Welcome to Nephibis

Nephibis is a tabletop action RPG set in a sci-fi universe where mutants, demons, angels, nanos, cyborgs, and baseline humans collide. The system uses deterministic formulas with controlled randomness — no dice rolls. Damage, accuracy, crits, dodge, and status effects all resolve through flat calculations with percentage-based variance. If you've played action RPGs with stat scaling, crit builds, and damage ranges, the math will feel familiar.

This manual is for builders — anyone creating content for the Nephibis system. Whether you're adding a new planet, designing a species, writing a world event, or building an entire questline, this guide explains how your content fits into the existing framework and what conventions to follow.

First: the three builds

Every table picks one build in First Steps and deletes the other two. Build for all three so cloners can choose, but never mix them at one table:

• Immersion — as-written dramatic scaling. Baseline caps near 20, mutants and nanos open-ended, demons and angels staged. Huge gaps on purpose.
• Grounded — every species and type caps near baseline-human range with variance by build (tank → CON, mental → INT/WIS). Balanced, gritty, beatable bosses. Most people sit where baseline humans sit now; vary the caps, not the scale.
• Full Anime — everyone can reach current mutant and nano heights and beyond, baseline humans included. High or open caps, generous growth-by-use and training headroom.

Each build needs its own formula set: Grounded formulas hold HP, damage, and pools near current baseline-human values; Full Anime formulas use current mutant and nano values as the baseline for everyone. Keep the sheet shape identical — only inputs and caps change — so switching builds is a numbers swap, not a rebuild.

Design Philosophy

The system has a few core commitments that shape everything:

No levels — use drives growth. Characters have no level and earn no XP. Stats move in small GM-awarded steps from stressed use (taking hits → CON, running → DEX, hauling → STR, study → INT, and so on), with decay from neglect, sickness, injury, or hostile powers. Caps come from build, species, and type; breakthroughs like Omega raise them. Design content (gyms, tutors, hazards, training arcs) as stat-movers, not XP dispensers.

Power means what the build says. Immersion keeps street humans and Omegas in different universes. Grounded keeps everyone in the same one. Full Anime lets anyone climb to the top of it. State which build a piece of content assumes when the ceiling matters (bosses, gear, vehicles, threats).

Formulas replace dice. Every mechanical interaction — attacking, dodging, crafting, status effects — uses formulas. Players calculate their stats and know exactly what they can do. Randomness exists only in damage ranges (Min%–Max%) and hit/dodge rolls (1–100 against a threshold). Stat-direct HP replaces the old level-multiplied version: 50 + (CON × 5) + (CON × HealthTierBonus) + (CON × BuildMultiplier).

Species and Type are separate. A character's biology (Species) is distinct from their modification (Type). A "Human Mutant" is a human with mutant powers. A "Demon" is a demon — their species IS their power. This split determines which resource pools a character accesses (Stamina, Energy, or Mana) and which breakthrough path they follow.

The world doesn't wait. Events advance, factions maneuver, and NPCs pursue their goals whether the player is watching or not. The Living World system ensures the universe feels real and that player choices have lasting consequences.

What You'll Find Here

This manual covers:

• File Types — the building blocks of Nephibis content and when to use each one
• Characters — how Species, Types, stats, and resources fit together without levels
• Locations & Maps — the six-level cosmic hierarchy and how to expand it
• Encounter Design — scaling philosophy, enemy archetypes, and boss encounters per build
• The Living World — events, factions, and NPC agency
• Crafting & Economy — credits, equipment, and the quality tier system
• Voice & Style — how to keep new content consistent with the existing world

Each chapter focuses on intent and constraints — what the design is trying to do and what rules to follow — rather than restating formulas you can already find in the GM instruction files.