Ninjutsu: Battle of the Ninjas Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Setup
• Game
  • 1. Turning over weapon cards
  • 2. Moving ninjas
  • 3. Battle

Goal

Finding and killing the opponent's Soke wins you the game.

Setup

Place the board on the table and the Dojo next to it. Also place the passage-ways into the board.

Choose a color and place your playing pieces on the first 3 rows on your side of the board, placing them to your own liking.

Each player then takes the 5 action-cards as their hand, shuffles the 45 weapon-cards of their chosen color, and places these as a draw-deck for resolving conflicts.

Each player receives 3 shuriken tokens and places the rest next to the Dojo.

Each player takes the 3 dice of their chosen color. Then both players toss their 6-sided die into the Dojo, and the highest roller is the starting player. (Note: during this game, when tossing dice into the Dojo it is permitted to try to hit the opponent's dice that are already in there; in fact it is a part of the tactic.)

Game

The game has 3 phases:

1. Turning over weapon cards
2. Moving ninjas
3. Battle

1. Turning over weapon cards

The first player turns over 3 weapon cards from his deck and puts them in a row.

The second player does the same and matches his cards as drawn with those of the opponent. For each card, compare who has the higher value of the card. For each card of a higher value than the opponent's that he has, the first player moves a ninja of his choice (see phase 2). If the first player has no cards higher than the opponent's, he moves no ninjas and his phase 1 is over. (Editor's note: the source text reads "the second player does the same..." followed by "for each card of a higher value that he has the first player moves a ninja". The rule as printed gives the first player the ninja move; kept as printed.)

Note: If the second player has higher cards, nothing happens; he only moves ninjas when it is his turn.

All the used cards are placed in their owner's discard piles. Once all cards from the deck are drawn, reshuffle the discard piles.

If all three cards of the first player are higher than the opponent's, he also takes a shuriken from the bank. If no shurikens are available, he takes none.

If 2 of the cards drawn and matched are of even value, then both players draw a new card and cover the old card until one of them has the higher value.

2. Moving ninjas

Each round a ninja can only be moved 3 fields (3 battle cards won), an exception to this is the jump-action card. The player decides if he moves 1 ninja all the steps or divides it between several of his ninjas.

Ninjas can be moved forwards, backwards and diagonal.

You cannot move a ninja onto a field where a ninja of your own color is standing.

All ninjas must move around the passage-ways unless a player plays his smoke action card.

If you move a ninja onto a field with an opponent's ninja, a battle occurs; see phase 3.

3. Battle

If a player moves his ninja onto a field with an opposing ninja, a battle occurs.

Both players turn around their ninja and show their ranks to their opponent.

The number on the star in the corner then decides with which die the player does battle.

The actual battle is done in the Dojo.

• Ninjas with 1 Star = 6-sided die
• Ninjas with 2 Stars = 8-sided die
• Soke = 12-sided die

The player who rolls the highest kills the opposing ninja, and his piece is removed from the board. If the attacker wins, his ninja takes the place of the removed ninja. If the defender wins, his ninja stays in place.

In case of a tie, the attacking ninja is killed and removed from the board.

When rolling the dice, hands are not allowed to pass over or into the Dojo.

Using a shuriken allows a player to reclaim and reroll his die.

If a die lands outside the Dojo when rolled, the player automatically loses the battle and removes his ninja.

Note: To make it more exciting, a player is allowed to try to hit his opponent's die in the Dojo.

Shurikens:

A shuriken can be used to reroll a die. There is no limit to the number of shurikens a player can use, as long as he possesses them.

Once a shuriken is used it is removed from the game. So during a game a maximum of 10 shurikens can be used.

New shurikens are awarded from the bank when an active player turns over 3 higher battle cards than the opponent.

The action cards:

The action cards can always be used when a player is the active player. An exception to this is the new weapon action-card, which can also be played during an opponent's turn.

Each action-card can be used only once. Once used, they are removed from the game.

Jump-card: This allows you to move one of your ninjas through/over an opponent's ninja. The actual jump uses no movement points if it is taken against an opposing ninja on the field straight in front of the ninja making the jump.

Smoke-card: Once you play this card you may move one of your ninjas through one of the passage-ways this turn.

Kidnap-card: Playing this card allows you to "kidnap" one of the opponent's ninjas from his front row of ninjas only.

Simply pick a ninja and remove it from play; no actual battle happens.

You cannot kidnap the Soke. If you happen to pick up the Soke, put him back in place, but now you know his position!

New weapon-card: Playing this card allows you to turn over 3 new weapon cards in phase 1. You can play this card on an opponent's turn as well.

Joker-card: This card allows you to perform any of the 4 other action-card effects, you choose. On the card there is also a picture of a shuriken; this means you can also trade in the card for a shuriken if any are available.

Winning the game:

The player that finds the opponent's Soke first and defeats it is the winner!