P'o Natures
A Kuei-jin's p'o nature is a flaw in the character's personality - characteristics developed since the Kuei-jin's return to the land of living from death brought on by their p'o, a sort of inner demon. The p'o is an almost schizophrenic presence in the Kuei-jin's mind - castigating and criticizing the vampire, coaxing him or her into monstrous acts. Contents
Contents
The Addict
The Addict, like every Kuei-jin, knows the frustrating hunger for Chi and the pleasure of satisfying that hunger. The Addict sees no use in pursuing a dharma, or anything else in fact, only seeing sense in numbing the horror of being a walking corpse and the horrific memories of Yomi. The Addict hungers not only for chi, but for mind-stupefying drugs and alcohol too. As many drugs do not have a so strong effect on the undead, many vampires will try harder and harder with larger and larger amounts to become intoxicated.
Conditions for Takeover: Whenever the vampire is faced with depression, self-disgust, or any other emotional stress. When in Shadow soul, the vampire goes on a binge of feeding and drugs.
Introduced in Sunset Empires
The Ancient
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Blood and Silk
The Artist
The Artist tore themself out of Yomi to finish an incomplete task - the completion of some vision of creativity they didn't complete in life. Nothing else matters to them but that work. It berates the kuei-jin's rational mind for doing any other tasks but that work, whether the task is making progress on their dharma or the pursuit of a mere momentary pleasure.
Conditions for Takeover: The Artist attempts to take over the Kuei-jin when their mind is distracted from the great work or whenever an opportunity to advance the great work arises. When in shadow soul, all the Artist focuses on is that piece of work, and will reject all other commitments greatly severing many of the Kuei-jin's operations.
Introduced in Blood and Silk
The Bandit
While a Kuei-jin may have a specific role to fulfill or a particular reason to have returned from the dead, the Bandit is having none of it. This P'o sees no use in the Great Cycle, which, after all, is far removed from its night-to-night existence. Rather, it ignores the mandates of Heaven and Hell and seeks to drive the Kuei-jin to random acts of self-satisfied destruction. The Bandit's ultimate goal is to bring down the entire Great Cycle, perhaps out of resentment at being ordered back into the lands of the living, but in the meantime any target — and any representative of order - serves as a focus for the P'o's rage.
Conditions for Takeover: The Bandit can force a shadow nature roll whenever anyone seeks to order the Kuei-jin to do anything, or tries to put the character "in his proper place,"
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Barbarian
The Barbarian seeks to reject the traditional ways of Kueijin and replace them with the chaotic, undisciplined methods of the Kin-jin. Seeing the relative freedom of Western vampires, it wishes to abandon its heritage and join the Kin-jin in their decadence. The Barbarian mocks the Hun's devotion to duty and respect for tradition, and it takes every opportunity to compare Cathayan and Western ways. Needless to say, in the Barbarian's analysis, Western ways always come out better.
Conditions for Takeover: The Barbarian can force a shadow nature roll whenever adherence to a traditional practice causes the Kuei-jin pain or some other form of discomfort. It may also attempt to manifest whenever the Cathayan comes in contact with a Kin-jin.
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Deceiver
The Deceiver has no use for the truth, good, bad or indifferent. It practices lying for the sake of lying — telling the Hun what it wants to hear one minute, then driving it to the brink of madness with patent falsehood the next. While this behavior may seem erratic, the P'o does have an underlying goal. It seeks nothing less than to render the Kuei-j in unable to trust himself. The more times the Deceiver gets the Hun to believe its lies — and the more times it tells the truth and is ignored — the less the Hun can trust its own judgment. If the P'o has its way, eventually the Hun's will is wrecked, and the vampire finds himself incapable of making a move or any decision without the loving advice of the Deceiver.
Conditions for Takeover: The Deceiver can force a shadow nature roll whenever a lie would serve as more advantageous to the Kuei-jin than the truth would. However the Deceiver picks its spots carefully, usually trying to take over only after the Hun has tried — and failed — to handle several similar situations on its own.
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Demon
The Demon seeks to devour all. Anything weaker than the Kuei-jin is prey, and anydiing stronger is power that can be subsumed through treachery. While the Demon may pay lip service to duty, friendship and honor, it is devoted to personal power and nothing else. Western eyes might see the Demon as sociopathic, but it has no concern for the opinions of others. To the Demon, all that it sees exists for its amusement, for it to destroy and devour at its whim. Other souls matter only in terms of how they relate to the Demon — and how quickly the Demon can devour them.
Conditions for Takeover: The Demon can force a shadow nature roll when it sees an opportunity to make itself stronger through the destruction of another. Whether that involves devouring a weaker Kuei-jin or striking down a more powerful one through treachery is irrelevant; it is the chance for advantage that matters.
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Dog-cooker
Hinduism sets great store on its taboos of ritualpurity, and just about the worst, most defiling thing a person can do is eat dog meat. The Dog-Cooker P’o loathes the effort that purity and caste require, and wallows in every sort of self-degradation. It seeks defilement because it is forbidden, and revels in the lawful joy of shameless abandon. Feeding from improper sources, whoring or whoring oneself, smearing oneself with filth… a chih-mei is a model of restraint compared to a Dog-Cooker.
Conditions for Takeover: The Dog-Cooker can force a shadow nature roll when duties, desires and Dharma conflict, or the Hun suffers shame or loss of face. The Dog-Cooker strives to do whatever will shock the sensibilities of the Hun or the people close to him.
Introduced in Sunset Empires
The Echo
The Echo escaped from Yomi just like any other Kuei-jin. But unlike others, it doesn't feel worthy to have gained a release denied to so many others. The Echo Kuei-jin retains a strong link to whatever hell used to hold it, it's goal being to break the Kuei-jin's soul and lure it back to hell, and it's weapon is the voices of those unescaped from Yomi still suffering, using their tortured words to torment the vampire.
Conditions for Takeover: The Echo triggers Shadow soul whenever the Kuei-jin is confronted with eviudence of loss and death - graveyards and cenotaphs are bad places for these vampires to be. When in Shadow soul, the vampire focuses obsessively on the suffering in Yomi and the unearned release he or she, and other Kuei-jin, enjoy, in hopes of shaming, scaring or depressing himself and his peers into a return to Yomi.
Introduced in Blood and Silk
The Eunuch
The Eunuch found confirmation in Yomi that all endeavor is futile, everything that it may make up may end up as fodder for demons. Even after it's escape, it retains a sense of moral, intellectual and spiritual impotence - despair turned to the conviction that it should not create anything new. The Eunuch refuses to take up any enterprises eyond the basics of survival, instead devoting itself to appropriating the work of others for it's own ends.
Conditions for Takeover: The Eunuch can force it's Kuei-jin into shadow soul whenever they are faced with opportunities to lead others or when others are acutely dependent on him or her. When in shadow soul, the Kuei-jin abandons any original projects of their own and tries to become overseer, steward or director of other's efforts.
Introduced in Blood and Silk
The Fool
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Legalist
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Monkey
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Sage
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Blood and Silk
The Samurai
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Sunset Empires == The Slave==
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Kindred of the East Core Rulebook
The Vitalist
The Vitalist wants one thing - their mortal life. The vampire can't quite get to it though. Even extreme Yang imbalance only makes her something that's merely lifelike in some regards. The Vitalist strives to get as close to being a mortal as they can. It may cause the Kuei-jin to seek whatever life, aspire to be greater than their mortal life by finding a new place in mortal society or a greater place than the one they once had.
Conditions for Takeover: The Vitalist reaches for control when faced with a situation that reminds the Kuei-jin of his or her mortal life, particularly a situation that allows her to pursue a goal from her mortal life. When the Vitalist is in shadow soul, they turn away from everything in Kuei-jin in an effort to re-enter the mortal world.
Introduced in Blood and Silk
The Warrior
Conditions for Takeover:
Introduced in Blood and Silk
