Lands of the Ninja (CNH)

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The historic ninja appeared in medieval Japan hundreds of years ago. The ninja we are familiar with from fiction and film are distinctly Japanese—even non-Japanese ninja in bad films seem to follow Japanese traditions—and would seem very much out of place if they arose in a fantasy campaign that resembled Viking Sweden or Moorish Spain.
In short, when settling ninja in a campaign, the DM should place them in a nation that substantially resembles medieval Japan, preferably in a larger setting that resembles the Orient of several hundred years ago. This does not, however, restrict ninja from traveling to other lands and cultures.
==Classes of Society==
Class divisions of the Japanese people varied from one time period to the next. In the Tokugawa period (17th-19th centuries), the population of Japan was divided into several distinct classes. In descending order of importance they were: samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants/traders, and outcasts (the eta or "untouchables").
In designing a culture for ninja characters, the DM should include the basic traits of a rigid class structure, an obsession with duty and protocol, and a heavy military presence.
===The Samurai Class===
The word "samurai" basically means "servant" or "retainer." In spite of the lowly sound of the name, though, the samurai were the warrior class of Japan—the master class. Technically, though, they were all servants of the emperor, hence the name.
The samurai class was the only portion of the population allowed to wear the daisho, or twosword combination (katana and wakizashi). They were encouraged to live sober and frugal lives, though not all were adept at this. Samurai made up only 6%–7% of the nation's population.
Even within the samurai class, there were divisions of rank. In descending order of importance, they included:
Emperor: The emperor was descended (as legend would have it) from the goddess of the sun and was theoretically the ruler of all Japan. In reality, though, some emperors were rulers and some were puppets of the shogun.
Shogun: The shogun was the military dictator of Japan, subordinate to the will of the emperor. In some periods, the shogun was the de facto ruler of the nation, keeping the puppet emperor firmly under his thumb.
Daimyo: These lords were given rulership of large areas of land by the emperor or shogun. Daimyo, like the barons of medieval England, tried to be as independent as possible, often waging war on one another or challenging the current holder of the throne for the title of emperor. Daimyo maintained their own castles, but in various periods had to send hostages to stay in the care of the emperor or shogun. In some periods, daimyo had to spend one year out of two living in the capital, and had to leave their families in the capital when they returned to their own holdings. The richest daimyo governed lands producing more than a million koku per year; the poorest, lands producing about 10,000 koku per year. (A koku equals five bushels of rice, worth about 25 gp in game terms.)
Samurai: Samurai filled many roles in Japanese society, as warriors and military commanders, as bureaucrats and ministers, as bodyguards and inspectors, as town leaders and policemen. They lived in the castles of their lords or in towns near the castles. Those who administered lands lived in the town or village of that region. In AD&D® game terms, particularly powerful or favored samurai got annual salaries of up to 200,000 gp and a couple of acres to build their homes on. More typical valued samurai received around 50,000 gp and one acre, while the most common samurai received only about 25 gp annually and lived communally with others at their economic level. (These lowest samurai, often the policemen of their communities, tended to supplement their income through acceptance of gifts. This is akin to bribery but was not censured except when the samurai demonstrated excessive greed.)
It is important to remember that the word samurai refers to a social class and not a profession. Roughly half the samurai class was made up of women, some of whom were trained in combat, particularly with the naginata.
Ronin: This was an odd class of samurai. These men had no lord and received no salary, but retained the rights of the samurai out of hereditary position or for some other reason. (Some ronin were normal samurai enduring a temporary sentence of exile for a crime.) Many served as soldiers or bodyguards; some were teachers.
===The Farmer Class===
Most people in medieval Japan belonged to the farmer class. The support of the entire nation was on their shoulders, but they were looked down on by the samurai and by townspeople, who regarded them as illiterate rubes.
Farmers lived a difficult life, paying taxes amounting to around 50% of their annual production. Some tided themselves over in rough periods by selling their daughters to brothels in the towns. This was not a shameful fate for the daughters, cultural attitudes being different from the west, but was still not the course most of them would have preferred.
At various times, farmers were not allowed to carry weapons, to sell their land, or even (in the most restrictive periods) to leave their land.
===The Artisan and Merchant Classes===
Artisans were, for the most part, townsfolk who provided services and goods to the government and for sale. Some craft professions included:
Blacksmith 	Sawyer        
Carpenter 	Sculptor
Cooper 	Shingler
Dyer 	Silversmith
Lacquerer 	Spinner
Matmaker 	Stonemason
Miller 	Sword sharpener
Paperer 	Thatcher
Plasterer 	Tiler
Potter 	Weaver
Sake brewer	Wood worker
Merchants included the traders and money-changers necessary to handle transactions between people in different regions who used different systems of coinage. Because of the Japanese contempt for greed and its results, the government classed merchants below farmers and artisans when it officially structured Japanese society. However, the merchant class gradually gained in power and wealth, by and large employing the artisans and unofficially becoming more powerful and higher in status than the farmers.
Merchants and artisans, unlike farmers, were allowed to carry a single sword.
===Nonpersons===
People in this lowest of categories, the eta, included exiles, who would reenter the class systems once they were allowed to return home; entertainers (including actors and prostitutes); and beggars. Certain people, such as those who handled the dead, could theoretically reenter the class systems once they left their professions. But the eta inherited professions that the Japanese considered repugnant (particularly those dealing with animal carcasses) and therefore could never become part of ordinary Japanese society.
===Outside the Class System===
Several groups of professions remained outside the class structure described above.
Some privileged professions, ranking high in society, included priests, poets, and doctors. Many were allowed to wear single swords and were accorded respect deriving from their celebrity rather than their class.
==Loyalty and Obedience==
In medieval Japanese culture, a character owed first loyalty to his or her lord, second to his or her parents. A woman owed her third loyalty to her spouse and her fourth to her firstborn son.
In the samurai class, unquestioning obedience to one's lord was the norm. This did not mean, however, that all samurai were completely loyal to their lords.
In the DM's campaign, a Japan-like culture will have similar emphasis on the loyalty a character owes to his lord and clan over other considerations. Western culture promotes selfadvancement and individuality over conformity, so the introduction of this element will strongly reinforce to the players that this is a very different setting.
==The Role of Women==
Female ninja, called kunoichi, were often very important elements in ninja missions. Kunoichi, like women samurai, were sometimes trained in combat, and any female ninja in an AD&D® game is certain to be among those so trained.
In a game campaign it's not inappropriate to have a higher proportion of female samurai and ninja in important combat and governing roles. Female warriors of considerable skill and influence are a mainstay of Oriental legends and modern cinema.