#Swordsmith Schools

Contents

Campaign Module — swordsmith crafting schools. This document defines crafting schools for swordsmiths. They are not swordsmanship schools — they are written as swordsmith-only atop the school rule structure (skill slots, Licensed, secret art) of co-04-03-schools.md.

Separate slot from swordsmanship schools. One PC may hold a swordsmanship school (e.g., Jigen-ryu) and a swordsmith school (e.g., the Masamune school) at the same time — but in separate slots. See § Slot Alignment.

---

#Opening Fragment — The Way of Passing the Fire

The names of the five schools sounded like the names of five villages. But the old swordsmith said they were the names of paths. The apprentice spread out a map, but the master folded it.

"Is Bizen not here, Yamashiro not here?"

"That is the location of the land. A school is the memory of fire." The master turned over the coals in the hearth. "From whom you learned the fire, in what water you cooled it, whose demand you refused. Such things remain longer than technique."

The apprentice looked down at his own hands. "Then if I learn the methods of another school, is it betrayal?"

"It may be betrayal, and it may be inheritance. It depends on why you learn." The master said. "A school is not a prison. But a branch that forgets its root breaks in the first storm."

That day the apprentice learned that a school is not merely a bundle of bonuses, but a matter of from whom you receive the fire and to whom you pass it.

#§ Scent — The Gokaden (五箇傳) and After

Until the Kamakura period, Japanese swordsmiths were classified into five schools — Yamato (大和), Yamashiro (山城), Bizen (備前), Soshu (相州), Mino (美濃). A swordsmith's blade was determined by the forging method, materials, and stance of the school he belonged to.

Apart from these five schools, there are schools that branched off separately in the later Muromachi and Sengoku eras. The Muramasa clan, the Masamune lineage, and the Awataguchi school. They branched off from one offshoot within the five schools, but that offshoot's identity was so strong they are recognized as separate schools.

This document renders those eight schools in total into rules. Each school defines one swordsmith PC's identity, crafting philosophy, skill slots, and secret art.

---

#§ Law — General School Rules

#Structure of a Swordsmith School

A swordsmith school's secret art (4 points, Master tier) is not a combat effect. Therefore it does not conflict with a swordsmanship school's secret art within a single breath.

#School Type — Classification of Swordsmith Schools

This rulebook (co-04-03 § School Types and Side Benefits) classifies every school as one of Famous School / Secret Transmission / Self-Taught Style. Swordsmith schools are the same.

#Novice, Licensed, and Secret-Art Conditions

A swordsmith school's 5 tiers follow the general rules of co-04-03-schools.md § School Maneuver Structure. This volume adds, atop that, RP and scenario conditions peculiar to swordsmith schools.

#Slot Alignment — Holding a Swordsmanship School at the Same Time

When one PC holds both a swordsmanship school and a swordsmith school:

---

#§ Law — The Gokaden (五箇傳)

#Yamato (大和)

#Scent — The Temple School

Yamato is the oldest swordsmith school in Japan. United with the temples of Nara (奈良). Most of the blades the warrior-monks of Horyuji and Todaiji carried were of the Yamato school. The blades are sturdy but not ornate — suited to ritual and escort.

#Crafting Philosophy — Sturdiness

That the blade not break is the top priority. The thickness and strength of the edge over the elegance of form. A self-image as the temple's blade.

#Suited Weapons

Tachi, naginata. Blades in a form suited to blocking and parrying rather than cutting.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Yamato swordsmith head house (Nara) or a temple-attached forge for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): the result of forging 1 blade so that it does not break (scenario verification).
• secret art (4 points, Master): passing a forging ritual refined before the principal image (本尊) of a temple.

#Representative Technique (Swordsmith Secret Art)

[secret art] Yamato Solid-Forging (大和堅造) — a season ritual. A [Durability] bonus to a new masterwork — that masterwork does not break during the campaign (it avoids even a scenario event that would break it).

#Taboo

A Yamato swordsmith does not make a cursed blade. If one of his school's blades cuts a person and takes on a curse, he recovers the blade and enshrines it.

---

#Yamashiro (山城)

#Scent — The Heian Orthodoxy

Yamashiro is the school that developed near Kyoto after the Heian capital relocation. A master-smith such as Sanjo Munechika (三條宗近) is Yamashiro. Mikazuki Munechika is the summit of Yamashiro.

#Crafting Philosophy — Elegance

The curve of the edge, the balance of the hilt. A blade suited to the court. A form that makes dignity without cutting.

#Suited Weapons

Tachi (Heian style). Forged with precision for ceremonial and court use.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Yamashiro swordsmith head house (Kyoto) for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): forging 1 Heian-style tachi. Aesthetic evaluation (Presence +1 NPC review panel).
• secret art (4 points, Master): the experience of one's own blade being used in an imperial or noble-house ceremony.

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Yamashiro Grace-Forging (山城優造) — a season ritual. Grants a new masterwork a Bearing-enhancement blessing — the Bearing of the PC carrying that masterwork +1.

#Taboo

Does not re-forge a blade smeared with the mud of the battlefield into a new work. That would be to sever that blade's whole life.

---

#Bizen (備前)

#Scent — The Pillar of the Japanese Blade

The quantitative center of the Japanese blade in Kamakura–Muromachi. A steady-quality majority. Bizen blades went out to the battlefield most of all.

#Crafting Philosophy — Trust

Trust over fame. Producing a steady-quality Fine Work each week. The trust of a thousand blades over the summit of a single blade.

#Suited Weapons

Fine Work katana and tachi. The standard form of the blade.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Bizen swordsmith head house (Bicchu) for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): forging 5 blades in a row over one season (quality consistency).
• secret art (4 points, Master): certification that one's own blade cut down 100 on the battlefield (scenario progression).

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Bizen Volume-Forging (備前量造) — a season ritual. Elevates 1 Fine Work katana the PC forged to a masterwork candidate. But the effect of the masterwork-technique slot is fixed by the 7-stage procedure of §06-01.

#Taboo

There is never a time he does not carve his own signature (銘) into the blade. A Bizen swordsmith takes responsibility for his name on the blade.

---

#Soshu (相州)

#Scent — Masamune's School

The school that arose in Soshu (Sagami) in late Kamakura. Goro Masamune is the summit. His forging method became the standard of the Japanese blade. The most influential school in Japanese blade history.

#Crafting Philosophy — Balance

The balance of the forging. The precise balance of edge, hilt, and stance all together. Not ornate, yet not lacking by a single point.

#Suited Weapons

Uchigatana, wakizashi. The standard of the later samurai.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Soshu swordsmith head house (Kamakura) for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): passing the orthodox Masamune forging method (imitation of the original).
• secret art (4 points, Master): the experience of directly seeing 1 work of Masamune (the Honjo Masamune, etc.).

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Soshu Even-Forging (相州均造) — a season ritual. A new masterwork's Energy, Wounds, and Target Number are all body-standard ±0 — that is, an orthodox masterwork with no strange effects whatsoever. That there is no strangeness is the secret art.

#Taboo

Does not make a cursed blade (same as Yamato). But if a curse settles in after it is made, that cannot be helped.

---

#Mino (美濃)

#Scent — The Sengoku Mass-Production School

A mass-production school of the late Muromachi and Sengoku era. Seki (關) is its center. Bulk deliveries to the Sengoku daimyo. Together with Bizen, a quantitative center of the Sengoku.

#Crafting Philosophy — Practicality

A blade that does not die on the battlefield. Practicality over ornament. Faster and rougher than Bizen, but for that reason cheaper — the ashigaru's blade.

#Suited Weapons

Fine Work katana, yari. Mass-produced.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Mino swordsmith head house (Seki) for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): forging 10 blades over one season (fast mass production).
• secret art (4 points, Master): a record of delivering blades to one Sengoku daimyo house.

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Mino Speed-Forging (美濃速造) — a season ritual. Shortens the time of the swordsmith PC's Masterwork Forging Ritual (§05-02 § Masterwork Forging Ritual) from 3 seasons to 2 seasons. But the Energy cost of the forged masterwork +1.

#Taboo

Does not make masterworks or Divine Treasures — the Mino school places its pride in mass production. If commissioned a masterwork, it sends the work to another school.

---

#§ Law — Later Schools

#Muramasa Clan

#Scent — The Bloody House

The school of Ise (伊勢). The clan of Muramasa (村正), Murakane, and Masasada. Late Muromachi to early Sengoku. The blades are powerful but — the rumor of a curse follows them. An ill omen to the Tokugawa house.

#Crafting Philosophy — Severance

Cutting through is the top priority. Maximizing the edge's cutting power. Indifferent to how one's own blade cuts a person.

#Suited Weapons

Odachi, uchigatana. Blades of heavy cutting power.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying with the Muramasa clan (Ise) for 1 season. Studying from outside the clan costs greatly.
• Licensed (3 points): passing a test of one blade cutting through one person (scenario duel).
• secret art (4 points, Master): recognition of at least one case in one's life where one's own blade brought an ill omen.

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Muramasa Severing-Forging (村正絕造) — a season ritual. Grants a new masterwork cutting-power enhancement + a curse (cannot voluntarily retreat) at the same time. The price of strength is a curse.

#Taboo

Does not present its work to the Tokugawa house. So that the rumor does not become truth.

---

#Masamune Lineage

#Scent — The Orthodox Heir of Soshu

The direct Masamune line that branched off from the Soshu school. The lineage of Goro Masamune → Sadamune → Nobukuni. The orthodoxy of the Japanese blade from late Kamakura onward.

#Crafting Philosophy — The Righteous School (正派)

Atop Soshu's balance, the recognition of righteous action. Masamune's works respond to the righteous. Wielded by the unjust, they are ordinary.

#Suited Weapons

Uchigatana. Same as Soshu.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Masamune head house or a Sadamune branch for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): passing a righteous-action scenario 1 time (punishing evil, protecting the weak).
• secret art (4 points, Master): the entrance ritual of the Masamune head house — the experience of directly seeing a work by Masamune himself.

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Masamune Righteous-Forging (政宗正造) — a season ritual. Grants a new masterwork a blessing of Energy support during righteous action. The same structure as the blessing of ex2-40-03-02 § Masamune Severing-Blade.

#Taboo

Does not take an unjust client. Confirms the client's RP and Three Ways and Six Hearts before accepting a commission.

---

#Awataguchi School

#Scent — The Summit of the Tanto

The school of Awataguchi (粟田口) in Kyoto. Awataguchi Yoshimitsu (粟田口吉光) is the summit. The most perfect in Japanese blade history at tanto-making.

#Crafting Philosophy — Precision

The perfect balance of a small edge. Tanto (Yoshimitsu), wakizashi (Namazuo Toshiro), kaiken. Leaving large blades to other schools and concentrating on small blades.

#Suited Weapons

Tanto, wakizashi, kaiken, ninjato.

#Licensing Conditions

• Novice (1 point): studying at the Awataguchi head house (Kyoto) for 1 season.
• Licensed (3 points): the precise forging of 1 tanto. Passing the measurement (the golden ratio of hilt-to-edge proportion).
• secret art (4 points, Master): the RP of a shinobi or scholar PC — one who understands the weight of a small tool.

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Awataguchi Refined-Forging (粟田口精造) — a season ritual. A new masterwork tanto/wakizashi's [Pierce] effect +1.

#Taboo

Does not make large blades. Refuses commissions for weapons other than tanto.

---

#§ Law — Firearms Schools (Supplement)

#Inatomi-ryu (稻富流) School

A swordsmith school, but — firearms. A school not of blades but of matchlocks and tanegashima. The works of co-07-02 § Inatomi Secret Fire and ex2-40-03-14.

#Crafting Philosophy — Precision Shooting

The blending of gunpowder, the precision of the gun barrel. Both range and accuracy + over a common matchlock.

#Suited Weapons

Matchlock. Hand cannon. Ozutsu.

#Representative Technique

[secret art] Inatomi Refined-Fire (稻富精火) — a season ritual. A new masterwork firearm's range +1 or Critical Hit range +1 (choose 1).

#Taboo

A firearms swordsmith does not forge blades. From late Muromachi onward, the firearm and blade schools are separate.

---

#§ Law — School-Selection Guide

When a swordsmith PC selects a first school.

---

#§ Law — Changing Schools

Can one swordsmith PC change schools mid-campaign — possible. But:

• From the Novice of the new school over again. The existing school Licensed is preserved (dual school).
• Do not hold three or more schools within one campaign.
• The taboos between schools may conflict (e.g., Yamato has the cursed-blade taboo, the Muramasa clan has cursed-blade orthodoxy — RP conflict when held at the same time).

---

#Reference Links

• Schools
• School Data
• ex2 Swordsmanship School Index
• ex2 New Schools
• Artisan Swordsmith Build
• Swordsmith Additional Traits
• GM Masterwork Weapon Creation Guide

---

A school is not the name of a technique, but the genealogy of those who passed the fire.