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  ludus-leonis.com
  @LUDUSLEONIS
  LUDUSLEONIS
  LUDUS LEONIS
  v1.0.3 © 2011–2016, Markus Leupold-Löwenthal
  Credits
  Idea, text and layout: Markus Leupold-Löwenthal
  Illustrations: Bettina Ott – www.ottbettina.com
  Translation: Onno Tasler
  Proof-reading: Tim Snider
  Kurai Jikan was created using free software and fonts:
  Atom, FontForge, GIMP, Inkscape and LATEX.
  Kaushan Script, www.impallari.com/kaushan
  PT Sans, www.paratype.com/public
  NIP’AJIN Dingbats, github.com/ludus-leonis
  Thanks go to:
  Planet Harry for the cover (www.planetharry.at);
  the 8. Vienna Fantasy Gaming Convention for 1st place;
  Isthar-art for the template the background image is partially based on;
  my loyal testers Chris, Flanf, Jan and Jens
  All places and characters appearing in this work are ﬁctitious.
  Any resemblance to real places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
  No dice were harmed in the making of this game.
  
  The Game Master should read the following text aloud before play:
  Prologue “ Kurai Jikan”
  F
  ive hundread years ago, the island
  kingdom of Hinokuni was the the-
  ater of an epic war. The native
  Akariko, followers of the Sun
  Goddess, fought against demonic Oni, who plunged
  the land into darkness.
  Despite their bravery, the Akariko were no
  match for the Oni’s powerful magic and their sheer
  endless numbers. One day, the Sun Goddess gazed
  out of a window in her celestial palace. Deeply
  moved by this sight of the almost lost war, she shed
  bitter tears. They rained down on the land, turning
  into shining crystal shards upon touching the
  ground. The Akariko took this as a sign, collected
  the shards and carried them as a banner of arms
  into battle.
  Using the force of the divine light,
  they finally expelled the Oni and restored peace to
  Hinokuni. The Akariko celebrated victory for 100
  days and 100 nights and each village was given one
  shard as a memento. The largest shard, however,
  was brought to a holy place in the mountains on
  the southernmost island, Nantō.
  There it was
  worshiped in the sanctuary of Yamamura.
  Centuries passed. The present became the past,
  the past became legend. Hardly anyone remembers
  what happened during the time of the war, and
  fewer yet pay tribute to the deeds of past heroes
  and make a pilgrimage to Yamamura. There, the
  descendants of those pious folk still guard the huge
  shard, its divine light slowly fading as time went by.
  You are villagers and guardians of Yamamura.
  In the center of your small, forgotten village,
  protected by a wooden stockade, the Shrine of the
  Sun Goddess hosts the Goddess’ gift. The huge tear,
  rising above the shrine’s sweeping roof, still has the
  power to illuminate the night like a bonfire. About
  half a dozen priests take care of the shrine, about
  two dozen peasant families cultivate the land and
  feed the village. Yet, this idyllic sight deceives, for
  the villagers know that the Oni will return one
  day to take revenge.
  So they prepare for this
  day, strengthening their body and mind, practicing
  martial arts and meditating in prayer.
  Nobody knew when the Oni would return – until
  two weeks ago.
  When you awoke on that ill-
  fortuned morning, the countryside was covered by
  a fog that transformed the land: Serene woods
  turned into clusters of darkness, green meadows
  into barren land, clear lakes into tar pits. Eerie
  shadows attack those who enter the fog. Even the
  Sun Goddess can’t penetrate the fog, her powers
  barely sufficient to turn day into gloomy twilight.
  She also has not spoken to the priests in their
  dreams in the last two weeks as she usually does.
  So far, the light of the divine tear keeps the fog
  and the shadows at bay – but it grows weaker each
  passing day. Together, you and the villagers pray
  at the shrine to strengthen the remaining light.
  But you are too few and your prayers not strong
  enough. The priests estimate that your guarding
  light will succumb to the fog within days …
  3
  
  Starring …
  “ Ori – gami – ha! ”
  Mahōshi, the Origami-Mage
  h4
  Heir to an ancient family of magicians, Mahōshi
  draws his powers out of Origami – the art of
  folding paper. He can fold objects up to the
  size of his ﬁst (e.g. a key or a bird), that, for
  a brief time, become real and behave like their
  counterparts in all regards.
  Origami magic: Mahōshi folds a paper object as
  quickly or slowly as he wants (preparation time
  b) and makes a roll (t4). On a success, the
  object becomes real for a duration a that equals
  the b. If the object is used as a weapon, the
  roll is considered to be the attack roll, e.g. if a
  dart was created. Improvised paper (e.g. leaves)
  modiﬁes the roll by -1.
  Appearance: 172 cm tall, 43 years old. Slender.
  Long white hair. Wears loose white clothing that
  resembles folded paper.
  Equipment: 20 sheets of paper
  Skills: Lore+1, Athletics-1
  “ Aaarrrggghhh! ”
  Kumo Giant-Blade
  h8
  On his deathbed, Kumo’s father appointed him
  successor by handing him Omoken. This ancient
  sword is 2 m long, 40 cm broad and weighs
  100 kg. Luckily, the sword is possessed by a spirit
  that serves Kumo and grants him the power to
  reduce the weight of iron to one hundredth.
  Omoken’s gift: Only Kumo can wield Omoken.
  For him the sword behaves almost like an ordi-
  nary weapon. Kumo can also ask the spirit to
  possess another objects of iron (Persuasiont3).
  If successful, the spirit will reduce that object’s
  weight accordingly.
  Appearance: 171 cm tall, 21 years old. Athletic.
  Blond hair. Green clothes.
  Equipment: Omoken (Attack-1, 3 damage)
  Modiﬁer: Athletics+1
  4
  
  “ Lah-dii-daaah! ”
  Lady Shamisen
  h6
  Of noble descent, Lady Shamisen is as deadly
  as beautiful. Nobody knows her true name, thus
  she is known for her instrument: the shamisen, a
  three-stringed lute. In her hands, this instrument
  not only plays sweet music, but is also a weapon.
  Shamisen-do: Also known as “Three Stringed
  Path”. Lady Shamisen can use her lute to shoot
  deadly scores at her enemies. On a roll of 1 how-
  ever, one string breaks. As long as there is at
  least one string intact, she can continue to use
  the instrument. It takes 10 minutes to repair a
  string. If all three strings are intact, the lute has
  a range of 40 m. The range drops to 20 m with
  two strings and 10 m if only one string remains.
  Appearance: 166 cm tall, age unknown. Grace-
  ful appearance. White painted face and red
  lips. Black pinned-up hair. Flowing ruby gown.
  Seems to ﬂoat, but actually makes many tiny
  steps.
  Equipment: Shamisen (1 damage),
  10 spare
  strings
  Modiﬁer: Art+2 (except combat), Running-1
  “ Nyu? Nyuuuuh! ”
  Sotto Nyu
  h6
  Sotto’s father was rumored to have mistreated
  cats and thus was cursed by their god: His only
  daughter was born with a cat’s tail, ears and paws.
  Cast out by her family, she wandered about until
  she found a new home in Yamamura.
  Except for her catlike features, Sotto is an ordi-
  nary woman. Only in Yamamura is she accepted
  for who she is and can say “Nyu!” without fear of
  getting beaten.
  Cat’s Reﬂexes: As long as she shouts “Nyu!”, Sotto
  always lands on her feet when falling.
  Appearance: 158 cm tall, 19 years old. Delicate
  ﬁgure, cat’s tail, ears and paws. Wears cus-
  tomized clothes that looks like a Nyunja’s – er,
  Ninja’s black garb.
  Equipment: Claws
  (1
  damage),
  Camouﬂage
  clothing
  Modiﬁer: Stealth+1,
  Listen+1,
  Strength-1,
  Intellect-1
  Due to her paws, Sotto cannot use most tools.
  5
  
  “ I’m getting too old for this! ”
  Yojimbo, the Mercenary
  h8
  Yojimbo can’t remember for how long he made
  money by solving other people’s problems force-
  fully. At some point he grew weary of war and
  retired to Yamamura in hope of ﬁnding peace.
  He became a simple gardener, converting his
  spiked throwing shield into a sun hat and using
  his Tekkokagi – iron claws – to weed. At least,
  until the fog arose …
  Shield throw: Yojimbo throws his shield like a
  discus, harming several enemies at once (multi-
  ple actions, 20 m reach). The shield returns to
  his hand after the attack, unless a 1 is rolled.
  Appearance: 173 cm tall, age unknown. Stoutly
  built, scrutinizing eyes, gray hair. Dark one-piece
  suit with a blue cape. Black lace-up sandals.
  Oversized spiked metal hat that seconds as shield
  and discus.
  Equipment: Tekkokagi (1 damage), Spiked discus
  hat (1 damage)
  Modiﬁer: Parry+1,
  Discus+1,
  Wisdom+1,
  Socializing-1
  “ Is this … just a dream?”
  Umeko
  h6
  Sixteen-year-old
  Umeko
  always
  dreamt
  of
  strange lands and creatures. Her classmates at
  the Hakui-no-tenshi Nursing School in Tokyo
  often made fun of her stories. One day, she
  was involved in a car crash and fell into a coma.
  While her body is bound to a hospital’s bed, her
  spirit was drawn to Nantō, where she has been
  looking for an exit ever since. Meanwhile, in a
  dimension far, far away, her relatives desperately
  hold her hand.
  The connection between coma and Nantō cause
  Umeko to turn invisible whenever she closes her
  eyes. The fact that her appearance ﬂickers every
  time she blinks tends to confuse friends and
  strangers.
  Comatose Reality: Umeko turns invisible if she
  closes her eyes. She can still interact with her
  environment, but all (re)actions suffer a -2 modi-
  ﬁer. She does not truly blink out of existence and
  thus can still be perceived by other senses, can be
  touched and harmed.
  Appearance: 16 years old, 164 cm tall. Student’s
  uniform.
  Equipment: First-aid kit.
  Modiﬁer: Healing+1, Empathy+1, Fighting-1
  6
  
  This role-playing game makes use of the NIP’AJIN rules found in the Appendix (p 19).
  Information for Game Masters
  — Overview —
  Kurai Jikan (“dark times”) consists of three
  acts.
  During the ﬁrst act, the characters need
  to bring help to Yamamura.
  The village
  needs more people to pray at the local
  shrine to power the large tear of the Sun
  Goddess, as only its divine light keeps the
  fog and the creatures that lurk within at
  bay.
  During the second act, the characters
  attempt to help those inhabitants of Nantō
  who were trapped by dark powers. During
  these support missions, they also ﬁnd clues
  that point at the source of the invasion: the
  Oni Kirinozako.
  Depending on available
  playing time, this act can vary in length
  and can easily be expanded with your own
  ideas.
  During the third and last act, the charac-
  ters approach the Oni and his fog tower to
  bring an end to the dark times.
  Tip:
  This PDF uses layers. You can print the text
  without the background images.
  — Nantō Primer —
  This scenario is set in Hinokuni, a realm
  inspired by Japan. Nantō, its southernmost
  island, is shaped like a drop, measuring
  9.000 km² in size, 130 km north to south
  and 90 km east to west.
  Society
  About 100,000 people live in Nantō, calling
  themselves Akariko and resembling an Iron
  Age culture.
  Most Akariko live near the
  coast, while the mountainous interior is
  sparsely settled. Yamamura is one of the
  few inland villages. Pristine woods, rivers,
  mountains, volcanoes and lakes dominate
  the island.
  The prologue (p 3) describes the island’s
  history as far as it is of concern for this sce-
  nario. A divine emperor, said to be the long
  arm of the Sun Goddess herself, rules over
  all of Hinokuni. His palace can be found on
  one of the larger, northern islands. Local
  administration of the provinces, which in-
  clude Nantō, is delegated to priests of the
  Sun Goddess.
  Villages consist mostly of pit-huts and
  wooden structures, elevated slightly off
  the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs
  and thin walls.
  Only major buildings
  feature curved roofs which are considered
  so archetypal for Hinokuni’s architecture.
  A typical village centers around an open
  gathering place, surrounded by a series of
  huts with the most important building – a
  shrine or the village leader’s house – in the
  middle. Other houses follow according to
  their rank, forming a sickle-shape.
  Most
  7
  
  villages are small, hosting only a handful
  of families which farm rice ﬁelds and keep
  a bit of livestock. Travelling from village to
  village is exhausting and takes about a day.
  To simplify matters, inhabitants of Nantō
  only bear forenames, most common are:
  Names
  Male
  Daichi, Hiroki, Kenzo, Kouki, Riku, Ryo,
  Shiro, Tsubasa, Yuto, Yuuki
  Female Akemi, Chiyo, Emi, Haruka, Kazumi,
  Megumi, Miu, Noriko, Rin, Yoko
  Trade and economy is at its very beginning,
  peasants usually rely on themselves. For
  trading, rice is used as currency. The unit
  “sack” represents the amount of rice one
  adult needs to survive a year. Coins, called
  “Kōn”, are rare and used only for larger
  transactions, ten kōn making one sack.
  The monotheistic religion of the Akariko
  centers around the nameless Sun Goddess.
  By day she watches over her followers from
  her celestial palace.
  By night she sends
  them their dreams. According to Akariko
  belief, those dreams constitute their souls,
  and have to be returned to the goddess
  after death.
  She will then bestow them
  to other mortals.
  Akariko gather in the
  village shrine on special occasions, mostly
  to celebrate the harvest, birth, marriages,
  but also when they fall on hard times –
  generally, when good or bad dreams come
  true.
  Beside the Sun Goddess, myriad spirits
  shape daily life. Evil spirits lie in wait way-
  side or under bridges, tempt naïve Akariko
  or cause other shenanigans. Usually, they
  are not interested in or aware of harming
  their victims, but just want to have some
  fun.
  The return of the Oni
  Two weeks ago, an alliance of several
  major Oni (demons) conquered Hinokuni
  and divided the isles among them. Nantō
  fell to Kirinozako, who now rules it from
  atop his stronghold, the fog tower at the
  center of the island: a giant stalactite he
  ripped from the netherworld.
  Originating from the tower, blue fog
  enshrouds all of Nantō and absorbs most
  light, turning midday no brighter than a
  full moon’s night. Some Akariko fear the
  fog might corrupt them, but it only taints
  plants and animals. Yet, there are shadows
  hiding in the fog that steal human dreams
  and carry them to the fog tower – see “Kage
  (Shadows)” (p 17).
  Without their dreams,
  Akariko don’t die, but lose every motivation
  and obey any command.
  Kirinozako placed lesser demons or foul
  Akario in charge of various villages, who
  are to control the dreamless.
  They are
  ordered to suppress any opposition and
  destroy any tear they can ﬁnd.
  Several
  evil spirits took the opportunity to lead
  some unlucky, dreamless Akariko into their
  misfortune, too.
  Tears and the Mikoshi
  The glowing drop-shaped crystal shards
  that fell from the sky ﬁve hundred years ago
  are called Tears of the Sun Goddess. Most
  of them are ﬁst-sized and were distributed
  among the villages for worshipping long
  ago.
  The remaining shards, one among
  them 6 m tall and weighing several tons,
  were brought to Yamamura.
  As the tears’ importance for daily life
  diminished, many villagers forgot about
  them and they now lie around in bags or
  8
  
  crates. Those villages who found their tear
  in time had at least a chance when the
  fog came: Their inhabitants now hope for
  rescue in its slowly dwindling aura of divine
  light. Kage attacked everyone else and took
  their dreams.
  As protection against the fog, the party
  receives a portable shrine: a Mikoshi. This
  amply decorated wooden box, about one
  cubic metre in size and with a curved roof,
  has openings on all sides and is carried on
  two large bamboo sticks. It is not too heavy,
  two persons can carry it and safely put it
  down at any time. A pedestal inside the
  Mikoshi holds ﬁve ﬁst-sized tears.
  A single tear illuminates a radius of about
  1 m.
  This range is ampliﬁed if multiple
  tears are brought together: 2 m for two,
  3 m for three, and so on. Tears shine even
  brighter in sacred places: the total range
  is multiplied by 5 while the tears are kept
  in the Mikoshi, or by 10 in a village shrine.
  Thus, the fully loaded Mikoshi illuminates
  a radius of 25 m
  The characters might not know it yet,
  but the tears have another practical use:
  their divine light harms demons.
  This is
  why they are so eager to destroy them all.
  But the fragile tears shatter on a successful
  hit into numerous tiny, harmlessly glowing
  splinters.
  Yamamura and the heroes
  For centuries, the inhabitants of Yamamura
  readied themselves to ﬁght against the
  darkness should it ever return. Thus, even
  apparently plain farmers and priests com-
  mand great powers: Among them one ﬁnds
  specialists of martial arts, espionage and
  deception, magicians and clerics. It is up to
  the players whether or not the characters
  possess supernatural abilities like in many
  Mangas or Animes.
  If so, those can be
  implemented as “Powers”.
  Kurai Jikan takes place during the Iron
  Age; weapons and equipment should be
  chosen according to this period. Armor is
  unusual. There are no carts or draft animals
  in Yamamura, as it is impossible to move
  them along the steep path from the valley
  to Yamamura.
  There are ready-to-play characters in the
  front of this booklet (p 4).
  — Development —
  Once the players are aware of the informa-
  tion in the prologue and have chosen or
  made a character, the game starts with the
  ﬁrst act in Yamamura.
  Act II
  High priest Tetsuo summons the characters
  and assigns them a mission: “It is time to
  act! Descend into the valley and search for
  survivors in the other villages. Escort them
  to Yamamura as soon as possible, so they can
  join our prayers and strengthen the tear. Take
  9
  
  this Mikoshi. It contains ﬁve tears of the Sun
  Goddess that will protect you from the fog.
  Now go, for you are our last hope.”
  With two characters carrying the Mikoshi
  and thus a small sphere of safety, the
  party enters the fog.
  The inhabitants
  of Yamamura wave them goodbye before
  returning to their prayers.
  Tetsuo (Human)
  h2 f4 s4
  S: 34, 167 cm. Pale skin, short black hair. Con-
  cerned look. Multi-layered robe: light blue in-
  terior and dark blue exterior garment, carefully
  folded. Floor-length broad sash.
  C: Friendly and open minded visionary, at the
  moment deeply concerned for Yamamura and
  Nantō.
  G: Religion+2, Knowledge+1
  The GM can pick any village (p 11) to be
  visited ﬁrst or can leave the decision to the
  players. The inhabitants of Kōkō, Ueno and
  Yagi need to be rescued, those in Akamori
  will gladly return with them as soon as the
  characters ask.
  All villagers escorted back to Yamamura
  will join the prayers. At least 15 additional
  people are needed to restore the great
  tear’s powers.
  While dreamless villagers
  can be ordered to pray, they do so half-
  heartedly and thus count only as half a
  prayer.
  Once there are sufﬁcient people present,
  the divine light ampliﬁes and extends into
  the surrounding woods. While this does not
  yet saves Yamamura, the fog is no longer an
  immediate problem for the village.
  Act II
  High priest Tetsuo is still worried about
  the neighboring villages, especially those
  without tears.
  He sends the party on
  another rescue mission.
  If the Mikoshi
  lost tears or was damaged, it will be fully
  repaired and restocked. During this act, the
  group should visit those villages they did
  not liberate in the ﬁrst act.
  The group will ﬁnd clues that point to
  Kirinozako and his fog tower. At the end
  of each location’s section, the GM ﬁnds a
  list of hints he should drop to his players
  while they investigate. If the clue cannot be
  integrated as part of play, a saved villager
  might point it out. If the players missed any
  clues in the ﬁrst act, high priest Tetsuo will
  convey this information before the party
  departs again.
  10
  
  Act III
  The clues ﬁnally point to Kirinozako’s fog
  tower(p 16).
  On the second ﬂoor, Kiri-
  nozako resides on his throne, drinking
  dreams while looking through a magic,
  eye-shaped window and rejoicing on the
  Akariko’s suffering.
  On the ground ﬂoor, Kage continually
  come and go in all directions and pour
  captured dreams into a large basin. There
  are usually at least three to four dozen
  Kage found here at any time. Characters
  should be careful not to be overwhelmed
  by superior numbers.
  Unless the party
  is exceptionally powerful, a more discrete
  approach might be in order:
  4 The masks of monster-hunter Kunio
  from Akamori (p 13) allows them to
  pass the Kage unnoticed.
  4 The tear’s light keeps the Kage at range,
  but alarms Kirinozako.
  4 If the characters rescue enough Akariko,
  they could organize an assault to take
  the tower. While the villagers distract
  the Kage, the group can rush to Kiri-
  nozako’s throne room.
  Once the characters manage to come head
  to head with Kirinozako, they need to
  overcome him:
  4 It will be a hard ﬁght to beat Kirinozako
  in battle.
  With the help of smith
  Tankō from Kōkō (p 14) the party can
  enhance their weapons and increase
  their chances.
  4 Exposing Kirinozakoi to the large tear’s
  light from Yamamura will blind him and
  expel him to the netherworld. However,
  he will try to ﬂee as soon as he becomes
  aware of its proximity. Under no circum-
  stances he approaches it willingly – the
  characters will need to either deceive or
  restrain him.
  4 With the help of monster-hunter Kunio
  from Akamori (p 13), the characters
  could build a giant Oni trap.
  Golden rule: Reward your players’ creativ-
  ity, if they try something different, e.g.
  somehow poison Kirinozako’s “drink”!
  Once defeated, Kirinozako will dissipate
  while roaring wildly.
  — Locations —
  There are four villages within a day’s march
  from Yamamura. They can be used in the
  ﬁrst and second act. A general description
  how they are structured can be found under
  “Society” (p 7).
  The omnipresent fog distorts the land-
  scape, thus the deliberate lack of a map.
  Journeys are handled in an abstract man-
  ner. Reaching any target requires a success-
  ful teamwork roll (Orientationt4). On a
  failure, the party risks a random encounter
  (p 16) and needs to try again once it has
  been dealt with.
  Dreamless Akariko are usually controlled
  by some kind of creature (Oni, evil spirit, ...).
  Characters can try to take over control by
  issuing orders on their own: In this case,
  the conﬂict is not fought with weapons,
  but with words. Unless otherwise stated,
  villagers use the following stats:
  Peasant (Human)
  h1 f4 s6
  S: Simple peasant clothing.
  C: Will-less: Obeys all orders.
  G: No special features.
  11
  
  At the end of each location description, the
  GM ﬁnds a list of clues he should convey
  to the players while/after overcoming the
  obstacles in a scene.
  Akamori (Village)
  Akamori is one of the few villages still
  keeping a tear in their shrine. So far, this
  prevented the fog from overwhelming the
  whole settlement. Like in Yamamura, the
  protective aura shrinks daily and hardly
  extends outside the shrine, which currently
  shelters all remaining 28 villagers.
  The inhabitants are afraid but otherwise
  unharmed. They will gladly follow any rea-
  sonable advice the characters offer. Their
  village leader Hisao wears loose robes to
  conceal his pudgy build. He mentions that
  monster-hunter Kunio left the village for
  the woods a day ago, to “… lure shadows
  into the light.” All villagers know and can
  describe Kunio.
  If the party visits Kunio’s lodge, the char-
  acters ﬁnd what looks like ordinary hunting
  gear. If they succeed in a Mysticst4 check,
  they recognize the gear as more likely to be
  designed to hunt monsters and demons.
  Clues: Monster-hunter Kunio went into
  the woods and has not yet returned. Rumor
  has it that the smith in Kōkō can enhance
  weapons against the Oni.
  Akamori (Woods)
  Akamori Woods are right behind Akamori
  Village.
  Monster-hunter Kunio entered it
  recently, hoping to catch and study Kage
  with his shadowtraps – converted bear
  traps with dark violet shadow crystals as
  bait.
  Despite attracting Kage, shadow crystals
  have an unpleasant side effect: They neu-
  tralize any light within a 20 m radius – in-
  cluding the protective aura of the Mikoshi.
  If a shadow crystal comes into close con-
  tact with a tear, both start to vibrate before
  12
  
  they ﬁnally explode (radius 5 m, s vs. 3
  damage). The shadow crystal’s “anti-light”
  can be covered easily using a cloth, but this
  does not prevent the explosive interaction.
  To ﬁnd Kunio, the party needs to succeed
  in teamwork Trackingt4 three times. Each
  success leads to one of three shadowtraps
  Kunio set. On a failure, they have to deal
  with a random encounter before they ﬁnd
  the target. Each trap is surrounded by a
  zone of anti-light and there is a 50% chance
  a Kage has been caught in the trap.
  Close to the third trap, they ﬁnd Kunio
  himself. He slipped and fell down a slope,
  losing his mask that concealed him from
  the Kage. Kage found him unconscious and
  took his dreams (he currently is at h0), but
  were themselves captivated by the shadow
  crystals that fell out of his pocket.
  Six
  Kage surround will-less Kunio, two of them
  carry his dreams in their chest – see “Kage
  (Shadows)” (p 17).
  Once the Kage are
  defeated, the dreams automatically return
  to Kunio.
  Kunio (Human)
  h2 f4 s4
  S: 23, 171 cm, scrawny. White hair. Dark tight
  leather dress with decorative silver rivets formed
  like monster skulls. Black mask.
  C: Curious. Prepared to take risks, but not
  reckless. Likes his work being appreciated.
  G: Traps+1, Monster Lore+2, Mask crafting+1,
  Strength-1
  If the party saves Kunio, he explains the
  traps he invented.
  The shadow crystals
  are a weapon from the war against the
  Oni 500 years ago. They have been given
  from hunter to hunter for generations. Each
  time Kunio catches a Kage, he can try use
  its essence to craft a mask, but so far he
  only succeeded once.
  To do so, Kunio
  needs to transport a “living” Kage to his
  hut, where he can try to banish it into
  a mask (Craftingt4).
  However, village
  leader Hisao will strongly object against
  the procedure, fearing for the safety of his
  village.
  Clues:
  Existence and functionality of
  shadow crystals and hunter masks. Dreams
  can be returned to their owner.
  Kōkō (Village)
  Kōkō sits at the bottom of a cliff and is
  famous for its iron mine. Beside the usual
  buildings, the town has an ironwork and a
  smithy. Kōkō’s shrine does not possess a
  tear.
  When the fog appeared, the inhabitants
  voted what to do.
  The majority, 25 vil-
  lagers, decided to hide in the extensive
  mine.
  Only ﬁve stubborn peasants re-
  mained in the village, where eventually
  Kage stole their dreams. Afterwards the en-
  thusiastic gambler Shūsaku, an evil spirit,
  took them under his wings. He wants them
  to entertain him by playing games of “Go”.
  Because the will-less peasants play neither
  well nor pleasant, Shūsaku laments loudly
  about the matches.
  Shūsaku (Evil Spirit)
  h4 f6 s4
  S: Child-sized humanoid with fox head and tail.
  Oversized stuffed green trousers and jacket with
  yellow hemline. Auburn fur.
  C: He just desires to play, but puts his joy above
  other peoples sorrow. Fair player who complies
  to agreements and rules, but expect others to do
  the same.
  G: Gambling+2. In fox-shape additionally: Run-
  ning+2, Fighting+1, h8, f8, s6
  As an evil spirit, Shūsaku is immune to the
  tear’s divine light.
  He is willing to tell
  13
  
  the party anything they wish to know or
  free the peasants – if they defeat him in a
  game of Go. He expects the party to wager
  one of their possessions, for example a tear
  or a weapon, per game.
  Shūsaku plays
  against the whole party as once, which may
  try teamwork.
  Each time the party wins,
  Shūsaku suffers trauma. Once his h drops
  to zero, he runs off angrily, complaining
  about his performance.
  If the characters attack or cheat, Shūsaku
  turns into a wolf-sized fox and orders the
  ﬁve peasants to protect him.
  He ﬂees
  forever if the ﬁght turns against him (h
  drops to 0).
  The remaining inhabitants of Kōkō hide
  in a secret, barred tunnel within the com-
  plex network of mines. The ﬁve peasants
  know where to ﬁnd the tunnel, but need to
  be freed from Shūsaku’s control before they
  will lead the party there.
  Tankō the smith hides with other vil-
  lagers in the tunnels. He is a muscleman
  with a ﬁlthy blacksmith’s apron. He offers
  to enhance the party’s weapons with tear
  splinters, which would double their dam-
  age against Oni.
  It will take about one
  hour per weapon and the party needs to
  protect his smithy against the Kage during
  this time. He also needs tear splinters. If
  the party does not have any, the group will
  have to smash one of their tears.
  Clues: Weapons can be enhanced with
  tears.
  Evil spirits are immune to divine
  light.
  Ueno (Village)
  Another evil spirit, puppeteer Ninkō, estab-
  lished a tyranny in this village.
  He tied
  the villagers to nearly invisible strings and
  controls their every move with his hands
  and ﬁngers. Those strings do not adhere
  to natural laws: Ninkō can control his pup-
  pets around corners, through obstacles and
  from any direction. Each time a character
  interacts with a villager, he has a chance
  to notice the strings as glittering lines (Per-
  ceptiont8) and well as their origin.
  Ninkō linked 24 villagers up, but can only
  control as many as there are characters at
  any time. However, he can switch between
  his “puppets” at the start of each round. If
  a villager is forcefully overcome, he dies
  and one hears a string snap and the body
  falls lifelessly to the ﬂoor. If he is overcome
  peacefully, he will try to free himself from
  the ties.
  Ninkō (Evil Spirit)
  h6 f8 s10
  S: Faceless man-sized wooden jointed doll.
  White doctor’s coat, disproportionate large ﬁn-
  gers.
  C: Ninkō sits silently on one of the roofs. He just
  wants to fool the group and order his “puppets” to
  walk behind door or walls, hoping the characters
  will follow them. He will only resort to ﬁghting
  if he is attacked. Ninkō can also be overcome
  peacefully.
  G: Will+2, Roping-in (f+1 vs. s or victim is
  trapped and controlled by Ninkō)
  Ninkō can try to tie the characters to
  his invisible strings (see boxed text). If he
  succeeds, he controls this character. The
  player chooses f and s normally, but
  when it is his turn, he must ﬁrst attempt to
  escape the bonds (t4). If that succeeds, he
  is freed and can immediately act on his own.
  If not, Ninkō decides what the Character
  does this round.
  As an evil spirit, Ninkō is immune to the
  tear’s divine light and shows no interest
  in them either. He ﬂees if he runs out of
  14
  
  “puppets” or is overcome by deeds or words.
  Ninkō won’t act himself except to catch
  a character, but will try to escape harm
  by unnaturally jumping from roof to roof.
  Villagers he controls attack using to their
  own stats.
  Clues: Evil spirits are immune to divine
  light. From the peak of Ōyama Volcano one
  can make out the whole island.
  Yagi (Village)
  The villagers of Yagi were enslaved by
  Maggot-Oni Ujiwaku.
  He controls their
  actions through little maggots placed on
  their spinal cord, overriding the host’s brain
  activity. The control is rather rough, there-
  fore villagers act rather rugged and cannot
  be overcome peacefully.
  Ujiwaku cannot
  defend himself and needs his slaves to
  protect him, but he is aware of anything
  any of his slaves perceive.
  Upon entering the village, the villagers
  will stagger zombie-like toward the charac-
  ters. The controlling maggots are not ob-
  vious (Perception or Empathy t4). Two or
  three try to distract the party by speaking
  very slowly and awkwardly, while the re-
  maining villagers try to destroy the Mikoshi
  and the tears inside.
  Ujiwaku (Lower Oni)
  h10 f6 s–
  S: 3 m maggot worm, slimy.
  C: Devoted to Kirinozako and alway acting in his
  lords best interest. Tries to destroy all tears.
  G: No s. Takes one wound per round if exposed
  to divine light. Tries to roll over characters who
  get to close (f, 1 damage).
  From behind, one can easily spot the con-
  trolling maggot on the neck. If removed
  or killed, the host dies immediately. The
  only way to save the villagers is by over-
  coming Ujiwaku: Without their master, the
  maggots fall off.
  Clues:
  Demons are harmed by divine
  light. Rumor has it that a monster-hunter
  lives in Akamori. Most likely, the Kage have
  a center of operations.
  Ōyama Volcano
  This volcano offers an excellent vantage
  point, from which one can make out the
  whole island. The crater rim rises above
  the fog and is bathed in sunlight, but can
  be reached only by a steep path.
  While
  the fog encompasses the whole island, one
  can make out a spire at the center of the
  island which, according to the characters’
  knowledge, should not be there. The fog
  seems to be even thicker and turbulent
  there than elsewhere on the island, as if it
  originates from that spire.
  The crater rim offers an excellent emer-
  gency shelter still being exposed to full
  sunlight. Anyone sleeping here will be con-
  tacted by the Sun Goddess, who informs her
  faithful that Kirinozako is responsible for
  the evil that befell the island.
  Clues: The existence of Kirinozako’s fog
  tower.
  From the Sun Goddess:
  Intense
  divine light will blind Kirinozako, who is
  responsible for the fog.
  15
  
  — Kirinozako’s Tower —
  Kirinozako resides in a large stalactite
  made from netherworldy dark stone. At the
  base, it has an diameter of 40 m, but widens
  toward the top at several hundred meters
  high. Except for a large, blue eye at about
  20 m high, the structure is windowless. The
  uppermost part breaks through the fog,
  but can only be seen from Ōyama Volcano.
  Four large openings, one in each cardinal
  direction, allow entrance on the ground
  ﬂoor. Only two of the tower’s levels play a
  role during this scenario, the entrance hall
  and the throne room.
  The ground ﬂoor’s entrance hall is a plain
  stone room, dominated by a giant pool.
  Within, the Kage collect the stolen dreams
  that shimmer in all colors of the rainbow.
  Hectic ado ﬁlls the hall, as Kage enter, pour
  the dreams into the pool, and leave again.
  A giant spiral staircase leads up to Kiri-
  nozako’s throne room on the second ﬂoor.
  There, he sits on his throne, enjoying
  the Akariko’s suffering by looking into the
  magic eye he can make to show any desired
  spot within the fog. He sips dreams from
  a goblet that is steadily reﬁlled by a giant
  Kage. Bad dreams Kirinozako spits out in
  dusgust.
  Kirinozako (demon)
  h30 f10 s8
  S: 6 m tall, ﬂame red skin, antlers, beard bristly
  hair. Tiger skin loincloth. The skewered remains
  of his last victims remain on his spear.
  C: Presumptuous and overconﬁdent. Wants to
  see the Akariko suffer.
  G: Strength+4, Spear+2 (2 damage)
  If confronted, the Oni will cry in a deep
  voice: “Mortals? In my throne room? I will
  swallow you whole!” He then carelessly ﬂips
  the skewered corpses from his spear and
  attacks.
  — Encounters —
  The GM can use the following random
  encounters to see if the party stumbles
  over roaming monsters. There is a limitless
  supply of Kage, but the other encounters
  should appear only once during the sce-
  nario. It is not necessary to include all of
  them during play.
  D6 Encounter
  Amount
  1
  Akaritabe
  1
  2
  Kage
  3 per character
  3
  Poyo-Poyos
  2 per character
  4
  Takuya
  —
  5
  no encounter —
  6
  no encounter —
  Akaritabe (Devourer of Light)
  The ground begins to tremble as a gi-
  ant subterranean worm approaches the
  Mikoshi. An Akaritabe tries to devour the
  tears.
  Akaritabe (Monster)
  h12 f8 s8
  S: 5 m long earthworm, mouth that spans the
  whole face.
  C: Feeds on light and tries to eat the tears.
  G: Counter-attack: Every time the Akaritabe
  takes damage, even if it is not his turn, he will
  counter by swinging his tail at all characters in
  reach (multiple-action).
  During the ﬁrst round, it is noticed by a
  tremor.
  The next round, it attempts to
  knock over either the Mikoshi or one of the
  bearers. If it succeeds, the tears fall from
  the Mikoshi and the range of the divine
  light is reduced immediately. Next, it will
  try to gobble the tears.
  Once it eats at
  16
  
  least two of them, the Akaritabe will try to
  escape by digging into the ground (three
  rounds). Tears can easily be recovered from
  the defeated Akaritabe’s stomach.
  Kage (Shadows)
  Kage provide the bulk of Kirinozako’s army.
  They can only exist in darkness and avoid
  the tear’s divine light. If Kage are rolled
  as a random encounter, they will trail
  the group in the shadows beyond the
  divine light (Perceptiont6 to detect) and
  wait for a favorable opportunity to strike.
  Unprotected traveler risk running into Kage
  each 15 to 30 minutes.
  On a successful attack, Kage steal dreams:
  they absorb a rainbow-colored compound
  from the victim and store it in their chest.
  A Kage that obtains two dreams attempts
  to return to Kirinozako’s tower. Their speed
  is similar to that of a running dog.
  Kage (Monster)
  h2 f4 s4
  S: Pitch-black upright shadows that can take
  any form imaginable. They have height and
  width, but no depth. If overcome, they groan and
  dissolve.
  C: Stupid minions, trying to fetch the Akariko’s
  dreams. They approach sideway as they are
  barely noticeable as thin line (Perceptiont6 to
  detect). Once they surround their victim, they
  turn and attack.
  G: Dreamcatcher: Each successful attack steals
  one dream (1 damage).
  Dreams carried by a Kage are released
  when it is overcome. They return to their
  owner rightful owner within a radius of
  100 m, otherwise they fall to the ﬂoor. h
  lost from a Kage’s attack will be restored if
  the corresponding dream is returned.
  Takuya
  Dimly lit, the travelling salesman Takuya
  appears in front of the characters, pulling
  his cart. It is is ﬁlled with lamps and paper
  lanterns.
  Takuya (human)
  h3 f6 s6
  S: 32,
  167 cm,
  dark hair,
  athletic built. In-
  conspicuous traveling coat covering ﬁne, loose
  yellow-blue clothes.
  C: Greedy merchant who takes advantage of
  the needy as long as this does not immediately
  threaten their life.
  G: Bargaining+1
  Years ago, Takuya bought tears from vil-
  lages that forgot their purpose.
  Now he
  earns a fortune by selling them as neat
  lanterns. Even though his lanterns are not
  sacred and thus do not shine very far, they
  are often the only means for the average
  villager to survive the fog.
  Takuya bought all tears honorably and
  considers himself a businessman:
  Only
  those who pay obtain divine light.
  He
  demands ﬁve Kōn per lantern.
  He will attempt to sell lanterns to the
  party and has 21 small tears left. He won’t
  be willing to help them “for the poor farmer’s
  sake”, but would be interested in an escort
  or any deal beneﬁcial to him.
  Poyo-Poyo
  On a failed teamwork check (Perception
  t6), the party stumbles into Poyo-Poyo
  territory.
  Before
  the
  fog,
  Poyo-Poyos
  hopped
  slowly by the grass, being trusting and
  affectionate like cats.
  The fog corrupted
  them and they mutated into aggressive,
  bloodthirsty beasts that attack intruders
  17
  
  on sight.
  If left alone, they ﬁght among
  themselves instead.
  Poyo-Poyo (Animal)
  h2 f4 s6
  S: Cute, furry, waist-high beings with big round
  eyes, looking like a mixture of rabbit and guinea
  pig.
  C: At ﬁrst they peep from their burrows and
  approach the characters snifﬂing. Once they get
  closer, they bare their teeth and attack!
  G: No special features.
  — Don’t forget! —
  The following things the GM should not
  forget when running this scenario:
  4 The fog causes an eerie mood.
  The
  Mikoshi grants only a small and fragile
  zone of safety.
  4 Dreamless Akariko are will-less. Demons
  and evil spirits order them around, but
  do not control their mind.
  Resolute
  new orders can override earlier ones
  and thus overcome controlled villagers
  peacefully.
  — All’s well that ends well? —
  With Kirinozako defeated, the fog will clear
  within a couple of hours. The group can
  return to Yamamura and celebrate their
  victory.
  If the players enjoyed Kurai Jikan, the
  adventure can go on, too:
  4 Kirinozako’s
  tower
  contains
  several
  other levels which hold manifold se-
  crets and dangers.
  4 Many Akariko lost their dreams, which
  still need to be returned.
  The group
  could transport barrels full of dreams
  through the island, trying to ﬁnd their
  rightful owners.
  Bad guys might try
  to prevent this, because they need the
  dreams for something else.
  4 Some evil spirits might have remained
  and still terrorize other remote villages.
  4 Even though Nantō was liberated, the
  Oni still control much of Hinokuni. The
  group could lead a campaign to free
  other islands.
  18
  
  NIP’AJIN (v1.8) offers more rules than are necessary for Kurai Jikan, for example the Bestiary. They can be used
  for creating your own scenarios in other genres.
  Appendix I – Player’s Rules
  Each character starts as a blank sheet of A4
  or letter landscape-sized paper. A straight line
  splits this character sheet in a left and a right
  half. The right half is subdivided into an upper
  and a lower area.
  Players write a basic description of their
  character into the left area: name, ethnicity
  and appearance, followed by a background. It
  is not important whether this is done in points
  or as prose. However, the description should
  focus on the character’s history, not what he
  can do well – the game master will decide
  that later on.
  The background would rather
  state “worked as a remover” instead of “is strong”.
  Players and game master agree on equipment
  (p 20) and powers (p 20) as they see ﬁt.
  Now a d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12 are placed on
  the upper right area of the character sheet. The
  player picks one as a hit die (h) and moves it,
  highest number up, into the left area. If this die
  is ever reduced below 1, the character drops
  out of the game.
  — Task resolution —
  As long as everyone agrees on the outcome, the
  plot moves along freely between players and
  game master. When the (timely) outcome of a
  task is unclear, the player picks an available die
  from the upper right area of his character sheet
  and rolls it. On a natural one, the attempt is
  an automatic failure. Otherwise, a modiﬁer is
  added to the roll, derived by the game master
  from the character’s background.
  Background suggests
  +/-
  veritable flaw
  -4
  inexperienced, clumsy
  -2
  out of training
  -1
  average
  0
  trained, hobbyist
  +1
  few years of practice, professional
  +2
  vast experience, veteran
  +4
  The task succeeds if the total equals or exceeds
  a target number (t), set by the game master
  based on the task’s difﬁculty.
  There is no
  automatic failure on a total of one, but that will
  rarely be sufﬁcient.
  Difficulty
  t Example
  simple
  2
  –
  favorable circumstances
  3
  good tools
  average
  4
  –
  hindering circumstances
  5
  darkness
  hard
  6
  juggling knifes
  masterly
  8
  walking a tightrope
  legendary
  12 –
  After the roll, the now exhausted die is placed
  into the lower right area of the character sheet.
  If the game master derived a new a modiﬁer, it
  should be written down to avoid having to do
  that again, e. g. “Run+1”.
  Dice without any chance of success may not
  be used and thus not be exhausted. A character
  might repeat a failed task of his own or from
  others, but t raises by 1 for each attempt.
  When all dice of a character are exhausted,
  he can’t accomplish any more tasks.
  The
  character has to take a deep breath and pause
  for a short period of time, as deﬁned by the
  game master.
  After that, the dice become
  19
  
  available again and are put back into the upper
  right area.
  — Conflicts —
  Conﬂicts are held in rounds, their length being
  determined by the game master. Each round,
  each character can attempt one action, e. g.
  attack, and may react to each of his enemy’s
  actions, e. g. parry. Enemies can be overcome
  by reducing their h below 1, either with or
  without violence.
  At the start of each round, each player
  simultaneously chooses an action die (f) and
  a reaction die (s) out of his available dice.
  Those dice are used to resolve all actions
  and reactions this round. Players may choose
  to forgo either die if they wish.
  Surprised
  characters must not get a f during the ﬁrst
  round. Only players without any available dice
  left may skip a round to let their characters
  take a deep breath.
  The f also deﬁnes the order within a round.
  Dice with fewer sides go ﬁrst (e. g. a d6 acts
  before a d8), ties are resolved randomly.
  During an attack the defender rolls the s
  ﬁrst. On an automatic failure, or if the defender
  does not have a s this round, the t for the
  attack is 0. Otherwise the roll is the t, but at
  least 1 – whatever is higher. The attacker rolls
  the f now as usual. A successful attack results
  in a wound and reduces the enemy’s h by
  1. Non-violent actions also help to overcome
  enemies. If successful, they result in trauma,
  which is represented by game tokens placed on
  the character sheet.
  Characters can neglect their defense by not
  choosing a s.
  If so, they are allowed to
  announce multiple actions, up to half of the
  maximum value of their f (two for a d4, three
  for a d6, …). This includes, among others: two-
  handed attacks, double-shots, area attacks
  like sweeping blows or ﬁreballs, intimidating
  groups of enemies or a timed sequence of
  other tasks. All tasks are modiﬁed by -2 per
  additional action or target beyond one. Each
  action triggers its own reaction.
  Finally, characters may defend others if they
  did not choose a f and react on behalf of
  others, up to half the maximum value of
  their s. The defended character must be in
  reach and the defending character risks all the
  damage on failure.
  If a character’s h drops below 1, or if the
  number of trauma tokens reach its current
  value, the character is overcome (dead, intimi-
  dated, …).
  — Equipment —
  There is no equipment list. Ordinary weapons
  cause one wound per hit, special or magical
  weapons cause two, ﬁre and explosions cause
  three to four. Improvised equipment results in
  a -1 modiﬁer when rolling the f. Armor offers
  a +1 or +2 modiﬁer to the s.
  — Healing —
  After a full night’s rest all player’s dice become
  available again. Character’s wounds may also
  heal. Their players roll the h – if the result
  is higher than the original value, it becomes
  the new value, otherwise the h remains
  unchanged.
  The game master decides how and when
  trauma heals.
  Psychological damage from
  being threatened or intimidated might last
  no longer than to the end of the encounter.
  Phobias, curses and such might haunt the
  characters for days or even weeks to come.
  — Powers —
  Magic spells, miracles, PSI, super powers or
  other supernatural abilities are called powers.
  Players deﬁne their character’s powers during
  character creation. Usually each scenario that
  features the supernatural will have its own
  20
  
  rules, but they might refer to the following
  NIP’AJIN default mechanism:
  To unleash a power, a character needs to
  concentrate or gesture for a preparation time
  (b).
  If the b is variable, the player can
  deﬁne it as needed, right before using a power,
  e. g. “one minute”.
  At the end of the b the
  player makes the roll, taking the usual -2 per
  additional target into account.
  Each victim
  may react to avoid the power entirely.
  For
  objects and powers without victims, the game
  master deﬁnes the t. On a success, the power
  lasts as long as its indicated duration time (a).
  Melee attack powers behave like ordinary
  weapons, e. g. icy touch or ghost sword. Each
  hit results in one wound. b: 1 round; a: per-
  manent
  Ranged attack powers behave like ordinary
  ranged weapons and consume a physical re-
  source of some kind per use, e. g. a magic mis-
  sile might need powder or a small gem, ﬁreball
  an alchemical grenade. b: 1 round; a: perma-
  nent
  Knock-out powers prevent victims from
  acting, e. g. sleep, petriﬁcation, fear or banish.
  b: variable; a: invested b
  Support powers help a living being or im-
  proves an object in one facet, e. g. ﬁre resis-
  tance, featherfall, barrier or light. b: variable;
  a: invested b
  Transformations slowly change or move
  dead matter or feelings, e. g. water-to-wine,
  charm or telekinesis. b: variable; a: invested
  b
  Illusions deceive a single sense on a speciﬁc
  detail, e. g. fool’s gold, phantom sound or invisi-
  bility. b: variable; a: invested b
  Divinations unearth hidden facts, e. g. detect
  magic, clairvoyance or danger sense.
  b: one
  minute for the present, one hour for the past,
  one day for the future; a: –
  Healing powers cure illnesses, poisons, or
  close wounds. b: one hour per wound, one
  day per illness; a: permanent
  Appendix II – Game Master’s Rules
  — Backgrounds —
  A player character’s (PC) background is of
  special importance in NIP’AJIN. A good back-
  ground includes childhood, education and
  what the PC did the last few years. A dramatic
  life experience or two completes the picture.
  The PC’s age and looks should also be written
  down.
  Your group decides how formal the back-
  ground description needs to be. In any case,
  it should offer sufﬁcient information to derive
  a PC’s strengths and weaknesses, as the game
  master (GM) has to base the decision, how
  easy or difﬁcult a task is, on that. Gaps in the
  background should be closed as soon as pos-
  sible, preferably during character generation.
  Scenarios usually suggest a few modiﬁers for
  pre-generated PCs – they may of course be
  amended.
  — Teamwork —
  Occasionally, some or all PCs will try teamwork
  to increase their chances to succeed in a task.
  Their players each choose an f. They then
  agree on a leader. The leader rolls ﬁrst and
  decides whether his result counts for the team.
  If the leader decides that a better result might
  21
  
  be achieved by another player, leadership is
  handed over, the next player tries, and so forth.
  Each roll supersedes the previous one. A rolled
  natural one at any point means that the group’s
  attempt has ended in failure. Only dice that
  actually were rolled become exhausted.
  If PCs try teamwork during a conﬂict, their
  combined order in a round is that of their
  slowest member. Any opponent has to defend
  against the ﬁnal result with a single roll of his
  s. If he loses, he takes the wounds each team
  member would have inﬂicted individually. You
  can’t combine teamwork and multiple actions.
  Long-term tasks require high target num-
  bers, e. g. “repairt20”. The PCs have to work
  multiple rounds to reach this number.
  Each
  round, which has a length set by the GM, e. g.
  “a day”, all participating PCs do teamwork as
  described above. The result is added up, round
  after round, until the t is reached. A rolled
  natural one only foils one round, not the long-
  term task itself.
  — Non-Player Characters —
  The game master will represent friends and
  foes the group is going to interact with. Those
  non-player characters (NPCs) use simpliﬁed
  rules.
  In addition to their appearance and
  motivation to interact with PCs, they are only
  given a h, a single f, and a single s, based
  on their danger level. Those dice might include
  half-dice like d2 or d3.
  f/ s Danger level
  d2
  dangerous in large numbers
  d3
  raw recruit
  d4
  novice
  d6
  average
  d8
  old hand
  d10
  dangerous
  d12
  very dangerous
  d20
  epic
  In addition, each creature might get predeﬁned
  modiﬁers, e. g. “Fight+1” or “Agility-2”. However,
  don’t mix good dice and high modiﬁers or NPCs
  will get too tough.
  NPCs have the advantage to never run out
  of f/s and thus never need to take a deep
  breath. In return, they should be made slightly
  less powerful. Also, trauma is not as important
  for them and is deducted directly from their h.
  — Bestiary —
  The following example creatures should not be
  taken as an indication that NIP’AJIN is limited
  to classic fantasy.
  Creature
  h f s Abilities
  Rat
  1
  2
  3
  Run+4, Hide+2
  Goblin
  3
  4
  4
  Perception+1
  Ork
  6
  6
  6
  Intimidate+1, Fight+1,
  Smarts-1
  Troll
  10
  8
  6
  Fight+1, regenerates one
  wound/round
  Giant
  20
  8
  8
  Fight+2, Strength+4
  Dragon
  40 12 10 Dragon-Breath+4, cannot
  be knocked out
  — Experience —
  NIP’AJIN is not designed to see PCs grow over
  the course of a long campaign.
  Should a
  signiﬁcant period of time pass in the game
  world, the GM nonetheless might raise the
  modiﬁer of a PC if that sounds reasonable.
  The PCs’ skills usually deﬁne the power
  level of the setting. If the group consists of
  typical fantasy heroes, the bestiary contains
  NPCs with suitable competence.
  If PCs are
  goblins, a typical human hero running havoc
  in their lair would be already as powerful as
  a troll.
  The GM therefore should compare
  PCs and NPCs relatively to each other. If PCs
  become superheroes overnight, this should not
  be reﬂected by advancing the characters – the
  GM should change the world and degrade the
  NPCs instead.
  22
  
  This page is intentionally left blank.
  23
  
  The island kingdom of Hinokuni is in danger: Evil Oni
  and their minions conquered the realm and covered it in
  a thick fog. A small band of heroes, equipped with the
  shining Tears of the Sun Goddess, which already lighted
  this darkness before, may thwart their evil plans …
  This booklet contains a complete role-playing game. It
  includes not only the scenario itself, but also sample
  characters and the full, universal NIP’AJIN ruleset.
  Using those rules, you can write your own scenarios in
  Hinokuni – or any other genre.
  ludus-leonis.com
  @LUDUSLEONIS
  LUDUSLEONIS
  LUDUS LEONIS
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Kurai Jikan/Kurai- Jikan - Corebook.pdf