#Chapter 12 — Solo Adventure: "The First Sword"

You just made a character. Now walk that character through a single night.

This chapter is a numbered-paragraph gamebook you read and run alone, without a GM. It is not a book to read in order — each time you are told to, you find that number (¶) and jump to it. The rules open one at a time. At first, two dice, this book, and the sheet you just made are enough.

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#Before You Begin

What you need is two 10-sided dice, the 1st-dan character sheet you made, and this book. It does not matter whether you built it with the web builder or used one of the 3 walkthrough characters (samurai, onmyoji, entertainer) as is. Any class can walk this night to the end.

This gamebook specifies checks loosely. In many places, instead of "roll Perception," it says "roll with the highest of your attributes." Whatever your character is, the meaning is: cut through this night with your own strengths. When a rules term first appears, it is explained briefly on the spot, and if you want to know more, it points you to the combat-rules chapter (→ Chapter 3).

You do not die. Even if you fall this night, the story does not end — a defeated paragraph simply leads to another branch. Roll with an easy heart. The mistakes you learn here will save you at a real table.

To begin, go to ¶1.

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#¶1

It has been a while since the late-summer sun went down beyond the ridgeline. You stand at the mouth of the border village of Karasuzawa (烏澤). The legs that carried you half a day are heavy. The village is strangely quiet — the smoke of evening cooking rises, yet there is no barking of dogs, no crying of children.

In your breast is a folded sheet of paper. A public notice posted by the neighboring district's magistrate. In the past half-month, five have vanished from Karasuzawa. They went out at night and did not return. A reward to whoever brings the reason to light. Whether you came coveting the reward or were merely passing through, one thing is certain: right now you are standing here.

At the well at the village's edge, an old woman looks at you, the well-bucket dangling from her hand. Her eyes are frightened, but she does not drive off a stranger with a sword.

• To ask the old woman about the vanished → ¶2
• To go straight into the village without a word → ¶3

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#¶2

"If you mean the folk who vanished—" the old woman's voice cracks. "It's that bamboo grove on the back mountain. They all went that way. To cut wood, to gather mushrooms. And they don't come back. Yesterday it was Magoroku's youngest…." She cannot go on.

Here you open the first rule of this game — the check.

Rule Unlocked ① The First Check. When you attempt something and neither success nor failure is certain, you roll the dice. Roll two 10-sided dice at once and sum them (2–20, average 11). To this you add the relevant attribute modifier (-3 to +3), and if you have a helpful skill, its proficiency bonus too. If that sum is at or above the target number, it is a success.

2d10 + attribute + (skill) >= target number

The target number is usually odd. Easy 7, Moderate 9, Standard 11, Hard 13. This gamebook tells you the target number as you go.

Source: co-03-01 §the 2d10 basic check · co-03-03 §basic check

Judge whether the old woman's words are true or blown up out of fear. Roll with the highest of your attributes (reading people, so Presence or Wisdom suits, but anything will do). Target number 9 (Moderate).

• If the sum is 9 or higher → ¶4
• If the sum is below 9 → ¶5

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#¶3

You pass the old woman by and step onto the road into the village. Past a few houses the doors stay shut, and only gazes follow you through the cracks in the shutters. At the road's end a man blocks the way, gripping a spade. The head of the village vigilantes, Sohachi (惣八). Broad-shouldered and fierce-eyed, but beneath that fierceness a weary fear shows through.

"A swordsman. Sent by the magistrate?" He lowers the spade. "I won't stop you. But know this — there is something in that bamboo grove on the back mountain. It wears a human shape, which makes it worse." He jerks his chin toward the grove. "I have four of our young men standing guard with spears, but I never thought they could face such things."

From Sohachi you have learned of the vigilante band. When this night deepens, those four will be of use.

To go to the bamboo grove → ¶4

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#¶4

You stand at the mouth of the bamboo grove, black and overgrown, behind the village. The bamboo rustles without wind. The ground is a tangle of footprints — many trails lead in toward the village, but there are no trails leading out. The old woman's words were true.

Ten paces into the forest, something flickers underfoot. Dim, weightless shapes at knee height. Leaking a thin whistling sound, they swarm and fill the space around you.

(This is your first enemy. They look fearsome, but — as you will soon learn — they are nothing to cut down.)

Next you open the second rule of this game, combat. → ¶6

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#¶5

The old woman's words are rambling, and you cannot sort the frightened elder's exaggeration from the truth. "Come back, come back now…" she mutters, and drops the well-bucket. From the bottom of the well rises a hollow thud.

Even on a failure the story moves on — only unprepared. Not knowing exactly where the vanished went, you follow with your eyes only the black bamboo grove behind the village. There is nowhere to go but there.

Failure makes a scene too. This is a game where the moment a low roll fails is the moment that opens the next scene. Do not take failure as a punishment. It is only opening a door while underprepared.

To head for the bamboo grove → ¶4

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#¶6

Rule Unlocked ② The First Combat — Energy and Breath. Combat has a countdown (a count). Every unit has Energy, and the higher the Energy, the sooner it moves. Your character's max Energy = 10 + Finesse (技). Finesse +1 means Energy 11, Finesse +0 means 10.

When your turn (count) comes, you act for one breath. The Energy you can spend in one breath is 5 by default. Within that, you pick and combine several actions (maneuvers) — for instance, an uchigatana horizontal cut (2 Energy) + horizontal cut (2 Energy) + a reserved parry (1 Energy) = 5 Energy.

When you use up your Energy, it passes to the next unit, and when everyone has spent their Energy, a Lull Phase comes, after which Energy returns to its maximum.

Source: co-03-04 §the dual role of Energy · §one breath · co-03-06 §the structure of the round

Now the things before you — lesser yoma (雜鬼). Look at the stat block.

lesser yoma (雜鬼) — Mob
Wounds 0, Domination +0.5
Techniques: none. Its very existence contributes to Domination.

Source: co-08-02 §lesser yoma (Mob)

That Wounds is 0 is the key.

Rule: Wounds and Attack. How many mortal wounds a unit endures is counted as Wounds. If your attack hits at or above the target's Defense, it shaves off 1 Wound. When Wounds reaches 0, that unit falls.

2d10 + Courage (勇) + (weapon skill) >= target's Defense → success = 1 Wound.

But a Mob has Wounds 0, so it dies instantly just on declaring an attack. You need not even roll.

Source: co-03-05 §Wounds · §incapacitation

Declare that you swing your sword at the swarm of lesser yoma. There is no check. Each time your blade so much as grazes one, a lesser yoma scatters like mist. It is a warmup with nothing to fear — but let us learn the feel of spending breath here.

• Scatter the swarm calmly, one breath at a time, without haste (sparing your Energy) → ¶7
• Drive in all at once and sweep the swarm away in one go (pouring in Energy) → ¶8

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#¶7

In one breath, two cuts (2 Energy each) mean two lesser yoma, three cuts mean three — this way you cut only as far as your Energy reaches. The basic limit of one breath is 5 Energy, so a 2-Energy cut fits two to a breath comfortably, and a third goes over your Energy. When your Energy runs out, that breath is over, and you wait for the next count.

Why you must not exceed one breath. If you spend Energy over the one-breath limit (5 by default), an Overload check is triggered. Against lesser yoma there is no reason to, but before a strong foe this limit splits life from death. For now, just work into your body how much you can spend in one breath.

Source: co-03-04 §Overload

Repeat two or three breaths and the swarm is cleared. Calmly, with no waste. To go in deeper → ¶9

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#¶8

You drive in as far as you can cut in one breath — two 2-Energy cuts is 4 Energy, and two lesser yoma scatter. With the remaining 1 Energy you cannot cut a third (every maneuver is at least 1 Energy, but a cut is 2 Energy), so that breath ends there.

Energy is time itself. The Energy you can spend in one breath is fixed (5 by default), and once it is spent you must wait for the next count. Driving in clears things fast, but if you have no Energy left in an urgent moment, you cannot answer the enemy's blow. There is no cost now — but soon this balance will matter.

Source: co-03-04 §one breath · §handling Energy cost

In a few breaths the swarm is cleared. It was fiery, but you will soon learn to spare your Energy too. To go in deeper → ¶9

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#¶9

The deeper the bamboo grove, the heavier the air. Black stains grow on the soil underfoot — dried bloodstains. In a clearing ahead, a single gray shape crouches with its back turned, gnawing at something. Only its belly is swollen like a drum, and its limbs are like dry branches. The sound of dry hide rubbing and of swallowing spit reaches you first.

A gaki (餓鬼). Unlike a lesser yoma, this one does not scatter in one blow.

gaki (餓鬼) — Minion
Wounds 1, Defense 10, Domination +2 (squad of 5)
Techniques:
- Claw Rend — 2d10 + Courage (+0) >= Defense | 1 Wound. Attacks friend or foe alike.
- Frenzied Bite — 2d10 + Physique (+0) >= Defense | no damage. Target's next attack -1 (Fear).

Source: co-08-02 §gaki (Minion)

This gaki is one that broke off from the swarm and wandered alone. A Minion-grade yoma wandering solo with no commander is treated as having Energy 10, so it joins the count on its own and charges at you.

Source: co-08-02 §wandering yoma (Minion/Veteran with no commander)

The gaki senses a human presence and whips around. Its eyes, glistening with hunger, turn to you. Now it is your and the gaki's Energy countdown.

• If your Energy is higher than the gaki's (Finesse +1 or more means Energy 11 or more → you go first) → ¶10
• If your Energy is equal to or lower than the gaki's (Finesse +0 or lower) → ¶11

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#¶10

Now it is your breath — whether you moved first because your Energy was higher, or you dodged its first claw and won the turn. You can slip the blade in before the gaki takes its stance again.

Roll the attack. With the weapon in your hand — 2d10 + Courage + (Swordsmanship or the relevant weapon skill if you have it). The gaki's Defense is 10. A character with a spear rolls a yari thrust (Courage), a dagger a thrust (Courage). Bare-handed, it is an Unarmed Combat strike (Courage).

• If the sum is 10 or higher → ¶13
• If the sum is below 10 → ¶14

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#¶11

The gaki is faster than you. The count runs from higher Energy, so the gaki charges first. It rears its claws and leaps in — Claw Rend, rolled as 2d10 + Courage (+0). If it is at or above your Defense, you lose 1 Wound (a PC's base Defense is 10 without armor, 12 in light armor).

Roll this check yourself, in the gaki's place, and confirm the result (in solo, you roll the enemy's rolls too). To the rolled sum, add a Courage modifier of 0.

• If the gaki's sum is below your Defense (a miss) → ¶10
• If the gaki's sum is at or above your Defense (a hit, 1 Wound lost) → ¶12

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#¶12

The gaki's claw grazes your shoulder. You lost 1 Wound. Mark it on your sheet. It hurts, but you can still stand.

This time it exposed itself. The breath for a counter has come, so now it is time to learn the third rule, reserved defense. → ¶15

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#¶13

Your blade's tip drives into the gaki's dry torso. Being a Minion with 1 Wound, one hit brings it down. The gaki collapses like a dry leaf and fades to black.

With no time to catch your breath, another presence stirs from deeper in the bamboo grove. A shadow that slides through the underbrush in a low, wild-dog posture. This one differs from the last — to face it, you must know how to block.

To learn defense → ¶15

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#¶14

Your blade cleaved the empty air. The gaki twisted aside and dodged. A starving beast's reflexes are quick. In the next moment it rears its claws and drives in.

What you learn here is how to block — the art of turning aside the enemy's blow, instead of blindly cutting again. → ¶15

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#¶15

Rule Unlocked ③ Reserved Defense. A weapon has not only attack techniques but defense techniques too. Things like a katana's "parry," a yari's "feint," a shield's "shield block." A defense technique is used in two ways.

- Reservation: within your own breath, you pay Energy in advance to take up a defensive stance. Reserve it this way, and when the enemy's attack comes, it triggers for 0 Energy (you already paid).

- Improvised reaction: if you did not reserve it and try to block in haste, you must pay 1.5 times the base cost (rounded) on the spot.

A katana parry is reserve 1 Energy / improvised 2 Energy. A reserved defense is consumed once it triggers.

Source: co-03-04 §reservation · co-03-07 §defense techniques

If you have a weapon with a defense technique (katana, yari, dagger, shield, etc.), choose how to spend your next breath. With no weapon or bare-handed, you use Unarmed Combat's "push away."

• To reserve your defense in advance (pay the Energy first) → ¶16
• To not reserve, and block improvised when the enemy strikes → ¶17

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#¶16

This breath, you reserve a defense technique. For a katana, 1 Energy to reserve a parry; for a yari, 2 Energy to reserve a feint. You set the blade at a slant, a stance that waits for the opponent's trajectory.

The shadow sliding through the underbrush leaps up — the form of a wild fox, the pup of a yoko (妖狐). It rears its claws and charges at you. Thanks to the reservation, you trigger the parry for 0 Energy. If 2d10 + Finesse (技) is at or above its attack check, it is fully nullified.

Roll. Take the yoko pup's attack check as already rolled, and set the target number at 11.

• If the sum is 11 or higher (a successful turn-aside) → ¶19
• If the sum is below 11 (failed to block) → ¶18

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#¶17

You do not reserve a defense, and you wait for the opponent in your attack stance. The shadow sliding through the underbrush leaps up — the pup of a yoko (妖狐). Its claws flash.

To block in haste, you must pay Energy now. Being an improvised reaction, it is 1.5 times the base cost — for a katana parry, 2 Energy. What would have been free had you reserved it costs more because you react in haste. This is the difference between reservation and improvisation.

Roll the parry improvised. 2d10 + Finesse, target number 11.

• If the sum is 11 or higher (blocked, but you spent extra Energy) → ¶19
• If the sum is below 11 (failed to block) → ¶18

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#¶18

The defense came late. The yoko pup's claw rakes your forearm. You lose 1 Wound (mark it on your sheet). But it too drove in so deep that it exposed itself. Next is your turn.

Now the counter — and in the moment of the counter, you meet the most dramatic rule in this game. → ¶20

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#¶19

Blade and claw clash. You read the opponent's trajectory exactly and let it slide off. The yoko pup is flung back, lands, and bares its teeth. There is no damage. Whether you reserved it or blocked in haste, a block is a block.

Now it has shown an opening. The breath for a counter — here you meet the most dramatic rule in this game. → ¶20

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#¶20

Rule Unlocked ④ Critical Hit and Fumble. When you roll 2d10 and both dice show the same face (e.g. 6 and 6), it is a double. A double comes up about one time in 10, and, meeting the check's success/failure, it makes a dramatic result.

- Double + success = Critical Hit (会心). For an attack, it shaves off 2 Wounds (twice the usual).

- Double + failure = Fumble (失着). Your stance breaks and you become Defenseless (Defense -4, until your next turn).

And if you have the Fate (運) attribute, you can use Fate Intervention. Immediately after rolling, adjust one die's face by ±1. For instance, if a 5 and a 4 come up, push the 4 up to a 5 to make a 5-5 double and aim for a Critical Hit. The number of interventions is as many as your Fate modifier; even with low Fate, at least 1 use per combat is guaranteed.

Source: co-03-01 §double · §Fate Intervention · co-03-05 §Critical Hit · §Fumble · §Defenseless

Counter against the yoko pup. 2d10 + Courage + (weapon skill), and the yoko's Defense is 11. Look closely at the two faces you rolled.

• If the two faces are the same (a double) and the hit succeeds → ¶21
• If the two faces are the same (a double) and the hit fails → ¶22
• If it is not a double and the hit succeeds → ¶23
• If it is not a double and the hit fails → ¶22

If you want to use Fate: if the two faces came up one apart (e.g. 5-6) and the hit also succeeded, you can use Fate Intervention to push the 5 up to a 6, make a double, and go to ¶21. For a character with Fate, this single move calls up a Critical Hit.

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#¶21

It is a Critical Hit. The two dice point to the same face, and the blade's tip is drawn in perfectly. The instant when the opponent's opening, your breath, and the blade's arc converge to a single point. The yoko pup had only 1 Wound, but the Critical Hit's 2 Wounds overtakes that in one stroke. It is cut in two and scatters into black mist.

A brief silence in that spot. You have just seen the heart of this game — the moment when a single roll overturns the board.

From deeper in the forest come human voices. The urgent shouts of young men. → ¶24

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#¶22

It is a Fumble — or you simply missed. If the two faces were the same (a Fumble), your stance broke and you became Defenseless. Your Defense drops to -4, and you can take no new stance and no defensive reservation. When your next turn comes, it lifts automatically. If you simply missed, there is no Defenseless, but the yoko pup is still alive.

It does not miss the chance and drives in again. The claw grazes — you lose 1 Wound (had you been Defenseless, it would have been hard to dodge; mark it on your sheet).

Still, the yoko pup is only a spent beast. Slip the blade in again on the next breath — this time with nothing to roll — and it, already covered in wounds, falls. The black mist scatters.

Even if you fall, you do not die. Even if you were beaten all through this night and your Wounds reached 0, in this gamebook you do not die. You only kneel for a moment, and the story continues to the next paragraph. Roll on with an easy heart.

From deeper in the forest come human voices. The urgent shouts of young men. → ¶24

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#¶23

Your blade cut straight through the yoko pup's torso. It was not a Critical Hit, but for one with 1 Wound a single hit is enough. With a yelp it scatters into black mist.

A clean stroke. It had none of a Critical Hit's flourish, but it did exactly what was needed.

From deeper in the forest come human voices. The urgent shouts of young men. → ¶24

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#¶24

Pushing through the bamboo grove, you come to a small clearing. Four young men with spears crouch back to back. The village vigilante band Sohachi spoke of — no, it seems they chased this far in. Their eyes waver with fear. Their spear-tips aim in all directions, but they do not know what to aim at.

"Master swordsman!" one cries. "Those things — those things have faces. The faces of the vanished! Which is the real one—"

Here you gain a squad. How you handle these four splits the next fight. → ¶25

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#¶25

Rule Unlocked ⑤ A Taste of Squads. A squad does not move on its own — the commander (you) must issue a Squad Order on your own breath for it to move. The order costs 2 Energy, and if Wisdom (智) is +2 or higher it drops to 1 Energy.

A squad is managed with a single number — its Cohesion (morale). This vigilante band's Cohesion is low (frightened villagers, so 2). If Cohesion reaches 0, the squad Routs and scatters. It is shaved by -1 each time you, the commander, fall, or half the squad dies, or it suffers Fear.

For the first night, you need to know only one order — Volley Attack: the squad gathers its spears on one designated target and thrusts. Roll the check 2d10 >= target's Defense, and on a hit, remove one Minion.

Source: co-06-06 §Squad Order · §Cohesion · co-03-04 §Squad Order

Karasuzawa Vigilante Band — 5 Minions (militia variant)
Wounds 1, Defense 10, Cohesion 2, Domination +2
- Volley Spear-Thrust [Tactic:Kata] — Squad Order → 2d10 >= target's Defense, remove 1 Minion
- Shield Wall — Squad Order → that zone's Domination x1.5, no relocation that round

The stats follow the co-06-06 Minion militia-squad spec. Source: co-06-06 §Minion squad · co-08-01 §difficulty baseline

When you tell them you will take command of these four, the trembling spear-tips firm up a little. Just then, from across the clearing — things wearing the faces of the vanished villagers walk out one by one.

To face the things across the clearing → ¶26

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#¶26

From across the clearing, five shapes walk out. The faces of the vanished villagers — the youth said to have gone to cut wood, the wife said to have gone to gather mushrooms, Magoroku's youngest. But their gait is somehow off-kilter, and no shadow falls at their feet. It is the disguise of a yoko pack.

Order your vigilante band to a Volley Spear-Thrust. The yoko have no armor, so their Defense is low — against one designated fox, roll 2d10 >= 11 (the yoko's Defense). Rather than spending Cohesion 2, you pay the order Energy (2, or 1 with Wisdom +2). On a hit, one disguised yoko reveals its true form and scatters.

One Volley Spear-Thrust and the yoko pack's numbers drop. But one yoko, its disguise stripped, twists a villager's face and bares its teeth at the band — seeing a neighbor's face turn into a beast, the young men's spear-tips tremble again.

Here Cohesion is put to the test. → ¶27

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#¶27

At the yoko's threat, the vigilante band wavers. A squad exposed to a yoma's Fear can lose Cohesion — fail the mental save at the lull, and it is -1. For these four frightened men who started at Cohesion 2, even a single -1 cuts to the bone (at 0 it Routs and scatters).

How you, the commander, handle this moment decides it.

• Step forward and cut the yoko down head-on — when the commander takes the danger first, the squad gains courage. The band's Cohesion stays at 2. → ¶28
• Pull the band back and hold alone — the four are safe, but the fear of retreating with your back to a thing wearing a neighbor's face lingers. Write the band's Cohesion down as lowered to 1. → ¶28

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#¶28

As you chose, the vigilante band re-sets its stance. Either way, these four have not yet scattered — as long as Cohesion of even 1 remains, you can order a Volley Spear-Thrust in the final fight, and there is room for these men to save your life.

The remaining yoko fall back, and from behind them the last one walks slowly out. Larger than the others, and though not nine, three tails flicker behind it. It is the mother of this pack.

It opens its mouth — in the voice of the vanished village headman. "Sheathe your sword, traveler. I was only hungry."

Here you meet this game's final rule — and this game's heart. → ¶29

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#¶29

Rule Unlocked ⑥ The Three Ways and Six Hearts. This world has no alignment chart of good and evil. Instead, it marks what a person draws a sword for with three paths (Three Ways) and six hearts (Six Hearts). The yoko mother before you now is a single situation, but depending on which heart you stand with, three branches of response open.

- Truth (眞) — the heart of the Way of Mystery. Yoma too are part of nature. It attempts coexistence and dialogue.

- Hegemony (覇) — the dark heart of the Way of Rites. It removes a threat for the sake of order. To protect the village, this must be cut.

- Compassion (慈) — the heart of the Way of Emptiness. Even a yoma is a suffering being. It cuts, yet does not hate.

Which heart is right is not fixed. If there is a heart written on your sheet, you may follow it, or you may choose anew here and now. All three push the story forward.

Source: co-02-02 §the Three Ways and Six Hearts system · §Truth · §Hegemony · §Compassion · §choosing a heart at character creation

The yoko mother looks at you with the headman's face. This is what devoured the five. Yet in those eyes, along with a beast's hunger, there is also something weary.

• Truth (眞) — to ask, before cutting, "Tell me why you came down here" → ¶30
• Hegemony (覇) — no words are needed; to protect the village, you cut now → ¶31
• Compassion (慈) — you will cut, but not out of hate; you announce its end to it and strike → ¶32

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#¶30

It is the Way of Truth. You do not lower your sword, but you do not level it either. "Why did you come down from the mountain? Was there nothing to hunt in the bamboo grove?"

The yoko mother falters for a moment. The disguise on its face wavers. "…The mountain has withered. The spirit-vein has run dry, and nothing was left for us to eat. So we borrowed the faces of humans." Into its voice mixes a resonance not of the headman but of an ancient beast.

Because you opened the door to dialogue, this fight can now have a different ending. But the yoko mother is hungry, and a hungry beast tests before it retreats. It rears its claws — not to kill, but a blow to measure whether you are truly one who will stand against it.

One small combat remains. To the final contest with the yoko mother → ¶33

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#¶31

It is the Way of Hegemony. Dialogue is a trap. This devoured five, and set loose it will devour a sixth. Guarding the village's order is the reason of your blade. Instead of an answer, you close the distance.

"I told you to sheathe your sword." The yoko mother's voice drops low. The disguise peels away and teeth appear. "Then — you too are good prey." It rears its three tails and lunges.

For the lack of hesitation, the first move is yours. To the final contest with the yoko mother → ¶33

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#¶32

It is the Way of Compassion. You re-grip your sword, but you look its face straight on. "I know you are hungry. The owners of these faces came here hungry too, no doubt. So I will not hate you. Only — I can look away no longer."

The yoko mother looks at you as if puzzled, as if seeing for the first time a sword without hatred or fear. "…A strange human." It slowly lowers its posture. "Then let us see whether your mercy is stronger than my claws."

A contest without hatred begins. To the final contest with the yoko mother → ¶33

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#¶33

The Yoko Mother — the final small combat. This is a reinforced Minion that led the pack. By the wandering-Energy rule for a Minion roaming without a commander, it has its own Energy, and being the pack's mother, it is tougher than an ordinary Minion.

Yoko Mother (妖狐母) — Minion (reinforced, wandering)
Wounds 2, Defense 11, Energy 10
Courage +1, Finesse +1
Techniques:
- Claw (爪) — 2d10 + Finesse (+1) >= Defense | 1 Wound.
- Illusion Evasion (幻術回避) — defense, reserve 1 / improvised 2 | substitutes an illusion. On success, the hit is nullified.
Special:
- Disguise (變裝) [stance] — disguises as one of the vanished. Already seen through (null in this combat).

This is a wandering individual reinforced from the yoko Minion template (Wounds 1, Defense 11, Finesse +1). Its Wounds was raised 1→2 to match the pack mother's rank (below the Veteran floor, within the Minion-reinforcement range), and wandering Energy 10 was applied. The techniques carry over the claw and illusion evasion of the original template unchanged. Source: co-08-02 §yoko (Minion) · §wandering yoma · §Wounds by grade (Minion 1, Veteran 2–3)

(Recommended-rule recheck.) Use everything you have learned here.

- Energy · breath: max Energy 10+Finesse, up to 5 per breath. The higher Energy goes first.

- Attack: 2d10 + Courage + weapon skill >= 11 (the Yoko Mother's Defense). Hit = 1 Wound, Critical Hit (double + success) = 2 Wounds.

- Reserved defense: reserve in advance for 0 Energy, block in haste for 1.5 times.

- Beware Illusion Evasion: the Yoko Mother also reserves a defense. Even if your attack hits, if it succeeds on Illusion Evasion (reserved), it is nullified — the reason you must cut twice, three times.

- Squad: with the band's Volley Spear-Thrust (2d10 >= 11) you can shave the mother's Wounds in your stead. But if the mother's claws turn on the band, Cohesion is in danger.

- Fate Intervention: if you have Fate, adjust a face by ±1 at the decisive moment and aim for a Critical Hit.

Bring the Yoko Mother's Wounds of 2 to 0 and it is victory. First, try landing the first blow — 2d10 + Courage + weapon skill >= 11.

• If the first attack hit (whether a Critical Hit or an ordinary hit) → ¶34
• If the first attack missed, or hit but the mother succeeded on Illusion Evasion (in solo, you roll the mother's defense check 2d10 + Finesse (+1) >= your attack's sum too) → ¶35

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#¶34

The blade touches the Yoko Mother's body. If it was a Critical Hit (double + success), 2 Wounds are shaved in one stroke and the mother collapses on the spot — go straight to ¶37. If it was an ordinary hit, you shaved 1 Wound, and the mother, with only 1 Wound left, bares its teeth.

With 1 Wound left, the mother counters. Claw, 2d10 + Finesse (+1) >= your Defense (10 without armor, 12 in light armor). Roll this check and confirm.

• If the mother's claw is below your Defense (a miss) → you slip in the finishing blow on the next breath. ¶37
• If the mother's claw is at or above your Defense (a hit, 1 Wound lost) → ¶35

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#¶35

The mother turns into an illusion to slip off your blade, or strikes back with its claws. This is why the yoko's Illusion Evasion is such a nuisance — even a hit is nullified, so it does not end in one go.

There are two ways to settle it here.

• Borrow the band's strength — if the band has not yet Routed (Cohesion 1 or more), order a Volley Spear-Thrust. 2d10 >= 11 (the mother's Defense). On a hit, it shaves 1 Wound off the mother in your stead. Even if your blade is slipped, its illusion cannot block all four spears. → ¶36
• Ride your Fate and aim for a Critical Hit — for a character with Fate, when a double off by one (e.g. 6-7) comes up on your next attack, use Fate Intervention to raise the 6 to a 7, make a double, and end it in one stroke with a Critical Hit (2 Wounds). → ¶36

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#¶36

You contest once more. Whether the band's spears drive between the mother's illusions, or your Critical Hit's blow splits the three tails — the mother's Wounds at last reaches 0.

If in the meantime your Wounds reached 0 → go to ¶38 (you do not die this night). Otherwise → go to ¶37.

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#¶37

The Yoko Mother swings its last claw at nothing and collapses. Its three tails unravel into black mist, and the headman's face it had borrowed peels away. Beneath it, for a moment — truly a moment — the true form of a single old, gaunt wild fox appears, and scatters on the wind.

Silence settles over the clearing. Having lost their mother, the disguised yoko lose their command, scatter, and flee to the mountains. The four of the band lower their spears and look at one another. No one died.

If you chose the way of Compassion (慈) or Truth (眞), you hear the last thing the mother mutters before it scatters. "…The mountain, has withered…" That one phrase becomes the seed of the next story. If you chose the way of Hegemony (覇), you did not hear the words and merely saved the village.

To the epilogue → ¶39

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#¶38

For three breaths the Yoko Mother turned your blade aside again and again with illusion, and in the meantime its claws brought you down. Your Wounds reaches 0 — but you do not die this night.

In the instant your knees buckle, the four of the band — those villagers who had been frozen with fear — thrust their spears all at once, from where such courage came who knows. "Protect the master!" A Volley Spear-Thrust that burns the last drop of Cohesion pierces the Yoko Mother's flank. The mother screams and scatters into black mist.

It was not you who felled it. But because you led these four this far, these four saved you. A defeated paragraph leading to victory — this is the promise of this game.

By the time you come to, the disguised yoko have already fled to the mountains. To the epilogue → ¶39

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#¶39

Epilogue.

Dawn breaks. You walk out of the bamboo grove together with the four of the band. The old woman at the well, Sohachi with his spade, the faces that had hidden behind shutters — they come out one by one to meet you. The vanished five could not return — but the thing that borrowed their faces comes no more in the night.

You have just lived through the whole skeleton of this game. The check (2d10 + attribute + skill), Energy and breath (10+Finesse, 5 per breath), Wounds (hit = 1 Wound, Critical Hit = 2 Wounds), reserved defense (reserve 0 Energy / improvised 1.5 times), Critical Hit and Fumble (the double), Fate Intervention (a face ±1), squads (order · Cohesion), and the Three Ways and Six Hearts (the fork of Truth · Hegemony · Compassion). If you made it this far, you are now ready to sit at the table.

Next Steps.

- If you have people to join you — return to the combat-rules chapter (→ Chapter 3), learn the rules formally, and prepare your first campaign. What you just lived through unfolds in full form in that chapter.

- If you are still alone — go to this book's Solo Mode Oracle rules. There is a question table and a scene-making procedure that stand in for the GM's seat, so you can carry on adventures like this night on your own.

- If you want to grow stronger — go to the Growth chapter and raise this character to 2nd dan. The Yoko Mother's last words, "the mountain has withered," are the thread of the next adventure.

The night of Karasuzawa is over. Your first sword has already been drawn.

[End]

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#Paragraph Map (for GM · review)

Below is a reference table for confirming branch integrity. You need not look at it during play.

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