Kindred of the East is a role-playing supplement by White Wolf Game Studio to their Vampire: The Masquerade line. The vanguard of White Wolf's "Year of the Lotus" theme (which created "Eastern" counterparts to all of their major product lines in the World of Darkness), this rich sourcebook is a stand-alone setting, requiring only secondary rules to be fully playable. The setting spans Asia, allowing players to play the so-called Kindred of the East, vampires of Asia. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ... White Wolf, Inc. ... Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover. ... The World of Darkness is the name given to two distinct fictional universes developed by White Wolf Game Studio. ... Asia is the largest and most populous of the Earths continents. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Asia is the largest and most populous of the Earths continents. ...

Overview

Characters in Kindred of the East (or Kuei-jin, as they call themselves) are vampires as depicted in classical Japanese, Chinese, and Hindu mythology. Unlike the vampires traditionally associated with Dracula or Caine, Kuei-jin were once mortals who died with the burden of unfulfilled karma. Tortured in Yomi for their inadequacies in life, their souls successfully escaped and returned to their bodies. Now half-alive and half-dead, Kuei-jin must live by stealing chi from mortal victims to sustain themselves while trying to fulfill their karma. The most convenient form chi can be stolen in is blood, leading to their vampiric tendencies, but they cannot create new vampires. Practically all Kindred don't trust the Kuei-jin. The Kuei-jin are also known to war with the other sects for territory. The Kuei-jin are a fictional group of vampires in the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game sourcebook Kindred of the East by White Wolf, Inc. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... The term Hindu mythology refers collectively to a large body of Indian literature (essentially, the mythology of Hinduism) that detail the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula; U.S. postage stamp first issue 20??. Dracula (1897) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the namesake of the worlds most famous vampire character. ... Caine is a fictional character, the father of all vampires in White Wolf Game Studios role-playing games set in the World of Darkness. ... Karma or Karm(Sanskrit: कर्म from the root kri, to do, meaning deed) or Kamma (Pali: meaning action, effect, destiny) is a term in several eastern religions that comprises the entire cycle of cause and effect. ... Yomi (黄泉), the Japanese word for underworld in which horrible creatures guard the exits, is similar to Hades or hell and is most commonly known for Izanamis retreat to that place after her death. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ... Chi has several meanings and pronunciations. ...

Themes

Kuei-jin are beings torn by inner conflict, and the themes of the game relate to this heavily. Unlike western vampires, Kuei-jin are revenants and thus spiritual beings in nature. Reputed ghost of a monk. ...

Yin vs. Yang

The classic opposition of yin and yang are important to Kuei-jin not only for philosophical reasons, but because this dichotomy also delineates the two forms of chi they can potentially ingest. An imbalance of yin or yang chi in their system can lead to dire consequences. Yin-imbalanced Kuei-jin become corpselike zombies suffering from a lack of emotion. At its worst, yin-imbalance reduces a kuei-jin to a Hopping corpse. Yang-imbalanced Kuei-jin suffer wild mood swings and impulsive lusts for food, sex, and other forms of stimulation. Possibly the strangest consequence of yang-imbalance is the ability to have or sire children. Such children are called dhampyrs, and are mortal half-vampires. Taoists Taijitu The concept of Yin Yang originates in ancient Chinese philosophy, most likely from the observations of day turning into night and night into day. ... A zombie, at twilight, in a sugarcane field in Haiti A zombie is traditionally an undead person in the Caribbean spiritual belief system of voodoo. ... Emotions are essentially impulses that move an organism to action, originating automatic reaction behavior which has been perfected through evolution as a survival need. ... In popular Chinese mythology, hopping corpses (Traditional Chinese: 僵屍 or 殭屍; Simplified Chinese: 僵尸; pinyin: ; literally stiff corpses) are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorp life essence from their victims. ... A Dhampir is a being in Roma folklore that is half-vampire and half-human, born from a vampire father and a human mother. ...

Hun vs. P'o

A Kuei-jin's stint in the hells of Yomi divides the mind into two parts: The Hun, or high mind, that is the seat of rational thought, and the P'o, or demon mind, that exists to satisfy its own base urges (usually at the expense of the Hun). As former wraiths, a Kuei-jin has a splinter of the forces of Oblivion in its soul. While many Kuei-jin see their P'o as a curse, it is important to note that without the P'o, they would never have escaped hell in the first place. Furthermore, Kuei-jin who stifle and contain their P'o utterly become cold, calculating individuals who lack any ideological spark; such stagnancy can be devastating when the weight of karma is on one's shoulders. Yomi (黄泉), the Japanese word for underworld in which horrible creatures guard the exits, is similar to Hades or hell and is most commonly known for Izanamis retreat to that place after her death. ... This articles content is specific to the fictional setting known as the World of Darkness. ...

Mortal vs. Spirit

The Kuei-jin stand between the mortal world (which they can never fully return to) and the spirit world (which they cannot fully embrace). Many Kuei-jin struggle to find a balance between these two worlds that suits the precise nature of their Karma.

Dharmas

A Kuei-jin's existence is a quest for enlightenment. In their search for karmic resolution, different Kuei-jin follow different paths to ease their karmic discomfort. The Dharmas, five philosophies accepted by the greater Kuei-jin community as potential paths, each emphasize a particular aspect of Kuei-jin existence:

• The Howl of the Devil Tiger: The Dharma embracing the P'o.
• The Way of the Resplendent Crane: The Dharma embracing the Hun.
• The Song of the Shadow: The Dharma embracing Yin.
• The Path of a Thousand Whispers: The Dharma embracing balance.
• The Dance of the Thrashing Dragon: The Dharma embracing Yang.

In addition to these primary dharmas, a number of Heretical Dharmas have also come into existence. Not accepted in Kuei-jin society, these paths nevertheless find some followers:

• The Faces of the Gods: A Dharma embracing both Hun and P'o.
• The Flame of the Rising Phoenix: A Dharma embracing both Hun and Yang.
• The Spirit of the Living Earth: A Dharma embracing both Yin and Yang.
• The Tempest of Inner Focus: A Dharma embracing balance.
• The Scorpion Eaters: A Dharma embracing the P´o, whom can consume only Tainted Chi and yet are not Akuma.

Finally, some Kuei-jin turn their backs on enlightenment entirely, instead swearing fealty to the Yama Kings (the rulers of Yomi) to become Akuma, the demon people. Bartering their souls for power, Akuma enter Faustian deals with the Yama Kings and pursue only power. A work of fiction, or a fictional character, may be cited as being Faustian if it involves a literal or proverbial deal with the devil, such as that portrayed in the story of Faust. ...

The Middle Kingdom

Kuei-jin are the most visible shen (supernatural creatures) of the Middle Kingdom (modern Asia), but are not alone. Unlike Western Kindred, they have close ties with the spirit world. They must also compete with the hengeyokai (Shapeshifters of the East, as it were), mages, and gaki. Asia is the largest and most populous of the Earths continents. ... Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover. ... The Changing Breeds is a term that broadly refers to shapeshifting beings in the World of Darkness. ... Mage: The Ascension is a role-playing game based in the World of Darkness, and is published by White Wolf Game Studio. ... In Japanese Buddhism, Gaki (餓鬼, hungry ghosts) are the spirits of jealous or greedy people who, as punishment for their mortal vices, have been cursed with an insatiable hunger for a particular substance or object. ...