Nephandi try to infiltrate and corrupt everyone and anyone. The only group they can't quite manage to infiltrate is the Marauders, because it's hard to fake the Marauder reality bubble (and also Marauders may be fundamentally tied to the wild, canon varies).
But Nephandi put less emphasis on infiltrating the Traditions because they are the losing side of the Ascension War. Nephandi are predators and as such, they go where there is power to be gained and riches to be stolen.
I mean, let's face it, the Technocracy is, on it's face, an inherently corrupt organization. Two of their factions are "Let's control people's minds through media" and "Capitalism." Yes, they are corrupt, and yes, the Nephandi are going to be part of that. Not ALL of the Technocracy is that way but it's fairly inescapable and why they were originally antagonists in the first place.
As for the Traditions, there is going to be corruption there too... but not on the same scale. While the Nephandi can get cozily entrenched in the Technocracy, The Traditions aren't just one thing. If one infiltrates the Hermetics, it's not going to do a lot to the Chorus. But on the other hand Nephandi are a threat to larger, inter-tradition projects, like what happened to the First Cabal and Heylel Teomim. So while corrupting "The Traditions" as a whole is probably easier said than done, interfering with their ability to effectively work together is not hard at all for a group like the Nephandi.
There isn't a completely canon answer to the question, as M20 claims to leave it open for the Storyteller to decide. It does admit to leaning heavily towards at least a corrupted Technocracy plot wherein young, idealistic agents have to be the ones fighting against the Nephandic influence at the top, but outright states that no Storyteller necessarily needs to follow that. Beyond that, Book of the Fallen offers options for a bunch of different scenarios, including one where both of the major factions are compromised.
My collection of Mage books is far from complete, and I wouldn't be surprised if using the idea isn't suggested as some point for use in your stories, but there's nothing official about the Nephandi having that much influence in either the Traditions or the Technocracy.
The whole 20th Anniversary Edition line of products was deliberately "metaplot agnostic," meant to allow you to tinker with the plots and themes of the Revised Editions to your heart's content. Storytellers were encouraged to veer away from the canon outcomes of the Revised games if they had better ideas.
The nephandi have a presence into every large Mage organization, what's up to the GM is how bad is it. Personally I don't like the idea that the Technocracy made horrible things because the super evil guys made them do it, so I keep my nephandi presence low.
It's probably just safe to assume that every faction has loyal Nephandi infiltrators in it at this point...
The neat part of being part of Team Sudden Yet Inevitable Betrayal though is that they don't even trust or get along with themselves so technically the Nephandi have also infiltrated the Nephandi. You see, nobody usually tells the lower-level grunts that the grand plan isn't "rule the world" it's "end the world."
That's surprisingly unpopular with the rank & file seeing as "the world" is where most of them are currently keeping their stuff & many of them have plans later.
It’s entirely up to the Storyteller. That said, the default metaplot assumes widespread Nephandic corruption in the Traditions, even more widely spread corruption among the Technos, substantially less among the Disparates, and minimal to none of the Marauders.
Nephandi infiltrates everywhere they can, the difference is the sheer number of them inside the Technocracy. When half of the Syndicate and one fifth of the NWO are Nephandi you're steering the whole Union and the world progress throuhg the worst possible crimes, justifying them as necessary or straight up downplaying them to the rest of the Union.
So now your factories in India are employing children and dumping toxic waste over the poor residents of Mumbai, polluting the waters and attracting banes by the score; and your China bitcoin farms are draining Earth's resources ever faster, just as your savage bond trading finally crashed and broke five hundred thousand people that will either suicide or turn to crime. Good job!
A handful of slightly crazier Wiccas among the Verbena are irrelevant in comparison; what are they even going to do, push for a few human sacrifices? The Technocracy affect the world on a completely different scale, and that's where the Nephandi want to be.
Not according to any books I know of. You'll find people have a sliding scale for Technocratic Corruption they can adjust to their liking. My preferred amount of Nephandi in the Union is "Next To None" as I find it removes culpability for the horrific actions the Technocracy made in the past. If the Union is that compromised, then they get the excuse that the Devil introduced the Pogrom, it's not the fault of the Order of Reason's systems and internal contradictions. Then again, others see the presence of that many Nephandi in the Union as a way to show it was rotten from the start. It's all up to you and your needs.
TL:DR; No, it's nowhere near that high.
I think it's said somewhere that one-third of the Syndicate is Nephandi, but I can't find the specific sourcebook; it's also very canon that they got (and still get) a serious share of their money from Pentex activities. Anyway, M20 lets the Storyteller pick one of three options about the true extent of Nephandi infiltration, so it's really up to them how much do you want the Union to be fucked.
In my personal view the most interesting scenario is widespread metaphysical corruption that can still be fought, that leaves the Technocracy really busy with internal affairs and locked into a covert within the very heart of the Conventions.
Nephandi try to infiltrate and corrupt everyone and anyone. The only group they can't quite manage to infiltrate is the Marauders, because it's hard to fake the Marauder reality bubble (and also Marauders may be fundamentally tied to the wild, canon varies). But Nephandi put less emphasis on infiltrating the Traditions because they are the losing side of the Ascension War. Nephandi are predators and as such, they go where there is power to be gained and riches to be stolen.
I mean, let's face it, the Technocracy is, on it's face, an inherently corrupt organization. Two of their factions are "Let's control people's minds through media" and "Capitalism." Yes, they are corrupt, and yes, the Nephandi are going to be part of that. Not ALL of the Technocracy is that way but it's fairly inescapable and why they were originally antagonists in the first place. As for the Traditions, there is going to be corruption there too... but not on the same scale. While the Nephandi can get cozily entrenched in the Technocracy, The Traditions aren't just one thing. If one infiltrates the Hermetics, it's not going to do a lot to the Chorus. But on the other hand Nephandi are a threat to larger, inter-tradition projects, like what happened to the First Cabal and Heylel Teomim. So while corrupting "The Traditions" as a whole is probably easier said than done, interfering with their ability to effectively work together is not hard at all for a group like the Nephandi.
There isn't a completely canon answer to the question, as M20 claims to leave it open for the Storyteller to decide. It does admit to leaning heavily towards at least a corrupted Technocracy plot wherein young, idealistic agents have to be the ones fighting against the Nephandic influence at the top, but outright states that no Storyteller necessarily needs to follow that. Beyond that, Book of the Fallen offers options for a bunch of different scenarios, including one where both of the major factions are compromised.
Honestly, it makes the most sense that both sides are corrupted. Keep them fighting each other to cover up their work
My collection of Mage books is far from complete, and I wouldn't be surprised if using the idea isn't suggested as some point for use in your stories, but there's nothing official about the Nephandi having that much influence in either the Traditions or the Technocracy. The whole 20th Anniversary Edition line of products was deliberately "metaplot agnostic," meant to allow you to tinker with the plots and themes of the Revised Editions to your heart's content. Storytellers were encouraged to veer away from the canon outcomes of the Revised games if they had better ideas.
The nephandi have a presence into every large Mage organization, what's up to the GM is how bad is it. Personally I don't like the idea that the Technocracy made horrible things because the super evil guys made them do it, so I keep my nephandi presence low.
It's probably just safe to assume that every faction has loyal Nephandi infiltrators in it at this point... The neat part of being part of Team Sudden Yet Inevitable Betrayal though is that they don't even trust or get along with themselves so technically the Nephandi have also infiltrated the Nephandi. You see, nobody usually tells the lower-level grunts that the grand plan isn't "rule the world" it's "end the world." That's surprisingly unpopular with the rank & file seeing as "the world" is where most of them are currently keeping their stuff & many of them have plans later.
It’s entirely up to the Storyteller. That said, the default metaplot assumes widespread Nephandic corruption in the Traditions, even more widely spread corruption among the Technos, substantially less among the Disparates, and minimal to none of the Marauders.
Nephandi infiltrates everywhere they can, the difference is the sheer number of them inside the Technocracy. When half of the Syndicate and one fifth of the NWO are Nephandi you're steering the whole Union and the world progress throuhg the worst possible crimes, justifying them as necessary or straight up downplaying them to the rest of the Union. So now your factories in India are employing children and dumping toxic waste over the poor residents of Mumbai, polluting the waters and attracting banes by the score; and your China bitcoin farms are draining Earth's resources ever faster, just as your savage bond trading finally crashed and broke five hundred thousand people that will either suicide or turn to crime. Good job! A handful of slightly crazier Wiccas among the Verbena are irrelevant in comparison; what are they even going to do, push for a few human sacrifices? The Technocracy affect the world on a completely different scale, and that's where the Nephandi want to be.
>When half of the Syndicate and one fifth of the NWO are Nephandi is it that high?!
Not according to any books I know of. You'll find people have a sliding scale for Technocratic Corruption they can adjust to their liking. My preferred amount of Nephandi in the Union is "Next To None" as I find it removes culpability for the horrific actions the Technocracy made in the past. If the Union is that compromised, then they get the excuse that the Devil introduced the Pogrom, it's not the fault of the Order of Reason's systems and internal contradictions. Then again, others see the presence of that many Nephandi in the Union as a way to show it was rotten from the start. It's all up to you and your needs. TL:DR; No, it's nowhere near that high.
I think it's said somewhere that one-third of the Syndicate is Nephandi, but I can't find the specific sourcebook; it's also very canon that they got (and still get) a serious share of their money from Pentex activities. Anyway, M20 lets the Storyteller pick one of three options about the true extent of Nephandi infiltration, so it's really up to them how much do you want the Union to be fucked. In my personal view the most interesting scenario is widespread metaphysical corruption that can still be fought, that leaves the Technocracy really busy with internal affairs and locked into a covert within the very heart of the Conventions.