#Yoma Incident Classification and Handling
Contents
Scene Tool. Provides shogunate-style incident classification as a GM tool.
#Scent — The Name That Sticks to an Incident
The same scream changes depending on where it is written down. A disturbance in an alley is a public-order incident; in a domain mansion it is a secret; once it enters the shogunate's archive it is something that never happened. In Edo, incident grade is not the size of the truth — it is the size of the hand covering it.
#Law — Using the Grades
- Incident grades are not a reward table — they are a tool that sets authority to intervene and the intensity of concealment.
- As the grade rises, raise record manipulation, witness handling, and faction involvement before raising enemy Wounds.
- A single incident can begin at a lower grade and be reclassified to a higher one as investigation proceeds.
#Scene Commentary — Grade Is Not the Size of the Truth
Incident grades do not measure yoma strength. They classify whose hand can reach this incident. A low-level urban yoma appearing in the shogun's household can become a Prohibited Incident; an Elite-rank onryo quietly resolved in a remote village can be packaged as a public-order incident.
This grade system earns its flavor by changing during the scenario. An incident that begins as rumor becomes a Domain Secret because of evidence of document tampering, then rises to a Prohibited Incident when the Hundred-Tale Society or a conspiratorial faction is directly linked. When the grade rises, do not only raise combat — raise reporting lines, witnesses, sealing authority, and competing factions together.
Signs of a grade increase:
- The same incident is recorded under different names.
- The archive becomes more dangerous than the scene.
- The enemy tries to erase the PCs from the record rather than kill them.
#Session Application — The Moment of Grade Escalation
- First scene: the incident begins as rumor. No one wants an official investigation.
- Complication: discovering that the same name has been erased differently in separate ledgers raises the grade.
- Closing question: who can handle this incident, and who must not?
#Incident Grades
| Grade | Surface Label | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| A | Rumor | Low-level urban yoma |
| B | Public-Order Incident | Human adversaries or yoma artifacts |
| C | Domain Secret | Possession, Spirit Gates, political concealment |
| D | Prohibited Incident | Core operations of the Hundred-Tale Society or conspiratorial factions |
#Purpose of the Classification
This classification is not a new rule. It is language for the GM to quickly gauge the scale and fallout of an incident. The same yoma can fall under different grades. If a noppera-bo frightens a child in one alley, that is Grade A. But if the eyewitness account is part of a deliberate fear-harvest by the Hundred-Tale Society and connects to the mansion of a high-ranking shogunate official, it becomes Grade C or D.
#Handling Procedure
| Step | Question |
|---|---|
| Scene Check | Who are the victims, and who is the apparent culprit? |
| Name Check | Is the yoma's name already circulating as rumor? |
| Responsibility Check | Which of the shogunate, domain, temple, or merchant company wants to conceal it? |
| Faction Check | Has the Hundred-Tale Society or a human conspiratorial faction intervened? |
| Resolution Decision | Which option is chosen: extermination, sealing, negotiation, exposure, or record erasure? |
#Running Each Grade
#Grade A — Rumor
Low-level yoma, misidentified sightings, Hundred-Tale Society scouting, and small items on the black market are the cause. Investigation and rumor-gathering take center stage over combat.
#Grade B — Public-Order Incident
People have died or vanished. Doshin and okappiki move in; PCs enter the scene officially or unofficially. Human-type adversaries and low-level yoma tend to appear together.
#Grade C — Domain Secret
A daimyo, karo, dojo, temple or shrine, or merchant company is involved. Making the incident public would destroy one organization's standing. Tracing responsibility and handling the records becomes harder than exorcising the yoma.
#Grade D — Prohibited Incident
An incident the shogunate leaves no official record of. At least one of the Hundred-Tale Society, Black-Tag Office, Hidden Hannya, or Black-Tag Gang moves directly. Lord-grade adversaries and inter-faction negotiations may appear.
"Whoever decides the name of an incident intends to decide its end as well."