Naruto: Ninja Arena
Naruto: Ninja Arena Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Roll & Clash System
Naruto : Ninja Arena is the first game using the Roll & Clash system. During the game, you throw your dice as quickly as you can and use the results to activate Techniques without stopping the game. Everyone plays at the same time in a frantic battle to be the last Ninja Standing!
Components
Along with this rule book, this is what you will find inside the boxes:
CORE GAME:
- 4 double-sided Ninja boards
- 4 double-sided Power tiles (one for each Ninja)
- 1 large Uzumaki tile
- 4 black & white dice + 16 colored dice
- 40 Damage tokens
- 1 Shikamaru's shadow token
- 4 Wound cubes
GENIN PACK:
- 6 double-sided Ninja boards
- 6 double-sided Power tiles (one for each Ninja)
- 1 Temari's fan tile
- 2 black & white dice + 8 colored dice
- 20 Damage tokens
- 2 Wound cubes
Setting Up the Game
Each player takes a Ninja board and the corresponding Power tile and places the Ninja board on the character side (with the name) and the Power tile on its inactive side below it. This is the Ninja you will be playing during the game.
Each player takes a black die and 4 colored dice.
The Uzumaki tile is placed at the center of the play area, within reach of all players.
The Damage tokens are placed in a pile within reach of all players.
The Wound cube is placed on the leftmost colored space at the top of the Ninja tile (near the heart symbol).
Gameplay
In Naruto : Ninja Arena, all players play at the same time without waiting for their turn.
Players all take their 5 dice (1 black and 4 colored) and roll them at the same time in order to be the first one to match the faces required by one of their Techniques.
During these rolls, players can throw all or some of their dice again as much as they wish. They can put dice to the side or on their Ninja board to better identify which sides they are missing to activate any given Technique.
When a player is able to activate a Technique thanks to his dice results, he must place the relevant dice on the corresponding Technique and distribute the indicated Damage tokens in front of the board of each targeted player (the other players keep on rolling their own dice at the same time).
Once this is done, he can recover his dice and continue rolling them until he can activate another Technique, and so on until one player is able to activate his Power.
Special Rule: The Spiral symbol on the black and white die is a wildcard and can replace any other result on a die.
Power Tile
Resolving the Power technique (each Ninja's 3rd Technique) works differently than other Techniques.
Once a player can roll all 5 symbols corresponding to his Power tile, he must hit the Uzumaki tile in the center of the playing area.
All other players must then stop what they are doing and hit the Uzumaki tile as well. The game is then paused to resolve the following 3 steps:
1. Damage: The last player to hit the Uzumaki Tile takes 2 extra Damage tokens.
Example: It doesn't happen very often, but this time Sasuke was too slow and was the last to react… He adds 2 Damage tokens to the 10 he has already received this round.
2. Damage Tally: Each player (except the one who has activated his Power tile) takes as many Wounds as required, based on the amount of Damage tokens in front of him. Each time a player takes as much damage as his current wound level, he moves the Wound cube one step forward, then discards ALL of his Damage tokens (unless he is the one who activated his Power tile).
Example: Sasuke now has 13 Damage tokens in front of him and therefore must move his cube to the third Wound on his Ninja board (6+6=12) and then discard all the Damage tokens (even the 13th token which did not cause any Wounds).
3. Power: The player who activated his Power flips his Power tile and its effect is now active. All other Power tiles are flipped back to their inactive side.
Once all 3 steps have been resolved, each player recovers his 5 dice into his hand.
The game then resumes as normal: all players simultaneously try to activate their Techniques by rolling and rerolling their dice until one player can activate his Power tile…
Knock Out
If during the Damage Tally step, a player covers up the last Wound space on his Ninja tile, his character is knocked out. He flips over the Ninja board and continues playing to try and recover consciousness.
Each Ninja can only recover consciousness once per game. If a Ninja is knocked out again after having recovered, the player is eliminated from the game.
Recovering Consciousness
To recover consciousness, the player throws the dice at the same time as the other players to try and obtain the results indicated on the back of his Ninja board. If he succeeds, he must hit the Uzumaki tile in the center of the play area. All players must then stop what they are doing and hit the Uzumaki tile. The game is then paused to resolve the following 2 steps:
- The last player to hit the Uzumaki tile takes 2 extra Damage tokens.
- The player who has succeeded in achieving his Recovery combo flips his Ninja tile back to its main side and places the Wound cube on the last Wound.
WARNING: If a player's Ninja tile is on the KO side, other players cannot give him any Damage tokens. However, if that player is, for any reason, the last one to hit the Uzumaki tile, he is eliminated from the game immediately and permanently.
Mistakes
If at any time a player makes a mistake (such as mistakenly hitting the Uzumaki tile, activating a Technique without the required dice, etc...), he immediately suffers a Wound.
When your power is activated, you can still try to activate it again, and avoid taking Wounds that turn!
End of the Game
The game ends when all players are K.O. or eliminated except one. The last player standing wins the game!
Duel Rules
If you want even more amazing two player games, we recommend this game mode!
In Duel mode, each player chooses 2 Ninjas (and take the corresponding Ninja Boards and Power tiles).
Then, place one Ninja board on top of the other but without covering the first technique on the Ninja board which is on the bottom.
Take a Wound cube for each of your Ninja boards and place it on the leftmost space of the board. Then take the Power tile from your top ninja, and put it below your Ninja Board, on the Inactive side.
The rest of the game takes place as in a regular game, but you can use one more technique from your second Ninja as you play.
When a player uses a Power, after resolving the usual 3 steps, his opponent can choose to switch his Ninjas. In that case, he replaces the top board with the bottom one and keeps the first technique visible. He also switches the Power tile.
In this game mode, there is no KO. When one ninja should be KO, his team (in this case, the player) loses the game!
Naruto's Powers
Shadow Clone Jutsu: Give 3 Damage tokens to a player next to you.
Wind Style: Rasengan: Give 2 Damage tokens to one player, or 5 Damage tokens to a player who has no Damage tokens.
Summoning Jutsu: Gamabunta: Add 1 Damage token to your attacks. Take it from your own Damage Pool.
Sakura's Powers
Substitution Jutsu: Give 1 Damage token to one player AND remove 2 Damage tokens from your Damage Pool.
Clone Jutsu: Give 4 Damage tokens to one player.
Chakra Control: Your wounds require 10 Damage tokens.
Sasuke's Powers
Lion's Barrage: Give 2 Damage tokens to one player.
Lightning Style: Chidori: Divide 6 Damage tokens between the other players AND take 1 Damage token for yourself.
Curse Mark: Add 2 Damage tokens to your attacks.
Shikamaru's Powers
Shadow Possession Jutsu: Give 2 Damage tokens to one player AND place your Shadow token on the Uzumaki tile.
Ninja Art: Shadow Stitching: Give 3 Damage tokens to one player, and he must count backwards from 3 before rolling his dice again.
Stream His Chakra: Give 3 Damage tokens to one player if you roll at least one of the symbol shown on the page in one throw of the dice.
The Shadow Token: If this token is placed on the Uzumaki tile, the first player to hit the tile takes 3 Damage tokens. Then the Shadow token returns to Shikamaru. Shikamaru doesn't take any Damage tokens this way.
Expansion Characters
Rock Lee's Powers
Ferocious Fist: Give 1, 3 or 5 Damage tokens to one player (depending on your dice results).
Leaf Hurricane: Give 2 Damage tokens to the players on each side of you.
Gate of Opening: Put 7 Damage tokens on your Power tile. Add 1 Damage token to your attacks (take it from your Power tile). When you lose your Power, take the remaining Damage tokens for yourself.
Tenten's Powers
Twin Rising Dragons: Divide 3 Damage tokens between the other players.
Weapon Control: Tensasai: Give 2 Damage tokens to all players (if a player has activated his Power, add 2 more Damage tokens).
Dragon Bomb: When you lose your Power, give 4 Damage tokens to the players on each side of you.
Hinata's Powers
Gentle Fist: Give 2 Damage tokens to one player AND remove 1 Damage token from your Damage Pool.
Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms: Divide 5 Damage tokens between the other players (1 minimum per player).
Byakugan: Cancel the next 2 attacks against you.
Kiba's Powers
All-Fours Jutsu: Give 2 Damage tokens to a player next to you AND 1 Damage token to one on the other side.
Tunneling Fang: Give 2 Damage tokens to one player, AND add 2 Damage tokens per Wound you suffered.
Akamaru: You can ignore one die to complete a Technique.
Temari's Powers
Wind Style: Wind Blade Jutsu: Give 1 Damage token to one player AND activate your Fan ability.
Wind Style: Sea Dragon: Give 2 Damage tokens to the players on each side of you.
Summoning: Blade Dance: You can convert each die into another die of your choice.
The Fan Tile: When this ability is activated, place your Fan tile next to your Ninja board and put 3 Damage tokens on it. Each time a player gives Temari Damage tokens, she gives one of those 3 Damage tokens back to the attacker. When the fan is empty, the Power is deactivated. Remove the Fan tile.
Gaara's Powers
Sand Shuriken: Give 4 Damage tokens to a player next to you.
Sand Prison: Give 2 Damage tokens to one player. Take it from your Damage Pool or your Power board.
Sand Shield: If there is no Damage token on this tile, place the next Damage tokens your receive on it. When you lose your Power, place the Damage tokens from this tile to your Damage Pool.
Sand Burial: Divide 6 Damage tokens between the other players.