Emi's/Ninja Techniques

Ju-Fu and kami

(In Werewolf terms, kami — lowercase and italic — refers to Kitsune Ju-Fu spells, while Kami, uppercase, refers to the entities described in the Werewolf Storytellers Handbook.)

What is Ju-Fu — Ju-fu is paper magic. The Foxes were bewitched with the idea of paper when they first found it. In Japan, paper is a religious symbol and it is part of funerary rites across the Middle Kingdom. In Japanese, kami is a homophone for both spirit and paper, and the Kitsune use the term to refer to their paper-spells just as they refer to Kami, the spirits of Gaia made flesh.

What is a kami — A kami is the method of working a miniature rite, storing a mystical effect for later, and is highly useful. In times of plenty, the Kitsune can set some of their Gnosis aside for times of want, in the form of Ju-Fu. Spirits that might hesitate to be bound to a fetish don't mind temporary talens like the kami — after all, there's no way they'll be bound into such a fetish for all that long.

What material can be used to make a kami — Once a Kitsune learns a Ju-Fu "Gift", he may create the appropriate kami at any time by painting the ideogram on an appropriate piece of paper (or in some cases, by instead using a special origami folding technique.) The paper must be natural and easily destroyed; photocopier paper or magazine pages are out of the question! In some cases the Kitsune may create a kami out of papyrus, cloth, birchbark or even skin although she must spend an additional Gnosis to properly invest such a substance with power. Similarly the ink must be of natural origin — octopus or squid ink is lovely, but blood, mixtures of water and lampblack, ochre and egg yolk or any other natural stain works well. If a Kitsune uses unnatural materials of any sort, the difficulty to create the kami is raised by 3; if the difficulty rises above 10, the Ju-Fu is impossible.

Pre-made kami — Each kami require the expenditure of at least one Gnosis point to create; thus limiting the number of kami available to any one Fox; Gnosis isn't that easy to recharge, after all. There is also a die roll specific to each trick; however, the Fox can only know whether he was successful or not at the time he activates the kami. If the Kitsune fails, the kami holds no power, but the Fox still pays the gnosis cost. Unless otherwise noted, any rules apply at the time of the kami's creation rather than the time of activation.

Creation and destruction of kami — The Storyteller may allow the Kitsune to roll Dexterity + Calligraphy or Origami to do a particular beautiful job, reducing the difficulty to create the kami by 1. However, such art isn't necessary of success; any symbols of folds vital to create a kami are taught when the Fox learns the "Gift". Obviously, if a kami is destroyed prematurely, its power is lost; even an activated kami that provide ongoing effects immediately cease working if the host-paper is destroyed.

Ju-Fu 2

• Labyrinth - By hiding this kami in a room and speaking a word of binding, the Kistune can prevent anyone from leaving. A person who climbs out the window finds himself coming back in through the door, and so on. People can still enter the room as usual — leaving is the tricky part. As the kitsune must be present to activate the effect, she is trapped inside along with any other prisoners until the kami is destroyed.

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The player rolls Wits + Enigmas, difficulty 8; the Gnosis cost is three.

Ninja Rites

• Rite of Binding - A Kitsune can attempt this rite only in the presence of a spirit, and it is usually performed in the Umbra. When attempting to bind a spirit, a Kitsune must first spend a number of Gnosis points (minimum one). Each point of Gnosis spent reduces the spirit's Gnosis rating by one. The Kitsune's player must then roll Willpower (difficulty of the spirit's adjusted Gnosis). The number of successes indicates how long the spirit may be forced into service (one week per success). In the case of a talen, the spirit is bound until the object is used.

• Rite of Cleansing - This rite can be cast upon more than one person or object, but the leader must spend one Gnosis point on each extra thing or person in need of cleansing. The difficulty level equals the Gnosis of the spirit that inflicted the contagion (maximum of 10). Only one success is required. If the rite is performed at dawn, the difficulty level of the rite is reduced by one. Note that this rite cannot heal wounds or damage caused by contamination; it only removes any existing contamination.

• Rite of Talisman Dedication - The cost is one Gnosis point per object dedicated, and a Kitsune may never have more objects bound to himself than his Gnosis score. Certain particularly large objects (Storyteller's discretion) are considered more than one of the purpose of "cost". For the purposes of Dedication, an entire set of clothing is considered one item.