#What Is Konsei Reiyotan? (混世霊妖譚とは)

A Sengoku age of blades and yoma. What sets this game apart.

#Scent — The Shape of the World

The next Saturday. The same cafe. The same seats.

Kuro opened his notebook. This time, the pages were full. Maps, faction charts, timelines. And one drawing — a sketch of a warrior with a blade facing a vast red-eyed shadow on a foggy battlefield.

"Today we'll talk about the world."

Hana leaned forward. Mei took a sip of coffee.

"You know the Sengoku period, right?" Kuro asked.

Hana raised her hand. "The roughly hundred-year age of war after the Onin War. The age when daimyo fought over the realm. Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu — the process by which those three unified the realm."

"Textbook answer." Kuro nodded. "The Sengoku period in Konsei Reiyotan starts there too. But one thing is different."

Kuro pointed to the drawing. The red-eyed shadow.

"There are yoma."

"A hundred years ago, the gate to the Spirit Realm opened," Kuro said. "The boundary between the Spirit Realm — the world of the dead, the world where time twists — and the present world grew weak. Through those gaps, yoma came pouring out."

Mei asked, "Like a gate from the Cthulhu Mythos?"

"Similar, but different. The fear of Cthulhu is 'something humans cannot understand.' The fear of yoma is 'something humans know far too well.' Jealousy, resentment, greed, anger — dark human emotions given form. Ko-oni are anger, vengeful spirits are resentment, nine-tailed foxes are obsession."

Hana murmured, "Then killing a yoma doesn't end it. If the emotion remains, it comes back."

Kuro smiled. "Exactly. 'Cutting' a yoma is a stopgap. The real solution is to resolve the grudge, seal it, or purify it. But the warriors of the Sengoku period know only blades."

"So that's why esoteric monks and onmyoji are needed," Mei said.

"Right. In this game, combat does not end with blades alone. You bring down the yoma with a blade, seal it with sutras, and purify it with Onmyodo. Warriors, monks, and onmyoji have to work together."

Hana asked, "What do samurai do? Just swing swords?"

Kuro shook his head. "Samurai hold the Front Zone. A battlefield has zones — your side, the enemy side, and the space between. Samurai stand at the very front and keep the enemy from pushing through the line. And they command ashigaru — spear or archer squads."

"They command squads?" Hana's eyes widened. "It isn't just individual combat?"

"No. Combat in this game is unit warfare. One hero does not dominate the battlefield alone; they fight alongside soldiers. While the hero swings a blade, ashigaru hold the Front Zone with spears, and archers rain arrows from behind. Heroes are strong, but they cannot hold a battlefield without soldiers."

Mei nodded. "That's completely different from CoC. CoC is a game where you go insane alone in a library."

Kuro laughed. "Here, instead of going insane, the front collapses if your squad breaks."

"But why fight?" Mei asked. "Isn't it enough to drive off the yoma?"

Kuro's expression grew serious. "Humans fight humans too. This is the Sengoku period. Daimyo fight over territory, temples raise armed warrior monks, and merchants profit from war supplies behind the scenes. Yoma creep into the gaps of that war. While humans fight humans, yoma grow stronger."

"So humanity's enemy is yoma and also humanity," Hana said.

"Right. And between them, characters have to choose. Follow your lord's order, or follow your own convictions. Cut down the yoma, or understand it. Protect your companions, or complete the mission. Those choices gather together and become the character's story."

Hana spoke quietly. "Is that... Three Ways and Six Hearts?"

Kuro nodded. "It is Konsei Reiyotan's version of alignment systems from other games — things like D&D's good/evil and law/chaos. Loyalty(忠), Hegemony(覇), Compassion(慈), Void(虛), Truth(眞), Demon(魔). Six hearts. A character's heart changes depending on the choices they make, and when the heart changes, the story changes too."

Outside the cafe, the sky had gone dark. Hana was looking at Kuro's sketch. A foggy battlefield. A warrior with a blade. A red-eyed shadow.

"I want to be this warrior," Hana said.

"Then let's make one," Kuro said. "Next week."

Mei asked quietly, "Can I be... on the yoma side?"

Kuro narrowed his eyes. "The yoma side?"

"Controlling yoma, or using the power of yoma. In CoC, the insane ones are always the most interesting in the end."

Kuro turned a page in the notebook. On one page, "Fiend (魔人)" was written.

"That exists. But — later."

The wars of the Sengoku period were battles between humans. But the gate to the Spirit Realm opened, and things that could not be cut by blades began to appear. This is the world of Konsei Reiyotan.

#Law — Session Transcript

Kuro: "All right. Let's summarize what makes Konsei Reiyotan different from other TRPGs. Five things."

Hana: "Five things?"

Kuro: "First. The only dice are 2d10. No d4, no d6, no d8, no d12, no d20. Two 10-sided dice. Add them. 2 to 20. There are no damage dice either — if you hit, 1; if you hit hard, 2. Done."

Mei: "No damage roll? In CoC, each weapon has its own damage dice..."

Kuro: "None. If an attack succeeds, the enemy's 'Wounds' decrease by 1. On a great success, they decrease by 2. When Wounds reach 0, the target falls. Wounds are not hit points; they are closer to how many fatal wounds you can endure. Ordinary soldiers(Minions) have Wounds 1 — if hit, they die immediately. Even Elite-rank and Lord-rank enemies, the so-called 'bosses,' usually have Wounds 3 to 5. That makes combat fast."

Hana: "So an ashigaru can die in one cut?"

Kuro: "Yes. In the real Sengoku period too, an ashigaru could die from a single arrow. This game reflects that brutality. But your PCs have higher Wounds. A samurai with Wounds 4 falls only after being hit four times."

Mei: "...That might be more survivable than CoC. In CoC, one shotgun blast can kill you instantly."

Kuro: "Second. Your action resource is also the time axis. There is a resource called Energy. It is an action resource and also decides 'when you move.' Whoever has higher Energy acts first. When you act, your Energy decreases. That means next time, you act later."

Hana: "Initiative changes every time?"

Kuro: "Right. You act several times inside one combat, but the order changes whenever you act. If you move quickly and often, you tire early. If you conserve your pace, you can last until the end. That resource management is core."

Kuro: "Third. The battlefield is divided into zones. It is not a grid map. There are zones like 'ally Front Zone,' 'enemy Front Zone,' 'Core Zone,' 'Rear Zone,' and 'Flank Zone,' and each zone makes different weapons stronger or weaker. Spears are strong on the Front Zone, daggers are strong in the Core Zone, and bows are strong from the Rear Zone."

Mei: "Is it like the position system in Blades in the Dark?"

Kuro: "Similar, but more tactical. Each zone has a value called 'Domination.' You have an advantage in zones your side controls, and if you want to push into a zone the enemy controls, you have to make a 'Breakthrough.'"

Kuro: "Fourth. You command squads. PCs do not fight alone. You lead a spear squad of five ashigaru, or an archer squad. To give orders to a squad, you spend Energy. If your Wisdom is high, it gets cheaper; if it is low, it gets expensive. If your squad breaks, the front collapses, so squad management is half of combat."

Hana: "Do squads have morale?"

Kuro: "We call it 'Cohesion.' Base 3. At 0, the squad flees. It drops from enemy attacks or a commander's death, and Pure Land monks or entertainers can raise it."

Kuro: "Fifth. Three Ways and Six Hearts. The alignment system. Way of Rites(禮), Way of Emptiness(空), Way of Mystery(玄), three paths. Each path has a bright heart and a dark heart. Loyalty(忠) and Hegemony(覇), Compassion(慈) and Void(虛), Truth(眞) and Demon(魔). A character's actions change their heart, and that heart affects final abilities at the Tatsujin stage."

Mei: "It's not like SAN... right?"

Kuro: "No. SAN is something that 'goes down,' but Three Ways and Six Hearts is something that 'changes.' Going down means getting worse. Three Ways and Six Hearts does not get worse — it changes. Moving from Loyalty to Hegemony isn't 'becoming a bad person' — it's 'taking a different path.' Which one is right is something you only learn when the story ends."

Hana: "...I like that."

Kuro: "Summary. Konsei Reiyotan's five features. Only 2d10, no damage rolls, Energy=time, zones+squads, Three Ways and Six Hearts. Next week, we'll roll dice for real."

Hana: "I'm looking forward to it!"

Mei: "Me too. But there really isn't an insanity option?"

Kuro: "There is a class that turns into an oni when Humanity reaches 0."

Mei: (eyes shining) "...That one?"

Kuro: "Later."

Two dice. Five rules. One world. Next week, a hero is born.