"SO WHAT ABOUT THOSE FUNKY THREE-POINT NINJAS ANYWAY?"

#317 in the series "Whittling Munchkins down to size". Collect them all.
The World Book in the basic TORG boxed set includes a Contract Ninja Template with a base of 69 rather than 66 Stat Points. This is explained, quite painfully, in the Nippon Tech Source Book as "just something funky about Ninjas", and it is counterbalanced by not allowing Ninjas to spend possibilities on Reality totals, because "Ninjitsu is an inherently Dark Art". Not only is such morality contrary to the reality of Nippon, where Profit and Vengeance rule, but it is also metaphysically unsound, because as long as a Ninja stays within the boundaries of her home cosm (or realm), they will never have to make a Reality total. (O.K., sure, there are invoked storms, and what self respecting TORG character stays in one cosm, but the vast majority of Ninjas are going to be NPCs who only exist in Nippon held areas in the first place.) The simplest solution is to not give in to the myth that Ninjas are superior to everyone else, and just ignore the extra points. But what about all of those characters that were started before the Nippon SB came out, ones that have become too attached to their three point bonus? (i.e., stubborn, mule-headed, "but the book says I can" Munchkins.) Again, the simplest method is GM’s Fiat, declare that "Ninjas are 66 points, Ninjas have always been 66 points, Ninjas will always be 66 points" and have them adjust their character sheet accordingly. But for those GM’s that want to have a little more fun with their vict... ah. "players", we present the "Kanja".

KANJA

Stats, Skills, Equipment, and Quote: same as the Contract Ninja (WB, pg. 58).

Background: None. Zip. Zero ("ØØØØ" for the Marketplaceans in the audience - you know who you are). The corporation you work for (there are no retirement plans in Marketplace) didn’t just provide food, shelter, and training in exchange for services and absolute fealty. Indeed, they built you from the ground up, to precise specifications and aerospace tolerances. Any memories you have from before being decanted from the Haiken NatVat (Patents Pending, Toranaga Chemical Inc.) are spurious neural attractors, residue of the rapid growth and knowledge modules used in your production. It is not a question of fealty, your MegaCorp owns you, lock, stock, and barrel - and they have the papers to prove it! You are Kanja, and Kanja is what ever They want you to be.

(Technically, "Vat Ninjas", among the few people that know of their actual origins, are known by the name of the process that created them, "Kaihen, TM". It means alternately "change", "transformation", and "innovation", the latter being stressed by the ad copy, which markets them as "the next stage in the evolution of the working class." "Kanja" is a name given to them by a non-Marketplacean, a play on the term "Canned Ninja". As it turns out, the Romanization, "Kanja" can mean either a "young person, come of legal age", "patient", or "spy". The subtle poetry and depth of such interconnected meanings has made the term quite popular among MegaCorporate CEO’s, more so than the bland "Kaihen, TM". The legal department is looking in to it. Of course, the streets of Marketplace - and Nippon Tech - care little for poetry. At the kindest, Kanja are called "Kame-ja" or "Jar Ninja". More often, the phrase used is "Koedame", a tank for holding fertilizer and other excrement.)

(True Background: Like everything else the MegaCorporations tell you, the history of the Kanja is a number of small truths wrapped in a big lie. 3327 is years if not decades away from being able to build living organisms to spec from raw materials, something the Space Gods are only beginning to accomplish at Tech 30. In truth, the basis of Kanja, like so much else in capitalism, is people. Physio-electric treatments and Hyper-nutrient baths increase muscle mass and epidermal density while increased neural conductivity wipes clean most higher memory. Unlike normal brainwashing techniques, the so called "knowledge block" processes actually destroy the information connections in the brain and rebuilds them, making it useless for corporate intrigue but perfect for enforcers and thugs. And unlike normal brainwashing techniques, it doesn’t even require a living victim, merely a freshly dead one. The Hyper-nutrient bath is an extension of the Hydroponic technology developed by Toranaga Chemicals for growing Gospog. The inability of Kanja to spend possabilities on reality totals is actually due to the fact - undetectable by Tech 24 means - that they, like the Gospog, are an unnatural synthesis of Living and Nonliving. Tech 26 Medicine can detect "abnormalities", while Tech 27 or better will be able to fully distinguish Kanja. If a Kanja is ever transformed due to a reality storm, they immediate lose their Bonus points - but not from their physical stats! The three points must be made up from PER, MIN, CHA, or SPI. If a Kanja is physically transformed, the player may freely choose points from all seven stats.)

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