Side Tools

Tags are the most basic tool required to make Kido work, with every single material & quality they make use of altering one's Kido directly. To initiate a Kido, a given number of required tags for a Kido technique are secured by the user, typically in hand, and immolated by their reiryoku. The ink on these tags is usually pre-written before combat, using different alphabetical characters (i.e. kanji, hanzi or hanja) to dictate what a tag does; i.e. "Barrier" or "Blast", though high-end Kido Specialists tend to be able to actively inscribe them through mere infusion.

For the sake of convenience, it is assumed that every expended tag for a Kido technique just so happens to have the character(s) required for a technique, such as "Blast". The last & final factor is a character's affinity, which can be freely woven into a Kido upon its release, turning something as simple as a blast into a blast of electricity. This can be carried over to personal Kido, which leans most if not all of their effects into the affinity itself.

As varying as they may be, there are some absolutes to all of them:
-- Tags universally utilize a character's Spirit for Durability and Control * 2 for HP if targeted before they burn. Can't be used as a protectorate i.e. in blocking/clashing.
-- They burn at a flat rate of [60 * Skill Rank] Speed.
-- All techniques are decently simple without something influencing their properties, such as ink or an affinity. While given flashy names, they usually can be summarized as 'beam that does x interesting thing' or 'huge blast that detonates'.
-- Cost a specific tag count and usually have an incentive for going over it. If it does not specify a cost, it abides by a default cost of [1 * Technique Rank/Grade] tags.


Parchment: What the tag's paper is made of. This tends to be a faction-specific thing, especially ones involved in timberwork or Kido as a whole. This alters the parameters of Kido that utilize them with bonuses toward 'Power' (damage/durability stat) -or- 'Speed'. Tends to peak at an [Item Tier] bonus. Some can get more specific, such as 'Fire Damage' or 'Healing' for Power, or 'Immolation Speed'/'Manifestation Speed', which allows the bonus to be increased by 2X.

Ink: How the ink is made. Typically includes grains of substances, or liquids (especially blood). Vaguely changes the shape/properties of Kido that come from the tags using it, altering how they manifest, such as predisposing them to 'flame-like', 'bolt-like', 'liquid-like', and so on. This mostly allows custom freedom and allows niche cases like clauses that boost specific forms of matter to excel, i.e. a full Kido kit that gets bonuses/specific interactions when forming as liquid.

Vessel: What holds the tags. Whether it's a bag, a band that keeps them connected (think of the red ropes used in ofuda), or otherwise. This just alters the amount of tags you get. Tends to be 5 * Material Tier and can use any material so long as it can scale to the desired item tier. These can also be acquired as separate items.

While most Kido Soulborn carry their tags as they would charms, not every individual is so blatant in their use of them. These tags can be attached within the most mundane & rudimentary of items and utilized as traps - be it the inside of a book, the barrel of a firearm, or most frequently, a small scroll. Like bags & bands, these can be used as Vessels, too, with the notion being that these tags are usually 'sticky noted' to the inside of the item in question.

Sub-Tools are the simple side objects utilized by all Adepts, varying in the type of construct they are from one family/faction to another (such as the Noragami's crosses, the Edelweiss' silver tubes, the Yuurei's paper talisman or the average Japanese-Adepts' ofuda). This variation in sub-tool type tends to only matter with higher-level (A-Rank+) sub-tools (which use family-specific brands of tool techniques), or silver tubes - the latter of which tend to begin distinguishing themselves from the moment of their inception. They all use chemicals or 'separate materials' within them that permit their unique effects and are easily molded & influenced by a character's affinity.

These are utilized by infusing them with the reishi necessary to initiate a corresponding Tool Technique, immersing the sub-tool in question with reishi to convert it & the chemicals within the object into it.

These tools have much easier, and fewer constants to follow compared to Kido:
-- They all cost '1' sub-tool, and have the option to increase the number to thereby elevate firepower, range etc.
-- Most bear a 'formation', an AoE which increases the potency of what's being done. These can be set up on any axis so long as they are in proper alignment with one another.


Object: What the item does if it comes in contact with something. Can be an small, actual protectorate of some sort or a damage device. They bear 10 * Item Tier for the former, and can directly use a character's Damage Calculation for the latter, but operate off Marksman in cap scaling. These have a flat HP of 75 * Item Tier.
Tier: The amount available and the quality of it. Simply influences the number of sub-tools a character has at their disposal. Tends to grant 2 * Item Tier.
Material: What the tool's made of. Affects what 'baseline effects' a tool technique has alongside it. Can trigger status effects like 'Shock', 'Bleed' and so on on everything that is hit by the tool technique, as well as amplify those status effects.