Or Dojo vs Dojo, or Martial Arts Masters Using Their Students As Pawns For Their Own Personal Gain By Having Them Infiltrate The Opposing Dojo. But Ninja vs Ninja sounds cooler.
At the beginning, your ninjas line up in a sort of blocky V formation in the back of your dojo. Or, well, more of a U, I suppose. Anyways, all of the ninjas besides the shadow ninja and the ninja master line up in a cool formation in the back of their dojo, while the shadow and the master stand at the side. The shadow isn’t really a ninja, just the shadow of one, but the shadows only mirror the ninjas when they’re in the other dojo.
For whatever reason, the two dojos seem to be directly across from each other, with only three blocks seperating them from each other. Thr street, perhaps? Whose idea was it to put the two schools on the same street, let alone directly across from each other? That must be terrible for business!
A ninja is only allowed three turns for a mission, which starts as soon as they step on the middle blocks. Does this mean that they live in the dojo? And only one ninja can leave the dojo at a time, which also seems silly. Wouldn’t a mission be easier if they had multiple people on it?
The shadow follows the ninja into enemy territory, like a true shadow does. How far the ninja can move into enemy territory depends on a pair of swords, which are rolled as dice. (Seems a bit dangerous, doesn’t it?) Which side of the sword faces up determines how far he can move, like some creepy omen saying, “The sword is on it’s right side, so you may only move one space, or you shall be cut down.” Weird dice.
It is impossible for a ninja to walk through another ninja, but if he stops in a space that is already occupied by an opposing ninja, he is morally obligated to cut down whomever stands in his way. Sheesh, dude, just say “Excuse me” next time.
The ninja must return to his dojo by the end of the third turn of his mission, or he falls over dead. Don’t ask me why. This involves turning around and walking back, at which point his shadow detaches itself and stays put. When he returns, he is scored by… How far his shadow moved on the enemy wall? Which is actually the number of spaces he went into the enemy dojo. The shadow returns from the enemy dojo and the master moves that number of spaces into his.
The goal of the game is to kill all enemy ninjas, or to have your master move seven spaces into your dojo. Why seven? I have no clue.
