The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Overview

Nephilim, a game of occult roleplaying published by Chaosium and originally designed by MultiSim, impressed me with its extensive and well-researched background and novel idea.

Unfortunately, the original Nephilim book had flaws in organization, lacked key content and was plagued by typos and grammatical errors.

Fortunately, the Nephilim GM Companion not only fills in all the gaps left in the main sourcebook with grace but also has Chaosium's usual standard for quality in both organization and text.

Part I: A Nephilim Timeline

Written by Kenneth Hite (who also wrote the Nephilim supplement Major Arcana) this section gives a detailed timeline of world events according to Nephilim history.

The timeline spans 4 billion years - but goes into more detail only for the last 500,000 or so - and expands greatly on the Nephilim chronology presented in the main book. But the timeline isn't useful just as a reference and every bit given could be used as a scenario seed by industrious GMs with an itch for playing Nephilim in the past.

It also includes a chart summing up the possible Nephilim past lives that were described on the main book and on Chronicle of the Awakenings. This chart includes the supplement and page where each past life can be found, as well as indicating the Arcanums and Secret Societies that were active during the period.

This part accomplishes its purpose gracefully and succinctly, and while a familiarity with history help enjoy it more it is useful for all GMs equally.

Part II: Items of Power

The second section, written by Ross Isaacs, does a great job of describing magical items in the Nephilim world. These are separated in Artefacts, Relics and Masterpieces.

Artefacts are - mostly - your standard magical items, but on Nephilim they are rare, hard to create and even harder to find. Since they are created using jewels and other materials relevant to the spell to be inscribed, artefacts can become beautiful works of art.

Relics, abominations created when a Nephilim is trapped inside an artifact during its creation, are more NPCs than magical items. As the living things that they are, relics have their own knowledge, goals and mood swings.

Finally, we have masterpieces. These are strange and unfathomable, intended to be a plot element spanning several scenarios - or even campaigns - and not goodies for your players.

Items of power have always been a part of occult mythology, and why they were left out of the main book is beyond me (to be sincere, I hadn't noticed until I read this section). In the end, this part of the book helps complete the picture of the Nephilim world in a colorful way.

Part III: The Creatures

The Nephilim sourcebook already included several interesting creatures, and this section by Adrian Czajkowski (thanks goodness there's copy-paste!) and Shannon Appel expands on that lore.

First we get a brief explanation of the nature of elemental creatures, and then some guidelines for summoning and controlling these beings. It also includes an expanded bestiary that presents Nephilim's take on drakes, ghouls, banshees and other nasties, including a few original ones.

This part is not too bad, even if a little on the short side. While it certainly isn't a monstrous manual, it does give you a peek on the Nephilim way of interpreting mythical beings.

Part IV: Campaign Design

Finally we get to what I consider the most important part of the book, a section that no GM should be without.

What's a Nephilim campaign supposed to be like?

It starts with a direct chapter by Eric Rowe and Shannon Appel with advice on how to prepare, start and run a Nephilim campaign. As befitting the occult backdrop, it focuses on designing a campaign built on layer upon layer of secrets, with stratification provided for these layers.

The next chapter details different possibilities and ideas for Nephilim scenarios. Written by Ross Isaacs, this chapter expands its topic for over ten percent of the book's length and does give you an idea of what the mood of a Nephilim scenario is intended to be.

The third chapter contains some good advice by Ian Young on how to design antagonists that fit the Nephilim style and themes.

There's also a rambling non-explanation of the concept of the soul in Nephilim by Sam Shirley. Instead of explaining, it gives you a "feeling" for where the truth might be. I hadn't run into this issue, but Michael Bishop of the Nephilim mailing list commented that it's one of the questions many players want answered when first introduced to the setting.

The fourth and final chapter on this section - also by Mr. Young - suggests a way of using the tarot for Nephilim both to flesh out your characters and as an extra skill for them.

As a future Nephilim GM, I'm deeply grateful for this section. It's the most entertaining and useful part of the whole book and answered a lot of questions that the main sourcebook left.

Part V: The Campaign Setting

Crafted by Eric Rowe and Gregg Stafford, it paints a light coat of Nephilim over the San Francisco Bay Area. While they only have seven pages to work with, the authors manage to include NPCs, places of interest, Nephilim slang, story ideas, secret societies and more in it, giving you a good idea of what society is like when you throw Nephilims into the mix.

Bibliography: Books of Note

And finally, there's a page with an annotated bibliography of moves, TV series and books that can serve as inspiration for Nephilim. The TV series seem pretty generic, but those books I've read are great suggestions for getting the flavor of the world.

In conclusion

With the only exception of detailed information for Nephilim games set in the past, the GM Companion fills every gap I had noticed on the main sourcebook and a couple I hadn't, making it a must for GMs seriously interested in the setting.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion
Author: Shannon Appel, Adrian Czajkowski, Kenneth Hite, Ross Isaacs, Eric Rowe, Sam Shirley, Greg Stafford, Ian Young Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Line: Nephilim Cost: 14.95 Page count: 96 SKU: CAO3106 Capsule Review by Ricardo J. Méndez on 03/19/00. Genre tags: Modern_day Historical Horror Conspiracy Gothic	Overview Nephilim, a game of occult roleplaying published by Chaosium and originally designed by MultiSim, impressed me with its extensive and well-researched background and novel idea. Unfortunately, the original Nephilim book had flaws in organization, lacked key content and was plagued by typos and grammatical errors. Fortunately, the Nephilim GM Companion not only fills in all the gaps left in the main sourcebook with grace but also has Chaosium's usual standard for quality in both organization and text. Part I: A Nephilim Timeline Written by Kenneth Hite (who also wrote the Nephilim supplement Major Arcana) this section gives a detailed timeline of world events according to Nephilim history. The timeline spans 4 billion years - but goes into more detail only for the last 500,000 or so - and expands greatly on the Nephilim chronology presented in the main book. But the timeline isn't useful just as a reference and every bit given could be used as a scenario seed by industrious GMs with an itch for playing Nephilim in the past. It also includes a chart summing up the possible Nephilim past lives that were described on the main book and on Chronicle of the Awakenings. This chart includes the supplement and page where each past life can be found, as well as indicating the Arcanums and Secret Societies that were active during the period. This part accomplishes its purpose gracefully and succinctly, and while a familiarity with history help enjoy it more it is useful for all GMs equally. Part II: Items of Power The second section, written by Ross Isaacs, does a great job of describing magical items in the Nephilim world. These are separated in Artefacts, Relics and Masterpieces. Artefacts are - mostly - your standard magical items, but on Nephilim they are rare, hard to create and even harder to find. Since they are created using jewels and other materials relevant to the spell to be inscribed, artefacts can become beautiful works of art. Relics, abominations created when a Nephilim is trapped inside an artifact during its creation, are more NPCs than magical items. As the living things that they are, relics have their own knowledge, goals and mood swings. Finally, we have masterpieces. These are strange and unfathomable, intended to be a plot element spanning several scenarios - or even campaigns - and not goodies for your players. Items of power have always been a part of occult mythology, and why they were left out of the main book is beyond me (to be sincere, I hadn't noticed until I read this section). In the end, this part of the book helps complete the picture of the Nephilim world in a colorful way. Part III: The Creatures The Nephilim sourcebook already included several interesting creatures, and this section by Adrian Czajkowski (thanks goodness there's copy-paste!) and Shannon Appel expands on that lore. First we get a brief explanation of the nature of elemental creatures, and then some guidelines for summoning and controlling these beings. It also includes an expanded bestiary that presents Nephilim's take on drakes, ghouls, banshees and other nasties, including a few original ones. This part is not too bad, even if a little on the short side. While it certainly isn't a monstrous manual, it does give you a peek on the Nephilim way of interpreting mythical beings. Part IV: Campaign Design Finally we get to what I consider the most important part of the book, a section that no GM should be without. What's a Nephilim campaign supposed to be like? It starts with a direct chapter by Eric Rowe and Shannon Appel with advice on how to prepare, start and run a Nephilim campaign. As befitting the occult backdrop, it focuses on designing a campaign built on layer upon layer of secrets, with stratification provided for these layers. The next chapter details different possibilities and ideas for Nephilim scenarios. Written by Ross Isaacs, this chapter expands its topic for over ten percent of the book's length and does give you an idea of what the mood of a Nephilim scenario is intended to be. The third chapter contains some good advice by Ian Young on how to design antagonists that fit the Nephilim style and themes. There's also a rambling non-explanation of the concept of the soul in Nephilim by Sam Shirley. Instead of explaining, it gives you a "feeling" for where the truth might be. I hadn't run into this issue, but Michael Bishop of the Nephilim mailing list commented that it's one of the questions many players want answered when first introduced to the setting. The fourth and final chapter on this section - also by Mr. Young - suggests a way of using the tarot for Nephilim both to flesh out your characters and as an extra skill for them. As a future Nephilim GM, I'm deeply grateful for this section. It's the most entertaining and useful part of the whole book and answered a lot of questions that the main sourcebook left. Part V: The Campaign Setting Crafted by Eric Rowe and Gregg Stafford, it paints a light coat of Nephilim over the San Francisco Bay Area. While they only have seven pages to work with, the authors manage to include NPCs, places of interest, Nephilim slang, story ideas, secret societies and more in it, giving you a good idea of what society is like when you throw Nephilims into the mix. Bibliography: Books of Note And finally, there's a page with an annotated bibliography of moves, TV series and books that can serve as inspiration for Nephilim. The TV series seem pretty generic, but those books I've read are great suggestions for getting the flavor of the world. In conclusion With the only exception of detailed information for Nephilim games set in the past, the GM Companion fills every gap I had noticed on the main sourcebook and a couple I hadn't, making it a must for GMs seriously interested in the setting. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion