#Masterwork Armor, Tools, and Accessories
Contents
Canon (fc05-internal) + Fiction-Only. This document covers things that are not used like weapons but are masterworks. Armor, helmets, accessories, tactical treatises, and crafting tools are the subjects of this chapter. Listed items appear as links; unlisted items are new data limited to this volume.
A masterwork with no combat bonus is also a masterwork. This chapter shows that a scenario reward need not be a boost to combat power. A famous tea-ceremony bowl is a good example — a key reward for Bearing and diplomacy scenarios.
#Fiction Intro — A Treasure That Does Not Cut
The armor cut no one. The mirror did not pierce an enemy, and the hammer did not go to the battlefield. So the young warrior could not understand why they were listed in the masterwork catalog.
"These are not weapons," he said.
The artisan showed him an old bloodstain on the inside of the armor. "This armor saved its master three times. The fourth time it could not save him, but even then it slowed the enemy's sword. In that interval a single child fled."
He next took up the mirror. "This mirror does not cut a yoma. Instead it reflects a false face. It reveals the truth before the sword does."
Last, he set down the hammer. "And this hammer has never gone to a battlefield. But the swords mended with this hammer came back from the battlefield."
The warrior said no more. A treasure that does not cut also changes combat. Only, its power must be counted not in blood but in the number of people who survived.
#§ Scent — Treasures That Are Not Swords
Not all treasures that have a name are swords. A house's true treasure may be — a single suit of armor, a single mirror, or a single sake cup. When that one piece carries the identity of the house, it is a masterwork.
A smith's tools can also become masterworks. The hammer a smith used his whole life — after that smith dies, if it comes into the next smith's hand, the hammer itself carries on the school. A case where a tool that makes weapons holds a heavier name than the weapons.
This chapter gathers those names.
#§ Law — Masterwork Armor
#Genji no Yoroi (源氏の鎧)
The oyoroi of the Minamoto house. This volume's added note:
| Anecdote | Point in Time |
|---|---|
| The first tradition that Minamoto no Yoshiie wore it | 11th century |
| Transmitted to Yorimitsu and Yorinobu | Heian |
| The period of Yoritomo → the brother Yoshitsune | Kamakura |
| Kamakura shogunate treasury | ~14th century |
| Lost after the fall of the shogunate, tracked | This volume's era |
At this volume's point in time, the Genji no Yoroi is missing. The Kagura domain is tracking it. A PC can receive a recovery scenario.
#Maeda no Gusoku (前田の具足)
The frontline armor of the Maeda house. This volume's added note: together with the Maeda house's Odenta Mitsuyo · Fudo Masamune, it is one of the house's three treasures. A campaign in which a single PC acquires all three is the apex of a Maeda house retainer PC.
#Black Armor (黑甲冑)
A formal armor imitating Date Masamune. An imitation — the genuine article is with the Date house. If a PC wishes to see the genuine article in a scenario in this volume, a Date house diplomacy scenario.
#Kirishitan Breastplate
co-07-02 — Outside this volume's scope. Foreigner and Kirishitan faith. Sent to the domains of co-07-04-exotic-artifacts.md and ex2-45.
#Yagyu no Gusoku (柳生の具足) [new]
#Scent — The Armor of Peace
After the Yagyu house entered the Tokugawa house as swordsmanship instructors, a single suit of armor that the house never once wore in its life is kept. Because it is the armor of a house that never once went to war — it is armor that never once put blood on itself in the world.
This armor reinforces the RP of the will not to cut though one can cut in the one who wears it. A pair with the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu wooden sword. The armor of an age of peace.
#Law — Between Light and Heavy Armor + Masterwork Technique
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Grade | Masterwork light armor |
| Defense | 13 (ordinary light armor 12+1) |
| Energy penalty | None |
| Aptitude: Armor of Peace | While holding a Yagyu Shinkage-ryu or Jikishinkage-ryu license, against 1 enemy in the same zone that has murderous intent (will to attack), force a Presence contest on the next 1 round (2d10+Presence+2 vs the enemy's 2d10+Courage). On a loss for the enemy, its next attack is nullified. 1/scenario. |
| Masterwork technique: Non-Killing (非殺) | 1 time/battle. Subdue 1 enemy in the same zone without cutting it (Wounds 0 but it does not die). No effect if it is finished off with a killing technique. |
Restriction: A Yagyu Shinkage-ryu or Jikishinkage-ryu license. The RP of a will not to kill.
Acquisition: The Yagyu house's recognition. A scenario reward.
#§ Law — Masterwork Accessories and Tools
#Yata no Kagami (replica) · Magatama · Enma no Juzu · Kunitomo Prosthetic Eye · Tengu no Hauchiwa
co-07-02 § Masterwork Accessories/Tools — five pieces.
| Tool | This Volume's Scenario Classification |
|---|---|
| Yata no Kagami (replica) | The trump card of illusion and disguise scenarios. Revealing the truth. |
| Magatama | Possession and charm scenarios. One revival. |
| Enma no Juzu | The climax of a permanent-seal scenario. |
| Kunitomo Prosthetic Eye | Weakness analysis. An identity tool for a PC who has lost one eye. |
| Tengu no Hauchiwa | Forced movement and negotiation. Mugenshu and mountain scenarios. |
#Famous Tea-Ceremony Bowl (茶碗 名物)
This volume places this item as a model case of a masterwork that is not a weapon. Suitable as a reward for Bearing and diplomacy scenarios. Effective only within the tea-ceremony rite. A tool/prop slot, not a weapon slot.
#Bundle of Shikigami Talismans
ex2-40-03-19. A daily tool of an onmyoji PC. The motive of a resupply scenario.
#§ Law — Masterwork Smithing Tools
#The Smith's Last Hammer (最後の槌) [new]
#Scent — The Hammer a Smith Left Behind in Dying
A single smith died in the midst of forging the last sword of his life. The sword was unfinished. But the hammer he was holding — remained in his hand just as it was, with the smith's will placed into one last strike.
This hammer shows its true worth only in the next smith's hand. If one recognized as the heir of the first smith holds this hammer, he can finish the unfinished sword. Or he can suture the cracks of another masterwork. A tool that holds a smith's last words.
#Law — Smithing Tool
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Tool (smith-only, one-handed) |
| Aptitude: The Weight of Last Words | While holding a smithing-school license, the Emergency Re-Honing, True-Name Engraving, and Blood-Quench Sealing of fc05-05-02 § Smith Additional Traits cost Energy -1. |
| Masterwork technique: The Last Strike | 1/scenario. Temporarily suture the crack or curse of 1 masterwork (until the next scenario). However, it cannot be used on a Divine Treasure. |
Restriction: A smithing-school license (artisan build + fc05-05-03 smithing school).
Acquisition: A smith campaign. A scenario of accepting a smith's last words after his death.
GM Box — The Key to the Masterwork Crafting Rite (optional): In the 7-stage crafting procedure of this volume's
fc05-06-01-gm-creation-guide.md, it reduces the Energy cost of stage 6 (curse/blessing decision) by 1. A decisive tool when a smith PC takes on masterwork crafting during a campaign.
#Kaji-no-ishi (鍛冶の石) — The Stone of Forging [new]
#Scent — A Seat Atop the Smith's Anvil
A single seat atop the anvil of a smithy. A rumor that every sword forged at that seat becomes a masterwork. More precisely — that seat is atop a spirit vein, and the iron struck at that seat holds spirit ki.
This stone (a part of the anvil) is itself unmovable. It operates only within one smithy. A core asset of a scenario in which a smith PC sets up his own smithy.
#Law — Smithy Asset
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Base asset (unmovable) |
| Aptitude: The Anvil of the Spirit Vein | A weapon forged atop this anvil is a masterwork candidate — but to become a masterwork it must pass through all 7 stages of the fc05-06-01 procedure. |
| Masterwork technique: Spirit-Vein Forging | 1/scenario. When conducting the forging rite atop the anvil, the Energy and time cost of masterwork crafting is halved. |
Restriction: A smithy base asset. Limited to a smithy located atop a spirit vein. The spirit vein can be confirmed with a fusui board (Divine Treasure).
Acquisition: A scenario in which a smith PC builds his own smithy atop a spirit vein. Or taking over the smithy of an old master smith.
#Katana-kake (刀掛, Sword Rest) [new]
#Scent — A Seat Where the Sword Rests
A house's sword rest. An ordinary piece of furniture, but if a masterwork is placed atop it — that masterwork is stabilized until its next use. Its curse or quirk is put to sleep for one scenario.
This tool is a tool of sealing, not a tool of reinforcement. A PC holds a powerful masterwork, but that masterwork's curse ruins the running of the scenario — at such a time, the decision to lay the sword briefly atop the katana-kake.
#Law — Base Asset
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Base asset (movable, heavy) |
| Aptitude: A Seat of Rest | While a single masterwork is placed atop it within one scenario, that masterwork's curse effect is suspended. However, during that time its masterwork techniques also cannot be used. |
| Masterwork technique: Sealing | 1/scenario. Completely suture the curse of 1 masterwork until the next scenario. |
Restriction: Furniture. Kept in a base or a portable tool chest.
Acquisition: Handed over from a house treasury. Or commissioned as the work of a smith.
#§ Law — Scenario Use of Non-Combat Masterworks
#Non-Combat Masterworks as Rewards
When a PC receives a non-combat masterwork as the reward for finishing a scenario, the GM decides one of the following three.
- Bearing reinforcement — a famous tea-ceremony bowl, Yata no Kagami. The mainstay of diplomacy and negotiation scenarios.
- Base asset — Kaji-no-ishi, katana-kake. Shines in the next scenario.
- Potential — the smith's last hammer. Shows its true worth only when a smith PC uses it directly.
A reward consisting solely of combat bonuses makes scenarios monotonous. This volume strongly recommends a catalog of non-combat rewards.
#Non-Weapon Masterwork ↔ Divine Treasure Boundary
Some non-weapon masterworks may have a blurry boundary with Divine Treasures.
| Masterwork | Nearby Divine Treasure | This Volume's Handling |
|---|---|---|
| Yata no Kagami (replica) | Yasakani-no-Magatama (spiritual replica) | Both are spiritual replicas. Not elevated to a Divine Treasure — the genuine article is dedicated. |
| Enma no Juzu | Enma's Sutra | A similar theme. The masterwork (juzu) is a combat tool; the Divine Treasure (sutra) has a different devotion slot. |
| Tengu no Hauchiwa | Sojobo-no-Hauchiwa | The masterwork (the tengu's messenger) and the Divine Treasure (the tengu king himself) are separated. |
Do not treat something as a Divine Treasure just because it looks like one. If there is no obligation of a devotion slot or Three Ways and Six Hearts match, it is a masterwork.
#Reference Links
- Masterwork Compendium
- Equipment and Consumables
- ex2 Tools
- ex2 Minor Relics
- Artisan
- Artisan Smith Build
- Smith Additional Traits
- GM Masterwork Weapon Crafting Guide
A thing that guards the body sometimes tests the heart first.