Campaign Setting - Ninja and the Kumo Clan

[jemmus]

It is currently the last week of Shiwasu*. The month with the Chinese characters for "monk, sensei" and "run." The month of running around preparing for the new year. Everything must be made clean before the start of the new year. Houses and clothing cleaned, gardens weeded, thatched roofs repaired, debts settled, unused things thrown out of storage. If people are away from their families' homes, they try to return there for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Nobles, samurai, merchants, peasants and eta save to eat their best meal of the year with their families. On New Year's Eve, Shintoists visit shrines and Buddhists visit temples to honor the kami or the Buddha and pray for good fortune in the new year.

This year, the new year's holiday may be a little more somber than most. The two greatest samurai clans, the Taira and the Minamoto, and their cadet clans have been at war since the fall. The has driven the price of basic commodities up for everyone. And with samurai charged with policing the provinces busy fighting each other, disorder has increased. Bandits, brigands, and yakuza have grown bolder. And the fell wild beasts and horrid monsters pushed by humans into the wild mountains and swamps have begun to appear startlingly close to the villages and hamlets. As in the tales of old, before the grandparents' time.

It is the third day after the new moon, and the moon is waxing to crescent. In four days it will be at half. In this time of year the weather in Kai Province can vary widely day by day. Two days clear, two cloudy, two of rain, a day of light snow.

It is now eight days before the new year. Most people won't have had time yet to actually start work on their new year's preparations. But some who need structural repairs done, to settle a debt, or to travel to a distant home town will have done so.

The current date is March 25, 1179. The new year starts on April 1, which is considered the first day of spring.

The Moon's phases and the weather affect visibility outdoors at night, of course. The more moonlight, the better to see, or be seen.

[jemmus]

I have a 1992 book on historical ninja by Cambridge U. samurai history scholar Stephen Turnbull. I haven't gotten very far into it, but I saw that he said that a yamabushi was a favorite disguise for ninja. Yamabushi are mountain Shinto shamans. The live in the mountains and come down to the villages to perform spiritual healing and exorcisms (even now). Outside of Japan there's a lot of confusion with yamabushi shamans and sohei Buddhist temple warrior monks. Yama is "mountain" and bushi sounds like "warrior." But this bushi means "one who prostrates himself on the earth." With "mountain," so "in the mountains."


Anyway, Dr. Turnbull says that ninja favored a yamabushi disguise because:
-They live in mountains, so they weren't expected to know anybody or be known by anybody in a town or village;
-Most people had never seen one before, and they were odd mountain hermits, so nobody had any expectations about how the "yamabushi" should behave;
-They carried everything they owned in big crate backpacks. Very useful for carrying ninja mission gear.

By that logic, a pilgrim or pilgrims traveling to Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines might also work. Pilgrims don't normally have backpacks, but somebody could be their peasant porter(s).

[jemmus]

"Hot Springs Resort"/"Geisha House" Inventory

100 65 silver months, 300 copper days Kaida to 35 silver
Futons (6)
Winter blankets (6)
Bandages (10 6) Jinsei took 4
Salve (10)
Dried fish
Water urn
Rice
Tea
Light crates (4)
Baskets (4)
Furoshiki Kaida took it
20 yds ropes (3)
10 yds chain
Grappling hook (no rope or chain)
Wood saw, hack saw, hammer, crowbar, pick, axe, shovels (2)
Nails
Iron spikes (6)
Flint and steel (3)
Lanterns with stick handles (4)
Candles
Oil flasks (5)
Cloth squares (rags)
Pine torches (10)
Brush, inkstone and paper
Lockpick set Jinsei took it
Nekote (climbing claws)
Ninjato (2)
Han-kyu
Bowstrings (3)
Arrows (30)
Darts (30)
Shuriken (20)
Blowgun
Manrikigusari
Kusarigama
Kyotetsu-koge
Aiguchi
Poisons
Bomb

[jemmus]

Current Situation in the City of Kofu
-Kofu and the surrounding province of Kai are governed (officially on behalf of the Emperor) by the Takeda clan. The Takeda are renowned warriors, renowned especially as cavalry mounted on the famous horses of Kai.

-The Takeda are a part of the great Minamoto family of samurai clans. The Minamoto are at war with their cousin clans, the Taira. The Taira are mostly in the capital of Heian-kyo (Kyoto) and western Nippon, while the Minamoto are mostly here in eastern Nippon. Both clans are descendants of the younger sons of Emperors, who were a century ago given lands in the provinces outside the capital and sent to govern them.

-The Kumo Clan is under contract with the Takeda.

-It's now the beginning of Spring. Last Fall, the Takeda and their allies lost in a disastrous battle with the Taira. (That happened according to Bushido's rules for army battles and PCs' roles in them). The Takeda are on the defensive. As such, there are guarded checkpoints at all major entrances into the city (including the river). The checkpoints are mainly staffed by armored samurai and ashigaru bushi, sometimes with a shugenja as well.

-It’s impossible for the Takeda to guard every possible way into the city. So, they run patrols of the outskirts of the city, and well as the streets of the city itself. The patrols are generally comprised of armored ronin and ashigaru bushi, commanded by a Takeda samurai.

-Ninja also watch for suspicious characters. These should be ninja of the Kumo Clan, so not a concern. But the clan is not so naive to believe that the Takeda gave them an exclusive contract for ninja services.

-The clan highly suspects that ninja in the service of the enemy Taira clan are attempting to infiltrate Kofu, if they haven't already done so. If so, the ninja could be from allied, neutral, or enemy clans.

-As backup to their checkpoint and patrols system, the Takeda have posted a decree before all markets, inns, taverns, temples, shrines, and before the gates of Kofu Castle:
1. Any suspicion of enemy activity, dishonesty, or deceptive activity must be reported to the authorities.
2. Anyone who fails to promptly report such activity will come before the magistrate for sentencing and punishment.
3. No one without a permit may wear armor or carry a strung bow on the highways of Kai, or inside of Kofu city.
4. The curfew from the Fall remains in place. No person may move along a city street from the Hour of the Boar* until sunrise. Drunkards remaining in inns, taverns, or tea houses after curfew must not depart and must remain in place overnight.
5. No merchant may export from Kai province any weapon of piece of armor, without an approved permit.

*9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

[jemmus]

[jemmus]

The young ninja recall a special lecture by aged Hari ("Needle")-sensei to the class of adolescent shinobi. Today we will discuss the many uses of our friend take bamboo. I will present to you all a list of some of its numerous uses.
A cut section with one partition left on can be a container for water, other liquids, or anything at all.
Some types, dried and cured, make fine shafts for arrows.
Tied together with rope, it makes a good raft and provides its own pole for poling along rivers, ponds, lakes and sea coasts.
With the partitions knocked out, it can be a tube for breathing while underwater, underground, or in smoke. If in smoke, the wise ninja breathes from the ground, not from overhead.
A section with two partitions and a drilled hole makes an excellent bomb casing.
A section of the proper width makes a surprisingly supple, effective and painful substitute for a ninjato sword. He jumps as if thwacked across is thin butt. Ow! The students smile and giggle.
One stalk of bamboo will make innumerable strong and resilient pointed stakes. They will easily go through a straw sandal, which even a samurai general wears. But-- an axe, ninjato, or other swung blade-- or a saw-- is required to cut and make the angle of the head.
The leaves are long and narrow, like a person's fingers. They can be shaped in kuji-kuri ninja hand signs language shapes and left for another ninja to see.
Cut vertically, the strips of the sides of the stalk are perfectly straight. Useful for making very-- tidy-- maps-- when back at base. Or for playing around with and working on great works of art. The students laugh.
It's beautiful in an ikebana flower arrangement. He briefly mimics an elitist samurai artist and makes a haiku:
"My beautiful vase
A poor bamboo stands beside
Lilies and roses." Young Kawaishi-sensei laughs, but the kids really don't get it.

Best of all. The flavor of o-sake that has been warmed close to boiling in fresh-cut bamboo shoots. But you all will have to wait for that until you're older.

Old Hari-san pauses for a moment, and it seems like he's going through some time and some thoughts. Oh yeah, I remember now-- Another use of bamboo: A thin stalk makes a good switch for switching misbehaving ninja students. He smiles with a twinkle in his eye and the students laugh out loud. And another: For swinging and dropping over moats and walls. He nods to Kawaishi-sensei with a signal in his eye and makes for the exit. Arigato! Fight, and good luck, all of you! You're good ones.

Kawaishi-sensei says, Today we go to a bamboo grove close to the river. You will learn how to climb a tree and leap to a tall bamboo stalk. Then, how to use your weight to bend it to the other bank of the river and drop down on it. And that’s what the students did.

[jemmus]

The ninja casually make their way along the residential side street passing by the merchant Tanaka Jiro's house. There are fine house and mansions on either side of the street, all surrounded by the tile-roofed walls of Nipponese architecture.

Walls that are difficult to scale, because of the overhanging roof. For an untrained person, it would be close to impossible. For a ninja, difficult to do with one try. For a monkey or a ninja trained in the karumi-jutsu climbing and jumping skill... still difficult. But significantly less difficult.

The houses at this southeastern end of this street have roofs with tile glazed dark blue, lighter blue, earthen red, and even almost spider lily red. A little showy; almost gaudy. They must be the houses of rich merchants, not samurai. From the street, the ninja can't see much except the branches of trees in courtyards rising above the walls and they tiled roofs behind them. But they can see they're all in the standard form of a rectangular buildings behind a small courtyard, within a surrounding wall.


But after passing a few merchants' mansion, the see one that can only be the one described by Kawaishi-sensei.

Kawaishi's sketch of what this kind of compound typically looks like
The front wall stretches 130 yards or longer, and from what they can see, the east and west walls might as well. The grounds are the size of those of Buddhist temple in a city. To the young ninja of the mountain Village, it's an unimaginably extravagant use of precious fertile flat valley land. From the narrow street, the walls and their overhanging roofs obscure any view of the interior of the grounds. No tiled second-story roof rising above the walls can be seen. Only the branches of garden maples, cherry trees, plum trees, and stands of tall, flexible green bamboo gently swaying in the breeze can be seen. Both ninja recall a half-day’s training on how it seems that the original building commissioners had such abundant wealth and resources as to build a spreading one-story complex, with no inconvenient stairs for them and their guests to climb.

There is a great, thick wooden gate in the center of the front wall, topped by a rising roof. Smaller gate roofs gates can be seen on the east and west side walls, 30 yards from the front wall at the south. Beside the eastern gate are two two-wheeled handcarts loaded with young trees with wrapped balls of roots and earth. A steel pick and steel shovel lean against one of the carts. The trees may to be fruit trees of some sort-- cherry, plum, apple or peach. They definitely aren’t the maples, oaks, and elms of the mountains. There’s a huge pile of freshly cut fully-leafed maple branches, and another pile of fresh log sawn into yard-long sections. The sound of sawing and chopping green wood comes from the northeastern area of the compound.

[jemmus]

Kawaishi-sensei had shown the young ninja of the Kumo clan her rough drawing of estates similar to Tanaka Jiro's and said, The kind of architecture is called shinden zukuri. It is common in the capital Heian Kyo*, but in provincial Kofu there is only one. She then pointed out the various features of a shinden zukuri residence.

This type of mansion is distinctive for having two open air galleries overlooking a pond and stream. They are almost always artificial. Guests can boat on them and few the owner's koiornamental carp. Or they can sit in either gallery, or both, and observe performances. Or they can observe the Moon or the flowers of the fruit trees in the garden and write haiku. Or have incense-smelling parties.

The central building of the shinden zukuri is the place for entertaining guests indoors. Here is where tea is served and meals are taken. And it is where the owner displays his expensive works of art. It's the natural place where the merchant Tanaka Jiro would show off his fine tea vessel. Perhaps on a shelf on a wall. Or perhaps in a tea set box with other cups, the brazier and kettle for boiling water, and other implements for brewing and whisking frothy green tea. But Jiro is a newly-rich merchant of humble origin, known for sharp trading. Only last summer he spent every early evening in an ordinary inn in Kofu called the The Aged Person Waterfall. It is known that a train of goods, porters and oxen train of his way lost on the road to the Kanto region to the east. But through clever ruthless trading-- and possibly bribery of samurai officials-- less than a year later he was wealthy enough to buy his shinden zukuri villa.

It should be noted that many exterior walls of a shinden zukuri are light, and on fine days, can be removed to reveal views of the gardens. Interior shoji sliding doors can also be removed and reconfigured to create bigger rooms or smaller, more private spaces.

Such a man of low origins and hard ways and means may have a suspicious mind. Such a man may not leave a precious item in open display or in an ornamental tea cabinet. When he's not displaying it to guests, he may keep it under lock and key in a chest or a closet. On the other hand, he may have an artistic temperamental enjoys viewing the work of art every day. We don't know. We'll know better when you've returned and reported what you've seen and heard.


*Later called Kyoto

[jemmus]

Old ninja Hari*-sensei had said to the class, The ninja has two powerful abilities for moving among people undetected. Hensu-jutsu, the technique of playing the role of a some ordinary member of society. Ninjutsu, the technique of moving both unheard and unseen. Ninjutsu is a unique skill only we can learn. A yakuza burglar can learn shinobi-jutsu and move unheard. But only a ninja can also move unseen. It is an ability that is many times more difficult, and many times more useful.

A challenge for a ninja is to decide which tool is better for the current situation and objective: ninjutsu, or hensu-jutsu? Kawaishi will explain the practical matters to you.

The students' daily teacher, young woman Kawaishi**-sensei steps forward. Ninjutsu is something that most students of the Kumo clan excel at. It requires deftness and quickness, which we learn from training in the other physical techniques. But it also requires mental acuity, something that is acquired by meditation and mastering mental discipline, as the gakusho and shugenja do. If you are practicing your katana script at your desk, and I silent stare at your back from the doorway behind, what to you do? You notice someone looking at you, and you turn your head to look. The master of ninjutsu is not only deft and quick, but a master of not projecting attention. Their minds are empty, they are nothing. So they are nothing to be heard, seen, or sensed.***

The advantage of ninjutsu over hensu-jutsu: The ninja has all weapons and special tools ready for immediate use. A disadvantage is the time required move to a concealed place and change from hensu-jutsu costume to ninja garb and ready the equipment.

Hensu-jutsu. "When hens wake up in the morning, they only think about the weather outside the coop."**** This means that a person believes not what they really see, but what he expects to be true from ordinary past experiences. The technique of hensu-jutsu is take advantage of people's mental laziness and their preconceptions. It involves something similar to ninjutsu's being a master of not projecting one's attention, but somewhat differently. Rather than becoming nothing, the ninja's mind becomes the person portrayed. Most of us of the clan are poor at this, because we are not given the time needed for careful self-training. Now I will ask you, students, to think. When attempting hensu-jutsu, as a ninja and not a skilled actor, on whom is it most likely to be successful? The answer is, the bored and the slow-witted. Those who won't bother to suspect. But if they suspect, then you must put your hensu-jutsu skill to the test. And succeed. And if you don't? You must escape, using every other skill or trick you have available.

An on whom is hensu-jutsu likely to be the least successful? The answer is: the intelligent humans or creatures; humans charged with checking or investigating; gakusho, shugenja, artists, musicians, and of course actors and performers.

An advantage of hensu-jutsu is free movement among ordinary people, with reasonable caution. Another is that in an encounter, the ninja doesn't even have to act the part, unless the other person is attentive enough to suspect. Which is mostly rare. But if it does happen-- most ninja have no much chance of further deceiving.

A disadvantage is the same as but reverse. The ninja needs time and a place to change from costume operations clothing and equipment. During which time, the agent could be vulnerable, of course.

*Needle
**River Rock/Pebble
***The score is derived from Deftness+Speed+Wit BCSs: Fuma-11; Jinsei-10; Kaida-0; Minoru-12
****(A saying in mythic Nippon, not a real Japanese saying )
*****The score is derived from Will+Wit. BCSs Fuma-5; Jinsei-5; Kaida-9; Minoru-9. But, note that the NPC needs a Wit saving throw (Wit attribute/3 plus Level) to even suspect the disguise. (The Bushido Classic Man has Wit 10). Then, the char gets a Ninjutsu BCS roll. But please also note that if multiple NPCs are present, each gets the Wit ST. PCs can choose to roll one Ninjutsu BCS roll and have it apply to all NPCs with a successful roll, or roll a separate BCS roll for each....

Ninjutsu (for reference)
Modifiers to the die roll include:
Ninja wearing correct "uniform" (see appendix 2): +1
Ninja wearing "unsilenced" Armor: -(Armor Class )
Ninja wearing incorrect "uniform": -1
Daylight: -2
Bright moonlight: -1
Stormy night: +2
Ninja Walking: -1
Ninja Running: -3
Moving in to attack: -5
Trying to avoid contact: +1
Ninja in tree, on roof, etc. (in unlikely place): +2
Observer within 10': -3

[Marullus]

Unclear what your intending by providing this post? Are you asking me to roll one skill or the other over here?

[jemmus]

You and the group have checkpoints to go through, that so far have been at every intersection of streets in Kofu. I suppose Kaida's only option is to use hensu-jutsu or shugenja spells to get through them. The ninja profession members of the nakama the additional option of using ninjutsu. Or there could be the option of staying off of the streets, which would mean trespassing through people's property. It seems that that might cause a scene, though.

Please note that everyone going through a checkpoint is being checked for security. That means that all of the guards who are actively watching get a Detection of Hidden Things roll vs. hensu-jutsu. The Classic Man's Wit is 10, and saving throws are Attribute/3. So 3.3, round to 3. I believe bushi are -5 to the Wit attribute, so the ST is 1.6, round to 2. And add the character's level to the ST. If a checkpoint guard's ST succeeds, then the PC has to make a BCS roll for hensu-jutsu. I believe Kaida and Minoru have pretty good hensu-jutsu BCSs, but Fuma and Jinsei's BCSs might be around 10.

[Marullus]

Oh, okay. Yes, she needs to use hensu jutsu. If I can do countersurveillance to make sure that she's not followed and she can duck aside somewhere to switch her disguises, all the better. Best if the buke girl stops existing quickly.

So, just waiting to find out if Kaida leaves the house, how many hensu jutsu tests you need, etc.

[jemmus]

New Year's Holiday in Nippon
New Year's in Nippon is not a time not for festivities, but for wrapping the old year and preparing for the new one. In the Shinto way native to the people of Nippon and deeply infused into them, what is impure or corrupted must be replaced by what is pure and pristine. Houses are swept out, gardens are weeded, old clothing is discarded (or for the poor, thoroughly washed and mended), weapons are honed, armor is oiled and loose laces are tightened, plans for the new year's training in the bugei or spiritual arts are made. And outstanding debts are paid (as many as possible). Then, on New Year's Day itself, all of the people of Nippon visit the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temple of their locale. At the shrines, to pass through the torii gates, be purified and pull the rope of the bell to call the kami's attention to one's honoring of them.

At the temples, to light a stick of incense to honor the Buddha and ask his blessings during the coming year.


The nakama know that on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, families will leave their homes to gather together at one family member's home. If it's not the home of the parents, it will be the home of the eldest brother, with whom the aged parents live. New Year's Day is the day of the morning breakfast feast and the day of the visiting the shrines and temples. So it's the greater day compared to the Eve. Families tend to visit the husband's family on one day, and the wife's on the other. Which spouse's family is favored with the visit on New Year's Day and which on the Eve varies among families-- and is a source of no small amount of contention and disharmony. But for the pragmatic part of practice of their profession, the nakama knows this: During the day of New Year's Eve, it's all hustle and bustle as people rush around making preparations. Then, after dark, the streets and highways are deserted, and the towns and villages are silent. The peaceful quiet continues through the daylight of New Year's Day. Then, after dark, the people come out of their homes to visit welcome the new year and pay their homage to the kami and the Buddha.

[jemmus]

Kawaishi-sensei had said, Distractions-- diverting the target's attention and senses away from something-- is powerful tool. When seeking to avoid detection, or when detected and seeking to escape, and in any other number of circumstances. Perhaps the most powerful and most distraction is fire. Arson. When a fire breaks out in a structure, panic and rushing ensue. The afraid panic and rush to escape and flee, and the brave rally and rush to rescue people and organize to fight the fire. All attention and senses are directed to the fire. The ninja uses that to move freely in numerous kinds of situations.

Other distractions are not so dramatic, or so potential ruinous to property that may be valuable to the client in the future. And to the property or dwellings of innocent people who are not targets of the mission. Something socially embarrassing such as scratching one's head and plucking imaginary lice and examining them may be an effective distraction. Passing gas is always an effective one. Sometimes better than a fire. The students children giggle and bust out laughing among themselves.