Difference between revisions of "Ninja (FiD)"

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{{FiD}}{{FiD-Powers}}
 
{{FiD}}{{FiD-Powers}}
A veil-walker works magic inversely to most other magician, instead of channeling power through themselves into the world, they create a magical emptiness which ambient magic will seek to fill.  
+
As a ninja you are a stealthy shadow, rarely revealing your powers except to your inner circle.
This method is very discreet and the veil-walker mindset and powers emphasizes stealth.
+
Trying to conceal your ninja identity from your crew is a bad idea, as trust relies on openness.
  
'''Touchstones:
+
A ninja uses magic inversely to most other magicians. Instead of channeling power through themselves into the world, they create a magical emptiness which ambient magic will seek to fill.
Ninjas,
+
This method is very discreet, emphasizing the ninja's stealthy mindset.
Taoism,
+
 
Naruto.
+
Ninja and [[Chi_(FiD)|Chi]] are opposite sides of the same coin, ninja are the Yin to the Yang of [[Chi_(FiD)|Chi]].
 +
The two traditions are similar in their focus on the self, but different in outlook and code of honor.
 +
Where [[Chi_(FiD)|Chi]] is direct and strive to be ideals, ninja obfuscate themselves and seek inner balance.
 +
 
 +
Many ninja operate in clans serving different masters and often in conflict.
 +
Such clans have different ranks.
 +
Genin (下忍) – Literally “lower ninja.” This is often the entry-level or “operative” rank.
 +
Chūnin (中忍) – Literally “middle ninja.” This is typically an “officer” rank or mid-tier leadership.
 +
Jōnin (上忍) – Literally “upper ninja.” This is the highest standard rank, often a senior or “leader” role.
 +
As a ninja that is a part of an adventuring group that operates independently of a clan, you may be
 +
an intendent adventurer,
 +
a rebel against your clan,
 +
on a long mission for some distant goal,
 +
or fulfilling a duty or debt of your clan.
 +
 
 +
Many fictional ninja have abilities from other playbooks, a ninja focusing on gadgets might be a Savant and a ninja focusing on personal combat might be a Weapon Master in addition to the role as ninja. In a campaign focusing on a ninja clan, such specialists might forego the ninja playbook at the start to focus on their specialized roles, just picking up the Prowl action to be able to join operations.
 +
 
 +
This playbook is inspired by fictional ninja with mystic powers.
 +
As a ninja you might be known as an assassin, lin kuei, shadow warrior, or shinobi.
 +
 
 +
'''Touchstones:'''
 +
''Ninja Scroll'' (1993),
 +
''Naruto'' (2002–2007),
 +
''Daredevil'' (2003),
 +
''Doctor Strange'' (2016).
  
 
=== Trauma Condition—Void ===
 
=== Trauma Condition—Void ===
Finger signs and meditation is used to invoke magic on yourself silently, but using magic on others requires you to verbalize loudly enough to be heard in the area the target is in when you release the power.
+
To utilize ninja arts, your presence must melt away, creating a void that magic can fill.  
This is a simple word, often the name of the Form of the magic you are using.
+
You constantly minimize your own presence—this soon becomes second nature—making any magic you cast on yourself quick and silent.
To utilize veil-walking, you must melt away and create a void that magic can fill.  
+
Hand signs and meditation are sufficient to invoke magic on yourself without a sound.
You constantly minimize your own presence, something that soon becomes second nature, but creating a magical void outside yourself takes time.  
+
 
Affecting something you touch takes a few seconds, which you can do anytime you are hidden.   
+
Creating a magical void outside yourself takes more time and requires a spoken word of activation.
Affecting something further away takes a full minute, making magic like this useless except against an entirely unaware opponent.  
+
This word, typically the name of the [[Powers_(FiD)#Forms|Form]] you are using, must be loud enough for the target to hear.
You can do this on nearby allies or as a part of an ambush, as your word only comes at the very end.
+
 
 +
Affecting something by touch takes only a few seconds and a whispered word, which is stealthy but risky in combat.   
 +
Affecting a distant target takes a full minute, making it nearly useless unless your opponent remains entirely unaware.  
 +
You can release your power at range just as you speak the final word, so you can open an ambush using a Power.
  
 
=== Special Abilities ===
 
=== Special Abilities ===
In addition to the listed powers, you have access to these special abilities.
+
When a special ability refers to Area, Duration, or Range, these are based on your tier, see page 221.
  
# '''Motion Veil:''' You may expend your '''special armor''' to resist a consequence that would allow others to notice you, or to push yourself for a feat of speed or acrobatics.
+
# '''Motion Veil:''' You may expend your Special Armor to resist a consequence that would allow others to notice you, or to push yourself for a feat of speed or acrobatics.
# '''Phantom Veil:''' At the start of a fight, you are always in hiding if there is concealment within range of your tier (p 221).
+
# '''Power Veil:''' You and your powers are difficult to detect, and you are difficult to detect using powers. This reduces effect or improves your position by two steps against supernatural detection. This has no effect on mundane observation.
# '''Power Veil:''' Your powers are difficult to sense. Abilities that detect powers start out at no effect and must have their effect increased to affect you. This improves your position by two steps against such effect.  
+
# '''Reaching Veil:''' You use powers and special abilities as if you were touching any target within a number of meters equal to your tier +1.
# '''Reaching Veil:''' You use powers and special abilities as if you were touching a target within a number of meters equal to your tier +1.
+
# '''Shadow Veil:''' Create an illusory duplicate within Range, taking level 1 harm "Shadow Drain."  This harm only affects ranged powers but can knock you out with repeated use. The clone acts as a Cohort expert (trickster) (p 96), cannot attack or interact physically, and lasts for the Duration or until dispelled, defeated, or struck by sunlight. Common uses:
# '''Shroud Veil:''' You can touch an item affected by a power to suppress that power for an instant. This is mainly useful to bypass locks and alarms created by powers, but can also weaken powers and potent weapons used against you in melee. This improves your position when confronting powers in things you can touch.
+
#* Assist (p 134) on stealth, misdirection, or sneak attacks, potentially taking consequences.
# '''Sound Veil:''' Anyone you attack in melee is momentarily silenced, the sounds they make swallowed by the void within you. This changes the type of consequences you suffer from such an attack.  
+
#* Protect (p 135) someone, sacrificing its existence.
# '''Substitution:''' When you resist a consequence caused by an enemy attack, you can move up to the range of your tier (p 221), leaving behind an inanimate object with some token of yours, such as a hat or coat. If you reach concealment you are now hidden.
+
# '''Shroud Veil:''' You can touch an item affected by a Power, Ritual or that is an Alchemical, Gadget or Magic item to suppress its operation for a minute. This is mainly useful to bypass locks and alarms created by powers, but can also weaken powers and potent weapons used against you. Improves your position when confronting the powers of things you can reach out to touch.
 +
# '''Sound Veil:''' Anyone you attack in melee is momentarily silenced, the sounds they make swallowed by the void within you. This improves position in connection with sneak attacks and changes the type of consequences you suffer with such an attack, reducing the chance of alarm.  
 +
# '''Vision Veil:''' At the start of an encounter, you can begin in hiding if concealment is within Range. When resisting an enemy attack, you can move within the Area, leaving behind a token like a hat or coat. If you reach concealment, you become hidden.
 
# '''Powers:''' [[Air Powers (FiD)|Air]], [[Animal Powers (FiD)|Animal]], <span style="text-decoration: line-through;background-color:red">[[Barrier Powers (FiD)|Barrier]]</span>, [[Darkness Powers (FiD)|Darkness]], [[Death Powers (FiD)|Death]], [[Earth Powers (FiD)|Earth]], [[Electricity Powers (FiD)|Electricity]], [[Fire Powers (FiD)|Fire]], [[Ice Powers (FiD)|Ice]], [[Flux Powers (FiD)|Flux]], [[Illusion Powers (FiD)|Illusion]], [[Kinesis Powers (FiD)|Kinesis]], [[Life Powers (FiD)|Life]], <span style="text-decoration: line-through;background-color:red">[[Light Powers (FiD)|Light]]</span>, [[Metal Powers (FiD)|Metal]], [[Mind Powers (FiD)|Mind]], [[Order Powers (FiD)|Order]], [[Plant Powers (FiD)|Plant]], [[Space Powers (FiD)|Space]], [[Time Powers (FiD)|Time]], and [[Water Powers (FiD)|Water]].
 
# '''Powers:''' [[Air Powers (FiD)|Air]], [[Animal Powers (FiD)|Animal]], <span style="text-decoration: line-through;background-color:red">[[Barrier Powers (FiD)|Barrier]]</span>, [[Darkness Powers (FiD)|Darkness]], [[Death Powers (FiD)|Death]], [[Earth Powers (FiD)|Earth]], [[Electricity Powers (FiD)|Electricity]], [[Fire Powers (FiD)|Fire]], [[Ice Powers (FiD)|Ice]], [[Flux Powers (FiD)|Flux]], [[Illusion Powers (FiD)|Illusion]], [[Kinesis Powers (FiD)|Kinesis]], [[Life Powers (FiD)|Life]], <span style="text-decoration: line-through;background-color:red">[[Light Powers (FiD)|Light]]</span>, [[Metal Powers (FiD)|Metal]], [[Mind Powers (FiD)|Mind]], [[Order Powers (FiD)|Order]], [[Plant Powers (FiD)|Plant]], [[Space Powers (FiD)|Space]], [[Time Powers (FiD)|Time]], and [[Water Powers (FiD)|Water]].
  
=== Challengers ===
+
=== Influential Shadows ===
: ˄ ˅ Daiyu, a martial artist
+
: ˄ ˅ Daiyu, an informant.
: ˄ ˅ Jian, a healer
+
: ˄ ˅ Jian, a wandering monk.
: ˄ ˅ Kazuo, the shadow
+
: ˄ ˅ Kazuo, a rival shadow warrior.
: ˄ ˅ Lin, a veil-walker master
+
: ˄ ˅ Lin of many faces, a spy.
: ˄ ˅ Yun Wei, heir to power
+
: ˄ ˅ Yun Wei, a schemer.
  
 
=== Inventory ===
 
=== Inventory ===
: ◯, ◯, ◯ Darklight goggles.
+
: ◯, ◯, ◯ Darklight Goggles.
: ☐ Darklight lantern
+
: ☐ Darklight Lantern.
: ☐ Fine burglar kit.
+
: ☐ Fine Burglary Gear.
: ☐ Heraldry.
+
: ☐ Light Camping Gear.
: ☐ Light camping gear.
 
: ☐ Light climbing gear.
 
  
* '''Darklight Goggles''' ◯: Goggles that lets you see in the invisible light of a Darklight Lamp. Vision is sepia-tinted. '''Gadget'''.
+
* '''Darklight Goggles''' ◯: Goggles that let you see in the invisible light of a Darklight Lamp. Vision is sepia-tinted. '''Gadget'''.
* '''Darklight Lantern''' ☐: A Lantern that does not shed visible light. Still hot and vulnerable to falls. '''Gadget'''.
+
* '''Darklight Lantern''' ☐: A lantern that emits invisible light. '''Gadget'''.
 
* '''Fine Burglary Gear''' ☐: A set of lockpicks. A small pry-bar. Vials of oil to silence squeaky hinges. A coil of wire and fishing hooks. A small pouch of fine sand. Refined for your use to give increased effect.   
 
* '''Fine Burglary Gear''' ☐: A set of lockpicks. A small pry-bar. Vials of oil to silence squeaky hinges. A coil of wire and fishing hooks. A small pouch of fine sand. Refined for your use to give increased effect.   
* '''Heraldry''' ◯: Kaō, shield mark, blazoned surcoat, or badge of identity and pride that identifies you to everyone and negates the cost of a resistance roll you just made. '''Playbook'''
+
* '''Light Camping Gear''' ☐: Bedroll, cooking pot, tarpaulin, fishing line, snares, all personalized and chosen to be lightweight. This gear allows a single downtime action when camping. Lacking camping gear does not allow any effective rest.
* '''Light Camping Gear''' ☐: Bedroll, cooking pot, tarpaulin, fishing line, snares, all personalized and chosen to be lightweight. Roughing it out with this gear allows a single downtime action to remove stress. Lacking camping gear does not allow any effective rest
 
* '''Light Climbing Gear''' ☐: A well-crafted set of Climbing Gear that is less bulky and heavy than a standard set. A chalk dust stone. A climbing harness concealed in your clothes. A set of steel pitons and a small silenced mallet. A silenced grappling hook. 15 meters of rope made of silk or hair.
 
* '''Prayer Beads''' ☐: Improves position against fear and mental influence. '''Playbook'''.
 
  
 
=== XP ===
 
=== XP ===

Latest revision as of 00:06, 20 February 2025

Fox in the DarkFox in the Dark logo
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Powers (FiD)Fox in the Dark logo

As a ninja you are a stealthy shadow, rarely revealing your powers except to your inner circle. Trying to conceal your ninja identity from your crew is a bad idea, as trust relies on openness.

A ninja uses magic inversely to most other magicians. Instead of channeling power through themselves into the world, they create a magical emptiness which ambient magic will seek to fill. This method is very discreet, emphasizing the ninja's stealthy mindset.

Ninja and Chi are opposite sides of the same coin, ninja are the Yin to the Yang of Chi. The two traditions are similar in their focus on the self, but different in outlook and code of honor. Where Chi is direct and strive to be ideals, ninja obfuscate themselves and seek inner balance.

Many ninja operate in clans serving different masters and often in conflict. Such clans have different ranks. Genin (下忍) – Literally “lower ninja.” This is often the entry-level or “operative” rank. Chūnin (中忍) – Literally “middle ninja.” This is typically an “officer” rank or mid-tier leadership. Jōnin (上忍) – Literally “upper ninja.” This is the highest standard rank, often a senior or “leader” role. As a ninja that is a part of an adventuring group that operates independently of a clan, you may be an intendent adventurer, a rebel against your clan, on a long mission for some distant goal, or fulfilling a duty or debt of your clan.

Many fictional ninja have abilities from other playbooks, a ninja focusing on gadgets might be a Savant and a ninja focusing on personal combat might be a Weapon Master in addition to the role as ninja. In a campaign focusing on a ninja clan, such specialists might forego the ninja playbook at the start to focus on their specialized roles, just picking up the Prowl action to be able to join operations.

This playbook is inspired by fictional ninja with mystic powers. As a ninja you might be known as an assassin, lin kuei, shadow warrior, or shinobi.

Touchstones: Ninja Scroll (1993), Naruto (2002–2007), Daredevil (2003), Doctor Strange (2016).

Trauma Condition—Void

To utilize ninja arts, your presence must melt away, creating a void that magic can fill. You constantly minimize your own presence—this soon becomes second nature—making any magic you cast on yourself quick and silent. Hand signs and meditation are sufficient to invoke magic on yourself without a sound.

Creating a magical void outside yourself takes more time and requires a spoken word of activation. This word, typically the name of the Form you are using, must be loud enough for the target to hear.

Affecting something by touch takes only a few seconds and a whispered word, which is stealthy but risky in combat. Affecting a distant target takes a full minute, making it nearly useless unless your opponent remains entirely unaware. You can release your power at range just as you speak the final word, so you can open an ambush using a Power.

Special Abilities

When a special ability refers to Area, Duration, or Range, these are based on your tier, see page 221.

  1. Motion Veil: You may expend your Special Armor to resist a consequence that would allow others to notice you, or to push yourself for a feat of speed or acrobatics.
  2. Power Veil: You and your powers are difficult to detect, and you are difficult to detect using powers. This reduces effect or improves your position by two steps against supernatural detection. This has no effect on mundane observation.
  3. Reaching Veil: You use powers and special abilities as if you were touching any target within a number of meters equal to your tier +1.
  4. Shadow Veil: Create an illusory duplicate within Range, taking level 1 harm "Shadow Drain." This harm only affects ranged powers but can knock you out with repeated use. The clone acts as a Cohort expert (trickster) (p 96), cannot attack or interact physically, and lasts for the Duration or until dispelled, defeated, or struck by sunlight. Common uses:
    • Assist (p 134) on stealth, misdirection, or sneak attacks, potentially taking consequences.
    • Protect (p 135) someone, sacrificing its existence.
  5. Shroud Veil: You can touch an item affected by a Power, Ritual or that is an Alchemical, Gadget or Magic item to suppress its operation for a minute. This is mainly useful to bypass locks and alarms created by powers, but can also weaken powers and potent weapons used against you. Improves your position when confronting the powers of things you can reach out to touch.
  6. Sound Veil: Anyone you attack in melee is momentarily silenced, the sounds they make swallowed by the void within you. This improves position in connection with sneak attacks and changes the type of consequences you suffer with such an attack, reducing the chance of alarm.
  7. Vision Veil: At the start of an encounter, you can begin in hiding if concealment is within Range. When resisting an enemy attack, you can move within the Area, leaving behind a token like a hat or coat. If you reach concealment, you become hidden.
  8. Powers: Air, Animal, Barrier, Darkness, Death, Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Flux, Illusion, Kinesis, Life, Light, Metal, Mind, Order, Plant, Space, Time, and Water.

Influential Shadows

˄ ˅ Daiyu, an informant.
˄ ˅ Jian, a wandering monk.
˄ ˅ Kazuo, a rival shadow warrior.
˄ ˅ Lin of many faces, a spy.
˄ ˅ Yun Wei, a schemer.

Inventory

◯, ◯, ◯ Darklight Goggles.
☐ Darklight Lantern.
☐ Fine Burglary Gear.
☐ Light Camping Gear.
  • Darklight Goggles ◯: Goggles that let you see in the invisible light of a Darklight Lamp. Vision is sepia-tinted. Gadget.
  • Darklight Lantern ☐: A lantern that emits invisible light. Gadget.
  • Fine Burglary Gear ☐: A set of lockpicks. A small pry-bar. Vials of oil to silence squeaky hinges. A coil of wire and fishing hooks. A small pouch of fine sand. Refined for your use to give increased effect.
  • Light Camping Gear ☐: Bedroll, cooking pot, tarpaulin, fishing line, snares, all personalized and chosen to be lightweight. This gear allows a single downtime action when camping. Lacking camping gear does not allow any effective rest.

XP

  • Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action's attribute.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that item occurred multiple times.

  • You addressed a challenge with stealth or stillness.
  • You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
  • You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.

Starting Actions

Finesse 1
Prowl 2
4 points by choice, no higher than 2 in any one.