Extracted from Chaosium Digest, v.15, n.5, electronically published Sunday, July 7, 1996.
From: appel@erzo.org (Shannon Appel)
Subject: Elemental Creatures
The Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion, a nifty little tome which contains history, artefacts, creatures, background and advice, all designed to help Gamemasters run a Nephilim Campaign, is currently at the printers. The book won't be ready to ship until the very end of the month, but in the meantime, here's a short article with some new Nephilim critters, to whet your appetite. There's lots more in the Companion, on a variety of subjects; this article only gives a preview of one chapter of the book.
The Stymphalian Birds would have appeared in the Companion if not for space constraints. The other creatures in this article are both new, but were written with the new rules and creatures of the Companion in mind. The Companion makes some ties between Creatures and Emotions, much as Chronicles of the Awakenings did for Nephilim. That is reflected in the article below.
Shannon
Appearing as floating, flickering flames no more than an inch in height, Candles Flames would seem to be fairly insignificant. However, they can be a major nuisance to certain Nephilim.
Candle Flames are attracted to magical artefacts. If any is within their range, they will flock to it, hovering near it like agitated fire flies. Certain secret societies have taken advantage of this ability, and so keep candle flames in their headquarters to warn of assaults, or use them to help hunt down Nephilim.
Nephilim besieged by Candle Flames often have troubles doing away with them. This can cause extreme problems when they are trying to interact with the human world.
| STR 1 | CON 1 | DEX 3d6 |
| Ka: Fire 1 | HP = 1 | Actions: 3 |
| Move: 5 | Personality Trait: Creative | |
Attacks: None
Armor: None. Destroyed only by Orichalka, or the touch of a Water Elemental Creature. A Water Elemental so destroying a Candle Flame loses one point of CON.
Abilities:
SENSE ARTEFACT. Any Candle Flame within a quarter mile of
an artefact, relic or masterpiece will be drawn towards it at its
maximum Move.
BURN. Whenever a Candle Flame is flickering about an area of highly
flammable items, it has a 20% chance of accidently setting something
on fire every hour.
Note: When Candle Flames are spontaneously created, 1d10 or more usually form at the same time. They do not remain together, but rather disperse in a random manner.
These creatures appear to be lean, wiry hunting dogs, but have a rather unusual coloration. They are pure, unsullied white, except their ears, which are blood red. No appearances of the Dogs of the Other World are known previous to the Tuatha de Danaan coming to Ireland at the start of the eighth century, BC. Even today, they seem most common in Ireland and the British Isles.
The Dogs of the Other World usually appear in packs. They are most frequently hunting something, perhaps a small elemental creature, an unfortunate human, or even a weakened Nephilim. After the relentless dogs capture their prey, they drag it away, disappearing into whatever other realm they came from.
A player making a critical success on a Hunt roll may follow the Dogs of the Other World as they lope towards their home. After doing so, she will find herself on the Subtle Planes, and unless she has been well-trained, or is near to Agartha, she will probably have a hard time finding her way home again.
| STR 2d6 | CON 2d6 | DEX 3d6 |
| Ka: Moon 2d6 | HP = CON | Actions: 4 |
| Move: 8 | Personality Trait: Energetic | |
Attack: Bite 60%, Damage 2d6.
Armor: 2 points of tough hide.
Abilities:
HUNT. When a Pack Other World Dogs is set upon a scent less
than 5 days old, they will follow it unerringly (70 + 5 times the
number of dogs in the pack % of the time). They will go without food,
water or even rest as they Hunt.
PASS WITHOUT TRACE. The Other World Dogs tread upon the Earth so
lightly that they are almost impossible to Track. A critical Hunt is
needed to follow them.
Note: Dogs of the Other World usually appear in pack no less than 1d6 dogs in size.
Certain combination creatures may be formed when two cataclysmic elements come together. These combination creatures may also be born of a nexus.
Though creatures of the Air, the Stymphalian Birds, named for an ancient swamp where a permanent nexus once lay, are clothed in the Earth. Their plumage is entirely made of beautiful, glittering bronze, sharp and deadly.
The Stymphalian birds are quite large, at least the size of a stork. This, combined with their voracious appetite for human flesh, makes them one of the more dangerous elementals.
The only weakness of the Stymphalian birds is that they are cowardly. A sudden, loud noise may drive them off if they are caught by surprise.
| STR 2d6+3 | CON 2d6+3 | DEX 2d6 |
| Ka: Earth 2d6, Air 2d6 | HP = CON | Actions: 2 |
| Move: 5 | Personality Trait: Hungry | |
Attack: Bite 40%, Damage 1d6+1; Fling Plumage 30%, Damage 1d6.
Abilities: None.
Armor: 5 points of bronze feathers.
Note: Stymphalian birds usually appear in flocks no less than 2d6 birds in size.