Notation: This is a 'Vampire the Masquerade' species, but intensive knowledge of the species is not necessary.
The following species chart will outline how it must be played in Infusco, and any further information or other details beyond this sheet are perfectly acceptable, whether true to VtM or not.
Most of the following has been taken from White Wolf Wiki.Kuei-Jinalso known as: Cathayansmistakenly referred to as: Eastern VampiresClassification: Demon (Demon Vampire)
Appearance: A Kuei-Jin will look exactly as they did when human (without imperfections such as scars, poor eyesight, etc).
Demon Form:
Personality: Varies - but every one of them are spiritual, due to the nature of their creation. If they didn't believe in spirituality before they became Kuei-Jin, they would certainly have to believe in it after they'd been created. Their personality will always be defined by their Dharma (see below). Someone with a brutish personality wouldn't follow the Resplendent Crane dharma, for instance.
Creation:Unlike Infusco or Masquerade vampires, the Cathayan are created when someone (usually a criminal) dies in a violent fashion and their spirit escapes where they are supposed to be transported to, and ends up returning to the land of the living. Once risen, they are referred to
chih-mei, and become a barely sentient creature dominated by its hunger for chi and forced to live on flesh. When
chih-mei rise, Cathayans of the various courts capture them and civilize them, reawakening their higher consciousness and turning them into productive undead.
Cathayans are not victims of a random siring. They are truly undead - dead mortals cursed to return from the spirit worlds and reincarnate. This process, called the Second Breath, is similar to that undergone by the risen - but Kuei-Jin are not wraiths in mortal shells. Pathos is meaningless to them, for Kuei-Jin have no overriding passion, save hunger; instead, Kuei-Jin must fuel their powers by ingesting Chi.
Kuei Jin are creatures on a spiritual trek. They have been granted a second chance, and must earn their redemption in this new life. To do so, each Kuei Jin subscribes to a Dharma (see Below). Each Dharma outlines a different view of the universe and the means towards achieving enlightenment. In addition to spiritual comfort, enlightenment brings strength - as a Kuei Jin advances in their dharma, they learn to feed off things besides blood, their ability to manipulate chi increases and their abilities can achieve new heights.
Virtues:Each Cathayan has four virtues:
- yin (death, passivity, intellect),
- yang (heat, activity, passions),
- hun (intellect and noble action) and
- p'o (violence and negative emotion),
and one of the schools of Dharma (listed below). Each Dharma espouses enlightenment through some combination of these virtues. As a Cathayan advances in their Dharma, they achieve greater power, including the ability to feed on blood, then breath, then the ambient chi of the universe.
DharmasThe ultimate goal of a dharma is to liberate a Kuei-jin from their undead state, and to be enlightened.
Devil Tigers: Follow the p'o virtue. The Devil Tigers are a rigorously ordered sect of vampires who view themselves as replacements for the corrupt demons of the thousand hells. Devil Tigers are eschatonic fanatics and judges of righteousness who corrupt and punish the wicked.
Resplendent Cranes: Follow the hun virtue. Resplendent Cranes are a highly scholastic offshoot of the Devil-Tiger philosophy who cultivate righteousness and seek to turn the Wheel of Ages back to the beginning.
Thrashing Dragons: Follow the yang virtue. Thrashing Dragons seek enlightenment though understanding the living and the lives they never followed in their first existence. They follow a variety of schools which can be indistinguishable from violent hedonism to the uninitiated.
Bone Flowers: The Bone Flowers cultivate the yin virtue and seek enlightenment through the Cold Mind philosophy. They are dispassionate, logical, highly filial and commune with the dead.
Thousand Whispers: The Thousand Whispers Dharma cultivates enlightenment by adopting and then progressively discarding identities, living dozens or hundreds of lifetimes. They are an inscrutable school that outsiders have trouble understanding.
In addition to these five dharmas are several heretical dharmas which may or may not succeed. The following Dharmas are not accepted by Kuei-Jin society, but still find some followers:
Spirit of the Living Earth: (Yin and Yang) These Kuei-Jin are shamans and interact with spirits, seeking both advice and adhering to taboos.
Face of the Gods. (Hun and P'o) Possibly the most extreme heresy, the Face of the Gods claim that the Kuei-Jin are exiled Gods. They set up their own cults with worshippers and extract chi from prayer.
Flame of the Rising Phoenix: (Hun and Yang) The Flame of the Rising Phoenix dharma holds that the purpose of the Second Breath is to make restitution for the crimes of one's life. The dharma is noted for its members failing (or occasionally disappearing) after a short period of time.
Tempest Of Inner Focus: An alternative balanced dharma, the tempests are a taoist variant on the more confucian courts.
The Scorpion Eaters: A Dharma embracing the P´o, who can consume only Tainted Chi and yet are not Akuma.
Disciplines (Mental Abilities):Instead of blood, Kuei-jin use chi to power their Disciplines; the chi virtues will oscillate fairly heavily throughout their existence. Kuei-jin disciplines are generally flashy; characters often have Demon forms and master shapeshifting shintai disciplines.
Instead of a beast, a character has a P'o, which is a distinct primitive personality. Kuei-jin are prone to both hunger and fear frenzies and also a situation where the P'o takes over the character, called Shadow Soul.
Kuei-Jin have access to a wider variety of magic; instead of a distinct Thaumaturgy-style discipline (see
Vampire Masquerade, Tremere), Kuei-jin require rituals (
click here to read more). Rites can have a variety of effects.
KUEI-JIN VERSUS REGULAR VAMPIRESGLOSSARY OF TERMS AND FURTHER UNDERSTANDINGKuei-Jin differ profoundly from Kindred in many respects, both physiologically and psychologically. Some of the differences between the two types of vampires appear below.
Aggravated Damage: Kuei-Jin take aggravated damage from fire, teeth and claws, and certain Chi-augmented attacks. Kuei-Jin rot, rather than burn, in sunlight.
Beast: Over the centuries, Kuei-Jin have become intimately familiar with their primal, instinctual souls (which they refer to as P'o). All Kuei-Jin have a P'o Virtue, representing the strength of their inner Demon; the P'o has its own Nature and can actually prove beneficial to the character. However, the P'o is as unpredictable as any Western Beast and much more clever; incautious Kuei-Jin can find themselves trapped and helpless in their own bodies, as the P'o rampages out of control.
Chi: Kuei-Jin don't drink blood to slake thirst, instead, they refine all substances into Chi: Yin (black) Chi or Yang (scarlet) Chi. Chi may be used to heal wounds, power Disciplines and (provided the proper Disciplines are known) increase Abilities. Kuei-jin also gain dark emotional energy from their P'o. They refer to this substance as "Demon Chi."
Dharmas: Kuei-Jin have risen for a purpose, and it is their duty to find out what that purpose is. Kuei-Jin categorize their personal beliefs through a series of codes, which are known as Dharmas. Following one's Dharma leads a vampire to greater understanding of their condition and a greater harnessing of their powers.
Diablerie: Kuei-Jin have no generation per se, but they are more than capable of feeding on one another. In fact, they have refined the art of soul-stealing to a science, and certain powers are even based upon it. Some Kuei-Jin hold diablerie in every bit as much dread as their vampire counterparts, while others govern its use through elaborate ceremonies.
Disciplines: Kuei-Jin use Disciplines, but not the ones known in the Masquerade.
Embrace: Cathayans are not victims of a random Embrace. They are truly undead - dead mortals cursed to return from the spirit worlds and reincarnate. This process, called the Second Breath, is similar to that undergone by the Risen - but Kuei-Jin are not wraiths in mortal shells. Pathos is meaningless to them, for Kuei-Jin have no overriding passion, save hunger; instead, Kuei-Jin must fuel their powers by ingesting Chi.
Fangs: Kuei-Jin have no fangs naturally, though they may sprout them by calling upon the P'o.
Final Death: Final Death is just as real for Kuei-Jin as it is for vampires. Upon Final Death, the soul exits the corpse, which immediately collapses and crumples to ash. Indeed, Kuei-Jin fear Final Death as few other creatures do. For them, they believe, there will be no further reincarnation.
Generation: Kuei-Jin do not believe themselves to be descended from Caine, and thus, the concept of generation is irrelevant to them. They measure their power by age and by progress along their Dharmas. As a side effect, there are no 'clans' of cathayans; though they typically group themselves into sects, hierarchies, schools and other social structures, such units are not dictated by the vagaries of the Blood. It it ever becomes absolutely necessary to calculate the 'equivalent' generation for a Kuei-Jin, treat it as (13 - Dharma score).
Ghouls (or 'Familiars'): Kuei-Jin cannot create Familiars (or Ghouls). It is their karma to bear their curse alone, not to share it with others.
Stake Through Heart: The heart is instrumental in processing Chi energy, and certain types of attacks can disrupt the Chi flow in a Kuei-Jin's body. Vampires of Yin prove vulnerable to wood, the element of Yang; conversely, vampires of Yang are vulnerable to metal, the element of Yin. Unlike Infusco or Masquerade Vampires, a stake through the heart can kill a Kuei-Jin.
Sunlight: Kuei-Jin are vulnerable to sunlight in some measure, but their degree of vulnerability varies according to the amount of Yin energy in their bodies. They do not 'burn' in the light; rather, they rot, as the Yang energy of the snu corrodes the unnatural magics keeping the Kuei-Jin corpse animate.
Sustenance: Not all Kuei-Jin need to drink blood to obtain sustenance, though this is true for most of them. The lowest, the
chih-mei, take their Chi from human flesh (or that of other
sentient beings). More refined vampires who have reached higher levels of enlightenment can 'drink' breath, spirits and even raw essences. As a side effect, Kuei-Jin are perfectly capable of eating and drinking normal food and beverages, though such things provide no nourishment. Kuei-Jin can even get drunk, though the quantity of alcohol required for such a feat is truly prodigious (assume a Kuei-Jin can drink 10 times as much liquor as the average mortal).
Vampire Interaction / Diablerie: A Kuei-Jin can get chi-rich sustenance from a regular vampire, boosting their powers. The flavour profile depends on age. They cannot get sustenance from another Kuei-Jin.
If a vampire drinks from a Kuei-Jin, they get sustenance to the point of taking on the Kuei-Jin's chi (flavour profile to the vampire will be indescribable) but after that the Kuei-Jin will become useless black, tarry ichor and they will meet final death. The vampire does not inherit any Kuei-Jin abilities from drinking from them.