Pride of Ninja

Pride of Ninja Rulebook

Table of Contents

1. Game Overview

In Pride of Ninja, your goal is to score the most points by assembling a formidable team of ninja. Each round, you'll draft characters and strategically place them either in the light at the front or hidden in the shadows at the back. Every decision is crucial - choosing the right character and positioning them optimally could be the key to victory. But be careful! While most characters will strengthen your strategy, some choices might backfire, turning your plans against you.

Build the ultimate team and race toward victory!

2. Components

Game cards (62)
5-player only cards (5)
Pride Points (PP) tracker (1)
PP tokens (5)
Slain markers (5)
Temporary Points (TP) tracker (5)
TP tokens (5)
Rulebook (1)
Card References (5)

3. Card Anatomy

Card initiative order: A red background indicates a card that may slay you. A white background indicates a card that won't slay you.
Card name
Card ability
Number of cards: 3-player: 8 cards; 4-player: 8 cards; 5-player: 9 cards.
Player count: More details in 4. Game Setup.

4. Game Setup

Separate the Game Cards into the Blue deck and Red deck. The decks have the following differences:

Card initiative and name boxes have different shapes.
Blue cards have a blue border. Red cards have a red border.
Blue cards have the 壱 symbol (the Japanese numeral one). Red cards have the 弐 symbol (the Japanese numeral two).

The game is played using either the Blue deck or the Red deck. Choose one and return the other to the box. If this is your first time playing, use the Blue deck.

Regardless of which deck you choose, you should have 31 cards. Certain cards are removed from the game based on your player count. The bottom left corner of the card indicates whether the card is used with your player count.

3-player: Use all cards with the 3 marker. You should have 24 cards.
4-player: Use all cards with the 4 marker. You should have 28 cards.
5-player: Use all cards with the 5 marker. You should have 30 cards.

Next, give each player a Temporary Points (TP) tracker sheet and a TP token of a matching color. Place the token on the 0 space of your tracker sheet, with the white side of the token face up.

Place the Pride Points (PP) tracker sheet in a visible spot for all players. Place the PP tokens, which match the ninja stars on each player's TP tokens, on the 0 space of the PP tracker sheet.

Finally, place a number of Slain markers equal to the number of players in a spot that is accessible to everyone. Return all unused components to the box.

4-player setup example: a deck of 28 cards; a supply of 4 Slain markers; a PP sheet with everyone's PP tokens; each player with a TP sheet and a TP token.

5. Round Setup

This game is played over multiple rounds. At the beginning of each round:

Shuffle the deck of cards and deal 7 cards (in a 3- or 4-player game) or 6 cards (in a 5-player game) face down to each player.
In a 3-player game, place the remaining 3 cards face up in the center of the playing area, visible to all players. These cards are referred to as Victim's Cards.
In a 5-player game, deal one 5-player only card to each player and place it in each player's back row. Place the Ninja side face up when playing with the Blue deck. Place the Kunoichi side face up when playing with the Red deck.
During the round, each player will place the cards they select into their play area, organized into 2 rows. Make space for 4 cards in the front row and 3 cards in the back row.

Play area example: Front row and back row within your play area. Your cards: 7 cards in 3-/4-player; 6 cards in 5-player. In a 5-player game, place the 5-player only card here in your back row.

6. Game Round

Each round consists of a Draft Phase, a Resolution Phase, and a Scoring Phase. Multiple rounds are played until a player scores a certain number of Pride Points (PP).

Draft Phase

Select one card you want to keep from your hand and place it face down in front of you.
After everyone has selected a card, on the count of "one-two-three," each player either reveals their selected card face up or keeps it facedown.
- If you reveal it face up, place it face up in your front row.
- If you keep it face down, place it face down in your back row.
! You may only place 4 cards in your front row. If you already have 4 cards there, then you must keep the card face down and place it in your back row. Similarly, you may only place 3 cards in your back row. If you already have 3 cards there, then you must reveal the card face-up and place it in your front row. In a 5-player game, you start with 1 card in your back row, so you may only place 2 additional cards there.
Pass the remaining cards to the player on your left. The cards you receive from the player on your right become your new hand. Go back to step 1 and continue the draft phase. If there are no cards left to pass, then the Draft Phase is over. Proceed to the Resolution Phase.

! You always pass your cards to the player on your left.

Resolution Phase

In this phase, you resolve the abilities of the 7 cards you chose in the Draft Phase.

Reveal all face down cards. You may not change their positions.
Resolve everyone's cards at the same time, in card initiative order. For the Blue deck, start by resolving all 1's. For the Red deck, start with 0's.
Track any Temporary Points (TP) you gain or lose on your TP tracker sheet. If you were Slain, refer to the Slain section on the next page.
Go back to step 2, and resolve the next cards in numerical order until all cards have been resolved. That is, resolve 2's, then 3's, and so on.

! Your TP may go into the negatives. If this happens, flip over your TP marker to its red side to indicate that you are in the negatives.

Card Placement

Some cards have different abilities depending on their position.

Front icon (F): This icon indicates Front. Resolve this ability if the card is placed in your front row.
Back icon (B): This icon indicates Back. Resolve this ability if the card is placed in your back row.
Either icon (E): This icon indicates Either. Always resolve the ability, regardless of the card's position.

Slain Keyword

Some cards may slay you! When you are slain, follow these steps at the end of the current initiative order resolution:

Take a Slain marker. If you already have one, do not take another.
Reset your TP to 0, regardless of whether your TP is positive or negative.
Continue to resolve your cards and score TP from the next set of cards in the card initiative order.

Example: You are currently resolving card initiative order 2, which is Miko. You are Slain by the front row ability. After resolving everyone's Miko, reset your TP to 0 and take a Slain marker. This means that you lose all points gained from Ninja and Samurai, and do not gain any points from Miko. However, you will continue to resolve your remaining cards and gain TPs starting with card initiative order 3, which is Onmyōji.

Since you were slain by Miko, you lose the TP gained from Ninja, Samurai, and Miko (marked in red). However, you can still gain TP from Onmyoji, Sumo Rikishi, and Kabuki (marked in blue).

Secrecy Keyword (Red deck only)

Secrecy is an advanced mechanic exclusive to the Red deck. It triggers different abilities of cards and is calculated as follows:

Secrecy = (The total of the card initiative values in your back row) minus (The total of the card initiative values in your front row) plus (any bonus secrecy from Kunoichi).

Example: These are the 7 cards you chose.

Back row total: 4 + 0 + 5 = 9
Front row total: 3 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 6
You have 2 Kunoichi. Bonus secrecy from Kunoichi: 1

Number of Kunoichi	1	2	3	4+
Bonus Secrecy	0	1	3	6

Your Secrecy: 9 - 6 + 1 = 4

! Oni has a special ability where its Secrecy value becomes 0 when placed in the front row.

Scoring Phase

All Temporary Points (TP) you gained this round convert to Pride Points (PP). If you had negative TP, you lose PP! However, you cannot go below 0 PP.

Track your PP on the Pride Points tracker sheet using the Pride Points token matching your color and ninja star.

3- or 4-player game: If anyone has 20 or more PP, the game is over. Proceed to the End of the Game.

5-player game: If anyone has 15 or more PP, the game is over. Proceed to the End of the Game.

If the game does not end, another round is played.

Reset your TP to 0.
Return all Slain markers to the supply.
Turn all cards face down and create a new deck. In a 3-player game, remember to include the 3 cards set aside as Victim's Cards.
Go back to Round Setup to start a new round.

7. End of the Game

The game ends when a player has scored the required number of Pride Points (PP) as stated in the Scoring Phase section.

The player with the most PP is the winner.
If there is a tie, the player who was not Slain in the final round is the winner.
If still tied, the player who had more Ninja or Kunoichi in the final round is the winner.
If still tied, all tied players share the victory!

Resolution Phase Example

Let's walk through an example Resolution Phase.

(Example image: the cards you chose.)

Resolve [1]: Ninja and Samurai. You have 1 Ninja and another player has 3 so you are not slain. Score 1 TP from Ninja and 1 TP from Samurai in the back row.
Resolve [2]: Miko. You have no Miko, so nothing happens.
Resolve [3]: Onmyōji. Unfortunately, you have 2 Onmyōji, so you are slain. Reset back to 0 TP.
Resolve [4]: Kabuki. You have two Kabuki in the front row, and fortunately only one other player has Kabuki. Score 2 TP each, for a total of 4 TP.
Resolve [5]: Sumo Rikishi. You have 4 TP before resolving Sumo Rikishi, so you score 1 TP.
Resolve [6]: Shogun. You have no Shogun, so nothing happens.

You scored 5 TP, so you will score 5 PP at the end of the round.

8. Card Ability Clarifications

Each entry lists the card's initiative value in parentheses, followed by the number of copies used per player count (3P / 4P / 5P).

(1) Ninja (3P = 8 / 4P = 8 / 5P = 9)

Count how many Ninja cards you have. If you have the most, you are Slain. If two or more players are tied for the most, then no one is Slain.

Each card is worth 1 TP, but if you have five or more, each is worth 2 TP (e.g., 10 TP for five cards).

(1) Samurai (3P = 3 / 4P = 3 / 5P = 3)

A Samurai in the front row could protect you from being Slain by having the most Ninja, but it costs you 2 TP.

A Samurai in the back row provides a bonus that scales with the number of Ninja cards you have.

(2) Miko (3P = 4 / 4P = 5 / 5P = 5)

Count how many Miko cards are in the back row across all players. This number affects the ability of your Miko in the front row.

A Miko in the back row has no ability; it is placed there only to slay another player who has a Miko in their front row.

(3) Onmyōji (3P = 4 / 4P = 4 / 5P = 5)

Count how many Onmyōji cards you have. This number affects the ability of each Onmyōji card.

Note: When you have three Onmyōji cards, you gain 1 TP per card, for a total of 3 TP.

Becareful when passing Onmyōji cards as your left neighbor may use them to Slay you!

(4) Kabuki (3P = 4 / 4P = 4 / 5P = 4)

Count how many players have Kabuki cards. In a 3-player game, one or more Kabuki cards in the Victim's Cards count as one player.

(5) Sumo Rikishi (3P = 0 / 4P = 3 / 5P = 3)

Before scoring any TP from Sumo Rikishi, check each player's TP. This card's ability triggers based on how many TP each player has before resolving the card.

(6) Shogun (3P = 1 / 4P = 1 / 5P = 1)

Shogun scales based on the number of players who were Slain in this round. This is where the Slain markers are useful.

In a 3-player and a 4-player game, you count yourself if you are Slain. However, in a 5-player game, you do not count yourself.

(0) Kunoichi (3P = 7 / 4P = 8 / 5P = 8)

Having more Kunoichi will give you a bonus Secrecy and increase your TP. However, be cautious as having too many Kunoichi may lead to you being Slain by Fallen.

Number of Kunoichi	1	2	3	4
Bonus Secrecy	0	1	3	6

(1) Fallen (3P = 3 / 4P = 3 / 5P = 3)

Placing a Fallen in the front row may Slay the player with the most Kunoichi. Similar to Ninja, if multiple players are tied for the most, no one is Slain.

Fallen in the back row will cause you to lose TP. This can be powerful when combined with Monk's back row ability.

(2) Geisha (3P = 4 / 4P = 5 / 5P = 5)

The ability of Geisha triggers based on your Secrecy.

Placing a Geisha in your back row will grant you TP, but it will be harder to maintain a high Secrecy.

(3) Monk (3P = 3 / 4P = 4 / 5P = 4)

The front row ability of Monk triggers on how many Oni, Yakuza, and Magistrate cards you have.

The back row ability is unique in that it you gain Pride Points (PP) equal to the value of your negative TP (example: gain 4 PP if your TP is -4). Be sure to increase your TP after this card is resolved.

(4) Oni (3P = 3 / 4P = 4 / 5P = 5)

Similar to Onmyōji, count how many Oni you have. This number affects the ability of the card. When you have three Oni, you gain 1 TP per card for a total of 3 TP. Note that this ability will Slay all players with the most TP.

When Oni is placed in the front row, treat its initiative value as 0 when calculating Secrecy.

(5) Yakuza (3P = 3 / 4P = 3 / 5P = 4)

A Yakuza card in the front row gives you 2 TP.

Count how many Yakuza cards are in the back row across all players. If there are two or more, the player with the lowest Secrecy is slain. No one is Slain in case of a tie.

(6) Magistrate (3P = 1 / 4P = 1 / 5P = 1)

A Magistrate card in the front row scales based on your Secrecy, so aim for a high Secrecy value. You do not lose TP if you have negative Secrecy.

A Magistrate card in the back row allows you to achieve very high Secrecy, but may cause you to lose TP. Note that the back row ability differs slightly between 3-player and 4-/5-player games.

Words from the Designer

This project marks a personal milestone for me, as it represents a dream nearly 10 years in the making. Pride of Ninja is a meaningful title for me, and I hope you will enjoy this new version of the game with entirely new deck and stunning artwork, features that were not in the original Japanese version. It is my sincere hope that this game reaches the hands of as many people as possible.