The Lady's of Luck and the Races of Way and Heaven
We are a little behind in our posts due to work in the background. We are currently prepping for convention season and spending most of our time working on updates to the various games we will be running at the conventions.
Our current convention schedule:
Origins Game Fair - Columbus, OH - June 14th-18th
GenCon - Indianapolis, IN - August 17th-20th
We will be running several game sessions of the new Era of the Ninja: RPG at Origins Game Fair. There are a few seats still available. If you are interested in trying in out, feel free to stop by and visit.
We will be running demos, and full games of the Era of the Ninja: Board Game, Era of the Ninja: Kami and Mahou expansion, and the Era of the Ninja: RPG. Feel free to stop by and visit one of our events and give the games a try.
As for the remainder of the post, we will be introducing the two female kami of luck, Benzaiten and Kishijoten for the Kami and Mahou expansion and introducing the races of the realms of Way and Heaven.
Benzaiten
This lady has many interests and is responsible for the Arts, Good Fortune, Love, Poetry, the Sea, and Wisdom. Her nature is that of a constant state of motion. She is regularly moving from place to place benefiting those that appease her interests.
She does not like acts of violence. She abhors such barbaric behavior and punishes those that perform such acts.
In the expansion, while Benzaiten is in play, players that seek paths of non-violence are rewarded Ingenuity for their actions. Players that perform acts of violence are punished with no Ingenuity gained from their actions.
At the start of a new round, the Lead Ninja will need to add an Ingenuity token to Benzaiten and roll a Ninja die. If the number is greater than her current Ingenuity, she remains in play, otherwise she leaves play.
Kishijoten
This kami loves the Arts, Beauty, Children, Dancing, and Luck. Though she has multiple interests, she is mainly sought by Geisha and mothers.
Geisha seek Kishijoten's wisdom and prowess in the arts of entertainment. Those wishing to do well normally attempt to invoke the kami's presence.
Mothers seek her for the protection of their children. By invoking her name, they ask Kishijoten to look over their children and protect them from harm.
In the expansion, Kishijoten is mostly invoked for Luck. While a player's Ninja token is face-up, all rolls of 1 are automatically rerolled. While a player's Ninja token is face-down, all rolls of 0 are rerolled. Before a player rerolls their die, they must first flip their Ninja token.
Please note that by flipping one's Ninja token, the player is changing their state from Active to Attempting to Hide. If a player attempts an attack and rolls a 1, the player flips their token to the Attempting to Hide state (facedown), and still gets to reroll the attack. The player from that point is considered to be Attempting to Hide. If the Awareness roll is lower than the player's Shadow roll, then the player would be able to gain Ingenuity for each stack on their tile, even though the player attacked.
Races of the Realm of Way
The realm of Way is a realm of complex design. It is officially the realm between Spirits and Heaven, but has branches leading to all of the realms. There are two races that borne in the realm of way and take up resident, the Faceless Ones and the Hitotsume.
The Faceless Ones are a race of humanoids that have no facial features. Their face is blank, though they can hear, see, and smell as a normal human. They are generally peaceful and tend to hide from the other races as their knowledge is often sought and abused. They have a strong understanding of the realm of Way and can navigate its many paths with ease. In general, they are pacifists seeking to enjoy their existence without interruption from outsiders.
Hitotume or 'cyclops monks' are a one-eyed people that tend to be taller than a normal man. They are peaceful in nature and live as monastic beings guarding the various portals to the realms. They build temples around the larger and more important pathways to form a barrier to protect entry from unwanted visitors. They spend most of their lives guarding the realm of Way and other realms from intrusion.
Races of the Realm of Heaven
These are the beings that are most commonly found in Heaven other than the kami and the spirits of the righteous ancestors. They may not originate in the Heavens but are found in abundance, working with the other races.
The Ryuu or Dragons have long snake-like bodies and float through the air with ease. They have supreme control of the elements and are often mandated to control the weather or change the environment. They are magical in nature and their body parts are often the cure for most sicknesses. Due to this reason, these creatures have the take on the form of other races to hide their identity while traversing the realms.
Tennin or "Heaven People" are the most common residents of the realm. They have a high female population and are often seen flying about the realm. They are often called upon to deliver messages between members of Heaven or to visit mountainous regions to view the realm of Man.
Due to the upcoming convention, there may be no new posts until the week of June 28th. We hope to post something the week after the convention but can make no promises at this time. There will be a post during the week of the 28th and the standard weekly post schedule shall return.
Hope to see you at Origins!
