Step One
Choose a Family
Is your Centipede Clan character from the Inagaki family,
the Moshi family, or the Noriko family.
Choose a Profession
You are either a bushi or a shugenja. Write down the
Skills your School teaches you as well as your Rank 1 Technique (Bushi)
or Spells (Shugenja).
Step Two
Customize your Character
Your character's Traits and Rings all begin at a 2; His
Glory is 1. You may now spend 25 Character Points to customize your character.
You may spend points on Traits (pg 54), Skills (pg 68), or Advantages (pg
72). You may gain additional Character Points by purchasing Disadvantages
(pg 75).
Character Point Cost
Raise a Trait: 8 CP
Raise Void Ring: 12 CP
Raise a Skill: 1 CP
Raise Glory: 5 CP
Lowering and Raising Honor: It
costs 3 CPs to raise your character's Honor. Lowering your character's
Honor gains you 2 Character Points. Honor can only be raised or lowered
one Rank.
Determine Wounds
Multiply your Character's Earth by 2 and fill in each
Wound box with that number. These are your character's Wounds.
Outfit
Your outfit (beginning equipment) is listed on the following
page. The Equipment List is on pg 66. List your possessions and money on
the back of your character sheet. Choose your Primary Weapon and how many
dice you'll roll and keep when using it, your Armor and it's protection,
and your TN to be hit.
Step Three
Determining Insight
History
The Centipede is a recent addition to the roles of the
Minor Clan assemblies. They are made up of a small alliance of Shugenja
who gained favour from the Lord of the Wasp Clan. They took possession
of a small fief on the border of the Wasp and Fox clans. The two original
families of the Centipede soon realised that they would need a family to
protect them and so sought out a small family distantly related to the
Crab clan and made ties with them.
The Centipede is a clan of knowledge. The primary families are almost all of made up of shugenja who deal with lore and history keeping. Many Centipede historians take lessons from the historians of such clans as the Phoenix.
The Families
Inagaki
The Inagaki are the first family of the Centipedes, with
almost all members being practising shugenja and those that aren’t, historians
and scribes. The Inagaki is a respected family in the Three-Man Alliance,
their services often being used by all members of the Alliance.
Benefit: +1 Intelligence.
Moshi:
Moshi are a family of merchants come shugenja, preferring
to haggle rather than toss spells and delve into the nature of the elements.
Benefit: + 1 Awareness.
Noriko:
The Noriko was a family from the Crab clan. They delved
in martial arts, learning swordplay from the prominent Hida school and
unarmed combat from the Yamabushi of the Order of Shinsei.
Benefit: +1 Agility.
The Centipedes’
Views of the Other Minor Clans
Bat: The day darkened with
their destruction.
Badger: The are temperamental and prone to destroy
before looking.
Butterfly: We see their need
but fail to understand how they have stayed so small.
Black Crane: We watch as
you plan.
Chameleon: Strange and insightful.
Dragonfly: They guard the passes to the most mysterious
of all Clans.
Falcon: They, like our Norika, learned their skills
from the Crab.
Fox: Our honoured allies.
Hare: The rabbit can always outrun the wolf and
thus has the Hare has survived time.
Mantis: They grow large and
powerful, spawning rumours of their eventual ascension to the status of
Major clan.
Mongoose: Another protector of the Dragons’ passes.
Monkey: It is good to see
the rewards of honor at work.
Nightingale: Deadly mercenaries.
Raven: Perhaps they hold
the reins of the future.
Shark: Once they were honourable warriors of the
Crab. But now they are pawns of the Mantis.
Sparrow: Though they are
staunch povertists, they are intelligent and knowledgeable.
Spider: Deadly and quiet, they are truly children
of their creators, the Scorpions.
Tiger: Destruction was a
gift for them.
Tortoise: The seas are safer with these stalwart
sailors wandering the currents.
Wasp: Allies.
The Centipedes’ Views
of the Major Clans
Crab: We honour and respect them for their actions
in the protection of the Empire.
Crane: We value knowledge, but the Crane seem
to value the spoken word more.
Dragon: Mysterious and ferocious. They are truly
as their name describes.
Lion: To see such a valiant
clan dying brings such sorrow.
Phoenix: Their knowledge
of magic, history and lore surpasses all others.
Scorpion: Deadly and full of secrets that even
we wish to know.
Unicorn: They are shunned
because of their exodus into the burning wastes and beyond. We value the
knowledge that they have brought back.
Noriko Bushi School
Benefit: +1 Stamina
Beginning Honour: 1 + 5 boxes
Skills
Kenjustsu, Archery, Meditation, Shugenja Lore, + 3 High
or Bugei.
Techniques
Rank One: Way of the Centipede
The Centipede bushi leans how to move low to the ground
and quickly like a centipede. The bushi adds +5 to opponents TN to hit,
representing the stances defensive posture.
Rank Two: One Hundred Footsteps
Like the hundred legs of the Centipede, the bushi has
found the way to augment his attacks. The bushi receives 2 attacks/round.
Rank Three: The Weight of the World
Like the Centipede and other insects, the bushi is now
capable of carrying many times his weight. As such the bushi can now ignore
armour modifiers.
Rank Four: The Encircling Body
The bushi has learned to attack in a strange circling
motion. All attacks seem to come from all around. The TN for hitting the
opponent is lower by 5.
Rank Five: Length of a Hundred Men
The bushi learns to extend his attack outwards from his
blade. It is thought that the Shugenja and not the Noriko sensei teach
this technique. The bushi channels his ki through the blade and then beyond
into the target. The bushi may add his Void in raises to his hit roll.
Moshi Shugenja School
Benefit: +1 Perception
Moshi shugenja get a free raise for all Fire spells.
Beginning Honour: 1 + 5 boxes
Skills
Defence, Jiujutsu, Meditation, Commerce, Calligraphy,
Shintao, + 1 other skill.
Beginning Spells
Sense, Commune, Summon, plus any 3 Air spells, 2 Earth
spells, and 1 Water spell.
Your Outfit
Bushi
(All items considered to be of average quality) Katanna, Wakizashi,
Kimono, Light armour, Bow, 20 Arrows of any type, travelling pack, 3 koku.
Shugenja
(All items considered to be of average quality) Kimono,
Travelling Pack, Scroll Satchel, Wakizashi, Tanto, 5 koku.