Examples of Ninja Characters (CNH)

In this chapter you'll find a number of sample ninja and ninja organizations. These examples demonstrate how to use this supplement's rules. These sample characters and organizations can also be dropped, whole or modified, into your own campaign.
All character examples that follow presume that the campaign uses weapon and nonweapon proficiencies and the Advanced Martial Arts rules from Chapter 4, and that Intelligence modifies the number of nonweapon proficiency slots a character receives.
__TOC__
==Examples of Ninja Characters==
No clans are specified for the following characters, except for the Lone Wolf character. You can add them to any clan (of the appropriate alignment) where they can be of use. Naturally, some are better suited to be ally ninja; others make good enemies.
==Kyoji the Dancer==
History: The Yano clan was locked in a decades-old war with the Nishi clan (the Serpent Ninja). The Yano had suffered greater losses than the Nishi, and the final attack, an all-out raid by the Serpent Ninja, wiped out the Yano clan completely.
Or so they initially thought. But Kyoji, the youngest son of the clan leader, told by his dying father to avenge the clan and if at all possible to bring it back to life, made it out to the rice fields and beyond. He was miles from the farm site when the Serpent Ninja realized that he'd escaped.
When his clan was destroyed, Kyoji was 13 years old, a charming youth who showed great promise as a possible Consort or Intruder ninja. And though he no longer had the benefit of clan teachers to instruct him, he took with him several books pertaining to the family arts. His stubbornness and natural desire for revenge enabled him to learn his family arts through research and practice.
Kyoji made his living as an actor and entertainer, developing the artistic skills he'd just begun to learn when the attack came. Initially hopeless as an entertainer, he gradually became quite accomplished.
Today, 10 years later, Kyoji is constantly on the move, always on the prowl for information he can use against the Serpent Ninja. He often takes an identity as a dancer, moving from troupe to troupe and welcome everywhere. The Serpent Ninja are still on the lookout for him, so he abandons each identity as his enemies discover it.
Description: Kyoji is a little below average height and not particularly muscular. He moves gracefully, with a deliberate dancer's stride that he abandons when performing missions in his night-suit. His features are handsome and cheerful, and in spite of the grimness of his history he is not an angst-ridden man. He intends to establish an identity that has nothing to do with the arts—perhaps as an itinerant merchant—and take a wife willing to be part of the genesis of the new Yano ninja clan.
Combat: Kyoji is a loner; team tactics are beyond him. He prefers hit-and-run strategies in locales of his own choosing, areas typically tricked out with a variety of traps.
Kyoji the Dancer, hm, Ninja 4: AC 8 (leather armor), AC 6 (with ninjutsu); MV 12; hp 16; THAC0 19 (17 with katana); #AT 1 (2 with ninjutsu); Dmg 2d6+2 (katana +2 two-handed), 1d2 (ninjutsu); SZ M (5'4" tall); ML 13; AL NG.
S 11, D 13, C 11, I 15, W 9, C 15.
Special Equipment: Katana +2, book of one art (Yano clan ninjutsu, normally kept in a cache).
Proficiencies: Weapon: hankyu, oriental weapons (tight group). Nonweapon: Acting
(Charisma –1); Basic Ninjutsu; Dancing (Dexterity); Disguise (Charisma –1); Juggling (Dexterity –1); Survival (Intelligence, two slots); Tumbling (Dexterity). (Kyoji receives four proficiency slots for Intelligence.)
Thief Abilities: PP 0, OL 0, F/RT 30, MS 75, HS 65, DN 10, CW 60, RL 0.
Kit: Lone Wolf ninja.
==Michiko the Imposter==
History: Born 18 years ago to a neutral ninja clan, Michiko discovered early her ability to take on the mannerisms of others. This talent brought her to the eye of the clan leader. Since the age of 15, she has been sent on missions of infiltration. To provide Michiko a suitable model for her imposture, her clan attacks a procession including a young samurai woman of her age and approximate build. The young woman is captured and imprisoned, with Michiko her "nurse and servant." Michiko spends a considerable amount of time with the prisoner, learning her mannerisms and as much as possible about her. After a year or more, Michiko appears in the area of the captive's home, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the missing girl but professing to remember nothing before a year ago, when she awoke injured and confused in a rice field.
Sometimes the family does not believe her to be the missing girl, but her acting is usually sufficient for them to believe that she is a noblewoman who has lost her memory. Her similarity to their lost family member is enough to give her access to the family so she can accomplish her mission there.
Description: Michiko is of average height and very pretty. She looks younger than her years. Makeup allows her to age when she needs to pretend to be someone older.
Combat: Michiko is an average fighter, with perhaps more training in unarmed combat than people expect. When a combat situation arises, she stays in character, fighting or fleeing as the character she is impersonating would. If her impersonation is discovered, she flees if possible.
Michiko the Imposter, hf, Ninja 6: AC 9 (bonus from Dexterity), AC 7 with ninjutsu; MV 12; hp 21; THAC0 18; #AT 1 (2 with ninjutsu); Dmg 1d8 (naginata), 1d2 (ninjutsu); SZ M (5'2" tall); ML 12; AL N.
S 9, D 15, C 10, I 12, W 11, C 18.
Special Equipment: One set of talking paper.
Proficiencies: Weapon: basic ninjutsu, dagger, naginata. Nonweapon: Acting (Charisma – 1/+2, max 18); Disguise (Charisma –1/+2, max 18); Enamor (Charisma –2/+2 max 18); Etiquette (Charisma +0/+2, max 18); Observation (Intelligence); Voice Mimicry (Charisma +0/+2, max 18, two slots). (Michiko receives three proficiency slots for Intelligence and a +2 bonus to Charisma based General and Rogue proficiencies from her Consort kit.)
Thief Abilities: PP 0, OL 40, F/RT 0, MS 60, HS 90, DN 50, CW 40, RL 20.
Kit: Consort ninja
==Yoshi the Purist==
History: As a child, Yoshi became fascinated with the beauty and purity of the ninjutsu martial arts practiced by members of his clan. He began to study them almost to the exclusion of everything else. His other ninja skills never rose to match those of his relatives, but he became quite proficient at ninjutsu—unbeaten among the children of his age. He also studied a few unusual skills to help make him more valuable in the eyes of his clan lord.
His lord, rather than punish him for inadequacy, has decided to exploit Yoshi's obsession, sending him out on missions where he can study the martial arts of potential enemies and perhaps bring back knowledge about ninjutsu to enrich the family.
Description: Yoshi is of greater than average height and lean, with fiery eyes that bespeak the intensity of his study. He is handsome but unaware of it. He is interested only in martial arts and will marry without qualm whomever his lord assigns to him. When on missions that require him to pretend to be a normal person, he remains quiet and distant. He can't discuss his one fascination with a non-ninja because only ninja study ninjutsu.
Combat: If Yoshi must fight while obliged to maintain his cover identity, he grits his teeth and does as the party leader tells him, typically getting around behind the enemy line and charging archers and magicians. When on a night-suit mission, he seeks out any opponent who demonstrates martial arts prowess and challenges him to battle.
Yoshi the Purist, hm, Ninja 1: AC 7 (Dexterity bonus and leather armor), AC 5 with ninjutsu; MV 12; hp 6; THAC0 20; #AT 1 (2 with ninjutsu); Dmg 1d8 (wakizashi), 1d2 (basic ninjutsu), 2d2 (ninjutsu circle kick); SZ M (5'10" tall); ML 15; AL N.
S 14, D 15, C 12, I 13, W 12, C 10.
Special Items: None.
Proficiencies: Weapon: oriental blades. Nonweapon: Basic Ninjutsu; Ninjutsu Circle Kick; Ninjutsu Feint; Pole-Vaulting (Dexterity); Running (Constitution –6); Set Snares (Dexterity –1). (Yoshi receives three proficiency slots for his Intelligence.)
Thief Abilities: PP 0, OL 0, F/RT 0, MS 10, HS 10, DN 0, CW 10, RL 0 (all lower than normal due to the Shadow Warrior kit). Kit: Shadow Warrior ninja.
==Hanako the Ghost==
History: At the age of three, Hanako was the prize in a grisly game of death. The daughter of a farming family who had nothing to do with ninja, she watched helplessly as a rowdy band of ronin barged into her home, demanded food and service, and chose to take offense at the poor provisions given to them. The ronin slaughtered her parents and siblings, then played hide-and seek with Hanako, laughing as they chased her from hiding place to hiding place, intending to kill her as well when the game grew dull.
She made it as far as the forest near her home. The laughing ronin chased her into the trees. Then they died, one by one, as a join, a senior member of a ninja clan, killed them for their coarseness and brutality.
The ninja took Hanako back to the clan and raised her as a member of his own family. She grew up in the ninja tradition and gradually lost the feeling of being an outsider, though the sense of loss she felt at her family's murder never went away. When she exhibited the characteristics of a magical adept, the clan lord decided to give her training as a wizard instead of a ninja. With this training, she could resume her true name (an identity that could not be penetrated because it was not false) and return to the outer world on missions for the clan. She has chosen to specialize as an illusionist, concentrating on spells of concealment and invisibility.
Description: Hanako is a pale, willowy young woman. She gives an impression of physical weakness that is far from the truth. Her eyes are an unusually pale brown, her expression always grave. She is kind to children, but there is a merciless streak to her, the core of which was undoubtedly formed when she watched her family die. She will kill without remorse for her adopted family.
Combat: When danger lurks, Hanako uses her spells to make herself hard to find. She may use her magic to position herself so that she can make a deadly strike, or she may fire missile attacks from a position of concealment. She carries many throwing knives.
Hanako the Ghost, hf, Ill5: AC 8 (Dexterity bonus); MV 12; hp 14; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3 (dagger) or by spell; SZ M (5'3" tall); ML 11; AL NG.
S 11, D 16, C 13, I 16, W 10, C 13.
Special Equipment: Feather tabi, dagger +2.
Spells (5/3/2): 1st—detect magic, feather fall, phantasmal force, read magic, spook; 2nd— deepen shadows, hypnotic pattern, invisibility; 3rd— monster summoning I, wraith form.
Proficiencies: Weapon: dagger. Nonweapon: Acting (Charisma –1, two slots from Rogue group); Engineering (Intelligence –3, two slots); Feign/Detect Sleep (Intelligence, two slots from Rogue group); Herbalism (Intelligence –2, two slots); Observation (Intelligence); Reading/Writing (Intelligence +1). (Hanako receives five proficiency slots for her Intelligence.)
Secondary Skills: Scribe.
Thief Abilities: MS 10, HS 50, RL 10.
Kit: Shinobi Illusionist.
==Kozo the Madman==
History: At the age of six, Kozo, child of a ninja clan, slipped off a cliff while playing with his brothers and fell 60 feet. Though seriously injured, he miraculously survived. As he got older, he decided that he was living on time granted him by the gods and that he must exploit their gift to the fullest. He has chosen to learn the strangest and most dangerous of skills, which makes him a valuable specialist to his ninja clan. But his native recklessness sometimes makes him the weak element of a plan.
Description: Kozo is unusually tall and strongly built, with a merry expression that only hints at the craziness his clan knows to expect from him.
Combat: In combat, Kozo gravitates to the biggest, meanest-looking opponent and trades blows. His fearlessness sometimes lets him cow more powerful opponents, but it often keeps him in combat long after his allies would prefer that he leave. Sometimes they must drop smoke grenades and bodily drag him from a battle scene.
Kozo the Madman, hm, Ninja 7: AC 4 (Dexterity bonus and magical armor); MV 12; hp 38; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8+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 armor +3, ninja-to +2, rope of climbing.
Proficiencies: Weapon: hankyu, oriental blades. Nonweapon: Giant Kite Flying (Dexterity – 3, two slots); Hunting (Wisdom –1); Riding/Airborne (Wisdom –2, two slots); Tightrope Walking (Dexterity); Tracking (Wisdom, bonus proficiency from Pathfinder ninja kit, +1 bonus for 5th level); Water Walking (Dexterity –1).
Secondary Skills: Hunter.
Thief Abilities: PP 0, OL 0, F/RT 70, MS 60, HS 60, DN 60, CW 80, RL 0.
Kit: Pathfinder ninja.