Roleplaying game

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Chapter 2: Creating a Character
Chapter 2: Creating a Character
Akodo Commander School [Bushi]
The Akodo War College’s curriculum is focused on control: of one’s 
weapons, of the battlefield, over the flow of conflict, and ultimately, over 
oneself. Its students study the advice of Akodo’s Leadership, the last word 
on the art of war, which was written by the Lion Clan Kami himself. In 
addition to their training as warriors, the Akodo Commanders are edu-
cated to be leaders on the field of battle. They often treat war as a game 
of go, to be decided by exact moves. The Akodo Commanders strike pre-
cisely without hesitation when using a sword or commanding a unit—for 
them, purpose and execution are one. Their goal is to minimize losses 
while achieving their objectives: the pinnacle of the art of war.
Ring Increases: +1 Earth, +1 Water
Skill Increases (choose five different skills): +1 Command, +1 Fitness, 
+1 Government, +1 Martial Arts [Melee], +1 Martial Arts [Unarmed], +1 
Meditation, +1 Tactics
Techniques Available: Kata, Shūji, Rituals
Starting Techniques:
•  Kata (choose one): Striking as Earth, Striking as Water
•  Shūji: Lord Akodo’s Roar
Honor: 50
Way of the Lion (School Ability): When you succeed at an Attack or 
Support action check during a skirmish or mass battle, you may remove 
a number of strife from your character up to your school rank. If you do, 
add that many additional bonus successes to the check.
Starting Outfit: Ashigaru armor, traveling clothes, daishō (katana and 
wakizashi), spear, any one weapon, 2 knives, bow, quiver of arrows, trav-
eling pack, 5 koku.
Ikoma Bard School [Courtier]
In the end, after trials, sacrifices, and death—once their body is burned 
and the ashes scattered to the winds—all that truly remains of a samurai 
is their story. The greatest monuments of humans may vanish to dust, 
but legends live on so long as there is someone to kindle them in the 
memory of the living. The Ikoma Bard School trains its students for this 
purpose—they are historians, bards, and keepers of the stories of heroes. 
They exist not just to preserve knowledge, but to transmit these tales to 
the next generation, inspiring the warriors of the Lion Clan to equal and 
even exceed the achievements their ancestors won in ancient days. Thus, 
while Ikoma Bards do not usually serve as frontline combatants, they are 
no less warlike than the other scions of the Lion Clan—they simply fight 
a different battle, remembering and venerating glorious deeds in story. 
Although they teach the lessons of the past to their clan’s commanders 
and rulers on and off the battlefield, perhaps their most important duty is 
in supporting every member of the Lion Clan’s will to seize glory no mat-
ter the danger, and to fight against any odds with the confidence that no 
hero will die unsung.
Ring Increases: +1 Water, +1 Fire
Skill Increases (choose five different skills): +1 Composition, +1 Cour-
tesy, +1 Culture, +1 Martial Arts [Ranged], +1 Performance, +1 Senti-
ment, +1 Tactics
Techniques Available: Kata, Shūji, Rituals
Starting Techniques:
•  Kata: Warrior’s Resolve
•  Shūji (choose one): Fanning the Flames, Tributaries of Trade
Honor: 45
Heart of the Lion (School Ability): When you perform a check using a 
Social skill targeting one or more characters, you may gain an amount 
of strife up to your school rank to remove that amount of strife from the 
targets (divided among the targets as you choose).
When you perform a check using a Social skill targeting one or more 
characters, you may remove an amount of strife up to your school rank 
from yourself to have your targets gain that amount of strife (divided 
among the targets as you choose).
Starting Outfit: Traveling clothes, wakizashi, spear or tessen, bow, quiver 
of arrows, traveling pack, any one instrument, journal, 4 koku.
Phoenix Schools
As caretakers of the Empire’s soul, the Phoenix Clan imparts its theologi-
cal wisdom throughout all their schools. A reverence for the spirits is 
instilled in the students of every dōjō, and the wisdom of the Tao is a fun-
damental part of every lesson taught. Just as the four elements combine 
to form a perfect whole, together the warriors, priests, scholars, and mys-
tics carry out the Phoenix’s mission of ensuring balance and harmony.
Isawa Elementalist School [Shugenja]
No tradition has a more complete mastery of the way of the spirits than 
that of the Isawa Elementalist School. Since the time before the Kami fell 
to earth, the priests of the Isawa have sought knowledge and understand-
ing of the kami, the Fortunes, and the very elements themselves. Over 
the centuries, they have perfected the rituals and supplications to request 
great boons on behalf of the Phoenix Clan and terrible banes for casting 
down their enemies. Yet, they know that the spirits require service in 
exchange for their blessings, making the Isawa Elementalists hesitant to 
call upon the kami except in times of great need. To do so without cause 
is to risk upsetting the delicate balance of the natural world—or bring the 
wrath of the spirits upon them.
Ring Increases: +1 Fire, +1 Water
Skill Increases (choose three different skills): +1 Composition, +1 
Courtesy, +1 Medicine, +1 Meditation, +1 Performance, +1 Theology
Techniques Available: Invocations, Shūji, Rituals
Starting Techniques:
•  Invocations (choose three from the following list): Extinguish, 
Grasp of Earth, Path to Inner Peace, Tempest of Air
•  Rituals: Commune with the Spirits, Divination
Honor: 40
One with the Elements (School Ability): The Isawa Elementalist School 
excels not at one particular elemental art, but at the discipline of invoca-
tion itself. Its teachings are widely applicable across many different ap-
peals to the kami, making its practitioners especially versatile.
Once per scene when making the check to activate an invocation tech-
nique, before Step 3: Assemble and Roll Dice Pool, you may reduce the 
TN of the check by your school rank.
Starting Outfit: Sanctified robes, wakizashi, knife, scroll satchel, travel-
ing pack, 5 koku.
Shiba Guardian School [Bushi]
As Shiba swore to protect Isawa, the Shiba Guardian School emphasizes 
defense and cooperation with the Isawa; its members complement and 
protect priests, shrine keepers, and shugenja. The Shiba Guardians are 
broadly trained, often as much scholars as warriors, and they approach 
conflict as a problem to be solved without bloodshed if possible. Those 
who underestimate them due to their reluctance to take a life usually only 
do so once: the Shiba Guardians are as devoted to the perfection of the 
martial arts as any samurai. Their devotion to theological study and long 

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