Isawa Aki

Clan
Phoenix
Role
Shugenja
Family
Isawa
Gender
Female
School
Isawa Elementalist
Rank
3
Ninjō
Wield power of new invocations to become Master of Fire
Giri
Travel outside Phoenix lands to research spirits
Status
45
Glory
95
Honor
62
EARTH
2
2
AIR
WATER
3
2
4
FIRE
VOID
Endurance
12
FATIGUE
Composure
10
STRIFE
Focus
6
Vigilance
3
Void Points
MAXIMUM2
CURRENT
Artisan Skills
Approaches
Aesthetics
Composition
1
Design
Smithing
Refine Restore Invent Adapt Attune
Martial Skills
Approaches
Fitness
Martial Arts [Melee]
Martial Arts [Ranged]
Martial Arts [Unarmed]
Meditation
1
Tactics
Feint Withstand Overwhelm Shift Sacrifice
Scholar Skills
Approaches
Culture
1
Government
1
Medicine
1
Sentiment
Theology
4
Analyze Recall Theorize Survey Sense
Social Skills
Approaches
Command
Courtesy
2
Games
Performance
Trick Reason Incite Charm Enlighten
Trade Skills
Approaches
Commerce
Labor
Seafaring
Skulduggery
Survival
Con Produce Innovate Exchange Subsist
Personality, Habits and Quirks
  • Unmasking: Berates herself under her breath
Intense interest for the spirits. Wears a golden flower-like headpiece (see picture) of which the middle upper-petal is obviously soot-covered and damaged in a fire. Used to belong to Isawa Juriko. Wears it to remind herself that life can take a fiery twist.
Equipment
Koku: 10
Sanctified robes, Imperial robes of the summer sun
Wakizashi, knife, scroll satchel, kiseru
Traveling pack, Omamori of Bishamon, notebook
(1/session, 1 void: when +glory, increase by 3)
A bottle of fine sake
Relationships
  • Isawa Juriko, Beloved, deceased Sensei
  • -, Loving parents
  • Familiar with Shugenja from Crane and Dragon schools
  • Doji Ren, Crane Clan Courtier (Mark)
  • Togashi Yoshi, Dragon Clan Tatooed Monk (Ferry)
  • Shinjo Takuya, Unicorn Clan Shugenja (Marcel)
  • Bayushi Kyo, Scorption Clan Courtier (Jeroen)
  • Akodo Masako, Lion Clan Bushi (Xavier)
Titles
Former Topaz Champion, Emerald Magistrate
Armor
ARMOR PROTECTION QUALITIES
Sanctified Robes Physical 1 Supernatural 3 Ceremonial
Imperial Robes of
the Summer Sun
Physical 1 Supernatural 3 Ceremonial, Sacred, Resplendent
 
Sixth Sense (Void, Spiritual)
Distinction
Effects: You have an instinctive sense of supernatural beings, and you can feel the presence of spirits and similar entities even when they have not chosen to reveal themselves. This feeling is ominous in the presence of beings with evil intentions and neutral when the beings are simply going about their business as usual.
- When performing a check for which you need to follow your hunches, you may reroll up to two dice. (such as a Meditation [Void] check to generate initiative during a duel or a Theology [Void] check to detect a snarl in the invisible threads of the universe)
Topaz Shugenja (Fire, Fame, Interpers)
Distinction
Effects: Other people have heard of your mastery of the kami, and they believe it by default unless given evidence to the contrary. When performing a check for which you need to leverage your reputation for master of the kami, you may reroll up to two dice.
(such as a Theology(Fire) check to get enemy troops to withdraw in the face of a show of force or a Courtesy(Fire) check to convince your lord to give you a position)
Curiosity (Fire, Mental)
Passion
Effects: 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, you remove 3 strife. (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)
Fortune-telling (Void, Mental, Spiritual)
Passion
Effects: You can identify any common portents (such as constellations and other stellar phenomena, the cracks in oracle bones, the appearance of certain animals, and various other signs of things to come), along with their implications for the future.
- After performing a check to discern the future, you remove 3 strife. (such as a Survival [Void] check to look for small omens in your earthly environs or a Theology [Void] check to perform a divination by reading the stars)
Haunted (Void, Interpersonal, Spiritual)
Adversity
Effects: The spirit has their own agenda (determined by the GM), which interferes at inopportune times.
- When you make a check to defy the will of the spirit haunting you , you must choose and reroll two dice containing or . After resolving the check, if you failed, you gain 1 Void point. (such as a Meditation [Void] check to find solace in meditation or a Skuldug- gery [Void] check to perform disreputable acts to survive)
Overprotective (Interpersonal)
Anxiety
Effects: You will not allow people under your protection to die if you could have acted to prevent it. When someone under your protection is in danger of dying you must act to save him.
- When you make a check to save someone from accutely dying, you receive 3 strife. If this is the first time in a scene, receive a void point.
Wakizashi
DMG
3
DLS
5*
RANGE
0-1
QUALITIES
Ceremonial, Razor-Edged
* when using 2-handed Deadliness is 7
 
One with the Elements
School
Once per scene when making the check to activate an invocation technique, before rolling dice, you may reduce the TN of the check by 3 (school rank).
Extinguish (Theology/Fire)
Invoc
A shugenja who communes with the spirits of fire must learn to still them, lest the flames they conjure consume the shugenja. The trick is to stoke the kami's wrath briefly but intensely, so that it is exhausted that much more quickly. With a few words and a rising gesture, the shugenja inhales, drawing the flames to a searing glow, then exhales, letting them settle to embers.
Support TN3 target 0-3 mundane fires at 0–3
Effects: Success: summon fire kami’s energy into yourself. Extinguish each target flame; remove 1 fatigue per source of fire extinguished.
Fire : Success: end all persistent effects from other fire or flame-based supernatural effects in area.
Touch of the Hot Springs (Theology/Water)
Invoc
By communing with the water kami that dwell within the body, a shugenja can right imbalances and correct the flow of ki, speeding the recovery of stamina dramatically.
Support TN2 target self or char at 0–2
Effects: Success: mend target’s exhausted muscles. Remove fatigue equal to your Water Ring plus your bonus successes.Target cannot be affected by the invocation again until the end of the scene.
Water : Choose Bleeding/Dazed/Disoriented/Lightly Wounded. Remove that condition from targets.
Water : Also remove strife equal to bonus successes.
Tempest of Air (Theology/Air)
Invoc
The shugenja beseeches the air spirits to lash out all around them, calling buffeting winds to push foes backward or even hurl them to the ground.
Attack TN3 target each char at 2–3
Effects: Success: blasts of wind smite each target. Each target suffers supernatural damage equal to your Air Ring and must resist with a TN 4 Fitness check (Earth 5, Fire 2) or suffer Disoriented.
Air +: Each target who fails their Fitness check is also pushed 1 range away from you per spent this way.
Fires from Within (Theology/Fire)
Invoc
The incantation to call fire is guttural and raw. Even as the words echo, the shugenja’s hands snap open, and motes of flame trail from their fingertips, searing their way toward the objects of the shugenja’s ire. If the shugenja has the strength of will to maintain their focus, they can direct the motes with amazing precision and burn tiny, searing holes in their targets. However, if the shugenja lets their heart swell with wrath or fury, the motes bloom into tiny infernos that seek to consume anything they hit and leave only ash.
Attack TN3 target 4 (Fire ring) chars range 1-3
Success: Smite each target with stream of fire. Target 4 (Fire ring) dmg + bonus successes.
Fire +: maxRange++ per
The Cleansing Fire (Theology/Fire)
Invoc
With a roared incantation, the shugenja spreads their hands wide and a circle of fire spills forth, rippling across the ground and searing everything in its path. These flames are indiscriminate, hungrily lapping at friend, foe, and inanimate object alike.
Attack TN 1 targeting each other character range 0-2
Success: smite targets with roaring burst of fire. Targets suffer the Dazed condition. Targets resist with TN 3 Fitness (Air 4, Water 1) or suffer 4 (Fire ring) supernat dmg + their shortfall & gain Burning condition.

Glory/Honor gained/lost
+9 Glory - during Topaz Tournament
-1 Honor - during Topaz Tournament
+4 Glory - encounter with Tengu
+4 Glory - goblin combat
+6 Glory - Topaz champion
+1 Glory - Meeting Doji Hotaru
+10 Status - Emerald Magistrate
+3+1 Glory - Otomo arc
+1 Honor - Courage, fight floating destiny
XP gained
8 xp - session 1-7
0.5 xp - logging
2 xp - session 8
2 xp - session 9
4 xp - session 11
1 xp - session 12
2 xp - session 13
2 xp - session 14
2 xp - session 15
0.5 xp - log 16
2 xp - session 16
5 xp - session 18
2 xp - story arc Doji Satsume
1 xp - session 20
2 xp - session 21
2 xp - session 22
2 xp - session 23
2 xp - session 24
3.5 xp - session 25 + graph
2 xp - session 26
2 xp - session 28
0 xp - session 29
5 xp - session 30
1 xp - session 31
1 xp - s35
2 xp - s36
2 xp - s37
4 xp - s38
1 xp - s39
1 xp - s40
2 xp - s41
1 xp - s42
2 xp - s43
2 xp - s44
2 xp - s45
2 xp - s46
1 xp - s47
XP used
6 xp - Air Ring 1->2 Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: The fires from Within Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: The cleansing fire Curr. 3 xp
4 xp - Government & medicine 0 -> 1 Curr. 4 xp
8 xp - Theology 3 -> 4 Curr. 8 xp
3 xp - Technique: Rumors of the Water Kami Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: All rivers meet again Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: Sympathetic energies Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: Stride the waves Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: Fury of Osano-wo Curr. 3 xp
3 xp - Technique: Cleansing rite Curr. 2 xp
6 xp - Earth Ring 1->2 Curr. 3 xp
4 xp - Courtesy 1->2 Curr. 4 xp
3 xp - Technique: Wind scatters shadow Curr. 3 xp
12 xp - Fire 3->4 Curr. 6 xp
3 xp - Technique: Ravenous swarm Curr. 2 xp
XP totals
Total XP Gained: 78.5 xp
Total XP Used: 70 xp
Total XP Curriculum: 56 xp
XP left: 8.5 xp
Curriculum XP needed for each rank
Advances that do not appear on the curriculum table at that rank contribute only half their XP cost.
  • Rank 2: 20 xp
  • Rank 3: 24 xp
  • Rank 4: 32 xp
  • Rank 5: 44 xp
  • Rank 6: 60 xp
Technique Types Available
Invocations, Rituals and Shūji
Sympathetic Energies (Theo/Water)
Invoc
Water kami flow through all living beings, and a shugenja can use their winding channels to transfer boons and curses alike between individuals.
Support TN2 target 3 at 0-1
Success Augment 1 persistent invocation affecting 1 target. Each other target counts as being affected as well.
choose condition instead of invocation
Stride the Waves (Theo/Water)
Invoc
Guided by the spirits of water, the character can slide effortlessly across the surface of a stormy sea, ride a current of water out of the ocean, or even plunge beneath its depths, breathing the brine as though it were air.
Support TN2 target 1 char at 0-2.
Success Even if target cannot swim, target can control where they move in water. Target ignores negative effects of terrain in water and does not suffocate. Until end of the scene.
Reap the Sparking Seeds (Theo/Fire)
Invoc
With a sudden, harsh incantation and downward gesture, a shugenja can conjure a bolt of lightning to strike foes with a powerful blast.
Attack TN5 target one outdoors char at 0-4. If already stormy, TN -1.
Success call lightning to smite target for 4 + 3*bonus sucesses supernatural damage. If target incapacitated by this damage, crit 8.
: Target and other chars at 0-2 of target make TN3 Meditation (Air 4, Water 1) or suffer Dazed and 12 strife.
+: crit+2
Wind scatters Shadow (Theo/Air)
Invoc
When a shugenja performs this invocation, the light shifts to that of a moonlit night, unweaving the shadows to lay bare the things they conceal. Hidden objects glow faintly with silver light, while mystical illusions are revealed as translucent, gossamer forms.
SchemeTN2 target area 0-2
SuccessScry for each mundanely hidden character and object, revealing it with outline only you perceive.
+: Success: reveal one magically concealed object.
+: A character at range 0-1 can also see objects.
Ravenous Swarms (Theo/Fire)
Invoc
The shugenja ignites a number of candles and hurls them into the air, and the flames leap forth, quickly devouring the tallow before subsiding into smaller fiery motes. These settle around the shugenja' shoulders or near their feet, sputtering cheerily and spitting out sparks that seek to spread and multiply. In addition to providing a (dangerous) source of light, these flames can also leap onto anyone the shugenja attacks.
Support TN3 target position containing flammable object 0-1. The object is consumed by flames
SuccessSummon # of fiery motes equal to Fire Ring + silhouette target. Motes follow you, periodically setting fire to nearby objects. Spend # motes ≤ rank: add # bonus successes to attack action. Motes persist until end of scene. Perform a Fire invocation: summon 1 mote. Until end of scene.
Motes only set nearby objects on fire at will.
Spend # motes ≤ Fire Ring: reduce damage by #.
Cleansing rite (Theo/Void)
Ritual
The ritualist sanctifies a person or group, anointing them with sacred substances that drive out unholy presences and malign sorcery.
Downtime TN3 target 0-5 chars.
Success Remove afflicted from target.
Aware a target is Otherworldly
+ additional target
+ Target range band of area instead. Remove Defiled. If deeply unhallowed, Defiled returns after one day + bonus successes.
Ally Kakita Ryoku (Water, Interpers)
Distin
You have proven yourself to a someone, who is willing to help you (within reason). They are open to sharing what they know about most topics, whether via a face-to-face meeting or written correspondence. They are also willing to arrange introductions for you with people they know.
When performing a check that benefits from your close relationship with the character, you may reroll up to two dice.
+ Wildcard advantage when interacting with Doji Chijoe
Rumors of the Water Kami (Theo/Water)
Invoc
Water kami are notoriously covetous, and things lost to the depths rarely resurface. Still, this avarice can offer advantages. A shugenja learned in this art can call forth water spirits to recognize an item by submerging it in sacred water. The water spirits often provide cryptic answers, but they usually can grant the shugenja a good idea of an item’s composition, whether it possesses any mystical properties, and the general disposition of these traits.
Scheme TN 2 target one item at range 0-1
Success scry to uncover all properties of item, incl. name, maker, mundane qualities, magical properties, curses, sealed techniques (Nemuranai page 307).
: Know item's origin in broad strokes: forge location, clan of past owner or similar info
: Target character instead to identify one invocation, kiho, maho or supernatural ability or item possessed by target, incl. its name and general qualities
All rivers meet again (Theology/Water)
Invoc
A shugenja deeply attuned to the kami of water can see other places in watery reflections. Incredibly powerful practitioners can even use this reflection to transport themself and others to the desired place through the water—even if they arrive slightly damp.
Move and scheme TN 2 target one body of water at range 0-1
Success Target displays image of 2nd target body of water and its surroundings as if you were just below the surface. 2nd target at range 0–6 of the 1st target, and you must know of 2nd target.
: You can also hear very muffled noises.
: To others the pool shows no images
: 2nd target can be any distance
: Targets can be clouds, fog banks, snow or sheets of ice.
: you + 3 characters may pass through the 1st target to the other location. You arrive soaked.
Commune with the Spirits
Rituals
The ritualist centers their mind on one of the Elements, appealing to the spirits in their environment and seeking their counsel or boon. Priests and laypeople are able to use this ritual to receive less specific guidance from the spirits, such as a leaf that falls to the ground pointing in the direction of the person or thing they are seeking.
Activation: Downtime activity or Support action, TN 1 Theology (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, or Void) to appeal to nearby spirits of that Element (appeal to the departed, such as ancestor spirits, and other non-elemental supernatural presenc- es, if using Void) for aid.
Success:Choose: Sense the Kami: Detect all spirits and uses of their magic by shugenja within a number of range bands equal to the ring you used plus your bonus successes. Spiritual Knowledge: Learn one fact the spirits know about the area. Elemental Gift: The kami deliver a small amount of the Element in question to you.
: Reduce TN of next check to interact with kami or supernatural presences of this Element by 1.
+: Success: receive one additional boon per spent this way. Each boon can only be received one time per activation.
Divination
Rituals
The ritualist peers into a character’s future, ascertaining their fate from the patterns of the stars, the char marks upon animal bones, the placement of cast shells, or other omens they can read.
Activation: Downtime activity TN 2 Theology (Void) targeting one character to see glimpses of their future.
Success: choose one of the following omens that you see in the target’s near future:
Omen of the Azure Dragon: The next time the target performs a check using a skill from the Artisan skill group this game session, the target adds a kept set to an result. Omen of the Black Tortoise: Scholar Omen of the White Tiger: Martial Omen of the Vermilion Bird: Social Omen of the Weaver and the Cowherd: Labor
Failure: GM chooses omen. The target cannot receive another divination until the next game session.
: If you fail, an additional omen appears to you after the first. Choose one of the above omens in addition to the one the GM chose.
 

The Game of Twenty Questions

  1. What clan does your character belong to?
    Phoenix Clan
  2. What family does your character belong to?
    The Isawa Family
  3. What is your character’s school, and what roles does that school fall into?
    Isawa Elementalist School
  4. How does your character stand out within their school?
    Creativity, passion, or drive (+1 Fire Ring): Your character is recognized by their teachers and peers for their inventive ideas, their sin- cere love for the craft of their school, or their intense and irrepressible desire to succeed in their field. Their energy and enthusiasm inspire fellow students and galvanize rivals to put forth their best as well.
  5. Who is your lord and what is your character's duty to them?
    Isawa Masashi, a Shugenja lord with quite some sway with the Phoenix Council of Five, eyeballing a seat for himself. After Aki's sensei Isawa Juriko perished in a fire, Isawa Masashi set Aki to perform scholarly research into the spirits outside Phoenix clan lands. Isawa Masashi tries to veer Aki from the path towards Master of Fire.
  6. What does your character long for, and how might this impede their duty?
    Aki longs to honor her former sensei's spirit and find new invocations and wield its elemental powers and become the next Master of Fire.
  7. What is your character’s relationship with their clan?
    Aki strongly believes in the clan's tenets but struggles with showing the right restraint in the dealing with the Kami (+5 glory)
    +5 Glory
  8. What does your character think of Bushidō?
    Aki follows the Phoenix line, valueing Righteousness the highest and Sincerity lesser. (+10 honor)
    +10 Honor
  9. What is your character’s greatest accomplishment so far?
    Aki completed the last year of her Isawa Elementalist with flying colors without having a sensei. In truth, she felt guided by the spirit of her beloved deceased sensei, Isawa Juriko
    (Sixth Sense distinction)
  10. What holds your character back the most in life?
    Aki still clings to the memory and the spirit of her beloved sensei, Isawa Juriko. Her spirit still guides her. Aki is happy with that but it does interfere with following her Giri and Ninjo from time to time.
    Haunted
  11. What activity most makes your character feel at peace?
    Aki shared a passion with her beloved sensei, Isawa Juriko, to find out new things about the spirits and harnessing their powers in invocations. (Passion: Curiosity (Fire))
  12. What concern, fear, or foible troubles your character the most?
    Aki feels intense guilt for the death of Isawa Juriko and must not fail anyone like this again. (Anxiety: Overprotective)
  13. Who has your character learned the most from during their life?
    Isawa Juriko was special to Aki in many ways and taught her so much more than just what she know about the spirits. (Fortune-telling passion, alternative Fukurokujin's Blessing)
  14. What do people notice first upon encountering your character?
    Her intensity and interest for the spirits. While otherwise perfectly dressed, she wears a golden flower-like headpiece (see picture) of which the middle upper-petal is obviously soot-covered and damaged in a fire. A jewel which used to belong to Isawa Juriko. She wears it to remind herself and others that life can take a fiery twist.
  15. How does your character react to stressful situations?
    When Aki found the smouldering ruins of her sensei's house just after she had left her because she was too tired to help in her study of a new fire invocation, she wept all the tears she felt she had in her. Now, because of the guilt she feels, she inwardly berates herself and tries to think of all the ways she could have done better. She must not fail someone like this again.
  16. What are your character’s preexisting relationships with other clans, families, organizations, and traditions?
    Aki joined Isawa Juriko in knowledge exchange expeditions to several other Shugenja schools, like Asahina Artificer School (Crane), Agasha Mythic School (Dragon). Acquired an Omamori (Boon of Bishamon)
  17. How would your character’s parents describe them?
    Aki's parents are proud of her talent and what she has achieved so far. They do worry about how long Aki has been taken to handle with her sensei's death. (+1 culture)
  18. Who was your character named to honor?
    Named after Isawa Akio, 5th century Master of Fire who saved the emperor from a slow corruption by Otherworldly spirits. Legendary deed, rolled armor or weapon: Imperial robes of the summer sun: Sanctified robes with qualities Sacred and Resplendent. (+3 honor)
  19. What is your character’s personal name?
    Yaeko
  20. How should your character die?
    As the master of fire, casting a grand invocation in order to save Rokugan.