Ninjō (Desire) and Giri (Duty)

Each character has two primary motivating factors: their ninjō and their giri. These are chosen at character creation, and are tools to help inform the character’s developing story. Both the GM and the players can call upon characters’ ninjō and giri (and the inherent conflicts that arise between the two) to introduce complications into the story.

Ninjō

Each character has a ninjō (“human feelings”), which represents a personal desire, ideal, or question that is core to the character. When a player selects a ninjō, they are selecting the reason why their character’s honor will be tested over the course of the story—the thing that could cause the character to forsake the ideals of Bushidō or their obligations to their lord, clan, and Emperor.

The problems that ninjō can cause during the campaign should be problems that the player wants the character to face (even if the character does not)—and they will have the chance to introduce these problems into their character’s life.

Choosing Ninjō

At its core, ninjō is a personal desire or question, and players select it for their characters during Question 6 of character creation (see page 90). Ninjō can be broad (“accumulate esoteric knowledge of the spirits”) or specific (“wreak vengeance on the person who murdered my teacher”), but it should be something that the PC will grapple with in the scope of the campaign. Further, it should be concrete enough that the player is clear on how to interact with it, even when the GM isn’t providing specific plot hooks for it. While it will not be central all the time, if a player is unsure of how to pursue their ninjō in play over several game sessions, they should speak with the GM and decide on a new ninjō they can more directly engage.

Ninjō and Strife

It is always hard to act counter to one’s own personal feelings, even when following the orders of a superior or adhering to an inflexible code. When a player wishes to have their character act in opposition to their ninjō, they should receive 3 strife, or more at the player's discretion.

If this represents a significant sacrifice on the character’s part, setting aside their ninjō for honorable reasons can also result in an honor award, as described in Increasing Social Attributes, on page 37.

However, ninjō can also be a source of peace for a character. After a character spends a downtime or narrative scene (see page 247) pursuing their ninjō, they remove all their strife.

Resolving Ninjō

Emotion is a living thing, and so ninjō is not cast in stone. It can evolve as the character develops over the course of the story. If a character ever reaches a moment of true clarity on the matter of their ninjō through the events of the narrative, whether this means discarding it, embracing it wholly, or reinventing it, they should be changed by the experience. If the character’s belief in the Code of Bushidō is strengthened or undermined, their honor attribute might increase or decrease to match.

After resolving a character’s ninjō, their player should consult with the GM to choose a new ninjō for the character—likely one that stems from the events that resolved the old one. Alternately, their player might decide that this is a good end point for the character’s narrative arc, and they should retire this character to create a new PC. Of course, dragging a hero out of peaceful retirement is a classic story beat, and players can use the circumstances and plot twists to give even venerable heroes a new reason to fight.

Giri

Each character has a giri (“sworn duty”), representing the way in which they serve their lord. This is the theme or issue by which the player wishes to see their samurai rise and fall during the campaign.

A player should consider how giri might sometimes conflict with their character’s ninjō, as conflict between personal feelings and duty is a recurring theme in works of fiction about samurai. By engineering some friction between the two, a player gets to help set up the drama of their character’s story. Not every conflict between ninjō and giri needs to lead to grand tragedy, but the two motivations should sometimes be at odds.

Choosing Giri

Drama in works of samurai fiction frequently arises when a noble samurai must choose between the orders of a flawed lord and their personal ideals, or because of an inner desire that they cannot fulfill while doing their duty, even if the duty itself is not unjust. Sometimes, a samurai is able to navigate these two perils; at other times, this ends in a death in battle or even seppuku, so that the samurai can resolve the two unfulfillable tasks.

Thus, in many campaigns, a character’s giri should revolve around fulfilling direct orders issued by their lord. These orders can be broad (“win glory for the Lion Clan on the field of battle, wherever you find it”) or specific (“protect Kakita Asami as her yōjimbō”), but they should be attainable and concrete enough that the player knows how to pursue them at any given time, even when the GM isn’t providing specific hooks.

If a player is unsure of how to pursue their character’s giri, they should speak with the GM and decide on a new giri that they can pursue more directly.

Resolving Giri

As with ninjō, giri can change—though generally, it does so based on the character’s narrative accomplishments or the needs of their lord. If a character ever succeeds at the task they have been assigned and receives recognition from their lord for it through events in the narrative, the character should likely receive a considerable glory award (usually 10 or more) when their lord recognizes their achievement.

If a player decides their character has definitively failed in their giri, or has decided that their character is going to wholly abandon it, the character must forfeit an amount of glory determined by the GM (usually 10 or more). Assuming their daimyō accepts this or honors their request for a new duty, the daimyō should then assign them a new giri (chosen by the player and GM).