If my memory does not fail me, it has been two years since i first stumbled into Kindred of the East. I had been, for some time then, and still am it seems, a frequent customer of books related to White Wolf?s World of Darkness. However much i can appreciate the antipathy presented by many a reader of Rpg.net, i have always been fascinated by the red (bloody, if one is so inclined) line of raging, raw violence, yet always with these poetic subtexts. It?s hardly discussable that most products (at least most i have read) of the line are wellwritten, crystal clear, yet evocative.
I am very fond of Vampire: The Masquerade, a fondness grown from many a memorable game, many a bloody night. But Kindred of the East is, in my humble opinion, a far superior line. It is easily the holder of my most fascinating experiences of gaming. A setting which, with unbreaking focus, captures the feel of chinese mythology, a feat i believed impossible.
Though, as with all of their products, they handling of the folklore is quite liberalistic, the feel is there. This indescribeable, fragile and highly aesthetic feel. In a way, Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger manages this as well, to put at least some description to the subject.
Half-Damned: Dhampyr is, to say the least, not much of an addition, primarily because it does not function as an integrated part of the line. It is hard to put a finger on anything specific (unless, of course, one calls the book something specific), it just does not fit in, and does not even function on its own (i say, with no thoughts to rules).
The book starts with the obligatory piece of not badly written, but deeply uninspirering piece of fiction, which sadly is becoming a trademark. It is not badly written, but deeply uninspirering.
It concerns itself with a half-damned (do not let this repition fool you, there is a treasury of other names to choose from) called Lang, and his sister, Jing. The story is standard supernatural conspiracy, and it is not really very evocative.
Then there is a chapter with the doubleegded name: Babes and Upstarts. It is, as the name warns, a introduction to reading a book (which is not a bad thing, one would add) combined with a rundown of the Dhampyr state of being.
Then comes the climax of the piece, three fictious letters and a transcript of a video. This is actully quite good, and almost had me fooled. Though written in this sort of intellectually distanced street-slang, which seems to be the native tongue of all modern supernaturals, i found it quite to my liking. This chapter also presents the obligatory ?metaplot?, which is uninpired at best.
In the eyes of true cathayans, dhampyrs are but pawns and tools. Incompetent if useful at best. The next chapter, Dead Alive, does it best to enforce this. Dhampyres posseses a mere taste of kuei-jin power, but are (and this is a reasoning on which i must compliment the developers) due to the improbaility of their existence extremely lucky. Their are some, not bad really, rules to this joss, which is also the reason that this is suggested a very cinematic game.
Following this are some rules concerning Japanese dhampyrs. There really is not much to say about those.
Ending the chapter is the ?default? setting: Singapore. Here we are presented with some locations, none of which really stands out, and important characters.
Then comes a chapter with some detailed concepts, all of which lives up to the standard demanded by the line. Especially the ?Crusty Old Courtier? is standing out, seeming to be an interesting play, but who would really do more with these, than let oneself be inspired?
The appendix is a small collection of characters, clearly there to be storyteller controlled. They are loosely tied in with the city of Singapore and with earlier mentioned letters.
Now, you probalby ask me, is the problem with this book? Well, to put it frankly, it is unplayable. The book itself discourages a all-dhampyr troupe, which i think wise, since with this material it would seem very unfitting to the World of Darkness. Moreover, a mixed troupe, i believe, is a very bad idea. In my experience, mixing masters and pawns does not work. I may mistaken, you may have a group where this sort of thing works. In the latter case, i am really in no position to discourage you from buying this book, apart from stating my opinion of it as being not really useful. That leaves a wouldbe dhampyr with few options. You could just alter the setting, which i believe and hope everybody already does, to make an all dhampyr group suitable, but still it seems a bad and frankly quite boring choice. Unless of course you change the material even more, in which case the book is unneeded. Another choice would be to have a undercover dhampyr, but i truly must state that i would probably use another sort of character for undercover action. You could do it in a western campaign, that could be interesting i guess.
Another, and in my opinion even more aggravated (i could say no pun intended, but that would be a lie) fault, is a difference in feeling. The book carries none of the aweinspireing chinese pathos that the main book does. The take on the dhampyrs is, to put a bit bluntly, very western. One gets the feeling that shade walkers are more brawn than brains. They lack the style, the elegance and confucian touch of their parents.
To put down my concerns about his book in one sentence: It lacks context.
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