ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

While the origins of Ninjustu and Ninpo are lost in antiquity, one things is clear when one begins to read in the field of Martial arts with an emphasis on Ninjutsu: Throw out everything you think you know about those ancient arts because you've been lied to.

Hollywood can't make a picture about history without tinkering with it. Can't get Batman right. Hell, can't even settle on who is going to be Batman. They can't even tell the right story in some cases (anybody see "First Knight"?). So why should it be a surprise that they couldn't get Ninjas right?

Ninjutsu is hard to describe without getting all spiritual and shamanic because it's primarily a spiritual art form that has as its goal the protection of life. Ninja follow the code of Budo just as well as samurai do. They are not bad, they are just drawn that way. They do, however, believe in using every weapon or tool at their disposal without a second thought. Hedge magick definitely falls into that category. Thus I present a form of Hedge magic ascribed to the skilled practitioners of Ninpo.

Note, most outsider characters won't have even the slightest inkling of these abilities. These secrets are guarded jealously out of long tradition and the Koga ninja clan are particular hard asses about this. Since many American ryus are run by frauds this knowledge can be hard to come by.

Roll: Wits + Stealth (or Misdirection) Cost 1 willpower

1 Sound from the Void

The user of magic may place a sound that he can make with his mouth at any place within his line of sight. The sound may be as loud or as soft as the caster wants it to be up to the limits of his own voice. This is almost allways used to distract or divert the attention of targets.

2 Walk without Trace

Ninja are skilled in the art of countertracking but this ability enables them to walk swiftly and soundlessly over a surface that ordinarily would be a telltale (i.e. snow, mud, creaky floor, leaves, etc.). Note, ninja may use countertracking by adding the number of their own tracking skill to the tracker's Difficulty, but this is time consuming and sometimes requires special tools. The above method, however, requires willpower and lasts for a scene.

3 See without Seeing

While nearly every ninja learns to develop blind fighting techniques, this ability enables a Ninja to "see" by using his ears and his skin as a form of proximity sense. With this ability, ninja operating in areas without any available light operate as if it were broad daylight and may still roll a straight perception roll in absolute darkness or while blinded. In this way ninja can flee or kill in conditions that would stymie someone with just blind fighting skills. This ability is a surprise to almost every Lasombra vampire who has encountered it. This ability last for a scene.

4 Clouds of the Mind

Gives the Ninja a limited form of Arcane. When the point of willpower is spent, the user may subtract his Kodurabo rating from the difficulty of any roll involving stealth for the rest of the scene. This can even be used in plain sight as long as the ninja can create some kind of distraction that will enable him to re-roll stealth. Typically this is created with torinokos (little flash grenades).

5 Veil of Sight

The goal of many ninja, Veil of Sight enables the user to become completely invisible. Note that this is psionic invisibility and while powder sprinkled on the floor or running in water will not betray you to those who are directly observing you, the ninja can still be spotted indirectly by cameras, motion sensors and geophones.