Vampire: the Middle Kingdom - MrGone's Character Sheets

The Restless Dead
See see The Tapestry, pgs. 32-37 of this document, for rules on ghosts. See pgs. 213-217 of Kindred of the East for
information on them, and Dark Kingdom of Jade for the full Wraith workup.
You Wraithcist Bastard!
Here I go through all the trouble of statting and describing all the other shen (even mortals and those damnable Kin-jin), and
meanwhile wraiths are given the same dumbed-down stats as rock-spirits and no flavor text at all. I mean no disrespect – trust me, I
love Wraith. However, in a Kindred of the East context, wraiths were treated as spirits, and I'm trying to remain as consistent with
that game's interpretations as possible. Quite a bit of background for ghosts was given in Kindred of the East – more than most of
the other shen – and I'd only be repeating here what's already been said. And just because because we're using simplified stats to
model wraiths doesn't mean they're simplified characters. A Restless soul is as nuanced and complex as you, the Storyteller, makes
her: a wraith with high Hun can be intuitive but uneducated, intellectual but socially inept, persuasive but weak-willed, or whatever
you need her to be. The mechanics only come into play when the shiitake hits the paper fan, and at that point the fine distinctions
between Presence and Manipulation are pretty moot.
However, if Storytellers want to include the Restless Dead as recurring personalities or feature them prominently, perhaps a
little more detail would be in order. To facilitate this approach, I give the quick-and-dirty fix below. Create a mortal character, then
add the following “template.”
Virtues: Ghosts retain Hun, Yin and Yang. As a measure of a ghost's purpose and spiritual strength, Hun is added to Health
(so, Health = [Sta + Size + Hun]). Restless have a P'o directly analogous to that of Wan Kuei, and is fully sentient; but rather than
instilling demonic urges, the P'o of a wraith seeks to drive the Hun and all Creation to surrender to ultimate destruction. Those
permanently overpowered by their P'o lose their Hun entirely (using P'o in its place where applicable) and become Spectres.
Combat: Unless manifested through an art or affected through special powers (like Bone Shintai 4), ghosts are largely
invulnerable to harm from the physical world, and are intangible, able to walk through obstructions, people and whatever else is there.
Against attacks from other spectral entities or visitors to the Yin World, or while manifested, the Restless take damage as vampires
(including reduced damage from bashing), but suffer lethal rather than aggravated damage from fire and have no vulnerability to
sunlight. Those possessing humans don't confer this advantage to their hosts, but aren't harmed by attacks against those mortals.
Ghosts that lose all their Health to aggravated damage must succeed on a Hun roll or be sent to Oblivion forever.
Arts (Arcanoi): Pick and choose from the list of Arts on pgs. 33-34, with the number of Arts reflecting the ghost's age and
experience. Some Soul Discipline equivalents are also appropriate, especially Cultivation.
Pathos (Chi): Pathos is a temporary pool that ranges from 1-10; it's not separated into Yin and Yang pools. (Technically it's
all Yin Chi, but that's academic to ghosts.) Pathos is harvested from the emotions of mortals, especially those of family dutiful enough
to remember and honor their dead through ceremony.
Equipment: Ghosts often use the functional “memories” of items very important to the ghost or others in life.
Kin-jin: Uninvited guests and Native Demons
Kin-jin, who call themselves “Kindred” or “Cainites,” are outsiders with no place under Heaven. It doesn't matter whether
they come to Asia from elsewhere, or have been in the Middle Kingdom for generations. They are intruders rudely inserting themselves
into a land that does not want or need them. They aren't even properly shen (according to the opinion of many Cathayans, anyway), or
even true vampires, but the recipients of a curse that spreads like a disease.
And yet the Kin-jin are like the Wan Kuei in so many ways, more so than any shen. This fact humbles and greatly offends the
fallen Wan Xian, when any of the prideful monsters deign to admit it.
(Reference material? You're kidding, right? Go pick up the big green book.)
Virtues: Kin-jin are subject to Fire Nature (Frenzy) and Wave Nature (Rotschreck), and Yin and Yang add to Composure
rolls to resist these states just as they do for “proper” vampires. The mortal understanding of Hun is retained, but usually degrades over
time (though quickly for some). The lower souls of these creatures is a savage, mindless thing, and so the Kindred have no true P'o and
don't fear Shadow Nature.
Chi (Blood Pool): Barbarian vampires don't separate Yin, Yang or Demon Chi; all Chi is pulled from a single pool.
Combat and Damage: Kin-jin are vampires, and suffer and heal damage like Cathayans. They suffer aggravated damage
from fire and sunlight; these strange vampires immediately burn when exposed to the sun, instead of rot, but the effect is the same.
They can perform bite attacks like Wan Kuei, and need not Chi to grow fangs.
Reproduction: Kin-jin can create more of their ilk by draining a mortal to the point of death and then giving them blood,
which transforms and reanimates the corpse as a vampire. It takes about a year for the “parent” to rear the fledgling demon before it's
capable of acting on its own and becoming a true threat, though it's not terribly uncommon for some Kin-jin factions to create several
new vampires and simply unleash the weak, confused victims on their foes. Needless to say, this makes Kin-jin difficult to eradicate
wherever they establish themselves.