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Black Moon's astrology and sacred places

This post serves as a companion piece to my last post on sacred places, this time exploring the Black Moon!  Black lunar astrology is a real oddity. In the French version, black lunar magic didn’t have any astrology modifiers until 3e as I've explained before. However, it always had the equivalent of plexi and sacred places (see Nephilim rulebook p132, 202). Below I present and consolidate the rules, notes, and revisions thereof. I leave it up to GMs to decide what schemes to use.  Black Moon's sacred sites Trace amounts of Black Moon-Ka were scattered across the world and pooled in certain places, shifting like the rising and falling of tide pools or the steady erosion of rivers. Everywhere could be measured with one of five states of intensity, from weakest to strongest: (0) Absent, (1) Hollow, (2) Crescent, (3) Gibbous, and (4) Plenilunar. [The names in the French were idiosyncratic—naming the latter three Descendant, Ascendant, and Full/Dominant respectively even though th...

Comparing sacred places and nexus points

In this post I compare the various rules for magical places between Nephilim and Enlightened Magic . I consulted the following sources: Nephilim rulebook p132-3, 102, 202; Gamemaster’s Companion p45-6; Enlightened Magic p14. Rules as written Plexi and Nexi: The benefits provided by Plexi and Nexi are simple: automatic Ka-element rolls and recharge Stasis objects. Sacred Places: The benefits provided by Sacred Places are simple: a persistent +1d6 bonus to the corresponding Ka-element, if that Ka-element's astrological bonus is ≥6 then a Plexus appears for that astrological day, while a bonus of  ≥10 results in a Nexus instead. Spontaneous Generation of Elementals: Natural and magical phenomena have a change of spontaneously generating elementals based on any present emotional potentials. Minor natural phenomena—like a thunder storm, minor tremor, house fire, high tide or partial eclipse—have a 5% chance of generation. Major natural phenomena—like a tornado, earthquake, fir...

Why are Onirim so distrusted?

The Onirim are distrusted by other Nephilim due to a variety of factors (see Nephilim rulebook p26), which I reiterate here and add some of my house rules too. The Lunatic Nature The Lunatic Nature ruled by the Moon is very... not conductive to good and honest interactions (see “Emotional Natures” sidebar, Major Arcana p40). This is shown in the personality Traits of the Snake, Baba Yaga and Baen Shide (see  Chronicle of the Awakenings  p70, 72-5). This doesn’t mean Onirim can’t be trusted compatriots, but their nature makes them unreliable weirdos by default. The Ophidians Many Onirim metamorphoses are variations of the Snake. These include the Lamia, Medusa, and Naga. These scaly metamorphoses are collectively known as the Ophidians. They are looked down upon because of their painful resemblance to the Saurians, who nearly destroyed the world 65 million years ago. [However, not all Nephilim necessarily know the stories of the Kaïm or believe these stories to be true. So thi...

Past lives for Ar-Kaïms?

In my campaign setting, Ar-Kaïms or "Astrological Nephilim" have appeared sporadically throughout history as mere legends but started appearing in greater numbers since the 20th century. This coincides with the subsequent increased awakenings of Nephilim due to the magic disturbances caused by the Golden Dawn, and the subsequent increase in Ar-Kaïms awakening was probably caused/aggravated by the same. (This is the case in the French too.) In the French version, Ar-Kaïm didn’t have past lives even after reincarnation (and they could only reincarnate in willing blood relatives too). Where the nephilim were alien body snatchers, the Ar-Kaïms were enlightened humans or Aberrant -inspired superheroes. They didn’t prove very popular, so the 5th edition put them all on a bus and they vanished from canon. The other difference between the symbolic Nephilim and the astrological Nephilim aka Ar-Kaïm is that the latter may incorporate any combination of elements within their Ka-Heart. T...

Death, reincarnation and afterlife

To keep myself straight, I thought I’d keep track of this here. I’m using the US version (for Nephilim) and the French version (for Selenim and Ar-Kaïm) as a basis, but I’m not necessarily beholden to it. Upon the death of a nephilim (see Nephilim rulebook p116), their elemental essence flees their simulacrum and takes spectral form (the nephilim’s metamorphosis, devoid of humanity) only detectable via mystic vision. This elemental is entitled to search for a new bearer. If it cannot, then it will inevitably be drawn back into its stasis regardless of intervening distance. If the stasis is already full, then the elemental becomes stuck in place and enter a narcosis that causes various haunting phenomena (see  Nephilim rulebook p116-7.) In favorable conditions the spirit can precipitate the birth of elemental beasts, such as the banshee (see Gamemaster’s Companion p57). This narcosis can last for centuries, but eventually the spirit will disintegrate and disperse into the magic f...

Rules for real solar magic... psychic powers?

Back in 1995 Michael Caprio wrote his own solar magic rules for Nephilim . These presented solar magic as psychic powers that could be learned by mortals. Written presumably before the release of  Secret Societies , this contradicts the Mithradites writeup for Solar-Ka Techniques. However, I feel these rules could still be incorporated into the setting via my addition of Ar-Kaïms inspired by the French 3e. Ar-Kaïms, in contrast to the other Immortals, are able to develop "solar magic" expressed as stereotypical psychic powers. Ordinary mortals aren't capable of developing these abilities, even among the Mithradites. Any mortal who doesn't is actually a young and uninitiated Ar-Kaïm who has yet to develop any Ka-elements beyond their innate Solar-Ka. However, the Initiates of the Occult World don't know and may mistake them for mortals with psychic powers. For reasons unknown but probably fated by the stars, Ar-Kaïms have a tendency to find and join secret societi...

What is the Black Sun?

The Black Sun was briefly mentioned in the rulebook but no other details were given. I and many others generally assumed it was another name for Orichalka, since this was literally stated in Gamemaster’s Companion and the same name was listed as an alias for the Order of the Black Star in Secret Societies . However, the Major Arcana book said it referred to the mysterious energy source that powered the Saurian Empire. The Star has discovered “black sun shards” over the course of their travels! It's clearly not the same as the Black Moon... is it? Is it related to the black elements generated at Chernobyl? The black fire-ka mentioned in Serpent Moon ? Methinks the writers got carried away... it's a known issue that different writers brought their own ideas to the game and these didn't quite sync up. I don’t know what to think about it at this time, but maybe in a later post? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.