Using Wan-Kuei with Kindred

[Nervaqus987]

I'm currently fishing for ideas about how to get Wan Kuei involved with Kindred in a way that's a bit less.....yellow peril than the Great Leap Outwards.

Like, I'm not opposed to conflict between them but something a little less "invading army" would be nice.

Thus far my general ideas have been;

A) A sort of embassy between probably the Camarilla and the Quincunx.

B) A large-ish group of young and ambitious Wan Kuei getting shuffled to San Francisco in an attempt to get them out of their elder's hair/kill them indirectly rather than doing so outright.

C) Going off of the idea that Wan Kuei do rise up in other parts of the world than just Asia but tend to get mistaken for a Wight and eliminated by something or other or if they do manage to regain their mental capacity get labeled as Caitiff(on both a meta-level and an in universe level), Clan Tremere starts collecting suspected Wan Kuei/Wights and start messing around to see if they replicate the Dharma Paths that Wan Kuei use and/or try to create a ritual to see if they can't make them on command rather than waiting for a Wan Kuei to come about naturally. Why? A combination of "Why not?" and a need/desire for servitors since clearly Gargoyles worked out so well for them.


Anyone else got any ideas?

[MyWifeIsScary]

I'd do something like...

Either A: the Cathayans are expected to integrate into the Camarilla and are as expected to show up to the important shindigs as much as any other vampire (some... specisim may exist, but it's not like vampires weren't already clanist) The Cam will strongly push for Dharmas that are Humanity/Masquerade friendly. It may be used as a tool to supress the Cathayans.

Or B: of course that wouldn't work (the prince may have tried) so we have a city with two political bodies.

1- The WK are much less urban-centric than Vampires. They have a tendency to take smaller towns. IIRC Cathayans also care about nodes, which are useless to Cainites. So territory wise the competition might not be so severe.
2- The Camarilla really won't want to replicate Cathayan Dharma paths. Humanity or Bust. Will the Tremere be interested in their magics? Most certainly, and they may try to put a stop to it. Monopoly is a wonderful thing.


I don't think the Tremere need new servitors. Modern technology bridges gaps too well.

[Manfr]

Dharmas and Paths are very similar: Wan Kuei start recruiting estranged Sabbats or left behind shovelheads to achieve some of their aims. They offer protection in a more structured and less violent society, which is however a bit more meritocratic than the Canarilla, as well as moral guidance and a path towards perceived trascendence, in exchange for their field support in... Recovering a Node? Recovering lost Wan Kuei who arose here and there?

[monteparnas]

There has been a recent thread that could help you. I think it was the "Dharmas as Paths" or something like that.

Either way, I think that simply ignoring the Yellow Peril theme is easy enough. They are two distinct supernatural societies that just happen to have more contact due to feeding habits. From there, let relationships vary with location and individuals involved.

What can stay as a point of conflict, though, is resources. Namely, herd. Wan-Kuei that feed on humans should count as Kindred for your evaluation on how crowded the area is. The Camarilla in particular take pains to avoid undead overpopulation, and the Wan-Kuei will add a new layer of complexity to their calculations.

[Baaldam]

I'm currently fishing for ideas about how to get Wan Kuei involved with Kindred in a way that's a bit less.....yellow peril than the Great Leap Outwards.

Well, i'd say the big question is how much of KotE's lore and setting do you plan on using in the first place? How much is weird beliefs and how much is actual fact?

Because to be brutally blunt the "Yellow Peril is fine if you're Fu Manchu" syndrome was far from the only problem with it.

Like the fact Quincunx is not a chinese term, so kind of as appropriate as "Kuei-Jin" as a name to represent chinese courts system or the traditional symbolism it meant.

Not to mention that China kind of had its own inquisition era/event - and its much, much fresher than the founding of the Camarilla.


Also, the idea that the 10K Hells influence and the spawning of Chi'meh in certain places is directly associated with the culture belief system has issues of its own, as there's some conjectural evidence the Black Sea got its name from turkic tribes that, guess what, followed at least in part some of these beliefs before the eventual conversion of most to islam.
So, if that conceit were fact, in eras long past it would have already brought some interesting complications and much affected kindred interactions, to say the least.


And all of that is just poking around China - and yeah, a bunch of nomadic peoples in its vicinity - things can only get more interesting when one gets farther away from it into Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Philipines, Indonesia and a bunch of other places.


So the real question, imho at least, is - what use you want to have of them in a game?
What kind of stories and peculiar society of undead you want to mess with?
How much do you really need of their lore, system or whatever and what may be better served by alternate ideas, your own and others, mixed with a bit of independent research?


But anyway, instead of more criticisms of debatable use, ideas of maybe some more straightforward use for you, i hope.

There has been a recent thread that could help you. I think it was the "Dharmas as Paths" or something like that.

Maybe this one?