English edition v1.3.3 · fc-doc

#Yoma Allies and Yoma PC Hub

Contents

A yoma ally is not a convenient summon, and a yoma PC is not a powerful monster sheet. Both are taboos that have entered human society.


#Opening Vignette — Walking Together

The traveler built a fire by the roadside.

Across from him sat a fox. The fox did not warm its hands like a person, nor curl up like a beast. It only narrowed its eyes at the edge of the firelight.

"Why do you follow me?"

said the fox.

"Because you called my name correctly."

"Then are you on my side?"

The fox did not answer for a long while. A branch burned down, and a beast cried out on a distant mountain.

"Walking the same road and being on the same side are different."

The traveler nodded. The next day he did not cook two bowls of rice. Instead he set one more small cup by the fire. The fox did not drink from it, but from that day on it never lost its way.


#Scent — On Being With Yoma

Using a yoma as an ally enriches the story. It knows roads humans do not, smells the scent of the Spirit Realm, and can negotiate with yoma. But a yoma does not stay loyal the way a human ally does. Name, taboo, feeding, place, and promise are what bind the relationship.

The same is true of a yoma PC. It is not a story about playing a powerful monster, but one in which an apparition learns the words and rules of human society.


#Law — Detailed Documents

PurposeDocument
Operating yoma allies and accompanying squadsfc08-07-02-yoma-companion-squads.md
Advancement data for the generic yoma classfc08-07-03-generic-yoma-class.md
PC conversion of existing yoma techniquesfc08-07-04-yoma-technique-conversion.md

#Operation — Agree on This First

Before allowing a yoma ally or yoma PC, settle the four points below.

ItemQuestion
TabooWhat is it that this yoma can never violate?
FeedingWhat does this yoma need in order to keep staying with you?
Social reactionHow will human factions regard this being?
GateWhat Spirit Realm gate does this yoma return through or grow weaker at?

#Spirit Realm Gates and Factions

For a yoma PC, the gate is a birthplace, a place of return, or a weakness. Choose one at character creation.

Gate relationshipEffect
BirthPerception +1 around that gate. If the gate is sealed, the PC becomes unstable.
ReturnThere is somewhere to retreat in a crisis. In exchange, the PC drifts away from human society.
WeaknessIf the gate is damaged, the PC cannot use Wounds recovery.
EscapeThe PC has a past of fleeing through the gate. A pursuer follows.

Decide faction reactions openly. The Kagura Domain watches, the Hiei League asks whether purification is possible, Enryokan tries to protect, and Biu Mountain tries to call the yoma to its own side.


#Closing Words

Walking the same road as a yoma does not mean that yoma has become human. It means the two have agreed not to step on each other's taboos.