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Chaosium Digest Volume 10 Number 06
Chaosium Digest Volume 10, Number 6
Date: Sunday, April 30, 1995
Number: 3 of 3
Contents:
Solar Magic, Part III (Michael Caprio Jr.) NEPHILIM
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From: mikey@ayup.res.wpi.edu (Michael V. Caprio Jr.)
Subject: Solar Magic, Part III
System: Nephilim
Solar Magic rules v1.0
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Copyright 1995 Michael V. Caprio Jr. These rules are for personal use |
| only, and may not be distributed or reproduced beyond the Chaosium |
| Digest without the express permission of the author. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
[contined from V10.5]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE HUMAN PLAYER CHARACTER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Creating the Human Character:
--------------------------------
I recommend playing humans with a solar ka of 11 or higher, but not
really higher that 18 (3d6 if you're the adventurous type, plus some
modifier if you're not). Humans with less ka than 11 really don't have
much in the way of extraordinary psychic talent, and that's really the
key to playing an awakened human. Maybe your character is an agent for
The Company, and she employs his talents in espionage, until the day
she stumbles across the occult world and the Nephilim. Perhaps your
character is of the Hanged Man Arcanum, the result of a poorly merged
Nephilim? Or maybe you are a Magician initiate whose powers have been
set off by regular contact with Nephilim?
I cannot stress enough the importance of the initial character
concept. Keep in mind that your character is a human, and most likely
doesn't know the "true" nature of the world, or of magic and Nephilim
at least. Remember that humans really _aren't_ the focus of the game;
the Nephilim quest for enlightenment is currently all that's published
in the books. But also keep in mind that since this human has
"graduated" to character status, she is an exceptional being. Really
powerful psychic power should be a rare thing in the game world, and
the character may be painfully aware of that: perhaps she's being
chased by governments (enlisting) and scientists (dissection) and
secret societies (elixirs? or maybe something worse...) that want to
tap into their power; maybe she's an outcast in the "normal" world,
shunned by people who are afraid of her powers.
Whatever the concept, keep in mind that the character is not
necessarily framed by her psychic abilities, and should not be
centered around them (unless it's part of the concept, of course, like
a Tibetan mystic? Or a gypsy fortune teller?).
Character Skills and Abilities:
-----------------------------------
Probably the best way to go about generating a character would be to
follow what guidelines are already set out in the Nephilim book. Page
82 has a section on generating randomly created NPCs for the GM or for
players, and it follows a good system, one solidly based in character
concept.
Also, needless to say, all rules for Nephilim and their simulacra
apply to human characters - damage, combat, and everything else holds
true for plain vanilla humans. Skills are learned in the same manner,
and it's really advisable to hold with the "less than 90% in a skill"
adage, as skills developed in excess of 100% are really the result of
_several_ lifetimes of advancement, whereas your human obviously only
has the one lifetime of experience.
A quick summary of character generation for those who don't have it
handy: INT = 2d6+6, all other abilities 3d6. Roll 1d4+6 to determine
number of Profession-related skills, multiply INT by 15 to determine
the number of percentage points in those skills. Distribute 3d6 X 10
points among other skills however you want. And of course, examine the
sample simulacra for ideas, etc.
A Sample Human Character:
------------------------------------
Player Name: Joe Q. Roleplayer
Character Name: John Smith, 008
Profession: Super-spy, Her Majesty's Secret Service
Age: 32 Ht.: 175 Wt.: 6'1" Sex: Male
Social Status: 11
Opportunity: 33% (w/access to special resources)
Education: 17
Life Experience: 75%
Family Relationship: 3
Appearance: Very dapper, English, well cropped brown hair.
Answers to "Smith. John Smith."
Solar-Ka: KA : 17 Vision: 54%
Abilities:STR: 10 Effort: 30%
CON: 11 Resist.: 33%
INT: 16 Idea: 48%
DEX: 12 Agility: 36%
CHA: 15 Persuade: 45%
Attributes:
Actions: 3
Damage Bonus: none
Body Armor: 3/5 (para bullet vest-tuxedo)
Aura: 11
Hit Points: 11
Possessions: lockpicks, infrared goggles, sniper rifle, tuxedo,
scuba gear, watch w/built-in laser, exploding toothpaste,
license to kill.
Skills:
Weapons: Handgun 75%, Heavy Weapon 35%, Kick 70%, Rifle 80%,
Shotgun 65%, Submachine Gun 75%, Fist/Punch 80%
General: Scan 65%, Pilot 45%, Scrutinize 70%, Survival 90%,
Hide 85%, Hunt 50%, Listen 60%, Conceal 55%, Climb 70%,
Drive 65%, Dodge 80%, Taste 90%
Psychic Powers:
Primary Sphere: MIND
Secondary Sphere: SPACE
Psychic Skill Modifiers:
MIND: Charm +13%, Empathy +15%, Confuse +20%, Telepathy +10%,
Invisibility +15%, Mind Reading +17%, Mind Control +10%
SPACE: Spatial Reading +20%, Clairvoyance +20%,
Clairaudience +15%, Mirror Image +10%, Expand Space +10%
TIME: Premonition +10%, Divining +15%, Chronal Shield +15%,
Speed +10%
MATTER: Psychokinesis +15%, Psychopyresis +10%
-------------------------------------------
Psychic Advancement:
-------------------------
Humans simply do _not_ advance in power as much as Nephilim can, but
there is something to be said for improving your natural abilities.
When a human successfully "casts" a solar spell, they immediately add
+1% to their skill modifier in that power. A human can also advance
their ka: when a psychic talent achieves "control" of a Sphere (all
powers in that Sphere have a modifier of at least +25%), their ka goes
up by 1. Should that human ever reach the point of "mastery" of a
Sphere (all modifiers at +50%), they will receive another point of ka.
Aura can also be increased to some extent. At every 25% of (25
successful spells) advancement, another Aura point will be gained.
Also, one psychic can teach another their skills: a psychic who has a
greater skill modifier in a power can teach another psychic up to
their level. As long as a psychic regularly studies under a teacher,
the points received after a successful casting are increased by +1%
for each +10% greater ability the teacher has in that power rounded
down.
Example:
Bob has +22% in Temporal Reading. He is being taught by the Master Yee
Fong to improve his Time abilities. Master Fong has a +55% modifier in
Temporal Reading. When Bob identifies the age of the Master's amulet
correctly, he gains a +3% to that skill, finally giving him control of
the Time Sphere.
Determining Difficulty Potential Numbers:
---------------------------------------------
You may be saying to yourself at this point "boy, this system is sure
rules-heavy; I don't want to have to make a million calculations just
to bend a spoon!" Or you might be saying, "Gee, this guy doesn't know
diddly about numbers and charts, no way am I going to use his Factors
system." Either way you may feel, there is regardless a way out. Feel
free not to use it - go ahead and figure out your own system for
psychic power, one that fits your campaign world.
In general, I think that this is a pretty fair system - I tried to
build in some rationality with the numbers - some of the modifiers to
powers I suggested were based on my own ideas of what psychic strength
in my world would be, according to how I feel psychic power is
represented in my campaign. But, in general, I think a good rule for
determining difficulty potentials is:
150% of Ka = Nigh Impossible Difficulty Task.
or, 15 Ka has a "nigh impossible difficulty potential" of 23.
That gives players in general a 1 in 4 chance of completing the
action, which seems right for impossible actions in an RPG; and
anyway, this is not what the chance would be in either of the opposing
spheres - there it would be 1 in 8 or 1 in 10, depending on their
modifiers. Go with the task potential chart in the Gamemaster's Veil,
and you should be able to wing it. Hard difficulty tasks would
probably about equal kaX2, but depending on how strong you want humans
in your campaign, that should be adjusted (i.e. is it "normal" in your
world for humans to throw people around with their mind, or just bend
spoons?). Again, play with the thought in mind that your human players
are going to want to have just as much fun as your Nephilim players,
but that humans in general should not come anywhere near the power
levels of your average Nephilim.
Game Factors and Ideas To Think About When Incorporating Solar Magics:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember that the book mentions that there also other forms of Ka (pg.
9), including, apart from the basic five, Black-moon Ka, Solar Ka, and
Black-sun Ka. What does this mean in terms of your campaign? What
about the Selenim (black lunar ka Nephilim) - do they think that
humans with higher solar ka are more tasty? And what exactly is
_Black-sun ka_?? Are there awakened humans running around with this
stuff too? Does it have something to do with outer space - black
holes maybe? And will black-sun ka beings be as attracted to
devouring lunar ka as Selenim are to solar ka?
Also remember that Nephilim believe in the Axis of the solar system,
and it is this Axis that formed the guide for the Sun, which in turn
beams the forces of the universe through the prisms of the planets,
congealing into the magic fields on Earth (pg. 11-12). Also Nephilim
only concern themselves with seven of the celestial bodies in this
system - yet there _are_ more. Nephilim also claim that the opposing
interaction between sun and moon sparked life on the planet, initially
creating the moon-based Saurians.
And, as for human/Nephilim relationships - here are some examples of
Arcana that may or may not be linked to solar-ka magics, and some
quotes that explain why they may be opposed to or encouraging of them:
Arcanum I: The Magician - "The Nephilim of this arcana work closely
with certain human beings who study the mysteries of Nephilim magic
and the Solar-ka."
*Arcanum XII: The Hanged Man - SEE BELOW
Arcanum XIII: The Unnamed Arcanum - The Selenim
Arcanum XVI: The Tower - "They also try to prevent and suppress the
spread of occult knowledge among humans by killing anyone with obvious
occult knowledge or high Solar-ka... They are the direct rivals of the
Magician."
Arcanum XIX: The Sun - "These Nephilim study the powers of the Sun.
They are the most mystical of all. They look for ways of accessing and
using the eventual magic streams of the sixth ka, the Solar-ka."
* Using this arcanum is probably the best way to incorporate solar
magic into your game world if you're reluctant to give these powers to
human PCs or NPCs. This arcanum is best described as
Nephilim-who-deny-they-are-Nephilim by trying to live exactly as their
simulacra would and voluntarily throwing themselves into shouit. The
book recommends against playing this kind of character, calling it
"difficult and perverse", but if you're really, really against giving
humans magic and still want to play with these rules, you can try and
work something out with this form of Nephilim - maybe in the way that
the unsuppressed human starts discovering that he has these neat
powers when the Nephilim is in shouit, or something...
Final Comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treat this system as a purely optional addition that you may want to
include in your Nephilim campaign. I hope I've provided enough detail
so that creative GMs can run with this as is, but can still
extrapolate into their own campaigns exactly how this kind of thing
can or cannot fit into their own world. Pick and choose as you like,
and chop it into little bits if you have to to make it fit.
One last thing - all mentions of original concepts and terms from the
game of Nephilim are solely owned copyrights of Chaosium and their
respective authors. Everything that I've added so far belongs to me,
but is available to readers of this mailing list for their personal
use, and not for widespread distribution just yet - this is just a
first draft, so to speak.
I'd appreciate any and all comments and criticisms on the system, and
would ask that anyone please direct comments to my e-mail address
below. Thanks for reading...
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Copyrighted @ 1995 by Michael V. Caprio Jr. mikey@ayup.res.wpi.edu
--------------------
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