DESIGNATION: DHARMA — SONG OF THE DANCING DRAGON CLEARANCE: PUBLIC ARCHIVE: BASILICA PURGATORY

Song of the Dancing Dragon

Hellion Dharma Path

Those Who Seek Enlightenment by Imitating the Living

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Who They Are

Dancing Dragons are dead things in love with being alive. They consume experience with a Hunger that goes beyond metaphor — eating, drinking, fighting, creating, destroying, and connecting with an intensity that makes other Hellions uncomfortable and other supernaturals quietly envious. In their first lives, many denied themselves, whatever the reason. Death and return burned that out of them completely. They came back for the things they never allowed themselves to have, and they are not subtle about the pursuit. Beneath the celebration, the Hunger is never fully satisfied — the joy always chasing something it cannot quite catch. The Dancing Dragon knows this, and keeps dancing anyway. The alternative is admitting death won.

The Tenets of Life

Attune yourself to life in all its forms · Do not shut out passion — experience it, learn from it, help others do the same · Use your power purposefully · Help all living things thrive; release what is genuinely dying beyond saving · Half-life is an abomination — be as alive as you can possibly be · Greet the world's renewal daily · Laugh often · Protect the spirits.

Of the five common Dharmas, the Dancing Dragon is the most broadly popular for OOC reasons — flexible mechanics, liberating philosophy. Should be played with genuine commitment to the Dharma's intensity and appetite, not as a justification for passivity.

Starting Attribute Priorities

Category	Priority	Starting Points
Physical	Primary	7 points
Social	Secondary	5 points
Mental	Tertiary	3 points

Starting Essence Balance

Yang-aspected — life force, passion, active engagement. 7 Yang / 3 Yin.

Dharma Disciplines

Discipline	Level 1 Effect
Flesh Shintai ●	Living Skin — spend 1 Yang Essence for a complete living body (warm skin, heartbeat, breath) for one scene, passing casual supernatural scrutiny. Sunlight does not harm them while active.
Yang Prana ●	Vital Surge — spend 1 Yang Essence to add 2 dice to any Physical roll, declarable after seeing the pool. Once per scene at this level.
Shapeshifting ●	Subtle Shift — minor physical alterations (hair, facial structure, apparent age up to a decade) at will, no cost. Major changes cost 1 Yang Essence + a minute of concentration.

Sunlight Exception: while Flesh Shintai (Living Skin) is active, no sunlight damage — the only Dharma with this ability, at the cost of constantly spending Essence to maintain it during daylight. Dancing Dragons are also the only Hellion who can sire Dhampir children.

Suggested Starting Abilities


Talents	Athletics 2, Expression 2, Empathy 1, Streetwise 1
Skills	Performance 2, Martial Arts 2, Stealth 1
Knowledges	Occult 1, Medicine 1, Street Lore 1

Heaven's Mandate & Dharmic Weakness

Heaven's Mandate: The Living Dead	Dharmic Weakness: The Insatiable
+1 die to Social rolls and +1 die to resist Shadow influence while actively engaged with lived experience, real connection, and creation. Lost if retreating into passivity for more than a week of game time.	A Self-Control roll (diff 6) is needed to decline a genuinely novel or intensely stimulating experience; -1 die on Mental rolls requiring patience or suppressed impulse.

Quick Reference


Nicknames	Laughing Rainbows, Dancing Dragons
Essence Aspected	Yang (7 Yang / 3 Yin starting)
Disciplines	Flesh Shintai, Yang Prana, Shapeshifting
Mandate	The Living Dead
Dharmic Weakness	The Insatiable
Sunlight	Immune while Flesh Shintai is active
Willpower (base)	Equal to Courage at creation