Shinobido

Long ago, there was a dying leader. He called his son and his star pupil to his side, and told them that when he was gone, one of them would be the next Daimyo. The two were put to a contest to determine the successor. For three days, the son of the dying leader and the star pupil fought, engaging in numerous tests of ability and combat. They were evenly matched until the third day the star pupil of the dying leader used a forbidden technique, taking the son of the Daimyo by surprise, and defeating him.

The pupil became the Daimyo, and the last Daimyo's son was to be exiled to the land across the sea, to an empty land of rocky, infertile soil, and dangerous creatures. The son had his followers, though, and they became known as the Loyalists. They followed the Shadow Daimyo, who escaped his exile, and planned to destroy the Daimyo.

For five years, the land was marked by civil war, the Daimyo and the Shadow Daimyo battling each other whenever their forces encountered the other. Hundreds died. The Shadow Daimyo was eventually captured, and he and his Loyalists were all exiled to the land across the sea. The Shadow Daimyo himself was bound by seals to never set foot in the land again, or his blood would boil.

This is the origin of the Land of Shadow. Now, 30 years later, the Shadow Daimyo seeks to return to his home nation, and reclaim his rightful title. Having been pushed to the inhospitable north, he uses the very forbidden techniques that trap him there, allowing his Loyalists to become necromancers and Demonic sorcerors.

A cold war has broken out between the Land of Shadow and the Land of Light. A war fought not with swords and samurai, but with information, secrecy, and the shinobi. Too often, those ninja are nothing more than children, brought up in a time of shadow wars. Forced to kill, lie, steal, and exposed to dangers and fear, many of them snap, turning to the Dark Path that their enemies in Shadow use. The lure of power is strong, but perhaps their friends and allies can keep them from the path of darkness. Or be dragged down along with them.

Shinobido is a game about children in war.

Children doing things that adults should do is a staple of the Japanese genre known as Shounen--a genre aimed at males from 13 and up that focuses on the adventures and coming of age stories of male characters. They're known for fight scenes, fanservice, and headstrong, hotblooded protagonists.

Teenagers in shounen are often fighting in wars, or traveling the world with their magical pets, fighting other people with magical pets. Whether they're pulled into a computer world or a dream world, or they're in their own world, most shounen characters face things that should effect their mental state. Too often, this doesn't happen. A character who finds himself in the magical world he's dreamed about forgets that dragons exist and can kill him, and that he's constantly being attacked and nearly killed by a group of enemies.

This game is what would happen if they were effected by the horrible things that go on in their lives, and the horrible choices they might have to make. It doesn't do away with all the tropes of the genre, but it does try to deconstruct a few of them.

THEME

The main theme of Shinobido is that of cost. Everything has a cost. Powers have the obvious cost of using Focus, but more than that, doing one thing costs you the ability to do another. Characters are expected to make hard decisions, and sometimes there is no right answer, just wrong ones.

The biggest example of things having a cost is in the forbidden techniques. Darkness is a literal thing in the world of Shinobido. It's more than evil, it's selfishness and malevolence. It's callous disregard. Whenever players use forbidden techniques, they gain Dark Points, showing them how close to the edge they are.

In the beginning, these forbidden techniques have no cost. They're cheaper and easier to use. As Dark Points accumulate, the price becomes apparent. There's a mental cost, where the character becomes less stable. There's a physical cost, where seals and markings appear on the character's skin. And there's a social cost, where characters are ostracised for their willingness to use the darkness.

Things aren't so simple, though. Characters might NEED to use the darkness. Maybe to save themselves, or one of their allies. They might need to tap into that darkness to save an innocent. Things should never be so clear cut as good and bad.

Once a character has made that jump, though, things will get harder for them in the future. They won't be as able to avoid making more jumps like that in the future, and soon they've paved the road to their own Hell with good intentions.

Rolling the Bones

The core mechanic of the game involves rolling four six sided dice of two colours--referred to here as red dice and green dice. The red dice subtract from your total, while the green dice add to it. This is then added to the character's 'pips', the score of the Attribute. If the total of the roll comes out above 0, then the character succeeds on their action. A character's actions will most often be penalized by the circumstances, and improved by their Specialties and Edges.

There are six Attributes: Intellect, Wits, Strength, Agility, Tenacity, and Charm.

Intellect, Strength, and Tenacity are all used for defending against Focus attacks, while Wit, Agility, and Charm are used to launch those Focus attacks. Wits, Agility, and Charm are also used to avoid attacks.

Each attribute is rated in 'pips', representing the dots on a standard six sided die. The Attribute ratings go from -3 to 5 pips.

Intellect

Hirame stared at the scroll, trying to understand it's secrets. The whorls and loops of the characters were foreign. After a minute, she was about to give up, when finally it snapped. Turning the scroll sideways, she shouted “aha! I've figured out the code." Now it was time to get this information back to the village and stop the spy.

Intellect measures a character's mental power. Characters' brilliance can allow them to translate languages, decode secret messages, remember obscure facts, and even know the best tactic to use on the enemy. Characters with high Intellect are likely to be well versed in war, politics, and lore. A character with negative pips in Intellect is likely stupid, forgetful, or uneducated. A character with 1 pip in Intellect is likely average, occasionally forgetful, and not exceptionally intelligent. Characters with three pips are well educated, remember most of their knowledge of the Academy, and are versed in lore. A character with five pips of Intellect likely has a vast knowledge of lore, and not only remembers things from the Academy, they've studied on their own since they left. With five pips, a character is likely to know esoteric and possibly forbidden knowledge as well as most people remember their name.

When used in Focus attacks, Intellect is a character's mental defenses, showing how well they know and understand the world and their place in it. It shows how solid and stable a character's mind is. When a mental Focus attack is aimed at the character, they roll their Intellect and subtract the attack's damage bonus.

Characters would roll Intellect when: Remembering a fact, decoding a message, studying lore, avoiding mental domination

Wits

“Hrm,” thought Kinosuke, “that's pretty good, but how about this one? What can the weakest lark carry that the strongest man might not?” He gave an internal smile as the Oni furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin. This was all too easy.

When a character is just too tricky, the attribute at hand is Wits. It measures that trickiness, showing off how well a character can use their mental ability. Wit allows characters to prove themselves the better riddler, and shows them when they're being deceived. Wit is how well a character can think on their feet. Characters with a high Wits are likely to be clever, tricky, and unpredictable. A character with negative pips in Wits is likely bumbling, tripping over their words at every occasion. Characters with one pip are likely to not be exceptionally witty, but still avoid eating crow too often. A character with three pips is someone who is very witty, always able to come up with new puzzles to solve. A character with five pips in Wits can outwit the Gods themselves.

When used in a Focus attack, Wits measures how well the character can get through their opponent's defenses, and twist their mind. Wits also serves as those defenses, allowing a character to detect and avoid falling prey to someone else's power. Wit serves as the attack and defense roll for mental based Focus abilities.

Characters would roll Wits when: coming up with a riddle, solving a puzzle, spotting an ambush, manipulating someone's mind

Strength

The three of them chased after the target. He fled through a threshold, and pressed a button on a console, and a heavy wooden door dropped from the ceiling. Arudio stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and rolling his head along his broad shoulders. He slipped his fingers beneath the door, and with one powerful motion, lifted it up above his head. Grunting, he rested the door on his shoulders, “Go, I've got this.”