Re: Ninjas in a Champions game
Last time I checked, Bushido was still available from a Fantasy Games Unlimited web site. They've got old copies stored in a warehouse somewhere.
I ran across a used copy of Bushido at my local game store. The game mechanics are horrible old-school algebra exercises to be ignored. However, the book captured the samurai mindset, social structure, and culture wonderfully. The whole character-improvement/experience points system was based on the accumulation of personal honor and status -- "face." A character could actually lose experience levels by messing up or otherwise experiencing an embarrassing situation. Although I hated the mechanics, they did a good job of hammering "Honor is everything" into the players' heads. Also, ninjas are depicted as the gangsters they actually were in Japanese society. They may have a fancy move here or there but they're considered lower than pond scum by society.
