#About This Book — Meito-ki

Contents

Fiction-Only. This document guides the character, scope, and reading of this volume. Masterwork, Divine Treasure, and swordsmith data are handled in other documents.

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#Introductory Fragment — A Name, Not a Price

A merchant asked the price of a blade. The swordsmith did not answer; instead he untied the old cord bound to the scabbard. Inside the cord lay a single strand of a dead master's hair and a scrap of paper blotted with damp.

"In silver, how much would it come to?" the merchant pressed.

The swordsmith unfolded the scrap of paper and showed it. On it were a single name and a short sentence. If I do not return, pass this blade to the child.

The merchant was at a loss for words. A PC standing beside him asked, "Did that child receive it?"

"He could not," said the swordsmith. "That is why this blade cannot yet be sold. Not because it has no price, but because its name is not finished."

That day the merchant could not buy the blade. But upon the table a scenario was born. The price of a masterwork may be set in ryo, but the use of a masterwork begins from a promise that has not yet arrived.

#The Character of This Volume

Meito-ki (名刀記) is a commentary and supplement volume that lets you read the masterwork arms within Japanese history and Japanese tradition as play material. If the main volumes co-07-02-masterworks.md and co-07-03-divine-artifacts.md define the numbers of a weapon, this volume lays name·anecdote·ownership condition·the relationship with the master atop those numbers.

This volume is not a replacement document for the weapon catalog. For masterworks already registered, it does not rewrite the data; while linking the original text, it explains how to use that weapon within a scenario — who may wield it, what curse it bears, what anecdote becomes the weight of its name.

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#What This Volume Holds

• Commentary on existing masterworks·Divine Treasures — reinterpreting the Japanese masterworks of co-07-02·co-07-03·ex2-40-03 around anecdote·ownership·curse.
• New data for unregistered famed blades — the unregistered portion of the Tenka Goken (Onimaru·Odenta·Juzumaru), and some of the Kamakura·Sengoku famed blades.
• Spear·bow·armor·tool masterworks — the owner relationships and anecdotes of masterworks beyond the blade.
• A guide to the relationship of weapon and master — the design principles of ownership conditions, succession, rejection, curse, and devotion.
• The artisan swordsmith — not a new class, but a build·additional traits·school options of the artisan.
• A GM procedure for crafting a homemade masterwork — a 7-step guide + samples.

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#What This Volume Does Not Treat

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#Authority

This volume mixes four authorities within a single book. It follows the authority in each document's frontmatter.

Reaffirming the fc absolute rule — fc05 new data is canonical only within fc05. When another fc/ex uses this volume's new masterworks, it treats them as optional material. This volume cannot overwrite co·ex Canon.

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#Writing Principles

Every document in this volume repeatedly confirms the following five principles.

1. No data duplication — do not rewrite the numbers of a registered masterwork. If you wish to give a new effect, separate it into an optional box.
2. The distinction between masterwork and Divine Treasure — if a divinity·great yoma·Spirit Realm contract is at its core, a Divine Treasure; if historical fame and tradition are at its core, a masterwork. Even the Tenka Goken are not all Divine Treasures.
3. Preserving the weapon-slot structure — a single masterwork's techniques are Attack A + Attack B + Defense + licensed technique + masterwork technique = 5. Do not increase the slots.
4. The separation of Energy and Wounds — Energy = action power. Wounds = mortal-wound durability. Do not mix the two terms in curse·price·crafting cost.
5. The swordsmith is a build of the artisan — the swordsmith is not a new base class. It is treated only as the additional traits·school options of the artisan.

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#Two Roads to Reading This Volume

#One Road — Beginning from Anecdote

If during play someone asks "What kind of blade is Higekiri?", first open the 02-01 Heian entry of this volume. There is a link there to the original data, and beside it is written how this blade was used in the Shuten-doji·Rashomon anecdotes. Anecdote → data order.

#The Other Road — Beginning from GM Crafting

If you need a masterwork for a new scenario, begin from the 06-01 guide. With a 7-step procedure you decide era·owner·anecdote·curse, and with the relationship-type table of 04-01 you build the connection with the PCs. Data → anecdote order.

The two roads meet within the same single book.

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#Solo Play — With co Alone

This volume can be played solo with co alone. At a table that does not use ex2, only ignore the ex2-40-03-masterworks-extra.md link portion, and use only the main-volume masterworks·Divine Treasures and this volume's new masterworks.

The connections with fc01 (Divinity Record)·fc03 (Annals of Japanese Swordmasters)·fc04 (Heian Yawa) are compatibility, not dependency. Even bringing only this volume, the masterwork commentary and swordsmith builds all hold.

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#Reference

#co

• co-99-meta/co-99-03-fc-spec.md — fc series specification
• co-07-weapons/co-07-00-index.md — weapon catalog
• co-07-weapons/co-07-02-masterworks.md — masterwork arsenal
• co-07-weapons/co-07-03-divine-artifacts.md — Divine Treasures

#fc preceding volumes (about-style reference)

• fc01-00-01-about.md — Divinity Record
• fc02-00-01-about.md — Sengoku Folkways
• fc03-00-01-about.md — Annals of Japanese Swordmasters
• fc04-00-01-about.md — Heian Yawa

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To grasp a masterwork is not fortune — whether you can bear the weight of its name, that is the trial.

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The first condition of a masterwork is not strength, but a name that is not forgotten.