Aoki Shinji - A Hero character with a twist?
By Guy Hoyle This is a character I'm designing for a 200-point Japanese historical fantasy campaign we're just about to begin. Let me know what you think of it.
Shinji was the youngest son of the small but proud Aoki clan. When he was nine, his family was slaughtered by a rival clan; Shinji himself was wounded, slashed across the face. Homeless, without relatives to avenge his family, Shinji wandered wherever he could, earning his living doing whatever he could, plotting to avenge his family.

He found it one day: working as a kitchen servant, he was delivering a tray of food to a visiting noble whom he recognized as the lord of the family who had slain his family. He would have slit the throat of the sleeping lord, but was stopped by a Buddhist monk. The monk, named Kenji, saw the anger burning within the boy, threatening to consume him. He persuaded him to forego his vengeange and to come with him, as his student.

Kenji had been a renowned kenshi, or master swordsman of the Kenjutso school. As a way of teaching Shinji discipline, he taught him all he knew of the art of fighting: the Mijin style, which concentrates on leaping and running; the Nito style, which teaches how to fight with two swords; the Suio style, fast and deadly; the Yagyu Shinkage style, which emphasizes caution; and the Muto style, which teaches one to fight without a sword.

He also taught him to replace the hatred of the clan that killed his own with a hatred of injustice; by the time Kenji died, Aoki Shinji had put aside his desire for vengeance and had taken an oath to battle oppression and to bring contentment to others. He roams the land, often disguised as a peasant, a pilgrim, a beggar, battling against oppressive nobility and befriending the innocent, no matter the cost to himself.

AOKI SHINJI (Guy)

18	STR	8
18	DEX	24
15	CON	10
10	BODY	0
13	INT	3
13	EGO	6
15	PRE	5
10	COM	0
7	PD	3
4	ED	1
4	SPD	12
7	REC	0
28	END	-1
27	STUN	0
Characteristics Cost: 71

0	Weapon Groups,Swords/Blades	
1	Weapon Groups,Barehand	
4	Weapon Bind	
4	Martial Block	
4	Martial Disarm	
4	Martial Dodge	
4	Fast Strike	
5	Passing Strike	
5	Sacr Strike	
5	Off Strike	
5	Takeaway	
0	WF,Swords	
2	WF,Common Martial Arts Weapons	
1	WF,Off-Hand	
1	WF,Thrown Sword	
39	13 Levels,tight group	
1	Acrobatics 8-	
1	Acting 8-	
3	Ambidexterity	
3	Breakfall 13-	
3	Climbing 13-	
3	Concealment 12-	
1	Disguise 8-	
1	Eavesdropping 8-	
3	13- Fast Draw	
1	High Society 8-	
1	KS: Buddhism 11-	
1	KS: Cook 11-	
1	KS: Kenjutsu 11-	
1	KS: Masseur 11-	
1	KS: Philosophy 11-	
1	KS: Singer 11-	
1	Lang: Japanese,native,literacy	
1	Lockpicking 8-	
3	Paramedic 12-	
3	Scholar	
3	Sleight Of Hand 13-	
3	Stealth 13-	
1	Seduction 8-	
4	8" Superleap	3

Powers Cost: 129
Total Cost: 200

Base Points: 100
10	Distinctive,"Burning, intense eyes",concealable,minor
10	Distinctive,"Facial scars",concealable,minor
10	Enraged,"Innocents injured",common,occur 11-,recover 11-
25	Psych Lim,"Code of Honor (see below)",very common,total
10	Psych Lim,"Modest",common,moderate
10	Watched,"Oppressive nobility",more powerful,non-combat
	 influence,harsh,appear 8-
10	DNPC,"Various orphans, lovers, friends, innocents, etc.",
	 normal,appear 8-
15	Psych Lim,"Can never refuse a challenge from another
	 fighter",common,strong
Disadvantages Total: 100
Experience Spent: 0
Total Points: 200

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Revised October 17, 1996