Ninja Wars.pdf - Dorks and Dragons!

your mind. You think you’re heading for the castle,but you’re not sure.Sounds and the feel of the air change, and youknow you’re indoors somewhere. There’s a woodfloor beneath your feet, then you’re lead up a flightof stairs. You hear a shoji open, and you’re led into aroom.“Kneel,” one of the samurai prompts you. You doso, feeling tatami beneath you. Then your blindfoldsare removed.Facing you across the room is a young womanyou’ve seen before. For a moment you dredgethrough your memories for the name. Then itcomes to you: this is Naomi, Benju’s favored consort.The epitome of grace and self-possession, shekneels, awaiting your bow.Once the PCs have shown suitable respect, read thefollowing:Naomi gestures to the hooded samurai that stillflank you. They bow and leave, closing the shoji behindthem.For the first time, Naomi speaks, her voice likesoft music. “Greetings, adventurers,” she says. “Iapologize for the . . . unusual nature of this audience.But you must understand, I’m acting withoutthe approval of my lord. Oh, I act only in his best interest,I assure you . . . but sometimes Benju- samaisn’t aware of just what his best interest is.“I have some information for you,” the womancontinues, “although I understand that you’ve alreadylearned some of it. There are ninja aboutwho oppose my lord . . . for what reason I knownot. But not all ninja are enemies. My lord has hireda clan of ninja himself, to protect him and his and toconfound the plans of whoever opposes him.“He is using you, sending you out like stalkinghorses, without telling you the true scope of hisplans. Such is his right, of course. But I believe youcan serve him better if you know more of the truth.Thus this meeting.”Naomi has nothing more to say and, in fact, knowsnothing more than what she’s already told the PCs.She doesn’t know that Eichiro is the one opposingBenju, and she doesn’t know the identities of the ninjaclans involved. As soon as practical, she picks up a tinysilver bell from the tatami next to her and rings it, signallingthe samurai outside to open the shoji. Thesamurai escort the PCs away from the meetingroom—without blindfolds this time—and lead themdown into the courtyard where they return theirweapons. (The meeting took place in room 22 of thedonjon map.)Act 19—Caught in the ActDepending on whether Act 18 is used or notencounter can occur as the PCs are leaving the infirmary,or after they’ve been escorted from the receptionroom.Suspicious BehaviorAs you cross the courtyard, you see a familiarfigure—a familiar back, really—vanish into a doorwayopposite you. It’s Buntaro again. For someonewhose national personality puts great stock in concealingone’s thoughts and emotions, Buntaro isalmost unbelievably easy to read. Even in the fleetingmoment that you saw him, everything abouthim—his expression, his body language, hismovements—everything seemed to scream “I’vegot a secret . . . and I feel guilty about it.”If the PCs do something dumb—like yell “Stop,Buntaro!” —then Buntaro will run. Any pursuing PCswill be accidentally held up by collisions with samurai,servants, etc. in the narrow hallways, giving Buntaroplenty of chance to escape. The DM must then orchestrateanother opportunity for the PCs to spot Buntaroacting suspiciously.The main goal of this encounter is to get the PCs tofollow Buntaro surreptitiously through the halls ofthe castle. If the PCs are at all careful the odds of Buntarospotting them are very low: 5% per round. (Buntaro’sjust not very observant at the moment.) The DMshould make the odds of being spotted seem muchhigher, and inject tension into the pursuit.If Buntaro spots the PCs, he turns and strides towardthem, angrily demanding why they were followinghim. Of course, he won’t tell them anything aboutwhat he was doing. His hair-trigger temper is onlybarely restrained, making him exceptionally dangerous;the PCs should recognize this and react accordingly.Buntaro will demand that the PCs accompanyhim to Benju, and explain to the daimyo what they’redoing. This should provoke the events described inthe section “Denunciation.”Whispers and WhisperersAssuming that Buntaro doesn’t spot the PCs, theycan trail him to his destination, the hallway outsideroom 23 on the donjon map. In the middle of an emptyhallway, Buntaro kneels before a shoji, raps once andthen begins whispering. If the PCs somehow manageto eavesdrop, Buntaro is saying: “Meet me tonight, atthe usual place. I have something to tell you that you’llwant to hear, just like the last time.”Buntaro receives no audible answer. He quicklystands, and returns the way he came. His chance ofspotting the PCs is now 95%. If he does spot them, hedemands that they accompany him to Benju to explaintheir continued rudeness and lack of respect to him.It’s possible that the PCs might take Buntaro’s appar-44