Ninja Dice
Ninja Dice Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 zippered Ninja container
- 6 black House Dice
- 5 white Skill Dice
- 4 white Threat Dice
- 21 "copper" 1 point treasure tokens
- 7 "silver" 5 point treasure tokens
- 7 "gold" 10 point treasure tokens
The Dice
The active Ninja faces three types of challenges in a house which is created by rolling the black House Dice: guard, resident, and lock.
The active Ninja beats the House challenges by using skills gained while rolling the white Skill Dice: fight, sneak, pick, fortune, and wild.
The Threat Dice are rolled by opposing Ninjas to steal treasure and push time: hourglass, arrow, and catch.
Set Up
Each player takes 3 "copper" 1 point treasure tokens.
The player who most recently watched a Ninja movie becomes the active Ninja (first player) and receives all 5 Skill Dice.
The player to the first player's right receives 4 House Dice. Set the two remaining House Dice aside for now.
Every player (except the first player) takes one Threat Die (in a 2-player game take two Threat Dice). Set any extra Threat Dice aside for now.
Gameplay
Ninja Dice is played in three rounds. Each round, every player will try to beat a house rolled just for them. The rounds increase in difficulty as shown:
- Round 1 = 4 House Dice
- Round 2 = 5 House Dice
- Round 3 = 6 House Dice
Ninja Turn
- Roll - The house is created and the Ninjas roll their Skill and Threat Dice
- Resolve Threats - Treasure is stolen, arrows are caught and time passes
- Defeat the House - The active Ninja uses Skill Dice to beat house challenges
- Push-your-Luck - The active Ninja may reroll Skill Dice as many times as they dare
Play continues until the active Ninja beats the house, chooses to stop, or four hourglasses are locked.
1. Roll
The player with the House Dice rolls them and arranges the results in a neutral part of the play area to create the house.
The active Ninja (the player with the Skill Dice) alerts everyone that they are ready to roll, "Ninjas, Ready, Roll!", and at exactly the same time all other players roll their Threat Dice. Every time the active Ninja rolls Skill Dice the other players will roll Threat Dice.
Do not move the dice; leave the dice where they land!
2. Resolve Threats
Steal Treasure
Starting with the player who rolled the House Dice and proceeding counter-clockwise, each opposing Ninja checks if they rolled an arrow. The arrow has a line on the front edge of the die and any one Skill Die or one Threat Die that is partially or completely in front of the line on the Arrow Die can be targeted by that arrow (see Fortune Die below). The player who rolled the arrow may steal one treasure from the player who rolled the target die! Note: Skill Dice saved from a previous roll can be the target of an arrow; Hourglass Dice from a previous roll cannot be targeted.
Catch Arrows
A catch symbol can appear on Threat Dice and Skill Dice. One Catch Die will protect you from all arrows this roll. Even if one of your dice can be targeted by an arrow you cannot have treasure stolen from you this roll.
After all arrows have their targets and any treasure is stolen, pick up all non-hourglass Threat Dice and set them aside.
In this example, the red arrow can target the blue arrow or the green hourglass. The red arrow can also target the active Ninja (because several Skill Dice are in front of the red arrow), but the active Ninja rolled a catch so they cannot have treasure stolen this roll. In this case, the red player chooses to take 1 treasure from the blue player. The blue arrow can only target the active Ninja, but they rolled a catch. The orange arrow can target either the red player or the green player (the active Ninja rolled a catch). Orange chooses the red player and takes 1 treasure from them. The green hourglass is saved near the House Dice for the remainder of the active Ninja's turn.
Time Passes
Move all hourglass results next to the House Dice. They will stay next to the house for the rest of the active Ninja's turn and are not rerolled.
Once there are a total of four hourglasses the active Ninja is captured and their turn is immediately over. They collect no treasure!
3. Defeat the House
Skills
The active Ninja checks if they have the skills to beat the house challenges. Note that a Wild Die can act as any one skill, even if it acted as a different skill on a previous roll. It takes one skill to beat one challenge. Challenges are overcome as follows:
- 1 Pick beats 1 Lock
- 1 Sneak or 1 Fight beats 1 Guard
- 1 Sneak or 1 Fight beats 1 Resident
To beat more than one guard or resident you must use all Sneak Dice or all Fight Dice. You can't fight some and sneak past others.
For example, if there are three residents you will need either three Fight Dice or three Sneak Dice to beat them. If you face both guards and residents, you can fight the guards and sneak past the residents, or vice versa. Or you can beat all guards and residents with all sneaking or all fighting.
If the active Ninja has the skills to beat all the challenges of the house, they collect treasure based on the difficulty of the house and their turn is over. They also collect bonus treasure if they didn't fight anyone! (See Scoring below.)
In this example, the fight is boosted by the fortune and will beat the guard and all three residents; the pick will beat the lock; and the wild is used as a pick and beats the other lock. The house is beaten!
Run Away
If the active Ninja does not have the necessary skills to beat the entire house they can Run Away to end their turn. They collect 1 treasure for each House Die that they have the skills to beat.
In this example: the sneak beats the guard, the pick beats one lock, the wild beats the other lock, and the two fights beat the double resident. The single resident remains unbeaten. You will get 1 treasure for each House Die you beat if you choose to Run Away and end your turn.
Fortune
Fortune Dice target Fight, Sneak, Pick and Wild Dice (even a die saved from a previous roll). The Fortune Die has a line on the front edge and any one skill die that is partially or completely in front of the Fortune Die can be boosted to count as four of that skill.
In this example, the sneak, the fight or the pick can be boosted by the fortune. The wild cannot.
Match up the Fortune Die with the skill you want it to boost by moving the Fortune Die next to the Skill Die. That skill now acts exactly as if you had rolled four dice of that skill. If you boost a wild skill, it becomes either four fight, four sneak or four pick. The fortune will remain matched with this Skill Die for the rest of the active Ninja's turn.
It's possible that more than one fortune can target the same Skill Die. Two fortunes would boost one skill to eight of that skill, three would boost one skill to twelve of that skill, etc.
4. Push-your-Luck
The active Ninja can choose any of their Skill Dice to reroll. They may choose dice just rolled as well as dice saved from a previous roll. Any Skill Dice they don't reroll may be arranged as they wish on any part of the playing area (fortune results must physically remain next to the skill they boost). If a skill that is boosted by a fortune is rerolled, the matched Fortune Die must also be rerolled. Unmatched Fortune Dice cannot be saved. Strategically arranging saved Skill Dice may help the targeting of Fortune Dice on the next roll!
Before the active Ninja rerolls, hand out the remaining Threat Dice to the non-active players. Threat Dice are always distributed counter-clockwise starting with the player to the right of the active Ninja; it is possible that not all players will have a Threat Die. In a 2-player game give the player a second Threat Die if possible. Set any extra Threat Dice aside to use in future push-your-luck rolls.
The active Ninja alerts everyone that they are ready to roll and rolls their Skill Dice at exactly the same time that all other players roll their Threat Dice, "Ninjas, Ready, Roll!"
Play continues until the active Ninja either beats the house, chooses to stop, or a total of four hourglasses are rolled. Once four hourglasses are rolled, the active Ninja is captured and their turn is immediately over. They get no treasure!
When the active Ninja's turn is over, they pass the Skill Dice to the left and they roll the House Dice for the next player. Threat Dice are distributed among all non-active players and the next player's turn begins.
Scoring
Collect 1 treasure from the supply for each House Die that you have the skills to beat.
If you beat all challenges of a four die house, collect 1 additional treasure, for a five die house collect 2 additional treasure. Beat a six die house and collect 3 additional treasure.
If you beat any house without fighting anyone, collect 1 bonus treasure!