Abilities represent the fruits of your character’s training, and the ways in which they’ve developed as a shinobi. What abilities you take will play a large role in shaping how you perform in combat and other situations.
Abilities are more specific than skills; they differ from jutsu in that while a jutsu is a specific technique, any ability is a way of doing something or a permanent increase in your capabilities.
Most abilities are passive improvements, giving you new capabilities or making you able to do a certain thing better.
You may choose to ‘not use’ a given ability at any time, essentially a form of holding back.
Abilities are acquired by spending XP. Some abilities will list only a “Base Cost”; for those abilities, you spend that much XP and acquire the ability, and that is it.
Others will list both a “Base Cost” and a “Scale.” These abilities can be purchased more than once. The first time, you pay the Base Cost in XP; each future purchase has its cost increased by the Scale.
For example, the Enhanced Hearing ability has Base Cost 4, Scale 3. One rank of Enhanced Hearing would cost 4 XP. The second would cost (4+3) 7 XP, and the third would cost (4+3+3) 10 XP. So, the total XP spent to get all three ranks would be (4 + 7 + 10) 21 XP.
Abilities with more than one rank will also include a Limit entry. This is what controls how many ranks of the ability you can have. So, if an ability (such as Attentive) said “Research /5” and you had 12 ranks of Research, you could buy that ability twice.
Many abilities will include in their limit line a maximum, such as “Limit: CHA /10, max 4”. This means that you may take that ability up to that many times (so in that example, 4).
Certain abilities will also say “Requires: (something)”. You cannot take any ranks in that ability unless you meet the requirement.
Every ninja has a natural affinity for one of the five primary elements, though some may not discover it until later. This ability can be taken for any one of the five elements, even one your character cannot use. For each rank, you get a +1 bonus to Chakra Exhaustion and Chakra Control rolls involving your favored element. The Chakra Control skill requirements to learn jutsu according to rank are considered 1 point lower, per rank, for your chosen element. Some clans start with a specific Elemental Affinity, giving them one rank in this ability. This does not (necessarily) provide them with the matching Elemental Aptitude, though it does mean they cannot change their affinity.
The shinobi of the world recognize five primary elements of chakra: fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning. These elements and their properties form the basis of most modern ninjutsu techniques. However, actually using elemental chakra requires the ability to convert one’s own chakra to the appropriate element, which is what this ability provides. In simpler terms, when you take Elemental Aptitude, select one of the five elements; you may use elemental ninjutsu of that element. Each additional rank of this ability allows you to use another element. Certain clans begin with one or more ranks in this ability. In these cases, they have the first one or two ranks in this ability for free, but must pay that cost when buying the next one. For example, a Touu begins with elemental aptitude for Water and Wind. Normally, this would cost (5 + (5+25)) 35 XP; instead, it costs 0. However, when they buy access to their third element, doing so costs (55 + 35) 90 XP.
With precise chakra control, you can learn to curve and aim your ninjutsu in such a way to ensure they hit more effectively. You may give your damage dealing attack ninjutsu a bonus of +1 Accuracy per rank, by increasing the Chakra and/or Stamina cost(s) of the ninjutsu by 3 per +1 added. Ninjutsu with a range of Touch, and those which have an Area (e.g., are Area of Effect), can not have this ability applied to them, nor may Ninjutsu which are interrupts that turn into attacks (such as Sickle Wind, or Rising Phoenix Blast).
This supplements your ninjutsu techniques, increasing their areas of effect by up to your ninjutsu damage bonus; you can use some, all, or none of this effect on a given technique, as you please. This bonus cannot exceed the technique’s base area. This bonus only applies to ninjutsu that deal damage.
You’re able to keep your chakra coherent for longer; the further it can travel before dissipating (or the faster you can propel it, or whatever)… well, the advantages should be obvious. This increases the range of any ninjutsu technique (other than those with a Range of Touch or Melee) you use by up to double your ninjutsu damage bonus in yards. This bonus cannot exceed the technique’s base range.
You’re able to increase your chakra’s density, and in turn preserve some of the energy that would dissipate into the atmosphere around you in whatever sort of attack you’re using. But all you really care about is that it makes your ninjutsu hurt more! Each rank increases your ninjutsu damage bonus by 0.2.
Your precise control of chakra allows you to spend it more efficiently, wasting less and getting more out of what you do spend. Each rank of this ability gives you a +1 bonus on your Chakra Exhaustion rolls.
Every village teaches this, usually to their genin, as a form of training to hone their chakra control skills. Training involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra at the bottom of one’s feet and using that to adhere to a wall, tree, or other vertical surface. With this ability you can scale vertical surfaces, stand on ceilings, and so forth, at your normal movement speed.
You can stand on water! Ninja do this in the same way they’d adhere to a vertical surface, though actually pulling it off is much harder because the water is constantly moving underneath them, meaning the strength and distribution of chakra has to be constantly changed. Once a shinobi is skilled enough, though, this becomes second nature, just like keeping one’s balance on an unsteady surface.
You’re good at picking up little details in your environment that aren’t quite what they should be. Maybe it’s that the ringing noise in your head isn’t reverberating right, maybe it’s that whoever constructed an illusion around you forgot to put door handles on all the doors. You get a +1 bonus to defensive Genjutsu rolls per rank.
Genjutsu is notoriously difficult; very few ninja are able to just ‘pick it up’ without difficulty. Even being mediocre with genjutsu requires a significant amount of training and practice–which this ability represents. Each rank gives you a +1 bonus to your offensive Genjutsu rolls.
Okay, NOW you’ve mastered the art of Genjutsu. Each rank gives you a +1 bonus to genjutsu rolls. You can have 1 rank in this ability for each rank of genjutsu you know at least one technique from. Thus, if you knew an E-rank, D-rank, and B-rank move, you could have 3 ranks of Genjutsu Mastery.
You’ve mastered the art of… yeah, okay, no. You are able to use entry-level Genjutsu techniques. It’s not much, but it’s a start.
This allows you to apply a genjutsu which normally must target a single person at once to any number of people. Every 1 point of Willpower spent allows your genjutsu to target two more people, at no additional cost and using your same genjutsu roll.
Shinobi training includes not only dodging and withstanding blows to the body, but to the mind as well. With this, you’re more adept at discerning the usage and resisting the effects of most subtle of shinobi methods, which is handy to keep yourself from becoming caught unaware by the other, more deadly tactics ninja employ, as well as enabling you to use those same subtleties against others. Each rank gives a +1 bonus to your Genjutsu rolls.
As a ninja, you get most of your supplies from your village. This ability represents how much you’re authorized to bring with you on any mission. This works more like a limit than something you actually ‘spend’; you can replaced used items, trade in ones you no longer have a need for, and so forth, at will so long as you’re not away. For every rank, you can have 50 Ryo worth of equipment from the Equipment chapter at once from the village.
This is a nest egg of money you’ve set aside and saved up over time. For each rank, you have 100 Ryo that you can spend as you please. This money cannot be refunded or replenished; used or broken items are simply lost. Items with the ‘Consumable’ tag may not be purchased with Savings.
The bingo book is a pocket-sized book put out by each village, with information on missing nin and enemy ninja of note. This information includes their bounties, their reputation, and any abilities which the village may be willing to publicize. Having this ability means you keep an up-to-date copy of the bingo book; you can steal someone else’s, but they generally get updated every few months. With this, you are able to make Research rolls on those with enough Infamy to be listed (as described in Advancement -> Effects of Infamy).
Icha Icha is a series of best-selling novels written by the legendary ninja sage Jiraiya. They are comedic (and adult) recounts of Jiraiya’s experiences in love. The titles include Icha Icha Paradise, Icha Icha Violence, Icha Icha Tactics, and Icha Icha Utopia. They are intended only for audiences over 18 years of age, and managing to acquire and read them in secret is a challenge countless young ninja strive to overcome. Indeed, it’s how many shinobi (though most kunoichi would never admit it) hone their abilities of stealth and deception. For every rank, you have read one of the Icha Icha novels. Every novel you’ve read gives you a +1 bonus to your Espionage rolls.
As popular as poisons are with (some) shinobi, they suffer from being relatively difficult to deliver effectively. While gaseous poisons are one of the most effective ways of accomplishing that, very few of the toxins suitable for use against shinobi can be deployed that way. Unless, of course, someone is willing to invest a great deal of time and resources into specially preparing those poisons, and learning enough about them to understand the dangers of those preparations. Like you! This ability allows you to create a Poison Smoke Bomb from any Contact poison (as found in the Equipment chapter) and converts that poisons type to Inhalation. The total cost for the poison smoke bomb is doubled (for example, Water Hemlock Poison Smoke Bombs would be 1200 ryo each), and the Toxicology roll has a -4 penalty.
Ninjas do love their explosions. However, they also like being sneaky and unseen; this combines the two! When placing an exploding tag, you can hide it from the casual observer. This requires something for it to be hidden under (such as loose soil, or leaves; you cannot ‘hide’ them in plain sight in a featureless room). Hiding a tag is a Speed 10 action, and anyone watching you will realize what you’re doing and where it is (meaning it cannot be accomplished outside of stealth in combat). When you hide the tag, make an Espionage roll. Anyone who enters the tag’s range is allowed an Awareness roll against the result, without any bonuses they may have from the Enhanced Hearing ability. Success means they’ve spotted the tag. Once a tag has begun its countdown to detonation they start to sizzle and spark, alerting anyone to their presence and approximate direction (though not exact location), giving them a chance to escape before time runs out.
You’ve trained yourself specifically with a single type of weapon. Choose one of the weapons from the Equipment chapter (such as Wakizashi, or Shuriken). You have +1 Accuracy and +1 to your damage bonus when using that weapon to make an attack, per rank. Weapon focus cannot be applied to defensive rolls, nor to any other use that have no assocaited stamina cost. You may take this ability for different weapons, counting as a different ability (with a separate cost, number of ranks, etc.) each time. Any attack which benefits from your Weapon Focus has its Stamina cost increased by 3 per rank; you may choose to use less than your full ranks of Weapon Focus on a given attack if you wish.
Your attacks stagger an opponent, club them upside the head, knock the wind out of them, or otherwise keeping them from recovering. Your blunt weapon attacks gain Stun 1 per rank, or increase their existing Stun by 1 per rank.
Your piercing weapons ignore any armor your opponent is wearing!
Normally, when partial defense applies you would deal 20% of your attack’s damage per point you hit by. With this ability you do 25% per point you hit by, up to full damage if you hit by 4 points.
You’ve trained yourself to use your off-hand just as well as your dominant one, or you really are naturally ambidextrous. Each rank reduces the Accuracy penalty for the Dual Wield Attack action (see Dual Wielding, below) and each odd rank rank (1, 3, and 5) gives you a +1 bonus to Parry when using your weapons to do so.
You attack with a weapon in each hand! Impractical, but awesome. As might be expected, this allows you to make a basic weapon attack with both weapons simultaneously. Halve the speed of both the weapons you’re using (rounding up, as usual). Add those two numbers together to get the speed of your “Dual Wield Attack” action. You use the lower of the two weapons’ Accuracy. This is defended against as a single attack, using its total Speed. The Stamina cost to Dual-Wield is the higher Stamina cost of the two weapons, plus one third of the lower Stamina cost. If you hit, you deal damage separately for both weapons, using the reduced Speed for each to determine their damage bonus. Weapons specifically marked as “Dual” calculate damage based on their natural Speed, rather than the halved value. Lowering the Speed of a Dual Wield Attack action lowers the effective Speeds (for determining damage) of both component attacks by the same amount. This can’t be done with two-handed weapons. Unfortuantely, the Dual Wield Attack action (and derivatives of it such as Centipede Strike) carries with it a -5 Accuracy penalty.
By using extreme strength, chakra-based powers, and a cheerful disregard for physics, you are able to use two-handed weapons in one hand! Changing your grip (from one to two hands and vice-versa) is a non-action. Notably, when wielded with one hand they no longer benefit from the two-handed 25% increase to your Damage Bonus.
At the second rank you can, if you have the Dual Wield ability, even dual wield two-handed weapons.
The base Speed of your Draw Weapon is reduced by 1 per rank, to a minimum of 0.
Your hatred of physics gives you improbable powers. As a “Throw Weapon” attack action (that is ranged, rather than melee), you are able to throw any melee weapon you’re holding up to STR/4 yards. It deals the weapon’s normal damage, but increases the weapon’s normal Stamina cost by 5.
You turn one of the greatest enemies of shinobi–physics–to your own ends. Each rank gives a -1 penalty to any enemy’s attempts to parry your weapon.
You sweep with the blunt end (or one of the blunt ends) of your weapon, knocking your opponent’s feet out from beneath them. This allows you to use Trip (the E-rank Unarmed Taijutsu technique) as a Weapon Taijutsu, as long as you know it.
Most of the small weapons rely on something other than overpowering force to deal their damage; accordingly, a dozen quick strikes is often preferable to six slow, powerful ones. Each time you make an attack with a Small weapon, the total Speed of your next attack with that weapon is reduced by 1. This stacks for consecutive attacks; if you make three attacks with your weapon, without taking any non-Interrupt action inbetween, the next attack would have -3 total Speed. As a reminder, total Speed cannot go below half of base Speed. The maximum reduction is your number of ranks in this ability.
The first time in battle you attack with your sword, if you have yet to draw it (meaning it hasn’t be used for parries or jutsu, either) the attack’s Speed is halved, though for the purpose of damage calculations it’s treated as its regular speed. This may only be done once per battle, even if you have more than one sword
You’ve got a good eye for causing bodily harm to people from a distance. In any other job, this would just make you kind of scary. As a ninja, it looks good on your resume! Each rank of this ability reduces the penalty for called shots with ranged weapons by 1.
You can throw senbon to target vital points on an opponent’s body. Whenever making a called shot with senbon, if you deal damage you inflict a -2 immobilization penalty on your foe. Using this on somebody already suffering from it increases the Immobilization penalty by 1 each time. The maximum penalty is (your rank in this ability + 1).
As a Speed 10 + 5 * X action, you can attach X tags to kunai hilts or arrows, and prime them. These can be attached pre-battle as a matter of convenience, but the action to prime them is still necessary. You can have up to (Chakra Control)/5 tags primed this way at once. Each item (kunai or arrow) may only have a single tag attached to it, and is destroyed by the explosion set off. You can trigger these tags as part of a multithrow, or do so later (such as by the Remote Detonation technique). When the kunai is thrown (or arrow shot) the tag(s) will detonate 15 IC after impact (with the target, or the ground at the target’s feet on a miss). When used as a multi-throw, each tagged kunai counts as two weapons for the purpose of determining multi-throwing limit. You can include up to one tag per rank in this ability in a single throw. If a target is struck by the arrow or kunai, they’re assumed to pull it out as a non-action and can try to escape the area. Jutsu including exploding tags that cause them to explode on contact supercede these rules.
You can throw weapons farther than other people! It’s useful, honest!… Kind of. Sometimes. Your max range with thrown weapons is increased by your physical damage bonus.
You’re very good at throwing lots of small objects very quickly! This allows you to throw an extra weapon when multi-throwing, without increasing the action’s Speed; the Stamina cost is still increased normally (+1 for every 2 weapons total, adding together ones added normally and ones added by Quick Hands).
You can multi-throw needles, just like you can normally multi throw shuriken and kunai.
You’re a person who uses senbon in combat. This is rare, but not unheard of; it takes a lot of effort to get results out of them, but a weapon that allows the degree of precision they do can certainly be rewarding. This ability changes the senbon’s inherent -2 Accuracy into a +1 Accuracy bonus, and allows you to use your DEX, rather than STR, to determine your damage bonus with senbon. Finally, damage dealt by senbon is doubled for the purposes of calculating wounds.
When you wound an enemy with a senbon attack, you have a 10% chance per rank for the wound to be upgraded to the next-highest rank. If you don’t wound them, this is replaced by a 10% chance per rank to cause a minor wound, so long as your attack did any damage. Every rank of this ability also raises the attack’s Stamina cost by 1; you can choose whether or not to use it, and to what extent, when you attack. If used on a multi-throwing attack with senbon, this is applied before the one-rank reduction in wound severity (from being a multi-throw).
You’re good at… well, exactly what it sounds like: applying a lot of force all at once. It might be sheer physical strength, or you could just know how to strike properly. Each rank increases your physical damage bonus by 0.2.
Once you get into a good rhythm, you find it easier and easier to maintain and keep building your momentum. All your Combo jutsu have “-1 Stamina” added to their Combo Counter line. This cannot reduce a technique’s cost below half its normal value.
Your extensive physical conditioning has given you an almost preternatural ability to shrug off damage. When you declare that your defensive interrupt is to Block, you may declare it as an Endurance Block, reducing the damage dealt by an additional 10% at the first rank, or an additional 25% at the second rank. This may only be done once every 30-(RES/10) IC.
Every rank of this ability gives you a +1 bonus to Resistance rolls when you block an attack (even if you are doing so reflexively); if you’ve declared that you’re blocking, this also applies to any effects requiring a Resistance roll which you wouldn’t normally get to defend against (such as the B-rank Poison Mist). If you’ve declared you’re blocking as a Variable Speed Action, and take another defense (for example: you are blocking from IC 20 to IC 30, and on IC 24 you dodge an attack, and are hit), you still gain this bonus.
All this ninja work has left you well beyond what peak physical condition would be for an ordinary person. In addition to being able to fight and exert yourself for abnormally long times, you recover from such exertion almost supernaturally fast. When you use the Rest action to lower your Stamina penalty, it’s reduced by 1 more per rank (so at two ranks, a Rest action would decrease your Stamina penalty by 3).
You prove distressingly difficult to make dead. Your max Vitality and HP are increased by 10% per rank. However, Wounds are calculated off your unmodified (“true”) maximums. For example, if you had 1000 Vitality and 3 ranks of Hard to Kill, you’d have 1300 Vitality. However, your “true” maximum would still be 1000, and wounds would be determined based off what percent of 1000 Vitality their damage was.
You get plenty of exercise, and probably eat healthily. When your job places serious physical demands upon you (such as leaping across chasms and running over rooftops), this can be useful. You have a +1 bonus to Stamina rolls per rank.
You put extra force behind your unarmed strikes, turning your feeble punches into fearsome punches! Or… something like that. Each rank allows you to increase the Stamina cost, and die size, of your basic unarmed attack by 2. So at rank 1, you could deal 2d6 damage for 7 Stamina; and at rank 4, you could deal 2d12 damage for 13 Stamina.
You’re harder to hurt than you have any right to be! Each rank reduces damage you take from Grapple Taijutsu by 5%.
You’ve spent time training in, or just being exposed to, extreme conditions; sitting under waterfalls, trudging through sand dunes, or enduring intense cold without the proper clothing are all examples of how this might come about. You have a +1 bonus to Resistance rolls per rank.
When your opponent disappears, you keep your momentum going by doing katas and keeping ready to strike while assessing your surroundings. You can perform the Search action without breaking your Combo, but if you do not find the target of your Combo as a result of the action, your Combo Counter is reduced by 1.
You’ve trained to improve your sheer physical prowess; even when resorting to simple, non-jutsu attacks, you hit hard. May or may not be the result of deciding to train by punching trees until your knuckles bleed. Each rank lets you roll one more die when making a basic unarmed attack.
You’re big on not being around when people try to violently end your life. Every rank gives you a +1 bonus to dodge, it’s awesome!
When targeted by an area-of-effect attack that gives you a dodge penalty based on its size, that penalty is reduced by 2 per rank, to a minimum of 0.
You’re both a distance runner and sprinter! Pretty awesome, huh? Every rank in this ability increases your AGI for the purpose of movement by 5% when you’re taking a Move action; moving as part of an attack, or techniques such as Shunshin, do not receive Runner’s bonus.
You sacrifice power for speed and precision, trying to overwhelm or overcome your opponent’s defenses before they have a chance to protect themselves. For every rank, you may take a bonus of up to +1 on a damaging taijutsu attack’s Accuracy; each +1 reduces its damage by 10%.
Swift, adjective; happening quickly or promptly. Your swiftness allows you to react faster, and makes it harder for your opponents to keep up with you. Each rank gives you +1 to Accuracy.
Your hearing isn’t actually (much) better than a normal person’s, but you’ve learned how to not do what everyone normally does: tune out quiet, ‘insignificant’ background noises. You still can if you need to, but you can also avoid doing that, when you need to, say, listen for a skulking opponent. This gives you a +1 bonus to Awareness rolls per rank.
You’re very good with attention to detail. You notice things that other people overlook, and as it turns you, that’s a pretty useful job-related talent for a ninja. You get +1 Awareness per rank.
Between smoke bombs, stealth missions at night, and hostile ninjutsu, shinobi often find themselves operating with their vision impaired. This ability represents training to fight while relying on your other senses. Each rank of Blind Fighting reduces the maximum visibility penalty you can suffer from by 1.
You’re very good at picking up on tiny things that are just everso-slightly out of place! Normally, you get a cumulative +2 bonus every time you attempt to find someone using a Search action in combat. This raises that to +3 at the first rank, and +4 at the second.
You’ve got good hand-eye coordination, which lends itself towards hitting with your attacks. You have a +1 bonus per rank to your Accuracy.
You’ve learned to rely on your instincts to guide you in battle, helping to improve your reaction time. Not by much–but enough to matter. Each rank gives a +1 bonus to dodge.
Ninja really do seem to have one, and no experienced shinobi will deny it, not once they’ve faced down an opponent and actually, physically felt the killing intent radiating from them, or experienced a half-second of dread in the instant before an ambush was sprung. Nobody can quantify it, or say for sure what causes it, but ninja who don’t want to die do well to listen to it. You have a +1 bonus to Awareness and defensive rolls per rank. Whenever you would be surprise or sneak attacked this automatically activates, allowing you to defend against it as if it was a normal attack. Each time this activates, the Awareness and defensive bonuses are reduced by 1 each; once they reach 0, your Sixth Sense stops functioning. This refreshes at the beginning of each day.
You’re an expert at misdirection; you know the signs people look for and pick up on in battle, and you know how to either give the wrong ones, or none at all. This gives you a +1 bonus to Accuracy per rank.
If you attack an opponent within 10 IC after you’ve successfully defended against an attack they made which targeted you, you have a +4 bonus to Accuracy.
Passive defenses (such as DR, or Crossroads of Heaven, or Genjutsu defense rolls) do not trigger Cunning Blow, nor does any form of Blocking. Defensive Interrupts which stop a set amount of damage (i.e., Earth Shore Return) are considered successful only if they completely stop the attack. Defensive interrupts which become attacks do not gain the benefit from the successful defense which triggered them.
Somewhere along the way you picked up the unpleasant, but highly effective talent of being able to follow people for prolonged periods of time without being noticed. Each rank gives you +1 to your Stealth TN once you’re already hidden. The odd ranks (1, 3, and 5) each give +1 to your Accuracy with Sneak Attacks made from stealth.
You are all kinds of sneaky. You know how to lie and make it seem like you’re telling the truth, or how to tell the truth while convincing anyone listening that it’s a lie. Every rank gives you +1 to Espionage and Stealth rolls.
Ninja with the ability to use chakra can get away with not solving every problem through the application of stealth and cunning, it’s true. But, to be viewed as a proper ninja, they need to be keenly aware of their surroundings, masters of deception, and able to vanish like a shadow. In practice, genin find those things exceptionally boring, especially when they could be learning how to shoot fireballs instead. Every rank gives you a +1 bonus to Accuracy, defensive rolls, and skill checks.
You take up a position protecting someone from harm. Very useful on escort missions when you have to keep some blubbering civilian safe! You declare this as an action the same way you would blocking, while designating one or more (up to 1+XP/1000) targets within AGI/20 yards of you. If one of those people is attacked during your Defensive Formation, you may immediately attempt to Take The Hit, without increasing your next action as would be normal for using an Interrupt, with a +10 bonus (replacing the normal +5). Against area-of-effect attacks, if you do this you take the full damage, and they take only half (which they can reduce by their own defenses). The protected target can still defend themself, but if they move out of your protective radius the Defensive Formation is automatically aborted.
You may simultaneously declare any two of: Block, Guard, Total Defense, Defensive Formation, and similar actions not listed in this chapter (such as the Uchiha’s Observe).
You ready yourself for an impending attack. Guard is an action declared similar to blocking. While Guarding, you have a +5 bonus to accuracy when parrying enemy attacks (including with jutsu, such as Halting Blow). Your Parry action itself becomes a Speed 0 Interrupt.
You may simultaneously declare any two of: Block, Guard, Total Defense, Defensive Formation, and similar actions not listed in this chapter (such as the Uchiha’s Observe).
This does not actually have anything to do with dancing. Indeed, if you are dancing, you probably won’t be able to pull this off! You stay on edge while recuperating mid-battle, never letting your guard down. When you take a Rest action, you are also considered to be Blocking until your next non-Interrupt action.
You know how to fend for yourself, in the wilderness and on missions. It encompasses a lot of things, but one of the basics for a ninja is being able to not be discovered when their opponents; discretion is absolutely the better part of valor, after all. Each rank gives a +1 bonus to Stealth and Survival rolls.
Not getting caught by one’s opponents is always preferable when outmatched, but sometimes that’s not an option. You now know how to fend for yourself in combat, as well! Each rank gives a +1 bonus to dodge and Survival rolls.
You abandon all forms of attack and focus on staying alive. This is an action declared the same way as blocking. While in Total Defense, your dodge action becomes a Speed 0 Interrupt and has a +3 bonus.
You may simultaneously declare any two of: Block, Guard, Total Defense, Defensive Formation, and similar actions not listed in this chapter (such as the Uchiha’s Observe).
Being faced with truly dire straits brings out remarkable characteristics: in animals, in civilians, and in shinobi. Thankfully, you’re one of those! You can activate this ability when defending against an attack by spending a point of Willpower. Your Interrupt only needs to be double or less the Speed of the attack you’re defending against, rather than half or less. This effect persists of the duration of that IC; if you’re being attack four times in the same IC, then all four defenses would receive this benefit.
Your force of will is as powerful an advantage in combat as your strength of body. Each rank of this ability increases your Willpower by 1.
Being left reeling and disoriented is an all-too-common experience for shinobi. Sometimes it’s the result of genjutsu, other times it’s a lucky blow to the solar plexus (or… lower). You’re able to bring yourself back to the present, by sheer mental fortitude, though doing so is bound to wear you out faster in the long run. By spending 1 Willpower, you end any Stuns you’re suffering from and become immune to any other instances of that status effect until the end of the current Initiative Count.
You refuse to go down in battle. So long as you’re physically able to breathe, you will not stop fighting when your values are on the line. This can get downright frightening to behold, depending upon the circumstances. Whenever you would be reduced to 0 HP or lower, roll a TN 25 Stamina check. If you succeed, you are left with 1 HP, and cannot have your HP reduced until the end of that initiative count. If you fail, in addition to your Fatigue progressing you take the damage you normally would have from the attack. Damage negated through this ability still wounds you normally. Clones, of any kind, can never benefit from this ability.
Through sheer determination you force yourself to perform above your own capabilities. Once per day, per rank, you may reroll any roll, or replace an Accuracy number with a d20 roll that adds your normal Accuracy rating as a bonus (not including the base 10 Accuracy). If this is a d20 roll and the result is below 11, add 10 to the die roll. Using Limit Break causes you to immediately proceed to the next Fatigue category. This ability can be used after you’ve determined whether your roll or attack would’ve succeeded normally.
You’re always ready to protect yourself, even when caught off guard. You may declare use of this ability when rolling your initiative for combat. You are considered to be blocking at the start of battle, but take a -4 penalty on your initiative roll. This penalty is reduced by 1 for each rank beyond the first.
You have excellent twitch reflexes. Mostly, this comes in handy for a ninja; you respond to danger before even fully determining what that danger is. This can be kind of awkward off-duty, when you respond to somebody trying to startle you by punching them in the gut and then flipping them over your shoulder, but that’s what they get for trying to startle a ninja anyway. Each rank gives you +1 Initiative and each even rank gives a +1 Athletics bonus.
You don’t waste time doing things like getting warmed up and taking stock of the battlefield, instead opting to rush right into battle and make things up as you go along! You start battle with (AGI)*(number of ranks in this ability)/20 AP.
You may, as part of your Initiative roll, activate one or more techniques with Upkeeps that affect only yourself. You must pay their Chakra or Stamina costs normally. The total of the (Speed + modified Seal Speed) of all the techniques you use cannot exceed whatever you rolled for your initiative.
You get a lot done in combat. Whether it’s quickly assessing the battlefield, exploiting an opening, or having that extra bit of adrenaline, you’re already doing what needs to be done. Every rank in this ability increases the AP you naturally gain each 20 IC by 1. Thus, if you had 3 ranks of Active, you’d get (5 + 3) 8 AP every time the IC reached a multiple of 20.
You’re able to act blindingly fast, beyond what all reason suggests should be possible. You may at any time after your first non-interrupt action in combat cause your next action to come 1 IC earlier for every 2 AP you spend. For example, say it’s initiative count 200, and you just took a speed 12 action. Your action ends that IC, moving the battle onto IC 201; normally your next action would occur on IC (200+12) = 212. By spending 22 AP, you could act on (IC 212 - 11) 201, in other words, immediately. This only allows your next action to come sooner; it does not let you finish an ongoing action sooner. As such, Principle of Motion can’t be used to make you finish Handseals early, or while you are in the process of using any action with a Delay, or any Variable Speed Aaction (including the Move action). Similarly, you can not use Principle of Motion to reverse time. You may use Principle of Motion only to bring your next action to what the current initiative count is. This means that if you take an action on IC 16, once it is resolved IC 17 begins–and that is the earliest you could activate Principle of Motion, meaning you would be unable to act twice on the same initiative count. After using Principle of Motion, you may not use it again until 10 IC have passed. You may not use Principle of Motion while Stunned.
You can spend AP to improve an attack’s accuracy, or a defensive action’s roll. This costs 8 AP per +1 Accuracy, and 5 AP per +1 to a defensive roll. Either way, Surge may give a maximum of a +5 bonus, and is declared when the roll (or attack) is made.
Your knowledge of the human body develops sinister undertones. You can’t learn how to treat life-threatening injuries without picking up more than a little bit of knowledge of how to cause life-threatening injuries. Each rank causes your taijutsu attacks (including those with ranged weapons, just as a reminder) to calculate wounds as if their damage was 5% higher.
Aside from the basics of health and biology, and how to stabilize a dying comrade on the field, you’ve learned how to provide longer-term care for your allies. At the first rank of this ability, you are able to provide ‘medical attention’ to people (as per the Recovery node in the combat chapter), as of they were hospitalized. Doing so requires you to have access to one First Aid kit per person you treat this way. At the second rank, you may do this even without a First Aid kit. Finally, at the third rank, the recovery times for all people you are treating are halved, even beyond the normal reductions for receiving medical attention–you’re just that good. You can treat a number of people at once equal to your ranks in the Medicine skill. This is long-term treatment, so you can still take breaks, sleep, and so forth, as long as you are devoting most of your time to helping them heal.
You know a little bit about everything, and a lot about a few things. Unfortunately, most of a ninja’s abilities depend upon talent rather than knowledge. For those that don’t, you’ve got an extra edge! You have +1 per rank to Medicine, Chakra Control, and Toxicology rolls.
Extensive knowledge of various toxins and the human body’s response–and weakness–to them results in more than a little bit of a better understanding of overall how to disrupt the normal state of equilibrium.. It isn’t a kind thing to consider, but the business of shinobi sometimes demands understanding. And some just enjoy their work a little bit too much. Each rank increases all damage you deal by 2%.
This ability allows you to focus on a single skill at the expense of your overall performance. Most of the skills a ninja develops are picked up as a course of their regular training and experience. Skill focus represents taking extra time to focus on a specific talent, to the expense of all others. Each rank of Skill Focus increases your rank in the chosen skill by 1. This is an actual increase in rank, for all purposes, not a “bonus”. This ignores and does not count against the normal limit on skill ranks. You may take Skill Focus for multiple skills, each time treating it as a different ability with a separate cost scale.
You practice extensively with a chosen skill, so that even while you may still make mistakes, you don’t make catastrophic ones; even at your worst, you’re not terrible. Any time you roll below a 5 on a roll with that skill, your d20 roll is instead considered to be a 5. You may take this ability multiple times. Each time you take it, it applies to a different skill. This does not apply if you use a Willpower (or effects which follow the rules for Willpower).
…is a good idea when those ‘friendly’ training matches get a little bit out of control. You declare you’re holding back when you make an attack. An attack that’s been held back uses half your normal damage bonus, and any wounds it inflicts have their severity reduced by 1, though preventing a wound this way will not stop it from ending any Genjutsu the victim was suffering from. At the first rank this works on basic attacks and with E-rank jutsu; the next rank allows it to be used on D-ranks, the third on C-ranks, and so forth, up to A. No, you can’t hold back with S-rank moves.
Ordinarily, when raising your attributes, the amount you’ve raised one by must be within 3 points of the amount the nexthighest has been raised by, and so forth (the ‘rule of 3’). Every rank in this ability loosens that restriction by one. Thus, instead of having spent XP to raise three stats by +3, +6, and +9, you could have a progression of +4, +8, and +12.