Character Generation - Kumo Clan

[jemmus]

I'll add that the flexible weapons with chains or horsehair ropes can be very powerful (along with bows). A successful Entangle or Trip attack with a flexible weapon can incapacitate an opponent for a number of Bushido's 10-second turns. That can be pretty fatal, especially of the target is down and prone (+5 to hit). The kyotetsu-shoge weapon can also be used as a grappling hook. The skill for flexible weapons is kusargijutsu or kusari-jutsu (spelled both ways in the rules). Choosing the kusarijutsu skill automatically gives a ninja an Okuden (special combat technique). This one is the Returning Hurl okuden.

I told you guys this game was crunchy. I wouldn't worry about trying to note all of this stuff and build the perfect character, though. My first character was a low Strength, high Speed bushi. He could do three attacks per turn! But only if he wasn't wearing armor-- that stuff was too heavy to allow the quick little guy his third attack. But he was still fun to play.

[Marullus]

I think there's an unanswered question -

Rex asked if you will allow trading kenjutsu (sword) proficiency for another bugei?
- note that getting the free scabbard full of tricks is contingent on having and using the ninjato sword. But maybe if he swaps for kyujutsu you'll allow him a Gimmick concealable han-kyu bow.

Kyotetsu-shoge was great as an example in the hands of Enoch's Ninja. It is the only weapon that Kaida has and I left it on the sheets as a default. It was definitely fun, but not required. No clear other options for trip and entangle, though.

It is definitely worth playing with attributes to specialize in Strength, Deftness, or Speed...

For those interested, here's why women used the naginata.

[Rex]

I would like to change it to another weapon if possible. Not just because of the penalty, but also I have never cared for the Japanese swords.

I specialized in strength, should I have gone higher? It seemed the next step was 25 to get anything out of strength. Is that correct?

[Marullus]

Str 25 gets you a +2 damage instead of +1.
Str 30 gets you +3 damage and changes your unarmed strikes from 1d6 to 1d10. And doing 1d10+3 ain't shabby.

20 Strength opens the heavy polearms to you - the woman's naginata that allows a secondary butt-stroke, but also the Ono pole-axe that does a bash maneuver with every attack. Plus, like, their poles? That's maybe got creative Ninja uses?

You need 22 Str for the no-dachi, but that's back to swords.

Also, Str gives higher encumbrance allowances and that allows you to wear Ninja Armor, which it makes sense for the clan to give you if you are performing the front-line Str role.

[ffilz]

Well, here's a start. I have picked any skills, but going for speed and deftness with everything else decent. Will probably tune some things to optimize saving throw BCS and other derived scores.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

Looking for skill suggestions.

Role horse, and maybe monkey or rabbit.

Also thinking of the pious option, please post the details.

[Rex]

Here goes. I think this would make him a Monkey. I highlighted the skill selections in red so the formula wouldn't get deleted this time if I decide to change it.

Bushido-Ninja Rex 2.xlsx

(62.12 KiB) Downloaded 100 times

[Marullus]

That looks really good, Rex! The re-do lost my fixes, so I've redone them here. Since you are looking to not choose sword, I am showing it here with Bow instead, and with the Gimmick collapsable bow instead of the Gimmick scabbard.
- Bow is also highly strength based, with its own method of scaling damage based on the strength you can put into the pull. It is complex, combining strength, arrow type, and range. I've laid it all out on the sheet for you as long as you're STR remains between 21 and 30. (When you advance in downtime, your big bump is STR 31.)
- I tweaked two points from Health to Wit, which bumps your perception and ninjutsu skills. (In most cases, attributes are useful divisible by 3 (for saves) and divisible by 5 (for initial skills).)
- With your high strength, you are also capable of wearing partial ninja armor, so you have a better AC.

Role-wise, this makes you not only the Monkey, but also a great Dog. You do access and then armed overwatch. Cool stuff.

Bushido-Ninja Rex 3.xlsx

(64.15 KiB) Downloaded 90 times

[Grognardsw]

Thanks for the updates. Work is busy so I’m hoping to progress my character by end of week.

[Marullus]

Well, here's a start. I have picked any skills, but going for speed and deftness with everything else decent. Will probably tune some things to optimize saving throw BCS and other derived scores.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

Looking for skill suggestions.

Role horse, and maybe monkey or rabbit.

Also thinking of the pious option, please post the details.

I added the Pious Layman details into a tab by that name on your sheet so you have the full text. Minoru is a great name for the Pious guy, btw.

Depending on the kanji evoked, Minoru may embody any measure of redeemable qualities, from "sincerity" to "kindness."

Pious Layman means you take Theology (Shinten) as one of your Arts. Your ability averages theology and your Will ST. Your theology is based on Wit+Will. Your ability to perceive hidden things as the Rabbit or Mouse is based on your Wit ST. So, that all works together and requires your character to have some smarts over brawn - moving points into Wit and Will. (As Jemmus pointed out, most weapons also include Will or Wit, too.)

You're currently optimized to get the three actions and first in initiative (with Deftness 25, Speed 25), and that's probably a good build for Grognardsw to consider if you are oriented for smart observation and Rex is oriented for Strength/overwatch. I would probably bring down your Speed to 15, and Deftness to 20, then raise Wit to 20 and Will to 15. That keeps you at initiative 10, 5 move, and gets your Perception of 5 up to a respectable 9 and your Pious abilities from 4 up to 7.

The Ancestors forbid you to murder (note that is killing by treachery and for Shinto doesn't include killing in defense. Buddhist forbids harm, killing, AND murder but Shinto is more forgiving on those points.) So, no point in Garrotte, Silent Kill, or Blowgun. Keeping the sword is probably sensible as your lethal defense option, and with a good Wit score having Disguise, Theology, and then Chemistry as your arts is pretty cool. You could be the smart guy who can make poisons, cures, and gimmicks. (Note that poisons aren't usually hit points or death, but instead can sap attributes - your opponent suddenly isn't strong enough for their weapon, for example. Much more tactical options.)

On the choice between Atemi-Wazu and Jujutsu, this is probably a good guy to take the latter. Without Atemi-Wazu, you use your Brawling score instead of your Atemi-Wazu skill (so likely a little lower) and can only do subdual instead of lethal damage unarmed, but your damage rolls are the same. But having Jujutsu gives you more tactical options again - it allows you to make grapple, throw, and trip attacks (without the chain-rope weapon). You can choke-out and knock people unconscious once you do the throw/takedown. You can immobilize people's limbs for a period of time. If you parry with your secondary action you get a special move where, instead of +1 AC, you get an opportunity attack on every attacker who misses you. By choosing to subdue and not murder, you get a ton of moves to do so.

For the other bugei: ninjitsu is automatic; jumping/climbing and swimming are the clan specialty so never a bad choice; shuriken-jutsu can be useful for ranged needs. If you want extra cool points, take Yadomejutsu - the art of catching arrows. (If you would be hit by a missile weapon, you get to roll this and see if you negate their effect number.) That's some great non-lethal badassness.

I would consider him partially the Boar, but also the Rabbit and the Rooster. The wise leader.

Thanks for the updates. Work is busy so I’m hoping to progress my character by end of week.

Sounds great.

If we have Rex leaning to Strong, sneaky overwatch (bow, chain, lethal unarmed)
Ffilz leaning to wise, observant infiltrator and leader (sword, shuriken, subdual unarmed)
Me/Kaida as mystical support (chain, strikes of fire, water, or wind)

That still means we need the fast assassin. As Ffilz shows you can get three actions per round with 25 Deftness/25 Speed, get initiative 13 and a movement of 8 (vs the average 4 or 5). The unfilled rolls of Tiger, Horse, and Snake.

...or rejigger with the other guys.

Edit to Add: All fixes I found and made on Rex and Ffilz sheets are also now incorporated back into the Ninja template. If you go back and start here again, you'll have the most updated workbook.

[Rex]

That looks really good, Rex! The re-do lost my fixes, so I've redone them here. Since you are looking to not choose sword, I am showing it here with Bow instead, and with the Gimmick collapsable bow instead of the Gimmick scabbard.
- Bow is also highly strength based, with its own method of scaling damage based on the strength you can put into the pull. It is complex, combining strength, arrow type, and range. I've laid it all out on the sheet for you as long as you're STR remains between 21 and 30. (When you advance in downtime, your big bump is STR 31.)
- I tweaked two points from Health to Wit, which bumps your perception and ninjutsu skills. (In most cases, attributes are useful divisible by 3 (for saves) and divisible by 5 (for initial skills).)
- With your high strength, you are also capable of wearing partial ninja armor, so you have a better AC.

Role-wise, this makes you not only the Monkey, but also a great Dog. You do access and then armed overwatch. Cool stuff.

Bushido-Ninja Rex 3.xlsx

Thanks Marullus. Looks good!

[ffilz]

What do you think of bo or jo instead of sword for better non-lethal? I guess that depends on whether Jemmus is OK with switching the automatic sword proficiency for ninja with something else the clan specializes in.

[ffilz]

Also, I had gone for the high Speed and Deftness after struggling with slow characters previously... But if that doesn't make sense with the pious, I'll go with the suggested stat distribution.

[Rex]

No idea about in game, but in real life the Bo is a pretty effective weapon in the hands of a master. The Shaolin prefer it and the spear (they are the same training for the Shaolin) to the sword and consider it a better weapon even though they have no restriction on the use of a sword.

[ffilz]

Oh, and Rex, can you host your character sheet on Google Drive? It's kind of nice to be able to pull up other players active sheets.

[Marullus]

Also, I had gone for the high Speed and Deftness after struggling with slow characters previously... But if that doesn't make sense with the pious, I'll go with the suggested stat distribution.

Losing initiative FOREVER does suck. That's why I kept Deftness higher than Speed. But I would suggest playing around with it and seeing what you like. My suggestion was just a rough estimate. I do think that if you're taking Pious, you might as well take some Wits/Will to go with it.

What do you think of bo or jo instead of sword for better non-lethal? I guess that depends on whether Jemmus is OK with switching the automatic sword proficiency for ninja with something else the clan specializes in.

I'm working with the assumption that Jemmus IS okay with switching out from mandatory sword to allowing a choice of Bugei since the clan explicitly doesn't like swords. (I set Rex to swap the sword for bow, for example.) If Jemmus wants to keep mandatory sword, he will need to speak up.

As for the Bo in game:

• If you end up with Bojutsu and Jujutsu then you have no means of lethal melee damage and you ONLY do subdual. That may or may not be desirable. You could switch Jujutsu to Atemi-waza and do lethal kicks/punches for emergencies, too.
• Bojutsu and Jujutsu are the only two bonus bugei skills for Gakusho, so it is definitely in-theme for a pious character.
• Bojustu governs both the Bo (staff) and the Tetsubo (honkin' heavy metal staff).
  • The Bo weighs 6 pounds, requires a minimum strength of 8, and does 1d6 subdual damage. It has the special ability of Second Strike, allowing you to hit a second time at half-BCS each time to strike with it.
  • The Tetsubo weighs 25 pounds, requires a minimum strength of 20, and does 2d6 subdual damage. It has the special ability of Bash instead: a bash rolls a percentile on a successful hit with the amount of damage being the chance of success (modified up to 15% by circumstances). If the bash succeeds then the target is driven back 1 yard, loses their next action, and makes a STR save. If the STR save fails, they are knocked prone and also suffer a Stun effect.
• Both weapons are at Long range. The most fiddly, miniature wargaming-like part of this game is that positioning and ranges in melee matter. Grappling is at 0 yards, short range is <1 yard, medium is 1 yard, and long is 2 yards. Having more speed means having more movement, which means you're more likely to achieve advantageous positioning when you enter the fight. Once the fight has begun, each party moves a max of one yard with their first (main/primary) action and has to give up the actions to reposition instead of attacking (technically, they need to "turn to flee" and then "close to engage" over two turns to reposition, so that's a lot...). If you can begin the fight at long range, a short range opponent can't touch you at all and a medium weapon gets a -1 to hit. You also can use extra long range (3 yards) which gives you a -1 to hit but prevents short AND medium weapons from reaching you at all. Conversely, your longer weapon can get bound up and you suffer up to a -3 penalty if they get inside your range (i.e. -3 to hit with bo if they grapple you, -2 if they reposition you to short range, etc.) A long weapon is never 'out of range' though.

No idea about in game, but in real life the Bo is a pretty effective weapon in the hands of a master. The Shaolin prefer it and the spear (they are the same training for the Shaolin) to the sword and consider it a better weapon even though they have no restriction on the use of a sword.

An interesting question. In the game, the spear (yari) is governed by a separate sojutsu skill. It weighs 10 pounds, requires a minimum strength of 10, is also long range, and does 1d10 lethal damage. It offers two maneuvers that both similar and different from the Bo: It does a butt strike rather than a second strike (same half BCS but second strike does the 1d6 on both, butt strike does 1d10 on the main one and 1d3 on the second one) and also allows a Thrust attack which is like a Bash attack in that it has a percent change of success equal to damage done and then knocks them back a yard, forfeits an action and requires a (will) save to avoid a Stun (but won't knock prone). Where the bash attack applies to any hit, the thrust attack must be declared, reduces the damage done from 1d10 to 1d6, and gives a +1 BCS.

Side thought on positioning...
If you look at the positioning examples, it gives an example of two medium weapon users and helps understand base movement allowance (BMA). You can also apply the logic to see how long and short weapons matter, too. The main thing here is that we were (I was) under the assumption that the "close to engage" action allowed repositioning with half BMA within a fight so opponents could circle each other and try to gain advantages based on their maneuverability. We then realized that, by the book, that's all over once one opponent engages the other (and sets the distance). After that the only options are to move 1 yard along with an attack as a Combat Action on your primary action turns (secondary action attacks are half-BCS and no movement), alter position (which is only to stand up or lie down and requires a Save to do it while engaged) or the rather dangerous Turn and Flee. I'll paste this over to rules discussion for Jemmus to see if we want to allow a house rule action to permit Alter Position to pass a save and move half-BMA instead of stand-up/lie-down.

[Rex]

I have no idea how to host anything on Google drive. Someone else is more than welcome to if they want or you can just open it up from here.

Everything else is looking good.

[Marullus]

I have no idea how to host anything on Google drive. Someone else is more than welcome to if they want or you can just open it up from here.

Everything else is looking good.

I have it hosted here. If you PM me your email address, Rex, I can grant you read-write privileges (instead of anyone-who-clicks-the-link).

...for your next steps, finalize your skill picks and delete the ones unpicked. Also, go pick Gimmicks based on spending Task Points, not picking 1-each. Then add them to your gear.

[Rex]

PM sent. I will look for the task points when I get home tonight. Keep in mind I only have 5 points to spend. Was trying to focus on climbing/swimming stuff.

[jemmus]

Switching from kenjutsu to bojutsu is OK. That would be a no-bonus skill for a ninja. A bojutsu trainer (or a very good one) may not be available in the clan village. But PCs can train on their own, train with an allied clan, and I think maybe with a neutral clan. Or risk training with a non-ninja trainer....

[Grognardsw]

Here is my updated sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

I did everything in the Development tab.

On archetype, I think I'm the assassin (a questionable tiger, maybe snake, perhaps a dog [mixed breed ]) . If so, should I boost those Attributes more? At the moment its spread somewhat evenly with some bumps in the first three. In Jemmus' mission types list, fighting seems the least of things that ninja do and probably means your mission is going south (unless it's an assassination).

With my 9 points, I got a 3-part blowgun (9 points.) Please tell me that comes with poisoned darts (that appears to cost copper coin not gimmick points, so I'm assuming yes.)

I added some unlisted equipment to use creatively - packet of regular flour, black pepper (to blow at people), candle, oil. A few gimmicks list copper piece cost but not gimmick cost. Like a caltrop is 3 copper pieces. Does that mean it's special ninja equipment one can purchase with coin and not gimmick cost?