#Puppeteer (傀儡師)

Fights by controlling dolls. The main body stays behind; the puppet stands ahead. One body exists in two places.

• Role: remote combat/split presence. The puppet fights in the Front Zone while the main body stays in the rear.
• Core Attributes: Wisdom (智), Finesse (技)
• Core Zone Entry: puppet only enters freely (main body uses forced Breakthrough)
• Base Class: Bunraku puppeteer. Or a secret society's puppet master.
• Three Ways and Six Hearts: Truth or Compassion. A person of divided selfhood.
• Skills Eligible for Master: Stratagem, Perception, Disable, Disguise, Prophecy, Deceit
• Starting Automatic Skills: Stratagem Trained, Perception Novice, Disable Novice, Disguise Novice

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#Scent — The War of Strings

Bunraku. Puppet theater. A performance art of the Sengoku era, and a tactic. At one point, Bunraku was only entertainment. Children clapped in village squares and adults drank. But the moment one puppeteer put a sword in their puppet's hand, Bunraku became something else. From performance art to a tool of war.

The puppeteer controls a combat puppet with strings wound around the fingers. The puppet is a human-sized wooden warrior. It wears armor, grips a weapon, and fights enemies in the Front Zone. The puppeteer does not stand in the Front Zone personally. From the rear, or from the edge, they wage war with only their fingers. A puppeteer in one zone controls one puppet in another, as if they were present in that zone. A master who reaches the 9th-dan [Master of Myriad Machines] fights with three puppets at once, each against a different enemy in three different zones. It is like one person becoming three.

The relationship between puppeteer and puppet is not simply "tool and user." Through the strings, the puppeteer's will, senses, and skill flow into the puppet. A skilled puppeteer's puppet is vivid, to the point that enemies cannot distinguish whether it is puppet or human. But when the puppet is destroyed, mental shock, called Backflow, returns to the puppeteer. So the puppeteer's greatest grief is the puppet's death. It hurts more than having one's own hand cut off. If an onmyoji's shikigami is a disposable consumable, the puppeteer's puppet is another self. The moment the puppet breaks, part of the puppeteer dies.

The puppeteer's deepest conflict is "Am I the puppet, or is the puppet me?" In every combat, the puppeteer sees through the puppet's eyes. They swing the sword with the puppet's hands. At some point, they forget where their own main body is. The main body sits still in the rear, while consciousness is inside the puppet in the Front Zone. If that continues for too long, the main body grows rigid. Among 9th-dan master puppeteers, some can no longer recognize "their own main body." To them, the body is merely "another puppet." The truly sad thing is that this state is peaceful. At the end of divided selfhood, the puppeteer sees the peace of having lost every self. Is that enlightenment, or another name for death?

• Recommended Weapons: self-defense kaiken (concealed), tanto (self-defense), the puppet itself (puppet's weapon). The main body goes without a weapon; the puppet holds the blade.
• Recommended Schools: none. Puppeteers have their own schools of puppet control (Bunraku-ryu, secret society puppetry, and the like).
• Recommended Faction Traits: Sakai Guild (entertainment guild + secret society), Muhyeon Band (tengu puppetry, rare), Biu Mountain (yoko puppets, most dangerous)

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#Core Mechanic: Puppet (傀儡)

During combat, the puppeteer places 1 puppet on the battlefield. The puppet exists in an independent zone and acts using the puppeteer's Energy/checks.

Puppet Base Stats (1st dan):

Puppet Actions: On the puppeteer's breath, choose either the puppeteer's own maneuver or a puppet technique. You cannot mix puppet techniques and main-body techniques in one breath (while holding the strings, the body cannot move).

When the Puppet Is Destroyed: Puppet Wounds 0 → the puppeteer suffers Backflow (逆流): lose 1 Wound + Defenseless (1 breath). The puppet can be recreated during the lull (upkeep maneuver).

String Range: The puppeteer and puppet must be within 2 zones. If they are 3 or more zones apart, control is impossible (the puppet stops).

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#Puppet Techniques

The puppet's techniques are determined by its equipped weapon. The puppeteer equips the puppet with a weapon (purchased separately).

Default puppet weapon: Puppet Blade (傀儡刀) — a wooden sword fitted with an iron edge.

Core Restriction: On a breath using a puppet technique, the main body cannot act. On a breath using main-body action (movement/self-defense), the puppet stops.

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#Law — Trait List

#1st Dan: War of Strings [aptitude]

[aptitude] War of Strings
Effect: At combat start, place 1 puppet in any zone.
Puppet base stats: Wounds 2, Defense 12, Domination +1.
The puppet's techniques are executed with the puppeteer's Energy/checks.
String range: 2 zones.

Puppet Classification and Control Rules (Principle 2)

A puppet is an individual unit. It is not a squad, so it cannot be the target of squad orders, Overall Command, or squad tactics (a scholar's 5th-dan "Overall Command" cannot command 3 puppets at once).

A puppet has 0 Energy of its own. The practitioner grants actions to the puppet through a control action. The control action is 0 Energy ([Kata]) and shares the 2 times per round cap from ../../co-03-core-rules/co-03-04-action-points.md Rule 3. Even if there are multiple puppets, the practitioner's control is limited to 2 times per round.

Not a transfer target. A puppet has no Energy of its own, so it cannot be the target of a scholar's "Divine Calculation and Ghostly Strategy" transfer. It is possible to support puppet actions indirectly by increasing the practitioner's Energy.

See ../../co-99-meta/co-99-02-core-principles.md Principle 2 for this principle.

[Explicit Exception] — Puppeteer-specific Squad Tactics "Puppet Squad" and "String Formation"

The [Tactic:Aptitude] Puppet Squad and [Tactic:Stance] String Formation traits in the §Squad Tactics Traits section below are explicit exceptions to this principle. These two traits do not make puppets "targets of squad orders." Instead, they are active traits by which the puppeteer personally assigns their own puppet to assist an existing squad (Minion/Veteran). An assigned puppet only adds bonuses to the squad's Wounds/Defense and does not become a "recipient" of squad orders or Overall Command; the controlling actor remains the puppeteer, and the 2 times per round cap on control actions remains in force.

Other classes (scholar, Lord command, and so on) can never use this exception. It exists only through the puppeteer's own squad tactics traits.

#3rd-Dan Class Traits (choose 1)

#5th-Dan Class Traits (choose 1)

#7th-Dan Advanced Traits (choose 1)

#9th-Dan Advanced Traits (choose 1)

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#Puppet Operation Summary

#Puppet Growth by Puppeteer Dan

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#Zone Bonuses

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#Three Ways and Six Hearts

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#Difference from Other Classes

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#Masterwork Puppet

#Ayatsuri-hime (操り姫) — "The Manipulated Princess"

The greatest work made by a legendary puppeteer. A doll impossible to distinguish from a human. So precise that sometimes, it seems to move by itself.

• Puppet Stats: Wounds 5, Defense 15. Durability comparable to Lord-grade.
• Masterwork Technique: Autonomous Action (自律行動) — 1/combat. For 1 round, the puppet acts independently (separate from the puppeteer's Energy, acting on its own with Energy 8). During that round, the puppeteer's main body can also act freely.

"When the doll began to move by itself, the puppeteer let go of the strings."

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#Recommended Weapons

#Typical Breath Patterns for Puppeteers

#Core Tactic: "Length of the Strings"

The distance between puppeteer and puppet, the string range of 2 zones, is the core tactic.

• Main body in Rear Zone, puppet in Front Zone: Basic placement. Within 2 zones. Safe + engaged.
• Main body at Edge, puppet in Core Zone: Hide the main body and send the puppet into the Core Zone. String range 2.
• 7th-Dan Master's Strings: Unlimited range. Place puppets anywhere on the battlefield.

The puppeteer's story: "I am behind it. But my heart is on the battlefield with the puppet."

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Is it cowardly to control from behind? No. The one who survives the battlefield wins.

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#Squad Tactics Traits (Puppeteer)

Slot Rule: Squad tactics traits are included in the class trait choices for that dan. When choosing 3rd-dan/5th-dan class traits, you may choose a squad tactics trait instead of an ordinary class trait.

Puppeteer squad tactics take the distinctive form of assigning dolls to squads. The puppet becomes a squad member and reinforces its combat strength.

Three Ways and Six Hearts (Squad Tactics): Puppet Squad is No-Heart (tool-like efficiency). String Formation lies between Truth and No-Heart: "Do the strings connect technique, or heart?"

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"I look at my fingers. The fingers are mine. I look at the puppet. The puppet is mine too. Then where am I?"

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#Example Character

→ Ayame — Sample Sheet (1/5/10 Dan + Step-by-Step Backstory)