Heaven's Lashes, Hell's Blessings

Heaven's Lashes, Hell's Blessings
Heaven's Lashes, Hell's Blessings
Cathayan Merits and Flaws

As there is only a small selection of Merits and Flaws to choose from in the Kindred of the East core book, I've added a few which reflect the unique nature and abilities of Kuei-jin vampires. Hope you find them to your liking. (But as these Merits and Flaws aren't "canon", be sure to okay them with your Storyteller before writing them down on your sheet.)

Barbarian (1- or 2-pt. Social Flaw)
You are a foreigner, are ignorant of local customs, or you otherwise do not "fit in" wherever it is you are. This can stem from being of a different race (a Chinese Cathayan in India) or being of impure stock (a half-white Kuei-jin in Vietnam). A Running Monkey in Hong Kong who is ignorant of traditional Chinese ways, and instead acts like an American, would be considered a gweilo; in particular, Koreans dislike other Koreans that retain foreign accents and habits.
Whenever the barbarian character attempts to fit in with local Kuei-jin or mortals, or tries to understand some subtle point of the local culture, the difficulty of her Social rolls increase by 1 or 2. The value of this Flaw depends on how much prejudice the character is subject to; a Japanese Kuei-jin in Hong Kong is more likely to fit in among the Righteous Devils of Kowloon than a penangallan straight out of Cambodia.

Chi Efficiency (3-pt. Supernatural Merit)
You process and refine Chi more efficiently than other vampires, able to pull every last bit of sustenance from the Chi you ingest. Once per night, as long as you have at least two points of one type of Chi in your body, you may specify a type of Chi and make a Dharma roll, difficulty 8, to gain one point of that type of Chi. Willpower points may not be spent to gain automatic successes on this roll, and once you make a Chi Efficiency roll (successful or not), you cannot make another roll until more Chi is introduced to your body -- i.e., you feed again. This bonus Chi cannot exceed your Chi Virtues. Vampires in a state of temporary imbalance (from having Chi in excess of their Chi Virtues, or that have only one type of Chi in their bodies) or permanent imbalance cannot use this Merit for the duration of the imbalance.

Easily Imbalanced (2-pt. Physical Flaw)
Your body and soul seek equilibrium, and it is easier for your Chi and dual souls to become imbalanced. You suffer permanent Chi imbalance if either Chi Virtue is more than one higher than its counterpart, and soul imbalance if a Soul Virtue is more than one higher than its counterpart. In addition, if a character has two more of one type of Chi in her body than the other, she suffers from temporary imbalance. For example, a character with this Flaw has Yang 3 and Yin 2. If she raises Yang to 4, she will suffer permanent Chi imbalance. Easily Imbalanced is often possessed by characters given to extremes or wanton excess in life. As most Dharmas espouse developing one virtue above the others, Thousand Whispers and Tempests find this Flaw less of a hindrance than other Kuei-jin.

Enlightened Duality (4-pt. Supernatural Merit)
You have attained great discipline and an advanced understanding of your dual souls. Characters with this Merit are alert, calm, and surrounded by an aura of almost palpable serenity. The experience point cost to increase Soul Disciplines is current rating x 7 (instead of x 8). In addition, it takes less effort for you to learn new Soul Disciplines; while this does not affect experience point costs, it reduces the time needed to learn the Discipline by 50%. You must have a Hun of at least 3 to take this Merit.

Focused Mind (3-pt. Mental Merit)
The character is confident and sure of her abilities, and knows when to exert herself and when to hold back her reserves. Up to three times per night, the player may choose to spend one of her character's Willpower points after the roll is made, rather than having to call the expenditure beforehand. This allows more efficient use of Willpower, allowing players to cancel unexpected botches and not waste Willpower points on rolls where the extra success isn't needed. A character can still only spend one Willpower per turn this way.
A player may not choose to spend Willpower based on the results of others' rolls, only that of his character. For example, he can choose to spend a Willpower after his character attains only a marginal success on an attack roll, but he can't spend a Willpower to cancel an opponent's single Dodge success.
A character must have at least a Willpower of 5 and a Wits of 3 to possess this Merit.

Harmonious Chakra Alignment (4-pt. Supernatural Merit)
Your Chi meridians are almost perfectly aligned, allowing you to channel Chi through your spirit-body more easily. You move with the fluid grace of Chi itself, and your tasks appear effortless (whether that's the case or not). The experience point cost to increase Chi Arts is current rating x 7 (instead of x 8). In addition, it takes less effort for you to learn new Chi Arts; while this doesn't affect experience point costs, it reduces the time needed to learn a related Discipline by 50%. You must have at least three dots in both Chi virtues to take this Merit.

Heimin (1 pt. Social Flaw)
You do not have a sanctioned wu, and/or are not a member of an established court. While wandering vampires are the most common heimin, you may be politically unpopular, have not been assigned to a wu by your ancestor for some reason, or part of a wu that is not sanctioned by your court. Heimin are subject to considerable prejudice in some areas, and subject to being branded akuma with little or no provocation; related Social rolls are made at +1 difficulty. This Flaw may be overcome by properly establishing oneself in a court.

Hell Channel (4-pt. Supernatural Merit)
You find it easy (perhaps too easy) to learn to channel the powers of Yomi through your undead frame, and you have the potential to manifest the Demon's power in many ways. You may display marks of your P'o, such as horrible scars, glowing eyes, or a presence that unnerves others. The experience point cost to increase Demon Arts is current rating x 7 (instead of x 8). In addition, it takes less effort for you to learn new Demon Arts; while this doesn't affect experience point costs, it reduces the time needed to learn such Disciplines by 50%. You must have a P'o of 4 or higher to take this Merit.

Heretic (1- to 3-pt. Social Flaw)
You follow a Dharma not recognized by Kuei-jin society, such as the Face of the Gods or the Roar of the Golden Lion. The value of this Flaw depends on how much your nontraditional beliefs will hinder you. The Rising Phoenix Dharma is well-represented in the Infinite Thunders Court, so the Heretic Flaw for a character following this Dharma would only be worth 1 Freebie Point in India, while a Chinese Phoenix may well be declared akuma and hunted, which is worth at least 2 freebie.

Inauspicious (2-pt. Social Flaw)
Perhaps you took your Second Breath on a day of bad omen (such as when the Red Star first appeared in the night sky), or you were foretold to bring disaster to the Middle Kingdom. Maybe bad joss has a way of following you around. Whatever the case, whether rightly or wrongly, you are considered unlucky, and other Kuei-jin fear and avoid you. Many Social rolls are made at +1 difficulty. You may inflict this stigma on your wu-mates, as well. You cannot take the Astrology Background, and are considered to have no Direction. While some Cathayans are considered Inauspicious for no good reason, this Flaw works well in conjunction with other flaws such as Cursed and Haunted.
For those who would overcome an inauspicious unlife, rumors persist of exceptionally enlightened and skilled Cathayans who practice a rare Discipline known as Tzu Wei. Such characters can supposedly rewrite a character's stars and restore him to celestial harmony.

Past Life Connection (2- to 6-pt. Merit)
You have an especially strong connection to one or more of your past lives, through which you occasionally gain insights and assistance. This Merit allows you to take the Ancestors Background presented in Werewolf: the Apocalypse (or Past Life, if working with earlier editions) at a rating up to 3; each dot in that Background costs 2 freebie points. See the writeup of that Background for more information. Note that Kuei-jin past lives are very unlikely to be Shen of any sort; one can only stumble on the Karmic Wheel and rise from the dead so many times...

Reduced Traits (Variable)
You can sacrifice points from your character's initial spread to gain points to spend elsewhere. Note that the freebie granted for dots don't match up to their costs; i.e., you won't get the same freebie for sacrificing a dot as you would have to pay to get it. Keep in mind the 7-point limitation on Flaws.
One dot of Attribute = 3 freebie; one dot of Ability/ Virtue = 1 freebie; two dots of Backgrounds = 1 freebie; one Discipline dot = 4 freebie.

Skeptic (1-pt. Psychological Flaw)
You have a hard time buying all this mystical Dharma stuff, even after going to Hell and having returned from the dead. While you follow a Dharma, you have trouble convincing yourself of its actuality and validity, and you do not advance as quickly as other Kuei-jin. On the positive side, you are less likely to slip from your path. During rolls of Den, the roll for your governing Virtue is at +2 difficulty; during Acts of Blindness, your Virtue roll is made at -2 difficulty. As the Middle Kingdom's people become more jaded and are increasingly corrupted by Western thought, this Flaw is becoming more common.

Spirit Breach (3-pt. Supernatural Flaw)
You rose from the dead with an especially strong connection to either the Yin World or Yang World, which works against you more often than not. You are more likely to attract the attention of spirits, both negative and positive. Spirits can affect you as if they were manifested, including attack you, though you still require the proper Disciplines to detect and affect them in turn. On the positive side, all difficulties to affect, sense or channel the world to which you are attuned are at -2. In order to take this Flaw, you must have the Chi Virtue corresponding to the spirit world in question at a rating of 3 or higher (i.e., you must have Yang 3 to have Spirit Breach in regards to the Yang World).

Sublime God-Body (4-pt. Supernatural Merit)
You have special affinity with Shintai Disciplines. Your facial features and musculature are well-defined, and you appear especially healthy -- for a vampire, at least. The experience point cost to increase such Disciplines is current rating x 7 (instead of x 8). In addition, it takes less effort for you to learn new Shintai Disciplines; while this does not affect experience point costs, it reduces the time needed to learn a Shintai Discipline by 50%. You must have a rating no lower than 2 in all Physical Attributes, and at least one at 3 or higher, to take this Merit.

Weak P'o (5-pt. Supernatural Merit)
Your P'o is crippled in some way, which is both a boon and a hindrance. Perhaps your Hun overpowers your P'o, or your P'o spent most of its strength clawing its way out of Yomi. For whatever reason, your P'o is weak, and is less able to exert itself for your benefit, or its own. As the P'o is as an essential part of a Cathayan as its Hun, many with this Merit find their Dharmic progression hindered; when making den rolls, your difficulty is increased by 1.
The other effects of this Merit are as follows. First, all P'o rolls are made at +1 difficulty except during den rolls, including rolls for regaining Demon Chi, and for invoking Shadow, Wave and Fire Soul. Exception: when using your P'o to defend against mental influence, that Virtue is rolled against a difficulty of 8. Your P'o can't attempt to take over more than twice per night. You act at half die pool while using Demon Arts, which cost current rating x 10 experience points to improve. Your Hun must always be at least 1 higher than your P'o, and your P'o can never be higher than 4. Finally, a character with a weak P'o is considered Hun-imbalanced if her Hun is more than two points higher than her P'o.
In addition, you character has three dots of Disciplines of any type during character generation, so you don't have to invest a dot in a Demon Art if you don't want to.
Because the P'o is so essential to the Dharmic progression of these Kuei-jin, characters with the Weak P'o Merit cannot be Devil-Tigers, Wise Centipedes, Godlings, Tempests, Golden Lions or Scorpion Eaters.

Yomi's Kiss (2-pt. Supernatural Flaw)
The vessels upon whom you feed suffer intense agony, much as if the fires of the hells were channeled through you. Mortals suffer double normal health damage whenever you feed from them, and those with weak constitutions (Stamina 1 or 2) may well die from shock. Your bite inflicts great pain upon Shen as well, though Kuei-jin and Kindred suffer no extra damage from it. You cannot take the Herd Background. Only characters with P'o ratings of 4 or above may take this Flaw.

The Kindred of the East index.