#8 New Spearmanship Schools
Contents
To the core 2 schools (Hozoin, Kan-ryu), this expansion adds 8 new schools. Each school replaces the core Licensed Spear Formation (check +2, reach +1) / secret-art Long-Shaft Handling (check +3, encircle / charge bonus) with its own unique maneuver.
#§ Scent — The Hundred Branches of the Shaft
The sword is about the height of one person, but the spear grows to about the height of five. So the spear always has two faces — the mastery of one warrior, and the line of one unit. This document records 8, of which half deal with individual mastery and the rest with group formations.
#§ Law — 8 Schools
#11-01. Takeda-ryu Spear (武田流槍) — famous school · Japan Sengoku
The refined spear art of the warrior houses under the Takeda clan. A comprehensive Spearmanship that covers both mounted and foot combat. The core skill of the Red-Armor (赤備え) corps.
- Bonus: mounted-and-foot dual use — Spearmanship check is the same whether mounted or on foot (-0).
- Constraint: recommend Takeda-clan rapport or membership in a Red-Armor squad.
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation +2·reach+1 | [stance] Takeda Stance: Energy 2. during the stance, attack +2 when mounted, Defense +2 on foot. |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling +3·charge | [Kata] Red-Armor Charge: Energy 4. 1 time per 1 combat. on a mounted charge, attack +5·Pierce All. mounted + 1 time per 1 combat + on Critical Hit = 3 limiting conditions (complies with 00-05 §10). |
- Approach: rapport with the Takeda / Sanada / Ii clans (stage 3 or higher), or a Red-Armor squad license.
- Play-type: mounted-spear warrior, retainer-corps elite
- Related: 25-famous-squads Red-Armor squad / 15-horse-schools mounted warrior
#11-02. Joseon Spear Art (朝鮮槍法) — foreign style · Joseon
Cultural origin: the long spear, bamboo staff-spear, and flag-spear recorded in the Muye Dobo Tongji. The standard Spearmanship of the Joseon military camps.
- Bonus: bamboo staff-spear application — Energy -1 when using a light bamboo staff-spear (minimum 1).
- Constraint: requires a Joseon-origin background or the foreign Adaptation (Joseon) general technique.
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [stance] Bamboo-Spear Four Postures: Energy 1. during the stance, cycle 4 postures. each round choose +1 attack or +1 Defense. |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Kata] Homeland Long-Spear Form: Energy 3. 1 round. a Pierce All strike after passing through all 4 postures. |
- Approach: Joseon-origin background (02-03), foreign Adaptation (Joseon), or a Joseon-officer teacher.
- Play-type: posture cycling, Joseon officer
- Related: 10-06 Bonguk Geombeop (posture-system affinity)
#11-03. Maka Spear (馬家槍) — foreign style · Ming
Cultural origin: the secret spear art of the Ming Ma (馬) family. Also known by the alias "Pear-Blossom Spear (梨花槍)". Recorded in Qi Jiguang's Jixiao Xinshu.
- Bonus: precise thrust — Critical Expansion on thrust attacks.
- Constraint: requires Ming origin or instruction under a Ming officer.
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [Kata] Pear-Blossom Single Point: Energy 2. 1 round. thrust +3, on Critical Hit weapon grab (seal the enemy weapon for 1 round — applies the grade-matching / recovery procedure of the core §Break. mapping: 00-05 §14). |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Kata] Hundred-Blossom Combo Thrust: Energy 4. 1 round. 5 combo thrusts on the same target. 5 checks. |
- Approach: Ming origin, instruction under the Ma family, or residing in Qi Jiguang's military gate.
- Play-type: precise thrust, Ming-army spearman
- Related: 11-08 Qi Jiguang's Spear Art (ideological brothers)
#11-04. Swiss Pike Square (Swiss Pike Square) — foreign style · group · Europe
Cultural origin: the square long-spear formation of Swiss mercenaries. Standing 5-metre long spears on 4 sides to neutralize cavalry.
- Bonus: formation effect — when 4 or more of the same squad are adjacent, all gain Defense +2 (additional +2 against mounted).
- Constraint: all bonuses void when used alone. narrow terrain (indoors / mountains) -1.
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [aptitude] Wall of Four Directions: when adjacent to squad members, automatically neutralize a mounted enemy's charge (1 time/round). |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Tactic:stance] Square Formation: Energy 3. the whole squad activates simultaneously. squad Defense +3·counter +2 (1-combat only). |
- Approach: Nanban (Swiss / Italian) origin, foreign Adaptation (Nanban), or membership in a mercenary band.
- Play-type: group defense, anti-mounted formation
- Related: 25-famous-squads Swiss long-spear squad (must be used at squad scale)
#11-05. Landsknecht Long Spear (Landsknecht) — foreign style · group · Germany
Cultural origin: 16th-century Holy Roman Empire mercenaries. Mixed use of the two-handed greatsword (zweihänder) and the long spear. Famed for flamboyantly colored uniforms.
- Bonus: weapon switch — switching long spear → greatsword within one round costs nothing (1 time/combat).
- Constraint: bonus suspended on a breach of military discipline — immediately void on flight or attacking an ally.
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [Kata] Long-Spear Wall: Energy 2. 1 round. when in a pincer with 1 squad member, attack +3·Defense +2. |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Kata] Zweihander Cut-Switch: Energy 4. switch immediately to the greatsword after using the long spear + an additional attack in the same round (attack +3). |
- Approach: Nanban (German / Holy Roman) origin, foreign Adaptation, or a mercenary-band license.
- Play-type: group pincer, weapon switching
- Related: 25-famous-squads Landsknecht squad / 10-07 Liechtenauer-ryu (greatsword-ideology affinity)
#11-06. Reclusive Old Spear Veteran (隱居槍老將) — Secret Transmission · origin unknown
A secret transmission that an old spearman with no house and no dojo passes to only one person. His existence is doubted, but there are swordsmen who say they sometimes met him in the mountains.
- Bonus: a single shaft — when using the same spear for 5 or more sessions, attack +1 with that spear only.
- Constraint: the bonus vanishes immediately on switching to another spear (5 sessions to re-accumulate).
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [stance] Old-Pine Stance: Energy 1. during the stance, if you do not release the stance right after the first attack, attack +2 on the next round. |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Kata] The Old Spearman's Sigh: Energy 5. 1 round. can be activated after maintaining the stance for 5 rounds. attack +6. |
- Approach: meet the old spearman and study under him (narrative pursuit · chance · discovery of his hermitage). GM discretion.
- Play-type: one strike, one spear; the spear equivalent of the Sword of Stillness
#11-07. Battlefield Self-Taught Style (戰場自己流) — Self-Taught Style · origin irrelevant
A spear art organized firsthand by a foot soldier who survived the battlefield. No dojo, no master. "If you do not die 10 times, you will not see it" is the maxim.
- Bonus: the eye of real combat — when fighting the same kind of enemy 3 or more times, attack +1 against that kind (permanent).
- Constraint: no academic theory at all — cannot make the school-research check (50-tournament).
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [aptitude] Foot Soldier's Intuition: attack +2 mainly on the first round (the bonus vanishes after it begins). |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Kata] Angle of Death: Energy 3. 1 round. attack +5 against a target at Energy 5 or below. |
- Approach: Self-Taught Style — free. however, battlefield experience (membership in a military squad or a record of 5+ combats) is recommended.
- Play-type: real-combat ideology, enemy-type specialization
#11-08. Qi Jiguang's Spear Art (紀效新書槍法) — famous school · Ming
Cultural origin: the military spear art organized by the Ming officer Qi Jiguang (戚継光). Recorded in the Jixiao Xinshu and Lianbing Shiji. Refined in real combat against the wokou (對倭).
- Bonus: unit command — when 1 squad accompanies, squad members' attack +1 (command effect).
- Constraint: requires a Ming officer or instruction from the military texts.
| Stage | Core Base | School Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed | Spear Formation | [stance] Mandarin-Duck Formation (鴛鴦陣): Energy 2. during the stance, when adjacent to squad members, attack +1·Defense +1 on both sides. |
| secret art | Long-Shaft Handling | [Tactic:stance] Qi Army's Command: Energy 4. grant the whole squad attack +2·relocation +1 for 1 round. |
- Approach: Ming origin, rapport with the Qi army (Qi Jiguang's army), or instruction in the Jixiao Xinshu.
- Play-type: officer Spearmanship, squad command
- Related: 25-famous-squads Qi-army squad / 11-03 Maka Spear (Ming-Spearmanship brothers)
#§ Design Perspective
- Type distribution of the 8 schools: famous schools 2 (11-01·11-08) + Secret Transmission 1 (11-06) + Self-Taught Style 1 (11-07) + foreign styles 4 (11-02·03·04·05). complies with the recommended balance of this expansion §4.4.0.
- Individual mastery vs group formation: 11-01·02·03·06·07·08 are individual mastery. 11-04·05 are group formations — the effect manifests only when used at squad scale. directly linked with 25-famous-squads.
- The 2 Ming-Spearmanship brothers: 11-03 Maka Spear and 11-08 Qi Jiguang's Spear Art have an ideological affinity. They come from the same era and the same army, but are separate schools — a showcase of this expansion's "technique sharing allowed" principle.
- 4 foreign styles: Joseon, Ming, Switzerland, Germany. all presuppose foreign Adaptation or a foreign-origin background.
- Coexists with the core Hozoin and Kan-ryu: no core original modification. only widens the choice.
"The longer the shaft, the more slowly it swings. But once it swings, it cleaves a thousand paces (步)."