AD&D The Complete Ninja's Handbook (Tsr 2155)

such requests should not be made trivially. Once Established, You Become a
If there is no contact already established in House

the place to which you are headed, you can Do not forget that once YOU are se
prearrange to have your gear delivered to a new identity, you become a safe house for
specific rendezvous, at the same risk to per- other ninja of your clan. From time to time,
sonnel and material as above. allied ninja passing through your region or
coming to the same city or castle to set up
After you reach the new site but before identities will seek out your help. You are
your rendezvousis to take place, you should obliged to provide reasonable amounts of
establish a cache, a seaet place to leave your help at the ninja's request. Of course, you are
ninja gear where its discovery will not com- obliged to provide even unreasonable help at
promise you. (It is against all common sense your clan lord's request.
to set up your cache beneath your bed.)
Spy On Your Mends
Ideally, a cache should be in some place that You should honor a true friend with true
is easily visited by anyone; the fewer people
who can visit it, the shorter the list of suspects friendship, but you should also know your
il the cache is discovered. In this public place, nonclan friendsbetter than they know you.
tRe cache should be well hiddenand difficultto You must learn all you can about them. Find
approach casually Here are some possibilities: out what their interests are, what their true
identitiesare, who their lovers are, what their
A barrel in the back of an easily accessible letters say, why they cany the mementos and
but seldom-visited storeroom other items of sentiment they do, and what
truly drives them.
An old crack in a wall a dozenfeet up
Beneath the floorboards of an abandoned To a young ninja, this may sound like a
temple cruel betrayal of people who intend you no
A box covered with a shallow layer of harm and may have saved your life. In a
earth in an overgrownfield sense, it is. But there are compelling reasons
A porcelain jar submerged in an un- to take this course.
tended pool
Remember to leave inconspicuous signs, First, it may reveal enemies. Despite your
visible from a distance, to assure you that instincts, it may be that an ally is your enemy
your cache has remained undisturbed since -and not even because of a personal reason.
your last visit. Someone may have found He may be on a secret mission that would
your cache, then returned everything to its thwart your own mission, or may have a
original condition, alertedthe local lords, and longstandinggrudge against another ninja of
arranged to ambush whoever comes to get your clan.
the equipment.
For example, if your cache is in a storeroom Second, you can often do your friends
barrel, you could place a spot of glue on the good by knowing all there is to know about
seal of the barrel. When you visit, glance them. In spying on a friend, you may dis-
casually at the spot; if it is broken, you can be cover some secret need he dares not express,
or someone else may be investigating him,
certainthe cache has been found and that you pointing to an enemy he did not know about.
So long as your friends remain friends, your
should not try to retrieve your gear. If your investigationscan ultimately do them only
cache is in a crack in a wall, you can dust the good.
siurface of the wall below and above with a
little soot, which will certainly be disturbed if
someone has been there.

These techniques can save your life.

, Third, consider this: Although you bear no should be pursued at a slow, comfortable
pace. You might be in the company of these
(illwill toward your friends, you have an people for months or years; pace your investi-
gation accordingly. Nothing will give you
1 agenda that is differentfrom theirs, an agenda away as easily as undue haste.

that is hidden from them. If you are ordered It is here that maintainingan identity as a
poet or writer is usefulto you. It will give you
~ a higher level of credibility when you ask
people questions about their careers and
to betray them by your clan lord, that is what exploits.However, it will not help you if you
you must do. If this is true of you, it could be ask so many questions that your friends come
true of one or more of your friends as well. to consider you a nosy person.

~ Do not be compulsive about your investi-
gations, however. If you fall into a pattern of
You need to know the circumstancesunder espionage that your friends can detect and
which one of your trusted friends could be- take steps against, you doom yourself.
come an enemy.
Always Have a Reason
Fourth, and last: Spying on your friends At every time of night or day, have in mind
I acts as a constant reminder of your priorities.
When you take this course, you can never let an explanation for any unusual thing you are
your allegiance slip from family to friends. doing. Remember that excuses for friendscan
You are always on guard against letting your

' cover identity become your true identity.

1 This is best for the clan, and so it must be

done.
This spying should not be accomplished

quickly. Your current assignmentis another
task with a differenttarget, so your researches
into your friends constitute a hobby and

be different from those presented to the - outof we
authorities. Friends will keep secrets for you Nhja accompanying non-ninja groups will
and will believe things thai the author(ties often travel in the guise of thieves. This allows
will check out for themselves. Here are some them to utilize most of th& ninja abilities with-
examples: out causing consternation among their friends.
But it's a bad idea to carry the thief identity too
"Why are you wandering the halls ofthe daimy- far. A ninja should not steal from his friends
(exceptunder clanorders).To dosois to demon-
ds palace, off-limits to the likes of you?" Answer strate p e d (a very uncharacteristic fault) and

for a friend:I' saw a shadow slip into this to sow dissensionamong thep w . One impor-

area and, curious, I followed. There may be a tant ninja role is to sow dissension among the
spy loose in these halls." Answer for a guard: enemy and to do soamonghis allies is the Same
The same, but wait for a moment of distrac-
tion on his part and hurl a pebble or smoke as consideringthemtheemmy.
grenade into some dark corner to give him
something to react to and to convince him Courage is Not Out of Pkce
that there is an intruder loose.
The culture from which the ninja originate
"Why were youfollowing me?" Answer for a places a high premium on fearlessness. Ninja
friend "I've had a premonitionabout you all are not supposed to fear death any more than
day. I think you are in danger." Answer for samurai do. Consequently when a ninja is pre-
someone in authority, who may be asking tending to be a samurai warrior, he should
why you were following someone else: "I was demonstrate the same kind of courage the
not. Why were you following me?" or I' was samuraidoes. Even when a ninja is pretending
admiring the material from which his robe to be a common thief, if he demonstrates
was made. See the flow of colors, the expert couragerather than self-preservation,he will
gain respect in the eyes of his comrades. They
cut of the cloth . . ."
will trusthim more, and he will be able to trust
Sometimes a ready excuse will be more
them more.
useful to you thana plausibleone. Hesitation
Strong Alliances Help Everyone
can doom a good lie, while calm confidence Although ninja clan lords caution young
and quick response can carry a bad one.
ninja against putting nonclan considerations
Ninja in a Non-Ninja Paty over the goals of the clan, they do not discour-
ageninja fromforging friendshipswith people
Of course, the advice previously given is who are not of the clan. There are two reasons
from the perspective of a ninja clan lord, who fo1this, both of which are very practical.
naturally places clan obligations above all
other considerations, as will most people First, if a ninja becomes friends with non-
from the ninja's culture of origin. The ninja ninja, the clan has ties to those people, some of
himself may not feel quite so sure about some whom may become powerful adventurers,
of those dictates, particularly the ones about merchants, and even rulers. Ninja clansbenefit
spying on his friends. from such alliances, even when the non-ninja
are not aware of their friend's ninja back-
The ninja character traveling with a party ground and when there is no profit motive
of people who do not share his secret can do involved. The clan might be able to obtain
many things to maintain his good relation-

favors such as economic concessions, trade captured or killed. If they are true friend
secrets, or military and economic help in times
they will keep faith with him.
of crisis.And should the ninja clan be attacked He Could Convert Them
and scattered by armies of the shogun or em-
A final and dramatic measure when dea
peror, the clan leader might be able to send ing with a friend who has found out a ninja’s

several members of the family to the ninja Pc secret is to try to bring the outsider into the
so that they can seek sanctuarywithan allied
ninja clan. This can come about only when
non-ninja ruler. severalconditionsare in place.
Second, if the ninja forges real friendships
First, the character under considerationfor
with other members of the party, it helpshim
keep from turningintoa paranoid wreck If he adoptionmustnotbepart of anyexistingclan.If

has no real affection for any member of the the character is an orphan, survivor of a de-
party, he will be a more suspiciousand less
trustworthymember; others in the party may stroyed clan,or an d e with nohope of return
sense this. to his original family, he is eligible. (To adopt

When Fdends Find Out someonewho is part of an existing clan is to
Sometimes a ninja character’s true identity
invitehim to betray his other clan. If he is will-
and nature will be discovered by another ing tobetray that clan,hewill someday be will-
member of the party. This could come about
by happenstance (catching the ninja just as ingtobetray thenew one.) Itispossible to adopt
someone who is from another culture if that
he’s climbing out his window in his night-suit) characterexpmsse the desireto foresakehisfor-

or by design (spying on’theninja in much the mer lifeand dwotehimselfto the ninja clan.
sameway as he’s spied on them). Either way, it
puts the ninja batterin the delicate position Second, the friend must be eager tojoin the
ninja dan. It‘s not enough just to be wiUing a
of decidingwhat to do about his friends. ninja character will be interested in adopting
He Could Confess To Them
only someone who willbring enthusiasm and
The ninja could confess at leastpart of the loyalty tothe clan.
truth to his allies, admitting that he is a ninja
Third, the ninja character must be able to
and he has other allegiances in addition to his convincethe ninja clan leader that his friend
is worthy. This will inevitably result in the
, friendship with them. He would have to con- friend being put through rigorousand potm-
tially deadly tests of skill and loyalv.
vince them that he is no danger to them and
Ninja clan lords become far more susp,-
i1 has genuinelybeen their friend in spite of his cious when a ninja brings forward an entire
party of people requestingadmission into the
divided loyalties. clan.It‘s best to try to convert only one char-

i Under no circumstancesshould the ninja acter who has learned the sea&.

I divulge the name of his clan. People who He Could Lie To Them

11 know something about ninja would realize Theninja could lie to his allies, telling them

that he would not do this, but might ask him that he’s an imperial spy infiltrating a ninja
clan, or some other fabrication.
anyway as a sort of test; if he provides an
There are disadvantages to this approach.
’ answer, he is probablylying. The characters will already be suspicious of
A ninja character who takes this coursewill the character. He’s lied to them in the past, so
they will subject everything he has to say to
~ asklus friends to keep his secret His life is in much scrutiny. The ninja may find that his

their hands; all they need to do is betray his
secret to his enemies and he wiU probably be

~

friendswant him to provehis new assertion to If he is convinced that his dormer allies
intend the destruction of his clan, the ninja
them, and he will probablybe unable to do so. should get away, then attempt to destroy these
enemies as soon as possible. But make no mis-
TCould Abandon Them take;drcumstancessuch as thesq are rare.
Having been found out, the ninja character
c uld just leave the characters at his earliest An All-Ninja Party
opportunity, return home, and ask for a dif-
Things are easier when the ninja character
Lf nt mission. is accompanied by ninja from his own clan.
This offers a simple advantage: It makes it There is no danger of trouble rksulting from
'cult for his former allies to exact revenge the sudden discovery by another party mem-
on him. But it has a couple of serious disad- ber that one character is a ninja.
vantages as well.
When a party of ninja is traveling out in the
First, the ninja clan lord will want to h o w wider world, it is a good idea for them to
why the ninja abandoned his identity and maintain their cover identitie$at all times.
mission. If the ninja answers honestly- They should not utilize ninja hand-signs in
which he should-the ninja clan lord must casual conversation or discuss missionpara-
now decide what to do about the ninja's for- meters unnecessarily. Ninja Wow that their
mer allies. He may decidehe has to eliminate enemies sometimes employ wizards (who
them, and he'll certainly want to use the ninja could have wizard eyes floating through the
who knows the most about them (the PC) to room), and often employ ninja of their own
do so. This is also a good opportunity for the (one could be hanging from the rafters even
now, listening to every word).
clan lord to impose a test of loyalty on the PC
Playing The Lone Wolf
ninja. No ninja wants to see his allies extermi-
nated for such a reason, and there is always Theninja with the Lone Wolf ldit has his own
the chance that the heroes who found out the obligations to fulfill, and the DM should re-
secret will be skilled and tough enough to kill mindhim of them ifhe straysfor too long from
ninja sent against them. the path dictatedby his choice ofminja kit.

Second, such abandonment doesn't settle in Lone Wolf characters (and ninja and shi-
the ninja's mind what action his former allies nobi who are created as part of a ninja clan
but later survive its destructioa) are obliged
wiU want to take. If he just leaves them, he can- to achieve one (or both) of two goals. The
LoneWolf must
not influencetheir actions or persuade them not
Recreate the clan, finding an appropriate
to immediately turnhim in to the authorities. spouse, starting a family, collecdng allies and
followers, and protecting them all.
He Could Become Their Enemy
The ninja could decide to eliminate the Wage war on the destroyers of his clan
until he perishes or the enemy dbes.
people who have found out his secret. This is
It's not practical for a Lone Wolf to leave
a drastic measure, taken only when a ninja his old life behind and ignore clan obliga-
thinks his clan is immediately and seriously tions. Inevitably,his enemies will track him
endangered by the discovery of his secret. For
that to be the case, the allies must already down in order to finish the job of destroying
know the name of the ninja character's clan
and have declared an intent to destroy the his clan. The Lone Wolf will eventually have
clan. Such allies could be no more than mere to fight or die.
companions, not true friends. A lesser set of
circumstances doesn't warrant the ninja char-
acter becoming the enemy of his former allies.

I

This chapter is for the DM. It deals with all THACO
sorts of game-mastering concerns brought on Armor class
by the introduction of ninja into a campaign. It’s pointless to conceal the PC’s THACO
and Armor Class, as most players can work
yers are also welcome to read this chapter. out these values without effort by comparing
will give them a better idea of what to die rolls to results in combat.
pect from their DMs. The back of the character sheet should
include informationon class, level, hit points,
Secrecy wwin the Campaign and saving throws.
If the campaign allows players to choose
When the DM allowsninja characterswithin their own format for character sheets, the
a campaign, he must decide what sort of secu- player of the ninja should utilize a format
rity to institute. After all, the ninja is a charac- such as this. The DM should encourage other
ter with a secret, often runby a player keeping players to do the same, to prevent the players
the same secret. All these layers of secrrecy can from concluding that the one character
make the runningof a campaign much harder demonstratingsome secrecy must obviously
if not dealt with carefidly and intelligently. have something to hide.
False Character Sheets
There are three types of security for this
sort of campaign: Even with the additionalsecurity offeredby

1. The ninja’s secrets are kept from the the new character sheet format, the player of
other characters and from the other players. the ninja should work up an alternate, ”pub-
lic” character sheet for his ninja. This sheet
2. The ninja’s secrrts are kept from the other should reflect the character’s statistics and
characters but not from the other players. abilities as accurately as possible while still
maintaining the illusion that the character
3. The ninja’s secrets are knownto the other belongsto a differentcharacter class (typically
PCs but not to the world at large.
a fighter or a thief). Thissubterfugewill PIE-
Each approach requires the DM to make
different arrangements for his campaign. vent discovery when a player gets the occa-
sional acadentaI look athis neighbor’s sheet.
Keeping Secrets From the Playen
The hardest approach is for the player of In campaigns where everyone starts out at
1stlevel, it will be hard for a ninja character to
the ninja character to keep the truth about his maintainthe illusion that he’s a 1st-levelthief;
character class and goals from the other char- his thieving skillsjust aren’t as good as those
acters and from the other players. This re- of a thief. He can help sustain the pretense by
quires a fair amount of setup work on the learning what thieving skills are mostly likely
part of the player and the DM. to be used in the campaign and pouring more
Redesign Character Sheets discretionarypointsintothem (at the expense
of other skills), and by never letting another
If the campaign’s players use a uniform player see his thieving skill values long
character sheet format, the DM should change enough to add them up.
Paranoia Notes
it. In the new format, the only character infor-
The DM should pmmote the useof paranoia
mation that appears in publicview shouldbe: notes in his campaign. Paranoia notes are
eThePC‘sname nothing more than written communications
A list of the PC’s visible gear. This list

should indicateonly the type of item, such as
“long sword,” not magical bonuses or special
attributes.

I Campaigningthe Ninja 105

passed betweenplayer and DM to allow them sort, it will keep suspiaonfront falling on the
to exchange information the other players
don’t need to how. The ninja player will have player of the ninja. Additionaby,it will give
to utilize such a technique in order to commu- each player the occasional opportunity to
nicate privately with the DM. If he is the only explore some hobby or interesd not shared by
player to do so, the other playerswill become the others, which is good for enhancingrole-
suspicious. But if the DM persuades the other playing in any campaign.
players to routinely use notes, the ninja play- Multiple Ninja
er’s activitieswill not seem out of the orcbmy
In a campaign arranged along these lines,
Solo Activities two or more playerscould runhinja from dif-
Finally, there’s the problem of the ninja ferent clans and not even realize it. Each
would probably be too conceqed with main-
character’s individual goals. The ninja will taining his own secret to reali
have clan goals assigned him by the clan players are doing the same
leader. Some of these missions can be carried
out while the character is in the presence of The Players Know, The C h a r M D~on’t
his non-ninja allies, but sometimes the ninja An approach that is considwably simpler
will have to go out on his own and conduct
privatemissions of stealth. to implement and live with, involving no

The best way to do this is to arrange private major changes to campaign s h c t u r e , requires
time with the DM for the player of the ninja, that all players in the campalgn be able to
perhaps before or after the regular game ses- role-play a certain amount of ignorance on
sion. the part of their characters.

Things become trickier when the ninja With this arrangement, the playersall h o w
character must perform a private mission in the major facts about characters who keep
the middle of an ordinary run. The DM secrets. Every player will get solo time in
should avoid such situationswhenever pos- which his character can perfofm individual
sible, allowing the player to do this only tasks and missions, but the d*erence is that
when the story’s plot absolutely cannot this one-on-one time with the DM is con-
progressuntil the ninja has done his investi- ducted in front of the other players.
gating.
This is a cinematic approach, with the play-
Typically, the DM will have to take the ers not involved in a scene a w g as its audi-
ninja player aside where the others cannot ence.
hear in order to play out the event. Such mid-
game missions should be kept as short as pos- The Characters Know
sible so that the other players do not become Finally, another easy approach is to run a
bored or suspicious.It also helps if the DM
can combine these game events with normal campaign in which all the characters know
interruptions such as dinner breaks. that one character is a ninja.

For time reasons, these mini-missions Such a campaign can be brought about in
should avoid combat4ut that should be no any of severalways:
imposition, as ninja prefer to avoid combat
when stealth will suffice. The party could be made up entirely of
members of the ninja’s clan.
Finally, the DM should arrange for other
players to have short solo events. If every The ninja’s secret could be revealed to the
player gets the occasional interlude of this party beforehe even enters the campaign. For
example, a party member or NPC patron

could hire a ninja for a specific purpose. In ters of the opportunity for discovery, and for
such a case, the fact that the character is a interesting role-playing as various party
ninja would be known to the others, but his members try to keep secrets.
real identity-his true name and the name of
his clan-would remain a secret. The Character Mix
groups. &e three different types 6f character
The ninja’s secret could be revealed in the
course of the campaign. However, this would mixes we’ll discuss here include one or two
come as a modification to an already estab- ninja passing as normal adventurers in a
larger party, a party made up of nothing but
lished campaignrather thanthe way the cam- ninja, and the rare soloninja campaign.
Ninja Passing
paign was originallyset up.
In this campaign, one or two PCs are ninja
TheBeStApproach adventuring with a normal group of heroes.
Of these three approaches, each one is the Most or all of the non-ninja are unaware of the
backgrounds of the ninja characters,
best choice for a diffemt type of campaign. them tobe ordinary fighters or thiev
If most of the players are very competitive Typical Adventures

and their characters do not mesh well as a Even with ninja added, the campaign’s
team, you’d be best off following choice #1. adventums do not have to change.
(The ninja’s secrets are kept from the other
charactersand from the other players.) This The ninja PC is ordered by the clan lord to
keeps them from becoming anxious about accommnvthe heroes and uarliciuate in their
what other players’ characters have or know receive special orders pertaining to the cur-
that their own characters do not.
ple, which is now inhabited by-ghosts.
If the players are good at role-playing, are The ninia clan lord. leamineof this, sends
trustworthy, and do not let their characters
act on information that the players have but there IO years ago. so,beforey G r allies
the characters don’t (a common problemwith destmv him,vou must ask him urivatelv
novice role-players), you’ll probably find that
the most satisfying approach is choice #2. sword and send it io me. If not, find out
(The ninja’s secrets are kept from the other
charactersbut not from the other players.)
This will allow you to play out “secret” scenes
in front of the players, not excluding them
from the campaign’s story line, and be safe in
the knowledge that they won’t use the infor-
mation they meive in an unfair way.

Choice#3 (the ninja’s secrets are known to
the other player-characters but not to the
world at large) is best used at a later point in
one of the other campaign approaches. Char-
acters may gradually learn that one of their
party members is a ninja; eventually every-
one knows. If they allow the ninja to remain
in the party, choice #3 becomes the campaign

structure.Starting out from the beginningof a

campaign with choice #3 deprivesthe charac-

hSuch an approach gives the ninja character To the other PCs, this looks like a help-the-
dividual goals pertaining to his clan back- underdog adventure initiated by an en-
ground without interfering with the goals of counter between a member of &e party and a
the PC party. A task like this one forces the helpful spirit, while the PC niqja knows that
PC to do some solo actions, such as entering it is the culmination of several months' worth
the temple alone the night before the others of planning the elimination of an enemy of
perform their raid. the clan.

Naturally, all these little missions must If the campaign takes place at a great dis-
eventually add up to a big result. Every so tance from the ninja clan, such as when ad-
often, the message from the ninja clan leader venturers retum to distant land6 and the ninja
should explainwhat the ninja PC has been up PC accompaniesthem, the Mja clan leader
will be unable to direct the actions of the ninja
to for the last several months. PC-~.
Example: "Your delivery of the Sword of
~
Clan Hayata, the powder of the moun-
tain goblins, and the information con- In such a case, before he departs his home-
cerning Hayata Sho have given us the land, the ninja character must bie given a goal,
edge we need in our struggle with the something he can accomplish bb himself over
Gushiken daimyo, Eizo the Unkillable. several months or years while adventuringin
the lands of the fowigners.
"Eizo now besieges Castle Hayata.
Persuadeyour friendsthat, despite Eizo's It's best if the goal is a nebulous one, such
promises of great wealth, greater honor
is to be found in aiding the Hayatas. as discovering the meaning of k prophecy or

"On the hill overlooking Castle Hay- investigating a faint trail of clues leading to
ata is a dead cherry tree. Buried beneath those distant lands.
it on the east side is a box in which rest
the sword and powder you retrieved. Example: The ninja clan lord has learned
Obtain them and then sneak them from a priest that the survivql of his clan
through the Gushiken lines. Present is bound up with the survivtal of one of
them to Hayata Sho with the informa-
tion that by sprinkling the powder on the foreign friends of the PC ninja, but
the blade he can enchant his weapon to
kill Eizo the Unkillable. But before he that's the only detail available. The clan
challenges the daimyo, you must retum
to the outside and kill Eizo's champion, lord assigns the PC to protd his friend,
Sawao, who would otherwise fight the
but surreptitiously, and to f&d out what
match for him. forces are conspiring against the friend
and why the fate of the friend is tied up
"Because the actions of our clan cannot
be recognized in this event, you must with the fate of the clan. Thisis a nebu-
make these actions the goal of your band
of famous companions. Make up what- lous goal that, as the PC ninja uncov
ever story you wish to account for f i d - clues, will resolve into a clearer pic
ing the Sword of Clan Hayata. I recom- eventually leading the PCs back to
mend you tell the others that the spiritof
a long-dead ancestor told you where to lands of the Orientfor the final chapter.
find it and what to do with it."
As the Campaign Ages

In such a campaign, the Pcs-ll eventually
begin accumulatingfollowers,buildingstrong-

holds, and doing all the other W g s that high-
level adventurers do, as will the h j a PC.

If the campaign is destined to;returnto for-
eign lands to stay, the ninja PC has several
options.

He could be commanded to plant a branch o the richness
of the ninja clan in that foreign land, a hedge
against the possibility that the main clan will Ninja Croup
someday be destroyed. This is easier to do if This campaign type, mentioned earlier, has
there is already a community of Orientalsin
that foreign land. If there is not, the F'C might a cast of FC' s who all belong to the same ninja
have to disguise the clan resettlement within
a larger migration of his countrymen. Typical Adventures
At the start of the campaign, the ninja party
He could be permanently exiled for some
crime against his clan, effectively becoming a will be sent out with a specific goal. They
Lone Wolf ninja and choosing to return to his may be asked to accomplish one mission and
friends' foreign home. He would probably return home, or to set themselves up in false
have to abandon his followers, who are still identities in a specific town or castle and per-
subject to the clanlord's wishes. form a series of missions there.

Or, the ninja could bid his old alliesa reluc- Types of missions appropriateto this sort of
tant farewell when they make their final campaign are described under "Ninja Mis-
return to their homelands, with the ninja sions."
leaving the campaign or the campaign split-
ting into two. As the Campaign Ages

If the campaign's future is to be in the Ori- In this type of campaign, the missions that
ent, differentoptionsbecome available.
the Pcsare assigned to accomplish will become
Foreignheroes electing to stay in the Orient
could achievethe status of samurai and attain more and more challenging and daring.
great political power through alliances with At a certain point, the ninja will begin
the daimyosof the land. Meanwhile,the ninja
PC will be rising to prominence in his own attracting followers. Once most or all the
clan, perhaps becoming its lord. He will have ninja in the grouphave followers accompany-
to direct the actions of his ninja in the field (a ing them, the clan lord may decide that they
task handled in behind-the-scenes correspon- should set up a separate branch of the clan-a
hedge against eliminationof the main branch.
dence between the DM and the player) while
Ultimately, one of the PCs will be in a posi-
engaging in the politics of his land. He will tion to become the clan lord. In fact, the later
use his resources to strengthenhis clan, to aid stages of the campaign may involve a great
his friends, and to promote causes he consid- deal of maneuveringbetween several high-
ers just, while keeping his clan's ninja back- level PCs all of whom want to become lord of
ground a secret and covertly working against the clan.
the clans who oppose him. Such machina-
tions requires political alliances, so the ninja's Ninh Solo I
old friendship with other PC lords is particu-
larly advantageous. &ne way to use T h e ComJlkkeNinja's Hand-
Notes book without making changes to an existing

In a campaign where the ninja PC leads a campaign-indeed, without even sending the
double life, every character should have the
opportunity for a private interest involving
occasional role-playing and solo missions.
These undercurrents will add to the complex-

Campaigningthe Ninja 109

characters to the Orient for a brief shy-is to paigns, the ninja's task is to convince his fel-
runa solo ninja campaign. lows that carrying out this mission is the best
way to accomplish an existing goal of theirs,
Such a campaign consists of one DM and or to persuade them to a relate task that will
one player.Neither the DM nor the player has allow him to accomplish his mission. Sub-
to worry about keeping secrets from other tlety, persuasiveness, and discretion thus
players, or that the goals of other PCs will become important weapons iq the arsenal of
interfere with the ninja's current mission. the ninja.

The player, if he does not already possess Intelligence Gathering
an experienced ninja character, should mate
one. Use the normal rules for character cre- The most common sort of tat+ given a ninja
is to find out information that somebody
ation, then advancethe ninja PC to at least the would prefer not be known.

8th level of experience-a little higher or Such tasks include:
lower if the DM wishes. Scouting out the position of an enemy

This super-ninja should receive double the army,
usual number of weapon and nonweapon Discovering why a lowly farm girl is
proficiencies at creation and for his experi-
ence level. being kept locked away in the daimyo's
castle,
He should receive 3d4 magical items of the
DM's choice (preferably an even mix of weap- Determiningwhich lords a specific daim-
ons,armor, and miscellaneousmagical items, yo is conspiringwith,
but no cursed or useless items), whatever
normal gear he wants (within his ability to *Finding out a shogun's weaknesses of
convincehis clan lord of his need for them), character so they can be exploited,
and 9d6 gold pieces.
Determininga minister's schedule so he
This results in a very skillful character,one can be ambushedand kidnapped.
appropriate to a lone ninja (or lone spy)
movie. Because of his extra skills, the charac- There are many different ways to acquire
ter is unsuited to be integrated into a normal this sort of information.Scouting the location
campaign later. (If the DM wants the charac- of an army might call for one ninja running
ter to appear in his regular campaign at some around in the forest for a night. A more in-
point, he should not double the character's volved mission might call far setting up a
proficiencies.) false identity and befriending an NPC until
the ninja can ferret out the character's secrets.
The campaign start and typical adventures
are similar to those for Ninja Group cam- Theft and Covert Delivery
paigns, described earlier.
Ninja are sometimes called on to steal an
Ninja Adventures important object from its current owner. The
object could be an artifact, a book or scroll
IFor ninja characters, the DM will want to containing important informration, enough
eate ninja missions. Here, we'll talk about money to perform another mission, evidence
hat sorts of adventurrs those are. one person is using to blackmail another,
Most of these types of adventures are ap- papers confirming a lord's ownership of a
propriate to campaigns where all PCs are piece of land or of the contractof a concubine,
ninja (or solo ninja campaigns). Some of them a letter proposing an alliance, etc.
are more difficult to implement for a mixed
team of ninja and non-ninja. In such cam- Just as crucial to some long-range ninja

plans are missionswhere the ninja plants an campaign ninja will penetrateall defenses to
object rather than taking it. The steps of the
mission are the same, but the ninja leaves get to him and then challenge him to personal
somethingbehind instead of taking it away.
The ninja might have to: combat. The ninja may stack the deck by
depriving his target of bodyguards, magical
Leave a duplicateof some priceless object weapons, and the like, but there should be
already stolen, some element of fairness to the attack.

Return a stolen object before its loss is Some missions of elimination are kidnap-
discovered, pings. These are even more dangerous for the
ninja, who must acquire the target without
Plant a piece of evidence incriminatinga killing him or her (this sometimes requires
minister, the ninja to do things not in his immediate
self-interest, such as defend his target from
Get a message30 a deep-cover agent who accidental damage) and then get the target
is already suspected, and so on. from to a safe place (often doubling the dan-
ger the ninja faces). Kidnap victims can be
A theft could be as simple as slipping a ransomed back to their familiesfor handsome
paper off a table when no one is looking. A rewards; just as often, they are kidnapped to
more standard theft auld involve putting on keep them from doing things the ninja clan
the night-suit and creeping through secure wishes them not to do, and may be released
areas after dark. The most difficult sorts of once the criticalpoint is past.
theft adventures might call for a multistage hotCction
plan: The ninja would have to set up an iden-
tity giving him access to the castle, spend Ninja sometimes find themselvesacting as
enough time there to map it out thoroughly bodyguards for less-adept members of their
and time its guard patterns, assemble a team clans (such as consort ninja who are more
to accompany him,assign specialists to take experienced at manipulationthan at combat)
care of specific tasks, insert his entire team or for people the clan wants to protect from
into the castle, deal with guards, open a assassins or kidnappers.
sealed vault, and escape through some route
the castle owner has not covered. A ninja is not as good at personal protec-
tion as a samurai; he is not as good a fighter
Elimination as a samurai of equal level. But a ninja is bet-
Sometimes the ninja clan objective cannot ter at site security and at predicting the types
of attacks that might occur.A ninja protecting
be achieved while a particular NF'C remains a target might spend time figuring out how to
at liberty.In such cases, theninja is assigned a break into the target's home or through his
mission of elimination: He must kill or kid- defenses and then set up additional, more

nap the obstructing NPC. Ninja are especially adept at sabotage. Such

This mission is like a theft mission, with the missions can involve setting fire to castles,
difference that the character must attack a tar- sinking ships, ruining defenses, damaging
get instead of stealing an object. siege engines, and causing other sorts of con-

Historically, ninja performed some missions
of assassination, but this is inappropriateto a
heroic fantasy campaign. AD&Dgame ninja,
who cannot reveal their skill to the people
around them, often choose to do so when fac-
ing a target of elimination.Instead of assassi-
nating a helpless or unsuspecting target, the

Minor forms of sabotage can be used for lord from beinz killed when the assassination
diversionary effects. For example, sabotaging
a daimyo's coach so he must spend some time ..-A clan lord might send his L.," vzL
beside the road while repairs are made might
be a mission of sabotage setting up a mission sion that serves as a screen fot the lord's tme
of elimination. intention, to determine whether the PC is
loyal to the clan Other tests bhught about by
Sowing Dissent
the clanlord include trials for outsiders wish-
Often the best way to defeat an enemy w to ing to be adopted by the clan and "gradua-
allow it to defeat itself. tion" tests for new ninja. Here are some ways
these scenarioscan be played out.
Ninja are sometimes ordered to infiltrate
ombined armed forces and then cause fric- The Uncounted Box of Gold
tion between their discrete elements. This
causes petty lords to quarrel and reduces the The clan lord discoversthe M j a Pc's secret
effectivenessof a fighting force. desires and then presents him with the oppor-
A ninja might ingratiate himself with a
daimyo and then demonstrate, through con- tunity to satisfy some of them at the clan's
vincing logic and carefully arranged situa-
tions, how that lord's good friend of many expense. if the PC is exhibiting an
years is betraying him to another lord. The For example,
most skillful of ninja can make the daimyo
believe all these conclusions are the lord's untoward affection for money, the clan lord

Own. might tell him this story:

Smoking Out T r a b n "The samurai Takuji is a secret miser. He

The clan lord might ask a PC ninja to help has acquired quite a considerable horde of
him discover who in his own clan might be a
traitor. gold from presents he has qccepted-400

One technique used for this purpose is koku in value. Find his horde and deliver it to
"putting dye in the water." The clan lord
gives each of his confidants a variation of the me. Make sure not one coin is lost, for I need
same supposedly important information.The
PC ninja would then have to infiltrate the just that amount for another operation. He
household of an enemy to find out which
variation of the information was reaching the cannot report the theft, for then he would
enemy,thus pointing to the traitor in the ninja
lan. have to admit that he accumulated that much

Another, more difficult, technique involves gold, which his daimyo will frpvn upon."
situations where the clan lord is certain that
one of his confidants plots to kill him. The The samurai Takuji could be just what he
trick is to figure out the circumstancesunder
which the traitor will choose to kill the lord, appears to be, or could actuQlly be a ninja
to convince the suspects that those circum-
stanceshave come about, and to keep the clan from another branch of the clan, one whom

the PC does not know. Either way, the ninja

clan already knows exactly where the gold is

and how much there is.

When the PC acquiresthe horde of gold, he

is obliged to count it-his lord did say that he

needed a precise amount, and if the horde

does not contain that much, the ninja will

need to report it or make up the difference.

But the ninja finds that Takdji's horde is a

quarter again as big as reported. He knows

that Takuji cannot report the theft, so there is

no way for the ninja clan lord to know if the



PC decides to keep the extra . . .or so he not spread), or tell the clan lord (which will I
just as swiftly result in the uncle's death). Or, I
thinks. the ninja can keep the lover's secret.
I
The ninja who steals from his clanwill soon The first two choices are the correct ones.
be either dead or a LoneWolf ninja.
Through them the ninja demonstrates loyalty
Naturally, a CF' ninja could be on the other
side of such a test, helping the clan lord test to the clan over loyalty to a lover. The ninja
the loyalty of a ninja under suspicion. who chooses to keep the secret places a
lover's feelings above the protection of the
The Lover With a Secret clan.
The PC ninja, in the course of his adven-
The truth is that the NPC lover is a distant
tures, finds love with an NPC. (Remember member of the ninja clan, or possibly an actor
that the medievalJapaneseconsidered love to hired by the clan lord. The same is true of the
be an unlucky emotion, a cause for affairsand lover's entire family. The lqver has been
tragedies but certainly not the basis for mar- instructed to tell this story at a specific time,
riage. This didn't stop the medievalJapanese and "Uncle Kenji" is now being watched over
from falling in love, of course.) by a very skilledninja of the clan.

At some time after the NPC is well estab- The PC ninja who doesnot qvickly move to
lished in the campaign, he or she tells the PC eliminate this threat to the clan is fated to be
a secret:
given a dangerous mission of apology and
"My family is not native to this area. We redemption-r a sentence ofdeath.
originally came from a small farm near the
village of [name of the main village of the The important thing to remember when
PC's ninja clan]. Several years ago, my uncle setting up this situation is to be patientand to
Kenji went to the village and returned that establish the scenario over a long period of
same day, frightenednearly to death. He said time. The PC should find the lover in the
that he had discovered something awful course of other adventures. Their meeting
about our daimyo [actually the head of the and the flowering of their affection must
ninja family] and that we all must flee.Uncle appear completely natural. (The NPC lover
Kenji gathered up his wife and children, and may be tom by divided loyalties as well, but
persuaded my father to do the same. We left this character knows a test is in progress and
the village that night, under cover of dark- will probablyremain loyal to the ninja clan.)
ness. When we arrived here, we took false The Lover Shoved Aside

names and tried to begin life anew. I don't A simple, if cruel, test for a ninja's loyalty is
know what terrible secret Uncle Kenji discov- for the ninja lord to wait until the character
ered. All he will say about the daimyo is, "'He hasfallenin love and decidedto marry. Before
is lord of more thanwe ever realized.'" the ninja can ask the lord's permission to
wed, the lord chooses a marriage partner fm
It should be obvious to the ninja that Uncle the ninja.
Kenji somehow discovered that his daimyo Bright Young Ninja
was the head of a ninja clan. Possession of
A type of test that doesn't involve deter-
this knowledge is very bad for the NPC fam- mining loyalty is the graduation. If the DM
ily. But the ninja should also know that his wishes, he can put every ninja PC through
one or severalgraduation tasks.
lover is devoted to Uncle Kenji and would be
crushed by his death. This puts the ninja in a The standard graduation mission takes
bad position. The ninja must either kill his place when the ninja is first seated. It cele-
lover's beloved uncle (for it seems obvious
that the knowledge this person acquired has

brates and confirms the ninja becoming 1st test of the character’s loyalty. This test will
level. This is a relatively simple test in which involve the character’sbackground and for-
the ninja must cross an area of forest that is
extensively trapped. At the end of the path, he mer loyalties, and should be both compelling
must scale a wall or assail some other difficult and undetectable as a clantest. Each such test
obstacle in order to retrievea token that signi- will have tobe custom-tooled to the character
fies completion of the mission. The DM can
spice up the graduation test by making the in question, so there’s no point in presenting
traps devious and interesting and by adding a set of generic tests here.
encounters with ninja armed with bamboo
and padded weapons that do no real damage. Ninja Kits in the Campaign

The PC ninja should be similarlyequipped. Each ninja kit is a little different, and there
The DM can add additional graduations at are ways for the DM to add entertaining ele-
ments to his campaign through exploitation
level 6 and level 10, the points at which the of most of them.
ninja achieves the ranks of chunin and jonin.
These tests should be much more difficult, Lone Wolf
involving traps that damage as well as entan- The most important plot element for the
gle and lower-level ninja opponents armed
with live steel instead of bamboo. LoneWolf involvesthe clanthat is his enemy.
This iseither the ninja’s ownclan (from which
The objective of these tests is to challenge he has been banished for some transgression)
the PC ninja and determine the level of his or is the family that destroyed his clan (and
they need to finish up the job by eliminating
skill, not to kill him.But it should be possible him).

for a test to kill the character who behaves When the Lone Wolf character is first cre-
stupidly. This is a way of weeding out unsuit-
ated, the DM must decide if the enemy is his
able ninja before they can become weak links own clan. The DM can consult with the player
or base his decision on what he knows of the
in the chain of the ninja clan.
Adoptee player. The rule of thumb is this: Don’t have
the enemy be the ninja’s own clan unless the
In the rare event that a non-ninja/non-shi- player likes to suffer. The DMwould be shirk-
nobi PC discovers the clan’s existence and ing his role-playing duty if he did not include
wants to join, the ninja clanlord (if he wishes poignant encounterswith the Lone Wolf’s
to consider the possibility at all) will conduct brothers, sisters, and cousins. They are not,
a series of tests to determine the applicant’s after all, just faceless NPCs who pop in to get
skills and loyalty. killed. They’re people the PC is supposedto
have cared for and considered family at one
The skills portion of the test will be at least time.
equivalent in danger and difficulty to the
chunin graduation test. Early in the ninja’s career, the Lone Wolf
will occasionally bump into enemy ninja who
The loyalty portion of the test will be espe- are on his trail or who recognize him while
about other tasks. The resultant duels with
cially devious. The clan lord will come up skilled adversarieswill alert the other PCs in
with one test that is, on its completion, obvi- the party that the Lone Wolf character has a
ously a loyalty test, but that‘s the easy part. powerful enemy.They may realize early on
that the enemy is a ninja clan but should not
If the applicant passes all the preliminary
tests satisfactorily,he is accepted as a provi-
sional member of the clan. Later, perhaps
during the new clan member’s third or fourth
mission, the clanleader will conduct a further

Ii Campaigning the Nlnja 115
i

dutomatically identify the Lone Wolf as a Wolf kit. He keeps all the traitq, bonuses and
4nja; many characters have reason to count penalties of the kit with whi& he was cre-
ated, with the following excepaons:
$'nja among their enemies. (But the players
1'1 probably figure it out quickly) Clan Benefits: All ninja lose any benefits
they might have derived from belonging to a
1 As the campaign progresses, the enemy clan.

dill become more and more adept at tracking Clan Obligations: Ninja qre no longer
down the Lone Wolf, particularlyif he accom- expected to meet any obligatio& as members
panies the same group of PCs all the time. of the clan. However, many PCs who are
good role-players may choose to meet some
4&e Lone Wolf and his friends will be endan- of those obligations-helping favorite family
ered by ninja attacks with increasing fre- members achieve their persobal goals and
uency. The leader of the enemy clan may dreams, for instance.
cpntact the other PCs and peacefully invite
(pr induce) them to abandon the Lone Wolf, Intruder: This type of ninja, tvill no longer
qr may automatically count them among the be required to meet unusually high levels of
clan's enemies and seek their deaths as well. clan demands.

Eventually, the conflict between the Lone Spirit Warrior: This type 04 ninja cannot

~ learn any new ninja spells unless he does so
by stealing a spell book containing them.
wolf and the clan must reach a resolution. Becoming a Pack Wolf
%vera1 resolutions are possible.
1 The Lone Wolf could leave his allies for a O n the other hand, if a Lond Wolf ninja is
dme and performa final assault on his enemy,
resulting in his death or theirs. (The number permitted to rejoinhis old clan (or, even more
cjf ninja in the clan might have been whittled rarely, join a different ninja clw), he simply
down over the years, after all.) takes on all benefits and hindrdnces resulting
from clan association. He is no lbnger called a
1 He could accept help from his friends and "lone wolf" but does not take On some other
kit, not even the Stealer-In.
derform the same mission.
If the enemy clan is his own family, he Shadow Warrior
This fighting ninja is better suited for mis-
~
sions of protection than intrusjon. However,
cbuld find some way to rejoin it-perhaps by
flerforming a mission of expiation, or by because he is somewhatbetter dt combat than
qilling the clan leader in single combat and
tkking over. Such a resolution might be a solo the average ninja, he is also better suited to
hssion or could involve his friends. establishing and sustaining ari identity as a
fighter. He might take on an identity as an
Either way, by late in the Lone Wolf's career itinerantronin in order gain employment in
the personal guard of a daimyo, for example.
~
Iniruder
it will probably be evident to his friends that This ninja is best suited for missions where
de is a ninja. He might end up having to fight
dne or more of them if some accept his profes- he must think on his feet, improvising tactics
sion and some do not.
i and resolutions to rapidly changing situa-
tions. He should be put in sihlationswhere
q~ecoming a Lone Wolf

1 It's also possible for a ninja PC to become a

sbrt of lone wolf after having been created

T'th another kit. This can happen if the ninja

i banished or sentenced to death by his clan
(perhaps for failing one of the tests of loyalty
described earlier).

When another type of ninja is separated

~

fkom his clan, he does not take on the Lone

I

qwick thinking and political maneuvering, The DM should inbodwe such a character
rather than a dagger in the dark, will save the
day. If he is played properly, the Intruder is a to make things tense for the Consort ninja.
good choice for party leader. The drama such encounters inject into the
campaign shouldn’t be removed quickly or
Consort easily.
Consort ninja occasionally runinto people
Pathfinder
who might recognize them. The DM should Naturally, adventures with the Pathfinder
remember a few things when utilizing this
plotting tool. character should often involve wilderness
treks.
First, the person who might recognize the
Consort from his or her previous false iden- Spirit Warrior
tity doesn’t do so automatically.That person Spirit Warriors should be assigned mis-
should make an Intelligencecheck with sev-
eralpenalties and bonuses: sions that make use of their magical knowl-
edge (once they acquire some). The Spirit
-2 for each year that has elapsed since the Warrior should be given the occasional mis-
sion that no other character can accomplish
encounter. by himself, a mission requiring exactly his
-3 if the encounter was casual. mix of skills and spells. Being given such a
+2 if the two worked closely together. mission doesn’t mean that the character will
+3 if the person fell in love with the ninja automatically accomplish it, of course, just
that the character may be the only one who
(but no penalties for time are applied). can accomplish it.
A penalty (minus) equal to the amount
Ninja Clan Resources
by which the Consort made his or her Dis-
guise check that day. As Chapter 6 mentions, each ninja clan has
its own resources-in particular, money, per-
A bonus (plus) equal to the amount by sonnel, and knowledge.
which the Consort failed his or her Disguise
check. A ninja is expected to accomplishhis mis-
sion with the resources he has been given or
The DM is free to add more penalties or can acquire in the field. The DM should pro-
bonuses if desired. vide the ninja with resources appropriate to
the task Money enough to do his job or the
Second, the character who might recognize opportunity to acquiresuch money, enough
the Consort should be one who cannot be people to accomplish the task or the means
conveniently disposed of. He might be a with which to acquim such people, etc. When
daimyo always surrounded by guards. He things get sticky, the ninja should not run
might even be a crucial part of the ninja’s back to the clan to ask for more resources.

plans; to eliminatehim would wreck the mis- Even worse is the ninja who undertakes a
sion. personal mission and decides he must ask the
clanfor help. If the ninja makes an enemy of a
Third, the character who might recognize daimyo because of a personal insult, he can’t
the Consort may do so and yet not immedi- expect the clan to come to his aid. He must get
ately expose the ninja. The character might
have reasons to keep this knowledge to him-
self. He might not yet be convinced that the
ninja is truly the one he met before. He may
realize that the Consort is up to no good and
&el that he can blackmail the ninja. He may
still be in love with the Consort.

Campaignlng the Ninja 117

out of the situationon his own. In fact, to come If the ninja eamsa reputatioafor being fru-
gal with his resources, he can qkake a request
running to the clan could be considenxi a sign for resources beyond those alldtted him,per-
of treason. The ninja could lead enemy spies haps foruse on a personal quest. By spending
back to his home, endangering the entire clan. one resource point, he will recpive at least a

However, there are ways for the ninja to portion of what he has asked for. (The DM is
earn the right to clan resources above and be-
yond what he has beenallotted. free to restrict the awarding of additional
resources.)
When the Rules Change
A ninja should be able to request additional If, in the clan lord's opinion,;the request is

resources if, in the course of a mission, he dis- unreasonable, the resources mpy be refused.
covers that his clan lord didn't have a com- The resource point is still spent, but the clan
plete grasp of the severity of the situation, lord is not offendedbv the mdest.
and if the situation is of crucial importance to
the ninja clan. The DM, not
resource points.
Example: The ninja Rinjiro is sent to a
daimyo's castle to find out why a fellow SPY -Paims
ninja, part of the castle guard, has not
made a report in several weeks. Rinjiro Most of what we've discussed in this chap-
discovers that all the castle guards seem ter applies to non-ninja spy campaigns as
badly trained, and none of them knows well.

the disguised ninja in question. He finds Campaignscan be set up with a spy charac-

out that these are replacement guards, ter keeping his identity secret from his
recently hired from the ranks of the ro- friends, with a party of spies, Or even with a
nin. The real guards are even now mak- high-powered solo spy conducting missions
ing a march on the castle of a rival lord on his own.
who is an ally of the ninja clan.
The types of adventures desaribed for ninja
Under such circumstances, Rinjiro can ask pertain to spies as well, except perhaps the
saidtudaitti.ioonnatol resources in order to resolve "graduation test."
& .r his lord's satisfaction.
e In spy campaigns, it's not as important for
the spy to keep his true occupation from his
1esource Points allies. In some forms of spy adventure, char-
The ninja can alsoearn resoI(rcepoints which acters rely on their notoriety as spies in order
e can later trade in for additionalresources. to provoke enemies into preeture action.
The DM should decide wheqer the agency
rWhenever the character goes into a situa- employing the spy demands t o p secrecy.

'on where the rules change (as described The advice for using ninja kits alsopertains
bove) and then solves it without calling for
additional resources, he earns a resource to spies using those kits,as do the guidelines
point.

Whenever the character is granted substan-

tial resourcesfor a mission, solves the mission
bthout using many of them, and returns the

emainder to his clan he earns a resource
loint

I CHAPTER

‘ S IExamples

1In this chapter you’ll find a number of sam- Kyoji made his livingas an actor and enter-

p e ninja and ninja organizations. These tainer, developing the artistic skills he’d just
examples demonstratehow to use this sup- begun to learn when the attack came. Initially
hopeless as an entertainer, he gradually
plement’s rules. These sample characters and became quite accomplished.

organizationscan also be dropped, whole or Today, 10years later, Kyoji is constantly on
modified, into your own campaign. the move, always on the prowl for informa-
tion he can use against the Serpent Ninja. He
All character examples that follow presume often takes an identity as a dancer, moving
that the campaign uses weapon and non- from troupe to troupe and welcome every-
weapon proficienaesand the Advanced Mar- where. The Serpent Ninja m still on the look-
tial Arts rules from Chapter 4, and that out for him, so he abandons each identity as
Intelligence modifies the number of non-
weapon proficiencyslots a character receives. his enemies discover it.

Examples of Ninja Characten Description: Kyoji is a little below average
height and not particularly muscular. He
N o clans are specified for the following moves gracefully, with a deliberate dancer’s
characters, except for the Lone Wolf character. stride that he abandons when performing
You can add them to any clan (of the appro- missions in his night-suit. His features are
priate alignment) where they can be of use. handsome and cheerful, and in spite of the
Naturally, some are better suited to be ally grimness of his history he is not an angst-rid-
ninja; others make good enemies. den man. He intends to establish an identity
that has nothing to do with the *perhaps
Kyojl the Dancer as an itinerant merchant-and take a wife
History: The Yano clan was locked in a willing to be part of the genesis of the new
Yano ninja clan.
decades-oldwar with the Nishi clan (the Ser-
pent Ninja). The Yano had suffered greater Combat: Kyoji is a loner; team tactics are
beyond him. He prefershit-and-run strategies
losses than the Nishi, and the final attack, an in locales of his own choosing,m a s
trickedout with a variety oftrap
all-out raid by the Serpent Ninja, wiped out
the Yano clan completely. Kyoji the Dancer, hm, Ninja4: AC 8
(leather armor), AC 6 (with ninjutsu); MV 12;
Or so they initially thought. But Kyoji, the hp 16; THACO 19 (17 with katana); #AT 1(2
youngest son of the clan leader, told by his
dying father to avenge the clan and if at all with ninjutsu); D m g 2d6+2 (katana +2 two-
possibleto bring it back to life, made it out to handed), l d 2 (ninjutsu); SZ M (5’4” tall); ML
the rice fields and beyond. He was miles from 13; AL NG.
the farm site when the Serpent Ninja realized
that he’d escaped. S 11,D 13, C 11,I 15,W 9, C 15.
Special Equipment:Katana +2, book of one art
When his clan was destroyed,Kyoji was 13
years old, a charming youth who showed (Yanoclanninjutsu, normallykept in a cache).
great promise as a possible Consort or Proficiencies: Weapon: hankyu, oriental
Intruder ninja. And thoughhe no longer had
the benefit of clan teachers to instruct him,he weapons (tight group). Nonweapon: Acting
took with him severalbooks pertainhg to the (Charisma -1); Basic Ninjutsu; Dancing (Dex-
family arts. His stubbornness and natural terity); Disguise (Charisma -1); Juggling
desire for revenge enabled him to learn his B(Dloetsx)t;eTruitm,v -b1li)n; gS(uDrevxitvearl&()I.nte(Kllyigzejinrceec,etivweos
family arts through research and practice. four profiaency slots for Intelligence.

II Exampler I19

ThitfAbilities:PP 0, OL 0,F/RT 30,MS 75,
HS 65, DN 10, CW 60, RL 0.

Kit: Lone Wolf ninja.

Michiko the Imposter Proficiencies:Weapon: b
History: Born 18years ago to a neutralninja ger, naginata. Nonweapon.
an, Michiko discovered early her ability to -1/+2, max 18); Disguise
on the mannerisms of others. This talent max 18); Enamor (Char
ght her to the eye of the clan leader. Since Etiquette (Charisma +0/

er ”nurse and servant.” Michiko Rogueprofiaenciesfrom her
onsiderable amount of time with ThiefAbiZities:PP 0, OL 40

HS 90,DN 50, CW 40,RL 20.
Kit: Consort ninja

Yoshl the M s t
nated with the b

the family does not believe her
ing girl, but her acting is usually

1 Michiko the Imposter, hf, Ninja6 AC 9 in martial arts
whomever his
(bonus from Dexterity), AC 7 with ninjutsu;

120 Chapter Nine

He can't discuss his one fascination with a Running (Constitution -6); Set Snares @ex-
non-ninjabecause only ninja study ninjutsu. terity -1). (Yoshi receives three proficiency
slots for his Intelligence.)
Combat: If Yoshi must fight while obliged
ThiefAbilities: PP 0, OL 0, F/RT 0, MS 10,
to maintain his cover identity, he grits his HS 10, DN 0, CW 10, RL 0 (all lower thannor-
teeth and does as the party leader tells him, mal due to the Shadow Warrior kit).
typically getting around behind the enemy
line and charging archers and magicians. Kit: ShadowWarrior ninja.
When on a night-suit mission, he seeks out
any opponent who demonstratesmartial arts Hanako the Ghost
prowess and challengeshim to battle.
History: At the age of three, Hanako was
Yoshi the Purist, hm,Ninjal: AC 7 (Dex- the prize in a grisly game of death. The
daughter of a farming family who had noth-
terity bonus and leather armor), AC 5 with ing to do with ninja, she watched helplessly
ninjutsu; MV 12; hp 6; THACO 20;#AT 1(2 as a rowdy band of ronin barged into her
with ninjutsu); Dmg ld8 (wakizashi), ld2 home, demanded food and service, and chose
(basicninjutsu), 2d2 (ninjutsu arcle kick); SZ to take offense at the poor provisions given to
M (5'10" tall); ML 15; AL N. them. The ronin slaughtered her parents and
siblings, then played hide-and-seek with
S 14, D 15, C 12,I 13,W 12,C 10. Hanako, laughing as they chased her from
Special Items: None. hiding place to hiding place, intending to kill
Projciencies: Weapon: oriental blades. Non- her as well when the game grew dull.
weapon: Basic Ninjutsu;Ninjutsu CircleKick;
Ninjutsu Feint; Pole-Vaulting (Dexterity);

Luolples 121

She made it as far as the forest near her Projiciencies:Weapon: dagger,Nonweapon:
home. The laughing ronin chased her into the
tActing (Charisma -1, two slotp from Rogul
trees.Then they died,oneby one, as a jonin, a
senior member of a ninja clan,killed them for group); Engineering (Intelli ence -3, twc
slots); Feign/Detect Sleep (Int lligence, twc
their coarseness and brutality. slots from Rogue group); HerQaIisrn (Intelli
The ninja took Hanako back to the clan and gence -2, two slots); Observdtion (Intelli-
gence); Reading/Writing (Intklligence +l).
raised her as a member of his own family. She (Hanako receivesfive proficiencyslots for her
grew up in the ninja tradition and gradually Intelligence.)
lost the feeling of being an outsider, though
the sense of loss she felt at her family’s mur- Sewndary Skills: Scribe.
der never went away. When she exhibitedthe ThlefAbilities:Ms 10,HS 50, RL 10.
characteristicsof a magical adept, the clan Kit: Shinobi Illusionist.
lord decided to give her trainjng as a wizard
instead of a ninja. With this training, she Kozo the Madman
could resume her true name (an identity that History: At the age of six, Kpzo, child of i
could not be penetrated because it was not
false) and return to the outer world on mis- ninja clan, slipped off a cliff yhile playinf
sionsfor the clan. She has chosen to specialize with hisbrothers and fell 60feet. Though sen
as an illusionist, concentratingon spells of ously injured, he miraculously survived. AI
concealment and invisibility. he got older, he decided that he was living OK
time granted him by the gods and that hi
Description: Hanako is a pale, willowy must exploit their gift to the iiullest. He ha!
young woman. She gives an impression of chosen to learn the strangest ;ind most dan
physical weakness that is far from the truth. gerous of skills, which makes a valuabli
Her eyes are an unusually pale brown, her specialist to his ninja clan. But lbk native reck-
expression always grave. She is kind to chil- lessness sometimes makes hhl the weak ele-
dren, but there is a merciless streak to her, the ment of a plan.
core of whichwas undoubtedly formedwhen
she watched her family die. She will kill with- Description: Kozo is unusually tall anc
out remorse for her adopted family. strongly built, with a merry elcpression tha
only hints at the crazinesshis clan knows tc
Combat: When danger lurks, Hanako uses expectfromhim.
her spells to make herself hard to find. She
may use her magic to position herself so that Combat: In combat, Kozo Havitatesto the
she can make a deadly strike, or she may fire
missile attacks from a position of conceal- biggest, meanest-looking apponent and
ment. She camesmany throwing knives.
trades blows. His fearlessness bometimes le@
Hanako the Ghost, hf,Il15:AC 8(Lkxterity
him cow more powerful opponents, but i
bonus); MV 12;hp 14;THACO 19;#AT 1;Dmg
often keeps him in combat lon$ after his allie
ld3 (dagger) or by spell; SZ M (5’3” tall); ML
would prefer that he leave. Spmetimes the!
P1; AL NG. must drop smoke grenades athd bodily draf
S 11,D 16, C 13,I 16,W 10, C 13.
Special Equipment:Feather tabi, dagger +2. him from a battle scene.
Spells (5/3/2):lst-detect magic,featherfall, KozotheMadman, hm, N v a 7 : AC 4 (Dex
phantasmalwe, read mgic, spook;hd-depen
shadows, hypnotic pattern, invisibility; 3rd- terity bonus and magical armpr); MV 12; hI
b s f e rsummoning 1,wraithfim.
38; THACO 17;#AT 1; D m g ld$+2 (with ninja-
to +2); SZ M (5’11” tall); ML 17;AL CN.

S 14, D 15,C 18,I 13, W 6, C 12.

Special Equipment: Leather amor +3, ninja-to

+2, rope of climbing.

Proficiencies: Weapon: hankyu, oriental However, enemies of the Isobe clan discov-
blades. Nonweapon: Giant Kite Flying (Dex- ered that the clan leader was a ninja lord.
terity -3, two slots);Hunting (Wisdom -1); They assembled evidence against him and
Riding/Airborne (Wisdon -2, two slots); presented it to the shogun, who responded by
TightropeWalking (Dexterity); Tracking (Mi- stripping the Isobes of all lands and titles,
dom, bonus profiaency from Pathfinderninja then sendinga large army to desfmy them.
kit, +1bonus for 5th level); Water Walking The Isobes who suMved the attack fled to
the distant reaches of the empire, land sur-
(Dexterity -1). veyed by a long-dead clan lord and never
Secondary Skills: Hunter. claimed or developed. They used their ninja
skills to build a fortification at the top of an
ThiefAbiZities: PP 0, OL 0, F/RT 70, MS 60, inaccessible mountain. Allied mages and
H5 60, DN 60, C W 80,RL 0. illusionists improved the citadel, making it
Kit: Pathfinderninja.

Examples of Ninja Clans dangerous for the shogun’s wizards to
approach.
In the years since, the Isobes have acted
Here are several types of ninja clans the overtly as a ninja organization. They sell
DM can use in the campaign.
Players, take note: DMs who plan to use their servicesto whomever will pay for them.
the following clans in their campaigns are They havebecome adept at smugglingagents
free to change names and other detailsabout out past the loose cordon of shogunate spies
them. Don’t choose a clan from those listed and guards and smuggling food in through
here for your character and expect that the the same lines. Many of these techniques
clan in your DMs campaign will be identi- involve the use of clan wizards. There is a
cal. disproportionatelyhigh number of spellcast-
ers among the Isobes, and many of their
In the descriptions that follow, no enemies spells and magical items are geared toward
or allies are listed for the clans. The determi- smuggling.
nation of enemies and allies must be based on
the clans existing in the DMs campaign. Naturally, all Isobe ninja traveling in the
outer world must adopt cover identities that
do not associate them with the Isobe name.
lsobe clan Goal:The h b e s are slowly trying to create

Nickname: Black Mountain Ninja. a new ”cover” clan with samurai status. This
Known For:Smugglingskills. involves forging an alliance with a now-
Ruler: Isobe Jotaro. impoverished samurai clan, intermarrying
Symbol:Falcon. and merging with it, and covertly using ninja
techniques to make it rich and powerful. The
Territory: A difficult-to-scale mountain in clan leader expects this process to take
the darkest, nastiest comer of the empire, and decades.
one defensible valley below; includes a few
viable rice paddies and a village. Clan alignment: Neutral.

History: Ten years ago, the h b e clan was a Range of alignments:LN,NG, N, IW,CN.
samurai clan that supplied many skiJled war-
riors and military advisors to the army of the Races: Humanonly (so far).
shogun. Secretly, it was also a ninja clan of Size:Jonin/Leaders:2@ohmand hisbrother
great antiquity. Its leaders intended eventu- Toyo). Chunin/Middlemen: 12.Genin/Low-
ally to topple the shogunate and seize control Ranking: 208. others/Shinobi364.
of the empire. Resources: Wealth:Average (once Fantasti-
cally Wealthy, now still possessing substantial

Examples 123

cash reserves but with a much reduced in- eral decades, they acquired all the skills of
come). Available Resources by Mission Type: older and better-established ninja clans.
Major/Critical Missions: Lavish. Impor-
tant/ProfitableMissions: Good. Typical Mis- Over time, they became the favorite doer
sions: Adequate.MinorMissions:Inadequate. of-deedsof one noble clan, the family they are
Nonmission Activities: Inadequate. still associated with. This clan gave them
farmland to support the stable identities they
Clan Status:Nonperson. needed for security. They do not work sol
for this daimyo, but do offer him their s
Demands on members: Delivery of trea- vices at a courteously d u c e d rate.
sures, cost-accounting. The Isobes do not
insist on choice of spouse. In fact, the clan Goal: Accumulation of wealth; expansion;
actively promotes the forging of links with domination of sakebrewing.
clans and heroes all over the empire.
Clan alignment: Lawful Evil.
Nishi clur Range of alignments: LN, LE, N, NE, Cl

Nickname: Serpent Ninja. PV
Known For.Poisons. LL.
Ruler:Nishi Saburo.
Races: Humans and half-elves (of dro
Symbol: A stream of water cutting through descent).

rock. Size: Jonin/Leaders:3 (Nishi Saburo arc,
Territory: A large, wealthy holding, rich in subordinate family heads Igazashi Junzoand
Shimada Eiichi). Chunin/Middlemen: 23.
rice production, belonging to an allied samu- Genin/Low-Ranking: 468,Others/Shinobi:
rai daimyo who knows the secret of the clan. 712.

History: The Nishi clan got its start a cen- Resources: Wealth: Wealthy. Available
tury ago, when a band of samurai decided to Resources by Mission Type:Major/Critical Mis-
strikeout on their own after their treacherous sions: Good. Irnportant/Profitable Missions:
lord turned against the shogun and was Good. Typical Missions: Adequate. Minor
defeated.These samurai fled the aftermath of Missions: Adequate. Nonmission Activities:
that defeat and turned ronin. After due con- Inadequate.
sideration, they decided that wealth and
greed were far more agreeable than the blind Clan Status: Farmer.
devotionthat had resulted in their exile. Demands on members: Choice of spouse,
delivery of treasures, cost-accounting (the last
They tallied the skills available to them- two being very important to these mone
including one that proved to be of immense
help, the skill with herbs and poisons pos- Motuyoshl
sessed by the wife of one of the men-and Nickname: Needl
began offering all these skills, not just their Known For:Intrusion skill.
swords, for sale. They pooled their earnings Ruler: Motoyoshi Haruhiko.
and brought in a specialist, a drow spy who Symbol: A calligraphicbrush with an ove
could teach them even more salable skills,
sized cherry leaf a i its paper.
and eventuallypersuaded him and his imme- Territorv: The Motoyoshi clan rules no te
diate datives to ally with the ninja clan.
ritory, opeiating out oithe shogun’s capital.
These men were crude and greedy but Hislory: Forty years ago, a military advisor
smart; they continued to plow some of their
profits back into training and acquisition of to the old shogun had a visiondr perhaps it
favors and knowledge. Over a period of sev- was a hallucination. He saw himself visited
by the god of truth, who announced that

henceforth the man’s allegiancewould be to Her Majesty‘s Minlstry of Intelligence
the god instead of the shogun, and that the
man must use the tools of deception so as to Nickname: The Peepers.
be on guard against those same dangers. The Known For: Panache.
man retired from military service and became Ruler: Sir Trevor Draken.
a priest of the god, but brought up his grand- Symbol: The black stone
children as ninja, the better to accomplish the Territory: The Ministry controlsno spec]
goals of the clan. territory; it is a subset of some imperial gc
ernment in the DMs campaign world.
Goal: The Motoyoshi clan is devoted to History: Her Majesty’s Ministry of Intelli-
truth for its own sake. Its members exist as gence was created 30 years ago by Sir Larris
gadflies constantly stinging the shogunate Draken, father of the current minister. The
bureaucracy. Their tactic is to ferret out all elder Sir Draken, an old military intelligence
secrets and expose them for the other lords of officerof the army, argued persuasively before
the land to learn. This makes it more difficult the Crown that the nation’s rulers needed a
for the shogun to keep the lords at one anoth- small, highly trained, highly motivated unit of
er’s throats. The more secretive the shogun spies who were more adept at missions of
and his government become, the more intrusion and sabotage than the individual
offended the Motoyoshi presume the god to doers-of-deeds employed by each military
be, and the more strenuously they perform leader.
their missions. The Crown agreed and lavished an enor-
mousbudget on the Minishy In the years since,
Clan alignment: Neutral Good. some rulers have used the Ministry as a valu-
Range of alignments. LG, LN, NG, N, CG. able tool for finding out crucial information
Races: Human only (so far). about the nation’s friends and enemies, while
Size: Jonin/Leaders: 1(Motoyoshi H d - others have looked on it as merely a form of
ko). Chunin/Middlemen: 5 (Haruhiko’s sons entertainment.(It is for this reason that all Min-
and a promising grandson). Genin/Low- istry agents are chosen for and trained in dash
Ranking: lO.Others/Shinobi: 23. and daring. The more entertainedthe king and
Resources: Wealth: Average. Available queen areby their exploits, the more money the
Resources by Mission Type:Major/Critical Mis- Ministry receives to perform its duties.)
sions: Good. Important/Profitable Missions: Goal: To protect the Crown through acqui-
Adequate. TypicalMissions:Adequate. Minor sition of secretskept by foreignpowers.
Missions: Adequate. Nonmission Activities: Organization alignment: Neutral Good.
Inadequate. Range of alignments: LG, LN, NG, N, CG.
Clan Status:Samurai. Races: Humans and half-elves.
Demands on members: No special Size: Leaders: 1(Sir Trevor Draken). Mid-
demands. dlemen: 3 (divisional leaders: Foreign Divi-
sion, Domestic Division, Court Division).
Other Ninja-Type Organizntions Low-Ranking: 60. Others: 100.
Resources: Wealth: Fantastically Rich.
As Chapter 3 indicates, the ninja character Available Resources by Mission Type: Major/
creation rules can be used to create spies and Critical Missions: Lavish. Important /Prof-
killers as well. Such characters are often itable Missions: Lavish. Typical Missions:
grouped into organizations such as the two Good. Minor Missions: Good. Nonmission
described below. Activities: Good.

I Examples 125

1i

!i

I

r-' .-

I

i

Clan Status: Noble. that were going to war. He q e d to persuade
Demands on members: N o special de- the warring rulers that war was folly, but
mands. couldn't. Both rulers were SQ convinced that

The Priestsof Ya'ang-Keegor the war was necessary that h e y told him he
Nickname: Those Madmen
Known For:Doing the impossible. could not prove somethihg that was SO
Ruler:Balabath the Occluded. patently untrue.
Symbol: The sun being quenched as it
He asked each of them to write down three
descends into the ocean. impossiblethings and asked them to a p e to
Territory: This organization, which can
a trial If he could perfom all six impossible
have branches in any civilized land infected
by contact with its nation of origin (wfich can t.a~sk~s, ~thev would concede that they were
be any anaent land from the DM's campaign wrong and stop the war.
world), controls lands in many inaccessible
regions. It prefers mountain plateaus and, if According to legend, the $ar raged on for a
the terrain supports it, mesa summits.The year. Then Ya'ang-Keegor iappeared, seized
regions controlled by the Priests of Ya'ang- both kings, spirited them ?way to a distant
Keegor are heavily agricultural areas. cave, and performed all si$ tasks. Only the
three of them were present,;so there were no
History:Centuries ago, a mad mage named witnesses to the tasks an4 the exact list of
Ya'ang-Keegor had relatives in two nations deeds has been lost. Scholbrs amuse them-
selves by assembling lists:of likely events;
playwrights concoct playp showing these
events with different taski. Popular beliefs
have the^

126 ChapterNlne

through the head of a pin without shrinking Organizationalignment: ChaoticNeutral.
the elephant or enlargingthe pin, winning the Range of alignments: NG, N, NE, CG, CxT
war for each ruler without bloodshed, tum- CE. (Lawfultypesneed not apply.)
ing off the sun or moon for a day, demonstrat- Races: Human.
ing mathematically that no number is equal Size:Leaders: 20 (high priest Balabath the
to itself, and other deeds. Occluded and his immediate subordinates).
Middlemen: 126.Low-Ranking: 1,533. Others:
The wizard ended the war and acquired 2,217.
Resources: Wealth: Average. Available
many followers. He never taught them how Resources by Mission Type:Major/Critical Mis-
to do impossible things; he just told them sions: Adequate. Important/Profitable Mis-
nothing was actually impossible if they fig- sions: Adequate. Typical Missions: Inade-
ured out all the angles and approaches.He set quate. Minor Missions: Inadequate. Nonmis-
himself his own impossible task, that of sion Activities: Inadequate. (The priesthood
becoming a god, and kept about it for the rest has reasonable resources but uses them to live
of his life while being followed around by well rather than to accomplish its peculiar
admirers. Over the years, those admirers did
begin setting bigger and harder tasks for goC&l.a) n Status: Priesthood (whatever that
themselves, with no regard to morality or means in a specificculture).
functionality. They stopped wars and broke
up tightly bonded clans, stole carefully Demands on members: Choice of spouse;
guarded treasures and found lost ruins, the choice is always someone who is an
arranged for peasants to become kings and impossible choice (someone who hates the
kings peasants, settled disputes that even the
gods failed to resolve, sank unsinkable ships, character, someone who cannot be allowed to
and more.
marry the character, etc.).
Today, centuries after the mage's disap-
pearance or death, his memory is kept alive
by this odd priesthood of men and women
who exist mainly to cause trouble. Most
members of the priesthood are spies (ninja),
while a few are clerics, wizards, and members
of other classes taking shinobi kits.

Ironically, should the mage Ya'ang-Keegor
have achieved apotheosis, he will never
approach his priests. Before he died, or
departed on the path to godhood,he told his
followers that any god coming to them and
calling himself by the name of Ya'ang-Keegor
must be a fake. They have taken his words to
heart and will show no particular interest in a
god identifying himself as their god.

Goal: To demonsbate man's worthlessness
by showingas false every one of his claims; to
demonstrate man's greatness by showing

how he can accomplish everything he imag-
ines. (The paradox is typical of the order's
thinking.)

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