#Combat in Peacetime

Contents

Scene Tool. A guide for moving co's small-unit combat onto the Edo stage.

#Scent — Quiet Steel

Edo combat doesn't beat a war drum. Someone blocks the road on a bridge, a wooden sword breaks on a dojo floor, hushed footsteps go silent in a mansion corridor. Blood may fly and the next day's ledger can still read "no disturbance."

#Law — Combat as an Incident

Maintain co's zone combat and squad operations, but also establish the social meaning of the battlefield.
Minion and Veteran squads take on Edo faces: dojo students, constables, Yakuza Enforcers, temple workers.
Read zone meaning socially: a mansion's Core Zone may be its archive, a theater's may be backstage, and the Flank Zone may be where witnesses flee.
Write both the victory condition and failure fallout, and place at least one civilian, witness, or recordable object.
Give killing and capture different results. After victory, resolve arrest, flight, witnesses, records, and site damage.

#Combat Types

A fight where you must take someone alive.
A fight where you must not kill.
A fight that must not enter the record.
A formal duel fought in public view.
A sealing ground no one must witness.

#Why Large-Scale War Is Rare

co's core rules support squad combat well. This raises the question: should Edo settings have frequent unit-level battles? The answer is the form changes.

In the Edo period, daimyo cannot deploy armies freely. War is a challenge to the shogunate's order, and private troop mobilization becomes a political crisis. So instead of open pitched battles, small force appears more often: arrest squads, escort units, bands of students, Yakuza Enforcers, temple guards, secret inspector detachments.

When you want squad combat, think "collective pressure," not "army."

Battlefield Squad Sense	Edo Translation
Soldiers form a battle line	Dojo students surround the courtyard
Enemy unit blocks the road	Checkpoint guards confiscate travel papers
A yoma horde charges	Hundred-Tale Society low-rank yoma spirit away witnesses
A commander gives orders	The assistant instructor, doshin, and oyabun control the scene

With this shift, the core combat rules stay intact while the fight becomes narrow and social in the Edo way.

#Fallout by Combat Type

Combat	Victory Condition	Aftershock
Arrest fight	Capture target alive	Who interrogates; where it is recorded
Dojo brawl	Deplete opponent's Wounds or force surrender	Dojo honor and revenge
Mansion infiltration	Recover item from the Core Zone	Family face and cover-up
Road escort	Protect the procession or goods	Roadside rumors and tighter checkpoints
Sealing ground	Hold out until the ritual completes	Scene record and witness handling
Pleasure quarter / theater fight	Minimize civilian casualties	Incident spreads as Kaidan and entertainment

#The Edo Face of Squads

co's squads remain valid in Edo. The names just change.

Warring-States Squad	Edo Equivalent
Ashigaru squad	Doshin auxiliaries, lower-ranked domain samurai, dojo students
Ninja squad	Fuma remnants, informants, black-market trackers
Warrior monks	Temple guards, mountain-temple practitioners
Merchant-escort squad	Warehouse guards, ferry guards, smuggling escorts
Yoma horde	Hundred-Tale Society low-rank yoma, Hidden Hannya test subjects

A squad is pressure, not an army. It seals an alley, traps witnesses, disrupts a ritual, and stops PCs from focusing on a single target.

#Combat Feel by Location

Location	Key
Alley	Blockade, pursuit, civilian witnesses
Bridge	Narrow path, forced movement, right of passage
Dojo	Formal duels and student interference
Mansion	Rooms and corridors, documents or objects in the Core Zone
Bathhouse	Weapon restriction, witnesses, absurd terror
Theater	Stage and audience, rumor spread
Ferry landing	Logistics, smuggling, escape by boat

Combat carries the social meaning of the place. The same swordfight is a traffic-blocking incident on a bridge and a Kaidan the next day in a theater.

"Edo combat is quiet. That is why the rumors it leaves behind last longer."