#Villain Equipment — Tools and Objects of Wrongdoing
Contents
Some wrongdoing leaves behind an object even after it ends. Who carries that object away is the next scenario.
#Opening Vignette — The Price Outside the Ledger
This time the Zakkasho did not bring out a weapon.
On the table lay a ledger, an incense burner, a ring of keys, a lantern, and a small wooden tablet. None of them could cut a person down right away on the battlefield. And yet the Shurado made a more displeased face than when looking at a blade.
"What do you do with this sort of thing?" he asked.
The Zakkasho opened the black ledger. "A blade cuts one person. A ledger moves a whole village."
The itako did not touch the wooden tablet. "Is there a name inside it?"
"There is. Even the name of someone not yet dead."
The Kaibutsu said nothing. But the smoke of the incense burner leaned that way.
That day the villains chose something more dangerous than combat equipment. Not objects that cut people, but objects that make people believe they moved of their own accord.
#Principles of Use
The tools in this document are equipment data for strengthening villain play.
- They do not provide methods for reproducing real criminal procedures or atrocities.
- The objects are used as scene functions, faction operation, cult ritual, control of followers, and scenario hooks.
- Numeric effects follow
co's checks, conditions, and equipment-slot sense. - They do not replace the techniques of a specific fiend class. They are objects that support existing techniques or open a scene.
#Tool Categories
| Category | Where used |
|---|---|
| Accessory | A lasting effect while worn. Occupies an equipment slot. |
| Tool | Used in a scene. Most require Energy or non-combat time. |
| Consumable | Vanishes once used. Strong but short. |
| Cult object | Connected to follower, ritual, and domain scenes. |
| Evidence | Rumor and hooks matter more than numbers. |
#1. Black Ledger (黑帳簿)
Motif of the debt ledger, the black-market roster, the contract of betrayal. The moment a name is written, it becomes not a deal but a capture.
Category: Tool / Accessory slot optional Recommended villains: Zakkasho, Tesshin, Tatarigami
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 1 non-combat scene |
| Roll | 2d10+Wisdom+Negotiation >= 15 |
| Effect | Record the debt, weakness, or deal terms of one target NPC or small group. For the same scenario, Negotiation/Intimidation +2 against that target. |
| Limit | 1/scenario |
| Price | Black market 25 gold or a cult reward |
Curse — The Person Outside the Ledger: When trying to help someone not in the ledger for free, the first Negotiation check -2.
Hook: In one corner of the ledger, a contract the PCs have not yet made is already written.
#2. Demon Name Tablet (鬼名牌)
Motif of the memorial tablet, the cursed wooden tablet, the register of the dead. A small gate that borrows the name of the dead.
Category: Tool / Consumable Recommended villains: itako, Shikome-no-Tsukai, Kaibutsu
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | A non-combat scene or a lull |
| Roll | 2d10+Presence+Sorcery >= 15 |
| Effect | Call one name of the dead. On success, ask the GM 1 question that dead one would likely know. The answer comes as a short sentence or a symbol. |
| Limit | 1 use only. Consumed even on failure. |
| Price | Not for sale. Obtained at graveyards, battlefields, and cult rituals. |
Contamination: A small vengeful-spirit trace remains in the place used. Use it as a hook for the next session.
Hook: A name on the Demon Name Tablet is the same as someone still alive.
#3. Kodoku Jar (蠱毒壺)
Motif of the kodoku jar, poison-insect breeding, the sealed curse. More fearsome when unopened.
Category: Tool / Consumable Recommended villains: Dokuchushi, Yorijin, Zakkasho
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 2 Energy |
| Roll | 2d10+Wisdom+Poisoncraft >= 15 |
| Effect | Place a poison-air gimmick in your own zone. All enemies in the zone are poisoned (1 round, 1 Wounds per lull). If success strength is 17 or more, it lasts 2 rounds. |
| Limit | 1/battle. 1 use only. |
| Price | Black market 8 gold |
Danger: On a misfire, the user too becomes poisoned.
Lingering Poison — A Smell That Spares No Side: The first effect applies only to enemies, but while the poison-air lasts, each lull every unit remaining in that zone (including the user) makes a Physique >= 11 check. On failure, 1 Wounds. It can be avoided by wind, a barrier, antidote treatment, or leaving the zone.
Hook: The last creature inside the jar is not yet dead, and does not regard the user as its master.
#4. Yomi Lantern (黃泉燈)
Motif of the lantern that calls the dead, the ghost lantern, the tool that lures lost souls.
Category: Tool / Lantern Recommended villains: Shikome-no-Tsukai, itako, Tatarigami
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 1 Energy |
| Roll | 2d10+Presence+Sorcery >= 13 |
| Effect | Move one vengeful-spirit, dead-spirit, or incorporeal enemy in the same zone to an adjacent zone of the user's choosing. No effect on humans. |
| Limit | 1/round |
| Price | 10 gold or Spirit Realm wreckage |
Aptitude — The Lost Fire: Perception +1 in night or graveyard scenes.
Backlash — The Dead That Look Back: If you move an Elite/Lord-grade or named vengeful-spirit, dead-spirit, or incorporeal, or if this move broke a blockade, Domination, or scenario gimmick, the effect occurs as written. Instead the user immediately gains a grudge mark (1 Wounds per lull, removed by Exorcism >= 15 or Barrier >= 15), and the moved target roughly senses the user's location for the session.
Curse — Following Footsteps: After the session ends, the GM may leave one vengeful-spirit hook.
#5. Apostate Prayer Beads (破戒念珠)
Motif of the prayer beads, the prayer implement, the defiled sacred relic. The sutra turns from mercy into a command.
Category: Accessory / Cult object Recommended villains: Kaibutsu, Tatarigami, a villain of Pure Land Monk origin
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Slot | Accessory |
| Aptitude | Negotiation/Intimidation +2 with cult followers or fanatics. Negotiation -2 with official temple factions. |
| Technique | Energy 3. One follower squad in the same zone gains Cohesion +2, immune to Fear (1 round). |
| Limit | 1/round |
| Price | A cult reward |
Curse — The Prayer That Turns Backward: When you speak of mercy holding these beads, the listener feels fear first.
Hook: On each bead is carved the name of a believer who vanished.
#6. Blood-Seal Ring (血印指輪)
Motif of the signet ring, the blood contract, the vassal's seal. The command is stamped not onto a document but onto a wound.
Category: Accessory / Cult object Recommended villains: Zakkasho, Tatarigami, a Hegemony-line leader
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Slot | Accessory |
| Use | 1 non-combat scene |
| Roll | 2d10+Presence+Negotiation >= 15 |
| Effect | Leave a blood seal on one of a follower, a contractor, or a captive. For the same scenario, if that target tries to betray the user, the first check -2. |
| Limit | Up to 3 at once |
Curse — A Promise Closed Only With Blood: To erase the seal, a scene is needed in which the target publicly breaks with the user.
Hook: Though the ring's original owner is already dead, new seals keep being stamped.
#7. Mask of Silence (無言假面)
Motif of the iron mask, silence-type punishment, the emotion-blocking mask. It does not hide the face but removes the reaction.
Category: Accessory Recommended villains: Tesshin, dark-side No Heart, Zakkasho
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Slot | Accessory |
| Aptitude | Resistance +2 against Fear and Agitation. -2 on checks to inspire allies with Bearing. |
| Technique | Energy 2. +3 in a Perception/Negotiation contest by anyone trying to read the user's emotion. |
| Limit | 1/round |
| Price | 12 gold or a prison relic |
Curse — The Debt of Expression: Once per session, the GM may insert a scene in which a close NPC misreads the bearer's silence.
#8. Castle-Gate Spike (城門釘)
Motif of the great spike that sealed a castle gate, the night of betrayal, the closed escape route.
Category: Consumable / Sabotage tool Recommended villains: Tesshin, Shurado, Zakkasho
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 10 minutes of non-combat time or 3 Energy in combat |
| Roll | 2d10+Finesse+Disable >= 15 |
| Effect | Seal one door, castle gate, storehouse, or prison gate. The opening check is one of two: 2d10 + Physique >= 17, 2d10 + Finesse + Disable >= 17. |
| Limit | 1 use only |
| Price | 3 gold |
Contamination: If someone died at a gate closed with this spike, the spike becomes evidence and remains as an Intimidation +1 object thereafter.
Hook: When you pull out the spike, a voice of grudge is heard from inside the gate.
#9. Bag of Black Ash (黑灰袋)
Motif of the ash of a burned village, the relic of ruins, the ossuary a revenger carries.
Category: Consumable / Evidence Recommended villains: Tatarigami, a Void-line villain, Kekka
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 1 Energy |
| Roll | Automatic |
| Effect | Leave a "black ash" mark in your own zone. Enemies in the same zone have Fear resistance -2 on the next breath. If used by a Tatarigami or a Void dark-side character, Intimidation +2 (1 breath). |
| Limit | 1/battle. 1 use only. |
| Price | Not for sale |
Hook: The village the ash came from still remains on the map, and there is one survivor.
#10. Cult Incense Burner (邪敎香爐)
Motif of the incense burner, mass hypnosis, the closed-room ritual. The incense does not control people. It makes the same words easier to believe.
Category: Cult object / Tool Recommended villains: Kaibutsu, Tatarigami, Zakkasho, itako
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 1 non-combat scene |
| Roll | 2d10+Presence+Bearing >= 15 |
| Effect | Negotiation/Bearing +2 in follower-recruitment, sermon, and ritual scenes. Even on failure, attendees remember the scent of the incense. |
| Limit | 1/session |
| Price | A cult reward or black market 18 gold |
Curse — The Same Scent: A group that used this incense is thereafter suspected of belonging to the user's faction if they smell the same incense.
Hook: A hero NPC tracks the cult's next gathering place by the scent of the incense alone.
#11. Oni-Core Suturing Box (鬼核縫合箱)
Motif of the oni's core, the metal box, the taboo surgical tool. Opening it releases power, but how to close it matters more.
Category: Tool / Evidence Recommended villains: Shurado, Yorijin, Tesshin
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 1 non-combat scene |
| Roll | One of two: 2d10 + Wisdom + Medicine >= 17, 2d10 + Wisdom + Sorcery >= 17 |
| Effect | Stabilize one oni-, villain-, or yoma-derived bodily change. For the next 1 battle, +2 on the first side-effect check from that mutation. |
| Limit | 1/session |
| Price | Not for sale. The Hannyakai laboratory, an oni battlefield, Spirit Realm wreckage. |
Danger: On failure, the user has Wounds -1 at the start of the next battle. Something reacts inside the box.
Hook: The oni-core in the box has never yet entered anyone's body, yet it already has a name.
#12. Traitor's Votive Tablet (裏切り奉納牌)
Motif of the shrine votive tablet, the oath of betrayal, the ritual of praying with one's name at stake.
Category: Cult object / Accessory Recommended villains: Tatarigami, a Hegemony-line leader, a No Heart-line villain
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Slot | Accessory |
| Aptitude | Negotiation +1 to persuade betrayal, defection, or surrender. Negotiation -1 to receive an oath of loyalty. |
| Technique | Energy 2. Ask one NPC in the same zone, "Does the name you serve still protect you?" On a successful Negotiation contest, the target may, on its next breath, choose only to move or defend instead of attacking. |
| Limit | 1/battle |
Backlash — Returned Suspicion: On success against an Elite/Lord-grade or a scenario-key NPC, the effect applies as written. Instead the target immediately realizes one of the user's weaknesses and, for the same scenario, gains +3 resistance to the user's Negotiation/Intimidation. On failure, allied squad Cohesion -1 in the same zone. If the target was a follower, that follower demands a public break-up scene after combat.
Curse — Suspicion Enshrined: The bearer finds it hard to fully trust the loyalty of their own followers. Once per session, create a scene of internal suspicion within the group.
Hook: This votive tablet was originally hung at a shrine by a hero, and the villain's name was newly carved on its back.
#13. Bell of Calamity (災厄の鐘)
Motif of the alarm bell, the funeral bell, the terror signal atop the rampart.
Category: Cult object / Large tool Recommended villains: Tatarigami, Shurado, Kaibutsu
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 3 Energy or 1 non-combat scene |
| Roll | 2d10+Presence+Intimidation >= 15 |
| Effect | All enemy squads on the same battlefield have Cohesion -1. If success strength is 19 or more, additionally a Mental Save (Courage >= 13). |
| Limit | 1/battle |
| Price | A stronghold asset. Not portable. |
Contamination: The region where the bell rang keeps a rumor until the next session. In that region, Intimidation +1, Negotiation -1.
Hook: The artisan who made the bell is alive and knows how to stop its sound.
#14. Grudge Thread Spool (怨絲)
Motif of the red thread, the curse doll, the ritual that binds a connection.
Category: Consumable / Tool Recommended villains: itako, Shikome-no-Tsukai, Kekka
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 2 Energy |
| Roll | 2d10+Presence+Sorcery >= 15 |
| Effect | Bind a grudge thread between 1 target and the bearer. For 1 round, if the target tries to move to a different zone from the bearer, its movement Energy +1. |
| Limit | 1/battle. 1 use only. |
| Price | 6 gold or a vengeful-spirit reward |
Danger: If the target is incapacitated, the thread does not break but winds around the bearer's wrist. A grudge hook remains after the session.
#15. Sealed Testimony Box (封印證言函)
Motif of the confession box, the sealed document, the testimony that was never spoken. Opening it yields truth, but who wrote that truth is a separate question.
Category: Evidence / Tool Recommended villains: Tesshin, Zakkasho, Tatarigami, a hero-mirror NPC
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Use | 1 non-combat scene |
| Roll | 2d10+Wisdom+Disable >= 15 |
| Effect | Reveal one sealed testimony. In the revealed scene, one side gains +2 in the related NPC's Negotiation/Intimidation contest. Which side depends on the content of the testimony. |
| Limit | 1 per testimony box |
| Price | Not for sale. An incident reward or evidence recovery. |
Hook: The testimony is factual, but its writer was being threatened. The truth opens the next lie.
#Quick Placement Table
| Scene you want | Suitable objects |
|---|---|
| A villain faction's ledger and blackmail | Black Ledger, Blood-Seal Ring, Sealed Testimony Box |
| Cult gatherings and follower control | Cult Incense Burner, Apostate Prayer Beads, Bell of Calamity |
| The dead and grudges | Demon Name Tablet, Yomi Lantern, Grudge Thread Spool |
| Poison and experiment | Kodoku Jar, Oni-Core Suturing Box |
| Blockade and rule by terror | Castle-Gate Spike, Bag of Black Ash, Bell of Calamity |
| Betrayal and defection | Traitor's Votive Tablet, Black Ledger |
#GM Operation
These objects, rather than making the villain PC's life easier, make the traces a villain PC leaves more vivid.
Good uses:
- After showing the object's effect once, open the object's origin as a scenario.
- When a PC uses an object, let one of resource, witness, debt, contamination, or invitation arise.
- Let enemies use the same objects too, creating a shared language of villain factions.
- Flip them into evidence to be recovered or cult objects to be destroyed.
An object of wrongdoing does not vanish after use — as long as someone remembers it, it becomes the key to the next scene.