Ninja Tag

A game about stealth, and ninjas.

The Base Game

There is the Hunter Ninja, and one or more Prey Ninjas. One person is chosen to be the hunter, the rest are prey. The first person to die becomes the new Hunter Ninja, even if they were already the hunter.

The Hunter counts to a preset number while prey hide. When done counting, the hunter shouts "I'm a ninja!"

All players must remain in the game boundaries. These boundaries are determined beforehand.

The Hunter can use ranged weapons, and at most, a dagger for a melee. Prey can use anything, but is suggested for small, concealable weapons. Hunters can have a small, weak flashlight, only when extremely dark.

To be killed, the Hunter must sustain:-

• 3 shurikens hits to the front, 1 to the back, 1 to the head, or 5 to the legs/arms. {Best stealth weapon}
• 2 blow gun hits to the front, 1 to the back, 1 to the head, 3 to the arms/legs. {Best weapon, best range}
• 2 front, 1 back, 3 arms, 3 legs, 9999 head with a melee weapon. {Worst Stealth Weapon}

(People have raised awareness that they think this might be sarcasm about the swords hits. It is not. This is to discourage hitting heads. Be smart. Be safe.)

A Prey Ninja needs just one hit. Yes, the prey needs stealth to win.

Optional Weapons

• The black egg

, such as a hacky-sack, Nerf Brand ballistic Ball, bean bag, etc., when hitting a person, forces them to close their eyes for 5-10 seconds, in which they can move, but cannot see. If they are hit in the head, then 15-20-25-30 second blindness. (Find link to buy Ballistic Balls in resources)

• Ball-E

A volleyball. This volley ball can can be used by both players however, the hunter can use it to block 2 darts other balls etc. If a prey uses it it can only be thrown to kill. If caught before it hits the ground it is still in play, no one loses a life or gains one the game continues. If however a dart ball etc. hits the ball while in the hands of the prey the pray is dead.

• Blowgun ammo

Suggested to take 1/2" PvC, cut down to a reasonable length, and use Nerf Brand Dart Tag Darts, or 1/2" Stefans(Home-made ammo) Dart Tag darts link in resources.

Prey Rules

Your objective is to survive for as long as possible, while getting the most points. You can hide, and assassinate the enemy, or rely on skills of attacking and an ally to help you.

Hunter Rules

Try to kill all the ninjas in your patrol zone, hunt them down. Avoid combat, as you can die, rely on finding where they are hiding, then sneaking up on them.

The Point System

• Killing the opponent(prey can't kill prey, ect.) ~ 1 base point
• Shuriken kill ~ 1 bonus point
• Stealth Kill ~ 2 bonus points
• Strangle/Neck snap ~ 3 bonus points

Optional points:

• Prey Survival (Survive 15-30 minutes) ~ 1 point
• Hunter Bloodlust (Kill in 5 minutes) ~ 1 point

Tips

Ninja Prey

All three of the founders have simply went prone on the ground to hide; Dyllon hid partially covered by twigs, Tristan lay camouflaged in the grass, and Alex lay in the shadows of the grass. The normal human doesn't naturally look up or down. Use it.

Move low, and slow. Tristan caught Dyllon simply because he ran. Tristan NEVER would have seen him had he not ran.

Keep moving, never let your best spot get known.

Break up your shape. Human forms are not natural. Simply curling up makes you look less suspicious.

Hunters

Check frequently places you've been. Stay away from clearings.

Go prone and crawl to a hiding place. Wait for the prey to reveal themselves. They will. Always.

Host Instructions

The founders played, three players, in a half acre back yard, with some cover, was about right for all of them, rounds about 15 minutes long.

Have play zones aimed at large, little open space, lots of cover, and its size around a snug size for the amount of players.

Try to keep it going smoothly, if there are enough players, sit out the rounds to video tape it, call shots, etc.

The way you determine the winner:

• Hold a number of rounds, where each round ends when a person dies.
• When the rounds are done, tally the scores.

Here is where it splits.

• If there is a tie, hold a sudden death match between the tied parties, in a small area.

Everyone has one hit/die, and cannot hide. The last man standing is first, last to die is second, second to last to die is third, ect.

• There are three clear top three winners. (Or two)

In this case, you add a win points, how many times a person won a game. This is how it goes:

• 1st 3 wins
• 2nd 2 wins
• 3rd 1 win

After a number of games( the collection of rounds) You tally the wins, and top 3 are chosen.

Or, just have fun, and don't bother with points. ( Better with more people.)

Try to explain the rules as best as possible, and send game reports.

Classical variant

• After a while, base games goes from stealth to just sitting down and killing the hunter. Classical was the actual first game, played in daytime, with two people. Classical means no way for prey to win.

The rules:

• Prey are given time to hide.
• Hunter(s) (number of hunters should be proportionate to prey+area- more prey, more area, more hunters.) Look for prey.
• Hunters simply tag the prey to eliminate them.
• Any prey eliminated becomes the new hunter, taking the previous one's(') place. Those eliminated in a multi-hunter game just wait until all new hunters have been made.

Samurai Guard variant

One person is the ninja, and everyone else is the Samurai Guard.

The samurai choose a patrol route, then stay on it unless the see, hear, smell, or feel something out of place.

The ninja must get the objective, something such as, say, a paper, or assassinate a target.

Samurai take one hit to die, and have melee and touch kills. Ninjas take one hit to die, and can use anything.

eXtreme Samurai Guard variant:

Same as Samurai guard, except the ninja cannot attack, and is by her/himself.

Thief game variant

(Direct from the E-Mail)

1. (At least) two guards per Ninja.
2. Ninjas can't attack but guards can melee attack and tag.
3. Ninjas can go solo or work in groups.
4. Ninjas must steal an item from a area that is guarded.
5. Guards must patrol area of a minimum of twenty feet.

Ambush variant

Everyone except for one person is a hunter.

The prey must go from point A to B, and can choose their route. The hunters set up ambushes along the way, trying to kill the prey.

The prey takes two shots to die, the hunters take one shot to die.

The prey can use anything, while hunters can use anything but shurikens. Hunters need to coordinate with each other to kill the prey.

Icy Hot Snow Ninjas variant

This is similar to "Freeze Tag". This makes it MUCH, MUCH harder to play as the Hunter.

Rules

• If a Hunter tags an unfrozen(Hot) ninja, they are frozen(Icy), and can't move.
• If a Hunter tags a frozen ninja, they are Hot again.
• If a prey tags an Icy prey, they are Hot again. (However, they cannot make a Hot go Icy!)
• The last Hot prey to be frozen is Hunter in the next round.(Or last few, in a multi-hunter game!)
  • This means that say, H tags 1235, then 4. 4 is it, as no one can be unfrozen, and 4 was last to be tagged.

Prison Break variant

This is a cooperative game type, for (~)6+ players.

Rules

• The two prey(prisoners) are chained together at the wrist, and cannot escape the bond. (rope, or something!)
  • This pair must escape from the designated start zone-jail-and get to the end zone-freedom- before getting caught.
  • The prey cannot simply run there-if they do, call either a rerun, or cheating.
• Hunters(Guards) start at the end zone, and must find the prey, and kill them.
  • No camping allowed, as in camping the end zone.

Resources

• Survival Topics article on H.I.P.S.

(Hiding in Plain Sight)

• Making a mask from a shirt

Credit and Kudos to Vern Reid.

• Simple way to make a shuriken (Hira)

Please wait for this link to how to make boffers (From the S.C.A.) to come up.

• [1] Nerf Brand Ballistic Balls

• [2] Dart Tag darts