#Campaign Frames
Contents
Summary. Entry point for the ex3 Chapter 07 folder.
#Opening Vignette — The Inro on the Road
The old man was eating mochi in the corner of the teahouse. The bodyguard had not set down his chopsticks; the guide was counting hoofbeats outside; the merchant was silently appraising the price of the Kaidan he had just heard. The villagers did not know who these people were, but it had already been found out who was lying.
"That official has collected taxes twice," the teahouse keeper whispered.
The old man brushed the flour from his hands. "Twice means a bad official."
"The problem is the third time. The third tax was not collected from the living."
The bodyguard's hand stilled. The guide looked outside. At the village entrance, white cloth was lined up and swaying despite there being no funeral procession.
The old man asked, "Is this limited to this village?"
The merchant drew a small inro from his breast. On the inside were three village names written in the same ink. "No. Last month dishes vanished; before that, a sealed well opened. The places differ, but the hand is the same."
"Then tonight is not the night to take the official's head," said the bodyguard.
The old man smiled. "If the journey ended with one head, we would not have come so far."
A campaign frame is this promise of repetition. Even if it begins with a corrupt village official, the same hand's traces grow a little clearer at each new post-town and dojo. This chapter defines what kind of night will be met again and again, each time in a different face.
#Scent — Which Night Will You Choose?
Even in the same Edo, the incognito retiree on the road, the alley ghost-hunter, the dojo avenger, and the domain's secret inspector corps each live entirely different nights. The frame defines the color of that night first.
#Law — Using Frames
- Before the campaign begins, define authority, central location, recurring antagonist, and concealment intensity.
- A frame does not restrict occupations; it defines how each occupation enters the incident.
- Long campaigns accumulate the faction's traces as recurring clues.
#Detailed Documents
- Campaign Frames Overview — Criteria for choosing a frame.
- Mito Komon-Style Inspection Tour — A circuit drama of concealed authority.
- Edo Backstreet · Kaidan Campaign — City yoma and the black market.
- Dojo · Sword-Drama Campaign — Dojo politics and the killing-demon swordmaster.
"A campaign frame is not the answer to the incident; it is the lantern that illuminates it."