Kindred of the East

Kindred of the East is a tabletop role-playing game book and game line. It was released by White Wolf Publishing in February 1998 for use with their horror game Vampire: The Masquerade. It is a part of the World of Darkness series, and is the first and main entry in the Year of the Lotus line of Asia-themed books released throughout 1998.

The book covers Asia as it is portrayed in the series' setting, with a focus on China, and introduces Asian vampires called kuei-jin as player characters. These subsist on chi, and are created from humans who have done evil during their lives and return to their bodies after death. Following paths of enlightenment in the hopes of attaining a higher state of being, they participate in kuei-jin courts and oppose the demonic Yama Kings who are anticipated to rule the world in the coming sixth age.

The game was designed by Robert Hatch, with art direction by Lawrence Snelly, who took visual inspiration from manga. It was supported by a line of supplementary books which further describe kuei-jin society and paths, and was adapted into other media including a short story, comics, and a live-action role-playing game; the kuei-jin were also featured in the video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines in 2004. Kindred of the East was generally well received by critics, who liked its gameplay, setting, mood, and artwork, but was criticized as portraying Asian people and cultures in a stereotypical way.

Overview

Kindred of the East is a major rulebook and game line for the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, where players take the roles of vampires. or "the hungry dead". but a new kuei-jin does in any case begin as a zombie-like chih-mei, whose mind is clouded by a hunger for chi and who attacks mortals for it until taken in and taught to control themselves by an older kuei-jin.|name=storyteller players create and take the roles of newly-made kuei-jin, and role-play actions whose outcomes are in part determined through character attributes and rolling of dice. hengeyokai shapeshifters, hsien changelings, ghosts, and demon hunters.

Production and release

thumb|The art direction drew inspiration from [[manga. Pictured: a kuei-jin of the Rising Phoenix dharma.|alt=A black-and-white illustration of a kuei-jin woman writing in a notebook while a person lies dead behind her]]

Kindred of the East was designed by Robert Hatch, with additional design by Phil Brucato, Jackie Cassada, Mark Cenczyk, and Nicky Rea. It was made after the publisher had kept details on Asian vampires vague since the series began with Vampire: The Masquerade in 1991, having only discussed them as the Cainite bloodlines Gaki and Bushi, which after Kindred of the East were written out of the continuity. The game was written with suggested themes including balance versus imbalance, tradition versus new ways of thinking, the group versus the individual, east versus west, hierarchy, and redemption versus damnation. The lore of Kindred of the East was initially intended to be compatible with Exalted, another of White Wolf Publishing's role-playing games, but the two ended up diverging. who among other sources drew inspiration from manga. Kindred of the East was published by White Wolf Publishing in February 1998 as the first and main entry in their Year of the Lotus line of Asia-themed World of Darkness books, which introduced Asian supernatural beings to the games in the series, including Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East for Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Land of Eight Million Dreams for Changeling: The Dreaming.

Despite this, the game did receive its own line of supplements, starting with the Kindred of the East Companion book in 1999, which updates the game to bring it in line with the rules of the 1998 Revised Edition of Vampire: The Masquerade, as well as further detailing kuei-jin society and adding new gameplay mechanics and background information. The game was also released in other languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, French, White Wolf Publishing eventually ended the Kindred of the East narrative in 2004 as part of the Time of Judgment event – a finale to the World of Darkness series – with adventures published in the book World of Darkness: Time of Judgment. In 2019, White Wolf Publishing retrospectively described Kindred of the East as written from a very Western perspective, and urged people making fan works based on it to be conscious of orientalism and essentialism.

| Book updating the game for Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition, and adding mechanics and lore