English edition v1.3.3 · zn-doc

#Performance and Earnings — How to Run a Stage

Contents

Illustration of the performance check and earnings

This document belongs to the front. All rules below are Variant (opt-in) — they apply only when the table adopts them, and they do not replace the combat maneuvers of the Entertainer class. This covers performances outside of combat.


#Rule — Performance Check [Variant]

Scene Tool. An optional rule layered on top of the non-combat check (co-03-09). It decides in a single roll whether one performance on stage landed.

Check.

Performance check = 2d10 + Grace (美) + Bearing proficiency bonus  >=  audience target number
  • The base axis is Grace (美) + Bearing. The Bearing proficiency bonus follows the canon: Novice +0 · Trained +1 · Licensed +2 · Master +3, and if you lack even Bearing Novice, unskilled -2.
  • For composed arts (renga, waka, kodo discernment, etc.), first set the work's grade with a Wits (智) non-combat check, then decide the occasion of presenting that work with the performance check above.
  • Aid (GM discretion): a fitting prop (03) +1, a supporting skill suited to the occasion such as [Negotiation], [Disguise], or [Medicine] +1~2, a worn-down state, unsuitable stage, or hostile audience -1~3.

Result. Doubles (雙目) on 2d10 follow the canon Critical Hit/Fumble rules as-is.

ResultConditionWhat happens on stage
Fumbledoubles + failureAn accident. Earnings 0 · reputation drop · or a spiritual mishap (provoking yoma, etc.)
Failurebelow target numberJeers, indifference. Earnings minimal or 0 · fame drops one notch
Successmeets target numberApplause. Base earnings · fame rises one notch
Critical Hitdoubles + successAcclaim, legend. Double earnings · fame rises two notches · special effect (patronage offer, spiritual effect triggers)

Fame. This issue does not turn fame into a heavy numeric system. The GM manages it as a soft track that rises and falls one notch at a time per person, troupe, and region, and once enough has accrued, reflects it as [GM discretion] on [Negotiation] aid or unlocking stage tiers. It is separate from Renown (the 10th-dan capstone title).


#Table — Stages and Audience Target Numbers

The target numbers follow the canon's odd-numbered difficulty ladder.

StageTarget NumberNotes
Street corner, teahouse5Passersby. A few coins
Village market, festival7Gathered commoners
Castle-town show troupe9A formal stage set up by a troupe
Temple/shrine offering, grand show11A formal occasion
Private occasion of a warrior house or merchant (tea gathering, renga gathering)13A discerning few
Daimyo's presence15Before the lord of a province
Lord of the Realm's presence, a luminary of the realm17An occasion that leaves a name
Before a spirit (靈) — requiem, summoning19An audience that is not human

#Rule — Performance Earnings [Variant]

Scene Tool. Layered on top of the detailed economy (1 gold = 10 silver = 100 copper). A table not using the detailed economy uses the right standard (gold only) column.

Base earnings on success. Double on a Critical Hit. On failure, minimum (in parentheses) or 0.

StageDetailed EconomyStandard (gold only)
Street corner, teahouse1d10 copper (1d3 copper on failure)ignore
Village market, festival2d10 copperignore (1 gold on a Critical Hit)
Castle-town show troupe1d10 silver1 gold
Offering, grand show2d10 silver1~2 gold
Private occasion of a warrior house or merchant3d10 silver + gift (prop, introduction)2~3 gold
Daimyo's presence1d10 gold + bestowal5+ gold
Lord of the Realm's presence2d10 gold + bestowal of a famed object10+ gold

Reference point: a domain lord's reward for one scenario is roughly 30 gold (co-08-07). One street-corner performance is a meal's to a few days' worth of copper. An entertainer's stage is an economy of steady small change and rare jackpots.

Show splits — whose stage you stand on.

FormEffect
Troupe (座) patronage (Sakai Guild, etc.)The troupe provides stage, audience, promotion, and safety → target number -2, guaranteed safety. In return the troupe takes half the earnings
On the street (bare)You keep the full earnings. But scale and safety are limited, with risks from ruffians, the authorities, and weather. No target-number modifier
Kagura Domain affiliation (court entertainer)In exchange for a regular stipend (禄), free shows are restricted. Instead of show earnings, you get status and access to information
Mugenshu (tengu entertainers)The audience is not human. The earnings are not money but sacred objects, secret teachings (秘伝), and spiritual favor

#Rule — Performances for Spirits (Requiem, Summoning) [Variant]

Scene Tool. A stage for an audience that is not human. It connects to yoma and the Spirit Realm.

  • Requiem (鎭魂) — Soothes onryo and bound spirits. Target number 19 (or the target's will/Defense). On a Critical Hit, the spirit calms and passes on, and the spiritual pressure of the place is released. On a Fumble, the spirit grows more agitated instead.
  • Summoning (降靈) — Calls a spirit to the stage with mugen noh, Heike recitation, or a shirabyoshi's dance. On success, a door to dialogue with the spirit opens, but what you called must be sent back. On a Fumble, what you called does not leave.
  • A performance for spirits yields no money. Its reward is a barrier released, a grudge (恨) closed, or a newly opened danger.

#Example — In Performance: The Shirabyoshi by the River

A 3rd-dan shirabyoshi PC, Ayame — Grace (美) 4, Bearing Trained (+1), carrying the famed seven-color fan.

She stands on the Sakai Guild stage in a castle town. The show troupe's base target number is 9, with troupe patronage -2 → 7.

  • Roll: 2d10 = 6, 6 (doubles!).
  • Total: 6+6 + Grace 4 + Bearing 1 + fan 1 = 18 ≥ 7 → success, and since they are doubles, a Critical Hit.
  • Earnings: the show troupe's base 1d10 silver → if a 6 came up, 6 silver, doubled on the Critical Hit → 12 silver. The troupe takes half, so Ayame 6 silver, troupe 6 silver.
  • On top of that: fame rises two notches, and by the Critical Hit special effect a merchant in the audience offers patronage for the next show.

If at the same occasion the roll had been 3, 5 = 8: 8+4+1+1 = 14 ≥ 7 → an ordinary success, 1d10 silver (no doubling), one notch of fame. Since they are not doubles, there is no special effect.