| abstract
| - Kindred of The East was a supplemental series for Vampire: The Masquerade focusing on the vampires of Asia, called the Cathayans or the Kuei-Jin.
- Kindred of the East is a spin-off of Vampire: The Masquerade dealing with, well, the Kindred of the East. Asia was always a forbidden land to Western Vampires. Those who went there and were fortunate enough to return would tell stories of the bizarre abilities and practices of the "Cathayans" (Cathay is an archaic name for China). It was almost as if they weren't really Cainite vampires at all but something totally different. They had no idea... This book was the flagship project of White Wolf's Year of the Lotus event, which focused on the Asian side of the Old World of Darkness. KOTE was intended as an offshoot of Vampire but the Kuei-Jin, as Eastern vampires are called, share only superficial similarities with the Western variety. Because it introduces several new mechanics and has its own Splats, KOTE is often treated as a standalone game, though some knowledge of Vampire and Wraith: The Oblivion will help. Our Vampires Are Different indeed. Kuei-Jin are humans who died violently and are sent to Yomi, from which they escape back into their bodies and must sustain on Chi to survive. At first, they can only obtain chi from human blood and/or flesh, but at higher levels of spiritual enlightenment (read: centuries), they can draw it from a person's breath or even directly from the earth itself. Like Western Vampires, Kuei-Jin are allergic to sunlight, vulnerable to staking, and subject to beastly frenzies of anger or fear. However, they can't embrace: all damned souls have to make their own way out of Hell; and they can't make Ghouls or blood bonds: their curse is theirs to bear alone. As former Wraiths, Kuei-Jin also have to contend with their Shadows and Oblivion (see Wraith: The Oblivion for details) and strive to Transcend the mortal plane. The game's new mechanics rework Vampire's concepts of Virtues and Paths of Enlightenment and Wraith's concept of dual-mind. There are 5 Virtues to keep track of and the first four are paired off. Yin and Yang deal with the type of Chi a Vampire consumes. Yin chi is dead, like from a blood bank, corpse, or another Vampire. Yang chi comes from living targets or Kuei-Jin with an overabundance of Yang chi themselves. Too much of the former turns the Vampire into a shambling zombie while the latter turns her into a raging hedonist who can bear children if not careful. Hun and P'o respectively deal with a vampire's higher mind and base instincts. The classic angel on one shoulder, devil on another. The fifth virtue is Balance, as keeping those two sliding scales towards the middle has its own benefits. Clans and Paths of Enlightenment are both featured here, but Vampire players will notice that priorities are reversed. Clans are not as important and are mostly geographic. A vampire in Hong Kong will most likely belong to the Quincunx clan the same way a Changeling from Atlanta will be part of the Kingdom of Willows. It's the Dharmic Paths upon which social lines are drawn and the game's splats are based. There are five mainstream Dharmas each based on one of the Virtues:
* Thrashing Dragons: Yang; hedonists and thrill-seakers
* Bone Flowers (The Song of Shadow): Yin; necromancers
* Resplendent Cranes: Hun; redeemers
* Devil Tigers: P'o; sadists
* The Thousand Whispers: Balance; travellers who take on new identities every 50 years or so.
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