Ninjas! (Or whatever the Dardunah Equivalent is)

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    • Ninjas! (Or whatever the Dardunah Equivalent is)

      Ah Ninjas! The Traditional Shadow Warriors of Japan, the fact that Dardunah is an Asian Flavored Fantasy Game rather than European like Ironclaw and Furry Pirates (And both those games have an Asian Setting that characters could originate from, but Dardunah does it better)

      I suspect the Ninjas in Dardunah have a different name for themselves but thinking about this video I love


      And the comment that Historical Ninjas had to be physically small people this does beg the question, would the largest Zoics like Elephants and Ninja be completely ineffective as Ninja? I suppose if the character wishes the play a Rhino Ninja they can but realistically would it work?
    • Great question... Yes, the world of SHARD does indeed have what for all practical purposes could be considered Ninja. Depending upon the region in question they may have different names and slightly different abilities but for the most part a profession such as Assassin would be used as a base to create these characters. In the MAGIC AND MARTIAL ARTS GUIDE you will find many fighting styles which would be perfect for a ninja, Shard Storm, Spiral Dancer, Wind Blade and nearly all the other styles could be used in making the character or group of characters unique. You should research a group known as the THUGGEES- cult of assassins of India. ( here is a small taste of what you will find )

      Thuggees, a Sanskrit word meaning concealment, were an organized gang of professional assassins – sometimes described as the world's first mafia – who operated from the 13th to the 19th centuries in India. Members of the fanatical religious group, who were infamous for their ritualistic assassinations carried out in the name of the Hindu Goddess Kali, were known as Thugs, a word that passed into common English during the British occupation of India.

      Thuggees worked by joining groups of travellers and gaining their trust before surprising them in the night and typically strangling them with a handkerchief or noose, a quick and quiet method, which left no blood and required no special weapons. They would then rob their victim and bury them carefully.

      Their crimes involved a high degree of teamwork and co-ordination both during the infiltration phase and at the moment of attack. Each member of the gang had a special function such as luring travellers with charming words, acting as a lookout, or taking the role of the killer.

      According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Thuggees were responsible for approximately two million deaths, however estimations vary widely since there is no reliable source to confirm when the practice first began.

      Using this as your inspiration it is easy to imagine that each Nation, Region, Line, or House might possess its own unique band of Ninja/Spy/Assassins.

      It is also funny that you mention a Rhino Assassin.... as we actually encountered one in our game once. The important thing to remember in the world of SHARD is that thing such as size are relative to the general size of the population which the character may normally live. So in short, since every nation would have a variation of Assassins in its service, there would indeed have to be a wide variety of Zoics which could fill this niche.
    • We encourage all players to become familiar with our game and to enjoy it in whatever manner seems most pleasurable. This includes choosing to use this game as it is presented or to use your imaginations to expand upon the fiction thereby making it your own. I would encourage anyone to learn as much about the world of SHARD as it is presented before attempting to merge it with another game system. The reason I suggest this is because until one has a firm grasp upon the possibilities we have presented with in our books one will not know whether another game system will be necessary in order to accomplish fictional ideas needed for the plot of the story being presented. If there is no way other way to accomplish ones desires with in the game system of SHARD then and only then would I reluctantly consider merging it with another game system.

      It has been my experience from attempts to do very thing which has convinced me that this choice often creates confusion and can generate frustration for players as well as an incredible challenge for game masters to undertake. The easiest approach is the use of fiction to merge the creative concepts of the games while constraining oneself to the use the rules for one game system or another but not both. I encourage the use of the SHARD game system for a number of reasons. The most important of which is the emphasis on the fictional narrative this game encourages, followed by the free flowing nature of the rule system itself.

      If you are able to achieve a hybrid game with elements of the two after considering my suggestions above, please let me know.
    • There is a way in the Meta-game Flux by John Wick see this video explaining the concept of Flux


      I was thinking about this in combining TMNT Mutants with Shard, interesting possibilities depending on if the Mutants are Fluxing into Zoics/Janah or Vice Versa in Flux Characters who have shifted can remember their past selves and the story possibilities weather it is characters accustomed to the modern 20th Century Earth adjusting to Dardunah or Dardunah Natives adjusting to Modern Day Earth
    • Which rules system would you use? Magic could be handled completely differently depending upon which set of rules you chose. Most game systems tend to approach magic as if it were similar to a super-power and less like the ceremonial magic which is presented with in the pages of the SHARD RPG. These differences can make quite a difference in the way the game is played and the fictional story line and plot of the game itself. I encourage you to stay with in the bounds of the rules of the game in order to keep things as simple as you can both for yourself and for the players whom you will be sharing this adventure idea with. I have taken many character ideas and converted them into the SHARD equivalent. By doing this I am able to get the fictional concept I want and simply adjust it to fit within the SHARD universe.
    • I can only imagine (Not talking an actual RPG here simply talking the Game's Canon) If the TMNT did appear in Dardunah they would not be responded to kindly by the Zoics
      Here is one of my favorite episodes from the 4kids Series


      Comparing them to Terrapin Zoics they really would look like horrible twisted abominations to the Janah, they have teeth for one thing, three fingers on each hand two toed feet (Actually they have a third toe which most mistake for a heel)

      Beyond that any Janah with any sense of smell not just tracking scent would probobly detect the odor of sewage coming off them and presume them unclean
    • True enough but in my stories I do like to pride myself on keeping everybody 'in character' I am planning when I finally write the Meeting Si'Ni is also shocked by the appearance of her rescuers and under normal circumstances she would probobly run screaming from them, but she knows this isn't normal circumstances and as she gets to know them Si'Ni discovers how much she has in common with these strangers and that she is the kind of Janah open-minded enough to actually be willing to trust such strange creatures