#Making Your Hero (英雄を作る)

Hana dreams of a warrior with a blade, and Mei dreams of a sorcerer who commands yoma.

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#Scent — Naming Them

Another Saturday. The rain had stopped. Outside the window, the wet road shone.

Kuro placed two printed sheets on the table. Paper full of blank spaces. Name, class, abilities, traits — character sheets.

"Today, you'll make your characters."

Hana picked up a sheet. Her eyes fixed on the name field.

"Name first?"

"Name later. Class first."

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"There are thirty-three classes in all." Kuro took out a list. "But you don't need to look at all of them at first. Just look at the basic six. Samurai, ronin, shinobi, onmyoji, esoteric monk, Pure Land monk. These six split up every role you need on the battlefield — block at the front, strike fast, target the rear, cast sorcery, fight in the thick of it, and keep allies alive."

"You choose by role first?" Mei asked.

"Right. Don't pick 'I want to be a warrior,' pick by 'what do you want to do.' If you want to block at the front, samurai; if you want to use spells from the rear, onmyoji. The other twenty-seven classes are variants of these six, or special classes that only open with the GM's permission. Look at those once you're used to it."

Hana's eyes stopped at the top. Samurai. Next to it was written "Front Zone / Defense."

"This one." Hana spoke firmly. "Samurai."

Kuro smiled. "I expected that."

Mei slowly scanned the list. Onmyoji, esoteric monk, Pure Land monk — spiritual classes. Her finger stopped at the fourth.

"Onmyoji," Mei said. "It commands shikigami? By placing spells on paper dolls?"

"Right. A sorcerer who handles yoma. You summon shikigami, place them on the battlefield, and control them with your Ener... action resource."

Mei nodded. "A summoner + controller concept. I like it."

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Kuro placed two pencils next to the dice. "Next are attributes. There are six."

Hana looked at the sheet. Six empty fields.

"Courage(勇) is courage and close combat. Finesse(技) is agility and quick reactions. Physique(體) is stamina and endurance. Wisdom(智) is knowledge and command. Presence(美) is charm and bearing. Fate(運) is luck."

"How do we set the numbers?"

Kuro set down six cards. +2, +1, +1, 0, 0, -1.

"Assign these six numbers freely to the six attributes. Put high numbers where you are strong, low numbers where you are weak."

Hana thought. Samurai. Good with a blade, standing in front and stopping enemies. A blade needs Courage, and holding the line needs Physique.

She picked up the pencil. +2 to Courage. +1 to Physique. +1 to Finesse. 0, 0, -1 for the rest.

"Where should I put -1?"

"Where you're weak. What is a samurai bad at?"

Hana thought for a moment. "...Fate?"

Kuro nodded. "An unlucky samurai. But a warrior who faces fate with sword skill and will. Good character."

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Mei's turn.

"You said Wisdom is key for onmyoji, right?"

"Right. Sorcery and shikigami control use Wisdom."

Mei wrote it down. +2 to Wisdom. +1 to Presence. +1 to Fate. 0 to Courage. 0 to Finesse. -1 to Physique.

"If Physique is -1, isn't it dangerous if I get hit?"

"It is. Onmyoji stay behind and control shikigami. They should not stand in front. The samurai blocks the front, and the onmyoji casts spells from behind."

Mei nodded. "Like a scholar in CoC. Someone who'd die the moment they fight."

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"Background," Kuro said. "Where your character came from before standing on the battlefield. There are 13 backgrounds total, but for the start I'll show only 6 representative ones."

Hana looked at the list. Fallen noble, farmer, merchant's child, temple-born, wanderer, child of the Spirit Realm.

"Fallen noble," Hana said. "A samurai whose family once had a castle, but collapsed. So she came to the battlefield carrying one blade."

"Good. A fallen noble gets bonuses to Negotiation and Bearing. The old family name still remains."

Mei chose temple-born. "The onmyoji grew up in a temple. She grew up reading sutras and spellbooks."

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Skills. Traits. Equipment. Hana and Mei filled in the blanks.

Hana's weapon was an uchigatana — an ordinary blade. "A blade inherited from her father. The scabbard is worn, but the edge is alive."

Mei had no weapon. "Doesn't the shikigami fight for the onmyoji?"

"Right. Instead, you have talismans. And one shikigami."

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Last. Names.

Hana picked up the pencil. Character by character, carefully.

"Fujiwara no Setsuna (藤原刹那)."

Kuro read it. "Fujiwara... a historical house."

"It was a good house. Not anymore." Hana's voice had heat in it. She was already becoming Setsuna.

Mei wrote in neat letters.

"Mina (ミナ)."

"Family name?"

Mei shook her head. "A child raised in a temple has no family name. Just a name."

Kuro set the two sheets side by side. Fujiwara no Setsuna, samurai. Mina, onmyoji. Two heroes had been born on paper.

"Good," Kuro said. "Next week, these two meet for the first time."

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The blanks were filled. Between numbers and names, lives not yet lived were waiting.

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#Law — Session Transcript

Kuro: "Let's go through the 7 steps of character creation."

#Step 1 — Choose Class

Kuro: "Hana is a samurai. Core attributes: Courage/Physique. Role: defending the Front Zone. Mei is an onmyoji. Core is Wisdom(智). Summon shikigami and control them from the Rear Zone."

#Step 2 — Assign Attributes

Kuro: "The array is +2, +1, +1, 0, 0, -1. Total +3."

Hana:

Mei:

Kuro: "Derived values. Energy = 10 + Finesse. Wounds = 3 + Physique."

Mei: "Wounds 2... so if I take two fatal wounds, I fall."

Kuro: "Right. Onmyoji should not stand in front. Setsuna has to block."

#Step 3 — Background

Kuro: "Hana = fallen noble. Choose 2 of 3 skill benefits: Military Science, Negotiation, Bearing."

Hana: "Military Science and Bearing. She's a commander."

Kuro: "Mei = temple-born. Skill benefits: Exorcism, Medicine, Fighting Spirit."

Mei: "Exorcism and Medicine."

#Step 4 — Assign Skills

Kuro: "Class automatic 5 points(Novice 3 = 3 points, Trained 1 = 2 points) + background benefit 2 points + free 2 points = 9 points."

Setsuna skills: Swordsmanship●●(Trained), Fighting Spirit●(Novice), Military Science●(Novice), Intimidation●(Novice) + Negotiation●(background), Bearing●(background) + Horsemanship●(free), Survival●(free)

Mina skills: Sorcery●●(Trained), Exorcism●(Novice), Barrier●(Novice), Prophecy●(Novice) + Exorcism●→●●(background, duplicate raises to Trained), Medicine●(background) + Negotiation●(free), Perception●(free)

#Step 5 — Traits

Kuro: "3 1st-dan traits. Class automatic 1 + background automatic 1 + general choice 1."

Setsuna:

• Immovable Formation [stance] (samurai automatic) — on declaration, Domination +4(Front Zone), enemy Breakthrough +2, cannot move.
• Family Name [aptitude] (fallen noble automatic) — Negotiation/Intimidation +2, squad initial Cohesion +1.
• Tough [aptitude] (general choice) — Wounds +1. → Wounds 4→5.

Mina:

• Shikigami Service [Kata] (onmyoji automatic) — summon 1 shikigami. Wounds 1, Defense 12. Domination +1.
• Power of Scripture [aptitude] (temple-born automatic) — attack checks against yoma +1 (always). Fear resistance checks +2 (always).
• Yoma Lore [aptitude] (general choice) — yoma attacks +1, weaknesses automatically revealed.

#Step 6 — Equipment

Setsuna: uchigatana(standard blade), heavy armor(Defense 14, Energy -1 → offset by Physique+1). Mina: talisman(consumable, 1 use to remove a curse), 1 shikigami doll.

#Step 7 — Three Ways and Six Hearts

Kuro: "The direction of the heart. Choose one of the three ways(道), and within it a bright heart or dark heart."

Hana: "Setsuna is... Way of Rites(禮). Loyalty(忠). Loyalty to rebuild her house."

Mei: "Mina is Way of Mystery(玄). Truth(眞). An onmyoji who seeks truth."

Kuro: "Good. Setsuna — Way of Rites 忠. Mina — Way of Mystery 眞. Characters complete."

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Kuro: "Summary. The 7 creation steps:

1. Class — choose by role first. New players pick 1 from the Base 6 classes (33 classes total = Base 6 + Expansion 12 + Outsider 3 + Fiend 12)
2. Attributes — assign +2/+1/+1/0/0/-1
3. Background — choose 1 of 13 total (for the tutorial, you can begin with 6 representative backgrounds)
4. Skills — class 5 + background 2 + free 2 = 9 points
5. Traits — class 1 + background 1 + general 1 = 3 traits
6. Equipment — weapon + armor
7. Three Ways and Six Hearts — choose way + heart

That's enough to finish a character. It takes 10 minutes."

Hana: "10 minutes? Really?"

Kuro: "Faster than D&D. No dice rolling."

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Two sheets. Fujiwara no Setsuna, samurai, Way of Rites 忠. Mina, onmyoji, Way of Mystery 眞. Two people who do not know each other yet. Next week, they meet on the battlefield.