 Enhanced Strength: Cannot be used with weapons.

 Enhanced Power: Cannot be used with weapons.

 Enhanced Speed: Does not increase weapon Accuracy.

 Extreme Speed: May not be used to raise weapon
Accuracy.

Additionally, members of the Hozuki clan cannot open the gates when
using their Hydration Technique--their body has no bones, muscles, or
circulatory system to enhance.
Activating the technique will not close any open gates, but will
suspend all their effects (including AP generation, ability to spend
Gates AP, and the chance to wound oneself when acting) until the
Hydration Technique is ended.</text>
\page
# The Gates
## -= The First Gate =-
### -= Kaimon - Gate of Opening =-
Located in the brain, opening this gate removes the body's ability to
limit the output of its muscles.
AP Gain: 5
Enhanced Strength
You can spend AP to increase your Physical Damage Bonus for a single
attack, at the rate of 1 AP per 0.4. You may spend up to STR/10 AP this
way.
____________________________________________
## -= The Second Gate =-
### -= Kyuumon - Gate of Healing =-
Also located in the brain, the second regulates the body's breakdown of
stored energy. By opening it, the body gains the ability to access its
energy reserves faster than would normally be physically possible.
AP Gain: 10
Rejuvenation
You may spend AP at any time to reduce your Stamina penalty. Every 2 AP
spent reduces your Stamina penalty by 1.
____________________________________________
## -= The Third Gate =-
### -= Seimon - Gate of Life =-
Located on the spinal cord between the shoulders, opening the third
gate results in one's blood vessels dilating, causing increased blood
flow throughout the body.
Opening this gate also has the effect of turning the user's skin a very
marked reddish color.
AP Gain: 15
Accelerated Bloodflow
The increased flow of blood to all regions of your body keeps your
cells oxygenated and able to perform at their peak. You reduce your
Fatigue penalties by the number of gates you have open. Therefore, if
you were at Fatigue 4 with the third gate open, you would have only a
-1 penalty to Accuracy and a -5 penalty to defenses.
____________________________________________
## -= The Fourth Gate =-
### -= Shoumon - Gate of Pain =-
Located below the Gate of Life, the fourth gate got its name for a very
simple reason: beyond what's normal even for the other gates, opening
causes severe pain across the entire body as the overwhelming flow of
chakra begins physically tearing the user's muscle fibers.
AP Gain: 20
Enhanced Power
For every AP you spend reducing an attack's Speed, you may spend
another AP to "buy back" the lowered damage
bonus.
For example, say you spent 4 AP to bring a basic unarmed attack from
Speed 8 to Speed 4. Normally you would deal (damage bonus)*(4) damage
with this attack, because its Speed is 4. However, with Enhanced Power
you could spend up to 4 AP increasing its effective Speed.
Thus, if you spent 3 AP on Enhanced Power, you'd deal (damage
bonus)*(7) damage.
____________________________________________
## -= The Fifth Gate =-
### -= Tomon - Gate of Limit =-
Located in the middle of the torso, the fifth gate is below the fourth
on the spinal column (which also serves as the body's primary chakra
meridian). Opening results in a marked increase in speed and power for
the shinobi who does so, but begins tearing tendons away from the bones
they're anchored to.
AP Gain: 25
Enhanced Speed
Every 5 AP you spend on attack increases its Accuracy by 1. Every 5 AP
you currently have in your gate-specific AP pool gives you a +1 bonus
to dodge rolls.
____________________________________________
## -= The Sixth Gate =-
### -= Keimon - Gate of View =-
Placed in the lower abdomen, the gate of view is responsible for,
relative to the previous five, gross regulation of chakra, with the
first five gates fine-tuning its distribution to one extent or another.
Simply opening the sixth gate results in the body blasting chakra out
from every one of its tenketsu. While it's open the user will radiate a
strong artificial 'wind'; trees will bend away, and water will rise
form vortexes around them.
AP Gain: 30
Extreme Speed
After making an attack or attempting to dodge and seeing if it succeeds
or fails, you may spend AP to increase its result by 1 for every 10
points of AP spent.
Additionally, you may use Enhanced Strength or Enhanced Power after
determining if your attack hits.
\page
Note: The last two gates can only be obtained by GM approval.
____________________________________________
## -= The Seventh Gate =-
### -= Kyoumon - Gate of Wonder =-
Located near the base of the spine, at hip level, the seventh gate
results in the most marked physical changes since the third. The user
begins using glowing green sweat from their pores; the amounts of
chakra rushing through the user's chakra circulatory system are
becoming genuinely destructive to the body, and so it tries to vent it
out the only way it can... resulting in glowing green, chakra-infused
sweat.
Additionally, merely having this gate open results in shredding one's
muscle fibers. While chakra can make up for lost functionality, even a
light touch causes severe pain to someone who's opened the seventh gate
recently.
AP Gain: 40
Defiance
So long as the Seventh Gate remains open, you ignore the effects of all
wounds you're suffering from (though they will still accumulate
normally)
____________________________________________
## -= The Eighth Gate =-
### -= Shimon - Gate of Death =-
Located near the heart, this is the final option for any user of the
gates, when accomplishing their goal is more important than their life.
With all eight gates opened, there's nothing to regulate the body's
chakra flow, and since it's inherently tied to every major organ in the
body, there's very little to regulate organ function either.
Opening the eighth gate will cause the user's death, without exception.
However, for those few minutes before their heart literally pumps
itself to death, before their raging chakra system finishes tearing
their organs into pulp, and before they convert vital portions of their
body into energy, a user of the eighth gate has unrivaled power.
AP Gain: 50
Last Stand
When you first open the eighth gate, all wounds you are presently
suffering from are removed. So long as the Eighth Gate remains open,
your HP cannot be reduced below 1.
However, when you fall unconscious or close the Eighth Gate, or when
you have a Blunt Critical Wound on every location of your body (both
arms, both legs, chest, abdomen, head), you die.</text>
\page
### --( Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Shadow Clone Technique )--
Perhaps the pinnacle of development for the ninja replication technique
is this jutsu. Whereas bunshin creates what are essentially illusions,
shadow clones use chakra to create a perfect copy of the original
person.
Despite this, they are fairly delicate and unstable; a solid blow will
harm the clone as if it was flesh and blood, but moments later the
bunshin will vanish in a puff of smoke.
- Speed: 5, +2 per clone
- Seal Speed: 5, +2 per clone
Effects:
You may create any number of clones; however, each clone raises your
Fatigue level by 1. You can't regain Fatigue spent on clones so long as
they exist. When created, Kage Bunshin have all Wounds and Upkeeps you
do, but not status effects. Wounds gained, and Upkeeps activated, after
they're created do not automatically transfer to the clones.
Kage bunshin can perform any action other than creating more clones;
they can even perform handseals and use jutsu. Kage Bunshin are always
at Fatigue 1, and if they fail a Fatigue roll or take any damage
they're destroyed.
If a clone is destroyed, you do not get its Fatigue level back. You
may, as a Speed 5 + 2 * X action, end 1 + X clones. Clones ended this
way vanish in a puff of smoke, and you regain the Fatigue level spent
on them.
Although you do not have a mental link with your clones, when one
ceases to exist (either because it's destroyed or because you
voluntarily ended it) you gain memories of all the experiences it had
in the time when it was separated from you. These memories, while
'legible', seem slightly unreal, the mental equivalent of looking at a
photograph's negatives (meaning you can't confuse them with your own
"real" memories).
In combat, as mentioned, kage bunshin can act as if they were you. If
they are present at the start of battle, they use your initiative roll;
otherwise, they may act the IC after they're created.
Mentally commanding your clones to act costs 1 AP per 5 Speed of the
action they're going to use.
For example, say you made a Shadow Clone, and on IC 80 you wanted it to
punch an enemy. This is a Speed 8 action, so you'd spend 2 AP, and your
clone couldn't act again until IC 88.
If, on IC 85, somebody attacked your clone, you could spend 1 AP to
have it take a Dodge action (Speed 2), after which you wouldn't be able
to give it another non-Interrupt order until IC 90.
When Kage Bunshin attack, their actions are always considered to be
Held Back, as per the ability in Chapter 5; they use half your damage
bonus on your attacks, and the severity of wounds they inflict is
reduced one category. This applies even if you do not have the Hold
Back ability.
Clones do not accumulate AP, and you may not spend AP to reduce the
Speed of their actions. They do not have their own Willpower, but you
may spend your own Willpower for them.
When created, Shadow Clones have all your equipment, with the following
exceptions:
1. Consumable items (flash and smoke bombs, poison, exploding tags, and
so on). Anything which, after being used, cannot be reused.
2. Chakra-infused items (such as storage scrolls) are physically
replicated, but have no special properties.
3. No electronic items (cameras, comm devices) or items with complex
moving parts function.</text>
\page
>## Natural Chakra
1. Introduction
2. Learning
====================
1. Introduction
------------------------------
Chakra is everywhere, an intangible force permeating the world. For the
most part, ninja (and everyone else) ignore this. It's like knowing
that there's oxygen all around: necessarily for life, but not
particularly worthy of attention since it's always there.
It does play an important roll for shinobi: they naturally respire
chakra from the environment, just like they inhale and exhale air, but
as chakra is omnipresent, it never matters.
It's called 'natural chakra'. Very rarely, some ninja manage to learn
how to access it. The scarcity of this ability has a lot to do with the
fact that in most situations, it's impractical: accessing nature chakra
requires one to be able to sit calmly and undisturbed for a significant
amount of time, something which ninja rarely have the opportunity to do
when under pressure.
====================
2. Learning
------------------------------
Learning to access nature chakra is not something one simply does: it
takes months of slowly learning to harmonize oneself with the world
around them, gradually learning to deliberately calm the flow of chakra
within their own body.
Similarly, someone who can use nature chakra does not progress in
stages; it's a natural growth, a process of inner learning.
However, that would be horribly difficult to represent with game
mechanics, so natural chakra is conveniently broken down into three
tiers! They are, in order: Enlightened, Adept, and Sage.
Within each tier, there are several abilities (which can be logged
either under Other, or by creating a new ability breakdown for nature
chakra). By each ability there is a listed XP cost, which you must pay
to learn it. You can purchase any ability within a tier you have access
to, so long as you meet its listed requirements.</text>
### Natural Chakra Abilities
1. Enlightened
2. Adept
3. Sage
====================
1. Enlightened
------------------------------
##### Meditation (10 XP)
The most basic ability someone seeking to harness natural chakra must
master, this is precisely what it sounds like.
Obviously, this is easier said than done; a novice will find themselves
thinking about not thinking, then their nose will start to itch,
they'll get fidgety... and that is where most give up in frustration
and go back to studying high-power ninjutsu.
When meditating you cannot talk, or even open your eyes to look around,
though you do remain aware of your surroundings to the extent of what
you can feel and hear. Indeed, much of meditation is learning how to
observe one's surroundings impartially, without reacting. You cannot
maintain any Upkeeps greater than 0 while meditating.
In battle, you may declare Meditate as an action. When meditating, you
do nothing. Meditate as an action lasts until you declare that you
Abort it; you do not need to declare how long you'll be meditating when
you begin.
There are two ways to end meditation.
The first is with End Meditation, a Speed 5 action which cannot have
its Speed reduced.
The second is your meditation being disrupted. This occurs if you take
any action other than End Meditation, if you are hit by any damaging
attack, or if you are moved in any way. If this happens, you have a -5
penalty to Chakra Exhaustion and Stamina, Accuracy, and all d20 rolls,
for the next 10 IC.
 Every 10 IC you spend meditating, your Stamina
penalty is reduced by 1.
##### A Tranquil Mind (10 XP)
By emptying your mind, you reach a state of total serenity. Your
emotions fade away, letting you assess things calmly and rationally.
With that tranquility comes inner balance, disturbances of the mind
translating into disturbance of one's chakra, and their absence doing
the same. Every 10 IC you spend meditating, your Chakra Exhaustion
penalty is reduced by 1
##### A Tranquil Soul (20 XP)
When your mind and body are in harmony, each completely silent and at
ease, your spirit becomes the same. Once you've been meditating for 20
IC, you may sacrifice a point of Willpower to lower your Fatigue level
by 1. After doing so, you must wait at least 20 IC before using it
again.

###### Requires: A Tranquil Soul
\page
##### A Dream of the World (20 XP)
As one sinks into meditation, they become detached from their worldly
senses and the accompanying distractions. Only by doing so can they
notice the minute variations in the world's own chakra, in all their
subtle wonder.
While meditating, you can tell how many people are within X yards,
where X is the number of IC you've spent meditating, up to a maximum of
your CHA. This does not, however, allow you tell anything else about
them, even their direction or distance.
Except in combat! In combat, this allows you to find hiding enemies.
Every 5 IC you spend meditating while a hidden enemy is within your
range, you may make a Chakra Control roll against their Stealth TN,
with a +2 bonus for every 5 IC (total) you've been meditating.
Requires: A Tranquil Soul

====================
2. Adept
------------------------------
##### One With Nature (20 XP)
Up until now, you've managed to 'sort of' meditate properly: you're
almost sitting still, you're mostly not distracted. Becoming one with
nature requires a higher level of discipline.
The phenomenon commonly described as being 'one with nature' is where a
person is so still, so unresponsive, that the world's ambient chakra
can flow unhindered through their chakra coils, as if they were just
another tree or current of wind.
As this takes place, nature chakra builds up within the shinobi's
chakra system. While there are dangers associated with it, they don't
manifest at this level. Every 5 IC you spend meditating, you get one
nature chakra counter (NC). You may have a maximum of up to (RES+CHA)/4
nature chakra counters.
However: If your meditation is broken through any means other than an
End Meditation action (or, once you have the ability, activating Sage
Mode), you lose all your accumulated nature chakra counters.
Once a person stops meditating, this chakra is quickly cycled through
their system and disposed of. You lose one NC every 5 IC when not
meditating.
###### Requires: Path to Tranquility

##### Body of Metal (20 XP)
Nature is unyielding; it is powerful, and will crush any who think
themselves its better. For every NC you currently have, your damage
bonuses are increased by 0.1 with everything but weapons; with weapons,
your damage bonus is increased by 0.1 for every 2 NC you currently have.
##### Body of Water (20 XP)
Nature is adaptable; it changes to meet the needs of its current
situation, not because it yields, but because it will always be
victorious under any circumstances. After seeing the result of a Chakra
Exhaustion or Stamina roll, you may spend 3 NC to increase the result
by 1; there is no limit on how many NC you may spend this way on a
single roll.
##### Body of Fire (20 XP)
Nature is furious; it destroys, it obliterates. It is the raging
wildfire, the roar of thunder. You may spend NC to increase your damage
bonus by a single attack, at the rate of 0.3 for every NC spent, or 0.1
for each NC spent with weapon attacks. You may increase your base
damage bonus by up to 25% of its base value using Body of Fire.
##### Body of Wood (20 XP)
Nature is patient; it grows slowly, knowing that there is no need to
rush, that the destination is what matters, not the time taken to get
there. When taking any action, you may spend up to 5 NC to improve the
result of any Stamina or Chakra Exhaustion rolls it causes you to make.
Every NC spent gives you +1 to that roll's result.
##### Body of Earth (20 XP)
Nature is gentle; it nourishes, it strengthens, and it protects.  Every NC you
currently have gives a Damage Reduction (DR) of 2.
##### A Dream of a Dream (20 XP)
Every person alters the flow of chakra around them in a unique,
distinctive way; some people brighten the world merely by being there,
while others darken, and still others are like deep pits from which no
light can escape.
When you sense someone using A Dream of the World, you can identify
their chakra in the future. Having met someone in the past doesn't mean
you can immediately identify their chakra.
###### Requires: A Dream of the World

====================
3. Sage
------------------------------
##### Path to Inner Peace (50 XP)
Before, your meditation was almost childish: what you thought was
perfection was in truth a tribute to its own flawed nature. What you
thought was a deep understanding of the world was an immature attempt
to define something which no words could hope to describe. What you
thought was control of your own body was only ignorance of your own
lack of discipline.
You're not sure when you realized how wrong you've been--it was
simply... apparent, one day, an epiphany. Understanding your flaws, you
have not overcome them, but rather accepted them, absorbed them into
yourself, and in doing so let them dissolve like shadows in the light.
All meditation effects take place twice as quickly: you gain 1 NC every
2 IC spent meditating, you may use Tranquil Soul every 10 IC, A Dream
of the World's radius increases by 2 yards every IC, and so forth.
Additionally, you can at this point talk to others without breaking
your meditation.
###### Requires: One With Nature, Basic Training 5,
Hold Back 5

\page
##### Sage Mode (50 XP)
The pinnacle of senjutsu--"sage
techniques"--is, appropriately enough, referred to as
"sage mode". Activating sage mode requires
flawless self-control.
Sage mode requires perfectly balancing sage chakra with one's own
"yin and "yang" chakra--two
things that most ninja never even need to concern themselves with. By
drawing in enough nature chakra and maintaining it in perfect harmony,
a heightened state of superhuman performance, the eponymous sage mode,
can be reached.
You may activate sage mode as a Speed 5 action once you have at least
50 NC stored, and only if you are Meditating. Doing so immediately ends
your meditation, and you may not meditate again until Sage Mode has
ended.
Sage Mode lasts until you run out of NC; however, while it is active
you lose 2 NC every 5 IC (instead of 1). While in Sage Mode, your
current NC (for the purpose of determining benefits from nature
chakra's passive effects, such as Body of Earth and Body of Metal) is
always considered to be the amount you had when you entered Sage Mode.
For example, if you entered Sage Mode with 60 NC, and had spent 40 of
them, you would still receive (60*2) 120 Damage Reduction from Body of
Earth, until your Sage Mode expired.
###### Requires: Path to Inner Peace

##### Awakening: Water (20 XP)
While in Sage Mode, you have a +1 bonus to Stamina and Chakra
Exhaustion rolls for every 10 NC you had when you activated Sage Mode.
After seeing the result of an attack (whether it hits or not) or a
defensive roll (successful or not), you may improve the result by up to
3 by spending NC, at the rate of 5 NC per +1.
##### Awakening: Fire (30 XP)
When using Body of Fire in Sage Mode, every 1 NC spent increases your
damage bonus by 0.5, or 0.2 for weapon attacks, to a maximum of 50% of
your base damage bonus.
##### Awakening: Earth (20 XP)
While in Sage Mode, your damage reduction from Body of Earth cannot be
bypassed or reduced by effects which would normally do so. When an
attack wounds you, you may spend nature chakra counters to lower its
severity, at the rate of 5 NC per level: for example, for 15 NC you
could negate a Severe wound entirely.
##### Awakening: Air (20 XP)
While in Sage Mode, you have a +1 bonus to Accuracy and dodge for every
20 NC you entered Sage Mode with. For every 10 NC, you have a +1 bonus
to Athletics, Awareness, Chakra Control, and Resistance rolls.
##### Awakening: Void (40 XP)
When in Sage Mode, A Dream of the World and A Dream of a Dream are both
automatically active at all times, with a radius of your Sage Mode NC
(if you entered with 54 NC, 54 yards). As a Speed 5 action you may make
a Chakra Control roll to locate all hidden enemies in range, with a +1
bonus for every 10 NC you have.
If you've previously located someone this way, during the current
instance of Sage Mode, this bonus is raised to +1 for every 5 NC you
have (in other words, it's easier to find them after the first time,
until your Sage Mode ends).
###### Requires: A Dream of a
Dream</text>

\page
# Summoning Contracts
>1. Introduction
2. How They Work
3. Avatars
4. Limitations
5. How To Read
6. Breach of Contract
====================
1. Introduction
------------------------------
There are some things even stranger than ninja who can manipulate
chakra to give themselves superhuman abilities: for examples, animals
who can manipulate chakra to give themselves superhuman abilities.
These animals are commonly called "summon
creatures" by shinobi, as that is how they will usually be
encountered: by another ninja summoning them.
Animals are summoned for numerous reasons, such as aiding in battle or,
more frequently, performing something they can do better than the ninja
calling them. The vast majority of these animals have human-level
intelligence and performance well beyond what would be expected of
their species, and most of them can speak fluently. Exactly where these
intelligent, talking, chakra-manipulating animals came from is a
mystery even to shinobi.
That being said, ninja tend to be pragmatic about these matters. There
are two things a shinobi needs to summon: knowledge of the technique
(Kuchiyose no Jutsu), and a contract.
A contract is exactly that: a piece of paper which the ninja must sign
their name to (typically in blood). Once the contract is signed, they
gain the ability to summon the corresponding animal at will. In
exchange, the ninja must give up some of their own chakra whenever they
call the animal.
These contracts are supernatural in nature; they cannot be destroyed
(rather, if they are, they'll reform without any signs of damage). A
ninja may summon any contract they've signed, and dismiss it, at will;
some carry the contracts with them as a fashion statement or means of
showing off, while others prefer to keep them out of sight so as not to
tip their hand to prospective enemies. Either way, the physical
contract is not needed to actually summon the animal it corresponds to.
====================
2. How They Work
------------------------------
You get the contract by purchasing the Summoning Contract talent.
After that, what exactly it allows you to do depends on your XP total.
In each contract's description there will be a section labeled
"Access", beneath which you will see XP
amounts and the names of individual summons and techniques granted by
the contract. Once you have the listed XP amount, you may use the
appropriate summon; there is no additional cost to acquire them once
you have the contract.
Once you have a contract and access to a particular summon, you may
call on it. To do this, you need to use Kuchiyose no Jutsu (a C-rank
ninjutsu); the Chakra cost, Speed, and so forth, are all listed within
the entries for individual summons.
Summoned animals are not pets.  If you summon a creature to
perform its duty, it will do so without (much) complaining. However, it
won't casually "hang around", train with you,
or be eye candy. If you try to ask it to do so, it will just leave.
====================
3. Avatars
------------------------------
As mentioned, these intelligent animals have their own social
structures; most are fairly loose, and not organized in any fashion
particularly recognizable to humans. One thing they all have in common,
however, is the presence of what ninja have come to refer to as an
"avatar-class" summon.
Avatars are the pinnacle of their species. They may not, strictly
speaking, rule the other animals summoned by their contract, but they
are universally revered and deferred to. In most cases avatars are more
intelligent, and vastly more powerful, than any of the other animals of
their species. They also tend to grow to enormous sizes, even beyond
what's seen in other summon animals (though this is not necessarily
always true, and many avatars are not actually the largest example of
the species).
They're also astoundingly long-lived. Many of the avatars have been
alive for over a century, and are likely to live quite a great deal
longer still. It's even said that some of them have, in the past,
fought against the legendary bijuu--and while they may not have won,
the fact that they're still alive says a great deal.
Avatars are also much more independent than the other animals their
contracts call. Summoning one does not mean that it will help you.
Certainly, some will; others may only do so for certain requests, or
under certain circumstances, or with an expectation of something in
return.
In game terms, what this means is that a GM must be around whenever you
summon an avatar; they will handle the details of the above.
\page
====================
4. Limitations
------------------------------
The greatest limitation in most summons is how frequently they can be
used. Each individual summon may only be called upon once per week,
unless specified otherwise. For example, if you had the Bird contract
and summoned the Corpse-Devouring Crows, you coldn't use that
particular technique for an IC week (OOC day); on the other, you could
still summon an Owl Sage or Flawless Messenger.
Additionally, summons will not directly work against someone with their
contract. The techniques granted by a summoning contract can still be
used, but the full-fledged "Summons" of the
contract will refuse to act in a battle between contract-holders.
Beyond that, you may under normal circumstances have only one summoning
contract, unless you take the Multiple Summonin Contracts talent.
====================
5. How To Read
------------------------------
There are some similarities in most summoning contracts; this is here
to clarify what things mean, and help you understand them better!
Contracts offer two things: Techniques and Summons. For something
listed as a Technique, you are summoning animals to accomplish a
single, specific task. For example, in the Snake contract, the
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands" technique: you
summon multiple snakes, they perform an attack, and then they are
unsummoned.
Things listed as Summons are animals that will stay around for longer.
They'll take actions you ask of them (within reason), and they'll fight
alongside you or try to accomplish a goal using their capabilities in
less strictly-defined ways. Each Summon will have its own node
describing it. These are all summoned by performing Kuchiyose no Jutsu
(C-rank General Ninjutsu). The Chakra cost, Speed, and Seal Speed
listed in these nodes are the ones used for Kuchiyose no Jutsu's
"Variable" values.
In each contract, the first node will be labeled
"Info." This gives a brief overview of the
contract, including how it's viewed and how the animals behave. While
not mechanically significant, this is important to understand their
nature.
Below that, there will be a section labeled
"Access"--this is important. Simply signing a
contract will not immediately give you free reign to summon the
appropriate animals at will. Summons will only respond to shinobi who
they believe are worth their time, or whose chakra is of high enough
quality. You must meet the minimum XP listed to use a given technique
or summon a specific animal.
====================
6. Breach of Contract
------------------------------
The "contract" between shinobi and summoned
animal is, for the most part, a one-sided thing. The ninja calls the
summon when they need its help, the summoned creature renders its
services and then leaves. In most cases they ask for very little, if
anything at all, in return, beyond the chakra used to call them forth.
...That is, aside from respect. Different animals have different
opinions, moods, desires, and idiosyncracies. Powerful summons will
often object to being summoned trivially, and hardly any summon will
put up with being openly disrespected by its summoner in its presence.
Several behaviors constitute 'breach of contract'. For all summons,
regardless of contract, the ones below always qualify:
> Directly attacking your own summoned animal.
> Injuring it too badly in the crossfire (for
example, catching your summon as well as an opponent in an
area-of-effect technique). KOing your summon, or dealing enough damage
to inflict a Major or higher wound on it (counting any effects that
increase damage for the purposes of determining wounds) will qualify.
> Openly insulting or demeaning your summoned
animal. Frustration in combat is acceptable, but berating it is not.
If a breach of contract occurs, the summoned animal will promptly
excuse itself from the battle. That entire summoning contract will be
completely unusable for the next three OOC weeks.
Most summoned animals are fairly helpful and even-tempered; in most
cases, only the conitions listed above will constitute a breach of
contract. Some, however, can be testier. In the individual descriptions
of certain summons, there will be a list of additional Breach of
Contract conditions. Meeting any of those conditions will constitute an
immediate breach of contract, with the effects described above.
Notably, all Avatar-class summons have special Breach of Contract
conditions, which are not listed. One must simply assess their
personality and, based on that, do one's best not to offend them or
earn their ire--sucking up to them may not be all that good of an idea
either, as some hate summoners who aren't confident or who spend too
much time simpering.</text>
\page
## Summoning Contracts: Combat
>1. Introduction
2. Actions
3. Damage
4. Fatigue
5. Unsummoning
====================
1. Introduction
------------------------------
Inevitably, ninja will try to call upon their summoned allies in
combat, either against other ninja or to counter other summoned
creatures. Accordingly, the combat-worthy summons have functional stat
blocks for when this comes up.
====================
2. Actions
------------------------------
When in battle with their summoner, a summoned creature's actions
should be tracked normally: if it takes a Speed 14 action on IC 50, it
cannot act again until IC 64. However, unlike a normal person, summons
do not act automatically. They will only take actions when directed by
their summoner (this can be the character doing it, by shouting out
instructions, or the summoned creature choosing what to do, controlled
by the player). Acting this way usually has an AP cost: the summoner
spends a certain amount of their own AP, and the animal takes the
appropriate action.
AP can be spent to lower the Speed of their actions, again paid by the
user. Summons to not accumulate AP on their own. They do not have
Willpower unless specifically stated, and the summoner may not spend
Willpower on their behalf.
If the summon is acting alone (for example, stalling enemies) while its
summoner is not involved in combat, it can act without having to pay AP
to do so. It accumulates its own AP at the rate of 5 every 20 IC, which
it can use normally.
====================
3. Damage
------------------------------
Technically, summons have HP. However, once they reach 0 Vitality they
will automatically vanish in a puff of smoke, being un-summoned.
Summons don't suffer from wounds.
====================
4. Fatigue
------------------------------
Summons do not have Fatigue levels, as such, though they still make
Stamina and Chakra Exhaustion rolls, and accumulate penalties to those
rolls, normally. Instead, whenever a summon fails a Fatigue roll its
penalties reset normally and it automatically loses 20% of its maximum
Vitality.
This is part of representing how, as discussed in Damage, summons
disappear once they're no longer able to fight: it doesn't really
matter if they're worn out by overexertion or by being beaten on too
heavily, one way or another they're not able to go on.
====================
5. Unsummoning
------------------------------
If you are ever in a position where you want to unsummon one of your
summoned things, all it takes is a Speed 5 action and poof! You can
unsummon any single summon, or even multiple summoned things all at
once.</text>
\page
## Bird Contract
In many ways, summoned birds are closer to their natural kin than most
of the other chakra-enhanced summon animals. Few of them speak human
languages, and in most cases they are being called upon to do something
birds already would, just quicker and more effectively.
As a species, birds ard neither friendly nor kind--but neither are they
malicious or dismissive. They're proud, but willing to respect anyone
who will afford them the same. While they are be no mean pacifists or
even averse to violence, they are not, as a whole, particularly
well-suited to combat, which is enough for many ninja to steer away
from them.
On the other hand, they can be quite useful in other ways, in no small
part because they can fly. Additionally, many of the summoned birds
bear a stronger resemblance to their naturally-occurring brethren than
other summon animals do to theirs, which often allows summoned birds to
go unnoticed when other creatures wouldn't.
====================
Access
------------------------------
###### 800 XP: Flawless Messenger
###### 1200 XP: Corpse Devouring Crows
###### 1600 XP: Summon: Raven
###### 2000 XP: Summon: Owl
###### 2400 XP: Graceful Sky Emissary
###### 4500 XP: Summon: Amahaou
###### 6000 XP: Summon: Garuda</text>
## Techniques
### --( Kanzen Shisha - Flawless Messenger )--
This summons a small to medium-sized bird, though not a bird of prey.
The bird will accept a written message from its summoner, wait to be
told where to delier that message to, and then fly off to deliver it.
For obvious reasons, these birds are quite popular with ninja who use
the bird-summoning contract: they make excellent, efficient, and
precise messengers, with almost no risk of being intercepted, and none
at all of being bribed, subverted, or double agents.
- Chakra: 25
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 15
- Requires: Kuchiyose no Jutsu
Effects:
The bird will accept an envelope, a small scroll, or sheets of paper.
After taking the message, it will wait until you instruct it where that
message should be delivered, which can be any person you know or place
you've been.
The bird will then fly off. If in combat, it flies 5 yards per IC for
the first 100 IC, and can't be targeted by anything with a range of
less than 20. After that, the speed increases to 10 yardsper IC and it
can't be reached by anything with a range of less than 100 yards.
(Other flying enemies, however, have no such restrictions on attacking
them)
Out of combat, the bird flies at 30 miles an hour. If it's attacked, it
has +25 dodge, and can take only 50 damage before being unsummoned. If
it was sent with a handwritten message, the message will disappear with
it; anything else (such as a sealed scroll) will be dropped.
The bird will, after circling aimlessly for a while, fly towards its
specified destination. Attempting to follow the bird is impossible from
the ground. If it cannot reach the intended recipient (because they're
dead, or in a jail cell with no windows, for example) it will come as
close as it can, wait around for a week, and then disappear.
One of this technique's downsides is that there's no way for the
summoner to tell if the message was delivered successfully.
Furthermore, it may only be used once every month (4 OOC days).
____________________________________________
### --( Shitai Musabori no Karasu - Corpse Devouring Crows )--
A rarely-used aspect of the bird-summoning contract, though one that's
seen a fair deal of popularity among the ANBU corps of various
villages, it summons (despite its name) a murder of crows, a wake of
vultures, or group of other appropriate carrion-eating bird.
The birds will swarm the area, devouring any recently-dead bodies
without leaving a single trace of their passing.
- Chakra: 10 + 3 * X
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 15
- Requires: Kuchiyose no Jutsu
Effects:
The birds will completely consume 1 + X human-sized corpses (or
multiple smaller corpses, or part of a lower number of larger corpses)
in a matter of minutes. The birds are incredibly thorough, and will
leave absolutely no trace of the individual behind, even cleaning up
any blood that hasn't had time to dry.
Thus, if you brutally murdered someone in their bedroom, and got blood
all over the inside of the place, you could open a window and summon
the birds, who would make it look as if the murder never took place--as
long as the blood hadn't had time to dry and stain things. (Place might
still be a mess, though).
The birds can be summoned indoors, but only if there's easy access to
the outdoors nearby; an open window or door, for example.
\page
____________________________________________
### --( Yuugana Sukai-Shisha - Graceful Sky Emissary )--
You summon a very large eagle or a giant hawk, which lifts you up and
carries you a short distance before leaving. While certainly very
showy, the situations where having a giant bird carry you only a short
distance is actually useful are fewer than one may think.
Even so, it does have its uses, such as crossing chasms or otherwise
dangerous terrain. Also, the eagle will carry its summoner to solid
ground even if that would be beyond its normal range, so it's pretty
handy after getting thrown off a cliff.
- Chakra: 25 + 5 * X
- Speed: 20
- Seal Speed: 20
- Requires: Kuchiyose no Jutsu
Effects:
The eagle (or giant hawk) will pick up you and up to one other person
to carry, who must be within 5 yards of one another. You need to hold
on, which means that for the duration of the trip at least one of your
arms will be occupied at all times holding the eagle's legs.
Also, worth noting: the eagle can actually support the weight of about
four people, so one common trick is to have two ninja hold onto the
backs of two others, and then summon the eagle to carry each pair.
The eagle flies up 4 + X - Y yards per IC, up to a maximum of 6. Y is
the number of people the eagle is carrying. Once it drops its
passengers off, it is unsummoned. The eagle will cary its passengers
for up to 50 IC (or until told it reaches the summoner's destination).
If it isn't over solid ground at that point, it will fly to the nearest
safe location before dropping them off. On the other hand, if the
summoner asks it to drop them in mid-air it will do
so.</text>
\page
## Summon: Raven
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
5. Terms of Contract
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
Ravens are known to be exceptionally intelligent for birds, able to
create tools and recognize faces, and summoned ravens are even more so.
Most subspecies are hard to differentiate, and so they seldom look out
of place when flying over an area.
- Chakra: 25
- Speed: 20
- Seal Speed: 15
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Despite being very clever, ravens don't talk. Or, it might be accurate
to say they don't speak.
They are able to communicate ideas to their summoner. After returning
from scouting, it will perch somewhere the summoner can see it (on a
tree stump, on a forearm if one is offered, and so forth) and begin
tilting its head, pecking aimlessly with its peak, and shifting from
side to side. Anyone looking at it will be able to tell it's doing
something unusual, but the summoner will actually understand what it's
"saying."
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 200

 STR: 10

 RES: 10

 CHA: 10

 DEX: 40

 AGI: 50

Accuracy: 30

Dodge: +20

Movement: 5 yards per IC

Awareness: +20

Espionage: +25

Stealth: +30
###### Enhanced Vision
Ravens ignore bonuses to Stealth TNs based on Stealth level. For
example, if someone was in Stealth 3 with a Stealth TN of 45, it would
be treated only as 30 for the raven (as it ignores the +15 from Stealth
3).
###### Independent Action
The raven can act competently without guidance from its summoner. None
of its actions require AP to perform, and when given general
instructions ("scout the area",
"see if you can find any clues") it will do
so to the best of its ability.
###### Flight
By default, the raven is airborne; it may land or take off as a Speed
10 action. When airborne, it cannot be targeted by any attacks with a
range of less than 100 yards. After descending to Steal (see below) an
item, it is effectively 0 yards from the ground; it regains 3 yards of
altitude every IC. Melee attacks can reach it only if the attacker can
move (i.e. jump) far enough to reach the raven as part of their attack.
\page
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
###### Standard Actions
Ravens may use Dodge and Move as described in the Combat chapter of the
PHB.
###### Scout (Speed N/A)
The raven leaves to scout the area. Depending on the radius of the area
it's told to scout, how long it will take varies.
25 yards: 30 seconds
50 yards: 2 minutes
100 yards: 5 minutes
200 yards: 10 minutes
The raven will make an Awareness check against everyone and everything
in the area. It will then report back to its summoner. It can
communicate basic concepts, such as number and location of people;
presence of buildings, carriages, and obvious traps; and so forth. It
can make basic guesses about people based on their appearance: a group
of four people leaping through trees are probably ninja, the people
working in the rice fields are probably farmers, and so forth. It
requires a break of at least twice as long as it spent scouting before
it will go scout the area again.
###### Spy (Speed N/A)
After finding something while scouting, or given instructions by its
summoner (like, "wait here"), the raven will
go to an area and do something appropriately bird-like, such as
perching nearby or pecking at the ground. It will wait there until a
condition, specified by the summoner is met, then fly back and alert
its summoner. A good example would be, "Go watch the group
you saw camped out in the woods, let me know if any of them
leave." Anyone being spied upon for more than two minutes
can make an Awareness roll against the raven's Espionage to realize
that it's behaving unnaturally for a bird.
###### Steal (Speed 15)
Ravens may pick up any small, unattended objects, or minor things like
shiny buttons on people's coats or lightweight pieces of headgear. If
instructed by their summoner, they can go for specific items; if not,
they'll pick up whatever is most useful (a discarded kunai to let their
summoner know that ninja are ahead, for example) or, failing that,
shiniest. Stopping the raven from stealing something requires an
Awareness roll (to notice it) and then an Accuracy roll against its
accuracy (to grab the item before it can), both of which are allowed of
anyone within 10 yards of whatever it's trying to steal.
====================
5. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
When summoned, the raven will stay around until the next time the sun
sets (in other words, the rest of the day) or until it's badly injured
enough to be unsummoned.
If dispatched by being injured, another raven cannot be summoned for
two months (8 OOC days). If dismissed at sundown or by the summoner, it
can be called once a week (OOC day) as normal.</text>
\page
## Summon: Owl Sage
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
5. Terms of Contract
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
A large forest owl, about two feet 'tall' from its talons to the top of
its head when perched, with alert yellow-orange eyes. The owl is quite
wise, and moderately eccentric. It's also the only summonable bird
(aside from the avatar) which can speak to humans.
- Chakra: 25 + X * 3
- Speed: 20
- Seal Speed: 20
The owl can only be summoned in areas where it can reach the open sky
(so, not in caves), and will only come if there's somewhere it can
perch above eye level for its summoner (such as a tree branch or the
top of a short pole). However, this location must still be close enough
for casual conversations, without it or the summoner having to raise
their voices.
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
If the owl's summoner deliberately tries to "one
up" it by going higher or growing larger than the owl is
high, it becomes offended and flies away.
Unlike most birds, the owl is capable of speaking human language. It
actually claims that most of the other summoned birds can, but choose
not to (the validity of this claim is dubious at best). It has a
soft-spoken, cultured manner of speaking, though it avoids sounding
pretentious or trying to talk over the head of its summoner
(figuratively; literally, it certainly does so).
Beyond its curious fixation on having the highest elevation in any
situation it finds itself in, the owl is quite agreeable and helpful,
if disconcertingly prone to turning its head upside-down or in a full
circle when talking.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 600

 STR: 20

 RES: 40

 CHA: 20

 DEX: 60

 AGI: 60

 Accuracy: 28

 Dodge: +32

 Movement: 4 yards per IC

 Awareness: +20

 Espionage: +20

 Medicine: +15

 Research: +30

 Stealth: +25

 Toxicology: +20

###### Busy
The owl will perform a total of X actions (from Abilities) before
leaving. This can be the same action multiple times. Standard Actions
do not count.
###### Flight
By default, the owl will find somewhere to perch; it may take off or
land as a Speed 10 action. When airborne, it altitude automatically
increases by 3 yards every IC, to a maximum of 100 yards. It cannot be
targeted by any attacks with a range of less than its altitude. Melee
attacks can reach it only if the attacker can move (i.e. jump) far
enough to reach the owl as part of their attack. After using its
Distract or Disarm actions it is considered 0 yards from the ground,
and will then regain altitude accordingly.
###### Night Vision
Owls ignore all darkness-based visibility penalties.
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
Standard Actions
Owls can use Move, Dodge, and Search.
###### Disarm (Speed 10, 6 AP)
The owl swoops down and tries to grab something an enemy is holding,
then fly away with it! The enemy defends against this as if it was a
normal disarm attempt. If they fail, the owl takes whatever weapon they
had and flies up with it. The owl will drop it 15 IC later, at which
point it can be retrieved.
 This
imposes a -4 visibility penalty on the person being distracted due to
the large bird flapping in front of their face and making obnoxious
hooting noises.
This penalty lasts for X IC, or until the owl takes at least 100
damage. It can also be broken prematurely by moving 20 yards or more in
5 IC or less (by simply getting away from the owl). Until the
Distraction ends (for any of those reasons), the owl will not regain
altitude.
\page
###### Erudite (N/A)
You may ask the owl to make a Research roll for you on any topic,
either in place of making one yourself or in hopes of getting a better
result than you did with your own roll. It can also make
knowledge-based Medicine or Toxicology rolls (though please don't try
asking the owl to perform first aid on someone--it never ends well).
###### Knowledge (N/A)
Owls are quite the impressive scholars (apparently), even about matters
related to ninja. After seeing any jutsu used, or even hearing it
described by someone who saw it, it can identify the technique and all
pertinent information about it (rank, effects, possible workarounds,
and so forth). The same applies to the abiliies of any ninja clans and
bloodlines. Each technique it's asked about counts as one use of this
ability, each clan counts as two.
Note that for clans, it will provide general information:
"Yamanaka can enter the minds of their enemies and control
their actions, but the damage to the possessed individual carries over
to the original body," for example. It would not provide
an exhaustive breakdown of evey ability possessed by the clan, unless
each was asked as a separate question (requiring the summoner to have
at least enough familiarity with the techniques to describe them to the
owl).
###### Scout (Speed 0, 10 AP)
The owl will scout an area for its summoner. Out of battle this has no
Speed or AP cost, takes 10 minutes, and covers an area with a 100 yard
radius. The owl will report back with what it found (it makes an
Awareness roll against everyone and everything in the area).
Used in combat, it uses the listed Speed and AP and attempts to find a
hidden enemy. It will continually perform Search actions until the
enemy (or enemies) it was asked to find are discovered or break
stealth. Once it finds them, it will, as a Speed 0 action, Point Out
whoever it found (as per the rules in Combat -> Stealth).
====================
5. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
Normally, the owl can be called once every two weeks. If involved in
combat at all, it cannot be summoned again for four weeks. If injured,
this is raised to six; and if it loses all its Vitality, it cannot be
summoned again for three months (12 OOC days).</text>
\page
## Summon: Amahou
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
Sky Kings, as they are called, are tremendous snow-white eagles with
wingspans of several hundred feet, capable of shadowing battlefields
when they fly overhead. Each of their feathers is as long as a person
is tall, and they're strong enough to trivially lift up the largest of
(mundane) land animals. Of all the known summon creatures, they are by
far the physically largest.
- Chakra: 50
- Speed: 40
- Seal Speed: 35
The Amahaou can only be summoned outdoors, in areas large enough for it
to spread its wings and take flight.
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
As is the case with most summoned birds, Sky Kings cannot speak any
language that humans will understand. Even so, they have at least
human-level intelligence and can understand complex requests and plans.
While it would not be accurate to call them friendly, they willingly
have a helpful disposition.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 6000

 STR: 160

 RES: 200

 CHA: 100

 DEX: 120

 AGI: 100

 Accuracy: 50

 Dodge: N/A

 Damage Bonus: 14

 Movement: 6 yards per IC

 Awareness: +30

 Resistance: +25

 Stealth: Yeah, no.

###### Bird of Prey
Any time an enemy in Stealth moves within a Sky King's shadow (see
"Shade"), it automatically sees them
regardless of their current Stealth level or Stealth TN. Making any
attack, even a ranged weapon attack, from stealth while in its Shade is
also enough motion to draw its attention this way.
###### Buffet
Whenever a Sky King attacks, everyone within its Shade other than the
target must make an Athletics roll against a TN of 30 or be immediately
Tripped, and Stunned for the next 6 IC.
###### Flight
Unless they deliberately land (doing so, and taking off again, are both
Speed 15 actions), Sky Kings are always considered airborne, and as
such ignore effects dependant upon the condition of the ground. When
they attack, they are considered to be at ground level. Every IC which
bases after they take off or attack, they rise 5 yards straight up, to
a maximum of 100 yards. Any attack from the ground must have sufficient
range to hit them; melee attacks can be used as long as the attacker
can travel that far as part of their attack (by jumping!).
###### Great Bird
The area beneath a Sky King in flight is subjected to heavy gusts of
wind every time it beats its wings. Within that area (see
"Shade") every time the IC reaches a multiple
of 20 all clouds (such as from Mist Blaze Dance, or Hidden Mist
Technique) are removed.
###### Titanic
Amahaou cannot dodge area-of-effect attacks; instead, they
automatically block them as a Speed 0 defense. Amahaou cannot hide.
Multi-throws inflict half damage to an Amahaou. Amahaou are too large
to be affected by any jutsu or effects that work by binding or
physically immobilizing them. They cannot be grappled by any enemies
who are not Huge or larger.
A Sky King cannot dodge any attack with a range greater than its
current altitude. This means that it is completely unable to dodge any
attack with a maximum range of greater than 100 yards (its maximum
atitude). This does mean that it cannot dodge while on the ground.
Attempting to parry the Amahaou's attacks requires either a Strength of
100 or more, or an unarmed physical damage bonus of 10 or greater, as
well as both hands free.
\page
###### Shade
When in flight, an Amahaou is considered to occupy an area with a 100
yard radius centered on its "actual"
location; anyone in that area is effectively in melee range of it (not
counting distance from the ground). Anyone below it is immune to any
weather-based effects caused by thunderstorms, rain, and so forth.
###### Talons
A Sky King may grab up to two individuals, one in each claw. It suffers
no penalties for being in control of the grapple. Enemies using the
Escape Grapple technique have the Speed, Delay, and Stamina cost
doubled.
###### Tireless
###### An Amahou does not need to make Stamina rolls for its actions.
If forced to for other reasons (such as Suffocation), it uses +25 for
its effective bonus to Fatigue rolls.
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
###### Standard Actions
Amahaou may use Move and Search.
###### Crush (Speed 12, 10 AP)
Usable while on the ground.
This may only be used while someone is Pinned by the Amahaou. It deals
(damage), which is doubled for the purposes of inflicting (Blunt)
wounds, and applies a Suffocation 2 each time it's used.
Crushing cannot be avoided, and deals no base damage. However, it uses
double the Amahaou's standard damage bonus for determining its damage
dealt (making it, under normal circumstances, 14*2*10 = 336 damage,
raised to 672 for inflicting wounds).
###### Peck (Speed 20, 16 AP)
Usable while on the ground.
It's not actually a peck.  If this wounds a victim it inflicts both a
Blunt (from the crushing force) and Slashing (from... being bitten)
wound of the appropriate severity. It deals 20d20 damage, but has a -5
Accuracy penalty. If used against a Pinned opponent, this hits
automatically.
###### Pin (Speed 14, 20 AP)
Usable while in flight.
The Amahou simultaneously lands and attacks a single target. If they're
hit they must immediately make an Athletics roll against 35 or be
Grappled by one of its talons. During this period they're prone and
unable to form handseals. The Amahaou may not move without ending the
grapple. Even after escaping, whoever was Pinned is prone, as if by the
Trip taijutsu.
###### Pluck (Speed 20, 15 AP)
Usable while in flight.
The Amahaou swoops down and snatches up an unfortunate victim. This may
target up to two people within its Shade at once, as a single action.
People grabbed this way are treated as if held by the E-rank Grab
taijutsu. Escaping the grapple results in one falling 5 yards per IC
(because calculating actual acceleration due to gravity would not be
worth the effort). For every yard they were above 20 when they escaped,
they take 1d12+1 damage when they hit the ground. Falling inflicts
Blunt wounds. The Amahaou may also drop one or both of the people it's
holding, as a (Speed 10, 5 AP) action.
###### Rake (Speed 24, 10 AP)
Usable while in flight.
The Amahou rakes with its claws. It may choose up to two areas ten
yards across within its Shade to attack. This attack targets everyone
within both those areas, though is not treated as an area-of-effect
attack. This deals 4d8*10 damage to anyone it hits.
###### Scratch (Speed 16, 10 AP)
Usable on the ground.
The Amahaou scratches an area within 20 yards with one of its claws.
This targets everyone in an area 10 yards across, though is not treated
as an area-of-effect attack. It deals 4d6*10 damage to anyone hit by
the attack.
====================
5. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
An Amahaou can only be summoned once every three months (12 OOC days).
When one is summoned, it will either aid the summoner in combat, or
allow itself to be used as an aerial ferry. In the latter case, it will
do so until sunset or sunrise, whichever comes first. It will carry
additional passengers, if the summoner wishes.
Due to the Sky King's immense size, falling off isn't much of an
issue--a large portion of its back is essentially
"flat" when in flight, and its feathers are
sturdy enough to easily be used as handholds. Climbing down can be
tricky, but not, in most cases, dangerous.
Once either of those is accomplished, it will depart--it will not help
fight off enemies and then carry its summoner to safety, nor will it
stay around and help fight after delivering its somewhere where they
need to go... unless it's attacked, in which case it will defend itself
mercilessly.</text>
\page
# Avatar Summon: Garuda
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
The avatar of the birds, the legendary Lord Garuda, takes the form of a
bird of no clear species: an eagle-like body structure, an owlish face,
a pure-white raven's beak, and the claws of a falcon. His plumage is
similarly unique, brilliant gold feathers along his leg, a
red-feathered body crossed with gold bands, white tailfeathers, a
golden crest, and vibrant blue pinion feathers.
- Chakra: 60
- Speed: 25
- Seal Speed: 40
Physically, Garuda is much less imposing than any of the sky kings,
though he is still quite large, with a wingspan over a hundred feet
across. He's not as large as some of the avatar summons, but he's
certainly large enough to dwarf any summoner.
Garuda can speak--or, rather, Garuda can 'speak'. When he does so it is
in a soft-spoken, deep, noble voice which is heard in the minds of
everyone who he wishes to hear him. He does not talk in the
conventional sense, making no actual noise. In short, it's telepathy,
or something very much like it.
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Garuda is calm, even-tempered, and noble. He is righteous, but not
kind. He will willingly lend his aid to those who need it for a just
cause, but will be reluctant to aid individuals who are merely seeking
to advance their own interests or use his power for their personal
benefit.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------
As the avatar of birds Garuda is without equal in the sky, capable of
flying with breathtaking grace. He is undoubtedly a fierce combatant,
though likely lacks the raw power of some of the larger, land-bound
animal avatars.
Legends claim that Garuda himself is genuinely divine to some measure,
though what the implications of this may be are
unknown.</text>

\page
## Canine Contract
Ever since they were domesticated from feral wolves, dogs have been
known as one of mankind's most faithful companions. Even ordinary,
non-shinobi dogs are fiercely loyal to their masters, and in Konoha
there's an entire clan dedicated to the rearing of shinobi dogs.
This contract summons a variety of different dogs. The lowest ranks
(the ninken; literally "ninja dogs") are in
fact groups of dogs trained in the ninja arts that are loyal to a small
group of people. Each major village usually has a few teams of ninken
loyal to them, and even the minor villages typically have their own
team.
The two dog spirit summons are literally that: incorporeal spirits,
perhaps even ghosts, of dogs. Despite their rather unsettling nature,
they are, like the ninken, very helpful and loyal summons, willing to
engage in combat or assist as necessary when working towards their
summoner's goals.
That changes at the higher ranks of the contract. The
"Mountain Dogs" would be better known as
giant wolves. They, and the canine avatar Oguchi-no-Makami, are
anything but trusting or subservient. By signing the contract, the
summoner has in effect become a member of their pack.
With the dogs, the summoner is their master; with the wolves, the
summoner is a lowly member of their pack. The wolves will fight to
defend their pack, viciously and to the death if necessary, but that
pack member had best remember their place.
====================
Access
------------------------------
###### 1000 XP: Summon: Ninken
###### 1500 XP: Tracking Fang Technique
###### 2000 XP: Inugami
###### 3000 XP: Inugami Possession
###### 4000 XP: Summon: Mountain Dogs
###### 5000 XP: Summon: Oguchi</text>
## Techniques
### --( Kuchiyose: Tsuiga no Jutsu - Summoning: Tracking Fang Technique
)--
Summoning all 8 of their Ninken team, the shinobi uses a bit of their
own blood to give the dogs a scent trail. Following the scent, the team
dives underground and travels to its target. Once there they burst up
from the earth and bite down on the target, keeping them immobilized
for a short while.
- Chakra: 30
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 15
Effects:
Before this technique can be used, you need to get some of your own
blood onto the target. This can be accomplished one of two ways. The
first, if your opponent has damaged you with a piercing or slashing
weapon and is still carrying it, there will be enough blood on it.
Alternately, you can cut your hand with a slashing weapon as a Speed 4
action that deals 10 points of damage (which cannot be reduced) to
yourself. After doing so, you have 25 IC to hit your target with a
basic unarmed attack; if it takes longer than that, you need to cut
yourself again.
Once an enemy has blood on them, Tracking Fang can be used; your ninken
team appears by you and dives underground. They will attack your target
X/2 IC later, where X is the number of yards that target is from you;
if they move away, the time until the dogs attack is increased, but no
matter what the ninken team will eventually find them. No penalties
other than Fatigue are applied to your Accuracy with this technique.
Similarly, you can use this against someone who you can't see (because
they're in stealth) as long as they've been marked. Being hit by
Tracking Fang will immediately remove a stealthed individual from
stealth.
When the dogs do attack, it is defended against as if it was whatever
Speed this technique was when you performed it. If it hits, the target
suffers a -8 immobilization penalty, and you and they both roll
Survival. The penalty lasts for 2 IC for every point you beat their
Survival roll by, with a minimum of 10 IC.
If the victim takes a total of 300 or more points of area-of-effect
damage (before reductions), the effect ends immediately, and all of
your ninken are unable to be summoned for four weeks (as discussed in
Summons -> Ninken -> Terms of Contract).
\page
____________________________________________
### --( Kuchiyose: Inugami - Summoning: Dog Spirit )--
The Inugami is said to be created by the death of a starving dog buried
up to its neck and left to die with food just out of reach. As the myth
goes, the spirit will then serve its former master, but at times will
remember how its life ended and turn upon whoever bound it to that fate.
Whether or not there's any truth in that story, the canine contract
does provide the ability to summon these spirits. They look like
elongated, white-bodied dogs with brown heads and paws. They don't
speak, and aren't affectionate by any means, but will serve the shinobi
who summoned them faithfully. After being called it flies towards its
unfortunate victim and vanishes into their body.
- Chakra: 24
- Speed: 15
- Seal Speed: 12
Effects:
Choose a single target to be cursed by the Inugami. While cursed, the
target suffers a -3 penalty to Accuracy and their d20 rolls. This
includes Accuracy, defenses, skill rolls, and Stamina and Chakra
Exhaustion--but not damage for attacks which roll d20s for damage.
This penalty lasts until the target rolls a natural 15 or higher on one
of their affected d20 rolls, at which point the curse is broken. If
they roll a natural 20 while affected by the curse, it is instead
reflected upon the shinobi who summoned the Inugami, who must then
break it by the normal means. (If they in turn roll a natural 20, it is
once more reflected upon the victim, until someone breaks it without
rolling a 20).
Notably, there is no defense against this curse; it cannot be dodged,
blocked, or so on.
```
```

____________________________________________
### --( Inugami Hyoukyo - Dog Spirit Possession )--
Not only is the Inugami able to curse an enemy but it can also take
over a person's body. Ordinarily, this is incredibly difficult to do;
however, if a shinobi wishes it they may willingly give themselves over
to possession by the Inugami. While ordinary people possessed by an
Inugami begin to act like dogs themselves, shinobi are able to stave
off the worst of that.
- Chakra: 20+2*X
- Upkeep: 4
- Speed: 8
- Seal Speed: 20
Effects:
The severity of any Bleed, Paralysis, and Poison effects you are
suffering from is reduced by X for the duration of the possession. If
this reduces a Poison to 0, it will not automatically negate any other
effects of that poison. Every 10 IC you recover X Hit Points, or X
Vitality if you aren't missing any Hit Points.
Any time you take an action and roll a 5 or less on a d20, you suffer
from a Stun 5 effect after the action is completed, as you must
struggle to maintain control of your mind and not succumb to the
spirit's canine instincts.</text>
\page
## Summon: Ninjken
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
5. The Eight
6. Terms of Contract
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
Each of the ninken teams has a distinct uniform signifying their
village orientation, and yes, dogs wearing forehead protectors or
shirts with village insignia does look ridiculous. From there, each of
the 8 dogs is usually of a breed that would be well suited to their
chosen specialty. The ninken teams seem to be separated by village and
also by generations. What this means is that the team of ninken your
grandpa summoned are not the ones you're going to be summoning.
- Chakra:15 + X * 3 + Y * 5
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 15
"X" is the number of Ninken you are summoning
at once, and "Y" is the number of times you
have used Kuchiyose no Jutsu to summon your ninken in the past week
(OOC day).
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Ninken are some of the most loyal of all summons, and in most cases are
happy to help their summoners. Even if mildly abused, the ninken will
continue to do what their summoners ask.
They're talking dogs that use ninja skills, what's not to love?!
No ninken are poodles, chihuahuas, or other small, annoying, yappy dogs.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 600

 STR: 50

 RES: 50

 CHA: 30

 DEX: 50

 AGI: 50

 Accuracy: 21

 Dodge: +11

 Damage Bonus: 3.3

 Movement: 2 yards per IC.

 Athletics: +10

 Awareness: +10

 Chakra Control: +10

 Espionage: +10

 Resistance: +10

 Stealth: +10

 Survival: +15

###### Ninja Training
Despite not having enough Chakra Control, each of the Ninken has the
equivalent of the abilities Wall Walking and Water Walking.
###### Tireless
Ninken do not need to make Stamina or Chakra Exhaustion rolls when they
act. If forced to by an outside force (such as Suffocation), they have
+5 to their rolls.
###### Tracking Fang Technique
If the shinobi uses the Tracking Fang Technique jutsu while one or more
ninken are present on the battlefield, they will all burrow
underground. They are effectively removed from combat until the end of
that technique's duration, at which point they return to fight
normally. Rather than immediately un-summoning themselves after taking
300 damage (as would be normal for Tracking Fang), they take damage
normally (though taking that much damage will still end Tracking Fang,
as discussed in its effects).
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
###### Standard Actions (Speed as normal)
This Summon may use Dodge, Move, and Block as described in the Combat
chapter of the PHB without spending any of the summoner's AP.
###### Bite (Speed 10, AP 6)
The standard method of attack for a canine is the bite and takedown,
something they've been doing for millenia. Attacking at the feet and
legs, this counts as a basic unarmed attack and inflicts 4d10 Blunt
damage. If the canine succeeds by 5 or more, it can make a automatic
grapple check. If the canine wins the grapple check, the opponent does
not suffer the normal penalties for being grabbed, but may break free
using the normal methods; the main purpose of this is enabling use of
the Takedown ability (below).
###### Takedown (Speed 6, AP 8)
After getting a good bite down on an opponent, the canine gives a good
shake and tug, aiming to drag their target down to the ground. This can
be used while the canine is grappling a foe, make a grapple check, if
succesful the target is knocked prone and still trapped in the grapple.
A prone person has -3 accuracy, -2 to defensive actions, and moves at
reduced speed (check grapple, or half if the canine loses the grapple).
\page
###### Track (Speed 20, AP 5)
The canine uses their superior senses, usually those of smell, to track
down their quarry. This uses a survival roll with a +5 bonus to follow
tracks towards a target. The difficulty of the check is based on the
conditions. A standard non-ninja requires only a 15 to track. A shinobi
normally requires a 20, but if they are trying to cover their tracks
they get an opposed survival check, or a stealth check at -5. For each
day old the track is the difficulty to track increases by +2. Rain or
shifting ground conditions imposes a +5. Heavy rainfall, mudslides, or
tracking over running water imposes a +10.
Used in combat, this is a Survival roll with a +5 bonus against the
Stealth TN of any hidden individuals. The dog may then Point Out
whoever they've found, as per the normal rules for that action.
====================
5. The Eight
------------------------------
###### The Leader
The most charismatic of most Ninken teams, the leader can act without
using the summoner's AP.
###### The Brute
Called for when a little muscle is needed, the Brute has a STR of 90, a
Damage Bonus of 6.0, and a +5 bonus to grapple rolls.
###### Bloodhound
In addition to following tracks, the Bloodhound can also be given a bit
of blood from a bleeding target or a garment of clothing with the
target's scent to follow. Additionally, the bloodhound can use survival
instead of awareness to notice a target in stealth. The bloodhound has
a +10 bonus to its Survival rolls, and in combat does not need to spend
the summoner's AP to use its Track ability.
###### Bombsniffer
The Bombsniffer can use Survival to check for traps rather than
Awareness or Espionage, and has a +5 bonus to doing so. In addition, it
can sniff the remains of a detonated explosion and attempt to track the
one who prepared or detonated the explosive tags.
###### Scout
The Scout has an Awareness skill of +15. It may use the Search and
Point Out actions (as described in Chapter 3) without using any of the
summoner's AP. It uses Search as a Speed 4 action.
###### Tiny
The Tiny dog has a Stealth skill of +20, and can use its Bite attack
without breaking Stealth, though each time it does so its Stealth TN is
reduced by 5. It may use the Hide and Improve Hiding abilities as
described in Chapter 3, without spending any of the summoner's AP. It
can hide from anyone who is suffering from a -4 or greater visibility
penalty.
###### Acrobat
The Acrobat is fast and agile, having an Athletics skill of +15, a
movement speed of 3 yards per IC, and a dodge bonus of +16 (in place of
the normal +11, not on top of it).
###### Spy
The Spy is a master of disguise and manipulation, having an Espionage
skill of +15 and also the unique ability to use the ninjutsu art of
Henge no Jutsu, though doing so has a Chakra cost of 15, and it cannot
be maintained for more than half an hour.
====================
6. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
The ninken are a very laid-back and devoted group of creatures, showing
extreme loyalty in most cases to their summoners. As such, they're
usually fine with whatever task needs to be done, unless the summoner
wants one of them to risk their life for the summoner's own material
gain.
They're also one of the few summons that will fight other animals of
the same contract. Ninken will work against shinobi who've signed the
canine contract, and even other ninken teams, as long as they're from a
different village; a team of Sand ninken will have no problem fighting
a team of Leaf ninken and their master.
That said, regardless of village affiliations the ninken will have
nothing to do with the Mountain Dogs or Oguchi-no-Makami. If either of
those are summoned into battle against them, the ninken will promptly
flee with their tails between their legs and unsummon themselves.
Unlike most summons, you can also summon ninken repeatedly in the same
week (OOC day).
If a dog has all its Vitality depleted, that particular ninken cannot
be summoned for four weeks. The Tracking Fang Technique cannot be used
if one or more of your dogs are recovering after such an
event.</text>
\page
## Summon: Mountain Dogs
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
5. Terms of Contract
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
The Mountain Dogs (or wolves, as westerners know them), are always
summoned in a pair. They appear as two giant wolves with grey coats and
white undersides. While they're capable of speaking, they prefer not
to, instead usually opting to growl their distaste. Unless the summoner
is considerably more powerful than them, they'll assertively bully
their own summoner around.
The wolves' shoulders reach the height of a single-story building's
roof, and they're nearly thirty feet long from the nose to the tip of
their tail.
- Chakra: 45
- Speed: 20
- Seal Speed: 25
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
If the summoner has less than 5000 XP, the Mountain Dogs will view them
as a lower member of the pack and expect them to follow orders. At this
level they won't be willing to do much beyond protect the summoner; if
called on when the summoner isn't in genuine trouble or facing down
another summoned animal, it's unlikely that they'll help at all.
If the summoner has 5000 to 6000 XP, the Mountain Dogs will view them
as barely an equal. They'll look for reasons to bully the summoner
around and nip at them in a show of dominance. They'll grudgingly speak
from time to time, but will avoid doing so more than they have to. At
this point the summoner is seen as a rival for dominance.
Above 6000 XP, the Mountain Dogs are subservient, acknowledging the
summoner as the leader of their "pack." They
still won't be quite as agreeable as the ninken, and will expect to be
treated reasonably well, but turnabout is fair play in terms of them
being bossed around.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 2400

 STR: 100

 RES: 100

 CHA: 100

 DEX: 120

 AGI: 100

 Accuracy: 35

 Dodge: +25

 Damage Bonus: 6.6

 Movement: 10 yards per IC.

 Athletics: +20

 Awareness: +25

 Resistance: +20

 Stealth: +30

 Survival: +40

###### Hamstring
Whenever a mountain dog strikes someone with their Bite attack, that
person's movement speed is reduced by 5% for the next 20 IC. This
ability stacks with itself, up to a maximum of 10 times. All stacks of
Hamstring expire 20 IC after the most recently applied one. For
example, if you were hit by Hamstring 12 times, once every 10 IC, the
last time being on IC 123, you wuold be at -50% movement speed until IC
143. This does not stack with immobilization; whichever provides the
higher movement speed reduction overrides the other (though this has no
bearing in immobilization's accuracy and dodge penalties).
###### Large
Anyone of human size attempting to maintain control of a grapple with
the Mountain Dogs has a -10 penalty to their grapple rolls, and deals
only half damage.
###### Pack Tactics
Wolves excel at attacking as a group. Whenever anyone with the Pack
Tactics ability acts on the same initiative count and makes a
melee-range unarmed, any number of them may declare they are using Pack
Tactics. When using Pack Tactics, the target uses the Speed of the
slowest attack (that is, the one with the highest numerical Speed) to
determine which interrupts their target can use, but must defend
against each attack separately. The sum of the Speed of the defenses
that the target wishes to use must be valid to use against that speed.
For example, if both wolves attack with a Speed 10 Bite, the target's
defenses cannot have a total Speed greater than (10/2) 5. They could
dodge and parry, or dodge both, but two parries would be impossible
(Speed 3*2 = 6).
###### Pack Membership
The summoner of the Mountain Dogs gains the Pack Tactics ability as
long as at least one of the wolves remains in battle.
###### Strength of Many
The Mountain Dogs are able to fight more effectively alongside a worthy
summoner. They add (the summoner's unarmed taijutsu Accuracy bonus)/5
to their own Accuracy; this does not include the base 10, and ignores
Fatigue and status effects. Similarly, they add (the summoner's Dodge
bonus)/5 to their own Dodge bonus, with the same rules.
###### Tireless
Mountain Dogs do not need to make Stamina or Chakra Exhaustion rolls
when it act. If forced to by an outside force (such as Suffocation),
they have +15 to their rolls.
\page
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
Standard Actions
The Mountain Dogs can use the Dodge, Move, and Block actions as
described in Combat without spending any of the summoner's AP.
###### Bite (Speed 10, AP 6)
The preferred attack for a canine is the bite and takedown, something
they've been doing for millenia. Whereas a smaller dog would go for the
legs, the mountains wolves have no need to do so.  If the attack hits by 5
points or more, it may automatically use its Takedown attack (see
below).
###### Intercept (Speed 20, 15 AP)
Wolves are already apex predators in their natural environments; the
summoned versions adapt most of the techniques they would use for
hunting prey when fighting their enemies. This may be used as an
Interrupt against anyone who's spent 10 or more of the last 20 IC
moving, with a range of (5)*(the number of IC the target spent moving
in the past 20 IC) yards. The wolf lunges for them, attempting to
simultaneously bite and tackle them. This deals 6d20 Blunt damage,
receives only half the Mountain Dog's damage bonus, and is an automatic
Surprise Attack. If it hits, it inflicts a Stun 12.
###### Takedown (Speed +6, AP 4)
After hitting with their bite attack by 5 points or more, the mountain
dog may attempt to savage its victim and throw them to the ground. This
requires an opposed grapple roll; if successful, the damage from Bite
is increased by 25% and the target is knocked prone as if by the E-rank
Trip taijutsu. Notably, this cannot be used against someone who's
already prone.
###### Track (Speed 20, AP 5)
The canine uses their superior senses, usually those of smell, to track
down their quarry. This uses a survival roll with a +5 bonus to follow
tracks towards a target. The difficulty of the check is based on the
conditions. A standard non-ninja requires only a 15 to track. A shinobi
normally requires a 20, but if they are trying to cover their tracks
they get an opposed survival check, or a stealth check at -5. For each
day old the track is the difficulty to track increases by +2. Rain or
shifting ground conditions imposes a +5. Heavy rainfall, mudslides or
tracking over running water imposes a +10.
====================
5. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
The mountain dogs are feral wolves, and as such care nothing for the
world of ninja. Instead, they care only about their own pack and
territories. Generally speaking, they'll be only minimally inclined to
assist a summoner unless that shinobi's wishes align with their own.
That said, if the summoner is in danger, they will generally rush to
their pack's defense. However, if the summoner bit off far more than
they could possibly handle, and should have (by the wolves' judgement)
realized that ahead of time, odds are the wolves will let them get what
they deserve. A member of the pack who is a detriment to its safety
will simply be left to fend for themselves.
For other issues, it's a matter of needing a connection to pack or
territory. Protecting prospective mates, hunting grounds, prey, or
fellow 'pack members' (which is to say, allies) from assailants or
outside interference are all completely acceptable reasons to call on
the Mountain Dogs.
On the other hand, asking them to show up to kill a random bystander or
an enemy who isn't worth their time, or to flaunt their power for the
summoner's sake, will typically earn the summoner a bite for their
insolence--and count as a Breach of Contract.</text>
## Summon Avatar: Oguchi-no-Makami
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
Oguchi-no-Makami, the "True God of the Great
Mouth", has a mythical status and is believed by some to
be a force of nature, or an incarnation of nature itself.  Of course, none can agree about the size of guardian
spirit, or which forest it's protecting, so most shinobi concur that
it's nothing more than a legend.
Even so, there's at least one very real being by that name. Oguchi is a
giant white wolf, more than fifty feet tall at the shoulder and over a
hundred feet long. Lending some credence to the story, it's able to
maneuver forests (and cities, and similarly crowded areas) without
disturbing a single leaf, despite its incredible size. While Oguchi is
dwarfed by many of the other avatars in sheer size, it's still a
powerful creature, one that should not be underestimated.
- Chakra: 55
- Speed: 30
- Seal Speed: 25
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Oguchi is fierce and powerful, bowing to no one. Its summoners are
members of its pack asking for help, not entitled masters calling it
into battle to serve them. Many summoners with this contract can report
Oguchi simply ignoring their attempts to summon it; the common
consensus is that he'll only appear when his
"pack" is in danger.
\page

What exactly this constitutes is unclear, but summoning the Mountain
Dogs into battle before it is likely to help. As with all wolves,
Oguchi is quick to show dominance, and does not tolerate division among
the pack. Oguchi is quick to quell any disagreements, and always ready
to protect his (or is it her?) possessions.
Yes, possessions: Oguchi considers both the land and his pack to be its
rightful property, and will fight savagely to protect
them.</text>
\page
## Feline Contract
The feline contract, to the chagrin of many a ninja, mainly involves
cats--as in, housecats. Not nearly enough panthers, tigers, lions, and
other great cats for most shinobi's tastes, and fewer still summonable
cats capable of holding their own, let alone turning the tide, in
battle between trained shinobi.
In terms of personality, they're significantly more helpful than their
mundane counterparts. What they lack in useful supernatural abilities
they make up for with a startling array of mundane talents. While they
rarely make an appearance on the field of battle, shinobi with the
contract will consistently describe their feline companions as being,
if nothing else, 'useful'.
That is not to say that the feline species have no combat-worth
specimens, just that the more powerful creatures who answer the
contract's call will come only for similarly powerful shinobi. Their
avatar, Byakko, is said to be feared even by the avatars of other
contracts.
Felines have an interesting relationship with the summoned canines. The
two groups have quarreled frequently in the past, and it has without
exception escalated into a horribly violent mess. As such, the two
groups have established a truce: summoned felines and canines will
never attack or directly act against one another. The avatars of those
species, however, ignore this truce when it comes to their opposites;
Byakko and Oguchi-no-Makami have no qualms about fighting each other.
====================
Access
------------------------------
###### 1000 XP: Summon: Ninja Cat
###### 1400 XP: Feline Chef
###### 1800 XP: Feline Merchant
###### 2200 XP: Summon: Nekomata
###### 2600 XP: Lucky Cat
###### 3000 XP: Cat Burglar
###### 4000 XP: Summon: Rakshasa
###### 5000 XP: Summon: Byakko
</text>
## Techniques
### --( Kuchiyose: Airuu - Summoning: Feline Chef )--
Between one and five felines, all the size of large housecats and
capable of walking both on all fours on bipedally, appear in front of
the summoning. All show up wearing a cooking apron, and one (the
leader) will show up with a small chef's hat.
These cats are expert chefs, and capable of preparing excellent food
literally anywhere. When summoned they'll promptly run off to forage
for ingredients; how they can make a soup in the desert is a mystery,
and just what's in the stew is probably best not to ask, but their
meals are always nutritious and SO TASTY.
Somehow they will always produce the supplies they need when people
aren't looking (or even so much as blink), from metal pots to grills to
firepits.
- Chakra: 10
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 25
Effects:
The feline chefs can be summoned up to three times a day (rather than
once a week, as with most summons). The chef will cook a delicious meal
for up to four people. However, the chefs absolutely do not take
suggestions or requests, and if anyone tries telling them what to make
they'll pack their things up and leave in a huff, not returning for a
week.
It takes about half an hour for the cats to prepare the food; anyone
who isn't there waiting when the meal is finished doesn't get anything
to eat.
Once a month (every 4 weeks), the summoner can inform the chefs that
it's a special occasion (the justification doesn't even need to be
reasonable, as the chefs love the excuse to go all out). The meal will
take a full hour to prepare, but will be a stunning gourmet feast.
While the shinobi who partake in the meal will be well-fed, this also
gives the head chef an excuse to experiment with dishes and seasonings
in ways that may not sit well with the stomachs of their diners--not
that they much care. After requesting a meal of this magnitude, one has
no choice but to eat every last bite.
When eating the gourmet meal, roll 1d6 twice; the frst roll determines
the benefits, and the second the side-effects. The benefits all last
for one day (in-character day, that is), as do the side effects unless
their individual description specify otherwise.
###### Well-Fed
1) Brain Food: You have a +3 bonus to all skill rolls, as you feel
charged and ready for anything.
2) Complex Carbs: Your Stamina and Chakra Exhaustion rolls all have a
+4 bonus.
3) Protein Power: For the next 8 hours, you deal +10% taijutsu damage.
4) Sugar Rush: You are wired, giving you a +2 bonus to Accuracy and
defensive rolls.
5) Surging Chakra: The 'secret ingredient' charged your energy
reserves, and your ninjutsu deals 10% more damage.
6) Great Meal: Your Fatigue penalties are treated as being one level
lower until you reach Fatigue 3, at which point this benefit ends.
###### Food Poisoning
1) Double Vision: You suffer from a -2 visibility penalty for the next
day; everything's a bit blurry.
2) Upset Stomach: You have Paralysis 1 for the rest of the day as you
wait for your stomach to recover.
3) Woozy: You lose concentration for the next 2 hours, imposing a -3
penalty to Chakra Exhaustion rolls.
 You lucked out.
When still feeling the effects of one such gourmet meal, an individual
will be too full to eat anything else.
\page
____________________________________________
### --( Kuchiyose: Shounin Neko - Summoning: Feline Merchant )--
The feline summoned by this technique stands upright on its hind legs
and is about two and a half feet tall. It carries a cylindrical wicker
basket on its back, strapped around its waist and over its shoulders.
Its waist strap doubles a belt, where it has several money pouches.
Occasionally these cats will wear some sort of outfits, usually just
consisting of a tunic and a shirt, though hats aren't entirely unheard
of. Normally these will display a pawprint somewhere on them,
prominently.
- Chakra: 20
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 15
Effects:
This summon has two tasks it can perform!
The first, it can be called upon to run general errands around a town
or city. The cat will buy groceries and generally do any shopping you
need, assuming you provide it with appropriate funds. It can also
requisition items for you from ninja villages, before a mission! It can
be summoned to do this once a day.
The second, it does a little bit of work as a merchant. You can 'sell'
any requisitioned items to it for half their value, and 'buy' any items
listed under "Gear" (which it produces from
its wicker basket full of knick-knacks). For example, you could trade
in two explosive tags (200), a katana (150), and a map of Wind Country
(50); this would allow you to buy up to 200 ryo of items from the
cat--a telescope, for example. This may be done once a week. Any more
often than that and the cat will have nothing but useless junk
available in its basket (some bits of string, a clawed-up piece of
fabric, and so on).
Notably, it cannot provide you with poison smoke bombs--while the smoke
bombs themselves are in Gear, the necessary poisons are not.
The cat cannot be summoned in battle, and flees if attacked.
____________________________________________
### --( Kuchiyose: Maneki Neko - Summoning: Lucky Cat )--
This summons a ceramic figurine of a cat, standing about three or four
inches tall. It's a calico bobtail sitting on its hindquarters, with
one paw raised up in a beckoning gesture. These statues are said to
bring good luck, and are often found (albeit on larger scale) at the
entrance to shops and gambling halls.
This particular one actually does bring good luck to its bearer! Or, so
the felines claim, and some of the few shinobi with this contract swear
by its efficacy.
- Chakra: 25
- Speed: 15
- Seal Speed: 20
Effects:
Whenever you roll a 5 or lower on a d20, your Maneki Neko receives 1
Luck Counter. It may have up to three Luck Counters stored at a time.
You may spend a Luck Counter at any point to reroll any d20 roll you
made, or replace an attack's Accuracy with an accuracy roll, keeping
whichever of the results you prefer (typically the better one). This
may be done at the same time you would normally spend Willpower.
You get no Luck Counters from rolls you rerolled this way. If you
rolled a 3 on a dodge, and spent a Luck Counter to reroll it and got a
2, you would not receive a Luck Counter (and would still spend one
normally). You may spend only one Luck Counter per roll.
If the figurine is lost or stolen, you may not use its effects;
however, neither can whoever took it. Instead, whenever they roll a 15
or higher on a d20 they must reroll until they get a result below 15.
Getting rid of, or even breaking, the figurine won't do them any
good--as soon as they look away, it reappears in their possession,
until the technique would expire normally.
This remains around for a full day, or the duration of a fight (if
summoned during, or immediately before, combat) or mission. You may
summon this figurine once every four weeks.
____________________________________________
### --( Kuchiyose: Akisu - Summoning: Cat Burglar )--
Yet another bipedal cat, the Akisu is dressed in a black turtleneck,
beanie, and domino mask. The cat burglar requires payment up-front in
catnip, and once it's received its compensation the summoner names
their mark. After a moment of preparation the cat burglar gets to work,
and in hardly any time at all the summoner will receive a 'brand new'
item.
- Chakra: 25
- Speed: 12
- Seal Speed: 20
Effects:
The cat moves unerringly towards its target, at the rate of 4 yards per
IC. Even if the target hides or moves outside of the initial range,
nothing will stop the cat, which flawlessly dodges all attacks and
crosses difficult terrain with ease! Well, almost nothing. It won't
cross areas with an Immobilization penalty of -8 or higher, and if it's
in a damaging area-of-effect technique with an Area of 30 or higher it
will be blown comically out of the blast radius before vanishing in a
puff of smoke. Though you must be able to see the target when you
summon the cat burglar, it willt hen be able to find them on their own
no matter what tricks they use; it will break the Stealth of someone
who hides from it, and clones created after the cat was summoned will
be unable to confuse it.
\page
Upon its arrival, the cat scampers up the victim and begins searching
their possessions! When this happens, roll 1d4. On a roll of 1-3, the
user selects one item the target has; on a roll of 4, the target makes
things difficult for the cat, resulting in it grabbing something less
valuable (meaning, the target chooses the item).
The cat takes all items of that type; for example, all Maps, or all
Katanas. The only exception is that it cannot disarm its target. If
used against someone with Full Pockets, they cannot use their unique to
produce any more items of the stolen type until they have an
opportunity to resupply. The cat will even steal items inside Storage
Scrolls! It's a very, very good burglar, after all.
It then returns to its summoner, following the same movement rules,
though this time an attack which manages to catch the cat in its area
results in the cat, after flying through the air yowling, hitting the
ground at its summoner's feet before vanishing. Upon arriving at its
summoner (one way or another), said summoner can take any items they
wish as a Speed X action, with X being the number of items, but having
a minimum of 5 (AP cannot reduce this action's Speed). Any excess items
are dropped on the ground.
A cat carrying more than 10 items drops one every 8 yards it travels.
Out of combat, the cat can be instructed to steal either from a person
or location, though needs fairly specific instructions (the guard's
keys, that painting, and so on).</text>
\page
## Summon: Ninja Cat
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
A two- to three-foot-tall bipedal cat, much like the merchant and chef
cats summoned by this same contract. This one appears wearing simple
ninja attire, including a headband or bandana; they even wear forehead
protectors, with a feline pawprint in place of a village insignia.
As the summoner trains and becomes a better ninja, so will 'their'
ninja cat! Over time the cat will expand its arsenal, wearing
handguards and a vest, along with holsters for shuriken and the like.
- Chakra: 30
- Speed: 15
- Seal Speed: 20
Yes, there really are cat ninjas. They all have impressive credentials,
such as being masters of neko-ken ("cat
fist") style martial arts. While their efficacy in battle
leaves much to be desired, they do have the advantage of occasionally
debilitating opponents with laughter.
A visual aid, for those having trouble picturing a ninja cat:
http://i43.tinypic.com/5ehe1x.png
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Each summoner calls upon their own shinobi cat, who will be a faithful
companion in times of need. While handseals are out of the question,
these cats train diligently to master the shinobi arts in their
off-time!
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitaity: 400

 STR: 40

 RES: 50

 CHA: 40

 DEX: 60

 AGI: 80

 Accuracy: 15

 Dodge: +6

 Damage Bonus: 2.0

 Movement: 3 yards per IC

 Athletics: +10

 Awareness: +5

 Espionage: +5

 Stealth: +10

 Survival: +5

###### Devoted
Your cat trains (sort of) hard to remain a valuable ally in combat! As
your XP increases, so does its performance. The bonus movement speed is
calculated to one decimal point (as is its increased damage bonus, as
usual). The bonus to skill rolls only applies to skills the cat already
has.
Accuracy, Dodge, Parry: (XP/200)
Damage Bonus: (XP/500)
Skill Rolls: (XP/250)
Movement Speed: +(XP/1000) yards per IC
Vitality: (XP/100)*10
###### Independent
Your ninja cat can act on its own. It does not require you to spend AP
for it to take actions unless the action itself specifies that it does.
###### Small
If hit by an area-of-effect technique, the cat takes only half damage.
However, it is blown clear of the area (usually in an over-the-top, and
likely comedic, fashion), and suffers a knockback equal to the attack's
Area.
###### Ninja Training
Shinobi cats train tirelessly in the ninja arts, up to two hours a day!
They'll work just hard enough to keep up with their summoner; any more
would simply be an unreasonable amount of effort. For every 500 XP,
pick one of the following improvements. You may not select any of them
more than once.
Armor: Your cat appears in appropriate
ninja-armor, such as handguards, a padded vest, and so forth. Whenever
it would take more than 25% of its maximum Vitality in damage from an
attack, that attack's damage is divided by 4.
Neko-ken: Your cat has mastered martial arts! This
gives it a +4 bonus to any unarmed parries, and improves its Cat Paw
Strike action.
Ninja Combatant: Your cat shows up with smoke and
flash bombs! It has (XP/750) of each, to a maximum of 5.
Ninjutsu: Yes. It can perform ninjutsu, somehow.
Despite the cats referring to these as
"nyanton" techniques, they are actually
perfectly ordinary jutsu. The jutsu usable are explained below. The cat
can use 4+(XP/2000) ninjutsu per battle.
Quick: Your cat is fast! It adds (XP/1000) to its
Accuracy, along with its dodge and parry rolls, to a maximum of +4.
Saboteur: Your cat shows up with a grappling hook,
rope, set of cat-sized lockpicks (with a +2 bonus, if it matters) and
(XP/1500) type 2 exploding tags.
Shuriken: Your cat now shows up with holsters for
shuriken! This unlocks the "shuriken throw"
ability below. Your cat carries (XP/100) shuriken into battle with it.
Sword: It's more of a knife, really, considering
their size. But to them, it's a sword! Katanas are common, though some
will use combat knives or straight-bladed swords. This unlocks the
"sword attack" ability below.
\page
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
###### Standard Actions
Ninja cats can use the dodge, parry, move, block, and hide actions, as
described in the Combat chapter of the PHB.
###### Agility (Speed 0, 5 AP)
This ability can be activated at any time, including after the cat is
attacked but before its defense has been declared. It ends any
immobilization penalties it's suffering from, and makes it immune to
that source (a specific instance of a jutsu, for example) from then on.
This does not apply to 'internal' penalties--ones caused by poison, for
example.
###### Cat Paw Strike (Speed 10)
Your cat punches, kicks, or occasionally claws, someone! This is a
basic unarmed taijutsu attack dealing 2d6 Blunt or Slashing damage. If
your cat has the Neko-ken attribute, this is reduced to Speed 6 and
adds a Stun 2, and its damage is raised to 4d8. Its damage bonus is
multiplied by 10, rather than 6, even at this lower Speed.
###### Nyanjutsu (Speed Variable)
The cat can perform various ninjutsu techniques after it has the
"ninjutsu" attribute. They are as follows:
Kawarimi (Speed +2): This is declared after the
cat is hit by a technique and partial defense applies; its dodge is
increased to speed 4 (and must remain a valid interrupt for this to be
used), and the cat dodges entirely, having left behind a wooden
figurine of a cat with its tongue stuck out in its place.
Bunshin (Speed 6): The cat creates three clones,
which follow the normal rules in the E-rank Bunshin ninjutsu, with the
following exceptions. The cat is always hidden amongst the clones, as
each clone is capable of attacking, though only one may act at a time.
Henge (Speed 5): The cat may turn into any object
of approximately the same size, following the normal rules for the
E-rank Henge jutsu.
Genjutsu Kai (Speed 10): The cat may use this on
itself or its summoner.
Shunshin no Jutsu (Speed 2): The cat may perform
this as if it had (XP/200) AP, a maximum of once every 20 IC.
Utsusemi (Speed 0): The cat can use this, for all
the good it does.
###### Shuriken Throw (Speed 4 + X)
Your cat throws up to X shuriken. It may target up to X/4 people with
this attack (dealing full damage), receives +X/5 Accuracy, and
increases its damage bonus by X*0.2. X has a maximum of (XP/250). Cats
cannot use normal shuriken, only special shuriken crafted to be usable
by creatures without opposable thumbs (which they acquire via the
"Shuriken" attribute).
###### Sword Attack (Speed 12)
Your cat attacks with its sword! This does require the
"Sword" attribute. This weapon deals 8d10
Slashing damage, and follows normal rules for weapon attacks.
Additionally, it has a +3 bonus when being used to parry other weapons.
====================
5. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
One of the rare exceptions to the rule that summons of the same
contract will not work against one another, two ninja cats, if summoned
by enemies in a battle, will fight one another!</text>
\page
## Summon: Nekomata
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
5. Terms of Contract
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
Legend says that once a cat has lived long enough its tail will split
in two and a nekomata will be born. Whether or not that's the origin of
these creatures is hard to say, but doubtful.
Nekomata are slightly bigger than a very large housecat, and have the
features and coloration of any ordinary breed of cat, though grey and
black are the most common colors. They all posssess a pair of long,
sinuous tails, and commonly walk on air at face level. When not
actively moving about they tend to lounge on people's shoulders or
heads, often in the most awkward or uncomfortable way possible for the
recipient.
- Chakra: 30
- Speed: 18
- Seal Speed: 20
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Nekomata are happy to assist in confusing and tormenting the summoner's
enemies. They're capable of deploying mirages and illusions with skill
rivaling most shinobi, taunting and frustrating their victims. That
said, they're much more cat-like than some of the contract's other
animals, and will typically refuse to perform menial tasks. Nekomata
are highly intelligent and can understand human languages, though
cannot speak them.
If asked to engage in direct combat the cat will do so reluctantly, and
fight to the best of its ability. However, the summoner runs the risk
of it getting bored and leaving without any warning.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 800

 STR: 20

 RES: 40

 CHA: 100

 DEX: 60

 AGI: 80

 Accuracy: 32

 Dodge: +24

 Genjutsu: +18

 Damage Bonus: 4.0

 Movement: 2 yard per IC

 Athletics: +10

 Awareness: +15

 Resistance: +10

 Stealth: +20

 Chakra Exhaustion: +12

###### Levitate
The Nekomata is capable of floating, and spends most of its time
walking or sitting on empty air. It ignores any effects associated with
the condition of the ground, or requiring it to be in contact with it.
###### Small
The Nekomata is the size of a very large housecat. It takes half damage
of area-of-effect attacks, but any knockbacks its suffers are doubled.
###### Trickster
By raising their Chakra cost by 10, the Nekomata can replace its
genjutsu roll with 1d20, and the defender's roll with 1d20+4; this is
declared when an appropriate ability is being used. Uniques, abilities,
and doujutsu do not provide their normal benefits. The Iron Curtain
technique still works, and similarly the Nekomata receives any bonuses
specific to individual abilities it uses. Additionally, the Nekomata
itself is immune to any targeted genjutsu.
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
###### Cremation (Chakra 16, Speed 6, 4 AP)
This applies an Ignite 1 to everyone present in battle, as pale blue,
ghostly flames briefly flicker over them.
###### Spirit Flame (Chakra 10 * X, Speed 14)
The nekomata creates Xd4 wisps of hovering blue fire. You may pay 2 AP
to have the Nekomata launch one of these at a target, using its normal
Accuracy +3. After somebody's been hit by Spirit Fire, they can't be
targeted by it again until at least 5 IC have passed.
Anyone struck by a Spirit Flame suffers Ignite 5 and Burns 3. Both
those statuses will stack with multiple uses of Spirit Fire, increasing
the victim's current severity (from this source) appropriately. By
raising the cost to attack with a flame to 5 AP, you may use your
Accuracy in place of the Nekomata's; you may do this no more than once
every 10 IC.
\page
###### Phantasmal Flames (Chakra 16, Speed 10, 8 AP)
This multiplies the number of Spirit Flames present by 1d4. Any
'extras' created this way are just illulsions. For example, if there
were 3 Spirit Flames, and you rolled a 3 on Illusionary Flames, you
would wind up with 3 real flames, and 6 illusions, for (3*3) 9 total.
If you use this ability again, it replaces (rather than adds to) any
currently-existing phantasmal flames.
Whenever you attack with a Spirit Flame, after it's determined if your
attack would have hit (and your opponent has used, and paid for, their
defense appropriately), roll 1dX, with X being the total number of
flames. If it's in the lower (number of real flames), a real flame
hits--if not, the attack was an illusion. You do not pay the AP cost to
attack with a spirit flame, and the illusion is destroyed.
In the above example, you would roll 1d9. On a roll of 1-3, an actual
Spirit Flame would have been launched. On a roll of 4 - 9, it would be
an illusion.
###### Mirage (Chakra 25)
The Nekomata may perform the Double False Surroundings technique
(C-rank genjutsu), with an additional +5 bonus to its genjutsu roll.
The Nekomata does not need to pay the Upkeep for it, though it ends if
the Nekomata is unsummoned. This may only be used out of combat.
Whenever it uses this ability, there is a 25% chance that it will,
rather than accompanying the summoner, choose to lounge nearby and
watch its illusion for the next 2d8 hours before unsummoning itself. If
the illusion is dispelled before then, the Nekomata will still unsummon
itself, but the summoner will somehow, intuitively know that someone
removed the illusion.
###### Illusion of Death (Chakra 16, Speed 10, 8 AP)
An illusion which causes the victim to suffer from, essentially, a
dangerously overactive imagination.  This applies a
Stun 4 whenever they take a defensive Interrupt action. This follows
all normal rules for genjutsu.
###### Displace (Chakra 15, Speed 4, 4 AP)
Rather than actually avoiding an attack, the Nekomata confounds its
assailant with a clever illusion. This may be used as a defensive
interrupt, in place of a dodge. The Nekomata makes a genjutsu roll
against its attacker; if it succeeds, it dodges the attack. If it
succeeds by 10 or more, it may then specify a new target within the
attacker's range (including how far they can move as part of their
attack), and redirect the attack at them. Someone defending against
this technique does not receive the normal cumulative bonus to genjutsu
rolls from being affected by a technique repeatedly.
###### Vanish (Chakra 20, Speed 10, 6 AP)
The Nekomata makes a Genjutsu roll with a +10 bonus. Anyone who fails
their defensive genjutsu roll loses sight of it; it immediately becomes
invisible, enters Stealth 3, and moves up to (the result of its
Genjutsu roll) yards in any direction.
The movement occurs even if its genjutsu roll failed. To anyone who
passed their roll, or later finds it, the Nekomata is fully visible; to
anyone else, it remains invisible. The "Point
Out" action has no effect when used against a Nekomata
hidden this way. If it uses Spirit Flames or Cremation it will
immediately exit stealth; however, attacking with an already-created
Spirit Flame only reduces its Stealth TN by 4.
As with an ordinary genjutsu, victims receive a cumulative bonus to
defend against this technique for each time they've been affected by it
in combat. Unlike normal genjutsu, this effect doesn't end if the
people who the Nekomata is hidden from are wounded.
====================
5. Terms of Contract
------------------------------
Of the animals summoned by the feline contract, nekomata are the
closest to 'normal' cats in terms of behavior. They're fickle, lazy,
easily distracted, and prone to randomly becoming bored. Any time it
uses one of its abilities (other than Mirage, which has its own rules)
there's a 5% chance that it will lose interest and unsummon
itself.</text>
\page
## Summon: Rakshasa
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
3. Attributes
4. Abilities
5. Terms of Contract
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
Despite appearing in many myths, it's unclear what exactly rakshasa
are; descriptions of their appearances and behavior are wildly
inconsistent, from giant black tigers with vicious fangs and claws, to
cannibals with flaming eyes and hair, to cruel spirits in human form.
Of course, it's also possible that several of those depictions are
true, as rakshasa are also rumored to be capable of changing their form
as easily as a human would change clothes.
When called upon by shinobi, however, they tend to follow a consistent
appearance, that of a tall man (even 'female' rakshasa apparently take
on masculine bodies) with the head of a tiger, retractable claws at the
ends of their fingers, and orange-and-black fur across their bodies.
Most are dressed in robes, typically red and gold in coloration. Some
look noble, others feral and violent.
- Chakra: 50
- Speed: 30
- Seal Speed: 30
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
A rakshasa's behavior and demeanor varies as wildly as their
appearance, and so there's no way of knowing whether the creature
summoned genuinely intends to assist the summoner to the best of their
ability, or is only helping them for the opportunity to sabotage their
goals later on. As such, summoning a Rakshasa is a calculated risk in
most circumstances.
All Rakshasa can speak any human language (and some of unclear origin)
flawlessly and without accent; while some sound refined and others
harsh and guttural, these seem to be personal affectations on the parts
of the rakshasa themselves.
====================
3. Attributes
------------------------------

 Vitality: 2000

 STR: 100

 RES: 110

 CHA: 140

 DEX: 120

 AGI: 130

 Accuracy: 48

 Dodge: +32

 Genjutsu: +46

 Stamina: +15

 Chakra Exhaustion: +25

 Damage Bonus: 12.0

 Movement: 2.6 yards per IC

 Athletics: +30

 Awareness: +35

 Chakra Control: +35

 Espionage: +35

 Research: +20

 Stealth: +35

 Survival: +35

###### Dark Mind
Though a Rakshasa's mind is not too different from a human's to affect
with genjutsu, doing so can be risky. Attempting to influence its mind
risks the person doing so suffering a painful feedback through their
chakra, typically in the form of a sudden wave of horror. If a Rakshasa
is targeted by a genjutsu and rolls an 11 or above on its defensive
genjutsu roll, the person who targeted it automatically loses 1
Willpower. If they have no Willpower remaining, they instead suffer a
Stun 10.
###### Spirit Siphon
Unlike most summons, the Rakshasa may spend Willpower--or, more
specifically, its owner's. This can be done any time Willpower would
normally be spent, with the usual effects. If the Rakshasa betrays its
summoner (see Treachery, below) in combat, it will always use Spirit
Siphon on the attack made against them.
###### Treachery
Unlike most summons, Rakshasa will sometimes turn against the ninja who
called upon them--but there's no way of knowing that one is planning to
do so until it's too late. Every time the Rakshasa is given a task, or
acts in combat, there is a 10% chance that it will somehow turn against
the summoner. This could mean informing people who it was sent to spy
on that the summoner is nearby, or sabotaging the path it was sent to
scout; in combat, this check is made whenever it attacks. If the 10%
chance takes place, it instead attacks the summoner with the same
technique. After the Rakshasa betrays their summoner this way, it will
disappear (often cackling evilly as it does so); after five checks have
been made without betraying the summoner, that particular Rakshasa will
not do so for the remainder of the time it's summoned. Additionally,
Rakshasa will not betray summoners with 6000 or more XP.
\page
====================
4. Abilities
------------------------------
###### Banishment (Speed 6, Chakra 30, 4 AP)
This technique can be used in response to any attack which targets the
Rakshasa, including area-of-effect techniques whose radius it's in. The
Rakshasa traces a mandala in mid-air, the symbols etching themselves in
ghostly flames, and the offending objects are removed.
Used against ninjutsu, the technique disappears completely, as if it
had never been used (though any costs are still paid). Against weapon
taijutsu, the weapons vanish; unique weapons (ones not from the
Equipment section of the PHB) reappear 2d100 yards away from the
Rakshasa, in the opposite direction from the attacker. Melee attackers
instead reappear 2d20 yards in a direction of the Rakshasa's choosing.
###### Burning Chains (Speed 12, Chakra 40, 8 AP)
The Rakshasa levels a gaze at a target and speaks in an
incomprehensible language; the flames around that person lift
themselves off the individual's body and form chains of dark red fire
and burnt iron, anchoring the unfortunate soul to the ground. This can
only target someone suffering from Ignite, and cannot be defended
against, though the Rakshasa must be able to see the target, and it has
a range of 50.
All Ignites on the target are suspended, and instead converted into
Immobilization penalties; Ignite 8 would become -8 Immobilize. The
"Ignite" continues to decay at its normal
rate, but effects which remove or reduce Ignite don't work (since it's
an Immobilize, not an Ignite). Removing the Immobilize penalty from
Burning Chains causes the Rakshasa's Upkeep to end, and the Ignite to
return.
If the Rakshasa betrays its summoner when ordered to use Burning
Chains, it first transfers all Ignites from the target to the summoner,
and then uses Burning Chains.
###### Immolate (Speed 16, Chakra 50, 10 AP)
With a single gesture, the Rakshasa lights its victim ablaze. This
applies an automatic Ignite 10; it cannot be blocked, parried, or
stopped with ninjutsu-based defenses (such as Ocean Shield). It can be
dodged, though doing so is done at a -10 penalty. If used against
summons, this deals damage as a percent of their maximum Vitality (as
if it was damaging HP under normal Ignite rules), rather than current,
and is reduced at half the normal speed (RES/40 rather than RES/20).
Immolate has a range of 40 yards, or 80 yards if used against a
summoned creature.
###### Rake (Speed 12, Stamina 15, 2 AP)
The Rakshasa slashes someone with its claws. This deals 12d20 Slashing
damage, ignores armor, and inflicts a Bleed 8 status.
###### Shadow Step (Speed +4, +Delay 8, +6 AP)
The Rakshasa takes a step forward, then dissolves into wisps of pitch
black smoke and the smell of charcoal; moments later it reappears with
the same show of smoke, striking from its own personal darkness. This
augments one of the Rakshasa's melee attacks (Rake or Soul Rot), and
modifies its parameters accordingly. Between the time the action is
used and when the Delay ends, the Rakshasa cannot be targeted; after
the Delay, it reappears on the battle field, in range of whoever its
target is.
When a Shadow Step attack is used, the Rakshasa does not need to
specify its target. When the Delay ends, it appears behind its target;
this can target anyone who within 200 yards and not in Stealth when
Shadow Step was used. Entering Stealth, creating clones, or moving away
during the Delay will not prevent the Rakshasa from finding its mark.
When Shadow Step is declared, the Rakshasa can either sacrifice 10% of
its maximum Vitality for a +4 bonus to Accuracy, or 20% for a +8 bonus.
###### Soul Rot (Speed 18, Chakra 40, 15 AP)
The Rakshasa makes a melee strike against a victim, but rather than
dealing a vicious blow lightly rakes its claws across them--and in
doing so, bestows a potent curse upon them. The unfortunate recipient
will begin experiencing a horrid pain across their body--and, more
pressingly, start dying rapidly. Every IC that passes, they lose 20 HP.
This persists until the Rakshasa is unsummoned, the victim falls below
0 HP, or the Rakshasa's summoner orders the creature to end the effect.
If a Rakshasa uses this on the summoner after betraying them, the
effect instead persists until the summoner's HP falls below 0 or a
Contract Seal is applied to them.</text>
\page
## Summon Avatar: Byakko
1. Summoning
2. Behavior
====================
1. Summoning
------------------------------
A mythical creature, Byakko is said to be the guardian of the west, and
the symbolic representation of autumn, righteousness, and iron. The
actual, physical Byakko is also a white tiger large enough to crush
houses under a single paw, possessing a roar that can flatten trees and
a ferocious gaze that can send all but the mightiest opponents fleeing
in terror.
- Chakra: 60
- Speed: 20
- Seal Speed: 40
====================
2. Behavior
------------------------------
Byakko is the Lord of Beasts, the apex predator of the land. In his
eyes, he is the almighty emperor of the world; all other animals, and
even shinobi, are his subjects. He is a stern, but magnanimous ruler,
free of contempt, scruelty, or scorn for his 'subjects'--his lordship
of them is only natural, in light of his all-eclipsing power.
Even other summoned avatars are viewed not as equals by Byakko, but
rather as challenging prey.</text>
\page
## Summoning Contract: Hare
Hares (including rabbits, but really, what ninja knows the difference?)
are the least adept in battle of all the major species of summoned
animals. Much like their wild counterparts they are not predatory and
have no natural defenses beyond their ability to flee (which they are,
to be fair, quite good at).
That alone ensures that most ninja do not consider the rabbits worth
the time and effort involved in fostering good relations with them.
Still, some go to the trouble of doing so.
Hares are kind-hearted creatures, but not weak-willed. They will not
tolerate a master who takes delight in causing others suffering, or who
is unwilling to attempt to resolve issues peacefully. Similarly, when
confronting enemies who they view as genuinely evil, the few
combat-capable summoned rabbits display a shocking degree of
remorselessness.
====================
Access
------------------------------

 800 XP: A Small Rabit

 1200 XP: Diplomatic Immunity

 1600 XP: Summon: Jade Rabbit

 2000 XP: Hare of Inaba

 2400 XP: Summon: Yojimbo

 3000 XP: Sanctuary

 4000 XP: Summon: Satsu no Usagi

 4500 XP: Summon: Tsuki no Usagi</text>

## Techniques
### --( Kuchiyose: Chiisana Usagi - Summoning: A Small Rabbit )--
It does exactly what it says: summons a small rabbit. These are
remarkably docile and friendly creatures, and an exception to the
standard that summoned animals won't simply wait around at their
summoner's leisure.
The rabbit cannot talk, and lacks any obvious supernatural talents. It
likes carrots and lettuce, and will allow itself to be carried around
and petted at the summoner's leisure.
- Chakra: 10 + X/2
- Speed: 5
- Seal Speed: 10
- Requires: Kuchiyose no Jutsu
Effects:
If anyone attempts to attack the rabbit or its summoner it flees
immediately, leaping away before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
However, whenever there is someone hidden within 10+X yards who the
summoner doesn't know about, the rabbit will tense up begin shaking,
going very still as its ears perk up.
____________________________________________
### --( Gaikou Tokken - Diplomatic Immunity )--
Attempting to negotiate as a ninja is a risky prospect, because as
often as not the people you try to talk to really don't care that you
have a white flag, and would rather jump and murder you than listen to
you explaining why violence really isn't necessary.
This technique creates a wooden pendant, a circle with three carved
hares inside it forming a triskelion of sorts, which can only be worn
by the summoner (and, if not put on within a minute, crumbles to dust).
So long as it's worn, they have significant protections against
hostility, though in exchange must live up to their own set of
standards.
The pendant's design looks something like so:
http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/images/Tinners2.gif
- Chakra: 30
- Speed: 20
- Seal Speed: 60
Effects:
Anyone attacking, hindering, or taking other hostile actions against
you has a -15 penalty to any associated Stamina and Chakra Exhaustion
rolls, and a -5 penalty to their Accuracy and other offensive rolls
against you. Additionally, during this technique's duration you gain
100 DR.
However, you cannot attack anyone who hasn't attacked you first or take
other hostile actions that aren't in self-defense. You may not hide
(via Stealth) unless it's during battle. You cannot enter any
buildings, camps, or other guarded areas without first making your
presence known to the owners, occupants, or guards (as appropriate) and
receiving their permission.
If you break the restrictions of this technique, the wooden pendant
shatters and its effects end immediately. When this occurs you
automatically advance two Fatigue levels; this increase in Fatigue
cannot be avoided.
You can also take the pendant off, in which case it simply crumbles to
dust. The pendant must be worn obviously; you cannot tuck it into a
shirt or otherwise deliberately hide it. If you do so, or if you
attempt to actively goad people into attacking you (to inflict its
penalties on them before you retaliate), it breaks. The pendant will
not last longer than 6 hours.
\page
____________________________________________
### --( Inaba no Usagi - Hare of Inaba )--
According to legends, the goddess Amaterasu was once wandering the land
looking for a place to rest for the night. As the story goes, she was
approached by a rabbit which took her to the town of Inaba, and for its
kindness she gave it her blessings.
It's rather hard to believe that the story's true, the rabbit was real,
and it's still alive and available to be summoned--it's more likely
that 'Hare of Inaba' is the collective term given to these large (for
rabbits) white rabbits, though more supersticious people are hesitant
to harm them all the same, as the myth claims anyone who does so will
incur the sun goddess' wrath.
- Chakra: 25
- Speed: 10
- Seal Speed: 15
Effects:
This summons a white rabbit which cannot speak. When it's called, the
summoner asks it to guide them to a location of their choosing. This
may be a place the summoner is familiar with, or a descriptive (rather
than specific) location; "The other side of this mountain
range" or "The nearest town"
would both be acceptable, but "The enemy
camp," or "The nearest group of shinobi
hiding from us" would not. In short, it could not be used
to find a person or group that doesn't want to be found or whose
existence the summoner isn't aware of.
However, it will then flawlessly lead the summoner and anyone with
them, at a pace equivalent to a brisk walk (or slower, if necessary),
to the chosen location so long as it's within a week's travel. It will
lead them around all ambushes, traps, snares, hidden enemies, and so
on. If it reaches a point where this is impossible (there is only a
single bridge crossing a river and there are explosives planted on it,
or enemies waiting to attack on the other side) it will stop and sit
there, shaking, until either the threat is dealt with or it's carried
through the 'danger zone' by its summoner.
If the rabbit is attacked, it flees instantly, though there may be more
to this story of a 'curse' befalling those who attempt to injure it
than most shinobi believe. However, attempting to use the rabbit as a
'shield' of sorts (summoning it in battle as a deterrent to someone
attacking you or the area near you) is a Breach of Contract.
____________________________________________
### --( Seiiki - Sanctuary )--
Following the hare's ideals of nonviolent resolution of conflicts, this
technique facilitates peaceful negotiations by ensuring that those who
attempt to use diplomacy as a cover to ambush or attack their enemies
are punished for doing so. How the technique works at all puzzles
shinobi, as it doesn't have similarities to any known sort of jutsu.