#Scenario Seeds
Contents
Fiction-Only + Scene Tool. Incident seeds ready to attach to an Edo campaign.
#Scent — Seeds Arrive as Small Rumors
Incidents in Edo don't start large. One plate is missing, everyone remembers the bathhouse owner differently, a single black tag ends up in the wrong hands. When a small rumor takes root, factions and yoma grow together beneath it.
#Law — Expanding a Seed
- Each seed becomes a one-shot once you fix: a surface incident, a hidden truth, a related faction, and a first battlefield.
- For long campaigns, leave one recurring clue tied to the same hidden hand.
- Resolve each seed with one of: elimination, cover-up, deal, or exposure—then attach the next fallout.
#Scene Commentary — Smaller Is Better
Scenario seeds grow best when they start from small strangeness rather than grand secrets. Everyone remembers the same old man as the owner. One plate is short. The travel pass holder hasn't arrived yet. These small discrepancies are easy for players to touch directly and easy to expand in many directions.
When running a seed as a one-shot, one faction is enough. For a long campaign, repeat the same hidden clue—a black tag, an erased name, the same seal pattern—so players can recognize the thread and events cohere into a single arc.
Seed expansion order:
- State the surface incident in one sentence.
- Choose the real cause and one related faction.
- Fix the first battlefield and the final fallout.
#Session Use — One Seed, One Faction
- First scene: show only the surface incident. The smaller the better—a missing plate, a different owner, a black tag.
- Complication: during investigation, add traces of only one faction. Don't open too many hidden hands at once.
- Final question: does this seed close as a one-shot, or does it stay as a recurring clue?
#Seed Format
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Surface Incident | The story people believe |
| Real Cause | Yoma, human, faction, spirit gate |
| Suggested Foes | Data to use |
| Battlefield | Key zones |
| Fallout | Problem that remains after resolution |
#12 Seeds
| Title | Surface Incident | Real Cause | Suggested Foes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Night One Plate Was Missing | A mansion maid weeps at the well | Okiku-type onryo and an erased family record | Okiku-type plate onryo, Black-Tag Office agents |
| The Owner of the Bathhouse | All customers remember the same old man as the owner | Nurarihyon is hiding the Hundred-Tale Society meeting place | Nurarihyon, Nopperabo |
| Missing Dojo Students | Trainees vanish every night | Hidden Hannya is forging a killing-demon swordmaster | Disciple squad, assistant instructor, killing-demon swordmaster |
| The Empty Palanquin of the Sankin-kotai | The daimyo's palanquin is empty | The daimyo is possessed and traveling in a separate procession | Possessed daimyo, shogunate secret inspector |
| The Spider's Web of the Pleasure Quarter | Customers disappear leaving only debt | A deal between Jorogumo and Black-Tag Gang | Jorogumo, Yakuza Enforcers |
| The Village Erased from the Ledger | A village has vanished from the tax record | The Black-Tag Office erased a spirit-gate village | Black-Tag Office chief, corrupt doshin |
| The Black Tag Auction | A cursed famous sword becomes a gambling prize | Black-Tag Gang is selling the sword together with its Kaidan | Oyabun, kept ronin |
| The Tall Shadow on the Bridge | Each night a monk seen passing grows taller | A Mikoshi-nyudo-type yoma feeds on road fear | Mikoshi-nyudo variant, Hundred-Tale Society envoy |
| The Face Behind the Kabuki Curtain | The actor takes the stage with a different face every day | An Oiwa-type onryo has seized the theater's Kaidan | Oiwa-type onryo, entertainer informant |
| The Countless Eyes of the Vacant House | The merchant who bought the empty house goes mad | Mokumokuren is watching hidden documents | Mokumokuren, Black-Tag Office archivist |
| The Strange Report from Dejima | A foreigner recorded yoma in drawings | The shogunate wants the report destroyed; the Hundred-Tale Society fears its names | Shogunate secret inspector, Hundred-Tale Society contact |
| The Unnamed Battle of Kagura Domain | An unrecorded exorcism battle repeats itself | The shogunate is erasing Kagura Domain's achievements | Kagura Domain detachment, Hidden Hannya test subject |
#How to Use the Seeds
Each seed can be used as a standalone one-shot or as a recurring clue in a long campaign. The key is to add one faction behind the incident. If the Black-Tag Office is behind a mansion spirit incident it becomes a story of records; if the Hundred-Tale Society is behind it, it becomes a story of names; if Black-Tag Gang is behind it, it becomes a story of commodities.
"A good seed starts with a single Kaidan, then makes you ask who needed that Kaidan to exist."