Omens and Portents in Nephilim

The world of Chaosium's Nephilim is very like our own. People get up in the morning, go to work, pay taxes, marry, have children, marry, grow old and die. Life continues in its mundane schedule, leading mankind from cradle to grave through a universe that cares little for their hopes and fear, plans and predictions.

But the Nephilim see a different side to this uncaring jumble of random events. They know that there is a pattern behind it all, and can catch glimpses of its workings. They live in a world where a song on the radio can reveal the final step in an ancient magical ritual, and where the breakfast special at the corner diner grants insights into the plottings of the Templars. Such things, they say, signify, and then pause for a moment to make sure that they are understood. A web of meaningful coincidence binds all aspects of the Nephilim's world, and, as their journey to Agartha progresses, they are able to understand more and more of it, possibly even beginning to influence it in subtle, deliberate ways. To the Nephilim, our mundane world sparkles with magic.

All very fine and well, but how does one introduce this feeling of awe at the familiar into the Nephilim game? When a player asks, "How does the song give me the information that I need?", the answer, "It just does," is not very satisfying. The handling of esoteric clues is one of the toughest aspects of running a Nephilim game, and contributes a great deal to the success or failure of the achievement of the desired atmosphere. Every day is a mystical experience to the Nephilim, and every game should carry the hints of powerful forces acting behind the scenes.

The game master needs to consider three basic factors when using the engines of synchronicity to impart information to the players. The first is what information to reveal in this manner. Certain types of information will lend itself more readily and more acceptably to mystical sources than others. The second consideration is what form the revelation will take. The actual event should tie not only to the information, but also to the Nephilim experiencing it. Finally, timing is in this, as in all things, an important aspect. Giving away too much too soon is bad, as is too little too late. When these three elements have been given careful and creative consideration, an important and memorable event can develop out of an apparent minor part of the adventure.

The substance of the revelation forms the nucleus for the event. What information should be revealed in this manner? Predicting the future has long been a sticky subject in role-playing games, as all game masters have discovered just how slippery and unpredictable both players and dice can be. Stating the outcome of a future event unequivocally is a good way to make sure that outcome never comes to pass. What information, then, is safe? Well, none, really, but certain things are safer than others.

One source for the subject of revelations is the adventure itself. If the main enemy is a Templar group, that can be revealed. If the plot revolves around a certain item or event, that can be exposed in this manner. Whether a certain non-player character is trustworthy or not, who's really behind the plot, where the secret base is, who or what the next target will be, all of these things can be revealed to the Nephilim through mystical means. This can help move the Nephilim away from being magical private detectives, and more towards being mystics following the secret signs.

On the other hand, forcing player characters to do mundane legwork can also be a good thing. Locating a murder weapon by following omens may be interesting, but developing the evidence to prove its the right weapon may cause the players to come to an arrangement with the police to have the weapon tested, and then tracking down the owner. Don't let the ability of the Nephilim to divine information through mystical means short circuit role-playing. A Djinn may be able to read the portents and track down a junkie thief who has stolen his Stasis, but he'll probably have more fun beating the information out of the criminal class.

A second source of fodder for mystical revelation is the characters themselves. All Nephilim are striving to reach Agartha, to achieve the spiritual and mystical perfection that once was theirs. They also each have their own histories, some spanning millenia, and their own personal hopes and dreams and fears. This provides a rich vein of information. An honourable Phoenix has sworn vengeance on a society of sorcerors? Perhaps a number of omens hinting that he will die in pursuit of this goal time and again, finally ending up as an elixir serving their evil. The character must then continue in his quest despite the doom foretold, or abandon it and find some way to restore the honour lost in being foresworn. A Satyr may begin seeing signs that the great love of her life has once again been incarnated. Will she drop her current studies and leave her friends to go off and find this person, or will she put aside the past and the urgings of her heart to further her quest for enlightenment? And what if the omens show her love in peril? Such things not only add richness to the lives of the characters, they can spawn adventures in their own right.

Once the subject of the revelation has been determined, the form of it must be decided on. The actual event should be presented in such a way as to make the esoteric nature of it apparent, and cause the player to attach meaning to it. Conversely, you may want to make the sign meaningful only in hindsight. One trick is to call for a Ka roll to determine whether the sign is perceived as significant or not. The noticeability of the event will, in the final analysis, depend on the outcome desired.

Synchronicity is a wonderful tool in this regard. Every day, people are bombarded by so much information that the creative person can form any number of meaningful connections between events. The game master can make the clues as obvious or as arcane as desired. If the Nephilim are about to run into the machinations of a group of Selenim, perhaps they are followed everywhere by the song "Bad Moon on the Rise", playing everytime they turn on the radio. If they're being stalked by Templars, the Red Cross might set up a blood drive in their neighbourhood. PBS may air a special on Akhenaton just before rumours of the discovery and theft of one of the Golden Tablets reaches the characters.

The Lore skills of the Nephilim can also be used to notice significant occurrences. A telephone lineman slipping from the pole and being caught upside-down by his trouser cuff may just seem like a lucky escape for the man, but to someone succeeding in a Tarot Lore roll, the association with the Hanged Man card becomes obvious, hinting at a dead end in the current investigation, or knowledge available for a price. Those with Kabbalistic Lore may detect meaning in the numbers on license plates or the missed letters in a badly typeset article in the morning paper. Astrological Lore reveals hints of things to come in the stars, and the patterns of bird migration may whisper secrets to those with Natural Lore. Random shapes in a graffitti covered wall may actually be mystic symbols with dire meaning to someone who makes a Hermetic Lore roll. If the game master has some knowledge of the workings of these things, specific clues and interpretations can be designed. If not, it's fairly easy to make something up. If you do this, you may want to keep notes to develop a little consistency.

A third way to present information is as the result of divination, wherein the characters make a deliberate attempt to gather information through mystical means. A Tarot divination system is presented in the "Serpent Moon" adventure, but this is only one possibility for plumbing the mysteries. A handy method is to require a Ka roll based on the element associated with the type of divination used, and giving detail in proportion to the success of the roll. For example, someone using crystal gazing to divine the future would have to roll against Earth Ka, gaining vague hints by rolling under five times the Ka score, and very detailed information by rolling under the Ka score. Some actual examples of divinatory methods follow:

• Haruspex: Animals are cut open and their entrails examined to reveal clues about the future. Organ shape and placement are considered. Based on Earth Ka.
• Oneiromancy: The interpretation of dreams, sometimes augmented by hallucinogenic drugs. Based on Moon Ka.
• Hydromancy: Gazing into a bowl of water into which a drop of ink has been placed. The movement and behaviour of the colour can reveal insight, and visions may come through concentration. Based on Water Ka.
• Bibliomancy: Opening a book, usually one of religious significance, randomly and reading a passage. The passage may give insight into the current situation, the past, or the future. Based on Air Ka.
• Spodomancy: The examination of the consistency of and patterns formed by the ashes of a fire lit especially for this purpose. Images can be interpreted literally or metaphorically. Based on Fire Ka.

In addition to these, there are combination techniques which may be used. In techniques involving more than one element, only one element is used as the basis of the roll, but if one or more of the secondary elements is represented by the subject of the reading, a bonus may be assigned. For example, a technique using Fire and Moon elements to find information about the Selenim would require a roll against Fire Ka, modified by a couple of points based on the link between the Moon element and the Selenim. Some examples of this type of divination:

• Tasseography: Examining the patterns left in the leaves of a cup of tea which has been drunk by the querent. Pictures formed by the leaves can be interpreted literally or symbolically. Based on Water Ka and Earth Ka.
• Scapulamancy: Heating the shoulder bone of an animal in a fire, and examining the patterns of heat cracks on it. Based on Fire Ka and Earth Ka.
• Molybdomancy: Burning a candle, allowing the wax to fall into water, where the shapes it makes as it cools are interpreted. Based on Fire Ka and Water Ka.
• Runic Systems: Interpretation of symbols carved on wood, stone, or bone tiles, which are drawn at random from a bag and cast onto a reading surface. The symbols, and where they land in relation to each other, are significant. Based on Earth Ka and Air Ka.
• Vision Questing: A ritual involving fasting, meditation, and the ingesting of hallucinogens to receive visions. Based on Air Ka and Moon Ka.

Note that these methods are all drawn from actual techniques used to obtain mystical guidance by people throughout history. Nephilim will probably have one or two personal favourites, based on their dominant Ka, but are not limited to using only those. Any Nephilim may try any method, trusting on perception of the Ka fields and their own intuition to guide them.
Once the substance and the form of the revelatory event are determined, the last step is deciding when it should occur. This will follow naturally from the first two choices, coupled with the needs of the adventure. Obviously, if the characters perform a divination, they will receive the results at that time. It's the placement of passive events that must be considered most carefully.

Omens and portents, by definition, foreshadow coming events. These should occur at the start of the adventure, possibly serving as the actual starting point. If a character begins dreaming of something evil crawling forth from the sea, it may spur the players to begin investigating the nearest ocean shore, leading to the discovery of a deranged Triton recently awakened from stasis by a Water nexus, bent on the destruction of those polluting the ocean. This can be an easy way to get player characters involved in adventures.

Other revelations are a good way to give stuck players a nudge in the right direction. For example, through sheer bad luck our intrepid heroes lose the trail of the Templar they were trying to follow back to headquarters. The local paper may happen to run a series on historical buildings the following day, revealing a picture of a university building with a large, cross-shaped shadow on the front. If the players have resolutely overlooked every clue as the identity of the sorceror who is hunting for a new homunculous, his name may be revealed by the ISBN number on a newly published occult tome. The possibilities are many.

Near the end of an adventure, players may see signs which reveal the consequences should they fail. An Angel who has lost her stasis may keep finding dead doves wherever she goes, or a group who has had a member captured for processing into a homunculous may begin spotting twisted, deformed people in crowds. If nothing else, these sorts of images should spur the characters on.

All in all, the addition of such events and symbols is mainly one of atmosphere and mood. To convince the players that their characters dwell in a world similar to, yet fundamentally different from, our own, the game master must present the mystical as an integral part of the Nephilim's experience of day to day reality. By doing this, the game master encourages the players to use the oracular events, and even to depend on them as much as upon their more mundane sources of information. This adds to the perception of the Nephilim as beings with different world views from humanity, and adds a certain element of the alien to the game. When the players begin reading significance in occurrences that you have not placed there, and will call off or change a plan because of seeing five baseball bats lying in a pile, then you will know that you have given them the viewpoint of the mystic Nephilim.