DISTINCTIONS
Blessed Lineage (Void)
“Perhaps you’d like to match your words with your steel,” the woman growled, her hands resting upon the hilts of her swords. “You will learn a hard lesson: nobody insults Mirumoto Ohatsu with impunity.” The man she faced smiled in return. “I certainly did not intend to offend you in any way, Ohatsu-san. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Miya Matsuo. Perhaps you have heard of my cousin, the Imperial Herald?”
Types: Interpersonal, Spiritual
Effects: The following apply to a character with the Blessed Lineage distinction:
Characters with status of 50 or higher understand that they might suffer a loss of prestige if they harm you, and thus do not choose to kill you as their first option, even if you are a political obstacle they would otherwise eliminate without hesitation.
When performing a check for which your esteemed lineage is a benefit (such as a Command [Void] check to challenge someone’s perception of a situation or a Government [Void] check to know the likelihood of a political eventuality), you may reroll up to two dice.
Indomitable Will (Earth)
The travelers cowered as the ghost, shrieking hideously, drifted toward them from the ruins of the ancient temple where they’d chosen to make camp for the night. The moonlight lent the spirit an unearthly glow, and its howls echoed in their ears as it grew ever closer. “It is a gaki—a hungry ghost!” shouted Yogo Kikuyo, stepping between the travelers and the spirit as she rummaged through her bag. “Are you not afraid?” shouted one of her companions, as he clutched at her waist, trying to draw her back from the wailing apparition. “I am not,” Kikuyo said, as she drew a paper ofuda talisman, inscribed with blessings, from her satchel. “I am familiar with its sort.”
Types: Mental, Interpersonal
Effects: The following apply to a character with the Indomitable Will distinction:
You can always choose to stand your ground, even when faced with untenable odds, supernatural terrors, or sorcerous powers that bend the minds of lesser souls.
When performing a check for which you need to keep your cool when dealing with danger (such as a Command [Earth] check to give orders under pressure or a Meditation [Earth] check to resist the effects of fear), you may reroll up to two dice.
ADVERSITIES
Shadowlands Taint (Air)
The Obsidian Journal is a secret text, written hundreds of years ago by Kuni Shunsuke, a Crab Clan samurai who made forbidden journeys into the Shadowlands and wrote of what he saw there. By the end of his journal, he wrote: “Even now, I know that the fingers of shadow have reached too deeply within me, for although I am surrounded by family and clan, I feel no kinship. They seem distant to me, as if viewed through a glass. I wonder how much of myself is truly left.” That was the final entry of the Obsidian Journal. Kuni Shunsuke committed seppuku to silence the call of the Shadowlands.
Types: Curse, Interpersonal, Spiritual
Effects: The following apply to a character with the Shadowlands Taint (Air) adversity:
You are a Tainted being. You have trouble sympathizing with other humans, but you can understand the emotions of corrupted beings easily.
When you make a check to show compassion for other human beings (such as a Composition [Air] check to edit a work for emotional refinement or a Courtesy [Air] check to say something difficult without harming the recipient’s feelings), you must choose and reroll two dice containing or . After resolving the check, if you failed, you gain 1 Void point.
Lost Memories (Void)
Utsuro bowed as he accepted the bowl, then sat back and ate with gusto. The simple food she brought him seemed to make him so happy. “You eat like you’ve never had rice balls before,” she laughed. “I don’t remember,” Utsuro reminded her. “Perhaps I haven’t!” “I’ll bring you something else tomorrow,” she said, standing to go. “Yue,” said Utsuro. “My memories will come back some day.” “I’m sure they will,” she said. Utsuro bowed again, and she went back to her home, climbed upon her table and lifted down the basket from the beams of her roof. She stared down at the robe Utsuro had been wearing when she found him, with its chrysanthemum crest. “But not too soon, I hope.”
Types: Mental, Scar
Effects: The following apply to a character with the Lost Memories adversity:
There is a period of your life that you cannot remember at all. The less important this period is to your identity, the longer it should be (for example, a single day lost might be sufficient if the character committed a terrible act during that time and struggles to understand how or why, whereas a full decade of lost memories might be insufficient if they are not especially foundational to who the character is). The player and GM should work together to determine the amount and importance of memories lost.
Skills and abilities acquired during the lost time are largely retained, even if the character does not remember the act of developing them. When you make a check for which you must recall information you learned during the period of lost memories (such as a Culture [Void] check to intuit how to behave in a particular situation similar or related to one you encountered during that time or a Meditation [Void] check to understand your past decisions), you must choose and reroll two dice containing success or opportunity. After resolving the check, if you failed, you gain 1 Void point.
PASSIONS
Curiosity (Fire)
“A curious mind is a blessing. Yet, one should be careful, when following the object of one’s whims of the moment, that the object does not become like the shining lure used to catch fish in a river. The fish who chases the lure ends up over rice.” – Analects of Nabeshima
Types: Mental
Effects: The following apply to a character with the Curiosity passion:
The first time you attempt a new task and fail, you always think of another route you could take to try to overcome or learn more about the problem.
After performing a check to seek answers to an intriguing question (such as a Medicine [Fire] check to create a new chemical concoction or a Theology [Fire] check to try to determine the metaphysical underpinnings of a particular kami’s behavior), you remove 3 strife.
ANXIETIES
Delusions of Grandeur (Void)
“Do not be wary of those who take risks with titles and lands; rather be wary of those who have nothing to lose. And above all, be most wary of those who say they are destined for greatness, for they will build a ladder to Heaven on the corpses of those around them.” – Analects of Nabeshima
Types: Mental, Interpersonal
Effects: The following apply to a character with the Delusions of Grandeur anxiety:
You believe yourself destined for greatness, and nothing will dissuade you from your fixation upon this goal.
When you are presented with a chance to advance your glory, you must attempt to pursue it.
After performing a check that requires facing your humble place in an uncaring universe (such as a Labor [Void] check to eke out a living in the fields or a Meditation [Void] check to contemplate your place in the cosmos), you receive 3 strife. If this is the first time this has occurred this scene, gain 1 Void point