#The Bond Between Weapon and Owner

Contents

Campaign Module — Owner Bond. This document presents a procedure for treating a masterwork weapon not as equipment but as a thing that forms a relationship with its owner. On top of the acquisition principles (scenario reward, inheritance, loot) of the main text's co-07-02 § Masterwork Rules Summary — it adds a stage in which the PC and the weapon form a relationship after the reward.

The Divine Treasure relationship is separate. For the relationship between a Divine Treasure and a PC, the devotion structure of co-07-03 § Devotion Techniques — Three Ways and Six Hearts match — takes priority. This document covers only the masterwork relationship.

#Fiction Intro — The Sword That Will Not Be Drawn

The new owner gripped the hilt. The sword did not move in the slightest. It was not that the scabbard had rusted, nor that a Knot had been tied. It simply did not move.

"Is my strength lacking?" he gritted his teeth.

The old woman beside him shook her head. "It is not that your strength is lacking. It is that it does not yet know your name."

"Does a sword know a name?"

"A sword knows the hand. It knows what the hand guarded, what it cast away, and what it spoke in Deceit." The old woman laid her hand on the scabbard. "First, say it. What you will not do with this sword."

The new owner was silent for a long while. At last he said. "With this sword I will not cut down one who has surrendered."

At that moment the sword moved a very little. It was not fully drawn. But the relationship had begun. The bond of weapon and owner often opens not from a declaration of ownership but from a restriction to protect.

#§ Scent — The Sword Tests Its Owner

The sword tests its owner. This is not ordinary — an ordinary sword is a sword that is lifted when lifted, swung when swung. But a masterwork is different. The masterwork looks at the very hand that lifts it. Whether that hand can bear its name, whether it can carry its anecdote on to the next line — only after seeing this does the sword open its true worth.

This test does not end in one go. When first held, in the next scenario, in the scenario after that — the sword sees its owner anew each time. If the owner cannot bear the weight of its name, the sword slowly reduces its response. If he bears it, the sword slowly opens its deep places.

That slow relationship between the PC who holds the masterwork and the masterwork — is the core of this volume.

#§ Law — Relationship Stages

#Five Stages

This volume places the relationship between a masterwork and a PC in five stages. Each stage advances by the scenario. No more than one stage advances in a single scenario.

Stage	Name	Advancement Condition	Effect
0	Possession	Obtaining the weapon	Basic data (Atk A·B·Def·license). Masterwork technique not activated.
1	Recognition	RP of 1 anecdote befitting the weapon in the first scenario	Masterwork technique activates. Energy normal.
2	Breath Match	A Critical Hit with a masterwork technique 1 time within one scenario, or achieving a scenario reward related to the masterwork	Blessing (aptitude) activates.
3	The Weight of the Name	The PC resolves an incident directly related to the weapon's anecdote	Curse eased by 1 stage, or masterwork technique Energy -1 (aptitude).
4	The Qualification of Succession	Hand the weapon to another PC/NPC or dedicate it — or hold it for life and die	The weapon engraves the PC's name into its own anecdote. That name is transmitted to the next owner.

The stages are not a ladder of reinforcement. The effects of stages 2-3 are a procedure that activates the blessing and curse of the original data. No new bonus is added — this volume has merely staged the timing of activation for effects already present in the main text's masterwork data.

#The Alignment of Stages with Main-Text Data

The masterworks of co-07-02 already have their blessings and curses all written out. This volume's stages determine when to activate those blessings and curses.

Below stage 1 = neither blessing nor curse activates. The weapon is at the level of an ordinary fine work.
Stage 1 = masterwork technique activates. Blessing and curse not yet.
Stage 2 = blessing activates.
Stage 3 = curse eased or Energy -1 (only one of the two).
Stage 4 = the PC's name is added to the weapon's anecdote. A fame transmitted to the next owner.

GM Decision: Depending on the campaign's tone, the stage system can be turned on or off. The immediate-effect rule — all effects activate the moment it is held — is also consistent with the main text. This volume's stages are used when you want to unravel the relationship between a masterwork and a PC slowly in a long campaign.

#§ Law — The Seven Relationship Types

The relationship between a masterwork and its owner is classified into one of seven types. A single masterwork may have two or more types at once.

#1. Bloodline Succession (血統繼承)

Condition: A direct line/descendant of a specific house, or that house's recognition.

Example: Higekiri, Hizamaru, Usumidori (Minamoto). Kogarasumaru (Heike). Odenta Mitsuyo (Maeda). Genji no Yoroi.

Scenario: Recovering the house's treasure, or receiving the house's recognition, is the scenario goal. The recognition procedure varies — rite, duel, accompaniment in battle, and so on.

#2. Martial-Merit Recognition (武功認定)

Condition: A specific rank, skill score, license, or record of victory.

Example: Heshikiri Hasebe (main-class dan 5 or higher, or daimyo recognition). Jigen-ryu instructor's sword (Jigen-ryu license). Hozoin Hozo (Hozoin-ryu license).

Note on the "Renown Title" notation: The Renown Title of this rulebook is the single title of the 10-dan Tatsujin capstone. In this volume, do not use a Renown Title in the sense of "a named person" as if it were an attribute modifier. A PC's fame stage is denoted by existing rules such as main-class dan, skill Master, and school secret transmission.

Scenario: A campaign in which the PC builds up the qualification. Acquiring the masterwork itself is the campaign goal.

#3. Inherited Grudge (怨恨承繼)

Condition: A grudge against a specific enemy/house, or proximity to that enemy's remnants.

Example: Dojigiri Yasutsuna (Shuten-doji). Hizamaru/Kumokiri (Tsuchigumo). Susanoo-no-Tsurugi (Orochi — a Divine Treasure).

Scenario: An incident in which the enemy's remnant revives. The weapon responds only after the PC has faced that enemy once.

#4. Faith Contract (信仰契約)

Condition: A match of a specific religion (Shinto/Buddhism/Onmyodo/kamuy, etc.). Full-fledged devotion is the Divine Treasure domain.

Example: Juzumaru Tsunetsugu (Buddhism). Biten (Bishamon faith). Iyomante (kamuy).

Scenario: A trial of faith. If the PC moves to another faith, the weapon ceases to respond.

#5. The Last Words of a Defeated Owner (前主の遺言)

Condition: The masterwork's previous owner entrusts the sword to the PC while being defeated/dying.

Example: A case created in a scenario. The same pattern as the Sasa-no-yuki (physician house) of the main-text data.

Scenario: The previous owner's last request. If the PC does not carry out that request, the weapon refuses.

#6. The Last Words of a Smith (刀工の遺言)

Condition: A smith leaves a sword/tool to the PC as he dies.

Example: The Smith's Last Hammer (§03-02).

Scenario: An identity tool of a smith PC. Other PCs can acquire it too, but its true worth is only for the smith.

#7. The Weapon Refuses Its Owner (拒絕)

Condition: The weapon refuses the PC's heart, Three Ways and Six Hearts, or past.

Example: Usumidori (a d100 refusal when one's own Wounds are 2 or less). Muramasa (the Tokugawa house). The anecdote of Yoshitsune's sword not coming out of its own hilt.

Scenario: The PC must find out the reason for the refusal. Apology, re-honing, true-name restoration (next § 04-02).

#§ Law — The Data Expression of Relationship Types

Each type is expressed in this volume's masterwork data through the following slots.

#Required Conditions

The ownership condition line of the masterwork data. If unmet, masterwork techniques cannot be used (the original data's masterwork techniques remain, but they do not activate in the PC's hand).

A masterwork's ownership condition must be a scenario goal, not a barrier that blockades the PC. Place a condition that can be met within a single scenario — do not use a condition that can never be met in a lifetime.

#Blessing / Curse

An aptitude slot. Always applied just by holding the weapon. It is already present in some masterworks (Muramasa, Tengu no Hauchiwa, etc.) of the main text's co-07-02. This volume's new masterworks can also place effects in this slot.

#Stage Effects

When using this volume's stage system. Stage 2 — blessing activates; stage 3 — curse eased or Energy -1.

#§ Law — Ownership Condition Catalog

Examples of ownership conditions frequently used when writing a masterwork.

#Class/License Conditions

Condition	Strength	Reward Restriction
Swordsmanship license (4 pts)	Weak	Almost none
Swordsmanship Master (4 pts)	Medium	Swordsman PC only. Qualification to activate masterwork techniques.
A specific school's license (e.g. Jigen-ryu)	Strong	Only that school's PC sees its true worth
A specific school's secret transmission (e.g. Hozoin-ryu secret transmission)	Very strong	Accompanied by a strong bonus such as the masterwork's Energy -1
Ninjutsu Master + Infiltration state	Very strong	Shinobi PC only
Shingon sect head-temple recognition	Very strong	The apex of a Shingon-sect campaign

#House/Status Conditions

Condition	Strength	Reward Restriction
Direct-line descendant	Strong	That house's PC only
House recognition (regardless of bloodline)	Medium	House-affinity RP
Retainer/servant qualification	Weak	A PC of that house's faction
Abdication after the direct line's death	Strong (scenario-dependent)	An abdication-scenario reward

#RP/Three Ways and Six Hearts Conditions

Condition	Strength	Reward Restriction
A specific Three Ways and Six Hearts (e.g. 慈)	Medium	Separate from the Divine Treasure devotion slot. A masterwork RP trial.
A specific resolve (e.g. one who enters on the first strike)	Weak	Activates on RP satisfaction
A vow of nonviolence	Strong	Accompanied by a large restriction such as being unable to use attack techniques

#Environment/Prop Conditions

Condition	Strength	Reward Restriction
Night/darkness (Mugetsu)	Medium	Environmental restriction
Underwater (Mizuchi-no-uroko)	Medium	Environment-limited
Within a shrine/Barrier (Honno Naginata)	Medium	True worth only in a limited seat
Sake poured into a cup (Shutenjikiri)	Weak	Consumable 1

#§ Law — Stages Opened as the Relationship Deepens

#The Release of the True Name (眞名)

Some masterworks hold a sealed name. That name is revealed when stage 3 or 4 is reached. Only one who knows the true name can activate the weapon's final effect (its strongest technique, 1 time/battle or 1 time/session).

Candidates for masterworks that hold a true name in this volume:

Usumidori (originally Hizamaru) — upon reaching stage 4, can it revert to Hizamaru.
Heshikiri (originally another name for Hasebe) — knowing the true name gives Energy -1.
Honno Naginata — the true name can only be heard in a shrine rite.

This true-name effect is an optional effect not written in the main-text data. It operates only when the GM adds it to the campaign.

#Continuing the Anecdote

The name of a PC who has reached stage 4 is added to the weapon's anecdote. As a scenario reward — the PC's name is recorded in the weapon's data. After that, the next PC who holds that weapon comes to know the PC's anecdote.

This has no game effect but an emotional effect on the campaign — having one's own name engraved in a masterwork's anecdote is the PC's greatest reward.

#§ Law — Cautions for the Relationship Rules

#Do Not Bypass Character Growth Rules

A masterwork's stage effects operate only within the masterwork data. You cannot raise a PC's skill score, rank, or maneuvers for free with stage effects. PC growth follows the normal procedure of co-04-02-progression.md.

#Class/School Locks Restrict Reward in Proportion to Strength

A masterwork that only a specific class/school can hold is strong. In proportion to its strength, the reward is restricted — make a seat in the same campaign for a PC of another class to receive a reward of similar strength. So that one PC alone does not become powerful.

#The Divine Treasure Relationship Prioritizes Devotion

Do not apply the masterwork relationship rules to a Divine Treasure. For a Divine Treasure, the devotion of co-07-03 § Devotion Techniques — Three Ways and Six Hearts match — takes priority. Do not additionally layer this volume's stage system onto a Divine Treasure.

#The RP of Refusal

When a weapon refuses its owner, place it not as a mere penalty but as the beginning of a scenario. Reason for refusal → apology, true-name restoration → response again. Avoid the flow of refusal → penalty → end.

#Reference Links

The moment a weapon chooses its owner, a bond longer than battle begins.