Campaign Setting
Re: Campaign Setting
I edited the above post. It was missing both the image and some text about optional rolling for good or bad luck.
PCs
Re: Campaign Setting
One vote for skipping it.
"Roll for the dead guys facial expression" is only one step less wierd than Poop Savings Throw.
"Roll for the dead guys facial expression" is only one step less wierd than Poop Savings Throw.
Re: Campaign Setting
Something like this could be interesting if it wasn't so random and maybe tied more mechanically to something else in the system.
Optionally, the historical note could be used to add color to descriptions of the battle.
Optionally, the historical note could be used to add color to descriptions of the battle.
Re: Campaign Setting
Yes, I wish I'd remembered it during the battle. It could have added some color.
PCs
Re: Campaign Setting
The Clan
The PCs are members of the Kumo clan. The spoken word kumo can mean either "cloud" or "spider." Which is the clan's name is not known for sure.
One theory is that the name means "cloud." For the silent, distant but always-seeing, untouchable and unreachable nature of a white cloud. And the randomness and inalterable power of a dark one.
Another theory is it means "spider," because of a spider's nature as a hunter that patiently lies in wait, unmoving. Waiting in the web that it planned and riskily placed, hoping for a best-possible placement. A trap in the path of prey, but not in the area of predator wasps or bumbling larger creatures. The spiral trap that it meticulously built with much, climbing, lowering, jumping from strand to strand. It waits there for hours and hours, completely unmoving, as if not alive. But when an unwitting prey sends the first vibration through the web, it closes on the prey in the blink of an eye. It strikes with its weapons and venom, and does not hesitate to destroy its web to wrap wrap its stunned prey in its strands.
A third theory is that the clan ancestors deliberately left the name vague. Spider, cloud. Either, or both.
The Three Villages
The clan has three villages in the area of the province of Kai. They are located in hidden but strategic locations in the mountains around the province. The largest-- Kumoyama ("Cloud Mountain") is centrally located, only six ri (as the crow flies, ignoring the large vertical distances involved) east northeast of the capital of Kofu. A dangerous location, because of the risk of discovery in the most populated part of the province. But the risk is balanced by the difficulty of reaching the village. It is located on the far side of a mountain, and distant from any arable valleys. And protected by a narrow but swift and unfordable river tumbling down the mountain. A roundabout route to the village leads to a rolled up rope bridge, concealed in rocks and vegetation. It is cleverly designed to be able to be drawn up and extended, from either bank. To avoid wearing down a path to the bridge, no member of the clan may take the same footsteps to the bridge twice in a year. To do so is an offense punishable by expulsion, or death.
The Cloud Mountain village receives commissions from the Takeda samurai clan's leadership in Kofu. It serves as the communications hub for the clan.
Next in size is Ishiyama ("Boulders Mountain") village, at Kai's southern border. It is at the northern edge of the rugged Izu peninsula, which is notorious for being the home of the biggest and most powerful ninja clans. The Iga clan group (group C) and Kaga clan group (group F) are in Izu. (See p. 39 of Book 1 about clan groups). (We'll roll to see what the Kumo clan's relations are with these groups). The village's location is perhaps not as inaccessible as Kumoyama/Cloud Mountain. It is only five ri (again, as the crow flies) south of the west-to-east Tokaido highway. But it again is on a mountainside, remote from any arable mountain valley.
Third and last is the more remote Hebiyama ("Snake Mountain") village. It is small, but well situated for accessing the Nakasendo central highway, which connects to Shinano and toward the capital.
The 12 Precepts of the Kumo Clan
1. The shinobi's foremost thought is of the perpetuation of the clan.
2. The shinobi knows that the whole world always wants to erase the clan from the earth. The shinobi has no trusted friends outside of the clan, even among the allied ninja clans.
3. Every member of the clan understands that they are expendable. The way a lizard drops its tail to escape, so the clan sacrifices a member, so that body may. This is how it carries on through the years, and the way of ninjutsu.
4. The wounded shinobi or shinobi escaping from trouble chooses to die on the spot, over fleeing toward home. They never risk leading enemies to the hidden location of the clan. To do so is punishable by expulsion from the clan, or death.
5. When in doubt about the outcome, the shinobi waits. If it requires drawing 10,000 breathes or waiting 10,000 days, the shinobi waits. The nature of the ninjutsu is to endure discomfort and pain, persevere, and wait.
6. The shinobi knows it is certain that every human suffering torture will reveal what he knows. The shinobi facing imminent capture does not remain alive, so that he does not reveal such things. If captured and questioned about the locations of the clan's villages, the shinobi bites the tongue and endures the interrogation. This ensures not only death by bleeding, but the inability to reveal information by speech.
7. The shinobi avoids combat whenever possible. Fights loud, and are often with opponents who are better-armed and armored and more numerous. A bushi is a professional fighter. A shinobi is a professional at observing and accomplishing while remaining undetected. The shinobi leaves no more trace of their passage than a spider that has crossed a dry leaf.
8. The shinobi's most powerful skill is hensujutsu. When using hensujutsu, the shinobi chooses a guise that is suitable to their own natural nature and temperament. Otherwise, they will try too hard, and hardly convince anyone.
9. When eliminating a target, the shinobi uses the method that leaves the least obvious wound on the body. Poison is better drowning, drowning is better than a fall from a high place, and a fall from a high place is better than a wound from a weapon.
10. The shinobi imagines the outcome of the mission, then imagines how they will act during each step, if things are successful or if they go wrong. The shinobi is therefore never caught unprepared, and is never indecisive. This is the skill called Stategy.
11. When making a plan for a mission, the shinobi does not only consider how to accomplish the task. He also thinks of how to make the result appear to have happened other than through the work of a ninja, naturally, or through the actions of another party.
11. The shinobi does not reveal the identity of the employer, unless they have mastered the art of Strategy. And they can wisely discern if it would be for the better safety, benefit or survival of the clan. No shinobi under the rank of 3rd dan should consider it.
12. The mind of the shinobi is as clear and empty as still air and as silent as a white cloud. When they wish to be invisible, their mind says nothing and makes the body invisible. When they wish to be silent, their mind makes no noise and the body is silent. When they wish to take the guise of a fox, their mind becomes the mind of a fox, and the body becomes that of a fox.
The PCs are members of the Kumo clan. The spoken word kumo can mean either "cloud" or "spider." Which is the clan's name is not known for sure.
One theory is that the name means "cloud." For the silent, distant but always-seeing, untouchable and unreachable nature of a white cloud. And the randomness and inalterable power of a dark one.
Another theory is it means "spider," because of a spider's nature as a hunter that patiently lies in wait, unmoving. Waiting in the web that it planned and riskily placed, hoping for a best-possible placement. A trap in the path of prey, but not in the area of predator wasps or bumbling larger creatures. The spiral trap that it meticulously built with much, climbing, lowering, jumping from strand to strand. It waits there for hours and hours, completely unmoving, as if not alive. But when an unwitting prey sends the first vibration through the web, it closes on the prey in the blink of an eye. It strikes with its weapons and venom, and does not hesitate to destroy its web to wrap wrap its stunned prey in its strands.
A third theory is that the clan ancestors deliberately left the name vague. Spider, cloud. Either, or both.
The Three Villages
The clan has three villages in the area of the province of Kai. They are located in hidden but strategic locations in the mountains around the province. The largest-- Kumoyama ("Cloud Mountain") is centrally located, only six ri (as the crow flies, ignoring the large vertical distances involved) east northeast of the capital of Kofu. A dangerous location, because of the risk of discovery in the most populated part of the province. But the risk is balanced by the difficulty of reaching the village. It is located on the far side of a mountain, and distant from any arable valleys. And protected by a narrow but swift and unfordable river tumbling down the mountain. A roundabout route to the village leads to a rolled up rope bridge, concealed in rocks and vegetation. It is cleverly designed to be able to be drawn up and extended, from either bank. To avoid wearing down a path to the bridge, no member of the clan may take the same footsteps to the bridge twice in a year. To do so is an offense punishable by expulsion, or death.
The Cloud Mountain village receives commissions from the Takeda samurai clan's leadership in Kofu. It serves as the communications hub for the clan.
Next in size is Ishiyama ("Boulders Mountain") village, at Kai's southern border. It is at the northern edge of the rugged Izu peninsula, which is notorious for being the home of the biggest and most powerful ninja clans. The Iga clan group (group C) and Kaga clan group (group F) are in Izu. (See p. 39 of Book 1 about clan groups). (We'll roll to see what the Kumo clan's relations are with these groups). The village's location is perhaps not as inaccessible as Kumoyama/Cloud Mountain. It is only five ri (again, as the crow flies) south of the west-to-east Tokaido highway. But it again is on a mountainside, remote from any arable mountain valley.
Third and last is the more remote Hebiyama ("Snake Mountain") village. It is small, but well situated for accessing the Nakasendo central highway, which connects to Shinano and toward the capital.
The 12 Precepts of the Kumo Clan
1. The shinobi's foremost thought is of the perpetuation of the clan.
2. The shinobi knows that the whole world always wants to erase the clan from the earth. The shinobi has no trusted friends outside of the clan, even among the allied ninja clans.
3. Every member of the clan understands that they are expendable. The way a lizard drops its tail to escape, so the clan sacrifices a member, so that body may. This is how it carries on through the years, and the way of ninjutsu.
4. The wounded shinobi or shinobi escaping from trouble chooses to die on the spot, over fleeing toward home. They never risk leading enemies to the hidden location of the clan. To do so is punishable by expulsion from the clan, or death.
5. When in doubt about the outcome, the shinobi waits. If it requires drawing 10,000 breathes or waiting 10,000 days, the shinobi waits. The nature of the ninjutsu is to endure discomfort and pain, persevere, and wait.
6. The shinobi knows it is certain that every human suffering torture will reveal what he knows. The shinobi facing imminent capture does not remain alive, so that he does not reveal such things. If captured and questioned about the locations of the clan's villages, the shinobi bites the tongue and endures the interrogation. This ensures not only death by bleeding, but the inability to reveal information by speech.
7. The shinobi avoids combat whenever possible. Fights loud, and are often with opponents who are better-armed and armored and more numerous. A bushi is a professional fighter. A shinobi is a professional at observing and accomplishing while remaining undetected. The shinobi leaves no more trace of their passage than a spider that has crossed a dry leaf.
8. The shinobi's most powerful skill is hensujutsu. When using hensujutsu, the shinobi chooses a guise that is suitable to their own natural nature and temperament. Otherwise, they will try too hard, and hardly convince anyone.
9. When eliminating a target, the shinobi uses the method that leaves the least obvious wound on the body. Poison is better drowning, drowning is better than a fall from a high place, and a fall from a high place is better than a wound from a weapon.
10. The shinobi imagines the outcome of the mission, then imagines how they will act during each step, if things are successful or if they go wrong. The shinobi is therefore never caught unprepared, and is never indecisive. This is the skill called Stategy.
11. When making a plan for a mission, the shinobi does not only consider how to accomplish the task. He also thinks of how to make the result appear to have happened other than through the work of a ninja, naturally, or through the actions of another party.
11. The shinobi does not reveal the identity of the employer, unless they have mastered the art of Strategy. And they can wisely discern if it would be for the better safety, benefit or survival of the clan. No shinobi under the rank of 3rd dan should consider it.
12. The mind of the shinobi is as clear and empty as still air and as silent as a white cloud. When they wish to be invisible, their mind says nothing and makes the body invisible. When they wish to be silent, their mind makes no noise and the body is silent. When they wish to take the guise of a fox, their mind becomes the mind of a fox, and the body becomes that of a fox.
PCs
Re: Campaign Setting
Historical Ninja Tactics/Techniques
-Before entering the target area, prepare a concealed hole in the woods to escape to and hide in.
-If a moat is too wide to leap, climb a nearby bamboo and use one's weight to bend it over to form a bridge over it.
-If a castle or camp has allied armies who don't know each other well, dress as one army's soldiers and just walk into it.
-Before entering the target area, prepare a concealed hole in the woods to escape to and hide in.
-If a moat is too wide to leap, climb a nearby bamboo and use one's weight to bend it over to form a bridge over it.
-If a castle or camp has allied armies who don't know each other well, dress as one army's soldiers and just walk into it.
PCs
Re: Campaign Setting
Last edited by jemmus on Wed Aug 16, 2023 12:24 am, edited 4 times in total.
PCs
Re: Campaign Setting
The young ninja of the nakama know that the compounds of the temples and shrines of Nippon are open to all, no invitation or permission needed. Temples have nature gardens with benches for sitting, contemplating, or just relaxing. More cynical Nipponese say that the temples are open to everyone to attempt to attract tithes-donating converts. (The great Buddhist sects based in Kyoto were long ago granted tracts of tax-free land in the provinces. Some of them are very wealthy, and quite politically and militarily powerful). But most Nipponese believe that the temples are sincere to the Buddhist belief that attachment to material things leads to one's own corruption and suffering. How could a true Buddhist deny just the peace of enjoyment of a garden and meditation in the temple to anyone? Temple gardens are usually quite large and empty of visitors, with many places for discrete conversation. But many do have sohei warrior monks to protect them. Because temples have valuable religious artworks, including fine art wooden statues of the deities-- many of them with golden gilding.
Shrines many have similar gardens, but they are wilder and not nearly as maintained, much less as landscaped. The place itself is the perfect and sacred by nature, and the home of one or more kami. It needs no human guards. No Nipponese would dare to do something impure after passing through the vermillion torii gate. To do so would be a crime against the nature of Life itself-- to the doom of oneself, one's ancestors-- and the unimaginable of one's line of descendants as well? One enters with pure thoughts and pays acknowledgement and respect. At the risk of offending the forces of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Winds, the Sea, and the rice plants themselves.
There also many quiet places for discussion within a shrine. Sound absorbing bamboo groves, gurgling brooks, splashing tiny waterfalls.
Gambling houses are raucous and noisy. The gamblers play a simple dice game, where the current player shakes three dice in a cup and places it down on a table. The bet is simply about whether the sum of the dice will be odd or even. Apparently the skill is in negotiating the side bets in the few seconds before and during the shake, and again before the lift of the cup. There's a lot of yelling and gesturing to acknowledge acceptance of bets. (Maybe like was done on old Wall Street?) It seems that the player whose turn it was to shake had a key and quite self-interested role-- the timing of the shake and how quickly or slowly to lift the cup.
A gambling den is so noisy that likely any kind of discussion can be done at loud conversation levels can be done, and not noticed by others. The patrons are mostly yakuza. But corrupted priests gambling the temple's money and foolish fishermen and other peasants with some fresh money on them aren't uncommon in Nippon.
The young ninja don't know much about the schools and dojo. They've been taught that bushi are strong of body, but generally easily duped. Shugenja-- the opposite. Gakusho are somewhere in between, but can generally only help and not cause harm. Ninja-- the same specialization of humans. The most unpredictable, the greatest rival for resources for survival, and the most matched at abilities for the competition for expansion of safety and security. The best known, the least known, and the most direct competitor. Therefore, the most dangerous over time of the professions.
Shrines many have similar gardens, but they are wilder and not nearly as maintained, much less as landscaped. The place itself is the perfect and sacred by nature, and the home of one or more kami. It needs no human guards. No Nipponese would dare to do something impure after passing through the vermillion torii gate. To do so would be a crime against the nature of Life itself-- to the doom of oneself, one's ancestors-- and the unimaginable of one's line of descendants as well? One enters with pure thoughts and pays acknowledgement and respect. At the risk of offending the forces of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Winds, the Sea, and the rice plants themselves.
There also many quiet places for discussion within a shrine. Sound absorbing bamboo groves, gurgling brooks, splashing tiny waterfalls.
Gambling houses are raucous and noisy. The gamblers play a simple dice game, where the current player shakes three dice in a cup and places it down on a table. The bet is simply about whether the sum of the dice will be odd or even. Apparently the skill is in negotiating the side bets in the few seconds before and during the shake, and again before the lift of the cup. There's a lot of yelling and gesturing to acknowledge acceptance of bets. (Maybe like was done on old Wall Street?) It seems that the player whose turn it was to shake had a key and quite self-interested role-- the timing of the shake and how quickly or slowly to lift the cup.
A gambling den is so noisy that likely any kind of discussion can be done at loud conversation levels can be done, and not noticed by others. The patrons are mostly yakuza. But corrupted priests gambling the temple's money and foolish fishermen and other peasants with some fresh money on them aren't uncommon in Nippon.
The young ninja don't know much about the schools and dojo. They've been taught that bushi are strong of body, but generally easily duped. Shugenja-- the opposite. Gakusho are somewhere in between, but can generally only help and not cause harm. Ninja-- the same specialization of humans. The most unpredictable, the greatest rival for resources for survival, and the most matched at abilities for the competition for expansion of safety and security. The best known, the least known, and the most direct competitor. Therefore, the most dangerous over time of the professions.
PCs