ROTE:Inari Jiro

A player character in the PbP game Ninjas the Return of the Enemy.

Inari Jiro

General information

Tall, handsome, and often inexplicably shirtless, Jiro would be the classic bishounen shojo manga protagonist, if it weren't for two things: the fact that he's too narcissistic to notice the effect he has one women, and the fact that he has the attention span of a cat. A born prankster, Jiro would rather blow off class (or ninjitsu training) in favor of lighting firecrackers in the parking lot or filling the class bully's pockets with rice pudding. While Jiro takes his ninja duties only a bit more seriously than he takes his schoolwork (ie, not very much), somewhere along the line he seems to have inherited his family's innate loyalty to the Kurosawa family.

Inari Clan

The Inari family claims to be descended from an ancient ninja scion who fell in love with a beautiful kitsune spirit, who he married and who bore him nine beautiful daughters, one for each of her tails. Before disapearing one moonlit night, she taught her children the secret of "fox magic": how to thread moonlight through the eye of a needle and sew it into dreams, how to pull their shadow around them, to hide from sight, how to tear off a piece of that shadow, and blow life into it, and even the greatest secret of all, how to find strawberries in winter.

Traditionally, the Inari were the chosen messenger corps of the Kurosawa family. Small, plucky, and loyal, the "dogs" of Inari were trusted to deliver the most important and secretive missives of the royal family. Though not physically strong, with their proficiency with illusions and their natural craftiness, the ninjas of of the Fox clan were notoriously difficult to track or pin down. Often, after days of pursuit, an enemy would finally get their hands on an Inari messenger only to discover that they grasped nothing but shadows and the laughter of the clever foxes.

The Inari family participated only tangentially in the war against the Betrayers. Being a small clan whose abilities did not lend themselves to decisive combat, the Inari were relegated to scouting and messenger services, leading many of the larger families to accuse them of cowardice, to which the family's matriarch is said to have replied, "We are foxes; not wolves." Despite this, they suffered heavy losses as dozens of messengers were intercepted during the height of the shadow war. After the war, the Inari family continued to serve the Kurosawa dynasty in their own peculiar, fey manner.

Jiro lives alone, with his mother; his father is... no longer around. Since his mother is more interested in chugging beer, watching baseball, and pursuing another in a long string of serial boyfriends than she is in being a ninja, he was trained by his grandfather, Aito, a stern but mercurial old man who likes to speak in Mr. Myagi-esque aphorisms.

Abilities

Jiro's bloodline abilities include an affinity with natural illusions, the ability to create a "shadow clone" and the power to turn into a fox. In fact, Jiro often pretends to own a small pet fox named Kou, which is actually a shadow clone of his fox form that he keeps around for his own amusement. He enjoys bringing "Kou" to school in his backpack; sometimes, Jiro even switches places with his pet fox if it would allow him the opportunity for a prank, or just to enjoy a Spring afternoon while his shadow clone sits in class and pretends to learn. Often an enemy will strike down "Jiro", only to discover that they have stabbed nothing but air and shadow, while somewhere behind them, a fox changes form and draws its knives.

Jiro prefers to use his abilities subtly and flippantly, generating : producing his pet fox from places where no fox could possibly have been, causing cherry blossoms to rain down upon him any time he goes out of doors, regardless of whether or not there are any cherry trees to hand, and, of course, finding strawberries in winter.

Game Statistics

Abilities

• Str 10
• Dex 16
• Con 12
• Int 12
• Wis 10
• Cha 18

Combat

• Attack +10 (with knives)
• Defense +10 (dodge)

Saves

• Toughness +10 (Defensive Roll)
• Fort +5
• Ref +9
• Will +5

Skill

• Acrobatics +15
• Bluff +15
• Concentration +16
• Diplomacy +15
• Notice +10
• Sense Motive +8
• Stealth +18
• Sleight of Hand +18

Feats

• Attack Specialization (Knives) 5
• Defensive Roll 9
• Dodge Focus 10
• Evasion
• Hide in Plain Sight
• Accurate Attack
• Equipment
• Attractive
• Quickdraw
• Uncanny Dodge (Smell)
• Bishounen
• Distract (Bluff)
• Ninja Run
• Up the Wall
• Distracting Looks

Powers

Fangs

• Strike 10 (knives)
• AP: Alternate Form (Fox) [Shrink 8, Morph (fox) rank 2]

cost 11

Fox Magic

• Illusion (all senses) rank 10 (flaws: Phantasmal -1, Thematic "nature" -1; Extras: Duration (Sustained) +1)
• AP: Shadow Clone 10
• AP: Substitution 10 *linked to* Obscure 2 (visual "smoke bomb") [Extras: Action +3 (Reaction), Independant +1, Selective +1] [Flaws: Phantasmal -1, Partial -1]
• Feats: Progression 2 (Illusion), Selective (Illusion), Interpose (Shadow Clone), Independent Appearance (Shadow Clone), Mind link (Shadow Clone)

Cost 39

Senses

• Super senses: (Darkvision, Scent, Basic Chi Sense {Scent})

cost 4

Movement

• Speed 1
• Leaping 2
• Super-movement (Trackless)

cost 5

Equipment

• Cell phone 1
• Backpack
• Sony PSP 1
• School Uniform

Complications

• Easily Distracted (mirrors, own reflection, shiny objects)
• Secret Ninja Identity
• Incredibly embarassing mother

Drawbacks

"Way of the Ninja"

(3 points)

"A ninja must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves."

--Machiavelli, paraphrased

• Don't get caught
• Serve the Kurosawa and protect their secrets
• Embrace nakama!