Kaihou Scout School

While the Kaihou Wildcat School Bushi are usually the most storied and ferocious members of the Kaihou clan, the Kaihou Scouts are the more public face of the family, eschewing combat for exploration, the gathering of information, and trailblazing the way for their more violent brothers. Kaihou scouts excel at tracking down things or people individually, and somehow finding a way of getting wherever it is they need to be. These are very useful skills for hunting criminals and Oni alike (and even artifacts).

Lore, Occult, and Archery are other good skills to pair with this school. Lore and Occult to know more about artifacts and supernatural creatures the Scout may be tracking, and Archery as a good distance combat skill.

School Package

 * +1 Wits
 * Athletics as a Favored ability, with a 1-dot specialty in Acrobatics.
 * +1 Awareness, Investigation, Stealth, Survival
 * Honor: 5.5
 * Gear: Light armor, rugged clothing, Daisho Set, bow, knife, any one weapon, trap-making gear, camouflage face-paint, traveling pack.

Techniques

 * (Rank 1) Prowling Cat Meditation: The Kaihou Scouts are masters of observation and pursuit for the benefit of the Empire, tracking their opponents with the sharpness of a cat's eye. When using Stealth in any scout-appropriate situation, it is not considered a Low action. Further, while tracking your quarry, any Athletics, Awareness, Stealth, Survival, or Investigation rolls are improved by a number equal to your School Rank (this only applies to rolls regarding the quarry directly, be it a relic, animal, or person).
 * (Rank 2) Mien of the Tiger: Like the tiger, Kaihou Scouts are instilled with a great confidence in their athletic ability and do not flinch in the face of perilous risk, nor are they slowed when their skill fails them. When faced with a fear affect regarding any kind of Athletic feat, you may substitute your Athletics (Acrobatics) score in the place of Integrity. Further, you may always add an amount of soak equal to your Athletics (Acrobatics) score when faced with damage from Athletics-related events (such as falling); this soak counts as lethal and is not halved.
 * (Rank 3) Grace of the Stalking Predator: For determining the distance of move, dash, or jump actions, you may add your School Rank to your Dexterity score. Further, you may move at full speed while sneaking without penalty.
 * (Rank 4) Denial of the Fleet Paws: The Kaihou Scouts are not front line warriors, and so are taught a means to escape dangerous combat situations. In the event an attack makes it through your dodge DV and would deal damage, you may reflexively spend a Void point to make an Athletics (Acrobatics) roll. If your successes outnumber the bonus successes of the attack (that got through your DV), you acrobatically extricate yourself from the attack and take no damage. Further, for every success beyond that of your opponent's, you may end your turn 1 yard away (effectively ending attacks that hit more than once).
 * (Rank 5) Prowling Cat Mastery: So long as a roll is at least incidentally related to the pursuit of your quarry, you may spend a Willpower point to have the bonus from Prowling Cat Meditation apply to any roll of the appropriate Abilities for that scene. This may be done any number of times per rest.