Nephilim

Nephilim is a fairly new game from Chaosium. It is a game of occultism, concerning virtually immortal magical entities. There are strong elements of spirituality and conspiracies all through the game.

Judy and I were responsible for proof-reading the rules which were published in 1994. Time constraints meant that many of the changes which should have been made were not included, but we are proud to have been part of the process none-the-less.

Judy drafted the scenario which eventually became Temple of the Ancients, and I wrote the final manuscript. Mark Morrison helped to create the characters and Simulacra which are provided. The whole scenario was intended for use at the GenCon release of the game, but was later placed in the Gamemasters' Veil, where I think it makes a good introduction to many of the elements of the game.

My personal involvement in Nephilim includes:

The Nephilim Mailing List FAQ
A work still embarrassingly in-progress. It will hopefully cover some of the most frequent, and most difficult questions tackled on the mailing list.

Romeny
Rules for Gypsy Nephilim, including the traditions of the Irish Tinkers, and the legends of woodland faeries in that area. Included are rules for Folk Magic, a wild, natural alternative to the established occult traditions of the West and East. Also covered are certain phenomena, including lycanthropes. Hopefully this material will see print in a future Nephilim supplement.

An Advanced Past Lives System
I am working on a system that more fully develops the Past Lives, on the theory that if you are already spending that amount of time you might as well get a clear picture of each of your incarnations.

Development of Temple of the Ancients
What is going on in England? What is the next step?

Other scenario material
There are plenty of Nephilim scenarios which remain to be written. I plan to write some of them.

The Future
I have concrete ideas for a future development of the Nephilim idea, which hopefully amounts to more than simply marrying it with science-fiction.

The Past
The Sixties? Further in the past? There are a number of eras which bear close examination, and the idea of a campaign which spans the centuries beckons...

Back to Liam Routt

Version August 7, 1995 / Liam Routt / repulse@zikzak.net