Kindred of the East

by Justin Achilli, Phil Brucato, Jackie Cassada

May You Gain the Notice of Those in High Places

For centuries the exotic realm of Asia has defied the Kindred's incursions. Those few Children of Caine dwelling in Asia whisper of the monstrous Cathayans--the shadowy vampires native to the East. For too long the Cathayans have lain like sleeping dragons, allowing the Kindred a facade of omnipotence. Now, the new Age is at hand; Yin-daggers tremble in the talons of the Resplendent Cranes, and the Devil-Tigers howl for souls in the dark.

May You Live in Interesting Times

Kindred of the East is a giant hardcover sourcebook describing the unique and deadly vampires of the East. This mammoth volume includes new character creation rules, new powers, descriptions of the Eastern spirit worlds (plus rules for traveling there), and two chapters full of setting and cultural information.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Vampires, World Of Darkness, Horror, Urban Fantasy, Games

220 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kelly Egan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of really fun concepts in here, but it also reads like Orientalist fantasy and could use some updating.

[Andre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Screw you Vampires, you are pussies!!!

Did I like this book? Definitely!
Is it without flaws? Absolutely not!
Do I think it's well done and recommendable? You can bet on that!

Of course this book is basically meant to be used for a roleplaying game but I think it can also be read for pure enjoyment of fiction. It is one of the later books in White Wolf's vampire series and while it does have its many flaws (sadly those typical for the series), it is easy to read and has the outlook of a book that actually incorporates the other Supernaturals of this world and so feels more integrated in the in-game universe. Actually it gives the Supernaturals of "The Middle Kingdom" a sort of society structure, unlike in the books dealing with Western beings the Supernaturals here consider themselves to belong to the same group. Of course that doesn't mean that they are friendly with each other, it simply means that they mostly acknowledge each other's existence as to have a place in the Grand scheme of things.
The Kuei-Jin, the beings at the center of this book, sound like a very interesting concept and while there is nothing in Chinese, or any East/Southeast Asian, mythology that comes even close to what they are, I think the way these beings are designed would allow them to be easily integrated into a world based on our own, although the World of Darkness (where this plays) is a more extreme and darker version of what we know reality to be. Now, how close this book was to our own (places, concepts etc.) at the time it was written I cannot tell, I don't know enough to make any judgment in that regard only that what they created here seems consistent within itself regarding all the countries of the area. And mostly in such cases the makers of these books use rather common ideas and stereotypes about countries that fit their horror world. And sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t.
Now that doesn't mean that this book depicts Chinese people (since this is what the book focuses on) as constant noodle-eaters or something but it does deal with high crime rates and overpopulation in the big cities as well as massive poverty and urban decay. It deals heavily with the belief in the Supernatural and "Asia" as a place full of mysticism and strange knowledge, albeit this is mostly restrained here to the Kuei-Jin and not humans in general.
While this book really has a lot of flaws, e.g. the game system could be quite difficult and when starting to play such a character you must keep in mind that the character has been a Kuei-Jin for some time already (so simply being fresh from the grave like with Vampires doesn’t work here), I think it’s positive elements (powers, society, rules or morality etc.) balance that out at the very least and make for quite an interesting horror world, since basically what these Kuei-Jin strive to become are enlightened monsters.


I will get deeper into it in the spoilers section:


Examples of what I liked:
The Kuei-Jin are the reason Western Kindred have never managed to gain a foothold in the region, actually every attempt over the millennia resulted in catastrophic failure.
The very short story about a Kuei-Jin talking about the time in hell and the "rebirth" as one of the undead.
The Kuei-Jin share superficial similarities with vampires but they are entirely different beings in any other aspect. In many ways the Kuei-Jin have more in common with the shapeshifters and spirits of this game line than they have with its vampires (they even visit the spirit worlds).
The way the Kue-Jin come to be is quite different from what you usually hear. They become Kuei-Jin when before their death they were already depraved and awakened their lower nature or they died in such a dramatic fashion that their lower nature awakens shortly before they die. Also the unwilling to die soul must have great willpower to reinhabit the old body otherwise they are just spectres. So unlike most fictional vampires they are true revenants and their existence is due to themselves.
Upon return, most Kuei-jin are mindless monsters (known as chih-mei) whose sole purpose is the satiation of their hunger.
New Kuei-Jin are seen as the future of their race and not just pawns to be used like among the vampires.
Their goal is in no way to become human but to become what they believe Heaven wants them to be.
No matter how peaceful Kuei-Jin teachings may seem, they always have a horror element among them and many of their rules are downright alien to humans. The five main Dharmas (paths, so to say) often seem monstrous to humans (e.g. the dragons want to experience live in all of its facets, the Shadows are practically roleplayers and old ties must be cut no matter what and the Devil-Tigers do not worship devils, they want to become devils).
Unlike in the West, the P'o is not merely a mindless adversary to be tamed and suppressed. A Cathayan's P'o is the embodiment of the character's darker side — a cunning, corrupting Demon, rather than a mere “Beast.”
Most of the powers are very impressive in their power level and versatility, especially Flesh Shintai (the 1st level is already beautifully disgusting), Demon Shintai, Tapestry, Ghost Flame Shintai, Yin and Yang Pranas. These powers might be hart to learn but the results are impressive.
From the outside the Kuei-Jin can appear like totally different beings, making it realistic that humans don’t truly know about them, e.g. via Demon Shintai the Kuei-Jin manifests her P'o and thereby assumes a monstrous form. How that looks like? Different: you can be huge, have several fanged faces, stingers, claws, wings, mystical armor and weapons, foulness etc. You can even built your P'o form by enhancing your Shintai level.
What sort of Chi the Kuei-Jin is attuned to has relevance to how the Kuei-Jin looks, affects the surroundings, the weaknesses and even the mind (e.g. Yin = pale, cold, still, weakness: wood; Yang = color, vibrant, loud, weakness: metal; they can transform their blood into a healing elixir and Yang-imbalanced Kuei-Jin can produce half-breeds while Yin-imbalanced ones appear corpse-like).
The book clearly shows that Chinese Kuei-Jin do not trust non-Chinese ones and even has battles with the Japanese Kuei-Jin (often called Gaki), so it thankfully does not follow the tradition of presented “Asia” as some sort of “all the same and peaceful.”
The book doesn’t follow the stereotypical depiction of “Asian” religions as some pool of peace and wisdom, it makes clear that these religions and system gave the world things like seppuku, killing fields and the Death of a Thousand Cuts.


Examples of what I did not like:
The Kuei-Jin, at least at first, are restricted to feeding on the Chi of humans, later on they can basically feed on “Chi of their surroundings,” which restricts them much more than vampires.
The lexicon on Kuei-Jin terms is quite long and can become a difficulty during playing.
Having the god Mikaboshi and others as Yama Kings… well I guess it’s better than simply having them be vampires like White Wolf did with Odin & Co.
The book uses the terms vampires and Cathayan to describe the Kuei-Jin, although both are not native Chinese terms in any way. Some other words (e.g. dhampyr for a half-breed) are also rather unfitting for the setting in my eyes.
Often when referring to China, the book simply says Asia and it got some details of geography wrong.
The two people/Kuei-Jin in the example on how to choose a Dharma are called Charlotte Chen and Conrad Chu. Sure that example is set in Hong Kong at the end of 20th century or start of the 21st century but where mixed Chinese/English names that common in the region?
The description of the powers and how they are learned is often not well described, which would make it difficult to roleplay the learning process.
Those Soul Disciplines sometimes seem a bit odd, or maybe they are just difficult to envision.
This corrupted Chi permeating Japan after the bombings in 1945 is pretty ridiculous. Based on the books own rules the Japanese human population and other life forms should feel the effects too. It would make way more sense if Japan was severely haunted, since at the two bombings thousands upon thousands died in mere minutes, the afterlife must have been chaos and so many ghosts may have fled.
They have a Dragon spirit called Gajyra, I guess someone forgot the "Not Godzilla" sign.
The claim that Cathayans, like other vampires, are static creatures, resigned to roles of relatively little change. Ok they already mentioned that in the other vampire titles but here it really makes no sense at all, the book mentioned so many things that can influence a Kuei-Jin and their alleged reason for existence is based on change (reaching Dharma), so calling them static does not seem fit in my eyes.
As such, Western culture seeps into the East and is slowly but surely saturating the region. Groan... I know the power of the US is pretty strong but there is some exchange of culture going on, all the "Asian" food in the US is testament to that. They seem to really overdo it sometimes in the storytelling section.
The names for the Changelings are not that impressive, they are called Kamuii (I guess they are elementals), Cats (no idea what these are) and Tanuki (which is a Japanese term so why is it in a book mostly dealing with China?). Also is it so difficult to get the translation right? A tanuki is not a badger, it is a raccoon dog, Google was definitely around when this book was written, a picture is all you need.

Ps. Did some people really think that Mao's wife Jiang Qing was a fox spirit? I mean I wouldn't deny it in general, not considered what ridiculous concepts are considered acceptable in the Western world (like the claim that the one drop rule of POC are totally valid and undeniable facts and strictly defined). So the question for is not if, but rather: did it happen?

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing supplement with great potential for the World of Darkness, offering the bare bores of how to create a vampire or rather a Risen from China, Japan, Korea, or Southeast Asia. The concept was fascinating, along with the mythology which accompanied it. Alas, the art style was very stark, robbing this particular book of the sinister beauty which is breaths vitality into other supplements. Some of the information felt limited in regards to the locations, legends, and popular culture which would have enhanced this particular setting. Granted, there was a lot less material available when this was published, but I feel like something essential to bringing to true potential out of this book was missing. Some of the ideology felt a bit flat, two-dimensional, yet I sensed that maddening, yet intriguing potential swimming beneath it, lurking within the prose which was often exquisite. Perhaps an enterprising Storyteller and troupe will unlock that potential, for it’s there, lying within what was overall an engaging and interesting read. For those interested in sourcebooks for the World of Darkness, wishing to flesh out their own versions of it, this may well give you ideas. I recommend picking it up.

[Michał Przestrzelski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wypełnienie mapy Świata Mroku na kontynencie azjatyckim było niewątpliwie wskazane. Oczywiście, mamy do czynienia z orientalizmem, ale czy to doprawdy taki problem? Nawet o wiele bardziej fikcyjne światy RPG odwołują się do rzeczywistych stereotypów i krzywdzących uproszczeń. Natomiast system ten może raczej wzmocnić zainteresowanie graczy wschodem i zachęcić ich do wyszukiwania ciekawszych pozycji.

O ile w przypadku orientalizmu jestem bardzo pobłażliwy, to jednak sinocentryzm bije mocno po oczach. Świat niby obejmuje na przykład Indie, ale nie zostały one wiele razy wzmiankowane. W zasadzie mamy tu do czynienia z sinosferą i nie pchałbym kui-jinów na subkontynent azjatycki.

Mechaniki nie testowałem, ale moce wyglądają na mocno niezbalansowane.

Szkoda, że do systemu nie ma zbyt wielu wydanych przygód, a te co są, opierają się na bardzo szerokiej interakcji z innymi istotami nadnaturalnymi (do których właściwego przedstawienia należałoby przeczytać osobne podręczniki).

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a complete and very welcome departure from Cainite vampires, and the overture to a whole new mythology for the classic World of Darkness. It reunitaled a lot of cosmology from previous games and was very thightly packaged. The only real problem with this book was that it tried to engulf a lot in very little. Fantastic subsetting.

[Akira Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one hadn't exactly aged well. It was a fun idea at the time but, 15 years later, the constant talk of playing up the "exoticism of the East" is painfully dated and more than a little problematic. Still a fascinating concept though, and I wouldn't mind seeing White Wolf attempting an update.

[Langsguyar Arteaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

[Jan-e · Rating 3 out of 5]

KotE is not the most inspired chapter of the classic World of Darkness, and its portrayal of Asian culture smacks of orientalism. Still, many aspects are creative and exciting, and it most certainly qualifies as a deviation from well-trodden paths.