The Campaign Builder's Guild

Developing the Yakuza or other class of tattooed criminals of Kaidan.

I Googled Yakuza and found this...
 Yakuza Past and Present

In the work at quickly developing the elements of Kaidan, I look to the lowly rogue. Is it Yakuza or one of its predecessors like the Bakuto - the itenerent gambler, and the Tekiya or Yasho - peddlar (compared to our "carnies"). One problem is that my fantasy Japanese world is loosely based on 12th to 14th century Japan. Much of what is Yakuza became organized after the Tokugawa Period of Peace began - yet Kaidan is not Japan, so I'm free to diverge at will...

Reading that article above, especially the events occurring over our lifetimes of recent history and I am totally inspired to build a complex network of Kaidan Eta Caste power brokers that consider themselves the power behind the Imperial Court, and might even have such power.

Let me build an impromptu history of recent Kaidan. A century ago a civil war occurred (?) between two great provincial houses one that supported the Imperial Court only, the other supported the Shogunate only. Though the two comprise the Imperial government of Kaidan, with the Shogunate being the militant branch often imposed their order, against wishes of the Regent at Court. Thus the court was empty-handed to fight a serious debate against the militarily strong Shogun. However, a war began when a powerful provincial house chose to impose the Imperial decree, when Shogunate forces faced off against the house and lost a major first battle. Other provinces began to join on sides becoming the Tennin War (Emperor's War).

At the end of that conflagaration, many lesser samurai houses (on the losing Imperial side) had properties confiscated and incomes lost, and resorted to banditry or wandering armed gangs. Eventually settling in towns and cities they joined with the local peddlar gangs to begin what is now the Kaidan Yakuza (is there a better name than that?).

So then I should build a complete network, as per Yakuza management distributed across the major towns and cities they have control, then build a powerful underworld network across Kaidan that rivals the power of the Imperial Court and Shogunate.

Thus building a more than realistic rogue of Kaidan with many idea seeds to use based on real history. That way, the Yakuza is not just another "dump" class in party, but someone with ties to some real power... cool ideas anyway.

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