Chi Vitues
CHI VIRTUES: Yin and Yang
In the beginning, say the sages of the Middle Kingdom, the universe split into two halves. One of these halves was the bright, active Yang; the other, the dark, negative Yin. Kuei-jin are creatures suspended between life and death, and thus they have a measure of Yin and Yang. The character sheet displays two separate Chi Virtue tracks. The first, the permanent rating (the dots), measures the character's personal leaning toward positive or negative energies, as well as her degree of control over the energies she ingests. This rating is used whenever the text calls for a Yin or Yang roll. The second track, the squares, measures how much temporary Yin or Yang (otherwise known as Chi) the vampire has ingested. Temporary Yin or Yang may (and often does) exceed the vampire's permanent Yin or Yang rating; this condition is known as Chi imbalance, and can lead to deleterious side effects.
Permanent Yin and Yang serve as rough measures of a character's personality. A character with a high Yang rating is likely to be energetic and prone to emotional extremes (of happiness, anger, even fear or sadness); conversely, a character with a high Yin rating is likely to be icy, calm, cynical, and somewhat pessimistic, possibly even morbid. In most cases, a high rating in one Virtue necessitates a lower rating in its opposite — - it is difficult to be simultaneously calm and emotional. However, vampires of great enlightenment (6+ in a Dharma rating) have learned to assimilate and harness their inner dichotomies; thus, one might well find very high Yin and Yang scores coexisting in the same bodhisattya.
CHI VIRTUES AMD NATURE/DEMEANOR
In many ways, a Kuei-jin's Chi Virtues are analogous to personality. A vampire with a high Yin score is more detached, cautious and calm than her exuberant, passionate, high-Yang counterpart. The Chi Virtues should be taken into account when selecting Nature and Demeanor — or at least when roleplaying the Archetype in question. Thus, a vampire with a Bravo Archetype and a high Yang might appear as a violent, capricious berserker, while one with a high Yin might come across as a brutal, heartless monster.
