Editing Kamon

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'''Kamon''' is a third-party [[Oriental Adventures]] campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] planned for release in April 2023, currently amassing funds on Kickstarter. Written by Italian author and shameless [[weeaboo]] Fabio Attoli, the setting is a fantastical Feudal Japan created by applying real magic to our own history.

==The World of Kamon==
Originally, Kamon was actually a parallel Earth's Japan - specifically, it was Japan in the years of the Mongol invasions, from 1274 to 1281. Like in our history, Kamon saw intense storms and turbulent seas during this period, which culminated in the total annihilation of the great invasion fleet of Kublai Khan. But unlike in our history, the storms ''didn't stop'' after wiping out the Mongols. In fact, Japan was wracked by nearly a century of continual storms, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, changing the coastline and sundering all semblance of a unified Japanese culture as the great clans retreated to their strongholds and fortified them as best they could.

The reason behind this chaos? The kami of death, Izanami, was breaking free of her confinement in the underworld, and in response the kami and yokai were free to flood into the mortal world and openly make their presence felt. Kamon truly emerged as its own society from the decades of strife in the year 1387, when the first emperor of Kamon, Mikoto, appeared. Claiming descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu, he announced himself as the only true heir to the long-lost throne of the emperors and the new ruler of the land. When challenged on this, he unfurled a pair of white-feathered wings and, before a goggling crowd of stunned peasants, flew across the churning waters to the sacred isle of Onogoro, which had emerged from the ever-writhing seas in 1383 and stepped foot into the sacred castle of Yahirodono on its peak.

It is now 1412, and Kamon is building itself back into an empire once more. But it faces continued challenges; aside from the lingering issues of politics between clans that hadn't exactly been united before they spent a century surviving through their own skills, the supernatural forces at large in the world have staked their claim on what was once Japan.

Whilst the areas claimed by the Emperor of Kaman from his new imperial center of Onogoro have stabilized, the central regions of Japan are still afflicted by continuous natural disasters. The western coasts are turning to deserts, and a vast swamp is slowly consuming the fertile lands. In the south, several cities have fallen under the sway of a dark new faith that grew from Buddhist ascetic teachings into a reverence for pain and perdition. The Gaki, or hungry spirits, have founded cities and swelled their ranks with followers from across the land. The Yurei, ghosts escaped from the underworld of Yomi, have infested forests and old villages and turned them into places of death and torment for the living. Yokai of all shapes and types now thrive throughout Japan, and the north in particular is more their land than it is the realm of humans. And from the ranks of the yokai have come great armies of [[oni]], capable of beseiging and destroying even large fortresses.

To challenge the darkness, the Emperor Mikoto has founded the Order of Guardians; heroes who have been awarded with a sacred omamori and sent out on his direct order to roam the lands and offer aid to any Daimyo who is battling the supernatural.

==New Classes==
Because the standard [[Dungeons & Dragons]] classes are largely rooted in Western Fantasy archetypes, Kamon offers an alternative set of 9 classes that more closely adhere to Japanese archetypes, even if there may be a certain resemblance to the D&D classes. Whilst some liberties have been taken, the nine classes attempt to adhere as close to the historical and cultural associations they are drawing from - for example, different names (or even subclasses) for classes based on gender.

The most obvious classes are, of course, the [[Samurai]] and the [[Ninja]], with the former being essentially a [[Fighter]] with added social prestige and the latter being the [[Rogue]] of the setting.

'''Bugeisha''' are warrior women who can best be described as "Samurai lite"; women cannot be true Samurai, which is largely expressed in that they cannot bear the Katana and Wakizashi paired swords (collectively "daisho") that are the symbol of a Samurai's rank, but they can still be trained to fight like Samurai, and that's where the Bugeisha come in.

'''Priests''' are the [[Cleric]] analogue of Kamon, combining religious practices and divine magics with martial teachings; the male Sohei are melee weapon masters, whilst the female Miko are archers.

'''Yamabushi''' are hermits dedicated to improving body and soul through communing with nature and the practice of martial arts, and conceptually might be considered a cross between a [[Monk]] and a [[Druid]], in traditional D&D sterms.

'''Ronin''' are former Samurai or Bugeisha who have broken away from service to a clan, usually involuntarily, but sometimes of their own free will. 

'''Sumotori''' are the closest thing in Kamon to a traditional D&D monk, being warriors trained in the arts of unarmed combat. They also bolster themselves by using rituals to invoke spiritual protection and favor.

'''Geisha''' and '''Taikomochi''' (collective name currently unknown) are the gender-specific [[Bard]] analogues of Kaimon, experts in the artistic fields and so adept at pleasing others that they can even summon and seduce spirits to aid them.

'''Onmyoji''' are the [[Wizard]]s of Kamon, using intricate calligraphy and origami talismans to summon and bind the Shikigami, or servant spirits. Think of them as a [[Diviner]]/[[Conjurer]] mixture.

==New Bloodlines==
Whilst Kamon is largely a humanocentric setting, being that it was ''from'' Earth originally, the abundance of yokai has led to a rising population of '''Han'yo''', or [[Half-Fiend|"Half-Demons"]], and these are fully playable. The specific Han'yo lineages playable in Kamon are the [[Kitsune]], [[Tanuki]], [[Tengu]], [[Bakeneko]], [[Oni]] and [[Kappa]].

==New Mechanics==
Of course, to really bring in that Japanese feel, Kamon contains a number of new mechanical elements to add a heightened Japanese Historical Fantasy or Wuxia feel, including the obligatory [[Honor]] system, new tools based on Japanese artistry and industry, a new "Craft Items" system, a Meditation skill, a "Mutilations" system that covers weapon sharpening and bodily maiming, a more complex system for Martial Arts, assorted new conditions, new Backgrounds derived from Edo Japanese society, and new game mechanics for death based on the distinctly Japanese-derived cosmology.

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