the editions. These haven't been consistent across all editions. In the French version, in all editions except for 5th, breaking the Stasis Object would destroy the Nephilim immediately no matter where they were. It didn't matter whether they were in Stasis, Narcosis, or incarnated. In the US version, breaking the Stasis Object meant the Nephilim had nowhere to go upon bodily death. If they couldn't jump between bodies, then they would disintegrate into the magic fields. While the Major Arcana knew how to create Stasis Objects for newborn Nephilim, there was no way to replace a broken Stasis Object. So the c...

As mentioned in the Nephilim rulebook p55 and the Gamemaster's Companion  p11 and Major Arcana p11, the Pact with Menes resulted in the Nephilim being allowed to incarnate within royal bloodlines for before being mummified and sealed within tombs. At the funeral Solar-Ka was sacrificed to sanctify the tomb, itself an "inferior" replica of the Selenim's tombs. Within the tomb they would retain consciousness and be allowed to progress towards Agartha in silent contemplation. How was this feat accomplished? We don't receive further info in the US version, but the French version offers some insights that may be applicable despite the extensive changes to the lore in the US version. One thing to keep in mind is that the Tombs didn't exist in the French version, but are an original creation of the US version. Otherwise, the material on mummification seems equally applicable to both versions. I have referred to the third edition GM's screen booklet, the third ed...

Stasis items have a fixed capacity, which is a function of its enchantment and bond to its owner. Attempting to overfill a stasis item results in the excess charges bleeding off into the environment. This causes weird phenomena like random poltergeist activity, bizarre power outages, rains of frogs, etc. similar to that caused by a Paredrus in Narcosis. ​There are a few situations in which this happens, not all of which you would expect. I’m still working on my rules, so these may change. Leaving a Stasis item in a Plexus or Nexus after it has fully charged. A Stasis item only holds 20 charges. Releasing and reincarnating a Paredrus from a Stasis item after charging it in a Plexus. A Stasis item only stores 4 charges of each element while the Nephilim is incarnate. Losing Pentacle branches as a result of becoming Selenim. The lost branches are automatically sucked into the Stasis item, displacing any charges of that element. Casting the Ritual Magic Spell Stay of the Centuries . This s...

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...

As a companion to my previous post  on the subject, in this post I'll explore elixirs and homunculi made from other types of Nephilim. These applications are optional, tentative and I may revise them in the future. In the French version As a quick recap, sacrifices, elixirs, homunculi and stasis items worked differently in the French version. Sacrifices seemingly didn't exist. Elixirs were referred to as "Ka Reserves", created using Litharge ("rare earths" in the French), and could remotely steal portions of Ka from Nephilim using a magical connection without outright killing them. Homunculi were created in much the same manner, but they were grown in transparent flasks and couldn't leave the flask without dying. Stasis items were linked to the Nephilim and if it was destroyed then the Nephilim would be destroyed immediately regardless of intervening distance or current incarnation, a limitation that was only removed in fifth edition. I won't bore yo...

In an older post I gave some thoughts on past lives for Ar-Kaïms. I wrote that before I started reading Codex des Ar-Kaïm , which provided some rules in this regard already! The third edition rules suffered from space constraints, so some key parts of character creation had to be placed in the Codex for each magical race. This includes "Past Points", which players used to purchase magic items and spells for their PCs that were acquired over the course of their past and retained into the present era. Ar-Kaïms gained a Lineage parameter that determined how many times they'd previously reincarnated, with each level representing one generation or ~3 decades. This only went back to 1900, the start of the Great Awakening. So they didn't have the ancient past lives like Nephilim and Ex-Nephilim Selenim had. However, the fifth edition rulebook briefly recaps their fluff in one chapter and specifies that they've existed for centuries at least but were concealed by the Rom...

In the backstory for the Pact with Menes, it was explained that the agreement stipulated that the Nephilim would be allowed to incarnate within royal bloodlines after which they would be mummified along with their Simulacrum and entombed within prepared tombs that would allow them to retain consciousness after death and continue progression towards Agartha. How did this actually work? As the Simulacrum is dying, the Pentacle enters "Semket" (a misreading of msktt ) and then exits the body. For mummification to work as described, the Pentacle would need to be prevented from exiting the body first before any mummification could begin!  I'm skimming through the third edition French Minor Arcana book, which said the Promethean Mysteries within the priesthood embalmed the Simulacrum to trap the Nephilim inside, but it doesn't seem to explain this either. So I'm going to provide an explanation for my campaigns. The Pact with Menes required the assistance of amenable Se...

The basic rules for Stasis items have changed dramatically across different editions and adaptations. For reference and inspiration, I am recapping those in this post as well as offering ideas of my own. French version 1-4e In the French version editions first to third, Stasis items generally followed a consistent set of rules aside from minor differences between different editions. Stasis items could store charges of the five chromatic Ka-elements that composed the Nephilim's Pentacle. In some editions this could be in any distribution (e.g. the Stasis could be charged with a single element), but in others each element had a separate pool that couldn't overflow so a Nexus was required. To release a Nephilim from Stasis, the Stasis item had to be charged until it was full and expelled the Nephilim. Depending on the edition, this either required a Nexus specifically or could be fully charged by a Plexus. Upon disembodiment, the Stasis item would try to vacuum the Nephilim regard...

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...

I have a few thoughts on the Jesus Incident in the game lore. For some background to get you up to speed... The US version So in the US rulebook, page 64–5 explains: In this context the Jesus incident took place. Reports of the events are muddy, having been obscured by Templars, the Church, and others in the time since they occurred. Even most Nephilim are not exactly sure what happened, or how.  Human, or perhaps more correctly Humanistic, history has a theory. According to them Jesus was a prophet who announced the coming of a spiritual kingdom. He delivered his message throughout Judea and was condemned by the Romans for attempting to spark civil war. He suffered the Roman torture of crucifixion.  Accepted religious history professes a different message. The Christian Church says that Jesus was the Messiah who had been announced in the Old Testament, that he is the Son of God, and that he came upon Earth to spread the Good News. During his life he accomplished numerous mira...

Over the course of my homebrewing I came up with a number of alternative names for stasis items (known simply as stases in the French). Names like bound talisman, anchor, fetich, memorarium, monstrance, stasis item, stasis object, reliquary, etc. Ex Oculis opted to rename them to "talismans" (a name that was already taken by artifacts that weren't amulets in the Gamemaster's Companion , confusingly enough) as part of their attempt to rewrite Nephilim as maybe-maybe-not enlightened humans. The original name, stasis item or stasis object, was re-flavored as a more technical sounding name used by The Chariot and similarly mechanical minded Nephilim. I guess I can see the logic in that, as it does sound fairly clinical. Anyway, memorarium is a nonce word I coined myself out of memory and -arium to mean a container of memories. In my campaigns, inspired by ExO, the stasis item or memorarium is what contains or anchors the memories of past lives. It can be replaced if de...

In the French version, Stasis items worked differently. A Nephilim dissolved immediately if their Stasis item was broken. At any time the Nephilim could be bound to a new Stasis item by exposing their blood to Orichalc, with the resulting litharge used to create the new Stasis item. This severed the bond to the old Stasis item and explained how a Nephilim's Stasis item could change over time. The Third Circle invocation Shai Hulud could change a Nephilim's Stasis item. The summoner provided the Stasis item, his own or another's, and the item to become the new Stasis item. Shai Hulud then transferred the Litharge containing all the magical properties of the old Stasis item to the new one, no Orichalc required. Only one transfer was allowed per invocation. In the US version, Stasis items worked differently. A Stasis bond could be broken by physically breaking the Stasis item. A Nephilim could survive without a Stasis item, but had to serially reincarnate because it would soon...

In the French version second edition, a new rule was added where a Nephilim in Stasis possesses any human being who touches the Stasis item regardless of its current contents. While this may be a bit much since it precludes the Stasis item being transported by looters or museum employees unless they all miraculously wore gloves, I do think the idea can fit into my revision of Nephilim as symbiotic fusions. If a Stasis item containing an elemental essence is touched by a mortal who is spiritually sympathetic to that essence’s history, then the essence will incarnate within them and they become Nephilim. This doesn’t require the Stasis item to be charged. A Stasis item is marked by fate and its not uncommon for the Simulacrum to dream about it before finally encountering it and incarnating the essence. An elemental essence released by charging a Stasis item generally cannot incarnate except within a sympathetic Simulacrum. This doesn’t require a resistance roll because the mortal is will...