In  Oriental Adventures, the ninja class is
handled differently than other characters.
At present, the ninja can only be dualclassed, which leads to a double life as a
bushi, sohei, wu jen, or yakuza. This can
be a little clumsy at times, particularly
when deciding whether or not ninja weapons can be used honorably.

Actually, the dual-classed ninja is only
partially based on fact. Ninja were divided
into three classes. The highest was the
jonin, traditional heads of the ninja families. The middle class was the chunin, the
go-betweens and messengers. The chunin
are most like the dual-class ninja. The
lowest class was the genin, the operatives.
Although the genin sometimes led a double life, more often they existed only as
ninjas, living in remote base camps deep in
the mountains. The genin carried out most
of the ninja assignments.

The variant presented in this article is
for the single-classed ninja, who is also
called the genin. This character can be
justified in two ways: either the character
leads a double life as a zero-level nonadventurer (merchant, minor official, etc.)
or he leads no double life at all.

R e q u i r e m e n t s

Genin have the same ability score and
alignment requirements as the ninja. The
character must have at least a 14 dexterity
and charisma, at least a 15 intelligence,
and must be of any non-good alignment.
The genin has no prime requisite and
cannot gain experience-point bonuses.
Only humans can be genin. Genin have the
same honor and family requirements as
ninja.

Table 1 at the end of this article gives the
experience points and hit points figures
for the genin (this table should be used
instead of Table 22 on p. 19 of  Oriental
Adventures). Genin use the same combat
and saving throw tables as thieves.

A b i l i t i e s

Genin have all the abilities of a ninja of
equal level, including the skills in Table 24
(p. 21,  Oriental Adventures), ki powers
(also on p. 21), and multiple attacks as in
Table 36 (p. 28). Genin also use the dexterity adjustments in Table 23 (p. 19,  Oriental
Adventures).
Genin have been trained in their ways
since childhood. Therefore, the genin has
more skills open to him than the dual-class
ninja. The genin have the following extra
abilities:

Hear noise. This action is performed as a
monk of equal level. In addition, the genin
can gain information from the noise (i.e.,
the dimensions of an opened door or gate,
how many people are in a room, whether
a sleeping person is faking it or not, etc.).
Disguise. In most respects, this is the
same as the normal ninja ability. The difference is that the genin is able to quickly
change out of his disguise ? an action
which takes one full round.

Maps. Genin have excellent senses of
direction and are able to memorize landmarks. As a result, they are able to use
these abilities to read and accurately render maps.

P r o f i c i e n c i e s

The genin starts at 1st level with five
proficiency slots. The genin must have
proficiency with the ninja-to and bo stick.
The other three slots can be used for nonweapon proficiencies, martial arts, or
other permitted weapons. Genin gain one
proficiency slot for every three levels
beyond the 1st (i.e., at 4th level, 7th level,
and so on).

Genin can learn any artisan, common, or
court proficiency. Most genin learn horsemanship, dance, animal handling, and
small water craft before any other skill. In
addition, there are a set of proficiencies
open only to genin. These are listed on
Table 2 and are described below:

Binding. The genin can bind people so
that they are unable to move or struggle
without causing themselves great pain.

Leaping. This is equal to the martial arts
special maneuver, Leap (Movement 5), on
p p .   1 0 3 - 4   o f   Oriental Adventures (pp.
103-4).

Poison. The genin can prepare poisons
that kill by smell, taste, or touch. The
genin also knows how to handle and apply
these poisons for optimum effect.

Running. By controlling his breath, the
genin can run 50 miles non-stop. If he
spends 15 minutes of every hour walking,
he can run 100 miles non-stop.
Side-walking. The genin can move his
feet in a sideways pattern at one-quarter
his normal speed, reducing the chance to
track him by 50%.

Signalling. The genin is able to send
messages with flags, gestures, or objects
left behind him. The message will always
be short and simple.

Swimming. The genin is able to swim
silently. He is also able to swim in a vertical position, enabling him to hold things
out of the water, write, or even use a bow.
Otherwise, this skill is the same as the
common proficiency of the same name.

Money, clothing, weapons, and tools

The genin begins at 1st level with 1-2
ch?ien and 2-20 tael. The genin character
does not wear armor, except as a disguise.
His usual adventuring costume is the
shinobi shozoku, a lightweight suit with
jacket, hood, trousers, and tabi boots. This
costume costs 12 yuan. It is reddish black,
reversible, and has a dark blue lining. The
shinobi shozoku has many pockets ?
enough to carry all the genin?s usual gear.
The following weapons lists have been
included to assist the DM. Note that ninja
can use any weapon, but genin are restricted to only those weapons listed
below.

Ninja weapons: grenade, hankyu, kawanaga, kumade, kusari-gama, kyoketsushogi, metsubishi, needle, nekode, ninja-to,
shaken, shuriken (all), and tetsu-bishi.

Genin weapons: arrow (all), blowpipe
and dart, bo stick, chain, halberd, kama,
kiseru, shakujo-yari, shikomi-zue, and
spear.

Martial arts weapons: any such weapons
is permissible, provided the character has
proficiency in a martial arts weapon skill.

The following items are often carried by
ninja and genin. Other items may be
added as desired.

Climbing tools
Nekode, te-kagi: clawed devices for gripping smooth stone ( + 5% on climb w a l l s ) .
Musubinawa: short, strong, horsehair rope.
Shinobi kumade: telescoping bamboo rod with grapnel hook on one end.
Infiltration tools
Lock pick, chisel, wood/metal saw, digging knife, springboard.
Tobi-kunai: a multi-purpose tool for digging, prying, boring, cutting, and wedging.
Tsuba-giri: a heavy fork for springing doors

Water devices
Folding straw rafts, small portable boats, snorkel, rope and pulley.
Mizugumo: foot pontoons for walking upright on water.

Weapon uses for non-combat effects
Bo stick: This can be used to pole vault up to 8?.

Shuriken, star: The hole in the center can be used to pull nails.

Ninja-to, scabbard: This can be used as a snorkel, club, or lever.
Powder or small knives may be stored in the bottom.
The long cord attached can serve as a garrotte.
Ninja-to, sword: When sheathed, the character can place the sword against
a wall and step on the large handguard, using the sword as a 2? stepladder.

<gather as many images as possible>
<the scabbard of a ninja-to has a name; use that>

Miscellaneous notes

The genin character, if not leading a
double life, must spend all his nonadventuring time training at his family?s
base camp.

The ninja of both types are true equal
opportunists; that is, men or women may
become ninja. Women are more highly
respected as ninjas than in most other
occupations in the male-dominated
Oriental world.
Genin will choose to die before allowing
themselves to be captured, since their
captors will often resort to torture in an
an attempt to retrieve information. A
genin may carry poison to prevent this,
and can even resort to biting his tongue in
half to mute his cries.

In addition to the normal penalties, the
genin loses 20 points of honor if his family?s base camp is discovered. This penalty
applies to all genin who belong to the
camp, regardless of whether they are
actually there at the time or not.

Table 1
Genin Experience

Experience points	Level	6-sided dice for accumulated hp
0 - 2,500	1	1
2,501 - 5,000	2	2
5,001 - 10,000	3	3
10,001 - 18,000	4	4
18,001 - 36,000	5	5
36,001 - 75,000	6	6
75,001 - 30,000	7	7
130,001 - 230,000	8	8
230,001 - 400,000	9	9
400,001 - 650,000	10	10
651,001 - 1,000,000	11	10+1
1,000,001 - 1,300,000	12	10+2

Table 2
Genin Proficiencies

Proficiency	Slots required	Base chance of success
Binding	1	8
Leaping	1	10
Poison	1	8
Running	2	16
Side-walking	1	12
Signaling	1	10
Survival	2	15
Swimming	2	15

1. SUBCLASS = n/a
2. SOCIAL CLASS MINIMUM =
3. ABILITY SCORE MINIMUMS
    STRENGTH =
    INTELLIGENCE =
    WISDOM =
    DEXTERITY =
    CONSTITUTION =
    CHARISMA =
    COMELINESS =
4. POSSIBLE RACES & MAX. LEVEL ATTAINABLE =
5. MULTI-CLASS POSSIBILITIES =
6. HIT DIE TYPE =
7. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF HIT DICE =
8. SPELL ABILITY =
9. ARMOR PERMITTED =
10. SHIELD PERMITTED =
11. WEAPONS PERMITTED =
12. OIL PERMITTED =
13. POISON PERMITTED =
14. ALIGNMENT =
15. STARTING MONEY =
16. WEAPON PROFICIENCIES =
17. NON-PROFICIENCY PENALTY =
18. NON-WEAPON PROFICIENCIES =
19. STARTING AGE =
20. COMBAT =
21. SAVING THROWS =
22. MAGIC ITEMS =

 
 

XP	Level	Dice for HP	Title