#Classes (職業, Classes)

Contents

A single hub that groups the 33 classes by the role (役割) they perform. You choose first by "what you do on the battlefield," not "what you want to become."

Related Items: Skill System · Progression · Renown Titles · Class Compendium (cross-reference table) · Villain Guide

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#How to Read This

Classes are sorted first by role (what you do on the battlefield), not concept (samurai or onmyoji). Each class lists both a role (main axis) and a concept (sub-tag).

• Role (main axis) = the tactical position you fill in the party. One of the 9 role groups.
• Concept (sub-tag) = the identity with which you fill that position.

New players choose only from the basic 6 classes. Because the basic 6 classes cover all the core roles across the 9 role groups, you can build a balanced party with just the 6. Open the expansion, outsider, and fiend tiers with the GM once you are comfortable.

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#The 4-Tier Structure

Classes are divided into 4 tiers by selectability and place in the setting.

①+② = the 18 official classes (players choose freely). ③ Outsiders and ④ Fiends are GM-permission territory.

No. 19, the Villain Guide, is not a class but a meta guide for running fiends (only its number sits in the fiend range).

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#Tier 1 — Basic 6 Classes (Entry Set)

A role-complete entry set. The six classes each take one core position: Front Zone, mobility, assassination, sorcery, melee, and support. These six alone complete a party with no missing role.

Role ↔ basic 6 class correspondence (at entry, this table alone suffices):

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#Tier 2 — Expansion 12 Classes

Variations and intensifications of the basic 6. They dig the same role sharper (e.g. gaijin = dedicated ranged), or fill niche roles the basic 6 only touch shallowly (e.g. feng shui master = terrain control). Player free choice, but since their concepts are strong, GM approval is recommended.

#Expansion Class Selection Guidelines (GM and Player)

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#Tier 3 — Outsider 3 Classes (異邦人, Outsiders)

Those who do not belong to this age. They arrive without knowing the techniques of their own age, and blend into the battlefield by borrowing the 1st-dan through 5th-dan traits of other classes through the Adaptation mechanic. Their fixed role is weak; their defining trait is filling roles by borrowing them. GM-permission territory.

Adaptation rules, stage bonuses, and penalties: Progression §Adaptation. Adaptation and dual build are mutually exclusive.

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#Tier 4 — Fiend 12 Classes (魔人職業, Villain Classes)

GM permission required. NPC villains by default, but PCs are possible depending on campaign theme. They gain extreme strengths at the cost of abandoning humanity. Each fiend class derives from a mirror combination of 2 basic classes. For operating principles, see the Villain Play Guide.

#Common Features of Fiends

• Hybrid origin: derived from a "mirror combination" of 2 basic classes (e.g. Shurado = samurai × esoteric monk).
• Humanity resource: some fiend classes (Shurado, Jikiniki, etc.) spend Humanity or a similar resource, and at 0 they turn into NPC oni (character loss).
• Social cost: most stand outside the honor code. Inability to negotiate or serve ordinary NPCs is the default.
• Three Ways and Six Hearts: many are fixed to a specific dark heart (Hegemony/Void/Demon). Their heart-change paths are narrowed too.

Fiend references — play guide: Villain Play Guide · samples: Integrated Fiend Samples · fiction: Episode 15: Battle for the Hannyakai · enemy compendium: §Fiend Villains

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#The 9 Role Groups — Comprehensive Placement of the 33 Classes

Classes that take the same role are grouped together. Tier notation: basic=①, expansion=②, outsider=③, fiend=④. When the party is missing a role, find a substitute class from this table.

How to read this: the basic 6 classes (①) take the core anchor of 6 of the 9 role groups (Front Zone, mobility, assassination, sorcery, melee, support). The remaining 3 role groups (Control/Terrain, Ranged/Bombardment, Social/Economy) get dedicated classes from the expansion tier and up. In other words, even with the basic 6 alone, no central combat role is left empty.

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#Class Selection Guide (by Role)

• If you want to fight directly at the front: samurai, autonomous automaton / ronin, esoteric monk, wildlander
• If you like ambush and assassination: shinobi, ronin
• If you want to handle magic and yoma: onmyoji, feng shui master, esoteric monk
• If you want to improve team survivability: Pure Land monk, entertainer, scholar
• If you want to manipulate the battlefield itself: feng shui master, artisan, puppeteer
• Special roles such as ranged and economy: gaijin (sniping), merchant (economy)
• Nonhuman concepts: hanyo, autonomous automaton, arahitogami, puppeteer

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#Class Trait Structure

Each class gains the following traits according to advancement:

→ Check starting automatic skills at the top of each class page for the unique 1st-dan class transmission, and the body below for trait options by dan. To see all 33 classes' trait options by dan at a glance, use the Class Compendium (cross-reference table).

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#Honor Classification and Retreat Follow-up

The Retreat rule applies penalties differently depending on a class's honor status. The basic principle is that most classes are non-honor classes.

#Basic Honor Classes (名譽職)

A small set of classes for whom the gaze of bushido or a faith/divinity community defines flight as shame.

Bushido Line:

• samurai — core of bushido. Loyalty to the lord is the basis of the retreat taboo.

Faith and Divinity Line:

• Pure Land monk — guarantor of faith for the believer community. Retreat in front of believers = collapse of the community's faith.
• arahitogami — dignity of divinity. If they flee while believers are watching, divine authority itself is damaged.

Legendary Lineage:

• Among heroic spirits, warrior lineages — heroic spirits who were warriors in life, such as Minamoto no Yoshitsune or Karna. Saints, sages, and strategist-type heroic spirits count as non-honor classes.

#Conditional Honor Classes — Shift by Practice or Service

The following classes are non-honor by default, but adopt an honor code themselves depending on practice stage or service status. GM and player decide by agreement during character setup.

#Basic Non-Honor Classes (獨立職)

All other basic, expansion, fiend, and outsider classes. Retreat does not conflict with class identity.

• Basic and expansion: ronin, shinobi, feng shui master, merchant, artisan, entertainer, gaijin, wildlander, hanyo, autonomous automaton, puppeteer.
• All 12 fiend classes. Fiends stand outside social honor codes.
• Outsiders: modern person, celestial, heroic spirits who are not warriors.

#Shift by External Discipline — Faction and School Rules

Even a basic non-honor class receives honor-class-equivalent penalties + added responsibility during that battle if the internal rules of their faction or school forbid retreat.

• Faction rule examples: daimyo's direct "no retreat" order, mercenary companies with military law, religious armies (Ikko-ikki, armed warrior monks), secret societies (Hannya society, etc. — execution only if secrets are leaked).
• School rule examples: Jigen-ryu (no stepping back), Kan-ryu (One Spear Pierces Heaven, advance only). Applies only to Licensed holders.
• Additional faction responsibility: exile from domain, order to commit seppuku, license revocation, expulsion, execution, etc., imposed at GM discretion to fit campaign context.

#Unavoidable Retreat — Follow-up Exemption Conditions

Even an honor class or conditional honor class can retreat without follow-up penalty if one of the following is true:

1. Commander order — lord/superior explicitly orders retreat, such as "live and report."
2. Escort of protected target — a protected NPC exists, and continuing combat would cause that NPC's death.
3. Strategic withdrawal — the GM recognizes that withdrawal is the correct answer in the scenario context.
4. Unanimous agreement — the entire party agrees to retreat on reasonable grounds.

#Retreat Follow-up Penalties

Non-honor classes have no follow-up penalty. Honor classes, conditional honor classes, and characters under external discipline receive the following basic penalties when none of the exemption conditions apply.

• Fame -1.
• Three Ways and Six Hearts check: characters with Loyalty (忠) or Hegemony (覇) hearts make a check to shift toward Void (虛).
• Squad Cohesion -1 (one-time at the start of the next combat).
• Lord affinity -2 (if they have a lord).

#Additional Responsibility from External Discipline

Retreat under faction or school discipline may add the following responsibilities on top of the basic penalties.

• Violation of daimyo discipline: exile from domain / order to commit seppuku / family censure.
• Violation of mercenary contract: contract deposit seized / mercenary guild reputation falls.
• Leaving a religious army: expulsion / loss of Faith resource / hostility from related faction.
• Violation of school rules such as Jigen-ryu or Kan-ryu: license revocation / expulsion from fellow disciples.
• Accompanied by secret-society secret leakage: execution or designation as a target of pursuit.

#GM Notes

• This follow-up is not an item to check immediately during combat, but a cleanup item after the session.
• Repeated violations can have long-term effects on Renown Title review, lord trust, and school relationships.

Detailed combat procedure: co-03-06-combat-flow.md §Retreat.

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#Whole-Document Cross-Reference Map

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A class is the character's beginning, not the whole of them. First decide the role you will take on the battlefield — concept is the question of how you fill that position. Even the same samurai becomes a different person depending on the path they walk.