6. What Does Your Character Long For, and How Might Their Past Impact Their Ninjō?
Texto
Outsiders have as many desires as there are stars in the sky. The path of waves requires incredible fortitude, and no human can withstand that stress without wanting something. In general, players should have the freedom to come up with their characters’ ninjō. The Table 2–2: Sample Ninjō only represents a tiny sample of potential desires (and players may roll or choose one from here, if they desire); players and GMs can use them to galvanize their own imaginations. To create a good personal desire for a character, this desire needs to have the potential to conflict
Table 2—1: Sample Pasts
ROLL | PAST | DESCRIPTION
01-06 | Spiritual Troubles | Because you desecrated a shrine, ignored an oath, or crossed the Fortunes (or other spirits) in some other way, these forces hound you at every turn. You face curses; misfortune; subtle distrust from those around you, even if they do not know what you did; or direct attacks by spirits.
07-14 | Bad Family History | Your family may or may not have been falsely accused, but sometimes the accusation is enough. Too many people know and judge you for it.
15-22 | Bad Reputation | Due to an actual or imagined wrongdoing, your name is a burden to you. You, or a close relation associated with you, may have: • Been accused of murder • Authored an inappropriate work (a pillow book, a heretical tract, or a satire about the Emperor) • Had a messy affair and perhaps produced a child • Engaged in thievery • Voluntarily left your liege
23-30 | Debts to Pay | You owe a vast sum of money to some individual or family, and you must pay back a percentage of it on a regular basis. If you fail to make a payment, you may find yourself the target of a bounty.
31-38 | Desertion | Whether due to cowardice or for admirable reasons, you left your post. Your commander, liege, or peers intend to bring you back to answer for your crime.
39-46 | Duty | You still adhere to an ideal, whether it comes from a clan, your monastic vows, a governmental post, your family, or other outsiders. Without this ideal, you would fall apart. If you choose this past, you may optionally use the rules for giri in the core rulebook, with your GM’s approval (pages 88–90).
47-54 | Fallen Family Legacy | Your family once had a name, land, and title. You still have the name, but nothing else. Your name, however, does not protect you from bitter heimin or ruthless bandits, and other samurai treat you worse than dirt.
55-62 | Family in Need | Your family needs money, medicine, care, attention, rescue from a rival clan or mysterious captors, or some other thing from you. Without it, they will perish.
63-70 | Forsaken Vows | Perhaps you still keep your head shaved, but you were expelled from a monastery or left for personal reasons. You cannot return until you resolve those issues.
71-78 | Long Path of Waves | After your gempukku, you set out to explore the world. You have not returned to your home, and your family seeks to take you back.
79-86 | Lifelong Enemy | An individual or a family has competed against you for the same love, position, power, wealth, or fame all your life. They block you at every turn.
87-93 | Unearned Heroism | You won a duel or contest against a master by accident or via nefarious means. The master or their subordinate seeks you out, and the pressures of your reputation follow you.
94-100 | Witness | You know too much, having observed a crime, spied on some evil magic, or seen nobility where they shouldn’t have been. You’ve kept your mouth shut, but the spied-upon party wants you silent permanently.
with their past. On pages 90–91 of the core rulebook there is more information on creating interesting and impactful ninjō. For this book, that advice can be applied to the conflict between ninjō and pasts, rather than ninjō and giri.
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Writ of the Wilds · Chapter 2: The Duty of Survival › A Revised Game Of Twenty Questions › 2. What is Your Character’s Past and How Does It Affect Them? · p. 86 p. 91 p. 92 p. 93
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Outsiders have as many desires as there are stars in the sky. The path of waves requires incredible fortitude, and no human can withstand that stress without wanting something. In general, players should have the freedom to come up with their characters’ ninjō. The Table 2–2: Sample Ninjō only represents a tiny sample of potential desires (and players may roll or choose one from here, if they desire); players and GMs can use them to galvanize their own imaginations. To create a good personal desire for a character, this desire needs to have the potential to conflict
Table 2—1: Sample Pasts
ROLL | PAST | DESCRIPTION
01-06 | Spiritual Troubles | Because you desecrated a shrine, ignored an oath, or crossed the Fortunes (or other spirits) in some other way, these forces hound you at every turn. You face curses; misfortune; subtle distrust from those around you, even if they do not know what you did; or direct attacks by spirits.
07-14 | Bad Family History | Your family may or may not have been falsely accused, but sometimes the accusation is enough. Too many people know and judge you for it.
15-22 | Bad Reputation | Due to an actual or imagined wrongdoing, your name is a burden to you. You, or a close relation associated with you, may have: • Been accused of murder • Authored an inappropriate work (a pillow book, a heretical tract, or a satire about the Emperor) • Had a messy affair and perhaps produced a child • Engaged in thievery • Voluntarily left your liege
23-30 | Debts to Pay | You owe a vast sum of money to some individual or family, and you must pay back a percentage of it on a regular basis. If you fail to make a payment, you may find yourself the target of a bounty.
31-38 | Desertion | Whether due to cowardice or for admirable reasons, you left your post. Your commander, liege, or peers intend to bring you back to answer for your crime.
39-46 | Duty | You still adhere to an ideal, whether it comes from a clan, your monastic vows, a governmental post, your family, or other outsiders. Without this ideal, you would fall apart. If you choose this past, you may optionally use the rules for giri in the core rulebook, with your GM’s approval (pages 88–90).
47-54 | Fallen Family Legacy | Your family once had a name, land, and title. You still have the name, but nothing else. Your name, however, does not protect you from bitter heimin or ruthless bandits, and other samurai treat you worse than dirt.
55-62 | Family in Need | Your family needs money, medicine, care, attention, rescue from a rival clan or mysterious captors, or some other thing from you. Without it, they will perish.
63-70 | Forsaken Vows | Perhaps you still keep your head shaved, but you were expelled from a monastery or left for personal reasons. You cannot return until you resolve those issues.
71-78 | Long Path of Waves | After your gempukku, you set out to explore the world. You have not returned to your home, and your family seeks to take you back.
79-86 | Lifelong Enemy | An individual or a family has competed against you for the same love, position, power, wealth, or fame all your life. They block you at every turn.
87-93 | Unearned Heroism | You won a duel or contest against a master by accident or via nefarious means. The master or their subordinate seeks you out, and the pressures of your reputation follow you.
94-100 | Witness | You know too much, having observed a crime, spied on some evil magic, or seen nobility where they shouldn’t have been. You’ve kept your mouth shut, but the spied-upon party wants you silent permanently.
with their past. On pages 90–91 of the core rulebook there is more information on creating interesting and impactful ninjō. For this book, that advice can be applied to the conflict between ninjō and pasts, rather than ninjō and giri.