One thing about Ninjutsu in N&SS that always bugged me..

[Nekira Sudacne]

why don't they get any chi mastery abiliteis?

I mean, I really expected them to. I'd think that they would at least get some like body chi and hard chi.

Can anyone give a good reason why they don't?

To be honest...obviously they don't in the game, I just kinda expected they would.

[sinestus]

because ninja are masters of stealth, not mystics.

[Nekira Sudacne]

because ninja are masters of stealth, not mystics.

and?

[Sentinel]

I never saw any real reason for Ninjas to have Chi abilities.
The types of Chi powers available are more geared to a different kind of martial arts character than the Ninja: more similar to HU's Ancient Master perhaps.

[sinestus]

because ninja are masters of stealth, not mystics.

and?

ok...

AND... in the origional write up, DMAs had 3 martial arts, thus could have ninjitsu and tai-chi...

[Killer Cyborg]

To be honest...obviously they don't in the game, I just kinda expected they would.

Why?

[Guest]

why don't they get any chi mastery abiliteis?

I mean, I really expected them to. I'd think that they would at least get some like body chi and hard chi.

Can anyone give a good reason why they don't?

To be honest...obviously they don't in the game, I just kinda expected they would.

They've got access to Arts of Invisibility, Body Hardening Exercises, Martial Art Techniques, Special Kata, AND Zenjorike. Why would they need access to Chi Mastery?!?

[Nekira Sudacne]

why don't they get any chi mastery abiliteis?

I mean, I really expected them to. I'd think that they would at least get some like body chi and hard chi.

Can anyone give a good reason why they don't?

To be honest...obviously they don't in the game, I just kinda expected they would.

They've got access to Arts of Invisibility, Body Hardening Exercises, Martial Art Techniques, Special Kata, AND Zenjorike. Why would they need access to Chi Mastery?!?

Really, I kinda figured they'd have Chi Mastery instead of zenjoriki.

and at least they don't have atemni

[Sentinel]

Given the number of joint locks and holding techniques in Ninjutsu that I've seen, I was a little surprised that Atemi wasn't in their selection of Martial Arts Powers.

[Nekira Sudacne]

why don't they get any chi mastery abiliteis?

I mean, I really expected them to. I'd think that they would at least get some like body chi and hard chi.

Can anyone give a good reason why they don't?

To be honest...obviously they don't in the game, I just kinda expected they would.

They've got access to Arts of Invisibility, Body Hardening Exercises, Martial Art Techniques, Special Kata, AND Zenjorike. Why would they need access to Chi Mastery?!?

Really, I kinda figured they'd have Chi Mastery instead of zenjoriki.

and at least they don't have atemni

They were spies, dedicated to stealth. They weren't the anime ninjas, they were just spies. Considering everything they have already, giving them some form of chi abilities seems completely out of the mentality of ninjitsu. It's like saying a boxer should have chi attacks; the sweet science has a specific purpose just like ninjitsu and chi isn't part of that purpose.

yea, and Samurai were just warriors who rocked on the battlefeild

so if the Samurai (Zanji shinjiken ryu), get Chi abilites, why shouldn't ninja?

[Sentinel]

I never felt Chi abilities should have been given to Zanji anyway.
The only exception might be the Sword Chi abilities from Mystic China, but those weren't present in the two editions of N&SS.

[Sentinel]

I think the ninja just cries out to be throwing negative chi into the goody-two sandaled samurai from the deep shadows as his clan members attack.

That's anime-ninja, N&SS ninja.

An unspoken part of the question of the topic would be, should N&SS Ninjas be more like Anime Ninjas? (that is, if Ninjas became a separate OCC, how would the game define what a Ninja is?)

[Library Ogre]

Well, there's the rub: Is N&SS a "Naruto & XXX" game or "Once Upon a Time in China & James Bond" game?

[Sentinel]

If I had my way, I'd separate the martial arts and the espionage parts of the game, to give each their just due.
Then , I'd want the martial arts setting to be re-tooled so that , like HUII, one could play a lower-powered "realistic" martial artist, or a more scaled-up amped-up anime/cinematic/legendary martial artist.
In HU you can play a non-powered Hunter Vigilante, a Mega-Hero Alien, and anything in between.
In Ninjas (for a lack of a better name), I'd like to be able to roll up Steven Segal, Jet Li, or a chi-blasting high flying Swords Of Death type of character, or a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat type.
Maybe I feel like Bruce Lee today, and maybe later I'll feel like Kenshiro.

[Guest]

If I had my way, I'd separate the martial arts and the espionage parts of the game, to give each their just due.
Then , I'd want the martial arts setting to be re-tooled so that , like HUII, one could play a lower-powered "realistic" martial artist, or a more scaled-up amped-up anime/cinematic/legendary martial artist.
In HU you can play a non-powered Hunter Vigilante, a Mega-Hero Alien, and anything in between.
In Ninjas (for a lack of a better name), I'd like to be able to roll up Steven Segal, Jet Li, or a chi-blasting high flying Swords Of Death type of character, or a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat type.
Maybe I feel like Bruce Lee today, and maybe later I'll feel like Kenshiro.

Actually, that's the beauty of N&S's existing setup. You can do that if you want. Sure it takes some modification, but not much (such as substituting super powers for martial art powers...something I know we've gone over already), but you can play just about any genre, from fantasy, to anime, to contemporary espionage, to 80s cheese (the standard N&S setting), to sci-fi, etc. About the only genres not handled well by N&S are horror and steampunk. Of course Apocalyptic & Post Apocalyptic settings would require a bit more work, but probably a heck of a lot less than retooling Rifts to be Post Apocalyptic would be.

[Marrowlight]

Of course Apocalyptic & Post Apocalyptic settings would require a bit more work, but probably a heck of a lot less than retooling Rifts to be Post Apocalyptic would be.

Quote of the day!


It's a good template to stretch into whatever you want, that's for sure. But in a perfect world I'd prefer a book that focuses more on the anime like feel of martial arts and a book that focuses more on the real world. Not that N&S is exactly realistic....but it isn't as overblown as anime games normally are.

[Guest]

Of course Apocalyptic & Post Apocalyptic settings would require a bit more work, but probably a heck of a lot less than retooling Rifts to be Post Apocalyptic would be.

Quote of the day!


It's a good template to stretch into whatever you want, that's for sure. But in a perfect world I'd prefer a book that focuses more on the anime like feel of martial arts and a book that focuses more on the real world. Not that N&S is exactly realistic....but it isn't as overblown as anime games normally are.

It's not supposed to be. If you want a more anime feel, there's tons of options out there to do so, from incorporating HU, to playing BESM.

[Marrowlight]

Of course Apocalyptic & Post Apocalyptic settings would require a bit more work, but probably a heck of a lot less than retooling Rifts to be Post Apocalyptic would be.

Quote of the day!


It's a good template to stretch into whatever you want, that's for sure. But in a perfect world I'd prefer a book that focuses more on the anime like feel of martial arts and a book that focuses more on the real world. Not that N&S is exactly realistic....but it isn't as overblown as anime games normally are.

It's not supposed to be. If you want a more anime feel, there's tons of options out there to do so, from incorporating HU, to playing BESM.

Oh sure, there's a ton of options. But like I said, 'in a perfect world'.

[Guest]

[SNIP]

As for the Zanjorike thing, it's garbage for someone to use that in an argument as they don't get it until level 15. Yes Zylo, I know it wasn't part of your argument. It just needed to be thrown out there as well.

In other words, you didn't get the point of mentioning it.

[Guest]

[SNIP]

As for the Zanjorike thing, it's garbage for someone to use that in an argument as they don't get it until level 15. Yes Zylo, I know it wasn't part of your argument. It just needed to be thrown out there as well.

In other words, you didn't get the point of mentioning it.

No, I got the point. However your chances of ever reaching 15 are slim to none

I rest my case.

[Sentinel]

About the only genres not handled well by N&S are horror and steampunk.

I've found that N&SS mixed well with BtS for Horror campaigns.
I imagine that for pure horror, or even espionage/horror, N&SS would mix well with Nightbane.

[Guest]

About the only genres not handled well by N&S are horror and steampunk.

I've found that N&SS mixed well with BtS for Horror campaigns.
I imagine that for pure horror, or even espionage/horror, N&SS would mix well with Nightbane.

Unfortunately, you get the munchkins that want to get and use N&S martial arts in morphus...and then they try to come up with reasons why it should work.

[Sentinel]

About the only genres not handled well by N&S are horror and steampunk.

I've found that N&SS mixed well with BtS for Horror campaigns.
I imagine that for pure horror, or even espionage/horror, N&SS would mix well with Nightbane.

Unfortunately, you get the munchkins that want to get and use N&S martial arts in morphus...and then they try to come up with reasons why it should work.

I usually try to keep a spare Tectonic Entity or two for those folks.
Or a Baal-Rog: I have one on retainer.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Not all anime is Naruto & DBZ. Your initial desire sounded more along the lines of Ninja Scroll. I don't consider anything on CN worth watching anime-wise anyway...let alone anime at all.

I do like Ninja Scroll, and I also dislike Naruto, DBZ, and most "anime" on CN myself.

I will just state that it really depends on the game. I say ninjas could have those abilities, which shouldn't be read as all ninjas should have those abilities. I have no problem with making up a different version of Ninjitsu that replaces the body hardening with chi mastery and comes from a special clan in the Super-Mega-Ninja Mountains.

If you're going for a theatrical game or something harder on the mysticism, then you could go that route. But I beg of you...no 13 yr old ninjas

12 year old Samurai then?

[Guest]

About the only genres not handled well by N&S are horror and steampunk.

I've found that N&SS mixed well with BtS for Horror campaigns.
I imagine that for pure horror, or even espionage/horror, N&SS would mix well with Nightbane.

Unfortunately, you get the munchkins that want to get and use N&S martial arts in morphus...and then they try to come up with reasons why it should work.

I enjoyed using Nightbane with a N&S/BTS game where it was more like the X-files. All the characters were "normal" people from N&S classes, in a corporate sponsored group doing their dirty work, but part of the mission was to seek out supernatural/spiritual/magical stuff for study.

That way when the team was doing corporate espionage one weekend they could get into a tangle with an insane Archanist and the associated cult the next. Then scrap with secret (government?) agents for a mission then turn around and get sucked into a fight between some people they needed to talk with (Nightbane, unknown to them) and some Hounds. I just threw out the whole dark day event and had it a secret supernatural war going on in Europe to fit my world.

Some might think it would be boring playing the normal agent types in all of that, but everyone enjoyed that game for the 5 years (or so) I ran it. I guess it was more of a challenge, going up against those type of enemies, which made it more fun to come out on top.

Sure, but that's not exactly "horror." Of course, to be truthful, as EW points out in BTS1, Horror is hard to do in an RPG.

[Guest]

*Very* Hard... in a great many years of Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green, I know that the number of times I've actually been in a true 'horror' enviroment is countable on the fingers of one hand.

The problem is that Roleplayers mostly tend to be problem-solvers with eclectic knowledge sets - the average horror victim walks into a bar after a killer clown sighting, he has a stiff drink, the average roleplayer starts making molotovs and sharpening pool cues in case of undead attack.

Palladium isn't a particularly good system for horror because it's a pretty 'heroic' style of game (the only word I can think of for a system where the average starting character can soak up most of a clip of standard 9mm pistol bullets before falling over - 'the security guard empties his clip into you, then he reloads - what do you do?') - games like Chaosium on the other hand are the dramatic opposite (the zombie punches you, your head explodes, you lose sanity points for seeing the zombie, oh and you're dead, everyone /else/ in the team loses sanity too.)

Don't get me wrong - you can run /any/ game in /any/ system with a sufficiently skilled GM and good players... but Palladium is rather more suited to Aliens than Alien, if you know what I mean.

Ah yes, the "kill 'em all until our ammo runs out" type of "horror" vs the "what the heck is that/where is everyone disappearing to" type of horror. The first type is eminently easy to do in RPGs, particularly Palladium. Though to be honest, I prefer that type of game to the latter, since I'd rather kill the monsters than try to survive the horror.

[Killer Cyborg]

Never much been a fan of horror in general myself, fictional characters in most horror things tend to just do some stupid stuff.

I have the same problem with reality.

[Marrowlight]

Never much been a fan of horror in general myself, fictional characters in most horror things tend to just do some stupid stuff.

I have the same problem with reality.

Sadly you can't just shoot the people in reality in the head then go take a Mt. Dew break.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Never much been a fan of horror in general myself, fictional characters in most horror things tend to just do some stupid stuff.

I have the same problem with reality.

Sadly you can't just shoot the people in reality in the head then go take a Mt. Dew break.

Wait. You can't take away my only hobby!

Yes I can. It's MINE now!

[Nekira Sudacne]

Never much been a fan of horror in general myself, fictional characters in most horror things tend to just do some stupid stuff.

I have the same problem with reality.

Sadly you can't just shoot the people in reality in the head then go take a Mt. Dew break.

Wait. You can't take away my only hobby!

Yes I can. It's MINE now!

But you don't even own guns!! My one joy...stolen by a girl.

Eh, in reality that does make a lot of sense though. Never thought Nekira would be the one to rob me of joy.

Oh, I'm sure you can find new pleasures. isn't boiling puppies legal in some states?

[Nekira Sudacne]

Oh, I'm sure you can find new pleasures. isn't boiling puppies legal in some states?

Wouldn't know. I spend too much time deep-frying kittens

Ah. my bad.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Oh, I'm sure you can find new pleasures. isn't boiling puppies legal in some states?

Wouldn't know. I spend too much time deep-frying kittens

Ah. my bad.

You're forgiven. But only because I know you skin iguanas to make non-fashionable footwear that rappers buy just to waste money.

Gal's gotta make a living somehow

[Library Ogre]

We move much faster than continents, here.