Roleplaying game

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Chapter 9: A Ronin’s Path
Chapter 9: A Ronin’s Path
The Shadowlands Forces Approach
After the PCs talk to three out of the five officers (or more if they suc-
ceeded on their check to track Keinosuke to the Wall, saved time when 
talking to any of the officers, or split up to talk to the officers), a loud bell 
rings from the watchtower, signaling the approach of the enemy forces. 
Almost immediately, soldiers come to fetch the PCs and bring them to 
Tomonatsu. There is little they can do but follow them, as the officers 
must get ready for the battle to come.
Battle Plans
Tomonatsu once again greets the PCs and wastes no time in getting to 
business. She wants to know what they have learned and what course 
of action they advise. There are four main points that she needs to 
decide upon:
Should the front gates of the watchtower be opened to allow a fron-
tal assault or closed to adopt a defensive strategy from the top of the 
Wall? Kaiu Masae and Hiruma Yukito favor a defensive approach, and if 
the PCs helped Masae, she even has a trap in store for the enemy. How-
ever, Hida Tsukiko wants to attack head-on, believing it’s the only way to 
break the enemy leadership.
Should the Hiruma scouts be deployed as an archer unit on top of the 
Wall or be used as light melee troops? Yukito fully intends to use them 
as archers, but if the PCs have interacted with Yasuki Hatsu, they might 
know the reserves of arrows are critically low.
Should the Kuni shugenja be held back to participate in Kuni Terumi’s 
ritual, or should they be deployed in battle? If the oni is coming, the 
ritual might weaken it enough for the Crab to kill it, but a lack of invoca-
tions during the battle could be extremely costly to the Crab.
Should the tunnel entrances be closed or left open? Most often, they are 
closed to prevent incursions, but in dire circumstances they can be left 
open in hopes that the traps and maze take more creatures out than they 
let through. If the PCs have spoken to Hiruma Yukito, they might know 
of the Nezumi hidden beneath, and opening the tunnels would provide 
them with the perfect opportunity to strike.
Use the intrigue rules, on page 156, to resolve this conflict scene. To-
monatsu will base her strategy on the arguments of the winning side, and 
each decision will have consequences in the following conflict scenes. 
Tomonatsu listens to the arguments from the PCs on each point, and she 
allows the monk Gakuto to speak his mind in turn (if needed, use the 
profile for the Warrior Monk, on page 197, with the Perceptive tem-
plate, page 194, and the Detached demeanor, page 192). He will invari-
ably oppose the PCs: he resents the involvement of outsiders, and even 
if some of them are part of the Crab Clan, he considers their allegiance 
diluted through their involvement as deputies of the Emerald Magistrate. 
Although he is not a samurai, Gakuto is afforded great respect by To-
monatsu, so the PCs must carefully present their arguments to convince 
her to act.
Social Objective: Advise Hida Tomonatsu
Description: The PCs are attempting to get Hida Tomonatsu to agree to 
their perspectives on the four points of the plan outlined above.
Requirements: The PCs and Gakuto must use the Persuade action with 
Social skills (or other relevant skills, such as Labor, Survival, Tactics, or 
Theology, which can be used as if they were Social skills to make argu-
ments). Track the total number of rhetorical points (see Rhetorical 
Points, on page 156) that the PCs and Gakuto accrue from these checks 
targeting Tomonatsu. Remember to take Tomonatsu’s Gruff demeanor 
into account, which raises the TN of Air checks to influence her by 2 and 
decreases the TN of Earth checks by 2.
Completion: Hida Tomonatsu ends the discussion and explains the strat-
egy she will pursue at the end of any round in which the PCs and Gakuto 
achieve a cumulative 16 or more rhetorical points on their checks to use 
the Persuade action targeting her.
For every 4 rhetorical points the PCs scored, Tomonatsu agrees to one 
course of action the PCs proposed in the order they raised their points. 
For any other points, she agrees with Gakuto’s judgment.
Part II: Battle for the Third Watchtower
Their meeting concluded, Tomonatsu gives her final orders and brings 
the PCs to the battlements, where they can see the Shadowlands army. 
As Hiruma Yukito informed them, it outnumbers them three to one and 
comprises just about every nightmare the Shadowlands hold: goblins, 
skeletons, zombies, Tainted humans, Trolls, ogres, and creatures for 
which most characters don’t even have a name. There is little pause be-
fore the battle begins: the Shadowlands army leaves no time for bragging, 
posturing, or preparation. It charges in the direction of the Wall.
Given the losses she’s suffered in the last few days, Tomonatsu is short 
of competent leaders and offers the PCs the chance to lead a cohort 
of their choice into battle. Her army is described in the sidebar for the 
Third Tower Command on page 215. The three types of units that 
are definitely available to the PCs are the Hida Regiments (Infantry), 
Hiruma Scouts (Archery or Infantry) and Kaiu Siege Engineers (Siege). 
Unless the PCs have convinced Tomonatsu to hold them back, the Kuni 
shugenja (Shugenja) are also available. Finally, if the PCs have convinced 
Tomonatsu to hold the entrances to the tunnels open for the Nezumi to 
strike, the Nezumi tribe (Infantry) is also available, although any non-
Crab characters who want to lead Nezumi into battle must forfeit 5 glory 
to do so (or stake 10 glory to take on a disguise and lead them, forfeiting 
this glory if their identity is revealed). All cohorts occupying a Fortified 
Position (the Kaiu Wall) reduce all casualties inflicted on them by 10.
The Shadowlands forces’ army is described in the sidebar for The 
Horde of Kazanagan no Oni on page 215.
The Battle Is Joined
Resolve the scene using the rules for Mass Battles, on page 172. Hida 
Tomonatsu (played by the GM) is the commander, so the GM decides the 
strategic objective for each round The enemy commander is Kazanagan 
no Oni. Although it is not fully materialized yet, the oni can fully com-
municate its will to its followers. As the Horde of Kazanagan no Oni fears 
its master far more than its enemy, the most reliable way to defeat it is 
to fully rout it, by inflicting more casualties than the army’s strength or 
achieving the Seize Victory! strategic objective. Depending on Tomonat-
su’s decisions in the previous scene, the mass battle is affected as follows 
(see At the Start of the Battle, During the First Round of Battle, and 
During the Second Round of Battle on page 216).
Each of the leaders chooses the following strategic objectives on the 
listed round according to Table 9–1: Strategic Objective by Turn on 
page 215. For additional narrative and descriptive inspiration, as well as 
an overview of the major figures on both side of the battle, the GM may 
refer to Leaders of the Shadowlands Forces and Officers During Battle 
on page 217.
After three full rounds of mass battle, the GM should zoom in the nar-
rative focus from epic to personal scale, proceeding to Skeletal Skirmish 
on page 218.

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