THE ROLE-PLAYING GAME A role-playing game based on the "Leverage" game by Cam Banks, Rob Donoghue and Clark Valentine, published by Margaret Weiss Productions, Ltd. You will need a copy of “Leverage” in order to use the ideas in this document. Don’t worry, it’s awesome. You’ll be happy you bought it. by Corey Reid BETA! This is a first draft. If you’ve got ideas on how to make it better, let me know: [email protected] Welcome to Ninja island NINJA ISLAND -- the secret headquarters of the assembled ninja clans around the world -- holds many dark and terrible secrets. This is where the devastating Nine Lotus Cut was developed, where the Mystery of the Immovable Sword was solved, and where Grand Master Hisien ascended into a realm of pure energy. The ninja clans put aside all rivalries and prejudices here, and work together to defeat those powers that threaten the existence of all clans. It is also where bad ninjas go to get schooled. Contents The Toughest School in the World 3 Welcome to the NINJA ISLAND CORRECTIONAL ACADEMY. Watch out! Creating the Kids 5 Not bad, just misunderstood. And sort of bad. Playing the Game 11 This is the bit where you need the Leverage book. Just saying. Creating the Plot 12 How to make sure Those Darn Kids get into trouble again. The Toolbox 14 People and places around the Academy. The Character Sheet 18 2 The Toughest School in the World The Ninja Island Correctional Academy is the administration too much, and you'll face expulsion. And roughest high school in the whole world. This is where NOTHING is worse than expulsion. The Academy is the multitudinous ninja clans send their worst kids -- the your last chance. Fail here, and you fail the clans entirely, kids that even Sensei can't handle. Here the strictest and they will cast you out. You will no longer be ninja. disciplinarians and sternest taskmasters in all the clans Your powers will be stripped from you. Your home, your take troublemaking kids in rough, calloused hands and family, EVERYTHING will be taken from you, and you'll grind them into obedience. probably be hunted down and killed by your best friends. Students are driven through classes in every This is it. You have to survive the most dangerous conceivable discipline -- the typical high-school subjects place on earth: high school. like history, composition and science, of course, but gymnastics, hand-to-hand combat, lockpicking and You Kids assassination are also regular classes here. And nobody Kids come to the Academy from all sorts of different worries about lawsuits or bullying -- there are no parent- ninja clans. Not all ninjas wear black onesies and skulk teacher interviews, no school board oversight, no one to around in shadows. Some have mastered secrets of inner take the side of the kids. energy and can project blasts of ki, while others Teachers here rule with absolute power. They think communicate with ancestral spirits. Some are bold nothing of backhanding a mouthy kid -- through the wall. warriors, others are sneaky thieves. Each kid belongs to a When Teacher throws a piece of chalk at you, you better particular ninja clan, and you clan has up to now been duck, because Teacher can probably throw chalk hard your family, your home, your whole world. enough to knock you out cold. But your clan has just about given up on you. Maybe it And the teachers aren't the only hardcore ones here. was a misunderstanding, maybe you got tricked into This school is full of tough tough kids. Ninja kids, with something, or maybe you really are as bad as they say. ninja powers. Kids carry their swords to class, and the Whatever happened, your clan said "ENOUGH!" and wrong word at the wrong time with get you a hail of chucked you out. You can't count on them for any help shuriken, or a noose around the neck. The social unless you successfully graduate from the Academy and hierarchy here is dependent on the ability to kick ass -- its fiendish training programs. and disputes are settled straight up, with an Eagle Claw All you've got is each other. You and the other kids in strike to the throat the most compelling argument there this story share a dorm room. You're friends now, having is. looked out for each other since the school year began. Once you've arrived here, there's nowhere to go. Each of you has specific talents, and you've learned how You're on your own -- except for the friends you've made. to work together to find things out, and to solve problems Make the wrong enemies, annoy the school 3 -- especially those problems that might lead to expulsion. Chamberlain? All you can do is try to stay one step ahead There are five basic roles you kids fill: Ringleader, Jock, of that old bastard's schemes. Nerd, Teacher's Pet and the Kook. You may not all LIKE each other all the time, and you may argue and bicker How This Works about who said what when, but in the end you know you REFORM SCHOOL NINJAS is a game wherein you have to count on each other, or else the teachers, the get together to tell a story about how a bunch of smart, administrators and the other students are going to walk plucky kids overcome cruel suspicious adults. The adults all over you. try to get you kids expelled from the school, but you Learn how to work together. Or ELSE. figure out their plot, turn the tables and come out, if not looking like good guys (you ARE Reform School kids, Always in Trouble after all), at least avoiding expulsion this time. One of you is the Counselor. The rest of you are Kids. The Counselor creates each episode by coming up “I didn’t do it. Whatever it is. Wasn’t me.” with a plot for how to get the kids kicked out of school -- framing them for some terrible crime (cheating on tests, stealing library books, whatever), or giving them an Disobedient troublemakers, or just misunderstood? impossible challenge (organize the school Hallowe'en Good-hearted kids can get into trouble, too, and once party with REAL ZOMBIES, or something). Usually the you've been sent to the Ninja Island Correctional instigator of the plot will be Chamberlain Wong, but he Academy, you've got a reputation for trouble whether you often brings in some patsy or other to enact his schemes, like it or not. so it could be anyone. This reputation for trouble is going to get you into As the plot unfolds, the Counselor plays all the roles of even more trouble, as your teachers and the school the teachers, the administrators and the other kids in the administrators interpret everything you say and do in the school. It is the Counselor's job to come up with worst possible light. Trying to set the record straight only Complications during play, and rule on any disputes or makes things worse, as you make enemies of the grown- possible alternatives. ups. And who's going to listen to a delinquent like you? The Kids have to figure out what's going on and who's Certainly not Chamberlain Wong, the head behind it, come up with a plan to get out of trouble, and administrator of the school. Why does Wong hate you so then execute that plan without getting caught. There may much? Maybe you made him look foolish in front of the be fights, clever heists, or complex con jobs involved. In school. Maybe you foiled his carefully-laid plans. Maybe the end, you'll usually prevail, and avoid expulsion this he just doesn't like the way you look. Whatever the cause, time. But it won't be easy! he is DEFINITELY out to get you. The other teachers might be suspicious of you, but Chamberlain Wong wants you expelled, if only he can catch you in a sufficiently incriminating position. Again and again he tries to set you and your friends up, ensnaring you in his plots, and again and again you have to scramble, lie, cheat and steal your way out of trouble. You can't denounce the Chamberlain. Nobody's going to believe you, except maybe that Master Izawa who teaches history, but what's he going to do against the 4 Creating the kids Kids are created pretty much just like the Crew in Ringleader Leverage. Each player assigns die types to different roles, They might be bossy, they might be charismatic, they making sure everyone has a different top role. Once might not even realise your own impact on others, but you've chosen your top two Roles, you decide on your they're always the ones with the plan, the ones who can Clan, assign your Attributes and come up with a see the big picture and keep their friends on track. Distinction. At which point you’re ready to run the First Ringleaders figure out what the bad guys are up to, and Day adventure, during which you’ll come up with your then can usually come up with an idea of how to stop lesser roles, another Distinction and your Talents. them. Remember: you’re a ninja. You can just assume that They're almost always good students -- they're smart your character is sneaky, pretty bad-ass in a fight, and and observant and hard-working -- but their natural in- capable of astounding athletic feats.