So, I went back into Chapter 1 and cut the Yowamushi section out of the Skirmish rules, retooled it added sections on the Namae and Kami descriptors. The whole Ten Thousand Things bit now goes after the Vendetta section at the end of Chapter 1.
Enjoy!
Ten Thousand Things
Across the length and breadth of Hachigoku, and beyond, live countless beings; philosophers and poets often refer to the entirety of the world as being “Ten Thousand Things,” a “thousand” meaning an uncountable multitude. Humans, animals, monsters, spirits, gods, and stranger, more esoteric entities populate the mortal and spiritual realms. All these beings, once encountered and interacted with by your character also become characters. There's the first division of beings: your characters, the ones directly controlled and embodied by your decisions as a player, are Player Characters (PCs), and those not controlled by any of the players but by the gamemaster are therefore Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
Furthermore, all characters encountered in Hachigoku fall into three broad categories: Yowamushi, Namae, and Kami. Yowamushi characters are somewhat weaker, one-dimensional characters not meant to serve as much more than narrative flavor and momentary challenges; thus they use a streamlined version of the combat rules and in general have far less fewer mechanical elements to generate and keep track of. Namae (which means “name”) characters are operating on a different level. Their actions and existence are meant to serve as important conflicts and aid for the development of the PC; thus Namae refers to characters who can be either PCs or NPCs, both using essentially the same rules. When in doubt as to whether a character encountered should or could be Yowamushi or Namae, keep one crucial mechanical difference in mind: Yowamushi have no Wound Ranks, and Namae do. Kami characters are those whose existence does not necessitate mechanics, choosing to bring conflict against one and surviving the ordeal is not going to be a matter of dice rolls or any strictly mechanical effect. This category includes the Fortunes, dragons, the Oracles, the kami and kansen of the mortal world, and any spirit beings from outside the mortal realm encountered in their native realm.
It's important to note how these divisions apply to NPCs and PCs respectively; PCs are considered Namae characters as well as PCs, although an NPC may belong to any of the other three divisions.
Yowamushi
Not every NPC is the focus of a story or adventure. They don’t need names, motivations, or depth of character. They just need orders, and to give the PC’s something to fight. These random opponents (usually warriors or monsters, but not always) are called Yowamushi.
There is one important calculation to always keep in mind about Yowamushi: all it takes is one successful hit and the Yowamushi is out of commission. Whether this means death or simply being knocked out depends on how and what they were hit with; see the Skill rules in Chapter 2 for more information. If they can survive more than one hit without some special ability (such as an Okuden), then the Yowamushi ought to be considered a Namae character with Wound Ranks. Thus, rolling damage against a Yowamushi should always be irrelevant. One hit, the infliction of even a single Wound, incapacitates them.
Threat Ranks: Each Yowamushi has a Threat Rank (TR) from 1 to 5. All Rings and Traits are considered equal to the Threat Rank for the purposes of mechanics (although a lone Yowamushi, once promoted to Namse status, may actually have higher or lower Rings and Traits). Also, when the Yowamushi make a combat roll, they act as a group, making one roll for all of them. They roll dice equal to their number, and keep dice equal to their TR. A Yowamushi could be made more powerful by simply increasing the TR by 1 over their normal specimens. Such Yowamushi would be “experienced.”
Skills: Some Yowamushi have Skills, especially samurai Yowamushi. These Skills work differently than those of normal characters. Instead of rolling Skill/Trait, the Yowamushi add dice to their roll when using the Skill equal to their TR, no matter how many Yowamushi are acting in concert.
Generally, while they may have Skills they rarely, if ever, have Emphases. Yowamushi should only be given an Emphasis if it is required to facilitate or fulfill the requirements of a Discipline.
Skirmish: When rolling for Initiative in a Skirmish, only a single roll is made for each type of Yowamushi present. Since their Void Ring is equal to their TR, they roll their TR for Initiative. Yowamushi cannot use Interrupt Actions except for Active Defenses, although they can collectively Hold their Actions.
Yowamushi are often handled in groups of six, since it's hard for more than six people to attack a single person at once. Thus, since almost all attack rolls are made via Skill rolls, when attacking in concert they add their Skill Ranks, which is equal to their TR, together with their quantity to determine rolled dice, and keep only dice equal to their TR. When the Yowamushi hits an opponent, they roll damage as per the usual weapon being wielded. If multiple weapons of sufficiently different DR’s are used, use the lowest DR; this includes using the lowest rolled and kept dice sperately. So, a mixed Yowamushi group (who otherwise share the same traits and TR) but mixed between katana (DR 2k2) and ono (DR 0k4) would have a base DR 0k2. Instead of Strength, Yowamushi add the number of Yowamushi to the dice rolled for damage. They may be Yowamushi, but they’re not to be laughed at.
Yowamushi also have a TN to be Hit. Their TN to be Hit is equal to their TR x 5, so a Yowamushi (TR 3) has a TN to be Hit of 15. As mentioned earlier, each hit automatically incapacitates or kills a Yowamushi, depending on the Skill or weapon being used; no damage need be rolled. A successful attack defeats 1 Yowamushi, although Raises can be made to defeat more.
Finally, Yowamushi can also aid you. When acting in concert, the Yowamushi gives you a bonus to any attack roll totals equal to their TR. If the Yowamushi has the Skill in use, you can add their TR x 2 to your roll total instead. You gain the bonus for each Yowamushi aiding him, but cannot benefit from more Yowamushi than your Void Ring.
Factions: It's reasonable to assume Yowamushi belonging to factions, such as uji or otokodate, might also receive the faction bonus of +2 to a Skill and a free Emphasis in that Skill. Generally, though, I wouldn't bother. It increases bookkeeping at the expense of gameflow and makes them perhaps too specialized, when the whole point of the concept is just to grab characters out of thin air with minimal preparation and start throwing dice.
Qualities: Usually, Yowamushi do not have Qualities, but neither are they barred from having them. Usually it's only worth it to give Yowamushi Qualities a Discipline demands or grants. This itself is rare, since Advanced Disciplines are usually the only ones requiring or granting Qualities, and the linking of TR to Skill Ranks would prohibit most Yowamushi from having Ranks in Advanced Disciplines requiring any Skill over 5.
An exception would be animals, who routinely should be considered to have the Weakness Disadvantage for both Awareness and Intelligence, and possibly Perception and Willpower depending on the beast. Note they still have Void; thinking an animal would lack a harmony of elements would be contrary to the animistic philosophy of Hachigoku metaphysics.
Names: Although Namae status denotes much more “flesh and soul” for a character, calling the Yowamushi “nameless” does not actually imply names are forbidden to them. When one encounters a servant, a peasant, a roving bandit, a court official, or a border guard it is assumed such people are, narratively speaking, of minor importance as individuals. Yet they still do have names and histories and can be referred to as such, without losing the mechanics of being Yowamushi. So Kachiko the geisha, whom you slept with one night before moving on, did not magically all the attributes and advantages of being a Namae character all of a sudden.
Promotion: Then again, what kind of heartless wretch are you? It is possible for a Yowamushi to be promoted to Namae status. The Yowamushi samurai who challenged you to a duel, who killed your friend, who you fell in love with, who has sworn vengeance on you for your desecration of their village, desecration of their honor... All can develop into major players in the course of your life, above and beyond the role Yowamushi typically serve.
Promotion to Namae status is simple. First, the Yowamushi already needs a name. The name doesn't even have to be full or correct; you may only know them by a family name, given name, nickname (common for ronin or the lower castes), or even a false name (common for ninja and bandits). Second, target the Yowamushi and spend a Void Point. That's it. The Yowamushi is now a Namae character. Remember, you're not restricted to characters your character interacts with, nor is promotion only limited to being enacted by a PC; the GM can spend Void Points for promotion as well. In fact, you can even help the GM out by by using a Void Point from the Void Pool to enact a promotion, but doing so also costs you Honor Points and Glory Points equal to the Yowamushi's TR. If you don't have enough, you can't swipe them.
Once promoted, the new Namae character has all the same Skills as before, and no more, at at Ranks equal to their former TR (adjusted for any faction bonus, if given previously. The same is true of their Rings and associated Traits. Any other attributes are gained if already given, such as Qualities, Discipline Ranks (even if the resulting Insight Rank is not high enough to accommodate the Discipline Ranks), Honor, Glory, Infamy, etc. Most importantly, the character now acts according to all normals rules, and has Wound Ranks.
You also get Five True Things to say about the promoted character. These can be facts equivalent to Bonus Effects concerning things previously unknown (social status, faction, hair color, height, upbringing, family, lovers, likes and dislikes, rumors, etc.), new Qualities or equipment, additional Disciplines or Discipline Ranks (only if the character's Insight Rank allows), new Skills at a Rank equal to character's previous TR, or a new Emphasis in a Skill already possessed (although you can give one after giving them the Skill as a True Thing). Additionally, you can raise or lower a Ring or Skill Rank by 1 per True Thing “spent” (also raising and lowering any associated Trait).
So, that samurai your ally just dueled and left standing? The bandit whose life you spared and owes you a debt? The sister of your friend's enemy with the sparkling eyes? The geisha your daimyo abandoned?
Give them purpose. Give them strength. Give them a Void Point.
Namae
These are the people who both have meaning in your Story and in turn give your Story meaning. The people that matter: your friends and enemies, your allies and rivals, your daimyo, and maybe even your family, depending on the active role they take in your life. And of course, those who were inconsequential once but have grown with or against you.
And, of course, you. Or at least your PC.
When generating Namae characters, the GM can make it as detailed or vague a process as the like. They can go step by step as if creating a PC, or just simply assign Ranks to different attributes as they see fit. When increasing the Insight Rank of such characters, they could carefully track out the Season Actions and events of the character's life from gempukku onward, or just arbitrarily assign additional Ranks and attributes. This is best left to the GM's prerogative. However, any attribute not defined before being encountered (even if only secretly for the GM's eyes only) is subject to a PC's use of Bonus Effects from Raises.
A good rule of thumb is that any character who could be created as a PC, should be. This excludes monsters and particularly gifted animals and members of the lower caste, who should be created as needed with whatever attributes the GM and reason deems proper. If advanced past Insight Rank 1, the GM should just assign whatever attributes and Ranks are appropriate, or even leave them to be filled in by circumstance and player ingenuity.
Kami
The lack of mechanics for those who are considered Kami (as distinct from other uses of the term, such as for elemental spirits and the children of Sun and Moon) is meant to foster a sense of awe, respect, and fear when encountering such beings. It's not a matter of physics or ingenuity whether or not you wrestle a Fortune to the ground; doing such is a cosmic occurrence. Giving the Fortune stats, no matter how ridiculously powerful, still serves for most players as encouragement to take on the challenge.
Not that it wouldn't be entertaining, but being able to constantly and consistently wrestle Fortunes, or dragons, Oracles, etc. would not only detract from their awe, and render them merely Namae characters, however powerful and magical they may be.
Going that route is up to you, just be prepared to lose for what you gain.
