Page 20 - GM EBOOK
P. 20
Incarceration and exile Samurai were often sentenced to commit seppu-
C Depending on the severity of the crime, magistrates ku in lieu of these forms of punishment. Seppuku is a
h term of suicide for the samurai.
a could sentence convicts to incarceration in various
p forms:
t How to Manage Punishments
e
r • Exile Administering punishment is the order of one of
the members of the Shogunate is a process of GMing.
• Imprisonment
The Japanese elite were quick to hand down punish-
• Banishment ments to citizens. Therefore, it is the GM’s responsi-
• Kofu kinban bility to hand down punishments to criminals who
break the laws set by the ruling party of any region,
Exile. Criminals in Edo were often confined province, town, city or prefecture and in order to
onn Hachijojima or Miyakejima. Criminals punished maintain “justice” in an area. If a crime occurs in
in this manner also received tattoos.
the eyes of the public, a member of society has the
Imprisonment. The government maintained a jail at duty to report that crime to the Shogunate.
Kodenma-cho, Tokyo.
A character who commits a crime will receive a
Banishment from the location of the crime was a pen- Criminal Rating. A Criminal Rating assigns a level
alty for both commoners and samurai. Tokoro-barai, of punishment relevant to crimes committed. To use
banishment to a certain distance, was used for non- the Criminal Rating in Ninja vs. Samurai RPG, the
samurai. GM needs to understand some of the terminology
around this governing tool.
Kofu kinban, is a punishment for samurai which as-
signed the assailant to the post of Kofu in the moun- The Level of the crime indicates how severe a com-
tains in the west. mitted crime is viewed by governing officials and the
Death penalty citizens of an area.
Serious crimes such as murder and arson were pun- Jurisdiction indicates how far throughout Japan the
ishable through death. The death penalty often car- punishment will be enforced. The higher the level of
ried collateral punishments. One was parading the crime the more authoritarian bodies will be involved
criminal around town prior to execution. A similar with the pursuit of the criminal.
one was public display of the criminal prior to execu- Crime is the actual crime that the character will be
tion. A third was public display of the severed head. charged with upon apprehension.
The shogunate maintained execution grounds
at Kozukappara, Suzugamori, and Itabashi. Kozukap- Description is the method for which the crime is
para, is located near the southwest of Tokyo. The defined or outlines the parameters of which accused
execution grounds at Suzugamori in Shinagawa. The characters will be judged.
shogunate executed criminals in various ways: Punishable by indicates how characters who are
apprehended will be sentenced. This sentence can be
• Boiling
anything from a fine to the death penalty depending
• Burning on the crime.
• Crucifixion (for killing a parent, husband etc.) How to Assign a Criminal Rating
• Decapitation by sword A character may only receive a Criminal Rating
from being observed by any human member (PC or
• Waist-cutting/Sawing (cutting the person in
half). The Kanazawa han coupled this with de- NPC) of society while performing a crime. To deter-
capitation. mine this occurrence, the GM must designate a die
and perform an Odds & Evens roll. If the outcome
• Seppuku determines positive of the crime being reported, roll
10
