''Serpent Moon'' is an adventure published by

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon'' ...

in 1995 for the short-lived role-playing game ''

Nephilim The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong. The word ''Nephilim'' is loosely translated as ''giants'' in some translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in others. ...

'' .

Description

In ''Serpent Moon'', the Nephilim (the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

s) must stop the Templars, who intend to exploit an astrological convergence. The mini-campaign progresses through four loosely connected adventure scenarios: # "Past Lives": The Nephilim discover an agreement between the Templars and an evil wizard. # "Message from the Past": The Nephilim must recover an ancient stele from the clutches of a secret society and decipher its runes. # "The Hurdy Gurdy Man": The Nephilim encounter a circus troupe, and must investigate a series of murders. # "Culminations": The Nephilim must determine where the Templars will attempt their blasphemous ceremony and prevent it from being performed.

Publication history

In 1994, Chaosium published the occult role-playing game ''Nephilim'', which was based on a French role-playing game of the same name. Chaosium rushed to produce the game in time for Gen Con, but the rulebook did not explain how to develop a campaign, and players found the complex game difficult to understand. Chaosium only published one adventure for it, releasing ''Serpent Moon'' a full year after ''Nephilim''s publication. The 122-page softcover was designed by ark Angeli, Ben Chessell, Wayne Coburn, Ross A. Isaacs, and Liam Routt, with cover art by Drashi Khendup and Samuel Shirley, interior art by Dan Barker, Drashi Khendup, Samuel Shirley, Heather J. McKinney-Chernik, and cartography by Samuel Shirley.

Reception

In Issue 6 of the UK magazine ''Arcane'',

Andrew Rilstone Andrew Rilstone is a game designer and blogger who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Andrew Rilstone was the editor of the influential fanzine Aslan in the 1980s and early 1990s. James Wallis, Rilstone and Richard Lambert auth ...

remarked "a ''Nephilim'' campaign turns out to be a little like supercharged ''Call of Cthulhu'' session - investigations, clues, secret cults and earth-shattering rituals. This makes the book hard work to read and demanding to run but, in the hands of a good referee with a feel for the ''Nephilim'' universe, potentially very rewarding to play." Rilstone concluded by giving the game an overall rating of 6 out of 10.

References

{{reflist Role-playing game adventures Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1995