Open Special Characteristics

Our list of Open special characteristics is divided into 4 Types.

Social: Social Special Characteristics represent a character's connection to his community. They are his net of contacts, friends, and family. Social Impediments represent his negative social dealings, such as enemies and runs in with the law.

Supernatural:
There are things about the character that just should not be. They could give off a strange aura, have an uncanny nack for their dreams to play out, or simply be a little too proficient at interpreting a crime scene.
In any sense, the aura of the supernatural is all about characters with these special characteristics, and each one is sure to effect gameplay in a myriad of interesting ways.

Physical:
Physical Special Characteristics give your character strength, stamina, and fortitude, while physical impediments detract from that, its not an even balance though, and you can easily mix and match to come up with a unique character

Mental:
Mental Special characteristics affect the character's ability to think clearly and cognitively in certain fields. The various qualities and impediments may cause them to have a keen mind, or make them hear voices.


Social Spec's


Animal Empathy
The character exudes a calming influence on animals. He is seldom bitten or snarled at and animals immediately like him. If he abuses an animal, it will act confused before becoming aggressive.

Criminal Associations
The character is well known throughout the Ninja World's underworld. He may be a high-profile thief with a vast network of contacts, a city man familiar with local snitches and information, or an aristocrat with shady contacts who cater to his particular tastes. Regardless of the particulars, the character is a man who can get things done. These connections can be used to track criminals on the run, procure illegal goods, or gather information. Of course, information and services come at a price.

Nondescript
The character is naturally difficult to pick out of a crowd. Those who meet him in person are seldom left with a strong impression. If someone bothers to get his name, they soon forget it. The character must go to outlandish extremes or commit spectacular acts to be remembered.

Nemesis
The Character has a hated enemy who will do anything in their power to maim or kill them. It may be a sporting nemesis who you beat at a game every-time or someone who's girlfriend you happen to steal quite often. No matter the reason the person has a strong passion to ensure that your life ends before its official resting date.

Private Anatomy Theatre
The character owns or has access to a private, fully supplied anatomy theatre. The character must spend time and money maintaining his anatomy theatre or it will fall into disrepair. Maintenance may include periodically purchasing corpses from vendors, lawful and otherwise. (Describe in Detail)

Private Laboratory
The character owns or has access to a private laboratory. Though the lab comes fully equipped, the character will have to purchase chemicals and supplies. (Describe In Detail)

Reputation - Street
The character is well-known and respected figure on the streets of the Ninja World. He may be known as a killer not to be crossed, an honest costermonger or a likable thief. In any case, the character is generally regarded as a member of the Family in good standing. The character may be sought out for jobs or information. He can find information, weapons, pharmaceuticals, and inexpensive stolen goods with little trouble. If he is holding misappropriated property, he will have no trouble finding a fence to move the goods. When in need, he can find a safe house in which to hide until trouble passes.

Reputation - Underworld
The character is well known to the denizens of the Underground. Provided he does not make trouble, he can generally make his way among the humans and missing ninja tribes that call the tunnels home. Dealing with the feral animals that call the Underground home is an entirely different matter, however.

Criminal Record
The character has been convicted of a crime and has spent time in prison. The police know the character on sight, and he May be rounded up from time to time and questioned about various crimes. Most legitimate employers who discover his secret will not retain his services.

Immigrant
Whether the character moved to the Village from a foreign land or was born to poor immigrant parents, he is a second-class citizen. Immigrant’s lack the established credentials relied upon in Ninja society. They will find it hard to locate work and will be generally treated with suspicion.

Notorious
The character is notorious throughout the Village. Rumors about the character circulate throughout the city especially in the social circles he frequents. Notorious characters will be constantly harassed. Holders may find themselves refused service or entry into exclusive clubs, and lower-class characters may be threatened on sight or shunned completely. Notorious criminals will certainly come face-to-face with the Ninja Police from time to time. Notoriety is not without its benefits, however. The notoriously violent, for example, may cause fear wherever he goes, making intimidation and waiting in queues easy. Notorious characters will also attract a certain desperate element that is anxious to learn what makes them tick.

Believed Dead
Despite being very much alive, the character is believed to be dead. Perhaps he disappeared outside the walls of the village and was proclaimed devoured by demons or ghouls. He may have feigned his own death at great difficulty and expense. He could have even been the victim of a conspiracy that sought to erase his existence. Whatever the case, the world at large believes the character to be dead.

Credentials
The character has impeccable credentials that are of great use when opening up doors to Ninja society. Perhaps he has a signed recommendation from a well-known Member of The Clan Council, a high-ranking associate in The Hokage's personal guard, or an uncle with prominent ties among medical circles. In short, the character will seldom want for employment and can get admission into the best private schools and exclusive clubs. He will be able to obtain audiences and even favors from individuals who would otherwise be disinclined to hear him out. However, if the character abuses this ability, he may find that his credentials are no longer as sterling as they once were.

Murder of Crows
The character has a large network of friends and associates that keep an eye out for him wherever he goes. Any time the character is in apparent danger or likely to be apprehended, a crow, or lookout, will approach him and give the word. Obviously there are limits to the reach of the character's network, but he will generally receive ample warning while around the slums, streets, and rookeries of the village.

Safe House
The character owns or has access to a safe house. This can be a run down flat outside the village, a hidden room in the back of a house, or just about anything else the player and Narrator can dream up. When the character is in danger, he can retire to the safe house and expect to remain reasonably safe and undisturbed. Of course, the safety of this sanctuary is dependent on the character's actions. Should he reveal the safe house to his associates, the place could easily be compromised.

Disowned
For one reason or another, the character has been cast out of the Clan of which he was once a member, and can no longer count on his Clan's support or reputation. Though a character has been cast out, his Clan's enemies will still look to injure him if possible. The character may also still have powerful friends and be well established away from his family's influence.

Supernatural Spec's


Dreamer
The character has a strange and uncontrollable oracular ability which manifests in dreams. This talent may be attributed to latent psychic abilities, a weird reaction to opiates, or another cause altogether. Whatever the case, from time to time, the character dreams of the near future, catching glimpses of events before they occur. These events always relate to the character or those closest to him. The character is only able to glean snippets from his dreams. These' visions are heavily symbolic and vague; the future is never spelled out. (Note; SMALL SNIPPETS. NOT A PSYCHIC)

Incorruptible
The character possesses a mysterious factor that keeps him from getting ill, literally rendering him immune to unknown pathogens, including the Plague. (Not Poisons/Acids/Etc, only "Disease")

Essence Swap
The character's body and chakra network are bound more closely then normal, his blood vessels and chakra pathways cross and double back on each other. Because of this, the character can swap essences, trading chakra for health and vise-versa, The ratio is 3 to 1. You send rank C And you heal a Level E wound. You cannot use more then an A-rank amount, (Which would heal a C rank Wound). And this can only be used once per topic.

Demon
The character contains a demon within their body, acting as a second mind, influencing the character's ideas and choices with their own. The Character has bonded with a minor demon or other manor of supernatural creature. Though they may offer some interesting insight into situations the character is trapped in, they may not be terribly useful in a fight.
**Note That this "Demon" is only a second mind, it does not give you any advantages in a fight. It cannot "See" things that you cant, nor "hear" what you can't. It is simply like an Alter-Ego**

Infectious Personality
The character’s personality is naturally infectious. Those in his presence will begin to take on his affectations, vocal patterns, and inflections. When he is happy, those around him laugh with him. When he despairs, those in his presence share his pain. (This only applies to NPC characters, you cannot infect another ninja's personality)

Physical Spec's

Able Bodied
The character is in excellent physical shape. He heals quickly and is seldom ill.

Ambidextrous
The character is equally adept at using either hand. Although ambidexterity is rare at birth, it can be learned. Most duelists spend their whole lives refining this talent.

Gigantism
Standing well over several feet tall, the character is a giant. His huge, powerful frame is source of awe among his fellow men, who pause to stare as they pass him on the street. Though very strong, the wear on his body will certainly age him unnaturally and his life span is half what it would be normally. Furthermore, the character must eat twice as much as men of lesser stature and will also have a hard time finding clothes that will fit him without the services of a skilled tailor.

Light Sleeper
The character is very light sleeper. Any noise at all will instantly awaken him to a state of full alert. The character is no easier to sneak up on while asleep than he is when he is awake.

Accelerated Decrepitude
For reasons not yet determined by modern medical science a growing number of citizens of the village age at an accelerated rate. Three or four times the normal rate in adulthood, these individuals seldom live to see their fortieth birthday. More disturbing still, anti-agapic drugs have no effect on them. Though accelerated decrepitude crosses class barriers, it is most pronounced among the poor of the slums.

Albinism
Possessing white hair, milky skin, and pink or blue eyes with a deep-red pupil; Albinos are woefully common by-products of the environmental hazard. Plaguing the village Genetic aberrations, albinos have been the subjects of public curiosity, purported to be harbingers of ill omen, and accused of witchcraft over the centuries. Though albinos are less rare than they once were, they remain a center of public spectacle and are well-paid attractions at both sideshows and brothels throughout the Ninja world.
Albinos tend to have poor eyesight and are prone to illness.
Physically, they tend to be frailer than other men. The character will likely develop all manner of health problems over time.

Blind
The character's is completely blind. He may have been blind since birth or suffered some tragic event which took his sight.

Colorblind
Something of a misnomer, most color-blind character simply cannot distinguish between either red and green or blue and yellow. True color blindness, when the sufferer sees the world only in shades of gray, is extremely rare.

Deaf
The character is tone deaf and cannot hear a sound.

Defects
Though unsettling to some, physical defects are common throughout Ninja Society. In the poorest boroughs, it is not uncommon to see children with grey hair and wrinkles before the age of fifteen, unnaturally aged by lives of back breaking work, squalor, and the murderous smogs. Prolonged exposure to the smogs tends to rob an individual of all skin pigments and stains their teeth a sickly yellow. Hair, toenails, and fingernails grow thin and fall away. Many children in the worst boroughs have stark white or sickly green hair virtually from the time of birth.
Possible Defects include, but are not limited to, cleft palate, discolored skin or hair, incorrect number of fingers, pervasive and ineradicable body odor, port-wine birthmarks, species-inappropriate eyes, skin tumors or a surplus vestigial limb.

Fits
The character suffers from chronic seizures caused by abnormal electrical impulses in the brain. These violent fits take hold of the character without warning. The character may have suffered brain damage or tumors, though in most cases the cause of the condition will be unknown.

Glass Jaw
The character is prone to being knocked unconscious.

Hemophiliac
Hemophilia is a hereditary disease particularly widespread among the members of the aristocracy. When a hemophiliac character is injured, the blood will not clot properly to stem the bleeding and so the character will continue to bleed for a very long time. This is equally true for internal and external injuries and can result in significant blood loss or death.

Lame
The character's legs are permanently damaged. The character may have been born with some physical malady or may have suffered some terrible accident from which he never entirely recovered. The character is lame and is unable to walk without braces or other assistance. Even assisted, the character cannot run.

Mute
Due to physical or psychological infirmity, the character has an inability to speak, though he may have a limited ability to grunt. Providing the character is not a psychological mute, his speech functions may be restored to a limited degree

Ticker
Due to life-threatening damage to his heart, the character underwent an operation to replace his heart with a Ticker Perhaps the character had a weak heart or suffered inoperable damage in combat. Whatever the case, the character certainly has a short amount of time left to live.

Mental Spec's

Faith
The character has a deep and abiding faith to sustain him. It Does not matter what this faith is in - religious faith is common, but faith in a personal destiny or in the greatness of Japan, for example, will serve just as well.

Photographic Memory
The character remembers everything he sees and hears with absolute clarity. To represent this extraordinary gift, the player controlling the character should take copious notes throughout play to represent his character's memory.

Resolve
The character has become accustomed to the horrors of the Ninja world and possesses a steely resolve. (A Character with this Spec cannot take Cowardice Spec as well)

Synestiesia
Synestiesia is a mental condition in which a stimulus from one sense elects a response in another sense. For instance, someone with synesthesia, called a synaesthete, may be able to see sounds, taste shapes, or read otherwise black-and-white printed words in color. A synaesthete cannot control when the synesthesia occurs or what stimulus triggers it. The responses are consistent; a synaesthete who hears color will always hear color and will always hear the same colors in the same way. Synesthesia is not a disease and is not considered harmful. Synaesthetic sensations, like ordinary ones, are not always pleasant: some colors may sound grating or shrill, for example. Synaesthetes tend to possesses creative minds and exceptional memories.

Time Sense
The character is never late. He possesses a preternatural sense of timing and knows the exact time down to a few seconds. Because punctuality and timeliness are intimately tied to professionalism in the Ninja mind, time sense is a much valued aptitude.

Amnesia
The character has large gaps in his memories. Depending on the severity of his amnesia, the character could have lost the details of a few important events of his life, whole months or years, or nearly his entire life’s history. Sometimes the character may grasp onto fleeting memories as if in a dream, but these instances are rare and the memories are indistinct, as if they happened to another person. Occasionally the character may become confused about dates, places or people. He may even adopt a fictional history in order to fill the gaps in his own memory. Amnesia is generally caused by damage to the brain, severe physical or psychological trauma, disease or drugs.

Cowardice
The character is a coward. He breaks under pressure. Never fights when flight is an option, and tends to pull the covers over his head at night. While this may be a perfectly sane reaction to life in the ninja world, it is hardly in keeping with the Ninja stiff upper lip.

Dim
The character is as stupid used box of hammers. Perhaps he was dropped on his head as a child, suffered an exotic brain fever from which he never recovered, or was simply born dim.

Hypersensitive
The character's senses are so exquisitely sharp that the sights and sounds of the outside world are unendurable. Unless isolated from unwanted stimuli, the character is constantly tormented by his environment. Though he can read in virtual darkness, candle light is nearly blinding. He cannot tolerate a human, voice above a whisper, even his own.
Forced into isolation from the very light of day, the character's flesh is pallid. His meals must be carefully prepared to his particular specifications. He may develop nervous disorder as a result of constant seclusion and uncontrollable pain.

Melancholy
The character suffers from protracted bouts of depression and may appear sullen and morose for days or weeks a time, in the past the character has been driven to desperate acts by loneliness or failed love affairs. Melancholy may be further intensified through alcohol or drug addiction.

Night Terrors
The character suffers from a sleep disorder; nightly, he spontaneously awakens with panicked screams. During a typical episode, the character bolts upright in bed, his face a fear-marred mask and his eyes dilated, sweating profusely, and tormented by a baseless agitation. During such an attack, the character is unresponsive to attempts to comfort him until confusion and agitation subside. The character may then recount an overwhelming sense of dread and fragmentary dream images, but rarely a vivid and complete dream sequence.
Morning amnesia of the entire episode is the rule. Much to the befuddlement of witnesses, especially those kept awake, the character simply cannot recall the occurrence of the event.

Superstition
In stark defiance of the scientific leanings of Ninja society, the character possesses an unshakable belief in the validity of several superstitions and will never purposefully act to tempt ruin. A superstitious individual erroneously believes that his actions can influence the outcome of events which are, in reality, beyond his control These beliefs are not only irrational, but can also open the character up to ridicule. Even in the most polite company, the character will stand out as an eccentric.
Superstitions, by definition, are not based in fact. Rather, they provide the believer a way to deal with fears, rational or irrational, real or imagined, that are beyond their control. While the existence of prescience and haunting apparitions may seem to contradict public opinion of superstition, it is worth pointing out that often today's sciences are tomorrow's folktales and vice-versa. What forms these superstitions take is up to the player controlling the character. Possible examples of superstitions include stepping around cracks while walking to avoid bad luck, sprinting past graveyards, avoiding of certain numbers not leaving one's home after dark, or never touching a corpse. Any aggressively rational individual who witnesses the character's superstition and recognize it for what it is will either think the character simple or old fashioned.

Uncontrollable Temper
The character is prone to extraordinary fits of anger. When the mood takes him, it overwhelms all reason, and he destroys and maims everything in his path until exhaustion overtakes him. These rages are generally marked with periods of blackouts in which the character forgets his actions entirely.

Weak-Willed
The character lacks mental fortitude. He backs down easily from altercations, is easily broken during interrogation, and generally lacks the will to stand up for himself.

Excellent Liar Trait
The character is extremely good at Lying, no one can read him even with the use of special mind probing jutsu or lie detectors. This unique trait is extremely useful. The only way to uproot a lie created is to prove it wrong; and even then the character may simply play the lie even more.

Lie Detector
The Character has an ability to read opponents, habits, quirks and other things will point the character out as a liar. This is useful in and out of battle, though it will sometimes drive men or women insane hearing their sweethearts lie to their faces.