The Way of the Ninja
The ninja agent of the mountain clan throws her light grappling hook over the ridgepole of the tiled wall's roof and draws up the slack of its rope. She glances at her colleague to her, and swiftly scales the wall and roof and crouches. Stone lanterns cast circles of light on the ground of the mansion's inner courtyard garden. She sees a unkempt ronin with a long yari spear standing watch. His face is scarred from an old battle, he's missing fingers from his sword hand, and he's big, too. But he looks bored. He shifts and stamps his feet and leans to stretch his back. The ninja glances to observe the house's tile roof above and behind him. Very suitable for dropping close behind him and taking just one step forward.
A raised wooden walkway wraps around the house. A big dog lying on it raises its head and ears and peers into the darkness, directly in the shinobi's direction. She freezes, but with her body relaxed. She thinks no thoughts and focuses attention on nothing. Using the way of ninjutsu, she becomes one with the background, the sound of the nighttime crickets, and the night itself. Nonexistent, and so not perceivable. The dog settles on the veranda again and lays its head between its paws.
The ninja quietly backs up crouching, to the edge of the roof and her dangling rope. She looks down and slightly raises a palm. Her comrade, a young man in dark indigo and bearing a small bundle, nods. He silently scales up the rope onto the roof. Their first ever mission has begun.
Game System: Fantasy Games Unlimited Bushido 2nd Edition (1981)
Posting Rate: 1 to 2 times per week. Faster if you want if things get exciting.
GM can promise to do major posts on Sundays.Setting: Japan of 1178. The Genpei War between two great samurai houses and their allies has begun. The PCs are members of a ninja clan under contract with one of the warring samurai clans. At this time the Emperor, aristocracy and wealthiest have high culture and civilization in the capital Kyoto and in the cities. But most people outside of those are peasant farmers and their samurai governors. And in the mountains-- which comprise most of Japan-- spirit creatures and non-human beings thrive and prevail.
Bushido is a crunchy game, and combat is very tactical. The rules are almost like wargame miniatures rules. A grid or hexes map with the terrain, characters' distance from each other, and their facings is almost always needed. But in my opinion, it's a pretty brilliant design, with the many various parts neatly meshing together in an almost engineering science way. In April 2023, three of us (all veterans to US that some players will know) will have been discovering, exploring, and playing Bushido here in US for two years. We're a collegial group, and we can coach new players through character generation and general gameplay.
What to expect:
-This game will have an emphasis on planning and tactics. PCs will have to find ways to complete missions assigned by the clan. Those can involve mapping a compound or castle, spying, stealing or planting an item, patiently infiltrating an organization, scouting a military force, sabotage, arson, eliminating a threat to the clan (spirit beings, non-human denizens of Nippon, enemy ninja, etc.) And of course, assassination.
-Ninja in Bushido have special skills that can be tactically very powerful (disguise/acting, silent movement, entangling/disabling strike, instant kill, etc.) (Successful "roll under one's skill level" rolls are required). But the situation has to be right. A ninja who ends up battling a samurai or ronin bushi is not likely to win or survive.
-PCs won't have to manage money. Needed resources are provided by the clan commune. Successful completion of missions is rewarded by being given time to train, which is the main way of advancing a PC in Bushido.
-Ninja in Bushido have a variety of special equipment for a clever player to use. Examples: Steel claws for climbing; interlocking sword and scabbard that can used to make a ladder for climbing; scabbard that can be used as an underwater breathing tube; mini caltrops to be scattered to slow down pursuers or partially block passages; "blinding egg" eggshells that spread noxious powder when thrown. PCs can invent their own equipment during awarded training times.
-GM is a feudal Japan history nerd, and I'll try to make the game as realistic as possible, but not to the point of not being fun. By nature ninja are social outcasts and considered criminals to be hunted down-- even though everyone at a certain level of power may need their services at some point. So knowledge of Japan's history or how to behave in it society is not needed.
-Your mission, should you choose to accept: Retrieve the stolen katana blade forged by the master smith Murasame. Believed to be somewhere in here. A previous team surveillance/mapping team reports guards of five ronin, one of whom has the intelligent and relaxed look of an uncommon warrior. And also, strange wailing sounds from the outbuilding to the southeast. Probably human, or something mimicking a human.
