VTM - Kindred of the East - Dhampyr - Half Damned

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7 3 5 P A R K N O R T H B L Y D . with:~~~ ~~~ :~i:~~~~~i~~ ~:~ii:~~::!::sp:::~~:;b~;X::~;~~op~

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reserved. Werewolf the Apocalypse, Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the

Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning, Werewolf the Wild West, Mage the

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U S A

Author: Hal Mangold

SPKJAL'r_o: .s

The developer wishes to thank Ellen P. Kiley, Derek

Gruder (and his friend "einas"), Chris Nasipak and Malcus

Dorroga for last-minute translation help. Any mistakes are

mine, not theirs.

Developer: Philippe R . Boulle

Additional Development: Richard E . Dansky

Editor: James StewartAlso,

Art Director: Richard Thomas

Layout & Typesetting: Pauline Benney

Interior Art: Michael Gaydos, Vince Locke, Melissa Uran

Front Cover Art: John Van Fleet

Front & Back Cover Design: Pauline Benney

To Tim "Tales of Comics Girl" Avers for being a natural

tale spinner and knowing that morning radio can be thecruelest kind;

To Rob"Off to Alpharetta" Hatch for taking Deep Throat's

advice and following the money (and for giving me one of my

first breaks, way back when)

S U I T E 1 2 8

http://www.white-wolf.com;alt.games.whitewolf and rec.garnes.frp.srotvreller

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES.



------TABLI OF"CO(THlS------

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l'R£tUD£:

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lin~ salljuil>tly in {nuu (I f Ihe TV :l~ rhc videu Lll'l>

rewound. The static hiss of the Sl\o\\'.fill",d picture luhl'

mixed with the whirrin~ of the tape, (orming ,I SUr! of

white noise that drowned out "'\'l'Tythin~ else.

Hecould have faked it-all'lfit. lt would "l')lht lih'

LUlg to do that. too. Rut as Jin~ looked around the hotelr o om . the rhysical evidence wa~ r o o o v crw h cl nu n g. TIll'

pictures that lay spread 0111 on the tul-le in front llf her.

The Iaf~l' l-loodsrain hy till' h('l! . The hlood-cncru-rcd

knife rhnr xhc bud found in rhc gmbilge can when ,11l '

rushed intothe bathroom I,) vomu.

\VI1l '1l she had first gotll'n rhc loner. she th,)ughl it \\':1'

i1hoax . Lanaw asdcad. H e had ro l-e It h ad l-ccno vcr ccvcn

vents since he disappeared. I f I h . ' wets 5 1 i J / o l i v e sbv had

rhouelu to hersdf,hl'U'ouldhm'cconrach,alllt'. Rut there wa-,

always that l in l e vo ic e \\'hisrl'ring in the hack oflu-r head,

telling her LUlg didn't atvc a shit about her. She'd hllll.!

since learned to ignoTe it - hut it was always rhcn-.

Rut [hen the letter h,lll nmvcd. It W<lS Lang's hand-

writing, Lang's slgnnturc, and more Ikill anything e lse . it

jllst sounded like him, It hadn 'r said IIlIlCh, ju-t ~(\lI\l'

veiled references ro "somcrhina iucrcdil-lc" that he had ro

tellher. That. and a r.uuu kcv III rill' lund.

The packer accornpanvmu the letter had l -eon no

ercru help either. Sill' had dutifully read it a-, Lane rc

quested, hut hadn't l-cen SUTl'whar III make III iLIt \\·'1~:1

btcarrc ptccc of wnring, nut really a story hut obv iou - lv

fictional. Bodies rising from their graves and walking

arouud ' Entire COLIrtS ofde ad creatures secrcrlv ruling the

nidl1.' [)ellllllb, dcvilsnnd \'l 'llgl,fu! gIlds from the Thou-

':llllil k[k'ir rC:ldlih,!Ill'sl"rir1 tooncofrhosc ndiculous

1I·U.\i(1 film" rhnr Hnng "Ilng turned out cvcrv ),e'IT.

Andher brother expected her to believe it was al l

Irm'.11 wa, prcuvclcar trom till' vnlco rhar he hdie\'ed ir,

;11l',hf. TIll' rupe wa-, ~n stf:mgl' - uupo-siblc. e\'l'll-rut \\"hr \wukl he lie now' En'rything Ill' said fit so well .

:- ;Iw h ad '1l\\"ays felt 111<11 r lw r c was S ll ll ll 't hi nJ ,! , Ir an gl '

)..:.,inl.!"n, l -ut had never l -ccn ol-lc III pUI hcrftngor on it"

ling -nll faced the srauc-flllcd TV screen when rill'I,,,tiel' ram L1fO\'''' the hotel room < . 1 0 m out o{ its {mille,

..brnmill!! it open with a crash. The room \\':b almost

in -r .u nlv till ed with 1 1 l L 'hulkinJ.! 1 ; 'TllIS of police in full no t

I.!l';lr, armed with small hilt lethal aunuuar!c wearons.

"( ll't vour hand- lip!" 11T1l ' -crcamcdnr her rhr.lugh his

lu- lmcrv I:Ke m'14. Sh e l"IIllI'Ii,'d mccklv. risillJ,! ro he r

n-cr, her hands on her 1 l L ' , d like ~1lL' had alwavs seen

""l'rk .[,'in movies. Tlu- (Ill' nlPH'.! in duse (lnd S\\·t.'l't

he r f e e t <lilt from under her, drul'pinJ,.: Jin,g to the flour.

"\Vit:lt\ J , . : l 1 i n : . : : nn?" ,Ill' :\skl'd as the officer's knee

1'1ll11l'd he r down . N,) answer \\':b torthconung. hut her

h.md-, were rounhlv pullcd hdlind her l-ack an.1 secured

with h,m,k\Jff~. "YI1I1 em't .I" this! [ haven ' t dOlll'

anvnumuphhh!" H e r Lhl \\""r.l~ we-n- nit 1,lf:h apiece III

.Iult t:II'l' w.t-, ~];ll'l'e.1 (1\','[ her mouth.

The prc'ourv on her l-ack n-laxcd as the-police ,lficl'f';

'\n']'1 till' room, comnunuc.ninu only with hand ~ign"[s,

[ 1 1 l t . : \\',l1eh,'d hell'i.'ssly from her posiriun on the floor as

all ~il.!lh of her presence in Ill' room were removed. TIll'





PItUUDI: THI (fIFT or Sur·(WOWUDIfI

T Il l' CO l' S 1 : 1 1' _'1 . '. 1uo ldh- chuchar . , 1H , 1 Jm) . . ! u nu xl th crn

out. \Vh,11 \\',l~ -hc )..! \ , in)..! l,J ,I?Tlw police were tak ing he r

«u ncp lncc - \ \ 'h ' l k new w he re . OT hu- w har - and th e re

didn' t seem to h l' a damn ,h lllg -hc con], do nl-out il ~

TIll ' d riv er . .l. mu nc. l on till' b rak es. and tilt' I ' ,hkly

\\·; l) . .!un lu rched first nn e w ay then th l ' o th e r . Th e who l e

w orld tu rned llr~i,ll ' .1 (>1 1'1 1a - , till' \',1Il I I'l '[ \[ i nt o <l violent

roll. TIll ' sound ( If I I. 'aT ing nu-ral <lnd rhcscreamsotrhecops

fi lled her cars. Then u l I 'a~I 'n 'T . Thl ' l 'l l l icl ' l lf f icl ' ro .g fl" l t l l ', 1 ,al l of rhcm bnlisl 'd ,Ill.! hlttl 'Tl' .i lWilTly to l1ncnnSCil)II~I1l'SS,

Jillj.! l anded h; IT.I on tllp P( a b u rly o ffice r , h is "od~'

cu ,h il)n ing rnost o frhc "1,)\\'. Slln ligh t s tre amed iruo the

l - ack o f till' \',11\ as th e doors fe ll npcn , th e fo rce o f ti ll '

im p art .lisa hlin )..! till' la tch .

Jing crawlcdns "('S l ,Ill ' C lll1 \,1 w ilh h er h Ulln ,1 hand- .

: : - : !l l ' l ' xp l ' e t ,' d tlu- p ain Il fh nl h'l \ bones or «nuncd tI llhcIL' ' i

to StllP her . l-cr shL"d come lhr l1 l1 ) . . :h till' crush wuh h,1TI ' IY;1

scratch. TOll h us\, tll count I w r h k 's si nJ .: ~. sill' crac-lcd o u r

till' h ack ,1 'lo t'S o f tlK ' 1 ', I,ld y wngouovvr 1 1 l L ' groaning OIl'S.

As sh e nunl-h-dour into I I l l ' l iz lu. ,h e saw n (ami li ilTp , liTo l

fe et. S he lo ok ed up r .u h c ~ l1 l il in J. :t '; ]c l'l lf 1 ll 'r h nl rh l' T, ). !a :in g

.10\\'1\ at her with th.u incfl"H hly sm u)! look on lii-, (ace.

"It's g 'lo d to sec \'<'11, J mg." he said. 1 ll 'lp ing IlL 'T to

hl'Tkl' t .lll 'Sl ' l·llll ' , l llhli \ ' i l)llstlltllL'rTafficsllTTllIllldill) .!

th l 'm .th L' I'l',lp k SCH ll'TlIl). . : from tln-ir cars as till' front

end of till' l" ld .ly \\'a glJll bur-t uuo f la rm -s. T Ill ' vehicle

had come III ilcr;l~hing hal t next {ll a fillin!! statinn ~

from w hich till' l 'a tr , l]H wr-n- cxitinu quick ly at the

s ight of till ' lank y man ti lling the auromnric. HLll 'k

smoke \\ ', lsh illll\ \ 'ing u l' from t il l' 1 ', 1 ,1 ,1 ) 'wugon an d from

the C :l T~ it h .\ ,I II ~l ', 1 , h brake rad~,Lmg re ached inll Ith e (ll 'l 'l1 \ \'a gl ln an d q ll ic kl y s tT il 'p cd

t il l' Iw n cl cu tf kl 'y _,; 1 }1 i't il l' officer ncar I [u- dou r. H er h;II1\I"

t r ee , Jing ril'l', 'd till ' duc r Llpe from IWT mou th ,IS he r

l-mrhcr ledher toward till' g: h suuton. p rl '" u tnah ly to rhc

:llk'~'\\';]y h l'Y llnd it. 1 \'(lI'Jt. SC l', ': lllll·d ,1 1),1 scattered ,I S Ill'

dragg~·,1 he r . ; 1 Il .! L l Il ). .: I h~ ·d : 1 f,· \V~h,}t. . ;ntothe ,Iir It, kL ' e l '

them t 1H1v ing ,

"Wluu d id you ,Ill t, l till' v. m ." J in ). .! l1 l;m ;l)!e d III

wheeze out as d ll 'Y n ,)ssl 'd thL ' p ,ITk ing lor .

" I d i. ln 't do u nvrlu ng," Ill ' sa id . " I ju st fo llo we d \'''u

;1n,1 trustc.l th at su tlw lh in g would happen."

" \X !h :H a TL ' y, ll! ta lk in g ah-"

Jin ). !'s ql ll, . .riou w a~ cu t .. I" ITI h r a shout <In,1 a bur- r III

;Ut tOI l l , 1 I ic Hn-. L u na Ic rk cd ns rill' bul le ts h it in to hi" b.uk .

liven a~ Ill' fe ll. L ang r" ,Kh l'll .rround ond f iTed l -hndlv.

The police "tfin 'r who hnd cxmcur e d hill1~l' ll rrom till'hack o trhc van ;1 1\.1 TlluJ .!h t hi~S~I( J 10be a r - punaround .

J l1 l J. :\ g ,' rg l' 1'1"\' ,1 ' ;1 l'l, . lm i" l 'p filye d ou r lill' hack o f till'cop 's h l·;} ,1 It) dccor.uc !Ill' w ind sh Ie ld o f a nearh) ' car.

L i ng C l) ll .l l's l· ,I ,

"Lang!"

J in g d T l1 1 'I'l'd to he r knees next II I her brother. The

~l1 l ' lk l ' f rom till ' hum in).! \'l'h ick s ~Iung her (.'YL'S. She

(o u ldn 't tcll1 !' -hc \1 ';]\ ;1 ctlm lly cTying PT if it w as JIIS! rhc

-mokc . L mc\ h Tl';]lh mg \\'a s Ta).!J,.!, 'dand wet. Sh e he fte d

h i" ~h llllld L 'T, h ,'lpm g h im ,it u p , SIll ' counted rcu hu lk tl 'X 11 \\" '1 1 1ld ~ in IIi . . cbc-r.Hc ~hllll!dl ' 'r even be l-re.nhing!

" J in ). ! . .. vou'vc J,!lltl;} J .! ll .l\ ly luck's running [ow ...

I I e C l )u g ll l' d an d ~ !' ,I t 1 , 1 ,1 1 1 < 1 , ," t il l' 1 ' ;I I' l' Tl ll 'n l. 1 It - reached

into a P()C kl:1 ,If h is l-ullct-rickllcd jnckcr . 1 1 \ . 1 pul led (lui a

whuc h ll~ inl's sc:lrd . " lJa i Sen wil l haw,., wil l have a ll till'

'lllS\\'l'r ..yo u need." Ill ' W hl'l ':nl, p rl· . . .sin g rh c CIT,I intoher

ha l l , 1 .1 k ~ll1ik ,1 ,I t he r . h i, Ii]'s Ted w ilh h is own bloo . l . "I

h(1 l'l ' Y llU !w lil 'n ' m e nnw."

I lc ca sr ,Iqu ick look " \'l 'rh issh L,u kk r:lI th e sm old er-

in).! \ \ ,T ~'L k "f t [u- l'il d,l y \\ '< lJ. :" l1 , II i" <mile faded w hen the

t lo J ,h i nJ .! l it .! h l' ; of o the r 1 ,,,lie , ' C IT , announced ti ll ' arrival

Il f rcinf . r ccmcnrs .! Ie II'h il 'I'l',J h i~ headaround to s ta re ,II

.lIng, "N,,\\' J.: ll! ('ill , Jing! Run! YOII can 't le t fa th e r 's

1 ' l 'III ,kclld\\ ' lll1!"

"Bur wh.n ; lhOUI vou " ! c.m't Ju sl lcavc vou!"

All uuu.uur . r l j. !1 11 \\ c.u uc 1 11 1,..T l-ou hcr 's eye s, " (/n ,

lill).!! I'll ~I;III d ll 'lll! ]),,1 \ '1 n l,lh -Ih i~a ll f ,lT no th ing~"1 [c

~ IH 1 \ 'l ,. 1 1 \l '1 ' , 1 \\ ', 1 \', a nd 1 1 '1 1h it la - tlo ok u r h l'rd yin)..: l-nuhcr.

Jill\ .! IIInw ,1 ,H \d h l'ad l 'lllo \\ ',lT llth l ' a lk yw ay,

f. .: ,h ll.: lng k ,IIll 'llu l'1 1 I\1 1 11 l' a nn. g ;I~ I'in gw ilh pain ,I S

1 Ill ' 0 '1 " 1 I1 1'\ 'l 'd Ih fl 'llgh I Ill ' b la ck sm o ke .H e l<1b, 'r i( 'I ,~lr

l- n lllJ .:ht lu-, J .! '" 1 . 1 a n n tip, hlll.ling till' l ,i sl lI l s ll ,: t. ly , "All

r igh t, vo n c l a r k tu ck e r. I IlO :l',1 Y ,lll now . I'm Y(lUT", JUSIJ .! \1 l d ,· my b.m.l ." Ill ' w h i - q - e n - d 1 ,1 h im se lf . S nll lL 't hin g ho t

~qllim ll ''' III Ill' l -rain. .un] h e ll '" unn.uura l \ ,it: llity < llld

'I rcrunb fillin)..: h im . The \\'lllllld ~ Oil h is che st closed wuh

hL 'llt~h ~1 "'l" 1 . I k· ~tn lggk ,llll h is Iccr. h is I:1 (c:I l\ \ 'b le ,1

. . ru -e r. A~ th l' f ire rp o lice - o lfin . 'r , (;1 1 \1 l' th rllugh the smok e ,

L l1 l).! C NI:II1 \, r ; \ t~l·d h i, I'i,tl ,l aud took aim ,1 1 a n IIIl ,L u n-

;I). .!" .Ic .rr ,it lin)..: r igh t ne xt 1 11 ,1 (1 Il 'l1 '1 I1 1l1 '. I [c grinnni a n,l

'lJlI"l':l'd til\' Irig).: l ' r ,

Jing ,1 i,1 1 l'1 'l 'l ' till' clo ud 1 ,1 " r;H l,!.!l ' t1 al1 ll ' Ih ,1 I h lllS-

slllm "l h l'1 ,ind !tn.I'lIt ,Ill ' 1 ll '; lrd rill' s (1 l 1n .1 . S h l' fdt th, '

lll'ill , R lln1 1I1 1J.:"H " lIlW LTa :\ , llb tinl 't ,~h o: t\ \ 'ist~·d h l'T ~d t

int,1 <l hIli i1~I Ill' ,hod \\ ', '\ - l' I'irh 'd h l'T llp :md th rl 'W I$'rd" \1 '1 l 1 Ill ' itlk 'yw a\ ', ,lam ming ho :r ;$. . :a ilh t ; \ r ile o f (T ,U l'S ,

~1 ll '(u rlc .llw r, ,·l1 illh l; llitllL ' h o ll1 .llw Ill 'a tllfr lll ' f ir l'

1 I1 1 l'1 1 '" l '\L 'n th l ' {,IT :IW 'ly. "Lmg, . . "

TIll 'lll'I'l 'T nh im .: II'l'1 1t h L.ck .





,

%ntr~DDUt?%Dn:

___ £5 -A nUP5T-A~?5

Being the child of one of the Hungry Dead is not an

easy experience. OmJor even both) of your parents is

quite literally an inhuman monster, returned from Hell,

no le ss. A lth o ugh you a re b le sse d w ith som e asto nish ing

ab ilitie s , yo u a re a lso cu rse d w ith a w hisp ering Dem on inyour subconscious. You can expect to live for centuries,

but that also means watching your friends die. Yo}can

accomplish great things, but you will always b e compared

to the devils who birthed you.

Some whisper that you have a greater destiny. Can

you live up to it!

Dhampyrs are the offspring of Kuei-jtn who have be -

co m e in fu se d w i~ ex ce ssiv e a mo un ts o fY a ng C lii'B ursrin g

with th e e ne rg y o fllfe , th ese v am p ire s ca n m a te with morta l so r e ven othery e ng-ad dled C arhavans. T he ir u nliving e s-

sence ~ixes with their mate's life-force tocreate achild with

very special characteristics. These are the dhampyrs.

Their basic abilities are as follows:

• LOngevity; Not immortal like their unliving par-

ents, dhampyrs nevertheless can expect to live for several

centuries .

• The P'or Like their parents, dhampyrs have a

writhing Demon soul within them. It is not as powerful as

that of a Cathayan and cannot quite usurp control of the

Shade Walket's body and mind, but it is always there,

whispering and taunting.



but it alsoensures that their lives are never quitestable-c-

anything can happen. Some dhampyrs learn to tap into

their j o s s to accomplish superhuman feats.

q_LlES1JOt(S O~ 5TYnHalf-Damned. Dhampyr is a bit of a departure from

previous Kindred of the East material. Despite their

parentage, Shade Walkers have not risen from Hell and

do not have crimes to atone for.They have a dark side, but

I~g~~~~~hey are less horrific than the Hungry Dead themselves.

Because of this, the elements of personal horror inherent

in Kindred of the East are muted in this book (although

no t w ho lly ab sent). i!~~~t~H E M IFreedom isthe thread that runs throughbialf-Damned. .-JLI~_"H"

It is the call that resonates in most dhampyrs' hearts. _cr:~-"I.V

Traditionally, Shade Walkers are servants -laboriously

bred by their parents as agents and assistants, underesti-

mated and overlooked by the Kuei-itn. Shackles of tradi-

tion and prejudice keep them down.And yet, the times are changing. In Hong Kong and

Singapore, more and more Shade Walkers are gathering .• ..., ...... J'-They operate largely free of the courts and have plans of .1H~k::t.l.their own. Some work with (or for) the Kuel-jin of the __ +-fljj_Bamboo Princes, trying to bring down the archaic manda-

rins of the Hungry Dead. Others operate strictly on their

own, trying to find their place in the night or just enjoytheir longevity.

In the twiligiu of the Fifth Age, the dhampjrs' free.

dom is meeting new and greater challenges. The Varna

Kings, feeding off the discontent of the.half-damned,

promise them power in exchange for service.tJot a fewakuma are dhampyrs. Destiny alsorears its head to shacklethe Twilight Children. They have a role to play in the ...... - M . , .coming storm; whether they can embrace their fate re-mains to be seen.

MOOD

Dhampyrs can appear i~ chronicles with almost any

mood, but they are most suited for storieswith a cinematic,

frenetic feel. They live in a swirl ofwild coincidences and

monsters frombeyond the grave. They dive frombuildings

while firing twin handguns at Yakuzathugs;they

blufftheir

way through encounters with demons fromYami.

Maintaining a cinematic mood doesn't mean going

completely over the top, however. ~c(er interaction,

intrigue and other "quiet moments" are all necessary and

appropriate - things don't have to be exploding all the

time. The key is to keep the stakes - and hence the

tension - high. Start sessions with a burst.of action and

keep the prospect of more dangling in the background.

The characters may b e manipulating a politician to fur,

rher the power of a Scarlet Screen, but if they know an

akuma is out there gunning for them, their hands will

never be far from their Sig Sauers.



rift -POW'III, or-JossThe greatest blessing and curse of the Shade Walk-

ers IS their phenomenal joss . More than simply lucky,

Jhampyrs arc nexuses of coincidences and outrageous

probabilities. They win in casinos and always seem to

get away from pursuers. Those who study their own

half-dead nature can even learn to focus this luck to

accomplish amazing feats. Dhampyrs lead high-speed

lives of dazzle and excitement.But it all has a price. J o s s brings lucky breaks, bur it

also brings instability and danger. The half-damned are

drawn into plots both human and Cathayan; they don't

need to look fo r troub le b ecause it finds th em . M ost Shade

Walk ers a cce pt th is " inte re sting life " a nd try to squ ee ze a ll

the good cur ofit they can. They embrace instability and

jump into the fray, determined to get as many thrills as

they can.

Of course, deep inside them, their Demon sourpushes

and prods. It's so easy for a thrill to become a sin, for luck

to become abuse. That doleful whisper isalwaysthere, and

all too many dhampyrs eventually give in.

How TO Un rHJS aoo~Half-Damned: Dhampyr is a complete sourcebook

on the half-dead children of the Kuei-jin. It is intended

both for players and Storytellers, although some of the

material might best be withheld from players so as not to

ruin any surprises. See "Chapter by Chapter," below, for

indications as to which sections you might want to avoid

or withhold.

The main function of Half-Damned is to sell

dhampyrs as characters for players. Hopefully thecinematic possibilities and their unique role in the

Middle Kingdom will make you want to play them on

a regular basis - or run a chronicle of dhampyr

characters. But this sourcebook also gives you every-

thing you need to use Shade Walkers as Storyteller

characters. Certainly they can be servants and agents

of the Kuei-jin, but they can also play all kinds of

unique roles.

Use the half-damned asyousee fit, but ignore them at

your peril.

"c-nl\."c-nl\Chapter One: Children of Light and Darkness is the

heart ofHall-Damned. It consists of a seriesof documents

written byand about the Shade Walkers that uncovers their

nature, their role in theMiddleKingdom and somefardeeper

secrets. Each document ismore revelatory than the last, so

Storytellersmaywishto dole them out to their playersone at

a time as the chronicle dictates. The main documents are:

• K ao Lang Addres s ing His Sis ter (transcript of videotape): In a tie-in with "The Gift of Self-Knowledge"

(Half-Damned's fiction prelude) Kao Lang lets his twin

sister in on the truth of their parentage. Her life is never

the same again. This document isideal for a handout to a

player starting a dhampyr character.

• RE: The Ha lf-Damn e d (email): A member of the

Bamboo Princes, an antiestablishment underground

among the Kuei-jin, reports on the status of dhampyrs

acrossthe Middle Kingdom and their potential as recruits.

This text can serve asa handout-once dhampyr characters

get to know the COUrQi or become involved with the

Bamboo Princes. In a Kuei-jtn chronicle. it can serve tointroduce the, half-damned. (For more on the Bamboo

Princes, see Shadow War.)

• The F in al Te stam en t o f}in K ai Wai (letter): This

letter froman elderly dhampyr to his fellowShade Walk-

ers reveals much about the secret history ofhis kind. The

courts of the Kuei-jin actively suppress it. The letter

serves best as a handout midway through a chronicle.

raising the stakes considerably.

Chapter Two: Dead Alive isthe "gamespeak" counter-

pan to Chapter One. It provides you with all the rules and

adviceyou need to usedharnpvrsin yourchronicle. Expanded

and revised rules for character creation and many othersystems appear in this section, as do details about several

unique dhampyric offshoots introduced in Chapter One.

Chapter Three: Children of the Ten Thousand

Demonsprovldesyouwithaseriesofready-to-playdhampyr

templates. These can alsoserve.asStoryteller characters or

simple inspiration for your own Shade Walker.o.

Appendix: Twilight Warriors details some of the

most prominent dhampyrs in the Middle Kingdom - for

Storytellers only.





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BI IGI lIT TBAlITSCRIPT

SuQject Kso Lang is sitting in tJJesame hotel room from which tJJetape was retrieved,

Room 405, Kowloon Hilton. He switches the camera. on, then settles into a chaJr set dlrectJ.yin front of it.

Ahh, good, It's you. Long time no see, huh?

Hey, don't look sospooked. It's really me, okay? Youlookkind of pale - sit down. Havea drink. There's a bottle of your favorite Chardonnay In the little refrigerator. Don'tworry. It's paid for.

"How does he know my fa.vorite wine?" you're a.sklngyourself. Well, because I've been

watching you, sis. Iook out for you.

I know what you're thlnk!ng: "ThIs Is impossible IHe's deadl Noone could've survivedthat fall."

No one normal could have, you're right about that. But I'm not a normal person, andneither are you. Have a cigarette if you like, by the way. There's a . pack of Gitanes Blondes

In the drawer of the bedside table along with a lighter. You sure like French shit, sis.

I'll wait.

Subject pauses, lighting IIcigarette himself.

Back? Good.Look,JIng, It's me. I survived, okay? Thephone call must have convinced

you, or you wouldn't have comeall

theway

downto

thispart

oftown.

I disappeared sevenyears ago. So there were about 50 witnesses willing to attest that they saw "Lucky"Baa'smen drag me out of a HongKongnightclub and stuff me Into the trunk of a car. The policenever found a body, did they? Please, just get it Into your head that yes your brother the"master criIninaJ."somehow managed to cheat death. Ifyou listen to me long enough, I'lltell you how. Okay?

Good. Let's get down to business.

NOW,you should have read the packet I sent you before you came. J hope you did,because I'm not going to repeat much of it here, and some of this stuff won't make a lotof sense unless you already know the basics. Well, to be honest a lot of It may not makesense in any case. But it's the best I can do given the circumstances. And while you mayhave thought that It made for a pretty enterta.lning read, you'd better take It seriouslyif you want to stay alive. It's no story. It's real.

You're probably yelling at the TVright now. Not a very productive thing to do, Jlng.Just sit down, shut up and let me ta.lk, okay? There's a lot to cover, and Mother wouldnever forgive me if I didn't prepa.re you.

Lets start with the basics, shall we? You and I aren't like everyone else, Jing, and Ithink you know that. I think you can feel It. You knowwhat I'm talking about. You usedto tell me about It back when we were In school. Howyou had trouble talking to the otherkids, felt like they were always watching you, making fun of you behlnd your back. Iremember once you said you felt like you were some sort of allen, trapped in a humanbody. To a certain extent that's exactly right.

You see, you and I aren't completely human.You read about the Hungry Dead already, I hope. Well, guess what? Way back In 1968,

one of those walking corpses got a little too high on life, so to speak, and got our motherpregnant. After a few months - before we were born - he went on his merry way.

I can hear you laughing, you know.

ThIs should shut you up. Look In the top drawer of the bureau. Careful, there wlllprobably be a nice bloodstain on the carpet right there by the bed. We'll get to that In a fewminutes. You see the envelope? Ignore the gun for now - we'll get to that later, too. Theenvelope is marked "photos," like this one.Subject produces a . manila. envelope from benea.th bis chair.

Open it. That first picture there is that one Mother showed us of Fa.ther all the time.Hong Kong, 1968. Mother looks so happy ..

Now look at the next picture. That one's taken In Beijing, 1952. And the next one,Shanghai, 1927. Beijing again, 1904. And that next to last one - that's not even a

photograph, technically. It's called a daguerreotype. Kowloon, 1872. You see the man Ineach of the pictures? See how he looks?



Ourfather's name isLiShang Lu.Hewas a dishonest merchant and con man,killedoutside Be~ingin 1335 bybandits.He came back and has been movingaround Asia ever since. Want moreproof? Look at that last picture. Yourecognize me, right? The other man is

our father. That was taken inTaiwan,1998. Doesn't that suit look great on

me?Subject pauses aga.Jn, grJnding out

his cigarette. He lJgbts another beforehe continues.

Here's the bottom line, Jing: OUrfather is what Westerners would call avampire - but that's a clumsy andinaccurate term. A better term for him

would be one of the Hungry Dead. Hewas killed over 600 years ago, but hecouldn't leave well enough alone andcame back. He'd say he had a karmic

debt to fulfil; Isay he was just a badenough mother fucker that even Hellcouldn't hold him.

He's one of the Ten Thousand De-mons, magnll'lcent monsters stalkingthe night and feeding on the living. Onhis positive stde, he doesn't make apolo-giesfor what he is. Heonce said that hiswhole existence was already an apologyfor the mlsdeeds that brought him backfrom Hell. That was before he wantedme dead. But I'm getting ahead of my-

self.M his children, you and I carry halfofhis essence inus. OUr father isdamned.Youand Iare half-damned.We're caJleddhampyrs, ShadeWalkers, TwilightChil-dren - and sometimes far less pleasantappellations, Ilkehalf-breed.

Subject pauses, rubbing his eyes andforehead wJth his hands.

Ready? This is pretty fucked up.Things like Father are sort of one

step out the grave, stuck between life

and completedeath. Tokeep goingtheysuck the life out of breathing folks,through their blood,their breath, or evenby eating them outright. Yup, cannibaltime.

AIl¥Way,Father and his buddies arereally into all that Taoist shit Mother usedto spout. NOW,don't look at me like that!You know I've never been religious. Any-

way, Father says they suck "Chi" out ofpeople and that it can be one of two flavors:black or red. The black stuff is cold and

dark, aUabout decay and depression. Whenthey chow down on it, they get even deader



'_"O".. _ _ _ ® > - 17

than they already are - they even look like corpses. Creepy.

The red stuff - what Father calls "Yang" - is hot and aJive. It's aJi about urges andaction. When they drink that, they get sort of drunk and unpredictable. They also get almostaJive: warm skin, flush cheeks, a beating heart, and well, quite the hard-on apparently.

Yup. Drunk on yang, they getjust enough life to do the deed and plant the seed. Maybe.Ifthey're lucky - or unlucky. That's where the two of us come from: long odds and a hornyvampire.

Yeah, I know I'm a crude ba.stard, but so what?

We dhampyrs are rare crea.tures, as I have found out - there are probably less than

1,000 of us in the world aJi told. I've met about 25 or 30 of our kind myself, and I've beenrunning in crrcles in which they are considered relatively common. This is mostly due tothe unusual circumstances of our births. A Yang bender isn't something that most Kuei-jin endure lightly. Obviously I've never experlenced it myself, but Father told me that itis a precarious state, physically and mentally. Killer hangover, I guess.

The Kuei-jin parent in such a union is usually ma.le, impregnating a . fema.le mortal.If you meet another dhampyr, it's probably sa.fe to assume that their parentage isthe same. I've only met a . couple of us whose mothers were Hungry Dead.

I guess the reasons for this are pretty simple. As you should have figured from thenotes Igave you, living in Kuei-jin SOCiety is sort of like being a shark: if you stop

swiInIn1ng,you sink to the bottom and drown. For male Wan Kuei - that's another wordfor the Hungry Dead -impregnating a mortal is no big deal. They can pretty much rut

away without having to worry a.boutthe consequences of their acnons. Most of the time,the pregnancy doesn't even take and the woman miscarries. Nobig deal to an immortaldemon, rlght?

As always, women have it tougher. Pregnant Kuel-jinhave to keep themselves filledwithlife-rich energy for the duration of the pregnancy or they miscarry. I mentioned howuncomforteble that's supposed to be, right? Well,mix that in with morning sickness andthe like and you can believe that nine months of pregnancy lacks much appeal to the typicalWan Kuei.Notonly isthe situation uncomforteble, it can damage a Kuei-jin's place in SOCietyifshe's laid up vomiting every evening instead of attending to the important maneuver1ngsand plots that characterize a court of the Hungry Dead.

So you see, it's a rare Kuei-jin woman who's willing to carry a . child to term. Based onthose I've met, I'd guess no more about one in twenty of the total population of dhampyrs

has an unllv1ng mother. Even those wllllng to go through with it and bear the childsometimes get impatient. Imet one dha.mpyr whose mother actually cut him out of herbelly at Six months - and he survivedl He showed me the birthmark he has on his back.It seems his mother got a . little careless and cut too deep.

Now, the Hungry Dead don't only dally with the living. I heard that sometimes two xuei-jin decide to indulge in a little mattress mambo and have a child. Apparently, this isincredibly rare. I can't even truly confirm that it happens - I heard this secondhand.Anyway, a child of two Kuei-jin would probably be significantly more in touch with his"dead" side than the rest of us.

By the way, I hope you remember that you are included when I say "us." He's yourfather, just like he's mine. Get used to it.

By now you're probably wondering how I learned aJi of this stuff. Why, from Father ofcourse. I told you Iwork - worked - for him. Let me tell you about our very f!rst meeting.

You already know a little about what happened before I disappeared, rlght? SomehowLucky Baa had gotten the idea that I was working both sides of the fence, playing him andthat worm Su Shan against each other. That was aJi bullshit, of course. When I'm boughtI stay bought, and I thought Baa knew that. I thought he trusted me. Ah, but what theysay is true - no honor among thieves, especially not with degenerates like Bao,

Anyway, I figured I'd just get out of Hong Kong for a few months untll Baa cooled off,but I decided to have one last night on the town before I left. Stupid me. Before I knewwhat was going on, ten of Baa's goons dragged me outside, shoved me in the trunk of acar and drove out to the hills. Bao's men yanked me out of the trunk, made me stand onthe edge of the cliff, and shot me four times in the back.

When Iwent over the edge of that cliff, I thought Iwas dead for sure. I remember hittingthe water, feeling the life ebbing from my body, sinking down below..



I. Hw-.~:~

Kilo Lang gets" little pale, wincing" bit. He pauses to oompose himself, taking a dragon his cigarette.You know, I still don't like swlInmlng. In retrospect, It's fortunate for me that Lucky

Baa has - had - a flair for the overly cramattc. If he'd just had his goons put a coupleof bullets in my head, I might not be ta.lking to you today. And Lucky might stili be alive.

I blacked out after I hit the water, so I don't really remember what happened next. Iwashed up on a rocky beach a few hours later - well, I guess it was a few hours. I couldhave been in the water for a few years for all I knew. I dragged myself onto the beach,amazed that I was still alive. Then I passed out again.

The scene that greeted my eyes when I awoke was a lot cllfferent. I was in a smallbedroom in a house - I had no idea where. I got to my feet pretty gingerly, expecting tobe in a world of hurt - a reasonable expectation for a fall like that, don't you think?

Jing, there wasn't a mark on me. It was crazy. I thought I was dreaming.

The only window in the room was high up on the wall, too high for me to reach. I couldhear city sounds - traffic, the occasional plane flying overhead, but it was way off in thedistance. I was naked, but looking around, I found some clothes that fit me - they wereexactly my size, in fact - draped over a chair. They weren't my usual stylish attire. Infact, the clothes looked like traditional Chinese court dress from several centuries ago.You would have laughed to see me, Jing; I looked like something out of the history books IItwas either that or walk around naked, though. I may have had no idea where 1 was,but let me tell you, I was determined to get the hell out of there as soon as possible and

go have a taJk with old Lucky.I didn't get too far. The only door out of my room led into a large chamber,lit by a small

oil lamp. A man sat in the center of the room with his back to me. It looked like he wasreading. Gauging how far It was to the nearest door, I figured I could make it past himundetected -just like sneaking out of the house when we were kids. Anyway, I had barelytaken my first tentative step into the room when a voice stopped me in my tracks."Hello, Kao Lang," the guy said without looking up.I think Ijumped about three feet in the air. I was feeling pretty disturbed by that point

- probably kind of like you feel right now, actually."How do you know my name?" I hissed at him. Still trying to seem cool, y'know."Because 1 am your father," he replied.Well, that shut me up. And you know how hard that is to do.Then he goes into this recitation about me, in this creepy-a.ssed monotone. Like a

teacher lecturing. "Theother night on the cliffs above Hong Kong, you were shot four timesin the back, two of those bullets severing your spinal cord. You then toppled from thatcliff. It is now two days later, and you are walking around as if nothing had everhappened." I remember that he paused for a moment then, for effect. "Ican explain howyou survived and introduce you to a world beyond anytb.ing you have ever known."

He turned his head and fixed me with a stare I'll never forget. If ice burned, it wouldhave been his eyes, Jing. And sure enough, even in the dim light 1could make out the facefrom the old pictures - our father staring at me in the darkness.I was seriously losing my 0001,almost yelling. "What the hell are you ta.lking about?"

I was looking around the room, placing the exits and getting ready to make a break for it."You know nothing of Hell, Kilo Lang. I have been there and returned. Do not speak

lightly of things that you do not truly understand." We stared at each other for a longminute, then he looked back down at whatever he was reading. "If you really wish to forgeteverything that has happened, to go through the rest of your life walking among thesqualid, teeming masses, playing out your pathetic little dance with death, then you mayleave," he said to me, gesturing idly at the door. "If you wish to know who you really are,stay. It is your choice."I thought about it. I stood there in the dark for a good five minutes. I stayed.We taJked almost until sunrise. To make a long story short, it turned out that Father

had been keeping tabs on me - and you - for years, ever since he learned that we hadbeen born. It seems that his little f1ing with Mother came during a period when he was"not quite himself," whatever that means. He never explained further. Lucky for me, hisagents had dragged me off that beach and contacted him. I guess he decided that since

everyone was bound to think me dead.anyway, this was a good time to bring me into his



CMmI;O'Ic.-..o..-lIq.wr ... ..,... ® 1,

world. It turned out we were a.ctua.lly inside the Forbidden City in the heart of BeUingThat's the seat of the Blood Court, ifyou did your studying.

There will be a test, Jing.

Six long years I gave that bastard, Jing. Six years. Actua.lly, now that I know what Iknow, it doesn't seem too bad - but I still tend to think interms of having a normalUfespan. Those six yea.rs were the strangest time of my entire life - so far, at least.

I spent the whole first year learning about Father's world, the one that lurksbehind what you and I grew up knowing. My education was like a college course inhigh weirdness. I learned about who the Kuei-jm are, where they come from, about

Chi, the spirit worlds - yes, spirit worlds - and current events in Father's world- all the stuff that was in that packet I sent you. He had me recite names, titles, whoruled where, how long they had done so, on and on and on. And all of this beforeI even met another member of Father's people. At the time I hated it, but I have tosay that almost everything I was taught came in handy. Whenever I complained aboutthe constant study and drllllng he just smlled and told me that Iwas on an acceleratedprogram - the average time usually spent learning such things before entering Kuei-jin SOCietywas over a decade. That shut me up pretty quick.

Father also taught me all about Chi. How to tap mine, use it to heal myself, go dayson end with sleep, food or drink. He taught me howto focus myself, to meditate to rebulldthe life-force within me faster. He even told me of a quick and dirty method to rebuild mystrength - but you don't want to hear about that. Not yet anyway.

You're laughing again, Jing. I can almost hear you as ifyou were here in front of me.Look,just take my word for it for now, and I'll prove it to you in a few minutes, okay?

I also learned that there were other things out there, too. Father calls them sllen andthey're a weird bunch. Goblin Spiders, ghosts, sorcerers and spirits. I had to memorizea bunch of names and titles, but I won't bore you with those now. Just keep inmind thatthere's a lot of whacked-out shit out there. Father paid a lot of attention to what he calledKin-jin, who are twisted and degenerate Western counterparts of the Kuei-jin. Youremember those Dracula movies you and I used to love? That's them.

A year after my education began, I was finally formally introduced to Kuei-jinsociety. I won't bore you with the detalls of my presentation to the Blood Court andthe Bestowed Ancestor of the Quincunx. You wouldn't belleve me anyway. One dayyou'll be Impressed. Trust me.

Once I was in with the court, I a.ctua.lly played a role in its functiOning. Fatherfamlliar1zed me with the mortal resources that he controlled through various means -Scarlet Screens, he called them. The next thing I knew, I was Father's right hand man,at least as far as the mortal world went. I made sure that everything ran smoothly. As

the years passed, and I began to understand the Hungry Dead, I was given more complexduties. I acted as a messenger and occasional spy between the courts, traveling toShanghai, Changan - sorry, I mean Xl'an; Father always used the old name so I pickedit up - and occasiona.llyJapan or Korea and even once down to Laos in what's called theGolden Courts. Now, that was strange, even for the life I've been leading.

Five years passed inwhat seemed Ilke an instant. Andyou knowwhat? Inall that time,I never rea.lly felt comfortable among the Kuei-jin. I was nomina.llypart of their cultureand society, but only through my connection to Father. I was treated with a dismissivealr by the other Hungry Dead.Iwas beneath their notice. Thiswas litera.lly true more often

than you'd think - I overheard a whole lot of conversations I probably shouldn't havejust because none of the Kuei-jin noticed the "help." It was almost Ilke being invisible.

At first I figured this was just because I was an outsider, not raised in the courts. Butas I got to know the few other dhampyrs of the Blood Court, I realized that this sort oftreatment was almost universal there. Itwas just the way things were. Normal folks werebasice.lly ants to the Kuei~in, and dhampyrs were pets.

One odd thing I noticed: While most court members simply treated us with carelessdisregard at best, and contempt and scorn at worst, the few times I was with the realbigwigs - the court's ancestors and other "spiritua.lly advanced" Kuei-jin - it wasdifferent. It's hard to put into words, and to the casual observer it probably seemed likenothing. But when I was around some of these older Wan Kuei, they gave me this look.It was more than just the casual contempt of the usual Kuei-jin. Their gaze held

something more. Sometimes it was sadness, as if I reminded them of something or



20 H . w - .D M . e II D : Dtw.n.

someone long gone. Other times the lookwas one I was familiar with - pure,unbridled hate. Ofcourse, I was neverreally ina position to actually questionany of these "AugustPersonages" as towhy they were looking at me funny. Iwas a minnow swimming with sharksthere, Jing.

As you can tell, I made a study of our

kind, at least as much as I could withinthe confines of my duties to the BloodCourt and Father. It wasn't easy. You'dthink that the dhampyrs of a courtwould have a tendency to congregatetogether, right? Well, we had time tohang out together. It seemed to me thatthe Kuei-jin - Father included - did asmuch as possible to keep us from con-gregating. I never figured that one out.

Anyway, after five years, it allfell apart.

Here's how it happened: I managed tomake this one close friend, a relativelyyoung Kuel-jin named Gal Sen. He hadonly taken the Second Breath - that'sa fancy way of saying "came back fromthe dead," by the way - back in 1976.He had been student radical, and heprobably knew right from the start thathe was doomedas far asmaking ahomefor himself inKuei-jinsociety. Still, hestuck it out for over 20 years - just toshow them he could, I always thought.Sen was a troublemaker around the

court - always sklriing the edge ofImpropriety, making subtle jokes at theexpense of some ofthe crustiermanda-rins - but he wasn't all fun and games.Sen'sa good guy, and he treated mejustlike he treated everyone else.

GaiSen had a serious side as well,one that clashed with the attitudes ofthe mandarins of Beijing. You and Igrew up in Hong Kong, so Westernstuff isn't anything new tous. Weeatat McDonalds, we listen to rock mu-

sic, we wear Levi's. Western cultureis meeting the East whether we like itor not, right? Well, the "shadow world"of the Kuei-jin is the same way, ex-cept those ancient idiots that rulethings - the mandarins - are fightingit, hard. Gai Sen insisted that unlessthe court made an effort to move withthe times, it was going to be left behindin the wake of history. The worlds ofthe West and East are drawing closerevery day, and the courts are placing

the whole of Kuei-jin society injeopardy.



2

The mandarins a.nd the Bestowed Ancestor were sticking their heads in the sand, hesaid. As the yea.rs went by, Sen and I became better a.ndbetter friends, and hisrhetoric became more strident.The next thing I know, Ga.!Sen was standing Inmy apartment In the middle of the night,

tellJng me that Father and his buddies at the court have branded him aJruma. That's veryserious shit, Jing. Akuma are demons and demon worshippers, and the courts tend to putthem to death In nasty ways. That they called Sen an aJruma for political reasons just goesto show you that politics is politics, even if you're a vampire.

Anyway, I was pretty flabbergasted. I mean this is the one guy I sort of trust. Then

he lets the other shoe drop: The mandarins tagged me as aJruma too for consorting withSenl Father could have spoken up for me, defended me to the other manda.rins - but thatwould have threatened his prestige. By defending me he would have been seen assympathetic to Gal Sen and his heretical ideas. He sa.!d nothing and hung me out to dry.It was then that the real1ty of my Situation hit home. I'd been used, Jing. I'd let Father

manipulate me, feed my ego, flatter me, make me want to be his dutiful son. I've sincefigured out that he wouldn't actua.lly have let me just walk out of that room back In theForbidden City, but it sure was a great dramatic device. And I had bought it all.I almost admire how he did it. Father is very good at manipulating people. Hell, he's

been doing it for over 500 years. Itwa.s never really my choice whether I stayed; myonly decision was under what circumstances. I was a tool to him, a piece in his littlecourt games. And when the time came, he sacrificed me.

Ga.!Sen and I took off that night, abandoning the stagnant world of the courts.That was just over a year ago, and I've made some interesting new friends since then.

FrIends who don't just want to meditate, have tea ceremonies and chart the paths of thestars in the heavens to ensure that whatever change is coming works out intheir favor.

You see, Jing, there's a war going on. You can't see it most of the time, and themajor-rty of the people fighting in it don't even know they are soldiers. On one side sitsthe Qulncunx (that's Father and the rest of them), content to do things the old way, thetraditional way. Weil, I've had a taste of the "traditional way" and didn't much care forit, thank you. Filial piety is all well and good, but I can't just stand by and let Fatherand his kind send the entire world straight to hell. We're not going to make it throughthe period of troubles that's coming if those "enl1ghtened" know-it-a.ll eunuchs keepsitting on their ancient asses.

On the other side of this conflict are the Bamboo Princes. Those are the new friendsI've made. They're Kuei-jln, but they look to the future rather than the past. Ga.!Sen wasactua.lly an agent for them, working inside the Blood Court. The sneaky bastard recruitedme and was so subtle about it that I didn't even notice.I should probably hate the Bamboo Princes, you know. After all, if it wasn't for them

and their big ideas, I'd still be sitting comfortably at Father's side in Beljing, watchingthe Minister of the Jade Portal and the Mandarin of Clouds and Doves argue over whosemastery of calligraphy 1s more advanced.

But you see little sister, I have to back them. The stakes are much higher than just thecontrol of a place or group. It's a fight for the future - a struggle to see whose ideas wildominate. The winner determines the fate of the Kuei-jln, the other shen, and ultimatelyeveryone and everything In Asia.

Ka.o Lang pauses and lights another cigarette. For almost" minute, he looks into thecamera without speaJring.

Sorry, this is a.llpretty close to my heart these days. Didn't mean to get Into too muchrhetoric just yet. Let's get back to the subject at hand, sha.ll we?

All right, now you know what we are and what kind of world we are connected to,

whether we like it or not. By this time you either think I'm crazy or that I've come up withthe most complex lie imaginable. I am now going to tell you - and show you - just whatyou and I are capable of.

First of a.ll,we're going to live for a very long time, Jing. The blood of our father slowsdown the aging process enormously. Conservatively, you and I can expect to be dr1nk1ng

champagne together on New Year's Eve of 2299. I've been told this has some pretty harsh

psychological effects as the years pass. I'm a little worried about that, but I must confessto only seeing the bright side of it at this point. Death sucks.



Secondly, we've always both felt that dark side that rages In us, right? I remember howangry and unreasonable we used to get when we were kids. Mom almost went broke payingthe therapy bills. You told me once it was like there was a nasty little creature in yourhead, urglngyou toward anger, Violence and the Ilke. I understand alI of it now, Jing. Youwere exa.ctly right; there is a thing speaking to you, a part of your soul affectionately calledthe Demon, or the "P'o," to use Father's word. Once you know what it is, you can controlit and even tap its power to do Incredible things.

We can also tap Into our !!fe-force Ilke the Kuei11n. The fact that we are half humanmeans we can't handle it as well as the Hungry Dead, but we can still pull off some amazing

stuff. I'll show you how.Now that I've stretched your credulity as far as possible, it's time for some proof. A

little cold, hard reality that you can sink your teeth Into. You might want to down a quickglass of that wine. This part is going to get rough.

The suQject rea.ches beneath his chair and produces a . 18.I'gekitchen knife.

Ready? Here we go. Watch closely.The subject carefulzy slits his left arm from wrist to elbow with the knife.

Yasal Damn, that hurtel Now, as you can see, I have Just slashed myself very deeplyand thoroughly. You know what they Bay - across for blood, down if you mean it.

Here, get a close look at this. Let me get In close to the camera. I want to make surethat you can see the wound. Let me spread it open here .... I've slashed a . l l the way down

to the bone, and I'm losing a lot of blood.Subject glances down, off camera.

Yup, I wasn't Iy1ng about that bloodstain I mentioned earlier.Pretty gruesome, eh? I'm not Just doing this to gross you out, you know. I'm trying to

prove a point here. Anyway, pay close attention to this next part. I want you to watchthe whole process, because I'm not going to do this again.There, it's starting. See the edges knitting together? Watoh, Jing. This is Chi In action.

Let me wipe the blood away here - man, the maids are going to hate me. See? All healedup. I thought about showing you one or two of the other tricks I've learned, but I figuredyou might think it was just some sort of spec!aJ effect or something.Whoa. Just had a head rush there. Takes a bit out of me to do that trick. Still pretty

amazing, eh? You can do the same thing too. I can teach you how.

Well, I seem to have made a bit of a mess here. Stay right there while I clean up.The subject reaches up and freezes the camera, When the tape starts again, he is

wearing a clean shirt.

That's better. Luck1ly I have a lot of experience cleaning up blood.I know you've never approved of what I do for a liVing. Is it my fa.u1t that k1ll1ng is

the only thing I'm really good at? Believe it or not, JIng, I've changed. I've found a cause.Aren't you proud of me? Well, don't be too proud. I'm still k1ll1ng - but I'm not doing itfor money any more. I'm done with that.

Well, tha.t's it. You know wha.t I a.m. You know what kind of world I've lived infor the last few years. You know what kind of world you live in, although you didnot see it until now. I figure that sooner or later Father is going to contact you. Hemay have sacrificed me as a . pawn, but I know he misses me, if only because I was

useful. Only the fact that he is a raging sexist - as you might expect from a ma.nborn 600 years ago - has kept him from contacting you already. I won't let himmanipulate you the way he did me. He saved my life, but only so he could possessit. If it hadn't been for Gai Sen, I'd be just as dead and our father may as well havepulled the trigger.I've given you the only gift that will really help you right now, little Sister: knowledge

of yourself. Whether you llke it or not, you're involved ina world beyond the perceptionsof most people.

I want to meet with you. Iwant to show you all these things - to show you whatyou can do. But it has to be your choice. I won't draw you into all this unless youreyes are totally open about it. If you want to know more, meet me at our secret spot- you know, the one where we always used to hide when we wanted to drive Mother

cra.zy. I'll be there at noon 1nthree days. See you then.Kso Lang stands up and turns off the video camera.

22



~~~~o.=c'~~==~M~~~~~~"~D~~~~~ 23

brin g them to their court a n d in troduce them to

their w u to in culca te them ea rly . O thers p refer to

keep their children in the dark about what theya re for a period of tim e, w atchin g their upbrin ging

from a distance. They usually act behind thescen es to keep their offsp rin g out o f troub le (or

to guide them *in to* it, in some ca ses ) a n d on ly

reveal themselves when they deem the child

ma ture enough to ha nd le it.

(Just as an aside here, maybe it's just be-cause I on ly took the Second Brea th a few yea rs

a go, but I ca n 't remember a n y poin t w hen I w a s

grow in g up tha t I w ould ha ve been "ready" for

m y m iss in g fa ther to show up out o f n owhere

and tell me he was a unliving bloodsuckingdemon , a n d tha t I w a s ha lf demon . My ado les -

cen ce w a s screw ed up en ough a s it was . )

The gist of all this is that dhampyrs raisedun der the w in g of a Kuei-jin pa ren t a re often

not the best socialized of people - at leastnot a s fa r a s the morta l w orld is con cern ed.

Their pa ren ts see little va lue in mon itorin gtheir offspring's psychological well-being, ex-cept in as much as it affects the dhampyr'sloyalty to his parent - and his ability to servehis pa ren t's w ishes .

Dhampyrs ra ised p rim a rily by their hum anpa ren t (or by hum an agen ts of their Kuei-jin on e)

socia lize much more ea sily . Their sou ls a re on ly

half-damned after all. With a loving and healthyhome en vironmen t, dhampyrs ten d ttl grow up

like nonmal- if a bit psychologically disturbed-children. The whisperings of a dhampyr's P'o,

how ever s tun ted it m a y be in re la tion to theDem on lurk in g in side full Kuei-jin , ca n still m ake

for a ra ther fucked-up childhood. Mos t n orma l

peop le ta ke a dim view of a child tha t to rtures

a nim als , va nda lizes the n eighborhood, commits

petty theft a n d then cla im s tha t the voice in his

head told him to do it. Needless to say, human-ra ised dhampyrs ten d to see the in s ide of a lot

of psychologis ts ' offices (w here such fa cilities

a re a va ila ble , of course).

A n yw a y , on e thin g un ites a lmos t every

dha mpyr, n o m atter their upbrin gin g: A ll of them

end up feelin g, to on e exten t or a n other, like

o uts id ers . L et's fa ce it, th is fee lin g is w e ll fo un ded .

As hard as they try and as well as they serve theirparents, they will never truly be accepted inKuei-jin society . A nd their mon s trous n a ture ,

how ever res tra in ed, m ust a lw ays com e betw een

them an d the res t of hum an ity . When you have

a ha bit of occa sion ally s lid in g in to ca nn iba lism , itk in d of bu ilds a w a ll betw een you a n d the rest of

the world.

It's n ot a s if they ca n even con sort w ith their

own kind easily. Court dhampyrs are kept prettybusy w orkin g in their p aren t's in teres ts , so they

R . _ l : r H E - t l& LF-D ..... lD

T o: G a i S en < rig hte ou sfis t@ f lam ema il.c om>

F rom : La o S ha n g <B am bo oB oy@freen et.n et>

G reetin gs , Ga i Sen .

Sorry it took so lon g for m e to put th is report

together, but I ha d to do some pretty exten s ive

a skin g a roun d to get the in form ation you n eeded .The Ma n 's eyes a re everywhere in this tow n

these days, so I had to be pretty careful.

Anyway, here it is: a full report on the ShadeWalk ers . I've covered the courts , the heim in , som e

p retty sketchy in form ation on a few in depen den ts

a n d s om e p re tty d is tu rb in g in fo rm a tio n co nce rn in g

the half-damned and the Yama Kings.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Read it all,a n d see w ha t you thin k.

TABUlA- ~ASA-

Norm ally , I'd s ta rt out w ith som e his torica l

background on dhampyrs. There's a problem,though: There is no dhampyr history. Oh sure,there a re referen ces to them in the texts , bu t

they're pretty sketchy. They run along the linesof "so -a n d -so 's son took pa rt in th is ba ttle w ith

the a kum a a nd a cqu itted him self w ell," o r"amon gst the court a t such a nd such tim e wa s

the half-breed daughter of so and so." Dhampyrsseem to be a no more tha n a foo tn ote in the

history books.

Given what I've learned about the courtsa n d the Shade W a lkers , th is doesn 't surp rise

me in the lea s t. It sort of sums up the "rega rd"in which the half-damned have been held sincetim e immemo ria l.

a.,. .c;pcc; lIP BAByI d on 't ha ve to exp la in to you how dhampyrs

are created, I hope. It hasn't been that longs in ce you took the Second Brea th , ha s it? W e

may be dead, but the physical process ofp rocrea tion is jus t the sa me. W hile con ceivin ga dhampyr ch ild is ea sy , successfu lly brin g in g

one to term is not. About half of all such

p regn an cies en d in m isca rria ge. Fem ale Kuei-jinw ho get p regn a n t ha ve no such p roblem a s lon g

as they remain scarlet cycled for the entirepregnancy. Not easy, but possible.

Once the ch ild is born , mos t Kuei-jin ta ke a t

lea s t some pa rt in the dhampyr's upbrin gin g. A sca refu lly con s idered a n d p la n n ed a s the b irth is ,

the pa ren t is unw illin g to ta ke a cha n ce on thechild goin g a stra y. How m uch con trol she exerts

over the ch ild va ries jus t like in a n orma l pa ren t-

ch il d rela t ionsh ip .

Some Kuei-jin ra ise their children w ith fu ll

knowledge of who and what they are - and even



24

don 't have much time to socia lize. Human-ra ised or

in depen den t dhampyrs a re lucky to run in to a n -

o ther o f their k in d - if they even kn ow about

others. A s fa r as I can tell, there a re something like

900 dhampyrs inthe MiddleKingdom, hardly enoughto form loca l commun ities .

D_lrll_S ,... 'I'M CoUR,TS

So, lets talk about those dhampyrs raised in

the courts of the Kuei-jin . H istorica l perspective

here would be good, I know . But as I s a id ea rlier,

it just doesn't exist. I'll just proceed to what I

kn ow a bou t how th in gs a re toda y ,

The average dhampyr (if there can be saidto be such a thing) born in the last 1 50 years

or so ha s been brough t up w ith a foot in ea ch

world. A fter aU , on e of the p rima ry rea son s for

going to all the trouble of breeding in the firstplace is to get yourself a trustworthy tool forin terac t ing with morta ls - a n d if you keep

your child out of the mortal world for most ofhis life, he's going to stick out like a sore

thumb when he tries to look after your inter-

ests. And while you may school him thoroughlyin his sp iritua l a n d phys ica l superiority to mor-

ta ls , you ha ve to en sure tha t you tea ch him to

keep these feelings in check when dealing withthem. It won't do at all to have your dhampyr

son rip the hea d o ff o f the lea der of your mos t

im porta n t Sca rle t Screen beca use he w a s "dis -resp ectfu l." W hile these dham py rs s till see

them selves a s a bove morta ls , they 're less

obn ox ious a bout it a n d ca n fun ction in hum an

society without flipping out and ripping some-

on e lim b from lim b. They a re fam ilia r w ith the

exis ten ce o f the courts tha t they serve , bu t

probably don't know much about the innerm achin a tion s a n d in trigues tha t ridd le it.

In a n y ca se , a dhampyr brought up in the

courts probably has a pretty good idea whatKuei-jin socie ty is a ll a bout a n d is fu lly a w a re of

what she is. She might have been taught howto ha rn ess her Chi for som e lim ited a ccess to

the m ysteries o f the shintai or tra in ed rigo r-

ously in more physical pursuits. That all de-pen ds on her p a ren t.

I've hea rd a few s tories o f p a ren ts ra is in g

the ir o ffsp rin g com ple te ly w ith in the con fin es

of Kuei- jin SO Ciety , usua lly in som e dem en ted

a ttem p t a t ka rm ic redemp tion fo r a Kuei- jin

w ho w a s a ba d or a bus ive pa ren t in life. It seemsto me tha t th is ta c tic is in heren tly fla w ed. No

child raised completely in the confines of thecourts is ever goin g to turn out n orm a l. H ell, I

w a s fu lly g row n w hen I d id m y tim e there , a n dit su re w a rp ed m e.

Dham py rs brought up en tire ly in the courtsa re usua lly too da n gerous to be trus ted . But

flaar;.DANNID:~~

some get so fed up that they can be prettyuseful. It's a case-by-case judgement call.

MolII'UTYMore than a few of us (myself included)

ha ve a b ig p rob lem w ith the very con cep t o f

crea tin g dham py rs . I m ea n , w e 're dam n ed ! W e

d idn 't hop ba ck up out of our g ra ves beca use

w e w on a con tes t or a n y th in g! W e a re here to

a ton e fo r our w ron gs in life , a nd it seem s p rettyfuck in g irrespon s ib le to go a roun d breedin g

while we're at it. Although they are born with-out our ka rm ic burden , the souls of the Tw iligh t

Child ren a re im periled right out o f the w om b.

The w hisperin gs o f the ir shrive led P 'o m a y

seem in s ign ifica n t to those o f us w ho ha ve to

dea l w ith a liv in g , brea th in g Demon squirm in g

in s ide our hea d, but rem em ber tha t the

dhampyrs are half mortal as well. Most of us hadn o troub le lea d in g ourse lves s tra ight to Yom i

w ithout a little evil m a n in our hea ds . W e a re

responsible for the (half) life we create, and ifour children end up frying in the Hell of BoilingOil when they finally pass on, it's our fault.

But let's face facts: Most of us are painfully

p ra gm a tic crea tu res . W e ca n a rgue over the

morality of creating dhampyrs for years if we

w ish . M ea nw hile , som e en terp ris in g jin a w ill be

ou t im p regn a tin g a morta l a n d ra is in g his ow np riva te a gen t in the m orta l w orld . Dha mpyrs ca n

m a ke in va lua b le too ls , a n d it's ha rd fo r amb i-

tious G ui Ren to res is t the tem pta tion to breed .

Creating a dhampyr deliberately is morallyten uous en ough. W orse tha n tha t though , som e

of our brethren (especially those perpetuallyscarlet-cycled fools in the Golden Courts) seem

to see the Secon d B rea th a s n o th in g but a n

excuse for a b ig damn orgy a n d don 't th in k a

th in g a bou t sow in g their seed a ll over the M idd le

Kingdom. The resulting dhampyrs are often leftto be ra ised by the ir m orta l m others a n d m a y

n ever see the ir fa thers a ga in . W hen I get to the

section on independent dhampyrs, I'll talk all

a bou t the p erils o f th is . Jus t a s a n ote , if you

ca n 't keep yourse lf from dropp in g your pa nts orhiking your robes for anything that walks into

the field of view (and believe me, it's like that inthe Golden Courts sometimes), then your wholeun life is on e big a ct o f b lin dn ess .

TOouo..-_ .......

All right, let's be blunt about why most

dhampyrs are born: The Hungry Dead needserva n ts . They n eed eyes a n d ea rs in the

m orta l rea lm , esp ec ia lly in the da ylight w orld .

They n eed peop le w ho kn ow w ha t's goin g on ,

to con tro l the ir Sca rlet Screen s , ga ther in tel-ligen ce on the ir en em ies a n d w a tch the ir ba cks



@ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -or them. Who better than their own children? dhampyr still serves her parent, she must get

To many of the Gui Ren, dhampyrs are kind of the parent's permission to bind herself to thelike very sophisticated and intelligent chlh- guanxi of a wu. Independent dhampyrs need

mei. Okay, that's a big simplification, but there no such permission - but they have to find ais a kernel of truth in it. Dhampyrs are not jina willing to perform the guanxi ceremony.

conceived out of love or a need to bring life An aU-dhampyr wu is certainly theoreticallyinto the world. They are created because a possible, but the participating dhampyrs mightKuei-jin needs a tool for a job. be hard-pressed to find a patron willing to

I realize that I'm making a broad generaliza- perform the bonding ritual. I found no evl-

tion here. There are certainly some mandarins dence that one has ever been formed, at leastwho have children, love them, cherish them as not in Quincunx history.

they did (or perhaps didn't) in life and makethem part of the family. But Iguarantee you that

for every one parent like that, there are five whoconsider their children to be just more strategicassets. (Kind of like we are considering them.Let's be honest, Sen.)

This would seem to be in direct violation of

several of the precepts of the Great Principledeveloped by Grand Arhat Xue. For instance,take the Way of Lineage. "Heed well those who

have come before you, and respect those thatcome after, for they are all part of the truth."Now, I can't find the part in that sentence whereit says "this only applies to Kuei-jin, not theirchildren." Then again, jf the mandarins *read*the Great Principle instead of "interpreting" it allthe time, the courts would probably be a lotmore peaceful.

_o..._or¥__

ko ... PI&.""00

Becoming part of the courts does not as-

suage a dhampyr's feelings of being an out-sider. In fact, the effect is often quite theopposite. Kuei-jin society, due to unexplainedmandates from the mandarins, often takespains to isolate dhampyrs from each other.Remember, they are fairly rare already, so thisisn't really all that difficult.

When dhampyrs socialize with each other,

how they interact is largely dependent on howthey've been raised. Given that a dhampyr's Kuei-jin parent usually imposes his own jaundicedviews on his half-damned offspring, you can

imagine what this leads to. Most dhampyrs in thecourts are arrogant bastards, convinced thattheir parent is destined to one day become thenext Bestowed Ancestor. They're anxious to teardown any rivals - opposing dhampyrs as well.Kuei-jin whose wu-mates have dhampyr offspringmight allow their children to interact with eachother, but the scarcity of dhampyrs makes thata very rare case indeed.

While most dhampyrs are undeniably ser-vants of their unliving parents, and neveramount to anything more, a scant few have

earned enough regard from individual Kuei-jinto be invited to join a wu. In cases where the

2.

THI ' ..... R,DllCI 0" SIPle; ..._We all know the important role that the

heimin or "half-people" play in relationsbetween the courts. Impartial couriers areessential; without them, all the differentKuei-jin factions would spend their time send-ing each other's damned souls screamingback to Yomi.

Heimin status offers a dhampyr the best

opportunity to participate in Kuei-jin societyand actually be appreciated for it. In manyways, the Shade Walkers are naturals for thejob. They can easily move from place to placeunhindered by sensitivity to the sun. They canblend in with the great masses of humanity.And yet they can usually hold their own againstany threat that challenges them in the courseof their heimin duties. All in all, pretty goodqualifications - plus you can make an argu-

ment that from our perspective, they really*are* "half-people."

It's important to note that the status theyreceive is almost completely due to the posi-tions they hold. The underlying feeling that aparticular Kuei-jin has toward dhampyrs in gen-

eral remains unchanged, but they sometimes"respect the uniform."

Becoming heimin is not an easy process for a

dhampyr. While Kuei-jin can declare themselvesheimin, presenting their case to a court bigwig ifthere are any objections, the half-damned mustfirst secure the sponsorship of a Kuei-jin. Usually

this is their parent, but I have found a few in-stances where dhampyrs were sponsored by oth-ers - sometimes even above the objections of

their parent.

~ A N .D DHAHPYR,S

I think I've actually managed to discern oneof the reasons that the half-damned stand so farapart from Kuei-jin society when they are inreality so close to us. The answer is the Oharmas.

Of all of the secrets of the Kuei-jin, thedetails of the different Dharmas are the most

foreign to even the court-raised dhampyrs.The Oharmic paths are an intensely personal



26

thing to most of us, and we're unlikely to sharethe details with anyone - even our own prog-eny. Most dhampyrs pick up a working knowl-edge of the Dharmas (the orthodox ones atleast) over the years, either through observa-tion or study.

But to most Shade Walkers, learning aboutthe Oharmas is sort of like studying someoneelse's religion. It may be interesting, but itdoesn't really relate much to their own experi-ence. The Dharmas aren't necessary for them,and they are incapable of deriving any realbenefit from them anyway. The mandarins saythat this is because dhampyrs are not spirituallyadvanced enough to understand the higher mys-teries or insights into the Second Breath. Well,considering they don't even take the SecondBreath, it's hardly unusual that they don't needspiritual insight into it. Most dhampyrs think ofthemselves as being too human to need such

alien paths to enlightenment.In any case, there is definitely a sort of

spiritual prejudice toward the half-damned thatkeeps them from ever being fully accepted intoKuei-jin society. The fact that the dhampyrs can'tinteract freely with the Yin and Yang Worlds only

tw...1l.u4l1O:~

worsens Kuei-jin opinions of their children's spiri-

tual development.

The thing that strikes me as being the mostironic is that, as concerned as they are with theirown enlightenment, court Kuei-jin seem amaz-ingly cavalier about the state of their ownchildren's souls. I mean, the poor bastards al-ready have a tendency toward the monstrous asa legacy of their heritage. What do their parents

do about it? Why, *feed* it, of course.

The degree to which this is true varies fromDharma to Dharma. A righteous Resplendent Craneis likely much more concerned with his offspring'sspiritual well-being than a mercurial Rootless Tree.He ll, th e W hispe r is as like ly to k ill h is own offspr ing

in the course of shedding an identity as he is tonurture it.

Sco~ OF .... hD....

Dharmic prejudice doesn't fully explain the

older Kuei-jin's erratic attitude toward dhampyrs.This seems to be applicable across the board,regardless of Dharma. The most elderly and"enlightened" of the Gui Ren seem to have anaversion bordering on the neurotic toward theShade Walkers, and some refuse to deal with



c.m. ~I: C f t J ' " . t M O'-~AND D..,...

them . H a tred doesn 't seem to cha ra c terize the

fee lin g exa ctly - it's m ore a n extrem e d iscom -

fo rt. O f course, the rea ction o f a n un com fort-

a ble m an da rin is o ften in dis tin gu isha ble from a

m in dles s a ct o f v io len ce .

I've even hea rd rumors tha t the Bes tow ed

A n ces to r w on 't su ffe r a dham py r to live in h is

s igh t un less s he is fu lfillin g a n o ffic ia l ca pa city .

You remem ber tha t ug ly in ciden t in the Forb id -

den C ity tw o yea rs a go , don 't you? The dha mpy rda ughter o f a F lesh Court m a n da rin took a

w ron g turn in the Im peria l Pa la ce a n d go t her

head ripped off for her trouble? They never diddetermine officially who did it, of course. Mysources te ll m e tha t the b lood tra il led susp i-

c ious ly c lose to the Bes tow ed A nces to r's cha m-

bers. If it hadn't been for the aid the BloodCourt w a s fun n e lin g to the S ilen t M a n da rin s , it

m igh t ha ve ca used qu ite a rift be tw een Beijin g

and Shanghai.

I h a ve n o idea w hy the elders a re so tw itchy

around dhampyrs. It's probably the same rea-son there 's n o dhampy r h is to ry .

T.. CoU,,1S O~IM DUDNext up , I've p rep a red a court-by-court run -

dow n on the con dition s tha t dha mp yrs fa ce a cros s

the Middle Kingdom. It should give us a good ideaw here to s ta rt look in g fo r sym pa thetic a gen ts

w ith in the courts . W hile thes e gen era liza tion s on

how the dhampyrs are treated hold true through-ou t m os t of the Qu in cun x, there a re som e reg ion a l

va ria tion s in the ro les tha t the dham py rs a re

a ss ign ed . I've deta iled these be low . Let's s ta rt

with how the Five August Courts deal with theSha de W alkers , s in ce they a re the Kuei- jin tha t

m os t o f us a re fa milia r w ith .

T"HIBLOOD Cou .. ,-

Would it surprise you to know that dhampyrsof the Blood Court most closely fit the generali-za tion s I m a de a bove? Dha mpy rs here a re ra is ed

to resp ect a n d lis ten to the ir p a ren ts , a re fed

ta les o f the ir ow n superio rity to m orta ls , a n d a t

the sam e tim e a re trea ted w ith qu ie t d isda in by

th e jina a n d m a nd arin s .

But if a dhampyr hopes to become heimin, thisis definitely the best place to be. As the seat of theBestowed Ancestor of the whole damn Quincunx,the Blood Court gives dhampyrs the best shot attra n scen din g the ir s eco nd ary ro le in K uei- jin s oc i-

e ty a n d rea lly gettin g to run w ith the m overs a n d

sha kers (other tha n jO in in g up w ith us a nd try in g

to tea r the w hole ro tten b loa ted ca rca ss of a

soc iety dow n, tha t is ). The court n eeds m essen -

gers a n d the Bes tow ed A nces to r seem s p retty

happy to get the half-damned into roles wherethey're out of his sight.

27

Blood Court dhampyrs offer some prettyfertile groun d for recru itm en t. The d is a ffec ted

a re a lw ays ea ger to tu rn on the ir op p ressors .

T"HIFiatI Cou.. , -

This is going to sound really bad, but therea re tim es w hen I d o w ish tha t the K in -jin w ere s tilin cha rge o f th is p la ce . A t lea s t it w a s a s ta b le

en v ironm en t then , even if it w a s brim min g w ith

ba d joss . Ha ve you ever seen tha t A merica n w a rfilm "Apocalypse Now"? There's this part in them idd le o f it w here the m a in cha ra c ter a n d h is

companions get right up to the front of thefighting? Anyway, it's complete chaos - gun-fire, artillery pouring down, flares all over theplace, people dying. The hero stumbles around inthe da rkn ess , va in ly try in g to loca te the com -

m a n d pos t a n d a ra n k in g officer. It qu ick lybecom es a ppa ren t tha t n obody is in cha rge . It'sjus t a m ess .

That's Hong Kong, as least as far as

w e're co ncern ed .Oh sure, the place is nominally under thecontrol of the Quincunx, but damned if theyca n a ctua lly exert dec is ive in fluen ce . The

tw o m os t pow erfu l w u there , V icto rious W hirl-

w in d a n d the Righteous Devils , a re a t ea ch

o ther's th roa ts ha lf the tim e a n d the p la ce is

craw lin g w ith o ther shen , in c lud in g a few

stray Kin-jin w ho d idn 't get the ir filthy h ides

out of town when Hong Kong reverted to thePeople's Republic.

All this chaos makes Hong Kong a pretty

good place for an independent dhampyr toesca p e n o tice , so it's n o surp ris e tha t I've

iden tif ied a t lea s t lO a f them opera tin g in the

city. Amusingly enough, at least half of thema ren 't even a w a re o f w ha t they a re .

Dhampyrs working with either of the bigF lam e Court w u ha ve p roven very va lua b le for

ta k in g dow n some of the rem a in in g K in - jin tha t

still infest the place.

T"Hlru-CoU. . , -

Had they been given the luxury to do so, theSilent Mandarins of Shanghai would probablyhave regarded dhampyrs with the same subtlecon tem p t tha t cha ra c terizes the trea tm en t o f

the ha lf-dam ned e lsew here. How ever, w ar d is -

penses with such frippery. Until very recently, ifyou could figh t a n d w ere loy a l to the Qu in cun x,

you w ere w elcom e in Sha ngha i.

Qu in cun x dha mp yrs in the F lesh Court en ded

up seein g a lot o f a c tion . A s scou ts , a s sa ss in s ,lea ders of Sca rlet Screen s or w ha tever e ls e

cam e a lon g , dham py rs in Sha n gha i foun d fire -

arm skills far more useful than all that calligra-phy and diplomatic doubles peak that is so



2 'essential in the more stable (or stagnant, if

you prefer) courts.

Now tha t the Quin cun x is ba ck in controt ofShan gha i, the city 's freew heelin g da ys a re over.

There is still mopping up to do, of course. The

Bestow ed A nces tor w an ts every la st ga ki rootedout of Shan gha i. But the Man is back in town , and

dhampyrs walking Shanghai's streets had bettersta rt toeing the lin e - or move on to the free-fire

zone that is Hong Kong.

T"H I 1 10,,1 CoIII\1 "

The Shade Walkers may be second-classcitizen s in most of the Quin cunx, but tha t's a lo t

more rega rd tha n they fin d in the Bon e Court.

There a re n o ha lf-damn ed in the Bon e Court o f

Chongqing. Period. The ancestors of the BoneCourt ha ve forbidden the crea tion of - or even

presence of - dhampyrs for as far back in

history as I have been able to track - perhapseven back to when the Wan Xian were first

cursed by the A ugus t Person a ge of Ja de. Evenhe im in dhampyrs on bus in ess of the Quin cun x

a re rece ived p oorly there.

The rea son s for th is p roh ibition a re closely

tied to the Bon e Court's obsess ion w ith sp iri-

tual purity and Mount Meru. As you know, allefforts by Kuei-jin to return to the holy sitehave been thwarted by some strange force. (Ion ce spoke to a Resp len den t Cra n e jin a w ho ha dtried to go there. He sa id the pa in w a s so

in ten se when he fin a lly turn ed a roun d, he felt a s

if his bones had turned to red-hot metal. Ech.)Ku Zu, the Bone Ancestor, backed by all of hermanda rin s , ha s dec la red tha t dhampyrs a re

sp iritua lly un clea n, po llu ted crea tures crea ted

by weak Kuei-jin giving in to urges they shouldkn ow better tha n to in du lge . O f course , such

ba se a n d corrup t crea tures a re n ot fit to be inthe p resen ce of the righteous descen da n ts of

the Court of the White Tiger, right? - muchless be to ld the loca tion of a p la ce a s s a cred a sM oun t M eru .

This is all bullshit, of course. Along with thegarden variety enmity that the older mandarinsharbor for the dhampyrs, the fact is the BoneA nces tor a n d her toa d ies ha ven 't ta s ted Ya n g in

cen turies . Dhampyrs rem in d them tha t they a re

des icca ted corpses so they shoo them aw a y .

This is patently stupid, if you ask me. If thea n ces tor o f the Bon e Court is rea lly so fired up

to kn ow w ha t's become of the Court o f the

White T iger, w hy n ot sen d in someon e whovery well might be able to walk right up to thetop of Moun t Meru a n d a sk? For a ll w e kn ow ,

the half-damned may not be subject to thes ame sp iritua l m a la is e tha t a ffects Kuei-jina ttemp tin g to return to the holy s ite . The

_.-Bon e Court m a n da rin s ' b lin d obsess ion w ith

sp iritua l purity (or ego-driven sexua l in secu-

rity) may actually be costing the rest of usva lua b le kn ow ledge a bout the fa te of our los tbrothers a nd s is ters .

T"H IJAM Co III\1 "There a re few dhampyrs in the Ja de Court,

a n d those tha t a re there a re usua lly tra n s -

p la n ts . Th is is un ders ta n da b le g iven the sp iri-

tual bent of the court at Changan. Monks aren'tkn ow n for goin g out a n d ha vin g kids .. . very

often . Con temp t isn 't how I'd cha ra cterize the

Jade Court's attitude toward the half-damned.It's m ore like con descen sion . W hile the court's

m overs a n d sha kers recogn ize dhampy rs for

their va lue in dea lin g w ith the morta l w orld

(something that the bodhisattvas are notori-ously bad at), they treat them like childrenwhen it comes to court policy. The Man politelylis ten s to Sha de Wa lker op in ion s a n d then

discards them out of hand. After all, what coulda young half-breed possibly know about courtpolicy that a five-hundred-year-old monkWOU ldn 't, right? O f course, these a re the same

"infallible" monks who turn to you and saythings like "You mean they've invented electri-ca l a dd in g m achin es? How fa sc in atin g!"

What dhampyrs there are in the Jade Courta re p roba b ly rip e for recru itm en t. A t the very

lea s t w e'll lis ten to the ir op in ion s a bout howthing should be done.

c . . , U I I I , I I I o~,..« ;M : JWell, if you think Ihad a hard time digging up

in form a tion on the Quin cun x , tha t w as n oth in g

compared to the hoops Ihad to jump through toget a s tra ight a n sw er out o f m y con ta c ts amon g

the gaki. But for you, anything.

Here 's a bruta l tru th : S in ce the Burn in gs , n odhampyr sired by a Kuei-jin (gaki or not) who hasfed off Japan's Chi has had a trouble-free birth.Some ha ve been born w ith a bso lu te ly h ideousdeform ities , a n d even those com in g in to the

world physically intact are a little messed up in

the head. For these reasons, the daimyos haveforbidden the act of procreation until the Chi ofJa pa n ca n be clea nsed .

,-.._",...--~

71V r,f.) ~.,

7:lust At l~r lMtA "nl . t: pr rH p ttA A4" lMp~r s , J

6t('itv t, "rt tlu 11t"kH .rp J.likp W t 4",vt lu"rA

,,6PHt. 7:1u~" 't " l ."n~tr#HS trtnA M . " t J 4HlMpt~

SK~~ t S t rt1H.irtJ ~PHr " t tt n t i~ n .



-..o..l_or~ __

Well, they've 'officially' forbidden it at least.More on tha t in a b it.

A m ong the B isham on , the da im yos ha vehistorically kept a tight handle on the breedinghabits of their subjects. Only unions with Japa-nese of pure blood were allowed. The Bishamonw ere determ in ed to keep even their ha lf-b reeds

as pure as possible. However, as long as adham py r - o r m a iko , to use the loca l te rm -

comports h im se lf to the w ishes o f h is da im yo ,there w a s n o rea son he couldn 't rise in the eyes

of the Bishamon. The gaki valued accomplishedand heroic dhampyrs in their uji or others tied to

the B ishamon - j f not quite a s much a s their

K uei- jin c oun te rp a rts .

The Gen ji rea lly a ren 't coheren t en ough fo r

me to truly define their attitudes toward

dhampyrs , but I t h in k it's a sa fe guess tha t th is

uji is willing to accept anyone into its ranks

tha t ca n bo ls ter its p ow er - a n d keep it f rom

getting annihilated by House Bishamon. These

gaki are even willing to work with Kin-jin. Idoubt that the steady gun arm of a dhampyrcould really be refused.

But it's not just "freelance" dhampyrs thatha ve a p resen ce a mon g the G en ji. I've hea rd very

re lia ble rum ors tha t the em ba ttled u ji ha ve been

breedin g w ith m orta ls qu ite a b it, desp ite -perha p s beca use o f - the muta ted n a tu re o f the

offspring. Reportedly, these deformed dhampyrs'twisted Chi and corrupted bodies make themfearsome opponents. The Genji have restrictedthe use of these monstrosities to their fight withthe B ishamon so fa r. Le t's hope w e don 't see

them showing up elsewhere in the Middle King-dom an y tim e soon .

The Iga and Koga both have dhampyrs intheir ranks. The ability of the half-damned tooperate in daylight comes in handy to theses up ern a tu ra l s ecu rity fo rces .

T"_ c;....COu~A h , scen ic Korea . A fter tha t in ciden t la s t

year with that tainted dragon nest, I'll be happyn ot to go there fo r the n ext few deca des .

My own feelings aside, I'll admit that if youhave to be a dhampyr raised in one of thecourts , you cou ld do a lo t w orse tha n grow in g

up here. The Kuei-jin of the Green Courts havetheir feet firmly planted in the Yin world, butn ot qu ite so m uch a s in the Bon e Court o f the

Quin cun x . Few dhampy rs a re born here , bu ttha t jus t m a kes the on es tha t a re tha t much

m ore va lua b le . The G reen Courts ' in ten se rev -

eren ce fo r fam ily m ea n s tha t these ra re ch il-

d ren p la y a m uch la rger ro le in the courts .

Korean Shade Walkers are a lot more loyal tothe ir fam ilies , o ften view in g the ir p a ren ts a l-

2 ,mos t a s liv in g gods . You ca n im a gin e tha t the

loca l m an da rin s, w ith the ir typ ica l lo llw is h it w ere

still the Third Age" attitude, lap this reverenceup. I think it says something pretty profounda bou t the s ta gn a tion in Kuei- jin soc ie ty tha t

the Green Courts dhampyrs are so loyal, and itha sn 't even occurred to the o ther courts to

em ula te our Korea n bre th ren . If you 're goin g to

go to the trouble to have a child, you may as

w ell trea t h im w ell, righ t?Many dhampyrs of the Green Court are heavily

involved in the Parallel Path, that series ofs up ern a tu ra l sa fe -houses tha t their p aren ts ha ve

set up. They run daylight security and the like,th in gs tha t the ir p a ren ts jus t a ren 't w illin g to

trus t a Sca rle t Screen to ha n d le un superv ised . I

suspect that the dhampyrs of the Green Courtswou ld a ll be in fa vo r o f our ca use - if it d idn 't

in vo lve dis ob ey in g th eir p a ren ts .

T". Cfo~COu~

I've been all over ASia, and the steamyjungles of southeast Asia I hate the most. Thisdecadent hellhole is going to drag the rest of usback down to Yomi if we don't keep a close eyeon it. Before I get into the local dhampyr "scene"I shou ld w a rn you tha t it's ha rd to gen era lize

about the Golden Courts. The penangallan queensin cha rge don 't a lw ays a gree w ith ea ch o ther-

ea ch on e ru les her ow n roos t in her ow n w a y .

They 'mostly' agree on how to deal withdhampyrs, but there must be patches of dis-sent. I just haven't found them, myself. Okay,

enough hedging.

Most people think of the penangallan as them is tresses o f the forces o f Ya n g, so you m igh t

think that the jungles of southeast Asia would becrawling with dhampyric offspring. Not so. Whilethe loca ls certa in ly in du lge in the ca rn a l p lea sure

o f Ya n g w ith grea t en thus ia sm , m ost of the

queens of the Golden Courts are too busy killingdem on s a nd roo tin g out Ya ma K in g in filtra tion to

carry a child to full term.

A ctua lly , a ll the m a tria rchs I've m et o r

hea rd o f s trictly con tro l a n y sort o f p rocre -a tion a ctivities on the p a rt o f the ir court

sub jects , m a le o r fem a le . Th is doesn 't keep

their male acolytes from fucking anything thatmoves , o f course , a n d a good n umber o f

"stray" dhampyrs do crop up. Female ShadeWalkers can look forward to being welcomedin to the court w ith a lm os t fu ll s ta tus w hen

they rea ch m a tu rity here. The fa ther is d is -

p osed of fo r h is d isobedien ce , o f course. The

raising of the dhampyr child is assigned to afem a le m ember o f the court - usua lly on e

that has displeased the queen recently. MaleTwilight Children are killed out of hand, along



with their disobedient fathers. Male dhampyrslucky enough to survive to maturity usually

get the hell out of the jungles at the firstopportun ity . S in ga pore offers some refuge for

them. More on that in a moment.

Because of the a kuma -in fes ted n a ture of the

whole a rea of the Golden Courts , dhampyrs a re

ra ised fully under the supervis ion of the courts. It

would n ever do to ha ve on e's ow n child ta ken

over b y the en emy and used aga in s t you.

TNtC;o._ ljoll CoUI(T"

Finally, I can give you a firsthand account of

a p la ce outs ide the Quin cunx. S ingapore is sw im-

m ing in dhampyrs . A ll right, I'm overs ta tin g theissue significantly. but there are more Shade

Walkers per capita here than anywhere else in

the Middle Kingdom. The reason why is an

interesting one.

The Golden Lion Emperors seem to thin k tha t

the best way to bolster their small numbers

a ga in st the con sta n t threa t of the Golden Courtsis to breed like crazy. I person a lly meta t lea s t 2S

half-breeds when I was there - and they allcame from jus t tw o fam ilies . I'm sure tha t w a s

jus t a fra ction of the popula tion there . When you

figure how ra re their kin d usua lly is , it's p rettyam a zin g to fin d tha t m an y in on e p la ce.

My guess is that the Golden lions are birthingthemselves an army, getting ready for the daythey have to face the wrath of the Golden

Courts , or the rumored p la n s of the K in -jin to

expa n d in to the city . This ha s obvious ly been alon g-term p la n - dhampyrs don 't jus t sp rin g

from the bellies of the ir mothers fu ll-grow n ,

a fter a ll. A ddition ally , "s tra y " dham pyrs esca p -

in g destruction a t the ha n ds of the queen s of the

G olden Courts fin d a w arm recep tion in S in ga pore.

The Golden Lion Emperors offer a sa fe ha ven a n dthe compa n ion ship of a dhampyr's ow n kin d, a n d

all they ask is unquestioning loyalty. That's asm a ll p rice to p a y when the a ltern a tive is dea th .

Person a lly , I don 't kn ow who the emperors

think they're fooling. If the penangallan decidedto swoop dow n on S in ga pore tomorrow n igh t,

the emperors would all be staked out on thebea ch the n ext morn in g when the Eye of Hea ven

s lipped over the horizon . They could ha ve a n

army of day-walking dhampyrs and it still wouldn'tbe enough to sta ve off des truction .

In a n y ca se, the dhampyrs of S in ga pore a re

obvious ly rega rded a little better tha n in some



Ctwm. ~I: C ttiu Ia.D I '-l¥ r'" .",.,_

other p la ces . How ever, the in heren t p a ra n o ia

ca us ed by the G olden L io ns ' p reca rious s itua tion

makes it difficult to appeal to the dhampyrsthe re . They 're too busy run n in g a roun d ta k in g

ca re o f their p a ren ts ' bus in es s to ha ve tim e fo r

revo lu tion ary ta lk . How ever, p roperly a pp lied

gra ft a nd corrup tion ? *Very * effective .

I'm n o t s ure it's rea lly w orth in f iltra tin g

S in ga p ore a n yw a y . The Golden L ion s a re too

p reoccup ied w ith the p en a n ga lla n to ca use usa n y troub le , a n d they ca n us ua lly be dea lt w ithby a p pea lin g to the ir ba ser s en ses - m on ey ,

power, that sort of thing. Still, I'm all for any-thing that irritates the established order.

rIlE ;N .DEPU 4DH (TS

Mos t o f the dhampy rs ou t there a re in

some w a y a s s ocia ted w ith on e o f the courts .

Mos t o f them . But n o t a ll. There a re some lon e

wolves out there in the Middle Kingdom - and

in other parts of the world, I suppose. Nothing- other than a little sunburn perhaps - keepsthem from jus t p ickin g up a n d goin g w herever

they see fit.

Most of the independent dhampyrs are

re fugees from on e o f the courts . Som e jus t

ge t fed up , som e get bored , som e a re forced

in to ex ile by po litica l m an euverin g. Hope fu lly

by n ow you ca n see tha t there 're p len ty o f

ways for a dhampyr to get on the wrong sideof h is court.

O n ra re occa sion s, dha mpy rs grow up w ith n o

knowledge whatsoever of who or what they are.These are by far the most unpredictable andtha nkfu lly the mos t ra re . These a re us ua lly the

res ult o f a s ca rle t-cy cled Kuei-jin drin kin g a b it

too deeply of the well of life. A surfeit of Yang inthe body ca n ea s ily lea d to multiple sexua l

in dis c retion s, a nd Kue i- jin a ren 't exa ctly kn ow n

for p ra ctic in g s a fe s ex .

The yea rs w ea r a lo t m ore hea vily on the

independents I've talked to. After all, theyus ua lly ha ve n o s ocia l s truc ture to ba ck

them up or help them deal with the fact thatthey outlive everyon e they kn ow (a n d the

children of everyone they know). Some gocra zy a n d en d it a ll p rem a ture ly - a n a ction

tha t, in a touch of p ure iron y , cou ld brin~

them hopping right back up out of theirgra ves a s Kuei-jin.

Okay, that last bit is pure speculation, I'll

a dm it. Bu t it *cou ld* ha pp en , cou ldn 't it?

The in depen den t on es tha t s tick a roun d fo r

a n y len gth of tim e a re the m os t s k illed - a n d

da n gerous - o f the Sha de W a lkers . They ha ve

to be. After all, they can't go running for daddya n d h is w u w hen ever they 're in troub le .

31

O n t t a . SHE"Mos t shen view dha mpy rs a s la ckey s of the ir

un liv in g p a ren ts . If a dhampy r is con n ected tothe courts , m os t o f the other shen give h im the

s am e trea tm en t they g ive a n y Kuei-jin's ser -

va n t. For s ome, tha t's a w ide berth . Fo r o thers ,

a little brutality and bloodshed is on the agenda.Still, Sha de W alkers o ften ge t m ore res pec t from

the other den izen s of the M idd le K in gdom tha n

they do from their ow n court.

I'd like to ta ke th is op portun ity to con firm

defin itive ly tha t there is a dha mpy r w orkin g w ith

thos e cra zy mon k "demon hun ters " in the Shih .

W e suspected th is for m a n y yea rs due to s om e

overly effic ien t ex term in a tion s of a few rogue

Kuel-jln - in clud in g W u Kw ok Chow la st y ea r. W e

got lucky there, actually. If the Shih hadn'tsen sed h is corrup tion a n d ta ken h im dow n , It

cou ld ha ve m ade our reputa tion even w orse . I'veactually seen this elusive dhampyr, although I

ca n 't s a y w e 've rea lly m et. I obs erved her, rea dher a u ra , a nd I'm pos itive she's a Sha de W alker.

I pity her next target.

~~~~bH 4Jlvtn't '3bnt cblk"tttd~ Hn-

nbticeA, JlFFJtrtntt",.

The Kin-jin still don't fully understand thetnuth of the dhampyrs. They believe them to besom e s tra nge va ria tion on their ow n "ghou lin g"

process. Ahh, if I had an ounce of jade foreverything the Kin-jin don't understand ...

WHY Do W~CAIt,~?You 're a lrea dy fam ilia r w ith m y rea son s ft?r

considerinq the ha lf-da mn ed a v ia ble s tra teg ic

a ss et) but I s uppose I shou ld p resen t them he~eanyway for the benefit of anyone you show thisto w ho does n 't kn ow m e.

The first thing that the Shade Walkers areuse fu l fo r is da y ligh t opera tion s tha t requ ire

a little m ore fin es se a n d in te lligen ce tha n ou r

Sca rlet Screen s ca n p rovide . Sun ligh t, dea d lyto even the s tron ges t o f us , is m erely un com -

forta b le to them . If w e ca n exp a n d the n um -

ber o f dhampy rs on ou r s ide , w e ca n expa n d

our opera tion s in to the da y tim e, w hen the

M a n is w ea k.

Secon d , they m a ke idea l s p ies . A s I m en -

tion ed ea rlie r in th is rep ort, n obody n otices theha lf -dam n ed in mos t o f the courts . They 're

heim in a t bes t, s erva n ts a n d la ckey s a t w ors t,

ben ea th the n otice o f the M a n . A n d those

a nc ien t fos s ils run nin g the cou rts ha ve a *very *

ha rd tim e even con ce iv in g tha t their o ffs p rin g

cou ld be tra y them . The poor trea tm en t tha t



32

dhampyrs get often makes them quite willing towork a ga in s t their pa ren ts , a n d for us .

Th ird , they 're often more men ta lly open a nd

flex ib le tha n their pa ren ts . Mos t o f them spen d

a t lea st some time in the rea l world, a nd this puts

them more in tun e w ith w ha t is rea lly goin g on

out here. Even dhampyrs who've been raisedtheir en tire life in the courts ca n be made to see

the justn ess a n d righ tn ess of our m ethods .Finally, they're good luck. I don't mean that

in any sort of flip way, I mean they are lucky.They have 'really' good joss. Talk to anydhampyr, a n d he's sure to ha ve a ra ft of s to ries

a bout how am azin gly lucky he's been through-

out his life. A few of them even talk about

"focus in g their jos s," tun in g their luck to sp ecific

tasks. I don't know exactly what to make of it,but I have seen dhampyrs take absolutely ridicu-lous chances and live to tell a bout it. T he s to ries

a re p retty persua sive .

Maybe you thin k I'm turn in g in to one of thosespirit-addled eunuchs in Beijing, but I'm all for

good luck charms - especially if they carry

automatic weapons.

Y I 'A Q l I . . I .I should probably appraise you of the limita-

tions of the dhampyrs while I'm at it. If we areactually viewing them as a useful asset, it's

important that we don't use them in inappropri-

ate situations.

Dhampyrs shouldn't be used for direct

confrontations with Kuei-jin - at least notwith any expectation of them succeeding at

taking a Hungry Dead down. As formidable assome of them are (and trust me, some are

absolutely deadly), most dhampyrs are justgoing to end up as bloody chunks if they gotoe-to-toe with a Kuei-jin. I suppose this could

serve as a distraction or delaying tactic, but

such ends can fulfilled much more effectively

and with less potential waste by just using one

of our Scarlet Screens.

It's also best to confine most operations

using Shade Walkers to the material world,since dhampyrs need assistance to access the

Yin and Yang Worlds. They *can* walk in the

crab's footsteps to get to the Mirror Lands, but

that's about it. They can't imbue jade or see

dragon tracks, so they tend to get lost in thespirit worlds. You know me - I think they're

better off without all of that stuff - but it canbe a tactical liability.

It's also best to ensure you give dhampyr

operatives time to recuperate between mis-

sions. They recover far faster than any mortal

ever could, but their partially mortal shells arestill more fragile than our own.

f '&1IIIII 0 .. EvIL?

I hate to say it, but we're not the only onesinterested in currying the dhampyrs' favor (or

covertly controlling them - but you know how

I hate the language of oppression). The same

things that make the dhampyrs such an attrac-

tive resource for us have also brought them to

the attention of the Yarna Kings.

This all came to mind because of some-thing that happened way back when I was hin,before I realized that the stagnant ways of theBlood Court weren't Sitting too well with me.

One of the mandarins was discovered consort-

ing with that fat bastard Mikaboshi. After alittle "persuasion" at the hands of the Black

Iron Talons, the akuma revealed that his son

had been the vehicle of his corruption. When

the Talons got finished with that particular

Shade Walker, there wasn't even enough leftto bury. Very nasty business.

Anyway, I decided to investigate this a bitfurther, and I discovered something distress-

inq: Out of 35 confirmed Yama King incursions

into the courts, I determined that almost a

third of those subverted had dhampyr off-spring as close assistants. When you figure

how rare dhampyrs are, that figure becomes

much more significant.

As I described above, a lot of the half-damned get more than a little bitter as thedecades pass and they fully realize their

second-class status isn't going to change.

It's easy to see why the whispered lies andpromises of the lords and ladies of the Thou-sand Hells could prove attractive. Think about

it. You've been working in the family busi-

ness for over 1 00 years and your father

*still* won't give you your own key to the

office toilet.

Now, to what extent the Y a m a Kings have

succeeded at subverting Shade Walkers, I don'tknow. Alii can say is that the danger is there.

This makes recruiting dhampyrs to our cause

that much more dangerous, but as I detailed

above, the risks are justified.

We just have to be vigilant. As always.

, . . c . . o . . . . ~I think that about covers everything I could

come up with. I hope it's useful to you.

By the way, I heard about what happened toKaoLang. Mycondolences. Still, I heard hissister

got away. I hope we can locate her. If she'sanything like Lang, we could really use her.

Lao [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



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tA ~ If~ I(p.~i.PW'FAIe.n V~Mt iR6t "'006 _ e« 60R (6wM.~d to 6~'fJ-i'd 6Mk.Ito",~,if/6 O W'

dR t~ hotto ~'ve 0 q to jR iI.~~ "" to k~ r;tk;;;-i~ t1 t~ i; owud e "'F tiM ,

6 F~hq oHdtki6 (ile b hdI't!r nHo JkG J bftl~ ~~'lto reM(~ MiI.~ 6(,bW'{ i6 it~ I(bl ll iWb,U,1

ka.vetki6," 'f Wjir'r to ~ rw i(Wbru~ w lto~ ~r' t ; '~,_ ~~ ,,.;- . r,

l"! !! ! ! f f9 in q o R PO ~ ' 1 ~~ff9 in q o ~~,_ lI l ij~ !r .{q o "f l-1 ltf t ; --«: ". . . . - -~~. ~\:-

.i: -- TI~-Klllfli .'--..:'. •• - - r - " ' \ ~ ..............; . ,_

$~IjI~I'(81m ffff _r '\' ,~ ~ '" -,



jif/, YIM'}"

J-rwiff Ce>l1\ ,e a~'IP 9iA.'f'i_s;,e te 'fje.A. tltarJ- W'lite Cfff/,C~'18 Me

Ifl.?tte'<" ~ <jfflA.Y-~fff/, jif/, ~i W&'~ ~eaMroe~ Fette-<: J-f/, Me ItIPf/,tfI~

5i>if/,Ce<jfflA.Y-Nf~'~~eaM Mar~lfl!lc.Dfe te'f..r/l~~~..(-ay- a~ wi~e.

a~ /l~..(-affef/, i'1P7 Me /la~~ 1 f l . ? ' Z ' f W/lff s 4 1 f f I I J ' ~ f/,eVeY'/laVe ~f/,

it; W/lef/,J- $01( Me 1'ie~e~ .Af/,Ce~ ~ a~~ D'fj M~t'J...""'" ~

eVe~ J- alfl, e'f..eY'Ci9i'18 Me ~MVaf/,Ce~ ~ ~ 1 A . ~ ~ t e -

1fIJef/ , t ; (f'lC'd M~lfl.?ttey- ~~s;'~'fVe~ J- a~Vi_s;,efflA. te ~..(-ay- awO'fj

~ Me "?fem:\ CfflA.Y-(;"~ 81MYti. tfflA.Y-~fi8/lr /laVef/,~ wef!.

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Me t'l:"eac/1eq ~ <jfflA.Y-veq ffWf/,~f/, ~ ir J;;-e~~ wiMif/, <jfflA.Y-

/1~. YfflA.wiffroe /1ef~ accfflA.'tf!;rofe; <jfflA.Y-cu~~ ~eteY11\if/,ew/lar

~ j~l.Ce taff:e~ if/, M~ cas;.e. YfflA.a~ 9V'i-te ~tr)'!I,ate Mar

M~ ~ 'IP t'~ ~ ~ilftif/,aUfff/,~~.

I ' I V ( a!fe~ if/, fa~ roeter~ Me . A > J . 8 ~ CfflA.~~eery-(;"tltar jif/,~i Wai'~ C'<Oz_e~ Y?llfI,Dfi'l8~ /laVe ~~ a ~ceeuVe eay- altlP'18 Me

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alfl,ff'18 Me &ef/,ji ~ jaeaf/, /laVe ~~ te ir if/, i'lPX"ceete~

Cffllfjll!A!'licat'Ifff/,. J- af~ /laVe irfff/, 8em:\ alA.t1lery-iP{ltarMe fette'<" ~

~~ i~O'fj te Me &erf~ef/,Lifff/, CfflA.Y'hw/1ic/19Wa~iM-rwifi8/1r

C/lif~~f/,.

J-f/,-M"'18 f:;.ff'l8. Me 5i>it'J...aufff/,~ ~ $'aVe, ~ tfflA. .@:.~. Me

1'talflJeCfflA.Y't""~~dfll'''I!?tarofe ~eSi1ite ~teefi;fljf/,ate Me No/

jif/, ence a~~ af!. -t7Ie ~e~fro'Dfelfl.fo'wiM Me a . @ : .1 A . 1 f l .?~ff L1:l'18lfti;f/1rweff /laVe ~i'18 te ~ff wiM<jfflA.Y- ~~ffWf/, t....Y~-e~-5i>ifff/,5i5.t7Ie 1'ie~e~ .Af/,Ce~ ~ Ifl.?~ irveq ciesx: tltarwe COf/,

iff ~ te ~ ev« : c/1if~~f/, a~ ~a~ ~~ if/, $fJ..C/1

1A.f/,CeY'taif/,'~5i5.

We ~~eaf wiM Me 5i>it'J...aufff/,wiM Me ~~atch -t7Ie

~fff/,~ ~ <jfflA.Y-fl.?~ c/1if~ ffI1i<j ~e te eff~ e v « : c/lif~~f/,

c.!f&f/,~I}$>. .Aff cffeie~~M~fette'\~e~~ a~ ~e~<je~

afff'18 wiM Mlf W/1ff/laVe ~M it;-t7I~/1~~ ~roe ~ee~, YfflA.

~ roe ar Me ~~~ ~ Mes;.e ~eaY?lUfff/,~ J..k-<jfflA.lffee te

9iA.Y'ViVe a'iPt1leY' teay-. ce Y ' t a i / z f< j . tfflA.Y- acuff'tG' ~ ~eteY11\if/,e

w/let1leY' ex: ~ J- alfl, i.~i.f/,e~ te Si1ea.@:.ff/, <jfflA.Y-roeftafI:;- te Me

af/,Ce~

'Dff 'IP(;"cmf\{lfflA.~ <jfflA.Y-ff~ D'fj..(-aifi.'I8If1Je.W~ff ~ wffllJ'~ s;.eaf

<jfflA.Y-.(-ate,







J r .Wtnd: Gain speed and precision from theDemo fury.

• Demon Shintai: Take on the demon forrn and

conquer all enemies .• lro~tain: Shrug off pain and injury thanks

[0he im rfta lL l D em o n soul.

• The Deceiver: Your P'o undermines your Hu-

manity through lies and treachery.·1' t t t iDempn: YourP'o isa grotesque monster who

h only to destroy.

• The Fool: Your P'o distracts you from rhe true

path in favor of the easier way.

• The Legalist: Your P 'o insists on rigid obedience

and even more rigid punishments.

e.Tbe Monkey: Your P 'o is a capricious creature

benton preventing inner harmony. ~

• The Slave: YOj(' eke ase you before ~~ ~ are graced with age and experience ~

your IOsupeNors." and quite possibty great power.

• Febg Shui: Learn to manipulate the flow of Chi

across the world.

• Tzu Wei: Read and manipulate the joss that

surrounds you.

J-• Paqbre 10ss: Let the forces~luck that surround

you at aUf~ protect youlfOm harm.

• AciNe Joss: Focus your Pasetve Joss at par-

ticular eroments.

• Jo gs Bib&ng: Tie yo u r Jo ss to a particular Talent

or Skill.





; 5TH' 0",.: Co"'CEP'r, • "A dea l: co ncep rfo r vcur dhampyr is a b so lu te ly c ru cia l

f or s ha p in g h e r..in to a r ou nd ed in dil> id u al . S inGe d ham py rs

\ : a re no t fu lly a t th e me rcy o f the ir h alf-damned natu re , yo11 '

have to define them a hit more clearly than.you would a

normal Kuei-jin Eharecter. Wi~Qut the guiding frame-

ark of the Dharmas and directions ta..give shape [Q a.

hampyr, it can sometimes be hard to get a grasp on.aShade Walker's personality.

HQ .w you r dha inp yr w as b rough t up sh ap e s h e r life .

Whed1"errhe dhampvr's unnatural pa edt played a large

part in his upbringing molds her auinjdes and prejudices.

It also affects how she Sees herself - whether she ~sa

mortal with a dem6n ~lf or a de~Qn who ishalf ~?rt~l.

Next, consider the dhampyr 5 current relatlol!$hlJlo.. .

wtth Kuei-jin society. s sh a loyal s~t of'fil"S"Par6~~~

carrying out her wisheswithout question! Has he seen thewisdom of the Bamboo Princes d joined rhem! Has he



~~~~~ __ ~ ~~ __ ~ __ ~ ~ __ ~-=~,43

tertia.ry-Attri~withanyothe!;.charncr:;: y~tonef r e e do t in each A :ttr ib ute ., A h um an E Q dy ca n ge t dnly SQ -

d eve lo pe d, th ou gh ; d hm np 'yrs a r e lir nije d to 'a m ax im um of

fivedots in anyAttribute, just likeotherAno~ls.

STEP T ," ,-H : Aa"",IS~e.thingdhampyrshav in abundance istitne. Time

to learn things~ti~to hon k l l l s , time o develop latentra leces , A '8h amp yr tfia t lo ok s l ike she'~l.il) he r mld-

tw enre s m igk te asity h ave sk ills th a t o nly d ie ve ry o ld and

experienced ~ortarhave time to develop.

You can choose from the full range (Natures and You_get1~j9/S.dots to spendpn the dhampyr's Tal-

Demeanors for a dhampyr character, ber. the inherent ems, Skillsand,Knowledges. l1l,eva ubjecetorbeusual

"misfit" status of the half-damned maket some Narures li i tar tons, of..co1Lrse.N6 mor~ than three do can be

more likely than omen. Thei( pl;ienomerfllu~ ten&-ro assigned (o'lihyAbility ~ing-m.is !rep, althQugh YOlLC9

make even relatively conservartve dhampralm reckless' ~ freebie points to exceed this llmh.later on. No AbilitycJcep{down.Remember that although ~re mortal, can be raised higher thart five dots.tbey are only half human. " \

Very few dhampyrs are Tra~lislt u~ their ,.~t\FOu,,: AaV.&lC'l"Ac;l'parents have dominated nearly. every lpmen! .of their tupbringing, and the P'o that seethes in a 5ha~lker's - D f K J P L # M .H Iheart rebels against th: passive nature of the . orm~t. As mentiop.ed before, 'faming Disclpijnes is tough

The dead half of cR'etr souls usually keeps them from fordharnpyrs, YoumaYSW'twitiioneleveljnanyDem6n

indulging in the bedonisric ljfesrvleoftlje Bon Vivant {or An (e,x~ BeUwe 'n~ flith is the domain of'akvma

at ieasr suffer..nner turmoil abO~t it), ~nd not ve~ many ~o(.rntai ~ creation. You can also use

dhampyrs.~re10 touch enough wah then human sidei . 0 be fr~8'pOitlts to·t:iy.y d' o1.a1Qiscipl!nes or levels at a

true Caregivers. - aos~nQpoints perle e I . R ~rth<lfunlessyou buyDhampvrs of the courts are more. likely to ~ con th Age;&ckgrounH, Oil are liTl'ttea to level 1 in any

cerned with control and power. Aut6cra~. Dtrecrc sIlintai; like a Kuei-ji9, t1hampvr cen'r have a Demon

judge are common Natures for such charaClers'.>ferc Ar(high .. ~ herl'orttiog

iconoclastic Shade Walkers - those thanne·i~ Ot~y~r£~'sstartin,g Discipline carefully.

dent. serve asheirnin, or who are unawareof w--&tthey3te' r e s ftry expensive to raise them I .ter . Whencoll$idering

are much more likely to be Visionaries. Rebel,6._l.oners which one to cheese, justloo1t. the lower levels of (,heot Rogues.' ~scipliqe aad how they coukl enhanco the type of

The Demeanorofadhamptr-herpublic~- ~~have i,n.mi~-adKtedhampyr I~kil,lg to

is completely up to you. Overrbetr long life sp~~~ Mendi'n with mortal societ) : ,afght want to pick up a

dhampyrs wear many faces. . A o . Disciphnelare:smokeShI~ose)~ssconcemedwi[h

subtlety and more conccMed witn kicking butt-should

100 tJ'1.sho r Bo~Sh_.

EpfShiercom ~. Demon..Arts!i"tou iyoffer

_ _ iggestbangfort ,bursmandhamP'ClPrewaryJIn character, although the I~phcatlons are slightly 6fth 1lst ' toad to power, but the

different The "Geedtnens for Takeover" listed With useo(Djrmo I 'ftflt soul-and the pOs§ible

every P'~ Nature ~see Ki'ndre~ of the-East, pp'. 9~ snengtheutngof ~ xcess__.~~.hanc;eon a Demon

93) won t come into play With a dhamp,{r, since Art is a good w{,:Y; en up fuIrYJ(fiJ;nne'd.shadow soul is only possible on the brink of ~ea{h.'" Dhampyrs ~n also learn Feng Shul and Tzu We~

You (~d y~~r Storyteller) should pa..,)'~t~e~lO.n'o detailed in the Kindred of the East Companion. These

these contlltloRS,· however, for rolepla"flng_, ~lnts. Disciplines are exrensjons of modi mystic practices, and

hen these ~ituati~ns come U R , ~he•.~o writhes, dhampykgm btlquir: skilled a!tfhem; the hal£.damnea

screams or whisru;rs \0 the dha.mpyr s mmd. T~1f-has can learn these arts up c o levelS Jus)'like a Kuei-jin. Nate~a'toncn;_te game.eff r, but It ca't be ve~y discon- that. Tzu Wei can have unique t!ffec -fhe.,dhampyrs'

ce )ng psychologtcalle. I.~ inherent j oss (see p.~6).. • to .

SlIP Tv/o· AmJa ". Some dhampyrs~oncen~rate on honing their skills• , • • • and phYiique i~1#. of IMming the "'ii'-VSf Chi. Your

Dhampyrs supernatural parentilge usuallyensures th"\ tharacter can fa having training inany Disqiplinee if

theyarcexceptionalinsomeway.:ror~fl:c that, youget 7/ you w'ish~If u rake this option, \ou may spend an

5/3dot$tospendony~rcharactei' primary; ondaryand a ditional, HHreebie points. In this ~l;e,'you obviously~ .' . . _ \

., ./,. l. ,.

turned hjs hac on the courts entirely and put his talents

to use in the rnonaLworld? Or perhaps he H a s rake th emiddle path, becommg oneof the be l rn in , independen m

action, bcr snll tied to the eoerts.

Mos t dhampyrs, even those functioning-as p an of-acourt tend to be loners. Neither-human enbugh fbi; the

mortaL realm horJully damned like their ¢renr.s, the

Shade Walkers usually find themselves ~aug~t between

two worlds.

,.



. ' "

8aa:.C;~OUNDS

The life o f th e h a lf-damned is se ldom even vague ly StIP FlVI: r".,s..,..C; TOUCllfS

no rm al. Th e influ ence o f a su pe rna tu ra l parent or parents

can shap e rh e enrire cou rse o f B dhampyr!s long life - fo r

g O o d , il l ccbcrh . Youcen p crchasea ll o f th e Back grounds

availab le fo r Ca th ayan ch aracte rs, w ith th e ex cep tio n of

Horoscope (since dhampyn have neither direcuon not

Dharma.Iewoulddothem ltnlegooderwwav). TheNushi )oM

and Rites Backgrcends alsO I\ave some limitations for A dhampyr character has a joss Trait tied to her

dhampyrsfseebe lowj .All Bad:grounruoff-l imir .sto.Kuei· H urna ntry.Irtsa p oo lo f p oints b a s e d 00 H um anity, in the

[in arc similarly unavailable to dharnpjr characters. same way Demon Chi is based on {he P 'o Trait.

Dharnpyra have the norrual S points to spend on Back- For more on the uses of Joss, see pages 54.57.gro und s and h ave acce ss to tw o u niqu e Back gro und s: Age

and face {see p p . 57·58). HI.". _D FiAWs

The Mentor Background is especially appropriate The ups and downs of dhampvric lives are different

and useful for dhampyrs in mostly KueHin grou_ps.They from chose of the Hungry Dead, although they obviously

need all the backing thetcan get if they are going to be share some things in common. You have to adhere to the

lurking around Kuei-jin society. 'same list of disallowed Merits and Raws with dharnpyr• ushi: Dhampyrs are perfectly capable of taking and KueHin characters (see Kindred of the East, p. 94).

part inguanri (however rare it is that the Shade Walicers--"The following Merits and Flaws from Vampire: The

are invited to join a wu), so they too can contrtbute.ro Muquerade are also off-limits to Dhampyrs-'Blush of

rheir ue's-Ncsht Background. The points that dhampyrs Health, Can'rCrQ6S Running Water, CaseNo Reflection,

contribute, however, count asonly h'alfthe normal points Child, Conspicuous Consumption, Disease Carrier, Grip

(round up), reflecting their tenuous bond with m e spirit of the Damned, Repelled By Crosses, Touch of Prost or

world.Anyspiritua~ndisinvaluabletoaShadewalker Unbondable. Dhampyr characters also cannot take th-e

who wants to survive in the c~ns, hoy/ever. Defiled, Different Bodvor Venge fu l Ancestors Flawsfrom

• Rites: Dhemgyrs cannot enact mystical rites be - Kindred of the East.I ll tremre isa pretty rare Rawamong

caese rhey lack the Kuet-jin'e inherent connection roChi dhamp rs, since rhe whole reason they are conceived is

and the spJrit realms. They CllTI however participate In often as aljaison for their parents with the mortal world.

social rites and ceremonies. You may purchase [he Rites The Akuma Flaw is also rare, simply because dbampvrsBackground as normal but can only _chaos primarilY branded as traitors seldom live very long.

social rites, such as The W~ the Lone Walker (~ Mostoftherecommended Mentsand Raws {Kindred

common for heimin characrecsj or Embrace the Spirit's of1:be East, p. 94) apply to Shade Walkers as well. The

Change (common for elder dhatppyrnn"l:he;cQ.uns). half-damned's close relationship with their personal luck

--...., makes Supersurious, Daredevil and Nine Livesespectallv

T"_ "0 good choices for them.

A dhampyr character starts Out with a single dot y, . Dhampyrs also have some problems and advantagesP'o. You can't buy more with ebte points. Only.. the directly related to their half-dead state. You may also

Strong P'o Raw can modify your P 'Q ratmg (see . 5'9), hoesefeom the Merits and Flaws listed on pages 58.-60.

A dhampyr'sstarting Willpower is equal to hisCourage

rating an d can be raisedin the normalmanner. Unlike Kuel-

jill, dhampyrscan star r plavwith a Willpower lower thanS.

The last step involves recording various derived rat-

ings,spending f reeb le polnrs and dercnnluing Merits and

Flaws{if your troupe isusing them). The table on page 4 1 .

provides the COStsor freebie points.

Tim -PR_EWDI: s.AIt.~OF"ltALPlIRDhampyrs have mortal Vbmes r3th~than those of

their Kuei-jin parents. A starting half-damned character Now that you have assigned all of the numbers mat

gets one free dot in Consctence-Self-Control and Cour-: deftnewhaj yourcharacter can do, it's time to consider all

age, and seven points to distribute athong them. Addi the little things that really bring her to life.

donal points can b e bought with freebie points asnormal. Does~:~=~~~~~::~~~:IKeep tn mind that the Vinues determine bo th your

character' Chi levels -and Hu,manity (which. in turn with themrWhatareherlikd'anddislik~! Any details yo u. can come up with willhelp youportray yourcharacter. Here

determines her J~. ... are a fewquestions to consider during the prelude:

t I uMur (JTY at W}LLPOw ll\ • How old wert you when you "came of age?"How old are you now? What was your firstJu:ush

with the supernatural?

t When a dhampyr comes of ~e determines how theyeventually tum out. Have you just entered the world of

A dhampyr' starting Humanity is.equal to the total

fher Self-Conrrol and Courage Virtues up toa maximum

of(10· [P'o+ Age]). Addirtorial points can b e purchasedat a cost of one freebie pain per dot.



• What part ha; your amarin~ joss (~h good.and

bad) pl~y:ed in your life? ~ 'f \ ./

jess can be, double-edged sword. ~le.lt usually

means good fortune for your dhamp r, it also means

(qat p~ac and quiet-are hard commodities to come

by. Hpw do your perceive your joss - i f you perceive

it at all? Ate the forces of fortune a palpable part of

your life. or do you"fust take them fo r granted as part

of the way 'he wofld'Work~r I f you have,'the Tainted

Joss Flaw ( 5 i 9 p.59), what kind of terrible ttings havehappened to the people around you as a consequence

of your own gq6d fortune! Do you sometimes look atyour "good" luck.as a cursej-e ,.,

• Do vou, aligp yotirsel( more closely with the

~rtal or the supernatural world?

Dhampyrs are deAidedly cliught between two

worlds. Most of the t ime, one of their parents js anor~aJ human wh~le the other isa supefJ\aturr,1 mon-strosrtv. At some point in their upbringing, most

.dhampyrs decide (co scio.uslyor not) w"hic"side they

align rhemselv with most Do you see yourself as a.

monster with a human ha,lf or a human with a mon-

strous half! Do you try to elnu late die ~rld of mortals

as much as you ce n ev as you stalk the nlghr with

9te Kuei-jin? Have you- turned your back on your

hl,l;nanity altogethe,. em b iactng rh Demon in your

the Kuei-JiQ,Orwere vo d raisedwirhtn it?' ow long has soul and treating hdmansas nothi'Og more than sources

your dhampyr been alive? Has he liv ed b e yo nd a normal of cheap, fast ChH

life span wichout realizing who and wha t he is?

• What role did you Kuei-jin parente,) ~la:y ia

your upbringing? _...\

Not all Kuel-jin.take a large part in their offspring's

upbringing. Some Iedve the dhampyr to trulted ScarletScreens or mortals held loya l with the chains 'ofObliga-

tion. Others don't even know' about

allowing the dhampvr to. ~ow up in a

envi.lonmem. Did YOlJrKuel-jirrparent

Oo.(y"oueven know who he (or she) .

acknowledged you?H\w do you feel ""''''-'LD""e", wn,o__

is a bloodsucking monster?" '"

• H ow has your experience ,nth your P'o shapedyou?

Every Qhampyr-grews_up with a little voice in her

head, telling her she's not ~Ood enough, that no one realls

loves her, urging her toward h orrib le d ee ds and actions.

Most dhampyrs resist the urgesofthe P'o, but that doe!jQ'tmean ~ere aren't profound psychological effec . (The

'0 resists-Virtue rolls, remember, which means the

hampvr ' e impu~secontrol is less than per fecr . )

What is yous-r [adonship with your p~ like!liow

ha eyoucometoterrn . h the.Dernontn yourbeadf Do

y"6uoccasionallygiv~Nn~ it eep itquiet!Qr b£.Iveyou

supp ssed it as much as possible, arching alrYOurown

acrionefor signs of [h~beast's infl ce? Do you tee the

P'o as a part of you or as an ourstds inIluence? Have y~

been thtpugh_therapy! Has yOU{relatio hip with your

P 'o aff:cted the way ou rela~ to othei's?-



~.K ue i- jg ip are nts .O ne p oinro fC hi h ea ls o ne le ve l of regular .

d am ag e, w h ile it ra ke s fiv e C h i p oin ts t o re pa ir a gg ra va te d

Even thou gh they a r u n de te cta ble , to n orm a l sci- d am a ge . Keep in mlnd that. w h en rep airin g a gg ra va te d

fen cer there is a lot more to t ie half-dam ned [hen m eets. dam age , [he dh ampy r st ill su ffe rs t he b a sh in g d amag e fo r

Ith e ey" ,Be low are th .system de~a ilso nw ba tse p ara te "h e sp e nd ing mo re th an tw o p oints of Ch i (se e b e low Tb is

Sh ad e W alk e rS from th e re sr o fb um au trv , as w ell a s so tne m ay se em harsh , b u t it' b e tte r to p ass o u t th an t <lie .

no t e s 00 h ow -th is a ffe cts th e w ay that th e ha l f - damned- J!""'- - - - - -- - - - - - -- - - . .nteract wi th ethers .

Humt ~D D»rAqf

At th e ir m ost ~i c leve l , hampvrs a le (a t le ast h alf)

hum an. The y ne e d to sle e p , eat breathe - a ll o f th e

norrnalrnortal necessitles. A doctor examining ~<ilu\mpyr

~oesn'tnotiae any dIfference b etw een th e patient and an y

o th e r hum an b e ing. Still , d h ampyrs a re a lm o st a lways

impressive phy ical spec imens' :and hav~ keen s en se s a n d

sh a rp " inte lle cts . E ven if th ey aren't b o r n w ith th e se

c ha ra cterist ics, th e p ote ntia l is t he re . T he ha l f - damned ' s

i nhuman Vitality make s- it fa r e a sie r fo r t hem [0develop

the ir b od ies an d m ind s. -

D ham pyrs h ave th e .~m e numbe r o f he a l th levels asno rm al m orta ls and fake d am age n orm ally fro m b ash ing,. .

attacks. T hey can stan d UQ t o a lot m ore p hy .t i.ica lpunish.' -

ment'than a hum an bein g: in addition t o so ak in g b ash in g

damage , dhampyrs can a lso try to soak lethal' damage .

F ire a rm s cau se le th a l d am age to a d ham pyr, no t b ash ing

dam age (~fo r a Ca th avan). E sp ecla llv o ld dhampyrs a re

p h ysica lly w eak e r and have few er ~Ith leve ls (se e th e

Age Back grou nd ' on p age 57 ).

A no th er b yp ro du ct o f rh ed ham pyr's strange p hysio l-

ogy is a complete immunity to all normal diseases. A

d ham py r c ou ld m a in lin e t H e Ebo l a v iru s a n d it wouldn' t I . . . vido a th ing to h e r. Any b acte r ia o r v iru se s e nte r ing th \' $HCjAL UUlI-.aa'LI1JIIdham pyr's b ody a re e ith e r k ille d b y th ~ir im mune system A I. to u gh a s ,h e y a re , th e re a re dQ o /nsid e s to b e ing a

o r a re u nab le to in fe ct th e h a l(-d~ad tissu e . Dh ampY ts d hamp yr . The Sh ad e W alk e rs' vam p ir ic h e rita ge le ave s

canno t b e ca rr ie rs o f d is e. : , 'e . ~em ju sr- a s vu lne rab le to m agic- and fire - b a s e d damage

POis om af fo ctd h am 'p yrs ju stlik e ma rta ls; :l5U ttlr ed h am p yr a s th eir C ar ha va n p a re nts. D am a ge (T 0l'n "b o th s ou rce s is

can so ak th e d am age ju st lik e a l\ l ' o th e r le th a l d am age . aggr . l!.a te d to Jh amp y.rs and can 't b e so ak ed w itho u ts pe cia l D i cip lin es ,

D.. AlMo.,.. Wh ile th es un is p o s it iv e ly d e a d ly toK u ei-jln , it's a 1 9t

As with mortals, massive blood loss, trauma and moreforgivingfo.rtheirha.lf~damnedchildren,Dhampyr5

sho ck can k ill d h a rnp vrs . H ow eve r , th e y a re h a lf -d e ad "" f io n 'rgen liOw sy d u ring th e d ay and rak e no dam age from

alre ady and a re th e re fo re le ss lik ~ ti!Je t,go .Q £W ha t life e x p o su re to th e Su n b eyond p e rh ap s a sunb u rn. Th is

th ey have . If a dh a rnp vr is re d u e b e low th e Incap aci- do e sn 't m e an rh a t dh ampyrs lik e th e . s un, th ou gh - th e y

ta re d h e a lth leve l b y le th a l d am a~, th e p laye r sh ou ld do n't ca ll th em Sh ad e W a lk e rs fo r no th ing, To th e eye s o f

immed ia te ly m ak e a S tam ina ro ll (d iflk u lty 9). F a ilu re ad hamp ,y.r~ a sun lit d ay se em s p a infu lly b r igh t, th e E ye o f

m eans th e h a lf -d am ned d ep ar ts th e m qrta l co tl ju st lik e a H eave n gla r inlfc lo wn ar . .tI.>em alm ost vind ic tive ly . The

no rm al H um an w ou ld . If t he ro ll is su cce ssfu l, rh e dham pyr rays o f th e sun m Jlk e a db arnp vr 's sk in craw l and stom ach

managesrokeepasteelygriponlifeaQ.dremainslncapaci~ roil as rhe bestial P'o squirm in her mind. irs whispers

ra te d. F u rt he r le th al d am a g e p rov ok es another su ch test , grow in g oud er an d m ore insistent.

b u t any aggrava te d d am age b eyond Incap acita te d k ills a As re su lt , th e h a lf -d amne d are a t a d isa .dvam age

d hampvr w ith ou t ch a t e s t. ' w h en insu nligh t. D ,h ampy" b a th ing in th e ravs o f th e E ye

'" of H eaven su ffer H um an ity lim its to all the i r d ic e p oo ls

~C; ju st lik e K in·jin op era ting 'd u r ing d ayligh t hou rs - th eir.W hen it com es to he a ling dam age , a dh am pyr ge ts th e m ax im um d ice p oo l is-equ al to th e ir l:lum anrty . Th is on ly-

b est o f b o th w orld s. H alf -d amne d hea l ; ;onm a lly lik e mo r- ~p p lie s to a ctu a lly stand ing i~ th e d ire ct rays o f th e sun.

ta ls , b ut can a lso sp end Ch i to h e a l w o und s ju st life th e ir E ven stand ing u nd e r th e sh ad d e ave s o f a p e rc

~. CIIIlDoS! p e o p l t dmt', =".lheir birth.do ,

I felt th e . . . , 1 o f the J O . i t c as it sU d d o w n beside

asl sle jl".arn "d"'fe iru~ther '5 be lly . I {e l l

ho t Tit1ft' a t ," ,. ./ 'l Ithe r 's b IOOajIowing as it hemor-

f r o m her~fured womb . Ie l t he r co ld , s a l t ) ' tears

i ll y r in y f a c e a s ,h e c r a d l e d me in her long-nai led

. l /d t the boIw in my neckgrirulan d breakag ain s,

~iJ, .edaer, ,n appi ng a s sh e twis ted. I felt 'h e coid e a mc my.kinQS,he~iledi,ol leTme. She wan ted me d e a d

Iel t all o f il. The years h t w e not dimmed ,heo 0 1 r e m e m b e r every SDunL-nrery movement,

irutll1U o f . . , j W s ' minutes in th e wor ld .

1 'oe leameda fotin t he y ea rs s ir o;<. I 've leaITl£dof the

_oourlS, o f D em on so uls, ofW:"Grea t Princip le . "

But all o f it m ea ns no th ing ro m e. It ', n o t my worlJ.

One da y I'll stand infront o f my m Olheran d I'll ask

h e r why sh e d i d w h a t ,he d i d .

She'Ugi ....mEan answer. This Iwear.

I , .



l i p ( . Sp,ucD .a nlP Yrs a re n ot immorta l crea tu re s. They are born,

they live their liveeand theydte-eventuaUv.DnebeilefU

(O[ disadvantage) of the dbampvr ' s half-breed heri!,age,

however, is a greatly extended life span, The average Shade

Walker easily outlives everyone he kno\"s, all of those 'lf~tE~i~ri~~~~i~-t~~~~ifi~people's children, and all of their children's children. ~

The half-dead blood !Iowiyrthrough a[dhampyr'sWdy ,thel'''whli!fl!

retards the aging p r oces s. P er eve r; five yeats riactual timethat gasses , a d h ar np yr physically ages one V ' Dhampy

spffer the effects of age appropriate t~ their !bOdy's physica

age. Ofcourse, mostelderlydhampY"hav.developedenoughDisciplines and skills to compensaUtror. few cretrioy joints,

. . ,

1iiR ~AC;K orrJHI

Compared to humans, dhampyrs live alon~time-and

ther rend to gee a-little erratic as the decade> pass. 10 be

-..(t0nest, not many mak~ 0 their lato'1"": A dhampyr's

phen~menalluckoften lea toe high-veloci!llo!lfeslJile

w q ) c h o f t e n c o m e s to a fatal e n w h e n h i s l u c " lC "" ' " "u n s ou.t-

Dhampyrs makinifitbeyond th tr 250th year ~nd to.

b ecom e m ore an d m ore ob se ssed \ifjt'b '~ir ow n m ortal .

ity. While they are still incredibly vital. d active, they

can feel their helf-m rtal shells gradually 'ng away as

., ' "



a ~ ~~

A fu ll d escrip tio n o f th ese T r~irs' p sych olo gica l m ea ning

appea r s inV am pire : The M asque rad e (p p .\J3-1 34J, b u t

th ey h av e a larg er ,sig nifican ce for dhampyr s .

COnsc ience is thec loses t t hi ng to a K u ei- ji n's H u n so ul

, and dh am pyrs ' p laye rs sh o u ld ro ll Conscie nce fo r any

check that would requ ire a H un roll for a Kuei-jln charac-

ter. Simllerlv-the other Virtuesserve th e dhempvr when-

uSingChiororheraspec tKof .meir Kuet-jinnature: UseSelf-

Contro l fo r any che ck . ~ t wQ u ld requ ire a Ku e i- jin tom ak e a Yin ro ll, and o ,u rage fo r any ch eck th a t w ou ld

r e qu ir e. a K u e l- ji n t 'm ak e a 'lang ro ll. Se lf-Contro l and

Courage a l so d e t e rm in e c h e - d py r 's a c ce s s to Cb i re fue l

D is cip lin es o r h e alin g (see " Dh am pyrsand C hi," p. 50).

Dhamp yrs do b ear th e P'o Q f th e ir u e i,jin p a rents .

Among ()ther th ings, rh e,P'o w eak ens th e d ham pyr 's

resolve. Whenever the player must makea Conscience,

S elf -C o ntr ol O r Co u ra ge roll , th e ro n isre siste d b y th e P 'o .

This makes Virtue rolls very uncertain for dhampyr s ,

a lth ough th ey a re still m ore stab le than th e H ungry Dead .

S ee " Th e D evillnsi" iJ. ,w b elo w . fo r a fu ll d iscu ssio n o f

th e h a lf-d am ned 's Dem oq sou l.

~ITYW hile tru e Ca th ayans are d ivo rce d from m oor m ora l

concems,dhampyrsarenotso"luck , . "Theha l f -cWnnedhav .

[Q ab id e b y th e d icta te s o f th eir h um an co nscie nce s g ro w in g

c loser [Q th e ir h um an side th ro ugh hum an actions and e s-

tranged f rom it through mo nstro us o ne s. D ha mp yrs n ee d to

make H um an it y tests ju st lik e mortals or in1in,.aru:Lare

su bje ct to a llo fth e so cia l cco se qu en ce so flo w H um anity (se e

V am pire : Th e M asqu e rad e , p p. 13 4·13 6 ). Also, l ik e o th e r

mor ta ls , dharnpyrscan never r a s e their lastpoint ofHumanity .

A d ham pyr 's f!u manity a lso Iirru ts 1 10 uch.accessshe h as to he r p e rsona ljo ss. Th e fa rchw :h e Sha W ille r

strays from her hu man J:s_rirage, the less (he forces orfo r tu ne sm ile u pon he r. s e e p ages54~r th e low do n

on dhampy ri cj os s.

The dham pyr 's h a lf-Ca rh ayan b lo o d p revents h

from ever b ein g fu Lly in [O uch w ith her hu man side. Eac

p o in t o f p e rmanent P 'o su b tracts I from the d b am pyr 's

m axim u m H u man ity . T here fore, a dhampvr's Human i t y

can neve r ~e grea te r th an 9 (10 - I p o~o fP ·Q) ,. .. .,

._.I

The d bamp vr 's P 'o is a poor cousin to the beast that

dw ells w ith in each Kue i- jin . W he re a Cath avan 's P'o is a

constant resence wai t ing toseueconrrol ar an y oppojru-

niry, a dhampvr ' s P'a is a voice in the back of his head,

e gging th e Shad e W alk e r on to Horrible de e ds. Th e

p re sence o f th e P 'o is p arr o fw ha t m ak e s ,h .e dh am pyr w ho

h e is. In g am e te rm s, e ve ry {lh am py rsra rrs with.a P'o of at

le a st one , p ossib ly m ore d ep end ing 00 w ha t F law s c h e

p la ye r c ho os es d u rin g c ha ra ct er c re at io n.

• Be cau se o f th e w eakne ss o f th e ['0, d ham pyrs are

csistan t to m any aL it>,e ffects - b ut p erhap s no t a s fully a s

t he ir p are n ts :m a y h av e rai~ th em to b eliev e. T he Kuei-

. ,,'

jin, used to b attlin g th e fierce beasts inside them. find it

hard to believe. that the withered Demon inside their

ch i td ren cou ld ev er con stitu te a rea l th reat . M osr of [h e

time they art correct and an attentive and disciplined

Sh ad e W alk er h as little to fe ar fro m h er P 'o . Bu tth e P 'oo f

a T w iligh t C hild tsca pa ble of ta king co ntro l u nd erv erv ra re

circe ances, Se e "Sh ad ow Sou l" (p . 49), fo r d eta ils.

The P 'o ca n s ti ll d r iv e a d h ampv r to e it he r w a ve o r f ir e

so u l as with Kue i- jln , b u t Shad e W alk e rs d on't h ave to

w orry ab ou t "h a rne ssing" th e P'o w hen th ey invok e De -

mon Am . Th e ve ry factth a trh e dha rnp yr ha s a P '0mean s

that they can tap'into irs powers, however. Dhampvrs can

use most of the same P'o abilities that Kuei-jin can,

Including in v ok in g a b e rs erk r ag e, re i t in g m a gic al m i nd

control! growing fangs and using Demon Chi. The can

on ly spen d on e poin t of D em on Ch i per tu m , h qw ev er.

__ Even thou gh lt is (u su ally ) in cap ab le of tak in g con -trol of t he d h amp y r's body, th e sinister voice of th e P'c



does have irs say, 'W hen evet a Shad e W alk er attempts a

Virtue check, the P'o is right there opposing it. It whispers

off Car when Courage i called for, of unbridled indulgence

in the fa c e- of Self-Conrro l.o f rho ugh dess actio n instead

ofheeding Conscience. If the dhampvr gives ip and listensto th P'c, the' results can be spinruallv devastating.

In'games t e rm, the 1"0 soul opposes any 'virtue roll

that the dIlampyr has to make. The Srorvreller rolls the

dhampyr's P'o rating (difficulty 6). Each success that the

P'o g ar n er s r emo ve s o n e o f thedhampyr's successes.If the

dhampyr doesn't get an y successes, then she loses a point

of Willpower a . [he hissing voice of the 1 " 0 erodes her

con fid en ce. (N O £e [h at s ou l sta te ro lls are a lr eady contests

b etw een th e P'o and on e of the V irtu es an d. aren 't an y

different for dhampyrs- rhe 'P'o does not get two rolls.)

I adhampyrstravs toofarfrom her human heritage, the

Dern n within h er g row s stron ge r. Ifth e d ham py r g iv es in

to th e im pu lses of th e P'o, it b ecom es m ore powe r fu l ,

even tu ally d am n in g th e dhampsr to return a s on e of th e

Hungry Dead. Any time a dhampyr botches a Conscience

roll, s he g ain s a p oint o f P'c. Th is a lso low ers he r maximum

Humanity (and by extension, her Joss rating). A dharnpyrwith threeor moredorsoflvowhen hedies hasaprettv good

chance of coming back as a f u l l Kuei-jin.

A dhampyr still need. to pick. Nature for her P'o,

w h ich sh ou ld d eterm in e th e con ten t of P'o' w hisp ers. lr

can also h e lp d e te rm i n e how the dhampyr ' s demon form

looks if she learns Demon Sbintai.

w,UPOWEI\Dhampyrs use Willpower just like Kuet-jin, whether

they're powering Discip l ines , resistin g m en ta l or mag ica l

control, or pu hing t rnselves to the peak of half-humanperformance. A Shade Walker's starting Willpower is

equal to his Courage.

The half-dead blood of the d harnp vrs a lso makes

th em re sista nt to a ny e ffe c.t Or power th at is less effect ive

a g ai n st s u pe rn a tu r al targets,

SOULSTAfH

D h am py rs a re su bject to th e sa me sou l sta tes as th eir

unlivingparents-aJth~h their weak P'ousua l l ymeans

thev have less trouble retaining control of themselves.

Wind soul is the default state for dhampyrs, as it is with

Kuei- j in. The dhampvr is f u l l y in control of herself,

mi st re ss o f her passions an d fears and n ot the subject of

rhem while. in w i nd sou l.

" ~ ESoULA sufficiently" threatened, humiliated, hungry, pas-

sionate or lust plain pissed ff dhampyr can lapse into the

mindless and brutal rage olfiresoul just like a Knei-jin. All

of the.rhings th at c ou ld p rov ok e ~Kuei-j~n in to fire sou l

can also provoke a dhampyr.

Dhampyrs resis fire saul with rh~ Self-Control

ra rher than their Yin. Other than that. treat dhampvrsexactly like full Kuel-jtn (Kindred of the East,P' 150).

¥lAW SOUL

Dhampyrs are also subject to the flip side offire lou I,the overwhelming terror of w a ve sou l. F ire ca n provoke

w ave sou l in dhampvrs just as in Ku li.jin . as can th e

presence of a strong-demonic force su ch as a Y am a King,

A sufficiently powerful Kuei-jin might be able to provoke

wave soul in a half-damned as well - especially if the

dhampyr was raisedoursideofthe courts. Elderly dhampyrs

a re o ft en mo re v u ln e ra b le to wave sou l th an th eir y ou n ge r

cousin (see p, 58).

The gaze of the E ye o f Heaven doe s n or p rov ok e w a ve

soul for the Shade Walkers. They may nor be at their best

u n der th e su n's g aze (a s m en tiq ned b efore)! bur s ince its

rays don't ro t them.to pieces in side a few minutes, they

don't fear it like their unliving parents do.

Wa ve sou l is re siste d with C ou ra ge ra th er th an Y an g.

O th er than that, treat dharnpyrs exactly Ilkefull Kuei-jin

(Kiod,~ of the East, p_150).

StwIolII SOUL

T he w eak P'oof th e dham pyr m akes th em im m un e totheeffectsof hadowsoul- s-mosr ofthe rtm e. The re is one

circum stan ce in w hich th e d harnp vr's P 'c can actual ly

take control, and that's when a Shade Walkeris.tdeath's

door. k;he dhampyr's soul teeters on the brink of death,

the P'o p rom ise s re ve ng e on those w ho n ave harm ed h im .

All the dhampyr has-to do is res i ~t the siren song of death

a n d em brace the D em on .

Whenever a dhampvr ts wounded beyond Inca-

pacitated by lethal damage, there is a chance to give up

control [0 th e P'o, W hen th is occu rs, th e P~O'5 VQLCe

becomes crystal cleat an.d offers the dhampvr a way out

(ideally, this little drama should be roleplayed). The

offer occur before the dhampyr's last-ditch healing

attempt, which represents the Shade Walker relylng

on her in h eren t joss in stead of h er D em on sou l. If sh e

re fu se s th e P'o's offer, then carry O~1t the last ditch

heo(ing attempt (see p. 46) .

If the dhampyr chooses to embrace the Demon, [he

dhampyr's P'o score inune iatelv jumps o n e pain t, an d

the baleful energy of the. P'o's growth heals the Shade

Walk.mcl.: toCrippled (this healing a ff ec ts l et ha l and

aggravared damage alike). The dhampyr also slips into a

sp ec ia l b ra n d of sh ad ow soul , more . t errify in g e ve n th an

that of a Kuet-jin: h e su ffers n o wound pen alt ies a s if

sh e w ere in fire sou l; sh e m ay also free ly spend Ch i to

h ea l d am ag e (as a reflexive action without hav ing to b e

inactive and ignori~the standard one-per-tum cap on

Chi expenditure}. The dharnpyr also raises her Black

Wi n d D i sc ip lin e £0 a leve l equa l to her P'o sc ore for th e

duration of the frenzy - if she doesn't-have Black Wind,

sh e g ain s it temporarily,

This aggravated state remains in effect for a fu ll

scen e , w ith th e- P'6 first-seeking Immediate rernbu-

tion-against tho e who nearly killed its hosr and then

pu rsu in g its own twisted goals, At th e end of th e

scen e, the- special b en efits of th is sta te subside. an d



the dhampvr can attempt td"regain,.<.bntrol. To do so,

she roils Self-Control, opposed by the now stronger)

~

o as usual (wound pen [ties affect neither side for

his ",lfJ. The difficulty forthisroll is 6 . If the P'o gets

ccesses equal to or greater than the dhampyr's. the

P'c re ma ins in control of the bod~ for a numbe r - of

hours equal to its level. ~

Sha ow soul call be 8. shattering experience for a

dhampyr , especially a s t hey are given lit tle p re pa ra tio n in

their upbringing f or w n at -c an happen when the Demon

takes C9P"ol . As Kuej.,in, all dbsmpyrs gain a De rang e -ment in the wake bfsubmett\ n in shadow soul.

TIft.D~ fDha~'py".cannot gain_any-spiritualbeneftt from the

Dharmic paths, even if they ""I',lehow b<).Comeamiliar

with theirprecepts.od methods. Thi.jsn't becauseo t env

sort off.fling art the dhalnpyrs' pan; die fsct is that the

Shade Walkers don' t need Dhsrmas . Their souls are the i r

own, free of the karmic 'iint tn,;,t damns their parents.

This fact is lost on most ~uei·jin - as well as on agood deal of dhampsre ' 0

ID..... YR,SMlD C t t JIn term, of Chi, dhamP\'lS-~hare-a lot more with

enllghrened mortals like the Shih than with their Kuei-

;'

1 l & u : r D 6 H N 1 1 1 D-tw.JI ,

ji n pare~ts. As m ost mortals do, dham pyrs h ave a total of

10 Chi points in their body, 5 Yin and 5 Y an g. However,

they can', access all of i, like Kuei-jin can. As with the

Shih, the amount of personal Chi that a dhampyr Can

access is determined bVher Virrnes . A dhampy,' Self.

Control determines rlte a mo un t of Yin Chi accessible ,

and Courage deter",,!>., Yang Chi.

l'I."<lhampyr'.huma~",,1 keeps herfrom being able tQ

bannelChla..fullpsa Kuei-jin. Dhampvr can only call

ena single point ofChi (of any type) per turn. Chi powersrequi r ing mare than onq,QintofChi cansnl l be used , but

t he dhampyr has to spread t1ieChi cos, out ac ss multiple

rounds. Thepower takes effect when the final pbintofChi

i s s pe n t. Some JJS)wers,l ike-Demon Shintai, a lr ea dy t ak e

mu ltip le ro un d s to ta ke effect . T hese fu ncrion as normal

for dhampvrs . I n c are -m e re is a d i5Cr ~p a n cy b etw een the

rurmberof tu rn s a pow er tak es to activate an d th e n um b er

o f tures it would eakea dhampyr tospend that Ch i,usethe

longer of the two.

While dhampyrs are quite a bit more (e ilienr than

"mortals, uslng Chi srtlt,akes a lot OUI of them. For everytwo p oin .. of G \ > ! (of",W rype) a dhampvr expends in a

scene, she t akes one level of bashing damage. ThL S can be

soaked as normal.

, Dhampyrs can convert one type of ChI into another

at a JXlS' O f two to ne. This is the onlV safe way that a



. .@ - -

dhampvr can end up-spending more of a particular rypeof one. When aShade Walker does tlus.rnake,a C nscience

Chi thac their Virtues allow (for an unsafe way see roll. Failure results- in a loss of Humanit ,.and a botch

below), nemember that a dhampyr can only spend-one results.in gaining a p lo point.

point ofCh~ per tum, so it takes two turns to produce one f

point of converted Chi. ~ ~EC;A ININ.C; ' c : . t JChi in e xce ss o f her Virtue ratings ts some tirne s 'acces- DhampyrS can. regain Chi just like other mor-tals, by

sible t a dhampyr. but the cost can be very h , i g n . Drawing resting. For every hour of complete rest ~ that.means no

on those reserves takes a Stamina roll [difficulty 9), with strenuous- activit! physical or mental - a dhampyr

each success gamerln.g an. addifional Win" QfChi, up to.a regains one poin t ofehl.Unlike normal morta", dhampyrs

maximum of 5 ~ the appropriate Virtue. Botching the can choose-which, type of Chl they wish t6 regain, up toStamina roll result>in a nasty Chi backlash. The dhampyr the maximums dictated by .their Virtues.This time spent

takes a number health levelsof lethal damage equal to 5 _ resting count> toward healing damage as well.

the appropriate Virtue; these ca n n o t soaked. Play with fire Meditation can speed up the {roce" ofChi regenera-

and get burned. tlon for a dhampyr. A l l that's requir fPf this is some

I I, peace and quiet ana a Stamina' Meditation roll (diffi-

DEM "o N . '"' cillty 6). If the player get> ~ven a single success, the

A . dhampyr's P'o also gives him access to Demon Ch1, dbampyr regains Chi at double the noonal speed (twoasmentioned before. DeI1)On Chi functions (or dhampyrs .potnts per hour Instead cf just one) \

exactly as for Kuei-jin, subject to the Chi channeling Dh'ampyrs also re_gamDemon Chi, but they get It

restrictions mentioned above. back more slowly rhan Kuei-jitu Rather than rolling the

Because ~the weakness of their P'q, desperate - character'sentire P'c at sundown, adbampyr'splayeronly

hampyrs can also attempt the rather perilous task of rolls asingledie (difficulty 6/.1fh esucceeds, rhedhampyr

converting either Yin-or Yang Chi into Demon Clii, regaill$asingl~pointofDernonChi.lfn01:,hehastO\vait

effectively feeding the energy to the P'o. Yin and Yang until the next sundown a_!)dhopHor b en er lu ck .M e dira -

Chi convert to Demon Chi at the normal rate of two to tion.doesn't help regaitf'Demon Chi.

~

It

A-Mov'_ fiurAh ytI, powe r til . While t h e E a i n i n g Chi from mortal flesh are pretty

$~ard, whatsooUU:O_ing d ie flesh of 0

.... begin with, a dhamo'tl!lllfeii l e s s likely to fa a of another ,hen than out of a mortal. Few

shenare likely to hold stiH ~lImpyr chow down, and e very idea of it.is pretty repugnant to the

averagedhampyr.lt's a I i O all the,-.!y to get tl)g Even mandarins that might overlooka Shade Walker's oc<asionallnd~ a l'iuman vict~rd pressed to look the other way when1 1 ' " is r :hevia : i l l1 . . That un~adhamp" should somehow find himself in a situation where a feast

of slten flesh (lIiiveor otherwise) is available, here's how it .11works out:

~arious demon bunters ~ Strike Force Zero ~m.s, imbued characters from Hunter: The

Reckoniug- ore just asedible .. arw other mortal, altQOIIghthey often have aIor more to sayabout the issue

~peopledo.

ng a hengeyokai's flesh gome" as much Chi as;ear ipg_a normalhwnan's does, but the dhampyr can

,b.YangChi fromthe bodv"Tlftftfb!cau,eofthe cba~lose bond to the forces ofltfe. A dhampvr

well_ke a rug out of .. .dd"ht'ngeyokai corpse, forall the Chi it's going to give her.

flesh of hs~n provi es n~o a hungry dhampyr. Yugeu.;. too rarefied a substance for dhampvrs

to handle. That'. probably fortl1lWe-k>rthem.

~ing K1n-;in II""" --an e'!!II more repugnant activity i'..,,~ other,hen - doesn't net any

1\l." .5J~'~~dhampyr. A ll ofaK~i.P. ' ! ._Chiis concentrated in h~owever, sodrinking vitae can ~estore. t.Mhampyrs. This is the o~ in which dhampvre can absorb Chifrom blood. Dhampyrs drinkmg

~ never have to worry about be ng blood bound and cannot .become ghouls. Dhampyrs also can't be

~braa:d. If they are drained of all theK blood, they implydie.

Consuming a body that is corrupted in some fashion, lilte'ilie flesh of a I(umowerespider. a true

a J < u m a , or hengevokat consumed by tit. Centipede (rhe Wyrur~ pretty unpleasant; Tile dharnpyr gains

no Chi, and she takes one level of aggravated damage per healdt-Ievel of the creature eaten (corruption. . h ar d on the digestion).Therude Chi dililWi!md thlllihampyrscan't absorb the phem&,iallife-force ofEmbodied wraiths or the

Risen. Such beings offer nothing to the hungry dhampyr - bu taste like chicken.



8hj plays a vital role in the lives of most dhampyrs,

strengthening them and lending them amazing powers.

Unfo([Un'atelYI-dhampyrs earmor perceive Chi in the

same way their parepts can. Dragon lines and nests ~re

invlsi~le to them, a d they cannot Liseeither Ghostiight

o r L if esig ht to see the energies tolling ~round them..While the Shade , Walkers can't channel Chi as e asily as

th e Hungrv Dead, the~anstillput the force, of Yin and

Y;!_ng to gQ9d use: ""

The most common-use of Chi among the Shade

&-'T'ASTI FOR, H'OR,UIS ,.' ' /", '_ Walkers is to heal damage (see p. 46) . Althl\Ugh this

Thereis another much more gruesome method for requir~-calm and Inactivity, it is a largely unco ious

the half-d.!tmned tolegain Chi. Alt!tough the dfia~~rs precess for n~hampyr - even one-who hasn't come of

are too "spiritually stunted" (the)l:_.]:!efer to phrase "too age 'Can use t ! \ i s ability, often wlthout ever realizing it.

human") to absorb Chi (r~m Jjlood,b~th ~ wor ld Dhampyrs may also use to 0hi to power any'Kuei-jin

around them, they can gain it from the most bask source: Disciplines that they know, and can al.sochannel, Chi to

mortal flesh. Each health level eaten from-a victjm-te- boost:~'i.7Physlca:1 capabilities i f they have the a:ppro~ri'

stores one point of Chil along with one level of a~,y ateitSh.~~~ ..1.

unhealed bashing damsge.stemminafrom Clu ose,,,, J(ue'I-JInhave to spend a POInt of Chi e~h even mgThe dhampy;'s less sophisticated..-abil~OCe to animat;"mei'r unllvlngbodies, bur dhampjrs.have ~o

C.hi limits what kina '.hey S;O" a~strb from a i ~;m,~~h need. Dh.mpY(,!.p!n spend a polnt o f Chi '0 avoid

however. living victim~ly.;;>ffer up Yang Chi m a n~g t~ .. ep or-eat for Z 4 hours, howevet. The typt of

dhampyr, whilecold corpses only otfe¥"iiiii>Elnl a fre~ly Chi spent to do this doe, not aspect a dhampyr as it does

dead (less than four hou rs old) corpse offers. dhampy~ a.~I-)~n. However, the, Cfii type can affect thechoice of what-Chi he wants to ingest. ~ ~~ampyr smood for that pertod. Yang produces a feeling-

Players whose dhampvrs r~~in..Chi.in this mann r oreug~oria-and makes the Shade Walk". prone to

must succeed on make a CtmsciellGe roll (difficu1ty 8} W aggr~sl~e te.nd~.nclesand{eckless acts, Yin Chi makes acough upa poin~ofHumanity, Don'tf6rget that c h J , lialf- dhaml')(WllOte..~t\trospectIve and thoughtful ~nd pro-damned's E!o rnllsagairrst; the -in'flris t e s t . 1ftne player dl£cesvague feellpgs ofeneut. Neither of these Involves

botches the Conscience roll, he~a[acter immedjarelv an actual game effect.

picks up a . point of P'o as tne beast within revel... i1 >cannibalistic depravity.

Unlike the Shth. alrampyrs cannot regain Chi 'by

fulfilling their Nature, (see W orld . o f Darkness: DemonHunter X), \1o,,\ev.e\, th~y c~n regain Joss b y doin

See page 57 for more details,

" - t E HuN.C;fll,

Running low on Chi is a dangepaus prop~ltion for

a dhampvr, even rnere so than. for aXueL;.iin. The 1:')018

whispers gain power ap_d f(1~ut- driving the Shade

Walker to s e ek ov",an easy so urce o f Chl. The deficioLll_

odor of ra w flesh causes a . teIfible hunger in the half-

damned bellI'. ,

, When a dhampyr has th,ree or fewer points of.non"

Demon Chi (Yin + '(eng) left in her b O d y , she becomes

subject to a driving hungert'or flesh.~hep\a.yer must ~aSs

' . . ,DHAMI!:Y;"-~>t.~DD,sq.I.JI(ES.. Dnampyr8are capable of learning some Kuei-jin

Disciphnes} alth_2!:lghtheir very nature prevents them

from ever truly mastering them.

The mvstertes of the Soul and Chi Arts are beyo.nd

the ken of dhampvr svThev are far too tied to th e mortal

world to access theljt.'The two exceptions to rhis are Feng

Shui ana Tzu Wei! }tQce any normal mortal can learn

these witho-~nough time. Time is one thing the half

dq'?'ledhav~ in .blma.nce, '?many !;J;derShaWatioernare quite skilled at these arts. Demon Arts and shintai are

~easierfor younger half-damned~,

• /I-I



c-m. ,""0; D _ I A D AlJVI_

O~fto .. sMany of th e Kuel-jin P 9 w e r s dealing with the

peOCeption or:tbe forces of Chi are off-limit to

dhampyrs. As mioned ~re, they can't use

Ghosrsight or Lifeeight. The half-damned also can-

not access the supernatural benefits of Kuei-jin rites

(although they can partake in them for social rea-

sons). They simply lack the strong bond with Chi

needed to manipulate it in this manner.

The Qiao powers of the Shih are off-limits to

dhampyrs, although they could conce ivably learn Mo

Chi Kung Pu. Of course, they'd have to convince aSh\lt to teach it to them. Strike Force Zero cybernet-

ics 9 le also a definite no-no for dhampyrs. The half-

,dead tissue of their bodies doesn't respond well to

implants. Dhampyrs can learn sorcery, but their Ava-

tars llre tied up in their half-dead state, so they are

incapable of Awakened magic.

In any case, a dhampyr character can't start with any

of these powers, and it'sup to th e Storyteller whether sheh a s any possibility of picking them up during play.

5 t t J 1 ( T A J DISCJPlJ14H

Even though they can learn the various shintat,

dharnpvrs aren't as well equipped to handle the tremen-

dous strain, of manipulating Chi as their fully damned

parents. Over time, a dharnpyr's body hardens itself, but

it's a process that takes centuries. The maximum level

that a dhampyr can have in any shintai isequal to her age

in centuries, rounded up. So, a dhampyr that's been

around for 175 years could learn up to two levels in thepermitted powers. Fe1wdhampyrs ever learn more than

one level in any given shintai, but a few elder half-

damned have struggled to level 2 or 3. Other than this

limitation, the shintai function normally for dhampvrs,

including the Chi attunements ..

DDf'ot4 A R : r sDharnpyrs may learn and use as many levels in Demon

Arts as their P'o permits - subject to the restrictions for

spending Chi. Thev offer-aseductive path since dhampyrs

are not subject to shadow souI and so can use Demon Arts

"more easily. The Demon Arts are still perilous to use,however. Every time a dhampyr invokes them, he must

make a Conscience roll (difficulty 6, opposed by rhe P'o)

or lose-;;point of Humanity. Botching the roll adds a point

to the dhampyr's P'o as normal.

Most Shade Walkers who have contact with Kuei-jin

society.know better than ~screw around with the Demon

Arcs, They've heard storieSbf the Yomi World (or trav-

eled to it with Kuei-jin cornpani s) and are not anxious

to pay the Thousand Hells a visit.

Iron Mountain, Kiai and Hellweaving function for

dhampyrs just as they do for Kuei-j in. The other two

Demon Arts require slight alterations, however:

A ~pyr's j o s s tends to cutdown on the many minor

isfonunQl of life. Powerfully "jossed" Shade Walkers are

11:l~ta8ets of pickpockets, and they don't get very

~ pl~etickets. They d(».pretty well on the stock

im,kec~aJlI! amazingly successul in romantic endeavors

at least illthit short ee rm) . The~ win big at cards, taxis arealways there waiting for them and so on. The higher a

dhampvr's loss, the more fortune she is blessed with.

i!11ese.,"awbientjoss" effects are hardly ellen noticed

d h : J t n p p g . It's all just part of ordinary life t~ them.

eir ftO~a\'Iions may wonder at the incredible coinci-

:den e"pepper their lives, but the Shade Walkers justtake i( for granted.

There isaprlcefor this luck,andthatprice isan interesting

life. A J . f C I I i J , j n g vortices of fortune, both good and bad, th e

chil~~eWanKIJci<tretrueweirdnessmagnets.Dhampyrs

get miStaken ~ other people (like a secret agent's contact, a

drug fI.I'I!W for t : J v ! fob, or a member of a terrorist organiza

tion), have their b a g s mistakenly switched forones with moreinteresting contents (like amillion dollars in drugmoney or a

couple of severed heads), receive threatening phone calls

intepp!Jd f Q J : ?thers (''You can'rstop us!Tomorrow weexecute

~QI"!'),acddentallyoverhearconversationsabout

plots aM' eWles("Tbe~ormustdie,andwemustmake

it lOOklike f I L e ~gallan were responsible!"), and generally

~ th Ivesembrtiiled in aIlsorts of trouble, whether they

1 l . - . e DOt.

E nI'Pe good l~of the Twilight Children tends to

ome im odd strings attached. A dhampyr may win an

.mposlllb. . wager at a casino, only to draw the attention

l i e Yak,uzaboss who ~could use a man like him."ne;c Waitf-II for aT wilight Child as he

I~ve m d 0 by < I an wll$ anaccount<I~ ly tr hilTt ft h t sn!lry;pf how he i

haun t ghbswfhi~tt. Thehigher!:hedhantpyr'

Joss, tihe mote interesting his life becomes.

The ta Ie bel~w should give you a good idea of the

kinds of effects that surround a dhampyr, depending on

her Joss level. Incidentally, when", dhampyr "binds" his

Joss tQ ;lparticular Ability (see p. 56), it reduces the

ambi tJoss effects accordingly.

Un~J08s Ef~ecls

1-2 dots You win at cards ore often than

not. You'll never be audited.

Y u regularly find money lying in

your path. Your friends call y u crazy

fq!some o f the rjs you ta k without

even thinking about it.

The Irish have nothing on y<;)u.Bank

errors happen in,your favor monthly.

Yoo can't remember the last time you

ha; to st at a traffic light. You are

reeulllr1y 'lllne4tom c:yinOf.

Chow YUflFat in f lod o J ! J J a m b l e r s .



i

I t & u o " ' : , . , _ . . .

• Black W~nd: Becau~ of their weakened P'o, 'P,uslvl Joss T •

dhampyrs con actually control this state slightly better 1}t:fir&tuseofthe)oss"r rait isthe most comman one,

tan~"~K~ei'Jm, Dhaml!)'rs USlOgBla~[(Wmd can tap T ! 1 : , forcesofluck can be just left hanging around, waiting

I b i C Ro to a im ranged a : , t t acb6w~th i n human preClS10n.4I

fo r s om e th in g t o:.h a,P pe n ro rh e d ha mp vr. This kind of

hamrV[S ca n -add au , tQm~t ic : ; su ccesses for a ran ged lu ck isca lleC l Passive joss.and itcansaveadha.mpyr~ but tr .

attack s damage pool, as well as Melee or Brawl damage 'po",ive Joss is the luck thar allows a Shade Walker 0 fall

~ools. The dhampyr sull has to roll eacQ round to avpid.tfrQ!!\A.window on ! h I , 5th floor and walk awa .withoutf[[,esoul .,fcourser ~ ' L _ '~'I' fr ,V. a scratcn or nave an entire ~ 'P rom an Uri u nload ed a

• Demon Shintai: I terms-of game.mechanics, th.;' her _ " i b t r e sh.<.rem~ mitaculous!%unharmed.Demon Art functIOn m a o e s forKue"lln, However, the Rassive]PIj PlQ!ec!Sa dhiJD_pyrfrom ph steal dam.

half·damn:e • "(ea r P'o IIIans their demon, form is age.Adharn~ rdoesnQtbayetQb.awareof~attackfor

much Jessinhumaf than th:it.iiV true Ca~hayan, Instead; Passivejoss tlblockit, b"uhe~oesneedil,few losspoints,

of a, d,,>o,~d monster, the Sh.3de Iker, b~dJlPes,. When a dha!npyr 'is euacked (but before a ~ak roll is

ternblewarnor.,- larger, faster and more_ ",e'tl~ than m made), the player rnak a Humanitv rotl( difficulty 8). If

IS mortalfon Those few,whoknowofsuch thing claim she gets even a stngte success, all of the damage from that

that the.dhampyric d~mon fo semble~ the true.form. attack is-blocked, assivejoss only w6rks egalnstlethai or

of the ancient] In F f ' l " d d . ~ hi 'd . 'b~vate' amag -. as mg amage 1 eneath fortune's

U ..UQiUE ' [ jAn'l l , nonce, 'A blocked Ie hal attack costs the hal f -damned 1"V' ~... j("int O f Joss, The j o s s COSt for blocking' an aggravated

__ rarrack ismuch hi~her: 3 poi'nts,

JOSS .pOWI~S Elich separate attaol<has to be dealt with and paid for

The strange" intetactio,n' o( dh.mpy,,' livinl>'atfd n it. own, eve if theyhit the hal f -damned in the same.

dead-halves cuts them off-from many of tl1e4igner roUhd,Dealwith the attacks it } the order thattheyocc r.

mysteries of Chi, With all a the unlikely f',>tors that If. dharnpsr runs outjlf J " ' i ; ! in iirn mid.dl.e.of a combathad to come tog eth er for them (Q t_v~n b e b orn , howeve r , turn) ~uen t attacks afIect him a s n orm al. D _am ag r.

Shade Walkers are creatures of powerfulluc~6y 'tor. from area- 'ff~ct amlcks can also be:bhxke<l, '~ut this costs

rectly rapplng into tnd man'ipulatfu_g,heir peTSO[}aljoss,Jadditiona Josspoint, It's much hardeno "luckily" avoiddhampyrs can ....k.. chances that1'i'a--.sane "on (or a flamethrowerthana bullet, Botching the Humanity roll

ampire] would ever thi~k of: forces tile player to make an immediate check.Joe-wave

The.dhampyrs' elose.connecnon to J05S-;5 on e of (h e sou ! the dhampjr fe els h is joss fa il h i.m .

t hi ng s t ha t m a k es -t hem Inreresncg.and fu~no p la y 'Their rT~ asslve ex enditure IEIfJ05S to block dam age is

t r emendous lu ck allow s th em 00 r ake incredible chances - a col]tptetel~lmconscious 8nlvil:yi-the d ham py r can 'tand survive, It al~ Jives players a,bm,1te ' i I , ' bClitithtQ, actually COrttral'ifor suppress it, Unexpected att.acks

manipulate the enyironme9 ther can exp~~'~n play hel~wj ~ ~ampyr who'. relying on joss to

characters' combar strengtfis, •• ~ hIS a late

Shade.Walkersoftencometq reryB"n- ei>lu~k,A er The d.mag~th.ti"toppeddoe'n'qdis'ipatelike it hit

a while they take it for granted that their 1l1ig~ever an~htfold Yi Mant!, eveliU'just conspire so that the

g ets lost when t h e y ' t ra v e l. ( h ' w eath er is a lw8yY, , [<?¢" JE'ampyr comes au t of the situ ation un hu r . A jumping

when the want to go ~lfing an tb.e~can always fincf'. aITdweaving Shade Walker amannglv dives .rhrough a

park in g space righ t n ext tom e elu .Game s of chance are hai loff ly ing leaaunharmed.Aci~a[ettecasejus[happens

pretty popular pastimes for dhampvrs, since the~ll te )niiIt:eptl!:§ er's Qull~aimed at the heart, A BMWwin-a lot, , - -. W Plitself.rQundateltp\tonepole.ndthedrivercHmb,

A dhampgr's Joss Trait is n t her Humanity in outmlraculoy,ly uMurt. A fog hom breaks. mandarin',

rbe same w ay a Kuei-jin's Deta F L C h : s d ed to h is ~ cooce~ttation just as he's about to u nleash a torren t of

If the. Shade Walktor',.Humanity goes up, her maxi, Q, t'Flam~o.)l'n on anamlucky Shade Walker's head,

ffij.lm]"¥.goes up, Jfit goesrto'\"n, m;ximum Joss goes The ways i1asS1lre.lllan and mvsreneus,

down, Lfke De~on Chi, Joss will rise and faU in pia For Exampt;s;Ll tCky" Liao js looking th e wrong way

as it is spent and regained, Wljen .. dh.ropy"s Joss is w he n a C am ar illa assas ' i nr i ec ides lO POIa-huUe t inhis brain ,

drained to 0, her luck has quite litefolly run out, A The S 'e J ry l£ ll er mUsfo r !he I!ll'l§sin, inflicting5 h ea lt h I e~ els

Shade Walker in tune wjth~&e.Ijoss feels a chilling o f I e, h al dama ge ro Uao . Or so it wou1d seem, U ao ',)o ss is

sensarlcn, requlti~her player to make an jmmediate~ currenf[y 4, 50 when t h e b u l J , e t spe ed s to wa rd h im , 'h is p la ye r

check for wave souL Ball things happen to luckless t r t n k e > "'H«""'nit,'r~ !-I, ellSi[~gelS 0" s uc ce s s. a n d ,

dhampvrs. See "When Good Luck Goes Bad" a little ""'rkingoffa~intofJolSOn,~ischatac"'tshee!, b re a! he s a s igh

\lat~r in this ch.pt~r for ID'1rederalls. o j rel(ef.LU!o'hunch. , d O O m ' t o lighta c~~; t e~me to.

\ There are th;ee meU.ods of using thl)oss Trait:" avoidaheftyc1eofleadpo~qning,Ofco""e:thi,leavesLirropassively, actively and b y binding jo ss , , • - ~ J u s , a b it less lucky,,,,

•• 1



c-~W '• • Duo AiM'

The morta l children of dhampvrs have access [Q

Passive Joss eqoal to their Courage Virtue . The cap

n ever learn to u se Acrlve Joss or Joss B in din g, h ow ev er.

automat ic success [h~player can apply to the action . sh e

w i sh eS to be l uc k y. A p p ly in g e a ch - su cc es s cos t s a p o in t o f

Jos s, s o the play er can not b uy m ore su ccesses th an sh e b as

unbound points of Joss; even if she ghs more on the

Humanit y r oll. Theseaiitomaticsuccesseswork in th e sam e

mann,' as th ose p urch ased w ith "W illp ow er, alrheugh

mul t ip l e o ne s can be appl ted to a s in gl e r ol l (andves, they

ca n be combined w til an extra Success f rom, Wil lpower) .

The action [0whi& the exrra successes are applied

musrcomesoon af ter the .Humani ty r ol i, b u r no t necessar -

lly In th e n e* t tu r,n .*T ney m ust b e used w ith in a few tu rns

an d th e play er rau t.announce ho~ ma ny su cce sse s sh e'll

sp end a nd h ow .th ey wil l be used im me dia te ly afte r th e

H um anity ro ll. Th e su cc esse s cfu n b e sp l.t b e tw een mul-

tiple actions if th e y a re re [rre d, b ut th a t must be dec la red

trhrnedtacely.

The Joss p oints arJ spent immedia te ly and do no!

l inger forpass tve p urp ose s b et w ee n t he H um anity ro ll and

the tim e w hen successes a re u se d .

Fo r E xlln\Pk : T ilt S fw 1e W alker "Red Amy" L u is

pinned down on < I rooftop fr y a bu""h o f thug s . . w . automaticweapons . Hunkeringdownbe~iMabi taf l1UlSanry, ,he',safe

- bu lo .uy fa r a few seconds. S h e c on ce nt ra te s o n he rja ss a nd

ho pes to ge l aura! t h i s p n p my's player rol ls he r Human i . ,

and goo f o u r successes. Tni ' play er d ecid es to rake all four

successes (she ho d 6 remaining Joss) an d spOt m em be tween

Acr!"Jossam py rs w h o stu dy m e ir joss ca n lea rn ~dfocus it

activelr. not on! relying on it for last-ditch prorec-

don, butt. ing it to accomplish specific goals. Charac-

ters w h o-h ave le arne d the Active Joss ability can bum

of f ome of th e ran dom posstbtlines that constanrlvsu rro und them and re focus th a t lu ck . The dhamp vr

m ust con cen trate an d th in gs su dden ly (an d som etim es

specraculatlv] go h IS w ay. Im po ssib le sh o ts h it; th e

dh am pyr ju st h ap pe ns to find a w eap on w hen h . nee d ,

one; a guard turns away at just [he rig (time for the

Sh ad e W alk er to sne ak b y.

q\b se rve rs ma rve l a t th e she e r lu ck o f i a ll - th e

dh am pyr doe sn't ap pe ar te rr ib ly sk illed , ju st incre dib ly

fo rtu na te . Fo r th e Shade W alk er h erse lf u sing Acrtve jo ss

is an invigoratin~ experience, 3 moment of control in a

topsy-turvy world of random occurrences. She remains

aw are th at sh e is b urn in g offsom e o f h er j o s s in th e process ,

howeve r , w hich m ay leave h er [ired a x t h e endo f t he sc en e .

Sy stem : T he d ham py r m u st con cen trate for a ru m to

u se Active Joss. T h e p la ye r then.rol ls H um an ity ag ain st a

d ifficu lt\ ' o f 7 . E ve ry succe ss on th is ro ll b e come s an



tw o ~'ions: a.oiding-~nfire as she CTo:,e, ,he roo / an d well as_'l'el~e and brawli" attacks (although few of thesmashingopentheCloorto th e eJ)1ergency'talr, . TheStorytelkr latter dolethii.l damage). .

, S i, < ; ¢ d th pla.y er m ar 1\i o ff fo ur po in lt"f J055. Altry's . -rlound Joss is not lost unless the player botches a rol l

, l e i then r o l i s Dexterity + Itth~tk,s an d g , r s tW SUC'!"!,' using the augmented Ability. If this happens, all the Joss

th the 'w o automatic , ,, ,,cess . ,, that g iv., he rJpUT, enough points bound to the' Ability in question are,ilnm<:lliately

fOf-"Amy to " s pr in t a cr o ss t h e foo{in a sih~ tum, She lutm gone, and the_d~ampyr pas tocheckforwave soul as Ifbis~0S5

an o ther pom .. o flO fs ~ avoid-a lucky ,ho .t fro m one 0 1 t h e had dropped to 0 {it ddesn't, though, only the bound pomts

assailant,l(:PassiveJo~,). Amygets to'the door !eadil)gto lIljety are'bilTn.r.The Talent orski l l alsobeeches in an.extremelyaridTams into it. Breakingt h e door r~quiTe.s a.Strength o f 5 an d -=9cular W J . Y , and the dhampyr I:asto rolltojee ifherP'o

. . !Am~ h r u only 31. ;he p tu .er r ii ll s Willpower taboo" her j xJw<T torments her i -her moment of doullt.

, . a n d g e r y w - S U f C l e s s e s I . . - I d t e fWD a . u t o m a t i c s u c c e s s e s d O l ! P p l y I

howw,,", ar id-raise 'Am,',..,!fec i.e S tr en g th ta 5 1 ! > e ~ *'- « ; a o D lu«.. « ; O R & i r o D

come'offitsrustYhi1l(l"(hQWluckYnal!dAmY'liP,do~the The P'o thrives on reversals of fortun<l._When.a

stair"ta , a / e r y . / dharnpvr's substantia.! luc fails her, it reaches out to

FailingthdHumanityr<l!1cosrs.thedhlimR~"omeofhis punish her. This isn't 'hadow soul; the Demon doesn't

leek and burns offa sttlgle .,oints"fJoss.llot$hingthe rol l is actually take control ot.the dhamp~'~ body . Instead, it

a much more gray affair:'A U the 'db~pYr's remaining takes th e opportul1i~ toput the dKampy~through a little

unbound J assbum, offanCl-l1e'ruIlSut or:tuck (seebelow), mental torment. T l : i 1 P'a seues rh e moment of self-doubt

7Dhampyrsmay invokeActiYeJoosQlllyow;eperscene, caosed.bv t h e failurf of joss and f~ls the < j h J l f f i P y r ' , head

with visio ns o f h o rro r , The e x act na tu re o f th e visio ns

_/ J~ss a,"DJlI;C;' .. «lepends on the P'o"Narure of the Shade Walk.r, butY . This use L S an extrapolatlon of Act! v,e [oss- lns[ea~hate'ver theyare.die~re oftenstrongenough topenna-

of suddenly focusing the force, pf luck mto a .p~£i<?'1'feJltly damage the dharnpyr's psyche. Adhampyt wb0i! ' -

action or: event, the dharfiPyr binds them ,:uonn _n

Iactivity. Whenever she und.e.rt~ke, that .cti):oity=be

it driviug a carl firing a gun, or almost anything else-

the flow of joss consptres to help her succeed,' By

combining legil!m~te skill with~h bound (o~ thedhampyr can achieve an truly trig tenin~yel ofaccomplishment. I -

Btndingjoss is an arduous process, requiring long hoursofmeditation andpreparation, The Shade Walker must be

familiar with hi' own mental condition and the force. ' a t ;jossifhe is to bind the two together with-¢ecrntt;qJA'!",uch,

the JossBind ingability requiresjdeditaricn 0 0 • altd < ; i \ l ; wE nigmas • or Oecult s. 1;!re"'cllta.mpyrmust also have me

Active l o s s ability to have Joss ll1ifdm~~ j

The concrete effect.J!fJoss Bindmg is a hii~ff~c-rive Abiliry rajtng, but tne. apparent effect is mo

manifestation 0 luck than skill.",Ta~ !!old ",II a' ju t

the right time. A dhal"pyr;' punch ju'tj.'"ppens to h.i' athug m hi' old war injury. Guards a~rlistracted ar just-rhe

righr moment for a srlenr figure to"lip-hy. <?

System; To bind 'points oI'Joss-:u,,,ohiimpyr must

meditate in silence. No rolt:i~ecessa ,,~Qwevt~ for

everyhour the dhampyr meditates, the prayer can bm .,

"'Jbind~ea"ign a point < f J~. B~und points 0 1 J o s scannot ~ used passively or actively. ,

Each point ofjoss bound to aTalent or ~n~acts asan

addi t iona l dot In the "3p~ropr~~, t ;e"b ' l i tV· J h - e maximumlevebto which a.Tal.ento(r.~ktll~a,!1be dljSe~iseq~l[Qa

dhampvr's Humanity. [css can only be bound nrro 'Falen"

or Skillsnot KnolVi~dges'Otanvad", typ; ofTratt .....

Attack, dOin,g,.leihaldamage using an 7I.]oititywith

~os.bound to it al ave on~ ther'spegial effect: '[bey do

aggravated damage against supsrn.atura.' talgets- - - - = -1 r

just"like the claws of a hen~yokai. This a:pplie~toJirearms as ' 1

.Dis<:iplineofTm Wei-accessibJe

dharo.pyrs_ilik~- deals with the

manipdlilton of joss . Unlike the

abilities,,f,,, Wei is based on an

tanding o f J £ s s , a study of fate., even, ~ that require con-

oke, are "more instinctive, aof an I force, while Tzu WEi brings

t ) > riIlnd and soul to rhe study ofjoss.

ractirione¥itT auWei who use it on dhampyrs

can cause some IQecial effects, whether or not they

ardWf-domned themselves. The practitioner do[ng

~omaticall~ notices the unusual j o s s of the

yr and K4CIi-jinpractitWners recognize the,

10 half-damned.

~Wlfi techniques affect dhampyrs in

i.1 ways (al~thers function a, described in the

ed "f the)ila$ Companion, pp. 90,91);

~ate G f dt~, Fate of the ' W . . . nd Fate of the: 11l$teIId...l!i.thedhamper gaining the Horo-

B~gro_"'he gets a -I difficulty bonus to all

-related Humanity rolls at the appointed lucky

av and nme.

,._,_ Weaving: This technique can restore a point

oflBlmtJoss-or bum a newone ..in the caseofacurse.

Realigning the Stars and Substitution of the

~.Ive: For e¥ery dot of Horoscope a Kuei-jin would

~, the dhampyr,s.in. a -I difficulty bonus on Joss'

relaf8d H.... iIrj rolls. This bonus cannot be made

pe anent through Substirutw.uf the Twelve.

'\.



1 ."~~liiiiiiiliiiii@..., r < 57er Courage tatlh( drop. by One PQint (to a rnlmrnam of

I). l(the player Is so unlucky a. to botch this check, theP'o su rg es a nd g row s In strecgth. Th e d h ac nf.y r is su b je ct

to all of che effect. of failing the check, p us she gain.

another doc in P'os ,

Tf~se perio~s o f wave sou! are extretnel. rrau-

marie, almost akin to shadow sou l. Insread df..actlng ou t

th e D c'm on 's w is es, h ow liv er, th e d ham py r h allu ci-

na t es its fondest w i sli ·w h i fe c ow e ri n g O r runn i n g . At

the St ryteller's discretion, a dhampyr whose Courage

drop. [0 I ,!;ay gaih a Derangement from the psycho-

lo gi ca I t ra uma .

~I I4Cf Joss ,..~ Luck is-a p recious commodlrv, an d it d oe sn 't r et ur n

q!)ickly. Spent or lost joss rcrums atrhe rat' of I polnr per

day , a t s u n ri se . X

Dhampyrs can also regain lost Joss b y overcomin&

opposition. When a-dhampvr succeeds in any conflict

in' (o lv ing opposldon m at is a t le ast a s s kille d or stron g a s

he is, the-Storyteller may aUbw the player to make a

Courage roll (difficulty 6). ~at:.~ succ~ss restores a single

joss Pl'i'l\, up to the dhampyr , maximum. gx-cess sue-

cesses are w asted . ..

"Conilict" do not necessarily mean a fight, al-

thousl,t combat (e'nail'\ly qualifies. Defeating an oppo-

n en t in a gam e of chan ce, a race, or even a verbal conilicr

qualifies as wel\ . Basically, a dhampvr's success in an

endeavor stren gthen s h i con fid en ce in h is ow n Joss, an d

this faith is rewarded,

Finally, a dharnpyr can regain joss points by being

true to himself Luck i$ an inescapable part of their

identity and by living up to it, be mvires fortune in.Whenever a clbampyr is eligible to regain Willpower by

obeying hi. Nature, the player.should also roll Humanity

(diftkulry 9). Each success refreshes a point of spent joss.

~C;"-O,""DS

- fo l lowing two Backgroun d s are u n iqu e to

'The Ag'\.B~cklround presented here should

wiih.Jhe one used to represent trulyP'" Nature is the Slave might>e; herself in chains, made . Vampire: TheMasquerade(see Vam-

into th plaything..QLher greatest enemy - be [hat a pire StQ~yteJI~rs Hand k, p. 36). The Face Back-

Y aku za 00: or Y am a K in (l;. groun d migh t b e app1 ie -a to a shen w ho som ehow has

W h en ev er a dh am p yr's p la ye r bum s all her u nb oun d ach ieved informaletarus am't5ng_t e c ou r ts o fr h e Hun-joss. botches ajoss-related Humanity roll or botches while gry Dead.,

ysing an Ability enhanced through JoSj Binding, rhe _

Demoncomes out to play. The dhampyr's player makes an ~.,

~mrnecliate ch eck for w ave sou l, but.with especiallv dan- ..... Y ou havespehr yeirs devctin yours elf t o thedev~IClp\

gerous implications. If the player succeeds, the dhampyr ment of your Cni powers at the expenseo! almost anyihing

re sists w a ve sou l b u r su ffe rs fla sh es of horrific emot ions else i n y ou r l i fe , The decades offananc practice and s tudy

durlng th e contest with rue ' . This has no lasting game have paid off, but youj-.av~ I~ttle regard !oryour humanside.

effect:',b u t t he S tory te lle r m a y n e th e image~p up at An d sin ce you are n ot tmmortal like your Kuel-jln parent ,

ot~er t imes; If t he p la ye r fa ils, th~ , hampyr enters a very. th e ra va ge s of time l 'Y . .t fact ,l heavy price . .

senous form of w av e soul=- th e Pis torments overcome Each dot in h is Backgroun d io,(ers y o ur n ;a xn n ,l,u n

'her, an d sh e rem ain s in w ave sou l fo r a'1 mber of hours Humanio-by. l d ,,~sesyourdifficul to reslstcannfbal-

equal';2theP'o'storalsuccesses.Whenshe I llv ernerges, istic hung., ~see page 52). Age has variety of other

" I



I

1

effects, ~ummarize~beJow. y - t u also can't buy-the Igno- ...~mJndarin"'ssecrewrv)orhaveaparent9firifluence;~

ranee o f Se lf:F la ;,." I. • the l ocal €Ou rt k now s your name . .. m ost of the time .

AN°9",hat Age'"often p!!2v,desImmediate benefits in•• ..i ·1 penalty rcsccialdice pools , Youhold asignificant

exchange for a lower maximum Humanity and 'some ' positionfor.oneofvour ilk, being a belminmessenger

-. physjcal degradation; so It m a y be tempting to players. -or resr :=msible forapowerf i i tScar le tScreeh. \ D u r g e , tPlayers should consider their reduc"eqjoss before ~king a . modicum of Jes~tfrom your "betters."

high levels ofAgo, ",,~e Sto,yte!1er:;;:;.~WL<h toImpose no perial'l' td socialq,ce pools . Younot onlvhave

age Imilts-on the cha~cte_ . ./ , sorneoffidalcap~i1'yatcourt.buthavedoneyourjo

1 . . \ 101 ; 0 150yea~d;.,Your Shintai Discipline - _/- well-enough to actually be noticed and even' f ~ ~axl"'fu\n i~ ~ ~_ . .. respected. ~o~ ar.e .g_:anted 'the same status as a

, •• ' _tn.to 209<}V~ats old: ltour Shintai Discipline young!<:uel-JIn.a,~pl~ ,, tnaxamum is Z , yJilStatt with a free point i n ta n y . . , • • • • • no penalty to social dice pools Your re utauon has

I I De9lon: A r y _ • . I ~ 1 spread through multiple.courts even if ou are not

Z~ t '6 2150yea~ld: Your ShinEi DLSClplme , an offkiaLmessenger,ilfld S<;(meotable Kuei-jin

maximum ts J; vou-sjart with a free pornr-m a even call yot,!-~ friend and ally,

Demon Art;__you ~ave one few,er Pj'\m for r Lr..~..;_.rr ~.' _ .,i},5'

ehYsical e.ttrj15utes.~·"'i!! - r&AW

251 10 300 years old: As Age··· exceptthat vou 5gain an additional point forDisciplines-{beyond ~C CIIOOLJM If f1Oil, 2~ ...~t h e standard o-;;;;rbut lose your Bruised health Most .dham~yrsl knowledge of the Dharrnic paths

level. ;re:m for wave soul caused b y sources of _ " ' b I 1 1 y extends as far as 'M y father-is a Resplendenc Crane')

aggravated damage are also at + 1 diffic~lty: , tAngcy Deyil-Tige~'-;.3re very dan~rpus." At some,

••••• 3Ql+yearsold:Y0ur.ShintaiDisctpline~um poir:t, in'(our~ha1f'_Hfe,1you have become mofh ~~~eis4i yo u start two free points in Demon Arts and familiar with the pr tnctp les and precepts of the Kuei-jm

an additional point for DjsciQ)ines;'you10s'eyour '...Dh.rfas. WhII" \!lis doesn't actually help your Qwn,Bruised and Mauled health levels and ha_yethree sPiritua:tde!~lopmTt, you understand how to'lllte~ct

fewerpomtsfor PhysicalAttributes. T~t.,.(o(wave with the Hun_gtylJt\ad. I ~ J

soul caused by source,-Q,fail:rn~ damage are If you can. discern the COrrect Dhamuo path of.also at + 2 diffk~lty. , ......... particular Kuei=J in you can phrase requests, make-state-

-' . . ments and 5u~est ideas [0 them in a much more _

FACE l- -;.. "appeaHtlfway.,Figuring out a Ku_el-j~nJs Dharm-a re-

Most of the t1me,:adhampy?s mteracuons with Kuet- quires rolling Perception + Euquette, with a diffl@ty,

lin other than his.'!l.arentare saainel'! at be.~Eo form~r . equal to·tlJ ob§erved Hungry ,bead:, c ren Will-

purposes, the courtsconsider ~hein¢ar w " l , t1i:hii," ,'" power. If the ro~ ~successful, (ower.by I the difficutryStorytellers can impose a delnlrtii'nog· 4 penal.J;yd'!liei~ ,any socrakt~'involvlf\g Kuel-JII). You can also

social dice pools (a~outl~d on:;di. harrna Reference ptbauc.e e opposite effect, irritating th~ Kuer-jin

Chart, Kindred of t he .E ase , p- 54), f . immensely and eye!) causing t~m to ~est for fire soul ( a JThe Face ,Badq;round m;ovides your dhamp;y' ~ang"rous tactic imked).

the best opportunity for actual status in the courts\,~~'Fheone~pG:inrver.sionofthlsMeritgramsthe.dhampyr

the Hungry Dea'rLltdenl5te.s ihfdrrnal recogdlnon fr Knowledge otthe orthodox Dharrntc paths. The !\Vo·

the character's abilttles a n d worth compared to o~her· point_versi.oru1D:~ludes all Q f the heretical Dhartnas.

"nonp ersons," no t a~ offi~ia~ p~~rl;&g,,!! r . .e ._uFI(at..".... ~,I..1: U_-'though dhampyrs wlrn hIgh 5';!_CJ'affi>cye grlfoted"'" EMIIIY' '''!'' pr. .--..p" •

some positloas). This reputation ~~n$~Q~ f('1m' > Your bond t " 6 one of the two basic types of Chivarie ty o f sou rce s _,_ the status 6f-.a:Rite.i.;jfn pa"'rC\n.t -Oh ~Yin 0,t:Yan~} is especially strong: You regain this type

a no[a~ie act or pe~iod of secy'ice to the court. You__t ofGb~~lce ~'.b-e?o rr _r ra l r a te (two _ p er h o u r of rest,

should crk out th.~.det:i~ls w\th ~e S!o'rytelle~s foqr per hour-Gi'm,ednatlQn), but regam the other type"part of your prelude,1 ..... .~ at half t~e nor11§.k~a[e, A Demon ehr"Attunemem IS

Face reduces your character's sociaLpe#:"alfies as de- not :~~rble,scribed below: ~ • ~ • .. " Beyond the game effects.abo"e~ Chi Attunem~nt f

.3 p e na lt y t o. so cf al djce ~ols_You1nioh[ ho ld a m fl~en.ce s your general disposruori and-a .p~ea. . ranceJ........ -" l' 1 ", ,b ~ - muchltkebalaocean,d aspect do for a KUeL-JIn.If you

5 . : ~ ye ry rmno te p ostncn a t yOJJt, oca cou rt o r e ~ - - d y t ..{ - Idb f fK'" but a tllb are attune to ang you appeaL vita , sensual and

r~ognLzili Yh_,ewdo uei-jm, ~tare:S-tl etter> short-tempered, to Yin,.~ou seem morose, res~rv$d...

o se~n an e~ L .~... a..l}~~nalytibL Yang.atnllned dh~p¥['s- of'te!1'l?~~-

.1penalty'tosoc13li11ceppols " 0 0 probablyhave . the Vlvoph~ge Flaw while the Yin-attuned oftensomemen:al, b"n~ticeaEleJqb (hke,flIStasslSt":'t.to thave Sun Allergy ,

I -- -



, • '_ -

SnIO~ . , . 1 ~f4 ' pro F i& W ')cmetirnes a dh.mpyr inh rif' a R.t'more or his

patent's spirit than h. might have wanted. The beast that

seethes in your head still can't take control of you.bur it

sure does-yell a whole lot louder. You were nothing bur

trouble growing up, and have probably done at least some

tim e in p rison o r a juvenile home . To say you h ave a b ad

a ritude is an understatement.Your starting P'o is 2 instead of 1.

"'VO~f {I pro F i A W JSomerbtng in your half-dead makeup cannot proce"'.

the Yin Chi that a cold corpse provides. Should you stoop

to the di-shonorable practice of consuming flesh

forChi (you shpmeyour family!),you can

by consuming the flesh of the living or the

than fi,ur hours) dead. You call still absorb

normal from a recently dead corpse,bbw7~er.

S~D.......C; f . 2I"r. FWV)

"louwere brought upamong the Kuet-j tn since birth,

schooled in rhe waysof intrigue and politics that rule the •

courts of'ehe Hungry Dead. You know a whole lot about

the Kuei-im but not much a~ot the res of the world.

You suffera + I difficu1t:ypenalty on any social rolls

that y1Vol~e interacting with mundane ciety and anyr,pll. fequirlng knowledge of modem rechdoldgv like oarsor computers. iFanything, about the supernatural aspec t> o f the Middle.. Kingdln;l and are comple te ly unaware that you a re a r w -

S UN . AuH.C;Y ,3 pro FWV) thing bat anormal mortal- albeit a luc one.

The blood of your Kuel-jin parents runs.suonger in - You ntay ndt,tan: with any Kuel-jln Disciplines, any

you than normal, and you have a much more adversariPl supernatural Backgfounds, f"hive Jots or Joss Binding.

relationship with the- Eye of Heaven. Where other You may still use Passive J055 ana heal yourselfWIthyour

dhampvrs can walk around in the sun wirh only afewevil Chi however -- you C io ose things instinctively.

urges as a consequence, your sk irt and eyes are much more

sensitive. You are hardly ever seen outs ide without a pair

of dark glasses (the ray! of the sun give '"OU a splitting

headache), an YOUtkin bum, and peels like an albino'.

with too m uch exposure [0m e sun .

You take one level of bashing damage for every 30

rninut", spent.in the direct raysofthe.sun. He3,."1'dothing

and su ng la ss es ca n s lo w this p roce ss to o ne leve l per hou r ,

but that's all. You must succeed on a Conscience rollwben you takerhts damage (opposed by the P'o as the

beaS[ within rages against th<:,sun). Failing the checkmeansYou!oseapointofHumanity.Onabotch,youalso PojloNJo.. (6pr. ft&W')gain a pcin of P 'o and laps immediately Into fir soul. A much more brutalform-of Tainted Joss, above, this

, vlaw indicates that 'YOU were born unde r inauspicious

T"A!I{IHI JOSS ' 3 M, F i& W 'l . . . ._ - eire amsrances indeed. Yourjoss isharder to tap-and very

Your naturalluck\has a darker side to it than moot:!:.{lan~eraus,'for you and,\,our friends.

dha.mpyrs'- especially fur those who s.penth.ny timewi Passive Joss atway~Sts you one extra point of Joss

you.Alehoughjoss stlll sevesvoufrorriharrn and allowsyou to us paint "cancel. lethal atta and 4 to

to perform amalin~9t:S,...rhe background of coincidences cancel.an aggravated abe. Al5Q.,it has a nasty tendency

in your life isdistincdy dangerous . You are-always-crossing to do so at the e pense f other ~ especially those

p ath s w ith ak um a.and Y ak uZ a:k jIle t$ , b eco ming invo lve d 'in ne ar and dear"to y u . Y ou r goo iortun;e a lw a ys co m esterrorist p lo t s and other dangerous events. Xjdnappers and at their expense. 'For instance, you might Qesaved from

assassinsf r equeut l j target you r friends. 'an assassin's bullet by you r b e st h i end stumbling at JUSt

Th(;lusooooncretegam.eeffect,butiheSrol)'teilershould the, wrong moment and taking itio!..l'.9u.'iwhen using

en<lciivoro have storiesreflecnngthis constant b a d luck Passivejess, you must toll. 1 " lin your H~!Il~nity rollfor it to f"notioo normally (.'[though at, tlie .ddtd

-~Oll.ANq Of" 5 __ (4vr.; F i A ¥ t J expense). I( you succeed but don't get a, ~Q, s0"leone

~ ...rSQmereason,rou~rownuPWithabso!uteLyno nearby whom yo u ;Fare about take dam~e in yoUr

idea 9 ! what you.are. Perhaps , ~'nst all odds.~r Kuei- stead. Your ally'doesn't take all the damage, however,

jtn par-en!.:nows nommg of your e istence {and is-there- If the-attack was l~al, s~'I!suffers bashing damage; if

fore probably mafe), Yourparentm yhil,ve simply&cided if was.aggrava~ she~uffers lethal.·An ally canl/ot

to leave you as a "sleeper" _-<a s~ret reso rce to be called take more th~ health levels q£darnage from a singleuponi ttmeofneed. \(/hacevertnereascm, .know tittle, attack in 'this man her. ,



60

judge iianact iss~fficient~o justify a lcssofP'o. Even after .

the appropriate de ed has been done, the player must pay

experience points equal to the amount necessary to false

the dhampyr's Hujnanny above. its current level, and

instead lowe-r the P'o by one. This does nOI g}e the

dhampyr a free Humanity point. It just lowers tne F'O.

The burning flame of the devil inside can never be

fuitY""xtinguished, of W-ars~. A d ham pvr always has,

feast one polnr of.P'o.

Think carefulls.before you take this Flaw. It sign!fl-

cantly weakens the Joss of adhampvr, and for beings that

are already often dwarfed in power by those they walk

/amol)g, ~hatcan be a fatal con~ition. It ~ay..alsoalienate

other characters.

Poison Joss also includes all the, effects of Tainted

Jos s . . .I e ha s no effect .an Active Jo ss o r Jo ss B ind in g.

1

Ch_!!lracter development for a dharripyr functions in ' J O S S - P o ¥ l lR _ sbasically the same lviay es.for brhcr characters, using the , 'mooifiedexperiencechartbelow.lhereareSlJrnemattersrnat Almost ~l~ dham~yrs sta~( play with the l,'~ssive }0&5

. . l .' b e d di - . h0"" power.AcqutnngadQmonal}QSspowers~AchveJossorrequire specra atte ~lon _yon spen mg~lnrs,', owever. Joss Binding _ not orrly-sogs substantial experience

T"¥ITS OF" lItE- SOUL. points 6 u r requires exotic training, The dhampyt must

.. ~ have become ~a[e of Ills narurt2. m acquire a new joss

ThevanousTra\l.thatcreflectpartsbfthehalf-damned power and then must find a suitable mentor. The ideal

so~1 - Virtues, Huma~ity, Wd!,power-J Po'o - can't be teacher is a n , _ elder dhampyr who has the power in ques ....

raised <b y merely spending expenence points. These are tion."heamin~ Passive Joss (if the dharnpyr somehow

, . re~ect1onsoffundamentalaspectsb~thecharacte.r.Chang~s doesn't have it) takes three weeks of full-time study, and

~o~e as a result of events, ,not as the result of [he player s ~each- of the other po~ers take two months ( : > f full-time

whim I5etween_ga~e sessl?ns~ As such, the StoryteU.er study. Note that Joss ~[nding also requires Active Joss.

shou~d allow experience poiors to be spent on these T r a l 1 : s Meditation •• " and either Enigmas. or Occult. te-

only I f thev have been tested-during Pla1 or the playe: h'os learn. If a dhampvr is unavailable as a teacher, a master of

roleplayed the effort"t~ improve In that area. There s no lZU we i (Tzu Wei ••••• ) can serve- in his stea .

need to be dracoruan In applying this rule, but a Shade I ' h h h 1 ke ti 1 d ,-

Wlk h

dlI d h ' Ido' d A t aug t ev ta e time to earn, Joss powers, 0 not

a . er W 0 repeate y turns tal an runs s ou t.'su ~ have levels.denly get a rise in Courage because her player has ptLms to fspend. If that " 0 ; > ' dhempvr stood her-ground just once, D,SCJPLJI(EShowever, the increase would be wholly justified, -

~~rning or raising shintai, Feng Shui or Tzu We.i.

vf~1$ \ requir~ teacher who has the Discipline in qu stion at a

Players can increase their' Virtues i f their -charact~ higher revel, ~an the student. Training tim~ are ujff0'the--

have gone through experiences likely to·cnan~[e-that:R.art Storyteller-bur a nJ{mh:::r of hours equal to f e tim s the

of their personality or are actively trying to change that experience cost is a propriate, The Storyteller may forgo

behavior. Increasing a )/-irtU'e does not change" t~e ill nece~of a'Lea her \ f raising an exlstingDiscipltne,

character', Humanity or Willpower';1:h<>s<;,lratt. are only altlibugn training time could double.

derived from V[rtuesdllringcharactercreation~How.ever, Demon Arts can be.leanaed in the s-a~e manner as

increasing Courage or Self-Control does increase av'1ltl~ot±rerDisciplines, but the Storyteller ma~aiso allow r h , &

able Yang or Yin _Chi. Simply uSin&. the relevant tyPe bf-PZtoa~tas the: .reacher.In tlils wav, 'an isolareddhampvr

Chi does not qualify the Virtue for an 'increase- it is the can develop the powers of her Demon soul. The Story-

dharnpyr's personality that releases Cht, not the ether teller mav imp~sea. Conscience or Self-Control roll when

way around. '__.c-- the perioToTIrainlng is complete, to see i f the dharnpvr-- can maintain her 010_ra1center gi.ve-n her dark education.

~rs~ i:~:ase thefi Humanity in th e sa"Ie Y~~N.Sway as Catntres. by acting more human {and by their

players then 'pending the appropriate hperie~ce points). O N . { ~ D~oN.Experience cannot overcome the dhampyr's maximumHumanity, however- the playercan.never raise the Trait For the most part, a dhampyr is a dhampyr. Regardless

higher than (10 . [P'o + Age Background)). Increasing of who btrthed them and under wh'!,t"Cjrcumsrances, the

Humanity increases available JOSSI bursimplv 'spending] oss halt-damned have essentially the.same abilities and weak-

...does not qualify the.charexer for a Humantrv increase. -.. nesses. The circumstances of their upbringing determine

Dhampyrs can also beat the Demon down (and play- how they go about rh'ej_r p rolonged and eventful lives.

ersreduce the P'0rating) givenq.i5ciplineand dedication, There are, however, so e creatures w ho ~rs.s~ibut it's not easy. The Twilight Child Jiust commit some- dhampyrs intfterrad:itionalsenseo/narereetedtothern. These

act that denies the P'o and-connec ts him more than ever "cousins" to the Sbade Walkers are rare buds indeed, espec ia l lyto his human side, Ultimaielx, it', up to the Storyteller to IIn the case of the mythical [inHaL :They serve ~ reminders \



the dhampyrs'roots and aswarn ings of the,r possibleIilte,and

can fill such rolesin aShade Walkerchronicle. In jhe twilight of the Third Age:' the Wan XianThe following information isintended far the Story- indulged in dep ved acts for their own glory and forgot

teller as the Jin Hai and -Makcro Hike are primarily their duties. The Golden Children con'fromed their de-

antagonists a nd con ta cts for dhampvrs. Players m ay w ish b ased paren~ in the hopes of reversin g the dama e, The

to stop reading here so as nor (0spoil any secrets. , Immortals of Meru listened with amusement as mere

• ,,~. babes talked of t~(Uming of the Ages, the dire conse-) I " ' ~ . ...,LD"~ OF""nm C;ODS quences of stealingl:h!}ron;l rr.e world and ,the responsl-

Eons ago, in the Age ·of Legends, ,lie mighty Ten bilinesof th'eWan "xian. They slaughtered rhe.assernbled

Thousand Immortals walked the lands. Answering the [inHattn a n , o r g y ofblood ahd outrage. The'screams afthemandate of Heaven, they Quilt great cities and fought Children.mingled with the-laughter of their parents.

mighty beasts. The mountains laughed with their joy and· But the [in H,i were-rtgbr.The Wan Xian fen from

the skies cried with their sadness. They were the Wan grace , the Age turned and [he orldcried our ln pain.Xian•• nd they were wondrous indeed. ;

The Immortal, loved witl~m e passioh'of [he storms, ~IIU UID $~O.

and )hildren were born of their unions with [he mortals The slaughter of the Golden Children offended the

,.,hom they guarded. At times, these children became Scarlet Queen most of all. Products oflifmmd passion, the

Wan Xian thernselve - guided through the tests left by lin Hat had been her gift to th e Wan Xtan. Unlike the

the August Personage for [hi ve'r;ypurpose. At other A\lgusd,'erscnage, she did norcornpletely tum her back on

times. these offspring remained mortal bu tsnll had a spark the Immortals . Inste ,.she created a way to remind the

of the divine. These were the Golden Children, standing Immortalsof theu most terrible crime' and the reasons forbetween man and god - the J in Hai. their curse. He, instrument was the Golden Children.



TIE 1U.. . . "'q ~ ,

The Golden 'Children believJ tIlat the Sca:HetQueen

had greater plans ~o[ their 'iblinl' than to ~i~ple

reminders of pa,t crimes. Dn.mpy~e the brave lin-Ba! "little"as you Lke. If you're feeling especially a. ty, the

who saw the currungcfrhe Age com[iij!apd~towarn whole Golden Children story might be a trick b¥ an

th eir p aren ts, T he y fa ile d once', b u t t he s ur vi vi n i)i n tla~ espec(ally sk ill& :l-Y am a,Kin g l_ '_,

believe th ey have a secon d chan ce , .. • : A g s Has ' 4 5 Price:Thesurviving] to Hai are mong.

The Sixth Age, wQrstfof~allche stops of the. Gr.," thioldes~Ereature"in [he WorldofDa[kne".Alt~"",gh.

W heel, is ~ n the hortaon.Ifhe Kuei-jin ra~ainst th iS' (hey~re s t.i ll arouJ !d ! t h ey are ~ardly i Inmensk ly powe rf u l.fate in typical fa'h'iltn, byscrambling feL5helti!r.,erp.,", Most ofwhatever "wodd,shakmg" pqwertneY'1'ight have

It IS up to the half-damned tg).ad thf struggle tlt-effi\e~.~has been,.spep1"!ceepipgthemseive, alive. They are.

avert the Age of Sorrow 6sse~ ,uffeling to ~ome. v?r)l:kno.wle'ag<;llbte.ndhave somefanrastlc.abllntes (se

So the J InHallry, to .orgami' tliftiilf>dlUllfled ,nd sidebar), but they .re.basH:"Ill',.0[d mbn and women -

show them their hlglie':purpo,e, The.Golden CRiIJl.-T1 •wise.but frail. if.

Feng is the me t active, havintreve:a. led hlrnself tc th_ _ Myst'eny ls Key: Revea l the tru th slow lv. Th e namre

Shade Walker J1pK.LWai'who then sent his ipf..rno~s ci£th",dbillIlPyrscsoolsand the survivalofa:few Jin Hai 'Ue

letter to his brethren (see page 33-36). He currently secrets that.should take time to uncover. Let players ,lowly

makes his home in Hong Kong, .Oiher lin~rar~et1iad('tf!~1:tye"bfmysteryaroundtheircharacte".Don't

operating ja Singapore and ~1!.e~else he.-half' let th e truth stand out I much - have other possibilities

damned congregate. . . .-,..,.;,.., ~ ~ floedng around. Tou Mu mighr be behind it all, no?

5 U P I • Thet_Motivat. Instead of Acting' TheJin Hai do'RIlI,nE '1 _ _ ,. no 'b"hev.e the can save the world; they believe thatThe lin H ai are me~tto b e l! !g en d rfig ure s, m y th ic al7- ' d h a m p . y r s can.;.a;:~5~t.h,t h ey . a ct asdlsran m e nt ors, t ry in g

rem~antsu.f a m o!e glo~~ousp ast .Jb ey ca n serv~ to p ush a to gu ide th e S ha de W a lk ers toward t e ir desrirw. Your

physical, visceral chronicle of rh~ha!f~dalTlIlld J;I1to.more chronicle is abou t th e play ers' characters, not abou t

spiritualma.t~ers.Toporaay thesurvivlng Golden Children a ncie nt d em ig od s. L et the-eharactersjshange th e wor,d ;

in the . right lig ht . k ee p t H e fpll~ir:g elenien~ in mind; th e lin Hai missed th'el t chance-ages a g o .

• YouDon't~e.dtoUs.Th.m''fheJinHaid5n:t r ,

have a place in every chronicle featuring dhampyrs. They r I l E - ~U"O \ " , t : : : . O .add a legendary level ro-play that might nor be, welcome. • E I O _ " " " ~ '11m .B u • . . , . . .Even ifyou us, t!l_erevelation rhat dhampvrshavejtn Hai ~~': OF' "" ,

ouls, you can easlly rule that all theGo[d~n Children' . 'If the jin Hai are echoes 'of the heroic past, then tHedied at the end of the Third Age. Use them asmuch or as " M a k U [ Q Hiko-c- the "Black Sun hildren" - areportents

I ' ..

T he Scarlet Q u ,e;n venr1r'ed ~ntoth e rea lm s of Y in

'and Yomi - at g;:eat~isk to, herself - and collected rhe ..., .OW'Q.I

'!Pul,of t1-i.emurdered Chilclt;n. Shethen,wove them into ~ m. 'IIlIIHO'W"" Third /'fge, the Golden Chtl-

- lhe pattern e f Yang, blessing (or cursing) ch e ~lIen 1IIll'llt"""w,"", TIe f e w who still surviveIImmortals (now th e Wan Kuej ) with 11.eabi1ity to have foeme r glorv-c-most of

children. Each dhampvr was born ~th the ,oul,of a .n'., . . '·hall.. . . '" spept_Iy on the job ofGolden Child; a 'r emm d e r o f the crimes o f the Th i rd Age. , ; ,IIEMllIVl.Vir,O

The urge.to procr~te uted that Yar:.g-adilledWan

Kue . always p roduced ,ome half-damned reminders .

But not al l ihe Jiy- died at Meru. A l e w refused to

co nfro n~th etrp arentS-d tro "$ m lSp taced .lo ya ity, co ward ;

Ic e or the realizatio tha t such a alan 'Vasdoomed. The~ qlin d ista nt la nd s-a nd were.spared m e b!)ln' of thejAugust

Per5Q11age '5 'CU~. W;ve r t ru ly immortaI1~~lr parents ,

theyst i l lhadi i lespans ~3Sll[ed in milleniiia~~arlflgin jury !

they could survive to se e th e world c~mb l e . .. .rOund £9.em.

, ly a handful"<\fJin Hai fe'l)ainee a(ier the slaugh-

ter, and the hardships-of die Fourth andr-illh Ages bave

c la im e d m ost ofrbose survivors, Somecommit tedsu ic1de

_ rather than watch th~r1d die>and others have

p ea ce in dtsraru reaims. There.are ma y b e t hre e orHaisrtll ~motely acnve in ·the Middle K in gd om . ~ ~"'''''" ,"_ .•

have a pian.



..J

d ~ ~, '.'. _ . . . - . s 63-. . . ~ :' \--~ ,_ . . . . ~~ -

of the homflc night to come. The .atomic weapons that are t h e o f fs p r in g ofbakemono and mortals and serve-as th e

destroYe9[heJa.t?a.n~ecitiesofHiroshiMaanaNagas~kiip. Celestial Devils' aids in punishing the unrighteous.Isee

1945 a l s o tainted the island nation's Chi -c-permanendy, Dh;rnia Book:' Devil ..Tigers for m9re~ T h e Genji ex-perhaps For 55)<ears, thegaJd (japan'sKuei-iin) .n~ other penmenratton.wtrh the Makuro'Hfko, h'l'"~ver, is start-

local shen have struggled against the effect, " I f the dark ing to anracr' attention across the Dharma.

ener~ that f1bws through their ~ome" dragon rra cks. . S~;'e of the other Japanese uji also quietly disregard

Everyrhing from chaos among theuJ'to the riseofpowerful the Btshamon ban on dharnpvrs . Their children bear

akuma hat been blamed on (he tainted.Cht. deformities but a~rarely as monstrous as the results of

Among the problem. blamed On the I:\uming is the in,tention ial:Genji e'xpdimentation. /.

twisted condition of Japanese dhampyrs, or maiko.,OaIoWh9 mate with humans while gorged ori taInted Yang Chi ~$ OF'IME 8u~N.C;Shave an even srnaller chance of conceiving a child, and Mos,japaneseShade Walkers notbred by theGenji onfy

b ir th d e fe cts a re a certainty. Japanese dhampyrs w ho display a - f e w d e fom titie s. "'T h ey m a r& ;. b lin d, h a ve a tw i ste d

survive bear the scars of their 131m, rangtng from simple limb or.bear oter phYSical problems. They l/"ve the same

deformities to outright mons(,o,itie,.' bill;ic abIlities-as otherShMe Walkers-In addition to phYSIcal

The Bishamon uji decided years ago thar'it was bestjo deformi t ie s , they often 'have m~ developed Demon souls.

sJ.!spe d all procreation until the poisoned dragon nests of Genji Maku r o Hik a re m o re d is tin G tiv e. Their par-

H iro sh im a a nd N aga sa ki G ou ld be c le a n se d , B i sh amongak i enrs - b o th m orta l and Kue l- jin ~ are ritually infused

can-petitionto beallowedto crea te a>Hhampyr, but must go with ta1 'n te dC hJi th eva re typ ica lly co nce ive d a nd b orn i nthroughadearuingcerernonyandtraveltoforei~,landsto d ra go n ne sts InH iro sh im a. o r N agasa ki . .rrh ay are sub -

drink of untainted-Chi. Few have made the rul'\tion, and jet red to tortures to engorge the, P'c. 'Ihetr living side "

Jap ane se d h am p yrs unde r th e age o f 6 0 a re ra re . • eroded in th e inte re sts o f ra1 islng d evils, -

At least among th'e'Bish.mon. The Genji 'have a very \ Joss flows around the Makuro Hiko in a twisted and

d iffe rent - and ve ry se cre t - o pinlo n.Ove r 'the la st 30 m ote savage m anne r ..; t. .u ck ,.y" e ;.Jents still se em to p ro te ct

years, Genji Devil- Tigers have been intentionally "breeding them;from harm, Sut usually at the expense o r thosedhampyrs tainted b y me Burning. TheYIl.0rge themselves on ".;aun them, B~ir:gd1e friend ofsueh a creature is towalk

cOi'fiJp(~d Yangand mate roclrtple times, trvlng to create th e W I th a k arm ic ta rge t o n you r pack, Th is ta inte d 'joss

most monstrous offspring-they can. Their experiments have guarantee, that a Black Sun Chilll, already twisted phy,"

achieved '0,,\. tlUlv hon:ific results -\:he Makutc Iflko" cally and mentally, cannot build lasting relationships,

Most Devil. Tigers do ~t create dhampyrs anti prefer The'MakuroHiko have almost universally become bitter,

to ra.is~anReti."GueUns[ea.d ..These uhalf#de- onp ee p le " a lie na ted lo ne rs __;. . .__.ngry a t (h e w orld and h ap p y to l is tento their Demon souls. Genji Devil ..Tigers watch them,

tlYing to direct them to righteous 'lets - like the torment

oJ the wicked-c- with limited success.

Many of the Makuta Hiko bear physical deformities

th t grant [hem advantages in combat, similar in many

ways tK twis t ed endown'\enjS o f b ak emono o r the

Demon otuntai form Coupled with their rage, this makes

r-plll'~l:IIa~I;,;'"n Children ,avage fighters indeed.

All,D C o t c n I ' m _ -th~ GenJi Ele.viLTigerswhocreated thertare.

20 or so.J31 un.Chtldren.thee have

a te sim p ly promiSing expertmenrs. The

.Genji hope to use, the,e Sh.dCWal~ rs ;,; weaponsagai"st the Bishamon or'ather enemies. I ( q,e fury of theMakuro Hike cannot be tamed, they may Just be released

in enemy courts to wreck havoc. " \_

'" 'The'~w whd~o\l> of the dhampyrs' pasllives re"lire

that these experiments are a far more serious.matter. 'Ihe

G&nji are int~rrtionaUy twisting tnesoulsof)'r.Hai an~ in all

likelihood damning t~emfO! orru. Fot eGol~n Children

who believe dhempvrs-have a role to play in the SiXth Age

this isJl W'3;vem~t~~.· dee~ -'- one that might require die

destruction of th1':,.,~k Sun Children altogether.

T~o Ma~uro EJiko have alread~fallen to a dem"onof thephih, guided there by th lin Hai, Ti Feng,

~



1 _ , , , -

, . - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ - - - - - - - -" 'nil H.UHBI",' C~.n [ianglu has not only spawned alm;;'t dozen

Following are statistics for a Makuro Hiko. Some of children of his own) but enc~utages l~isallies amon~ thetheir mutations come in the form of bakemono powers _emperorS to do so as w~l1.H Is hope 1. S to slowly build a

'( see Kindred of the East, pp"2,19-nO). powerfulgroup ofunderlings with which he can eventualiv

/ Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity' 4) Stamina 5, Cha- ensure the true independence of the Golden 'LloI;l~urt

3 MI' Z A . . 0 P' . -3 from the courtsofthe,penangallan. Hisclosesralllesbeheoerisma , - anipu anon , ppearance-v, ercepnon t ih h h I h bo ddesi f ; lnd dIntelligence 2 . W its 3 at ~ ~ a ways a ,r _re ,eslres. or po,:~r In epen ent

Abilities: Alermess Z, Athletics 3) Brawl S.Dodge.J, from the J~ngle queens, "butthat .hls ambitions truly roo];I . idati 4 M I 2 . ihape dunng WWll. A[ [hat time, the queens of thennffil, a:lO~" , - ie ee. .. Golden Courts sanctioned the gaki of the Bishamon uji toDl~lRhn~s/Powers: Basslv~ Joss, :-Iesh Shintai 1, take over Singapore under cover of the Japanese occupa-

Armor, Claw. & Eangs, Qt!. LImb (t ai i) tion. The Golden Queens hoped th e Blshamon wouldhunt

Virtues: Conscience I, Self~Connol 2, Cour~~e:5, down British and other Kin-jin lurking in the oity (which

P'o 3, Humal'ity 3 I ~I they did) and were happy to overlook the destruction of

Willpower., 6 ~ Chinese Kuei-jin and dhampyrs in [he.city, Chan - who

Merits & Flaws, Tainted J9ss , ~ barelyescaped thegak,-hasneverfQtgiyen [hepenangallan

Notes: Makuro Hike suffer a + 1«ifr(colty penalty to Singapore's other ancestors generally support the,idea

resist fire soul. ofeventua l lvsepara t ing themselves fro m th e jungle queens,

but many fear Chan may move too quiGkly,They also

wonder whether he [5 using his dhampyric offspring to

"create power for himself at their expense. Over the la5[35years or ~I a d9 .ampy ri b .. a rms race o f so rts h as developed,

with various Singaporean Kuet-jin breeding orwelcoming

half-damned refugees.Over the last decade, the fruits of

much ofthis breedinghave come toage, and the population

ofdhampvrs in the < i C y has swollen to several score.

Some of the mbre prominent naif-damned residents

of the Lion e;lr; include the follOWing:. .

T he iS la nd cirv-sra re o f Singapore, ju st o ff the south-

ern tlp ofMalava.srands as a beacon of economic prosper-

ity and rigid social control in Southeast Aesa. In, the

shadows of the Middle Kingdom, the towering edifices of

the city shelter the Golden Lion Co~r.t, a holdout against

the powers of the Kuei-jin p e T l l l n g a l l a n queens-who rule

the region. For the Hungry Dead, the court issomething

of a joke, a citadel that continues to exist at the pleasure

of the fractious queens of the surrounding j;;;;gles. For lu H C R , . t . z y ~ C M ja c . . . . . . . . . . ~

dhampyrs, however, the city is a rare gatheting point, Th~on of Chan [ianglu's r iyal Dabari Su~ai.~rryw he re th e y a re m.ade welcome and ca.n plan. for the future. Chin is the president of the Singapore lnternattonal

Storytellers who wish corun chronicles with a gro~H Investirrent'Corporatton, a major 'Player in tQ:efJ~a,n~laofhalf-damned characters can useSing;;tpore~s.a s1:flrtin~ shenanigans of the, island nation. Ctat.y Lam got his

point. This brief overview of the court should glVl:.You moniker right after ~ took over the reigns of SlIC in the

enough material to kkk's1!aitYJ)ur ?_wnimag'inanon a?d ~,IU980"(ld led it through aseries of risky investments,set a chronicle in motion. From SrngapeI ' t ' ; .ha _group; of all of which paid off despite the predictions of doom

dhampyrs couldeasilvhead to other locales-c-sudras (he coming from analysts-across [ne globe. The SlfC corpo-

other dhampvuc gathering point in Hong Kong or even r!!£eheadquarters-calledChin's Folly by some-c. isnow

the Californian from of the Great Leap Ourward. a1l'"indeliblepareof the Singapore skyline.

D.UIL.IED .uD ~&. -.. D......ED '. SlIC a_nd.allits holdin~ forma potent Scarlet Screen....... ..... nau-' ~.. -.for I)ah.,iSU1.laiand his wu, [he FireLorus Brorheis, and

The warm reception Twilighr-Chilclren receive a n [hey accord LarryChina level ofrespect rhar would shock

Singapore isdue to the efforts ofChar, J tanglu-one oi.the most members of"'1:heQuincunx. Bur larrY is well awareGolden Lton Emperors who hasbeen in-the city for ov r that he ismerely a favored pet of the Fire Lotus despite all

a century. Diltiog the period of British rule, when various he.~ne-fQr them. Fie never passeson the opportunity

Kin~jin thought they owned the Singaporean night, Chan - - = to establish fils own-avenues of power" As such, he is a

wasbuilding Scarlet Screens among the Chinese popula- ma)orplayer in the development of thedhampvr cornmu-

tion to prepare the way for a rekeoyer of m e island - nity lnjhe City, fie also spends some days at the Lexiconnominally on the behalf of the,perumgaililnof the Golden Club, well aware of Its Yowp.wned atmosphere, Per-

Courts. A follower ofthe Wayef [he Respleadenr Crane, haps foolishly, he believe. that his j o s s will guide him

Chan nevertheless had a taste for Yang and knew' [~ safely through any deals he has tomake with Mikaboshi.

benefits of loyal. offspring. Among his most prominent tr..¥ -, _'.children were Sarah Tau who was at various times a - - -a-$UIlJnl. Aov)so",- '[I) 'nil EHPI",O",

",miS[reS5 and secjetary to' several' Brtnsh offiCials, and. AsfarasCh~nJian~luisconcemed.~ya~i5·th~Chan Luwan, who has served as pre.iaent of the Trans- half-damned child of a penangallanwrlo""diedat the han&

China Shipping Company~since 1975. - of the Kin-jin several centuries ago.Nor especiallv power-.



~:"-II'o ,'D,.;""" ,;, "1 l i P . . . . i, _ - - @« '\ - - ..J " ... -

ful in '"lYI physij:,,1 '~y, this sligh! Malay woman is' • In [he s~.d()ws, the unltvlrrg players'Ol the-Middle

fo,rtu!l~t~ler a~"'tlOl~r without compare. Cor(lbJ.1.~ng,Kin~d~~ stake o~t~eit havens, Th~ K\,ei.j;n ate the

# th~ar~p~~~se .~~lo therschoo ofso~;erowpract1ce preerrunent p ow e r In th e cuv, b u t th e larie numb e r o f

and a naruraLcuAnec:tton to th",way, of J O > S , she ! dv lS e • • dhampy"gives/theh.lf.d.n'lnedsOlne.s~qal't.tus. Places

these , ! I e deems wenhy, Her towf.sel has helped!Chan, frequented by th"Shade Walkers of Singapore (ndodc :

once~{bWlYjiba in . ' R e ' p l e n < l e n , Crane tem~.renear the ':0 'Gulf. T~nkiIl, rtv0'~ ~nSingapore, He" warnings CAFi'. MUO ,allowe un to survive rheg@dpurges m th~ \,940. and [0 • Down Vtctorra-Street tram the Malabar Mosque 10

stav~offhis ene~ssince th~ He is totally upaware that rhe "'rab Quarter i<the-smail Cafe Ornani. ,bne of many

I i i "is Ifut a awn in !-i'roWn pl~ for the.~ixth i\ge~ Middl Eastern coffee h~uses in the colorful Muslim

• Max:'Surita is in tact ,\Ji Hai, Jp.'of the Golden ne,~hborhOOd,theQmaml>operatedbyJ.rIlallbI\"N.Slt,

Child,<p- esceped th e ,laught!" atMo I,ltMeru to the ', a dhampyr of almost or;,e hundred yean; who. Malay

liIirdA:~ ... d hatlawai~ a time toatone forhe, coward- father had established several Scarlet Screens among the

ice.New, .. theWl'n1d.lurchesinpl!fte AgepfDarkneSi, s.he Muslims of the.cLty.[arnal s~whis immor\.'\!father killed

hasIngineered aluWenior he?'pilirual kirl,'the.dhampyrs. dm:mg the japanese.oceupatlo_n and has been. free agent

Ch"')'s d,reartlS'Ifan.independefu Goldenf~ Court~' •• ersinse. Mostly loyal!o the',Golden Lion Emperors in

Wll'~d\stract inher~tobulloo'OCI.tyl:>fdhampyrs ~he!;struggks against the Km~Jm,,:,d th1'l"'"=gallan, heI.who can act to-push the wor l d back into tlte light. is-prtmartlvmreres ed 'In assuring hts ow n future and tha

.. ~ r: .. ~ t - of thealslamic jpopulation ~ which he\ '(.onsirlers his

~ ~ l 1 l i 1 1 , , . . pnvare concern. In recent de~ades, as me ",u'mber of

One oHlll;_:.aughters ofChan-jianglJ, Alinl'came of dhampvrs has swollen, he has seen the potentia] of erg.·

gc almost a decade ago and bnly emerged (u' into the ruzing the half-damned. I! ciety of the Golde1H:lon Court.last ,teal.:J;he lnteweh- \ Fg! the fast five years, Cafe Omani has served as a

. mg yeatsw'ere spent trainio;wwith o.er falfie, and Maea neutral ground forthe Cl!y'S d~ampyrs.lt has seenjhe sons

J ,.nt~,ru\~ld:\lydh ..mpyrwnoh~ lon{advised him. s e n anddaughtersofimmort"f tival~meet to settle arguments.

>'\'jllIl}g,.Alma nevertheless has the aura of great thmgs lLh~ een refuge~sfrdm the Jungles ofscutheast Asia seek

~bout"~ Her father-has afranged fof h~r.to becohte a sl(ttter from t h e pe~ngallan. Visitors from as far away as

police !rspecoot a f ,0snion of great~aulliority ill( the ~ong Kong and Toky" have cctrre [Q Hand with the i r

climate of Taw and order mat dominar~s S! aJX)r6.:rh1t kind. Maya Surita has a oom upstairs in the .hcte] tha t

-I\'.Q.menrarely J{old such positions j" '" emph'l'i:oe&-iler surmounts the cafe special guests may consult-with her.

-exce tional.namre an.d'hepower oHier I;0lit1yal~, b oth 'morta l a n a im_mort'li . 'Jf..-/\!. l U ! C O I f ClIIa

l.I' lina is loyal toher damned fath r;butnot blllHi.y so. A warehouse -10 the crowded port area of Singapore

~ ~ently ~ame" lial~on,'a L"':, Sl'fa+~, of hides the darker reflection of the Cafe Omani. The mortal~e. boo Princes w ho v sited Smgapore and t:'Wress.ed end immortal powers that be in Singapore have created a

an i ~ t it\. the ~lf.d~moecJ,,~peror Ch~'( w;mled his strict regime oftaw and order that driyes a variety ofstns

_d.~ r to sound tiut the K'fi,i-iin ,evolptiO~~'lI,~l>ejf into-the sh'!,d3ws- 'he Le~icon Club is the darkest of" tt alliance against ,h. {><TUlngdilan might oe j ; a ! . ,hes.shadows. ~veryKlndofIUegalpleasurec.nbehada,

_""- -,.l,_.Alinadidso,butsHe"lsotooksom.q£LaoH-pO~iti~al the club, all under the watchful e.ye of a Thousand

eronc a heart. Hi,lne"age of acting tQ.S)1.keofi;\h~isp~r ]iDa named Sale Nadir, -

domination of the anc~ts somehow r eso 'n~~ed with th Dhampyrs are we lcome . in m e Lexicon €Iub ana can

lessons R f ' self-reliance. taught 'J I h~.),y her turor Maya -find several pleasures liard to <;pmeb y elsewhere. M a sSurita. ~e l\~ ~ding time at Cafe Omani, an , in fam.~~ne Red Room a chamber deepjn.Jhe:w~:re~

,Arab Quar?'er haunt for dliarnpyrs in the.cttv. t . '.,._house >lllere Clhampyrs.<o¢rct!Ctei.jinalike are free to•. Alina-just might find'hi,r;d~tiny tliere, .pracrtce debased c . itrillism,..Ss*k N qir assigoed hi'

-'" . ~ .. -daughrer Sami .. to the '!'askof rurtfling the Red Room,

, ~ T O ' : ; 0 " .p E O P L E ' ' '~ K. imenaing" it to be a ,.[v.ice for Rui.tly f~oaing hi n who

J • Sin~a~"t is a bierid ojpeoples and styles. A port city co~ld_not yet extrac~Chi from bl~,," .. \

'at gre 0 m.xtem heights in oclonial_d.ys, it- has Man~pev'ITlge~dotheflnqUl5ltorsoltheunh:ln~. r cted a-rm . ulation incJuding (among orners) havethoughtthatSalekJ;;JadlrmlgRlbeanakuma.Bu!19f~c~

'--- a y';'Chinese,Arabs Indians. i\\S'aleg.cyofdivide. he isdamnedonly byhis ignorance, He t;rhev':theLex,con

a ~.~le>pohcie~, et!>';i\..c unit,.;'; still. ~e their club to.be an in;portant ourlenfor dark m g e l ~a wyruled• b : a d j al neighborhoods that ect unique styles and wtrhsuict morallw. H'elsun~warethathlSdauglite,",ongago,.

a n:r ut. . . t ~ ;. MO¥lU.<!I'.:J:!indu,te les and Brit1.!h."ra. ~ve herse~f.toM_ika!losh" h e Yama King of the Wlcked

-J:otds*,ark tli city'sh'eritage.l'he; lseof the mode", C,tycWltheve~ocent ~rphan or ~mpnson~ddrug pod-

.,.economic ml",,,le of Singapore has addeveneer ofnigh 81e,who joms thfm~nu ofthe RedRoo,.!",onemore mcfiof

jitfmanc to the tradingport. ~ ,. : SJn~pore ,;,ergesw i f h the urban hell 0 1 Y om i,









..-.f'lAHIt.

CHIlONleu.

I4AfUlti. Af.Alfd.f

f"0 I4AfUlti. "nim,..fl,f

DIMlANOIto n,~{"d

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ U ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -OCIAL

CONCIP'. (,fUf, Pfi (,,.,(df

t'AItINYAOI.

W ' U .

Strength 0 0 0 Charisma 0 0 Perception 0

Dexterity 0 0 0 0 Manipulation 0 0 Intelligence 0 0

Stamina 0 0 0 Appearance 0 0 0 Wirs 0 0

----------48'..",0----------TI\LINTI II(ILU QlOWlI~11

Alertness 0 0 0 AnimalKen_O 0 0 0 0 Academics 0 0 0 0 0

Athletics__ -_-_-0 0 0 0 Drive 0 0 0 0 0 Computer 0 0 0 0 0

Brawl 0 0 0 0 0 Etiquett __ • 0 0 Finance 0 0 0 0 0

Dodge __ 0 0 0 Firearm _ 0 0 0 0 Investigation_. 00 00Empathy O000 0 Martial Arts 0 0 Law 00 0 0 0

Expression O0 0 0 0 Mele 0 a a 0 a Linguistics 0 0 0 a aIntimidation 0 0 a Performance_ • _ a a a Medicine a 0 0 a 0

Leadership O00 00 Security 0 a 0 0 a Occult •• 0 0 0

Streetwise Oa 0 0 a Stealth ••• a a Politics •• 0 a 0Subterfuge 0 a a Survival o a 0 0 a Science a a 000

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - A D V ~ o - - - - - - - - - - - - -

fONYI iCAL

INCW ".ILITIII

P'WwIiw 00000

8ACKGItOUNII$ VlltfUll

<IF-----__;- • - - 0 Conscience •• 0a0Self-Control__. __0

YinChi LI LI LI LI LI

,4d1Jo.llft 00000 [ 4 f . ! .

- • •a a

~£b1t i . _0000 00000

& J r i t .~ " i t 1 ' - . 00 a 00000

00000 00000

Courage' -'_•• _0

YangChi LI LI LI LI LI

HUMANtn'IIIAL!H

O!Hllt TlUUTI

M e l / t 'l l 1 m. _ 0 00 ••••••0000 ~ 0100000 JOII Hurt -1 0100000 0000000000 Injured -I 0 1

00000 Wounded -2 0 1

00000 WILll'OWl1t Mauled - 2 0 1

00000••••000000 Crippled -5 QI

00000 DQDDDDDDDDIncapacitated 0 1

00000 -.ml00000

..0

.00000000000000 "nz ,0000

00000 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

00000DIMON CHI



Preludes Your life' as.a pretty normal-one, all things cons lde r ed , Born {O - well,

adopted bv, as yo-ft-foundoUl: later- a middle class family in~a~n, you grew up with

a loving mother ana1a.rneTI a kid sister-and an attitude. You were a sharp kid, and it

didn't take you long to figure out\ho-w ~ood you were at games of chance. Pretty soon,

no one. not even your own mother ana father, would play gameswith you.They got

tire d o f lo sing.

Schoo l w as a b re e ze fo r you even thou gh yo u d idn 't p ay much a tte ntion, and you

graduated without a problem.. From there 'it was on to the university, just like your

p a re nts w anted . Bu t as m uch as you ap p lied you rse lf , it w asn't long b efo re you w ere

d itch ing class to hang ou t in th e gam bling ha lls ne ar th e .camp H ere you r a ffin ity

fo r gam es o f ch ance ,B lo sso me d into a fu ll-b lo wn ta le nt fo r ga rnb lip g.

Then m e b ottom fe llOu t. You rem emb er it so w ell. Ove r a m illion US do lla rs

r id ing on one d ie ro ll, and you w0l\. T oo b ad th e ga mb ling h a!l.!>:lliL ng ed to rna

Triad b oss. H is thugs in te rroga ted la te r, o ok i?p lO t th e money YQ l!'d

won, and when they ut abullet In your head and



J4I\MI,

'PLAY'llb

CHRONICLE.

!oIATUD. r;',1I1-6,,£.,

... 0 !oIAJUD, ~.II••rD.MIANOR, ru /l ••• iv.,

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ U ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -OCIAL

CONe.PT. /l •• '/Ii .,h"61.,,

f'AIlI,"AGI.

Wu.

Strength •• 0 00 Charisma ••• 0 0 Perception •• 0 0 0

Dexterity •• 0 0 0 Manipulation_ •••• 0 Intelligence_ •• 0 0 0

Stamina •• 0 0 0 Appearance_ ••• 0 0 Wits •••• 0

- - - - - - - - A a ' L J 1 l E S - - - - - - - -LEHlS SKILLS QtOWU_.S

Alerrness ••• 0 0 AnimalKen_O 00 0 0 Academics 00 00 0

Athletics •• 0 0 0 Drive • 0 0 0 0 Computer • 0 0 0 0

Brawl • 0 0 00 Etiquett 0 0 0 0 0 Finance .' •• 0 0

Dodge •• 0 0 0 Firearm ••• 0 0 Investigation_ 0 0 00 0Empathy o 0 0 00 MartialArts..__ •• 0 0 0 Law •• 0 0 0

Expression O0 000 Melee 00000 Linguistics O0 0 0 0

Intimidation__ • 0 0 0 0 Performance_ .O 000 Medicine O0 0 0 0

Leadership O00 00 Security 0 0 00° Occult °0 0 0 0Streetwise •••• 0 Stealth •• 0 0 0 Politics 0 0 0 0 0

Subterfuge •••• 0 Survival O0 00 0 Science O0 0 00

f'HYSICAL HI,"AL

- - - - - - - - - - - - ~ V ~ E S - - - - - - - - - - - - -SP.CIAL &8ILITI... JlJ\CKGIIOUNDI

e......v . . 0 0 0 0 0 " , , y . , , , , : u . . . - " • • 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

______ ,0 0 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

~h < ~f,"'m ~ ~. • • • •~&~M~W~OL-_ ~. • • • 0

_____ ~O 0 000

_____ ~O 0 000

V l IlTU ••

Conscience •••• 0

Self-Control •••••

YinChi 00000

COurag'--- ~ ••• 00

YangChi 00000

OTHIII TlUUYS

______ 0 0 0 0 0

______ 00000

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

_____ ~O 0 000

_____ ~o 0 000

_____ -------'000000

_____ ~O 0 0 0 0

_____ -------'00000

____ ~O 0 0 0 0

00000

HUMANITY

••••••••• 0

)011

0000000000

W'ILLPOWlII

•••••••000

0000000000

...

.000000000. . . . . , .1

0000000000DIMON CHI

HlALTH

Bruised

Hurt

Injured

Wounded

Mauled

Crippled

Incapacitated

o·10·10·2 0-2 0·50

o

It,ml



But your mothe r w as aha rsh task misrress and d id no t su ffe :Qeven rh esligh test fa ilu re easily. You chaffed under he r

heavy hand. After a century of taking care of things for her, you were ready fo r a little more autonomy. When you saw

a chance to b re ak fre e o f h e r . you did. You decla re d you rse lf h e irnin and , once you had ap p roval f rom . the ancesto rs,

became an intermediary and spy for the Quincunx. It's been over 50 years since that day, and.vou'r still not sure i f

your mother has forgiven you yet.

Your life was a . fascinating and eventful one for many_years,and you did not

a ll rh a r you ne ed ed fo r h ap p ine ss. Then, last ye a r,

Wai shortly b e f o r ei, death. Y : : o ~ U ; ~ . I i ~ a ~ d ~ n ~ i e ~ v i e i r ~ ! ~ ~ ~ !ruth, that burned in that ;:



-----~--

IllALIHOTHI. 'mAlT' HUMANITY

00000 •••••• 0000Bruised 0

00000 JO •• Hurt -1 000000 QQQQQQQaoo Injured -I 000000 Wounded -2 0

00000 W'ILLPOWI. Mauled -2 0

00000 ••••000000 Crippled -5 0

00000 0000000000Incapacitated 0

00000 ~Ins00000

P'O

.00000000000000 . . . . . ,0000

00000 0000000000

00000 DIMON CHI

"IATUD. ",.,f"

P'O "IATUD. fA. ",,.{.,

DIMIANOIb t.."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ O ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -OCiAl

,._.ftJ\YI ••

CH.ONICU.

COMClH. , 1 " . 1 . " ' . . . " , " '~AItINTJlGI.

W ' u .

HlNTJII

Strength •• 0 a 0 Charisma ••• 0 0 Perception •••• 0

Dexterity. •• 0 0 0 Manipulation_ ••• 0 0 Intelligence_ ••• 0 0

Stamina •• 0 a 0 Appearances;_ •• a a 0 Wits ••• a 0

-------- ... ,..".,1$ --------I I \UNT. _ILLS QlOWUDGII

Alertness •• 0 0 a AnimalKen__O 0 a 00 Academics 0 00 0 0

Athletics •• 0 0 0 Drive •• 0 0 0 Computer • 0 0 0 0

Brawl 0 0 0 0 0 Etlquett ••• 0 0 Finance 0 0 0 0 0

Dodge •• 0 0 0 Firearm •• 0 0 a lnvestigation_ 0 0 0 0 0

Empathy O0 00 0 MartialArts_ •• 0 0 0 Law a 0 a 0 0Expression O0 0 0 0 Melee 0 0 0 00 Unguistics •• 0 0 0

Intimidation__ -_Oa a 0 0 Performance_ O0000 Medicine O000 aLeadership Oa 0 0 0 Security 0 a 0 0 0 Occult 0 a 0 0 0Streetwise •• 0 a 0 Stealth •• 000 Politics •• 00 0

Subterfuge •• a a 0 Survival •• 0 0 0 Science 0 0 a 0 0

'"CUll MllmU

ADv'~ES&A.CKGROUNDI "'.TUII

A I"

•.000 Conscience ·.000

~Wl • •• 00 Self-Control •••• 0

[w • •• 00 YinChi 00000

0000Courage •••• 0

00000YangChi 00000

~8~MW~·~#~.L_ 0 0 000~ ~ ~ . d ~ m m ' ~ ( • 0 0 a a

~ & w ~ q ~ « & ~ Q ~ I • • 0a a_____ 00000

______ 0a000





- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -~I.

PLAYIIII

CHRONI:C&I.

N;A1U1lI. 1 1 , . . ,P'O N;AT,UIlI . rA~P~..,.

ID.IMIANOR. 1'1.1.. ",

~-------Am;aUTES--------SOCIAL

CONCEPT. r,IfI1At lIt"h. ",lfln

PARENTAGE.

W V .

PIIYIICAI MENTAL

Strength •• 0 0 0 Charisma_ •• ' 0 0 0 Perception .' •• 0 0

Dexrerirv; ••• 0 0 Manipulation __ •• 0 0 ° Intelligence_ •••• 0

Stamina ••• a 0 Appearance __ •• 0 0 0 Wits ••• 0 0

---------AB'LfflES,,--------Il\LIN" SKILLS QlOWLIDGES

Alertness •• 0 0 0 Animal Ken __ O0 0 0 0 Academics a 0 a 0 0

Athletics • 0 0 0 0 Drive •• 0 0 0 Computer •• '. 0 0

Brawl •• 0 0. 0 Etiquette O 0 0. 0 0. Finance •• 0. 0 0

Dodge ••• ' 0. 0. Firearm • • • 0. 0. lnvestigation __ •• 0. 0 0

Empathy O0 0 0 0 Martial ArtS-O 0 0 0 0 Law •• 0 0 0

Expression O0 0 0 0 Melee ••• 0 0 Linguistics 0 0 0 0 0

Intimidarion __ O0 0 0 0 Performance_O 0 0 0 0 Medicine •• 0 0 0

Leadersh ip O0 0 0 0 Security 0 0 0 0 0 Occult °0 0 0 0Streerwise •• 00 0 Stealth ••• 00 Polities •• 00 a

Subterfuge_o 0 0 0 0 Survival o 0 a °a Science 0 0 0 0 a

--------------AaV~ES------------SPECIM .. I&ITIII UCKGROUNDS

PA m T . . . . 0 0 a 0 0 " ' A " ' l b. . . - - ' • • 0 0 0______ ,00 0 0 0' ~h~~~«r,u'~_ ~... '.0

______ ,00 0 0 0 , ! j , , " ' " • • 0 0 0

______ ,0a a 0 0 R ,, , , , , , t f • 0 0 0 0

______ 0 a 0 0 0 0 0' 0 0 0

viRTUES

Conscience ••••

aSelf-COntrol •••• aYin Chi 000100

Courage~ ,•• a0Yang Chi 00000

_TH

OTHEIl TIlIUTS HUMl\NI1Y

00000 •••••,•••00Bruised 0

00000 )OIS Hu r t -1 0

00000 00000010000 Injured -1 000000 Wounded -2 0

00000 WILLPOWI.R Mauled -2 0

00000••••••••• 0 Crippled -5 0

00000 00010000000Incapacitated 0

00000 R.IRS

0000090

.00000000000 000 . . . ,0000

00000 000000100001

00000 DIMONlan







71

"Fit(c;" Ctt,lD OF 11K ~E$

Off the coast of Hong Kong, far from the waters

traveled frequently b y modern people, there is a srnall

rocky island. On this island, in a wooden shack, lives a

little old man.

Nobody knows much about.him - in fact, only a

very few people know that he exists at all. Occasionally

a fish erm an sa ils by and se es th e [loy figu re m oving a bo ut

on.the rocks down bVthe waters, pulling in his nets. Or

a hiker on one of the n~ighboring islands might spot ~

distant lantern moving about in the darkness.When

someone actually sets foot on the island. the fisherman

always greets them cordially, introduces himself as Ti

Feng and offers them the hospir ality of his tiny cabin.

Visitors find him an engaging but simple conversation-

alist, given to great rumination on the wind, the water

and the fish.

But the old man has a secret. Ti Feng IS much more

than an impoverished fisherman! contemplating the

nature of the universe on his rocky atoll. He 'is one of[he last remaining Golden Children, the offspring of

the Wan Xian.

Feng was born in what is now mainland China in the

Age of Legends, the product of [he union of a Wan Xian

fa ther and a mo rta l m o th er, Feng w as a . hero in his time,

walking proudly be, ide his Immortal parent. His exploits

were [he stuff of mythology - defeating horrible mon-

sters, making and fulfaling outrageous wagers, and engag-

ing in numerous amorous exploits. The world was his

playground, and Ti Peng played with gusto.

Then came the terrible sickness that afflicted his.

father and rhe other Wan Xtan. Arrogance . Insatiable

hunger for power. Total contempt for the celes ial har-

mony. Ti Feng watched It, agonizing ever.his father's

b efia vto r, b ur d id nothing. Unable to face 'the degene r a -

tion of the man he loved any longer, Ti Feng traveled far

to the north, trying to escape.his nagging conscience in

the solitude of the steppes of Asia. Whne he ran, most of

the other Golden Children conn-anted their parents ~

and paid wi.th their lives. It was a choice he has liegt:ettoo

f o r r rn ll e nn la .Even far from the courts, Ti Feng felt it when tHe

mandate of H eaven w as w ithd raw n from th e Ten ThoJ ..

sand Immortals. He returned to the courts in se-cret.

observing' the twisted monsters that the Wan Kuei had

become and learning the fate ofhis fellow Golden Chil-

dren. Tr Feng turned hi, back on his father's people and

struck our into the world on his own.

The following millennia were long Ones. Tt Feng

traveled from oneend of the earth to the other, seeking

solitude and peace from m e horror of his memories. As

much as he has traveled, he has found little solace.

It was only a hundred yea" ago that Ti Feng (lnally

returned to the Middle Kingdom - and encountered a

dhampyr for the very first time, When he looked at the

offspring of the' Wan Kuei, he saw a soul that was familiar

to him within [he Shade Walker's half-dead body. It was

[he soul of a Golden Child.

In the years since, Ti Feng has studied [he Shade

Walkers as intently as possible without revealing himsel t

to either the dhampyrs or their parents. He now knows

more about the Twilight Children than anyone and has

confirmed that each dhampyr carries within him a soul of

one of the original children of the Wan Xian. As the signsofthe impending Age ofSorrow become ObVIOUS, Ti ~.'ng

has realized that it is time for him to apply some of the

knowledge that he has gathered.

His first attempt was a mirigated success ..He con-

tacted an elder dhampvr - [In Kai Wal - and in-

, formed him of the truth of his history, Whlle he had

intended to use [in Kai Wai to subtly spread the truth

of the spirits within the Shade Walk.", [he dying

dhampvr's '(bulk mailing" technique drew fa more

attention than Ti Feng intended. He is-now laying tow

until the mandarins calm down.

Ti Feng know, that If[he dhampyrs are to play rIleirproper role in the upcoming dmeofrroubles, they must b e

told the [ruth about their souls. Hi, latest candidate far

instruction is Mao Li Wen, a dhampvr who serves among

the Shih demon hunters.

MAo L J W..... .1 IAu - .DEMON, OF 11K SIIJIt

Mao Li Wen's childhood was an ordinary enough

one fer Kowloon in the InOs. Her father workednights and slept all day, .0 Wen didn't eee much ofhim, bur he was loving enough when she did, and hermother more than made up for it. She went to school



~ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -nd grew into her teens, all without" knowing any- this Shih (probably due to her Kuei-jin heritage) and h as

thing was OUI of the ordinary. hatched many aconvoluted plan forMaol.i Wen's deseroc-

Then came that horrible night. As she watched tion . . ItremainslObeseenifthecannydhampyrcansurvtve

through the cracked doorway ofrhe basement, she sawher the focused artentions of the Lord of the Wicked City.

beloved father butcher her mother like a piece of live- Mao L i Wen is not the most powerful opponent that

stock, the blood from her body evapotaling into a red anakumamighdace, but she isarnong the most versatile.

m ist . T he h orrified . teen ag er cow ere d in h er h id in g place I n add it ion [0h er in nate joss an d th e C hi m an ipu la tion

as her father pledged his soul toHell right before her eyes. powers she apparently learned during her disappearance,Asfarasshewasooncemed,herfatherdiedtbenandtbere. she has mastered the deadly Shih martial art of Mo Chi

While her father s lepr the next day, the girl packed Kung Fu. She fights with $ controlled ~ge, each blow

u p a few p rized possession s, gath ered toge th er as m uch struck an attemrt to aton e for her fath er 5 w eak ness -

money as she could and lefl- but nOI before setting the and her mother s death.house in which she had been raised on fire. She stayed Mao LiWen's latest targets are very dose to home;

long enough to be sure that nothing could have sur' th e so-called Black Sun Child re n o f Japan. Guided by anvived , then disappeared. oldf i sherman from Hong Kong, she has uncovered these

Nothing more was heard of Mao Li Wen for over twisted Shade Walkers and started to hunt them.

twenty years. No one knows exactly what happened ~

during those twO decade" but at some point Mao L iWen OIJUwas inducted into the brotherhood of demon hunters Nature: Perfectionist

known as the Shih. While the Shih are notoriously

paranoid about whom they allow to join their ranks,

Mao Li W en 's action s in reg ard to h er fa th er ev id en tly

convinced (hem of her dedication, She spent the next

decade in hiding, training herself for her new career.

Mao liWen, the dutiful daughter was gone, burned

aw ay in the fires of sham e. W hat rem ain s n ow is Mao Li

Wen, the Shih warrior, Keeper o r the Balance andGlorious Devil Hunter.

Mao L!W e n i sa :n unconf irmed. rumor. as far a s mostKue l- jt n a re concerned. These who have crossed her pathusual ly see her as an upstart or a trai tor , on e with a

significant number ofKuei-jln kills-under her bett (more

than any other Shih, itthe rumors a re tru e ]. A few youngwuactively hnnther in hopes o~iniri8 status bvpresent-ing her head to an -sncestor: they've had li de

'tracking her down .howeve r . Mosdy thIS has to do

her own ski't1sat evading pursuit, but she also has

important allies.

Several members of the akl .... '·h,'nting

Talon sect of the Devil-Tigers admire

dedication to her cause and have funneled mrcrmauon

about some hi<lhly placed akuma to the demon hunter.

Mao L i Wen', outsider status and deadly skills allow her

to efficiently bring the Final Death to akUrM tOOwell

connected for the Devils ofHeaven to touch. Silethis respect, but has assured even the Hungty Dead

they set one foot beyond the boundaries defined for

under Heaven, she'll pay them. visit as well.

Several p e n a n g a U a n queens in the Golden Cocrtsinformally admireMaoliWen, both for berfervorand

gender. A fewtimes when things have gotten a little t'001101

for her in other parts of the Middle Kingdom, the Golden

Courts have offered her a safehaven. She isuncomfortable

with t h i s s u pp or t. b u r accepts it co further her mission,

The YamaKingsare none too pleased about an '"DSita,,"

half-breed interfering with their plans for crowning

Demon Emperor. Mikaboshl has taken a special dislike

P'o Nature: The Demon

Demeanor: Fanatic

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4, Cha-

risma 3, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3, Perception 31

Intelligence 2 , Wits 4

Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 4, Brawl), Dodge 4,

lnvesrigation 3 , M a rt ia l A rt s 5 . M e dic in e 2 1 Med it at ion 3,

Melee 5, Occult 3, Stealth 4, Srre e rw ise 3, Survival 2

Special AbilitieS' Passive joss, BlackWind I.Mo Chi

K1JngFu

Backgrounds: A llie s 3, Mentor 4

Conscience: 4, Self-Control: 4, Courage: 5

Humanity: 8, Willpower: 8, P'ot I



The beast within chafe, at such subtle maneuvering

sometimes, and Huang Mo dreams of the da when

Mikabosht is crowned me Demon Em~, and lie can

personally case.rhe writhing souls of the mandarins ofthe

Blood Court - hls father included - into Yomi fbr anTo the m an darin s of the B lood C ou rt, H uan g M o is a

model dharnpyr. He keeps out of the way, 'peaks onl~

w hen he is spoken to a nd o be ys H is f at he r's orders without

question. He isthe archetype ofwhat a dhampyrshould be

in the Quincunx.

Fewwould guessthe black heart that slumbers within

Huang Me's unassumi g bodv. Som e of th is d ark ness can

be attributed toan accidenr ofbirth - Huang's father wa

poisoned b y a bakem n o sh ortly b efore conceiving hls

son , an d h is C hi w as corru pted to th e exten t th at h is son's

P'o was much stronger than normal. Huang Mo was

pulling the wings off11esand torturing CO" almost before

he could walk.

The boy's capacity for evil made him fit in quite

n ice ly to the courts, a nd fe w within the Blood Court have

questioned the enthusiasm with which he has pursued

even th e m ost b ru ta l task s assign ed h im 'b y h is father. At

most, his behavior inspires envy among those few j inawith dhampyr children of their own. "Why can't you be

more like Huang Mo?"

They'd change their tune if they knew what the

young (by dhampyr standards) man was really up to.

The Yama Kings didn't even have to Come looking for

Huang Mo. He went looking for them. Before his

fiftieth year had passed, he pledged his soul to

M tk aboshl's servtce. Since [hat b lack day, he has been

the Lord of the Wicked City's eyes and ears in the

Blood. Court. Few Kuei-jin even take notice of Huang

Me, making him anideal spy .

,OPJU

Nature, Monster

P'o Nature: The Slave

Demeanor: Conformist

Attribute" Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Cha-

risma 4 , Manipulation 5, Appearance 3, Perception 2,

Intelligence 1, Wi" 4

Abilities, Academics 2, Alertness 2, Brawl 1 ,

Dodge 3, Etiquette 3, Expression 4, Leadership 2,Linguisttcs vl, Meditation 1, Occult J, Politics J,

Security J, Srreetwise 3" Subterfuge 5

Special Abilities. Passive Joss (Tainted), Jade

Shintai I, Hellweaving 5

Backgrounds. Mentor 4, Face 5, Retainers 3

Conscience: 2, Self-Conteoh 5, Courage' 5

Humanity, 4, Willpower, 4, P'o: 5



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Documents

VTM - Kindred of the East - Dhampyr - Half Damned