Vampire: the Middle Kingdom - MrGone's Character Sheets

has the capability; this is a challenge, as Disciplines are unavailable to the discorporated vampire. If the body is destroyed during this
time, the character suffers Final Death.
Final Death
Final Death is the fate of the Cathayan that has her health boxes filled with aggravated damage, that is is taken to zero Health
by lethal damage and has no animating Chi in her body, that has her soul devoured, or is otherwise destroyed. Game over, and no
continues. No one knows the fate of such unfortunate souls, but their stories in the Middle Kingdom are ended forever.
Soul States
Kuei-jin exist in a continual state of flux, where something as basic as control of one's own faculties is a precarious balancing
act. The excesses of Yin threaten to dive the Hun into a mindless, violent panic, so a vampires must call upon the opposing force to
counteract it; yet, if they do not use Yin to cool the fires of Yangs fires, they will be driven to devour and kill as would a rabid beast.
Thus, a form of balance is found between the two poles of imbalance. And the P'o is always ready to thwart the Hun, to either force
control over the body or push it it over into the extremes of Yin or Yang. Yet there are times when a Cathayan must embrace the
extremes or hand the reigns over to the Demon. It's certainly not easy navigating the pitfalls of the soul, and it's a struggle each of the
Thousand Demons faces every night.
Wind Nature
This is the default state for vampire characters, when the Hun is dominant and the core identity of the Kuei-jin is in full
control. Like the wind, the Hun perceives and acts with clarity, and may render comfort as well as act with destructive force – but
always maintains control. (The analogy sounds better than the reality, especially as vampires are concerned, but the terminology
stands.) It's a good idea to try and stay in this state as much as possible. No special rules or restrictions exist for Wind Nature, as it
encompasses the vast majority of most vampires' existence.
Fire Nature
Fire Nature is the Yang-urge taken to violent extremes, when the Wan Kuei's rage, hunger or lust overwhelms his faculties
and he becomes like an animal, unthinking and driven to fulfill its needs. This is a constant danger for young vampires, who exhibit
poor self-control and haven't yet learned to cope well with the trials of the world or the treacherous politics of their kind. They are also
frequently hungry, possibly the most frequent frenzy trigger. And any fight, especially one in which blood is spilled or the vampire is
wounded, or even an act of disrespect, can end in an episode of Fire Nature.
A character in the throes of Fire Nature is in a near-mindless rage, and he pursues, devours and kills to the exclusion of all
other things; such creatures feed and slay far beyond what's necessary if given the chance. Friends are in nearly as much danger as
mortal foes if they're nearby; generally, in mass melee a Fire Nature Cathayan prefers attacking strangers to wu-mates, but this isn't a
given. Discipline use beyond Demon Arts or even the use of any Mental or Social Skills are out of the question. On the plus side, the
crazed Demon ignores all wound penalties and is effectively immune to any mind control or emotion manipulation: three dice is
subtracted from any such rolls made by others to influence him with Discipline arts or other supernatural powers. However, the
presence of substantial fire or any sunlight will cause him to immediately and automatically “switch” to Wave Nature.
Fire Nature lasts for as long as it takes to get the job done: if the character lost control due to hunger, frenzy lasts until he
feeds past satiation; if the trigger event was a fight, this Soul State remains as long as enemies are left standing. (Of course, priorities
can change quickly in a fight.) It takes a minute or so for a vampire to calm down, during which he's on a hair trigger and is given a
wide berth by the wise. In some circumstances, a Storyteller may allow a player to spend a point of Willpower to steer the Kuei-jin in
Fire Nature away from an ally or innocent and toward a more suitable target nearby; to regain control prematurely requires a Willpower
and a [Composure + Yin - P'o] roll; even a single success restores the character to sentience, but failure on this roll indicates the frenzy
intensifies and lasts for an entire scene, during which no further attempts to steer behavior or regain lucidity are allowed.
Resisting Fire Nature requires a reflexive [Composure + Yin - P'o] roll.
Wave Nature
Wave Nature is similar in many ways to Fire Nature, and is potentially just as dangerous to anyone nearby, but the major
drive for the vampire consumed with this state is self-preservation, and the emotion felt is overwhelming terror. The Wan Kuei
attempts to get away from the trigger – fire, sunlight, angry pack of Hakken, or whatever – and get to a place of safety. And woe to
whoever is between he and escape. Wave Nature normally lasts until the character feels entirely safe, and then the character can
usually compose himself in under a minute. In certain cases, a terrified Wan Kuei can be provoked into Fire Nature, especially if
attacked or a lot of blood is spilled. Mechanically, Wave Nature is treated as Fire Nature.
Resisting Wave Nature requires a reflexive [Composure + Yang - P'o] roll.
Shadow Nature
This is described in detail on pgs. 91 and 151 of Kindred of the East. The difference here are the mechanics in checking for
that state; see pg. 7-8 of this document for details.