Jump to content

Red Banner


Ninja-Bear

Recommended Posts

Hello Herodom!

 

Im working on a one shot when I’ll be able to get together with my friends. I’ve been itching to use the Red Banner cause decades ago when I first bought Ninja Hero I ran a Wild Martial Arts game. So I’m asking to see if anyone has used the Red Banner and any plots you used? And to flesh out said plot.  I just want to run a game that isn’t a tournament. I’m thinking the Red Banner is kidnapping  Super martial artists so they can steal their Chi to empower one of their own. (FWIW, I have I believe all the martial art related sourcebooks from 4th through 6th and the 2 PDFs online. I just need to put it to use.)

 

As always TIA,

 

Ninja-Bear

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could always steal, sorry borrow, the plot of the film DOA: Dead or Alive where martial artists are invited to an island for a tournament. They are supposedly the best in the world in their disciplines. The moves are 'motion captured' and put into a pair of spectacles that the chief villain is using.

Now you don't want the tournament so how about having the Red Banner go around poisoning martial artists. The team then have to go to an obscure medical facility either run by or infiltrated by the Red Banner in order to find a cure. Martial artists from many disciplines then come in order to find out both who is taking down their friends and for a cure to the malady.

One of the other ropes is that martial artist challenging a dojo. How do you make this different ? How about this ? The challenger and the dodjo defender are suddenly stricken by memory loss. They forget how to fight. The Red Banner has either poisoned/drugged them or got a mentalist to mind control them with the simple command that they do not know how to fight anymore.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think I ever used the Red Banner, but I have used a few martial arts villains in the past. How about one of the following?

  • They recruit some martial artists to subjugate a creature of incredible power in hopes of harnessing it for themselves. 
  • One of the Red Banner trained fighters go rogue and they need the heroes to clean up their mess.
  • A fabled weapon falls into the Red Banner's hand. Now an aging master must rely on the heroes to return it to him or the fate of the world falls into their hands. 
  • A chi-infused place has fallen under Red Banner's control. Can the heroes prevent a war from happening when another group advances on them? And what does the place give to the Red Banner?
  • An ancient evil is brought back to life and the Red Banner is responsible. Are they powerful enough to contain this threat? What happens if they aren't?

Hope these help. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One-shot, eh? I've used the Cult for longer runs, but I can think of a couple of possibilities.

 

The ancient conflict between the Cult of the Red Banner and Dr. Yin Wu flares up in the campaign city, as Yin Wu's Four Sons of the Dragon clash with Cult agents on the city streets, endangering the public. PC heroes step in to interrupt the fight before more innocents are harmed, but this allows the cultists to escape. Copper Spear informs the heroes that the Cult has stolen an enchanted dragon statue from his father, and will use it to create an army of Lung Zhanshi ("dragon warriors") at a time and place that the stars and feng shui will be favorable -- this city, tonight. Copper Spear proposes an alliance with the heroes to stop them. But Iron Whirlwind thinks this will provide the perfect cover to eliminate his brother and assume leadership of the Sons.

 

A mercenary martial-arts villain is hired by mysterious employers to help steal an ancient book from a touring Chinese museum display, but his employers abandon the villain to cover their own escape. Incensed, the villain seizes the book himself and runs; but when he finds himself pursued by agents of the Red Banner he flees to the PCs to ask for their protection, claiming that whatever the Cult wants the book for can't be good for the world. (The villain hid it so they'd have to protect him.) Unfortunately the Red Banner have tracked him to the heroes' base of operations.

Depending on how you want the role-playing to go, the villain could be an arrogant bigmouth like Green Dragon; an honorable mercenary such as Kazeronin; or a treacherous monster hoping for a chance to claim the book's secrets for himself, e.g. Jade Phoenix.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/29/2020 at 9:22 PM, Ninja-Bear said:

Hello Herodom!

 

Im working on a one shot when I’ll be able to get together with my friends. I’ve been itching to use the Red Banner cause decades ago when I first bought Ninja Hero I ran a Wild Martial Arts game. So I’m asking to see if anyone has used the Red Banner and any plots you used? And to flesh out said plot.  I just want to run a game that isn’t a tournament. I’m thinking the Red Banner is kidnapping  Super martial artists so they can steal their Chi to empower one of their own. (FWIW, I have I believe all the martial art related sourcebooks from 4th through 6th and the 2 PDFs online. I just need to put it to use.)

 

As always TIA,

 

Ninja-Bear

Well some I've used...kidnapping Boxers to make Cyborg super boxers. Kidnapping martial artists to steal body parts to make Frankenstein martial artists. Robbing a museum of some scrolls to do the above. Starting a super Wushu brawl in town, to leverage a comercial venture. Sumoming a giant demon to distract the local supers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wrote up the Red Banner Agents using the generic martial arts thug from Watcher of the Dragon. According to the PDF, the Dragon Warriors you can use the Ophite sheet from the Mystic Warrior book-which I don’t have. I’m thinking of using the Super Boxers from Ninja Hero for the them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not knowing Kevin Yee, I'll take your word for it. :)  And Steve Long wrote that he didn't include a character sheet for the Red Banner's Zhandouji in the Cult's PDF because one could adapt any martial-art thug for that purpose. (I myself used Emperor Crane's Rebellious Flock from WOTD for that purpose.)

 

As for a character sheet for ophites, please check your Private Messages. ;)
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

Not knowing Kevin Yee, I'll take your word for it. :)  And Steve Long wrote that he didn't include a character sheet for the Red Banner's Zhandouji in the Cult's PDF because one could adapt any martial-art thug for that purpose. (I myself used Emperor Crane's Rebellious Flock from WOTD for that purpose.)

 

As for a character sheet for ophites, please check your Private Messages. ;)
 

👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going through my (many and mainly unfinished) characters I came across an original for Red Banner names Ba Ping. He’s a wizard and an art critic. So I’m thinking that since one of the cults goals is just random destruction, Ba Ping is capturing certain individuals to creat an living art work of destruction. I think that this might work as it’s fitting for Red Banner and it’s different too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Cult wants to promote an increase in evil in the world in general, to strengthen the Dragon King. So sure, their actions need have no more specific goal.

 

However, ritual murders are often components of black-magic rituals, so there could be a greater purpose to them. E.g. the "artworks" could form symbols from the I Ching. OTOH it might be fun for you if your PCs are trying to find clues to the killings' mystic significance, when it's simply "artistic expression." :sneaky:  But then you'd better build in some way for them to recognize that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a motif with a lot of commonalities, whoever writes them up. ;)

 

But that material originally came from Dean Shomshak's Ultimate Super Mage for 4E, and that includes a much more powerful, "super" class version of these creatures, a Dragon Warrior. Let me know if you'd be interested in seeing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

It's a motif with a lot of commonalities, whoever writes them up. ;)

 

But that material originally came from Dean Shomshak's Ultimate Super Mage for 4E, and that includes a much more powerful, "super" class version of these creatures, a Dragon Warrior. Let me know if you'd be interested in seeing it.

I’m interested but before you go through all that work, how do they stack up against the Super Boxers in the Fists of the  Warlords in the Original Ninja Hero?  Cause I’m thinking of swiping them.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I’m interested but before you go through all that work, how do they stack up against the Super Boxers in the Fists of the  Warlords in the Original Ninja Hero?  Cause I’m thinking of swiping them.  

 

Stronger. Much stronger. And a lot more versatile. 387-point characters, under 4E Champions standards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

Have one or two in the wings, just in case. 😈

 

Perhaps whatever the Cult is after could be needed to create or summon these.

I will have to do that! You know I always liked Iron Dragon, perhaps he gets kidnapped to be transformed into one of these. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Taking a page from City of Heroes, the cult seeks a method of summoning ancestor spirits en mass to use as heavy hitters in their fights.  And even if defeated these spirits keep coming back.  Being able to summon a host of them would be catastrophic.  OR.... rather than a regular spirit a GREATER spirit (like 400-500 pts).  Can you disrupt the ritual?  If they are successful, can you defeat the GREATER spirit and stop their plan?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...