Fumio Funakoshi: What fist is this?
Cheng Zhen: Don't ask. It is a good fist if it wins.
- Fist of Legend
There I was, at my Friendly Local Gaming Store, browsing this book, trying to figure out if I really needed yet another book for a game I know like the back of my own hand. I was actually re-shelving the book to think the matter over carefully, when the book fell open to the above quote. I purchased it without a second thought.
There are significant differences between this book and the original. First, the original Ninja Hero included lots of system material about martial arts, ch'i powers, weird weaponry, and optional rules. This book has less; most of that material now resides in The Ultimate Martial Artist. Second, this version expands on the media covered. Ninja Hero supports Realistic, Cinematic, Wuxia, Video Game, and Anime flavored campaigns. It is a genre book covering all martial-arts focused adventures.
The cover features a comic book-style ninja attack. I like it. The paper is of good quality. One thing I don't like is the "soft slick" cover. As I've noted in reviewing previous Hero products, the material reminds me of the Fantasy Hero 4th edition cover that did not stand up to prolonged abuse. The gray-scale internal art is very good, ranging in style from skilled ink drawing to comic book style melees to eye-catching, computer-generated splashes.
CAPSULE SUMMARY
Chapter One: Fists, Feet & Furious Action
This chapter, like all of the chapters, begins with an amusing quote. It describes Martial Arts Subgenres for the purposes of this book. Realistic games are based on the real world; martial artists may perform nearly impossible feats, but they remain mainly grounded in real-world physics. Realistic martial arts go hand-in-hand with other action genres. Cinematic Martial Arts campaigns incorporate fantastic elements, martial arts mysticism, and a focus on the martial arts world rather than a recognizable real world. Wuxia takes the action even further, and in setting and tone often dips into high fantasy. Sorcery and kung fu mix freely, and boxers fly on wires. Video Game campaigns take their inspiration from Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and so forth, incorporating energy blasts, mutant powers, robot fighters, energy meters, and rage attacks. Finally, Anime-themed campaigns dispense with physics and unleash ki powers that can level mountains and allow fighters to soar like birds while punching a hundred times a second.
Martial Arts Genre Elements cover useful "bits" like Ch'i, Books and Scrolls, Bandits, and Unusual and Unbeatable Fighting Styles. While cursory, the descriptions are an excellent starting place for gamers new to the genre. Metagenres and Other Genres describes various crossovers, comedy in martial arts films, and so forth. While not too in-depth, it helps bound what this book does, and does not cover, and what elements do, and do not, mesh between this and other genres.
Chapter Two: Training for Perfection
A priceless quote opens this chapter. This is the character creation chapter. Like many recent genre books, it begins with an all-too-brief overview of genre archetypes, like the Old Master, the Evil Eunuch, and the Ronin. Besides their two-dimensionality, there aren't enough stereotypes given to fill out a group by each picking one. It discusses Characteristics for the martial artist, making expansive suggestions for anime characters, delves into Skills for a couple of pages, then provides brief but helpful ideas about martial arts Powers. I liked the use of Energy Blast to simulate the use of pool balls, bottles, and anything else as missile weapons by throwing or kicking them. Finally, there are Disadvantages. The Character Creation chapter is probably my least favorite part of the book. In a sourcebook focusing on a genre, I would have liked a broader, deeper look at creating good martial arts protagonists.
Package Deals does better, offering 5th edition versions of the Buddhist Warrior-Monk, Wuxia, Chinese Master, Kensai, Ninja, and Samurai. Each is described in period and modern terms, and the framework provided can nudge players in the right direction. They are not provided with suggestions for Powers. I think more Package Deals would have been cool. Tournament Fighter and Duellist would have been nice additions.
Notably absent from this chapter are solid suggestions for creating Asian magicans or ghosts. Perhaps a wuxia sub-genre book will address the deficiency.
Chapter Three: Blood & Steel
A thoughtful quote graces this page. This chapter focuses on martial arts combat. Whereas UMA concentrates on range, maneuvers, different environments, and other tactical elements common to all games, Ninja Hero describes how to incorporate flashy stunts, improvised weapons, staredowns, multiple power attacks, contests of power, and other conventions of martial arts entertainment. Overall, I think this chapter succeeds in arming a GM for the challenges of running a fast-paced, exciting martial arts combat.
Chapter Four: Enter the Gamemaster
Another quote. This chapter begins with Creating the Campaign, and acts as a sort of inventory for the GM, offering suggestions for character ability guidelines (points, SPD, skill rolls, DEF, damage classes), campaign tone (morality, realism, outlook, and seriousness), and campaign viewpoint (Chinese, Japanese, American). It discusses various campaign frameworks and settings. Running the Campaign is meaty, offering a number of ready-to-use scripts, like The Competition, or The Search for Perfetion. It discusses elements of martial arts media that don't translate perfectly to gaming and Keeping the Campaign Fresh. I particularly liked its greatment of Gamemastering Ninja Hero Disadvantages, from DNPC's to Hunted to Social Limitations. The Martial Arts Villains section is very specific and very helpful, offering motivations and a number of archetypes. In fact, it offers advice far more robust than the cardboard suggestions offered for player characters. Martial Arts NPC's is similarly throughtful.
Chapter Five: Deadly Enemies & Flashing Steel
Another quote. This is the resource chapter. We get some floorplans, example campaign settings, some NPC's, magical weapons, and adventure seeds. The appendices offer Asian names and a filmography and bibliography. The NPC's are the real good stuff here. Besides characters in essentially every role in every genre described, you have to love a book that gives stats for a Disgustingly Powerful Ninja built on 873 total character points.
EVALUATION
The quotes are delightful, ranging from movie quotes to Musashi to humorous snippets of pop culture. They adorn a pretty solid book. Some sections could have been more thorough. But I think the book as a whole succeeded in suggesting the spirit of martial arts entertainment. When combined with the Ultimate Martial Artist, you have a truly formidable toolkit. The Hero System's flexible Power system and battle-tested Martial Arts rules are a good fit for martial arts adventures.
GURPS Martial Arts suffers from a marriage to an un-cinematic core game system. However, its treatment of character archetypes is definitely superior. As a handbook, GURPS Martial Arts offers certain advantages, but Hero is clearly the superior system for exciting martial arts combat. Naturally, Ninja Hero begs for a comparison to Feng Shui. I think it holds its own and then some, offering a tactical depth gleefully absent in Feng Shui. It would not be hard to perform a conversion from Feng Shui to Hero System; the reverse is not necessarily true, depending on the power level. Overall, I think Ninja Hero has a slight advantage, because of its scalable power level, but each game has its own advantages in play. In comparison to Guardians of Order's Tri-Stat system, I think Ninja Hero wins handily. While BESM is well-equipped for high-powered anime martial arts duels, and Kong Kong Action Theatre! offers a wealth of suggestions, you would need both as well as KKAT!'s wuxia supplement to equal the breadth covered in Ninja Hero (and there is no material to rival the detail presented in UMA). The Tri-Stat system does offer streamlined play and a number of pleasant abstractions. Conversely, the Hero System offers an incomparable blow-by-blow, cartwheel-by-cartwheel handling of tactical martial arts combat. While HKAT! or BESM may sometimes be preferable, overall, Ninja Hero offers more options. The question of detail (and complication) versus abstraction (and simplicity) is one of personal religious conviction, and I therefore cannot recommend one over the other solely on that basis. Finally, in comparison to historical games, Ninja Hero turns out to be fairly weak. Its Realistic campaign suggestions are the most cursory, and Ninja Hero offers only the most casual survey of Chinese and Japanese culture. GURPS Japan is an infinitely more valuable sourcebook for running samurai-themed campaigns, for instance. Also, Hero System's elaborated combat system is a liability in a realistic game, where combat is likely to over in a stroke or two anyway if weapons are involved.
As an interesting read, a well-presented survery of the genre, and a useful rules and campaigning sourcebook, I rate Ninja Hero an almost-required-buy for fans of any martial-arts-centered adventure genre. Its greatest defect is probably its page count, a failure that flatters its virtues. There is nary a wasted page here.
Sadly, my misgivings about the cover appear to have been well-founded. I have already managed to bend one corner in the course of writing this review.
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