The Jirozame Family: +1 Agility

When the mysterious man only known as Jirozame recruited followers for his Clan, there didn’t seem to be much those samurai had in common. But soon it became apparent that the Shark samurai were all brilliant killers, if totally devoid of any empathy. Thus the Jirozame quickly gathered a dangerous reputation, which often prevented retribution for their debauched habits.

The Jirozame Bushi School

While his origins remained a mystery for all, Jirozame seemed to have received extensive training in both kenjutsu and iaijutsu, and passed those talents on to his followers. The original Jirozame samurai were often talented warriors themselves, and honed their skills by “raiding” villages outside their own territory, somewhat like legitimized bandits. Those samurai brave enough to face them found the Shark to be obsessed with the demise of their opponents, with no concerns for their own
safety. While skilled with the katana and in duels, the Jirozame particularly enjoyed using the no-dachi, for sheer power and intimidation potential.

The Jirozame bushi School

• Benefit: +1 Reflexes

• Skills: Courtier, Defense, Etiquette, Iaijutsu, Intimidation, Kenjutsu (no-dachi), any one High Skill

• Honor: 2.5

• Outfit: Heavy Armor, Extravagant Clothing, Travelling Pack, Daisho, No-dachi, any one weapon,5 koku

Techniques

Rank 1: The Shark’s Teeth

While many schools cover topics such as first blood duelling and how to disable an opponent without wounding him, the Jirozame Family consider these a waste of time, seeing the kill as the ultimate goal of any warrior. You add twice your School Rank to all damage rolls made with a sword.

Rank 2: Eyes of the Predator

In the wild many animals are paralyzed when faced with a clearly superior predator, and the Shark bring this attitude to the fight, purging all emotion from their mind to establish superiority. Before initiative is rolled (or before the Assessment roll in a iaijutsu duel) you can make an Intimidation/Awareness roll, contested by your opponent’s Honor/Willpower. If successful, you can add +5 to your Initiative roll, or to your Focus roll in a iaijutsu duel.

Rank 3: Blood Follows

The Jirozame bushi knows that each blows only calls for another, and another, and so on until he or his opponent is no more. You may make attacks as a Simple Actions while using a sword.

Rank 4: The Shark’s Bite

Once a shark holds its prey in its jaws, the fight is almost over, for it will not relent after having tasted blood. If you have wounded an opponent in the current fight already, you gain +3k0 to all further attack rolls against him. This technique only applies to one opponent at a time, which you must pick at the beginning of your turn.

Rank 5: Death Comes

The Jirozame’s disdain for life extends both to themselves and their enemies. Those who fully embrace their philosophy are capable of launching near suicidal assaults, almost always resulting in death – of one fighter or the other. You can activate this technique before initiative is rolled for a fight, and before using your rank 2 technique. You must spend a Void point and adopt the Full Attack Stance to do so.

Once activated, the technique grants you +10 on your initiative roll, the regular +2k1 bonus to Attack Rolls from the Full Attack Stance, and a +2k1 bonus on all damage rolls for the first round. However, your armor TN is reduced to 5 for the entire first round of the fight. This technique cannot be used in a iaijutsu duel.