#Beyond the 10th Dan — Renown Demotion and Extended Advancement
Contents
This document belongs to the front. If you do not agree to this, do not switch on what follows. Run the 11th dan with Renown Titles left as they are, and — exactly as the canon warns — the game collapses.
#Commentary — Why You Must Fix Renown Titles First
co-04-05 says it plainly. A Renown Title is a campaign-ending device, and its effects are built to nullify the core system. The Kensei's auto-hit and auto-dodge erase checks, the Dharma King's downed-immunity erases death, the God of War's 0-Energy command erases the Energy economy — wholesale.
So to go beyond the 10th dan, the very first thing is to strip "nullification" out of the Renown Title. Keep the power, but take back only the absoluteness that erases the game. There are two handles.
- Numericization — turn "unconditional/auto" into a fixed bonus of +4 to +5. Auto-hit → hit check +5. It almost always succeeds, but the dice are rolled again (Critical Hits and Fumbles come back to life).
- Frequency limit — bind any core-nullifying effect to a frequency that matches its strength: 1/session, 1/combat, 1/round, and so on. A constant Divine Authority becomes the trump card of one decisive scene. (An interrupt-type effect already limited to 1/round stays as is, with no further demotion.)
- Target-scope reduction (auxiliary handle) — narrow the targets the effect reaches (everyone → adjacent / same zone, etc.). Apply it alongside the frequency limit to localize a wide-area absolute authority.
Apply both to every Renown Title, and the title steps down from "a god that ends the campaign" to "a hero's secret art that carries the campaign forward."
#Rule — Renown Demotion Table [Variant · Epic Mode]
Below is the demotion of the 6 Renown Titles that co-04-05 explicitly states nullify the core system. For class capstones, background capstones, and dual-build Renown Titles not in the table, the GM applies the same two handles (numericization, frequency limit) and demotes them the same way. The numbers and frequencies are table baselines; the GM may adjust them by ±1 to match campaign intensity.
| Renown Title | Canon (nullification) | Demoted form (Epic Mode) |
|---|---|---|
| Kensei (Swordsmanship Saint) | Auto-hit + auto-dodge + [Kata] 0-Energy counter (1/round) | Swordsmanship attack/dodge check +5 (dice retained). This Renown bonus replaces the Saint +4 from 02, and if Transcend Mastery in Swordsmanship is also adopted, only the higher single value of the two applies (no stacking). The [Kata] 0-Energy counter (1/round) is retained even after demotion. Full auto is 1/session |
| Peerless War God (samurai) | [Stance] 0-Energy auto-counter against every enemy entering the same zone (1/round) + same-zone Domination +5 (sole control of one zone) | Domination/Breakthrough checks +4. The 0-Energy auto-counter against every enemy entering the same zone (1/round) is retained without demotion (line 31 principle). The sole-control flourish is 1/session |
| Shadowless One (ronin) | Ignores Domination/Breakthrough (always) + initiative +999 (guaranteed 1st) + relocation Energy -2 (minimum 1) | Initiative bonus +5, relocation cost -1. Full ignore is 1/combat |
| Shadow King (shinobi) | Constant Infiltration + every attack treated as a Surprise Attack (Critical Expansion) + Surprise Attack instant death (Grunt/Veteran/Captain, Boss exempt) | Infiltration check +5, undetected Surprise Attack [Direct 2]. The instant-death-grade strike is 1/session |
| Dharma King (Pure Land Monk) | All allies immune to being downed | When an ally in the same zone is downed, 1/session auto-revive (Wounds 1). Constant immunity abolished |
| God of War (scholar) | Squad order 0 Energy + everyone +3 Energy/round | Squad order Energy -2 (minimum 0); 1 ally +3 Energy is 1/round |
Stacking. Even after demotion, if a party holds two or more Renown Titles of the same line, the GM coordinates so that the 1/session effects do not overlap (only one in the same combat). Demotion only removed nullification; it does not block summation as well.
Multiple Renown Titles. If you want a second Renown Title past the 11th dan, open the slot with the "Renown Returned" Transcend technique from
03— but only on the demoted-form premise.
#Rule — Cross Growth Table Past the 11th Dan [Variant · Epic Mode]
This extends the odd/even alternating rhythm of the canon 10-dan cross growth table (odd dan = technique, even dan = attribute +1 / skill +2 points) above the 11th dan. However, odd dan from 11th+ are simplified to 1 base technique slot, and dan that grant extra slots like the canon 1st and 9th are at GM discretion.
| Dan | Base growth | Technique gain |
|---|---|---|
| 11th dan | — | 1 technique (choose among class advanced · Transcend technique · general) |
| 12th dan | attribute +1 / skill +2 points | — |
| 13th dan | — | 1 technique |
| 14th dan | attribute +1 / skill +2 points | — |
| 15th dan | — | 1 technique |
| … | (even = base, odd = technique, repeating) | … |
- The attribute +1 on even dan is, per canon, +1 to a single attribute, but the +3 cap applies only within the range opened by the Transcendence in
02(without Transcendence it is still capped at +3). - The skill +2 points on even dan is distributed per canon, but growth above Saint is received through the Transcend Mastery in
02. - The technique slot on odd dan, once all class advanced techniques are taken, is filled with a Transcend technique or a general technique.
#Rule — Five Limits to Unlock [Variant · Epic Mode]
Epic Mode lifts the following canon ceilings selectively. You need not switch them all on — only what the table wants.
| # | Canon limit | Epic Mode unlock |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attribute +3 cap | The "Transcend: attribute" technique raises the ceiling by +1 per attribute (→+5, and beyond) (02) |
| 2 | Count cap on Licensed-or-above (6 at the 10th dan) | Continue +1 each even dan (12th dan 7 · 14th dan 8 …), or add via the "Proficiency Cap Transcendence" technique |
| 3 | Master only within the class-designated 6 skills | The "Master Domain Transcendence" technique unlocks Master in 1 skill at a time outside the 6 skills |
| 4 | Saint is exclusive to 10th-dan Tatsujin | Past the 11th dan, the "Sanctum Transcendence" technique adds Saint-eligible skills (slot cost) |
| 5 | Repeat cap on the same technique (no duplicate acquisition in principle = 1 time; only the Tough/Swift/Lucky One repeat techniques up to 2 times) | (a) The newly added Transcend techniques are repeatable by design (02 · 03). (b) For the canon resource +1 general techniques (Tough = Wounds +1 · Swift = Energy max +1 · Lucky One = Fate Intervention +1), the canon 2-time cap is removed (+1 accumulates per acquisition) |
Unlocking comes with a cost. The unlocks of 1, 3, and 4 open only by acquiring a Transcend technique in a class or general technique slot (
03), and 5 (repeating resource +1 general techniques) also uses a general technique slot. Only the automatic growth on even dan (number 2) continues without a slot. In other words, "growing further" is not free — you buy it with the opportunity cost of a technique slot.
#Scent — One Sentence
"The first step in taming a god is to take back from the god the word 'unconditional.'"