My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

As an addendum to my prior post , here’s a brief recap of how the fourth edition handled the five sorcery paths. These were called Labyrinthes de Sapience  ("Labyrinths of Wisdom") and  Voies de Magie  ("Ways of Magic") in French. Each element has spiritual, material and celestial correspondences. These are represented by lists of words called Domains , encompassing all possible meanings of that word. Literal, figurative, etc. In third edition, as I explained, these were listed on a universal Analogy Table used by all mages. Words not on the table had to be linked to, from a word on the table, by word chains to use them in spells. At character creation, mages inscribed one spell per level in Magic Techniques: up to 3 spells per Technique. Mages could cast spells without inscription, but it was slightly harder. In fourth edition, mages started with a blank Analogy Table and had to learn words individually. They couldn't learn words that weren't listed in the...

As I previously mentioned, the French version gave each occult science five paths . Five mazes of Sorcery, five worlds of Summoning, and five materials of Alchemy, each preferred by Nephilim of one of the five elements. For purposes of organization, I label these the "watchtowers" of the elements. To recap: Element Sorcery Kabbalah Alchemy 🜂 Fire The Axial Way of the Wandering Principles : Fight the darkness and learn from the struggle Aresh, World of Conflict , where the world is in a constant state of war and honor and atrocity are the only lords Metal , mastered by the Green Lion, is Mastery 🜄 Water The Primal Way of the Rising Spiral : Change yourself to change the world. Zakaï, World of Purity , where the world is dying and the only hope rests on the healing of the Fisher King Liquor , mastered by Esmeralda, is Transformation 🜃 Earth The Natural Way of the Winding Pa...

I mentioned in a prior post that in third edition, Sorcery underwent an overhaul. Starting in second edition it was renamed Magic ( Magie in French). In third edition, the fixed spells of prior editions were augmented by a syntactic magic mechanic that allowed players to construct their own spells according to universal guidelines and, in a break with prior editions, to cast these on the fly without needing foci or inscriptions.  Sorcery in Nephilim: Revelation Note: The rulebook has some editing errors, so I’m using  unofficial errata from a fansite  when recapping. That source incorporates the fanzine  Palimpseste  n°1  and  Palimpseste  n°4 . Spells were constructed as sentences with verbs and nouns chosen by the sorcerer to tailor the effect. A typical sentence consisted of the verb , the target(s) , and one or more analogies selected from the " Analogy Table ". Various concepts associated with each of the five Ka-elements were given on thi...

Chaosium's adaptation of Nephilim was based on the 1st edition of the French, which was crude and unrefined compared to subsequent supplements. Case in point, the US version recaps the Olamot as the four summoning worlds: Assia, Yetzirah, Briah and Atziluth. In the French, these worlds would be discarded and replaced with Aresh, Meborack, Pachad, Sohar and Zakaï.  A brief summary comes from this rpg.net post by a reviewer translating the French: Kabbalah Kabbalah as a science knew many false starts whether the studies of King Salomon or the wanderings of Helen in mythic Greece. However it is Jesus the Son of Ether that drew the fundamentals of the Occult Science used today. The Messiahs posited that worlds exist around us in the magical fields. He could call the creatures of these worlds and draw Wisdom from their teachings. Kabbalah was the legacy he left to his Fallen creators hoping they would find solace in Sohar the world he had more often walked. Five worlds are studied...

In the French version, subsequent editions after the first introduced the idea of sub-skills and sub-paths within the occult sciences. You had paths associated with the various Dominant Ka, and you had various skills which determined the exact applications, and the paths and skills within an occult science may or may not have been associated with each other. It was all very complicated and varied across editions. Sorcery For Sorcery ("Magic" in French), the paths were: The Central path of the stray Principle (Pyrim) The primal path of the Rising Spiral (Hydrim) The Natural Path of the Winding Trail (Faerim) The Torturous path of the Schematic Labyrinth (Eolim) The path of the Maze of the soul (Onirim) The skills were: Perceive (mundane phenomena), Feel (magical phenomena), Modify at First Circle; Commune, Transform, Move at Second; Create and Destroy at Third. Summoning For Summoning ("Kabbalah" in French), the paths were: Aresh, world of conflict (Pyrim) Meborack, ...

In the French version , athanors were revised over the editions.  First Edition In the first edition, the Athanor was an egg-shaped oven that produced alchemical Powders for all five elements.  US version This was retained by the US version. Although a revised system was planned and drafted, the line was canceled before it could be released. These rules were later genericized and incorporated into the BRP supplement  Enlightened Magic . In those rules, the Circles were reorganized like so: Black Stone involved manipulation of physical substances via the laboratory, athanor and alchemical materials. It affected the physical. White Stone involved the creation of works of art that induced a specific effect in the minds of the audience. It affected the mental. Philosopher's Stone involved meditations that would affect the very souls of the alchemist's targets. It affected the spiritual. In other words, much of the first and second circles of the French were consigned to...