My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

In a prior post I suggested giving all metamorphosis traits direct game effects, but declined to give detailed expansions of the published metamorphoses. In this post I will rectify that. All these game effects only kick in once the associated Trait reaches 16+. This includes temporary boosts like Directing the Trait or entering Khaiba. A Nephilim suffering an episode of Khaiba has access to all of their metamorphosis traits' game effects. Any references to skills use the list in the Basic Roleplaying rulebook, 4th edition. The SRD may be found here . I'm mostly ignoring those, however, because skill lists in RPGs are overly long and arbitrary nonsense. I'm just gonna use general descriptions here, and you can apply them to whatever skills you think apply. These are just examples. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. I encourage groups to invent their own game effects as suits their character concepts. Universal Parameters The following are optional rules for stand...

In the French 5e, metamorphoses have been revised again so that there are 10 manifestations rather than 5. As with the 1e these are purely cosmetic but don't have individual ratings and now risk being detected whenever the character uses magic.  [ EDIT July 2, 2023: A fan-made conversion of the prior editions’ metamorphs  may be found here .] While I think the Emotional Metamorphosis rules given in Chronicle of the Awakenings are more than adequate, this did inspire me to come up with some ideas for adapting the 5e back to the neglected US version. There are a few different ways I can think of to approach this. One approach is to simply double the number of Metamorphosis Traits and halve their values. A Manifestation becomes useable when the Trait is 8+. To achieve Agartha, the Nephilim must have a 90% Total and each individual Trait must be 8+. Of course, having to track gains and losses in 10 different Personality Traits may be a bit much to ask. Another approach is to giv...

What follows are my current latest musings on Assuaging and Entropy, largely based on 3e. My rules for Assuaging are much the same as that given in  Ian’s notes , with the following adjustments: If the Selenim is Assuaging the same emotion as one of their Emotional Traits, they add that Trait as a bonus to their Ka value. This is similar to fulfilling a Trait (see Chronicle of the Awakenings p58). The modifier for familiarity varies between −20%, −10%, +0%, +10%, or +20%. Each step takes progressively more effort. Reducing the −20% penalty for a complete unknown to −10% only requires a few minutes of casual conversation, while any bonus will require months of interaction. (This bit is based on 5e.) The points drained/transferred are equal the emotion’s Intensity Potential, not one-tenth of the Selenim’s Ka. This generally ranges from 0–5, e.g. from a coma patient to a fundamentalist witnessing a miracle. For a group of any size, multiply this value by 1.5 (rounded up). The Seleni...

In this post I want to talk about two things: metamorphosis transformations’ game effects and subtlety a la Liber Ka . Transformations’ game effects In the rulebook, metamorphosis transformations were purely cosmetic and had no useful mechanical effects. In Chronicle of the Awakenings , each metamorph generally had 2 game effects at 16+ points each. Water breathing, flight, claws, vengeance sense, prophecy, etc. The  unofficial Australian metamorphs  were especially powerful. In the  Ex Oculis fanbook , every transformation would’ve had a useful mechanical effect. (Often costing 1 or more ch’awe.) I would definitely use that instead, especially comparing it with the Selenim’s Anamorphosis. The latter always provided useful game effects. I’m not gonna provide a whole conversion in this post. I encourage groups to customize their metamorphs to suit their styles, using the books as inspiration. Shelby Babb's old page has  some ideas , unfortunately written for the ru...

What follows are some ideas I had for flavoring artefact creation and use, inspired by 3e. These are designed for potentially mixed parties of Nephilim, Selenim, Ar-Kaïm, and/or Bohemians. Refer to Gamemaster’s Companion and Enlightened Magic for the original rules. These artefacts operate similarly to sorcerous items (see  Basic Roleplaying  p246). These rules may be instead of or in addition to those in the GMC and EM. If introducing these as a new type of magic item, then my suggested name to distinguish these is “wondrous items” (a la  Dungeons & Dragons , referring to their wondrous usefulness). Wondrous items, or wonders, are extremely useful because they allow  anyone  to cast the enchantment. Mortal or immortal, with or without the corresponding Ka. They’re useful for Selenim because these don’t cost points from their own reserves, which they only replenish by draining Solar-Ka. Creating wonders follows steps 1–2 explained in GMC p26–9. The sp...

In this post I explain the spiritual meaning of the Nephilim’s pentacle and the Ka-elements themselves. Although linked to specific game statistics, like Fire to Strength and Moon to Charisma, all of the elements have physical, mental and spiritual correspondences and manifestations.  It’s not one or the other . You don’t have to posit different cultures all have different elements to explain varying beliefs. Real occultism isn’t supposed to be accurate in the game world anyway, but the result of information leaks and cargo cults by muggles. Liam Routt gave a good explanation in  his old FAQ : (I’m putting it between horizontal rules because blogger has issues with formatting) The Spiritual Pentagram Traditionally, the pentagram represents our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical composition: Fire Doing—Fire is energy, the power to act. But it is pure action, undirected by thought or feeling. Air Thinking—Air is thinking, ideation, mental activity, but it can...

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...