#Campaign Frames Overview
Contents
Campaign Module. Organizes the frames available when starting an Edo campaign.
#Scent — Same Edo, Different Night
An Edo campaign is not locked to a single genre. One table wants an inspection drama on the road; another wants alley Kaidan; another follows the blood left on a dojo floor. Choosing a frame means defining the scent of that night first.
#Law — Choosing a Frame
- Before the campaign begins, define authority, central location, recurring antagonist, and concealment intensity.
- A frame does not restrict occupation choice; it defines the door through which each occupation enters the incident.
- Long campaigns maintain the same frame while gradually shifting the relationship between factions and yoma.
#Scene Commentary — A Frame Is a Promise
A campaign frame is not a genre label; it is a promise to the table. Choose the inspection tour frame and the party's authority and recurring structure persist even as locations change. Choose the city frame and you dig deep into one place. Choose the dojo frame and personal relationships and honor become as important as combat.
Starting an Edo campaign without a frame can produce different fun each session, but the long-term rhythm weakens. Fixing a frame lets players predict the next incident and enjoy the moment when that prediction breaks. A good campaign places slightly different threats inside a familiar structure.
Frame-selection questions:
- What authority do the PCs operate under?
- Does the campaign dig deep into one city, or circuit through multiple locations?
- What form do the recurring clues take — documents, objects, persons, or rumors?
#Session Application — Declare the Frame
- First scene: In Session 0, state upfront whether this campaign is an inspection tour, city, or dojo frame.
- Complication: After the frame feels familiar, around the third incident, have a faction from outside the frame reach in.
- Final question: Does this campaign repeat the same problem in different places, or dig into different layers of the same place?
#Frame List
- Inspection tour.
- City.
- Dojo.
- Inspector.
- Domain-secret.
- Nagasaki Anomaly.
#Period Drama Grammar and Historical Knowledge
Tables unfamiliar with Japanese history benefit from locking in a campaign frame first. The frame reduces the historical information players need to memorize. The inspection tour frame creates an expectation of "a party with hidden authority resolves local problems"; the city frame, "digging into one city's rumors and back alleys"; the dojo frame, "swordsmanship, honor, and vengeance repeat."
The core of Edo period drama is not memorizing actual dates — it is the recurring structure. The more a checkpoint, a bathhouse, a dojo greeting, and a ledger check repeat, the more players feel the period's pressure. When yoma traces begin to diverge inside that repetition, even players lacking historical knowledge can follow an Edo-flavored scene.
Keep the historical briefing per frame short.
| Frame | What to explain before the session |
|---|---|
| Inspection tour | Daimyo and shogunate authority, highways and checkpoints |
| City | Tenements, bathhouse, pleasure quarter · theatre, rumors |
| Dojo | Dojo honor, disciples, inter-school matches and revenge |
| Inspector | Shogunate documents, law-enforcement organizations, manipulation of case names |
| Domain-secret | Daimyo face, failed seals, concealment within the domain |
| Nagasaki Anomaly | Restricted outside contact, Rangaku, interpreters and records |
Sharing this much is enough for the first session. Show detailed historical color inside scenes as each incident demands it.
#Frame Selection Table
| Frame | Core PCs | Primary antagonists | Strong theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspection tour | Samurai, monk, merchant, wanderer | Corrupt officials, regional yoma, faction lieutenants | Authority and the field |
| City | Entertainer, merchant, Hanyo, puppeteer | Hundred-Tale Society, Black-Tag Gang, city yoma | Rumor and survival |
| Dojo | Samurai, ronin, scholar, artisan | Disciples, assistant instructor, killing-demon swordmaster | Honor and obsession |
| Inspector | Scholar, shinobi, onmyoji, samurai | Black-Tag Office, corrupt doshin, possessed daimyo | Record and concealment |
| Domain-secret | Kagura domain, monk, artisan, geomancer | Hidden Hannya, possessed clan, failed seal | Face and sealing |
| Nagasaki Anomaly | Foreigner, merchant, scholar, artisan | Smuggler, Rangaku scholar, foreign witness | The outside eye |
#Setting the Campaign Axis
Each frame begins with three questions.
- Under what authority do the PCs enter the incident?
- Who wants the incident kept hidden?
- Must the yoma's name be erased — or protected?
Answer these three and the shape of the first scenario emerges.
"A campaign frame is not a map; it is a lantern. Define first what it will illuminate."