The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Are you Kindred? Are you going to the Far East? You're screwed.

All of that I learned in the flavor text prior prefacing the first chapter. The undead of the East are not Kindred. They are not the lost childer of Caine, but rather disgraced servants of the August Personage. They refer to themselves collectively as "Kuei-jin", though regional terms persist. (Kindred, by contrast, are called "Kin-jin", though many don't dignify them so. Many prefer "gaijin", "gweilo" or whatever the local equivalent is.) The differences don't stop there, and if I go into detail I'll spoil it for you.

With this in mind, I'll present an overview of the most glaring differences. The first is that there is no Embrace. Every Kuei-jin truly earned his undead damnation, and they know it. This also means that there is no Generation stat, and there is no Clan or Bloodline either. Replacing these (and more) is a Dharmic path of Enlightment, which is a queer hybrid of Arete and Humanity. The second is that there is no Blood Pool. Instead, Kuei-jin feed off Chi. Most of the time this means blood drinking, but it can involve cannibalism or breath stealing. Third, Kuei-jin are actively involved with the spirit world. They frequently deal with the Shadowlands and the Umbra. This makes them players in the high-stakes game of "Seize the Node!", as they value sites with high Chi (Quintessance), and gets them in trouble with others who need those sites.

On top of this, they blame the Kindred for all of their problems. Oh yes, they HATE the Kindred with a passion usually seen in Garou. They are one of the few supernaturals in the World of Darkness who have the power and the numbers to take on and beat the Kindred (Camarilla, Anarch and Sabbat alike) at their own game. The preliminary stages are already underway, and the designers did a great job in playing up this conflict. If they follow through, it's be the best thing for Vampire since _Under a Blood Red Moon_.

Now, as I said above, the Kuei-jin are quite different from the Kindred. The book does a meticulous job of telling you just what they are, then they tell you how to play them. (If you're tired of angst-ridden whining, bitching and moaning then you want to pick up this book.) They include all of the game mechanics needed to play these facisnating vampires, ranging from the P'o (Their Beast, which is much more like a wraith's Shadow.) to Chi imbalance (It is now possible to have those half-vampire characters, due to Yang-imbalanced vampires.) and a slew of new Disciplines that nicely compile all of Asia's vampire myths into one book. There's more meat in this book than in all of the Clanbooks combined, and it easily equals the Vampire rulebook for dollar-to-data value.

For your $25 (US), you get a brilliant red hardcover rulebook with a lot of great B&W artwork. The art serves the text loyally and competantly, which makes understanding some of the esoteric concepts a lot easier. It includes a one-page sheet on the final page, an index that's worthy of the name and none of the infamous White Wolf posing and pretensiousness. These folks did their homework. I'd recommend this book, and not just for World of Darkness fans. Any game with a historical or contemporary setting in the Far East would get something out of this, such as _Feng Shui_ or _Hong Kong Action Theater_. As the first of White Wolf's "Year of the Lotus", it's an auspicious omen. Let's hope the rest of the series exceeds this book's quality.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Kindred of the East
Author: Various Authors Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Cost: $25.00 Page count: 224 pages ISBN: I-56504-232-8 Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 01/30/98. Genre tags: none	Are you Kindred? Are you going to the Far East? You're screwed. All of that I learned in the flavor text prior prefacing the first chapter. The undead of the East are not Kindred. They are not the lost childer of Caine, but rather disgraced servants of the August Personage. They refer to themselves collectively as "Kuei-jin", though regional terms persist. (Kindred, by contrast, are called "Kin-jin", though many don't dignify them so. Many prefer "gaijin", "gweilo" or whatever the local equivalent is.) The differences don't stop there, and if I go into detail I'll spoil it for you. With this in mind, I'll present an overview of the most glaring differences. The first is that there is no Embrace. Every Kuei-jin truly earned his undead damnation, and they know it. This also means that there is no Generation stat, and there is no Clan or Bloodline either. Replacing these (and more) is a Dharmic path of Enlightment, which is a queer hybrid of Arete and Humanity. The second is that there is no Blood Pool. Instead, Kuei-jin feed off Chi. Most of the time this means blood drinking, but it can involve cannibalism or breath stealing. Third, Kuei-jin are actively involved with the spirit world. They frequently deal with the Shadowlands and the Umbra. This makes them players in the high-stakes game of "Seize the Node!", as they value sites with high Chi (Quintessance), and gets them in trouble with others who need those sites. On top of this, they blame the Kindred for all of their problems. Oh yes, they HATE the Kindred with a passion usually seen in Garou. They are one of the few supernaturals in the World of Darkness who have the power and the numbers to take on and beat the Kindred (Camarilla, Anarch and Sabbat alike) at their own game. The preliminary stages are already underway, and the designers did a great job in playing up this conflict. If they follow through, it's be the best thing for Vampire since _Under a Blood Red Moon_. Now, as I said above, the Kuei-jin are quite different from the Kindred. The book does a meticulous job of telling you just what they are, then they tell you how to play them. (If you're tired of angst-ridden whining, bitching and moaning then you want to pick up this book.) They include all of the game mechanics needed to play these facisnating vampires, ranging from the P'o (Their Beast, which is much more like a wraith's Shadow.) to Chi imbalance (It is now possible to have those half-vampire characters, due to Yang-imbalanced vampires.) and a slew of new Disciplines that nicely compile all of Asia's vampire myths into one book. There's more meat in this book than in all of the Clanbooks combined, and it easily equals the Vampire rulebook for dollar-to-data value. For your $25 (US), you get a brilliant red hardcover rulebook with a lot of great B&W artwork. The art serves the text loyally and competantly, which makes understanding some of the esoteric concepts a lot easier. It includes a one-page sheet on the final page, an index that's worthy of the name and none of the infamous White Wolf posing and pretensiousness. These folks did their homework. I'd recommend this book, and not just for World of Darkness fans. Any game with a historical or contemporary setting in the Far East would get something out of this, such as _Feng Shui_ or _Hong Kong Action Theater_. As the first of White Wolf's "Year of the Lotus", it's an auspicious omen. Let's hope the rest of the series exceeds this book's quality. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Kindred of the East