Introduction
Are you a fan of both the anime Naruto and tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons? If so, why not combine your passions by creating a custom tabletop RPG setting for D&D based on the anime Naruto? In this article, we'll break down what makes Naruto a unique setting, explore how to take those elements and apply them to a homemade D&D setting, and discuss how to reflavor high fantasy to ninjitsu. So grab your dice and get ready for an adventure like no other!
Breaking Down Naruto's Unique Setting
Naruto is beloved by many for its distinct and captivating setting that seamlessly blends high-octane ninja action with deep character development. Here are some key elements that make Naruto a unique setting:
Naruto Uzumaki: The titular character, Naruto, is a young ninja with a dream of becoming the strongest ninja and the leader of his village, the Hokage. He's characterized by his determination, unwavering resolve, and the spirit of never giving up.
Ninja World: The story is set in a fictional world where ninjas exist. Different ninja villages, each with its own leader and specialty, play a significant role in the story. These villages are often in conflict or form alliances.
Chakra: In the Naruto world, chakra is the energy source that ninjas use to perform incredible feats like superhuman speed, strength, and elemental jutsu (techniques). Training in controlling and using chakra is a central aspect of becoming a ninja.
Jutsu: Ninja techniques or jutsu are divided into three categories: Genjutsu (illusionary and mind control techniques), Taijutsu (physical combat techniques), and Ninjutsu (ninja techniques, which is a catchall for what is basically ninja magic). Characters often have a unique jutsu based on their abilities and elements. These abilities may be passed through bloodlines or simply from a teacher to a student. A notable case being the Uchiha eyes, which grant a variety of abilities, and can actually be removed and implanted in others. "Magic" eyes are a common element within the series.
Naruto's Dream: Naruto's goal to become the Hokage is one of the central themes. He wants to earn the respect and recognition of his peers and the villagers who once shunned him. Naruto, should be a villain by all rights. He is an embodiment of how we are all determined by our choices more than anything else.
The Tailed Beasts: These are powerful, ancient creatures with immense chakra sealed inside human hosts. Naruto is the host of the Nine-Tails Fox, which plays a significant role in the series.
Villains and Antagonists: Throughout the series, various villains and antagonists pose threats to the Naruto world. Characters like Orochimaru, Itachi Uchiha, and Pain are central to the story's conflicts. The juxtaposition of Naruto and Sasuke is central to much of the series, both with plenty of reasons to hate their village, both with plenty of childhood trauma. Naruto chooses friendship, Sasuke chooses revenge.
Friendship and Bonds: Naruto emphasizes the importance of friendship and bonds between characters. Many characters have personal struggles and redemption arcs that revolve around their relationships with others. Possibly more than anything else, the effect Naruto has on characters who seem irredeemable defines the series.
Training and Growth: Characters in the series undergo intense training and personal growth. They become more skilled and mature as they strive to achieve their goals. This is a common theme to most martial arts based fiction. A lot of kung fu movies revolve around sequences of the protagonist being defeated, then training with a wise old master. They go on to defeat the old obstacle only to run into a new one, rinse and repeat till the wise old master reveals their secret technique, which the protagonist uses to defeat the big bad of the movie.
Ninja Exams and Missions: The story often revolves around ninja exams, missions, and conflicts. These events serve as the backdrop for character development and plot progression.
Themes of Legacy and Destiny: The idea of inheriting the will of previous generations and making one's destiny is a recurring theme in Naruto. “Sins of the father” is a strong theme throughout the series. Which is to say, many of the villains have experienced understandable traumas, often at the hands of the prior generation, which fuel their actions.
Complex Characters: "Naruto" is known for its well-developed characters with intricate backstories and motivations. The characters' evolution over time is a significant focus of the series.
Ninja War: In the latter part of the series, a large-scale war breaks out, involving many of the ninja villages and the various tailed beasts. This is all wrapped up in some really weird mythological stuff about where ninja powers come from, and in my opinion isn't a great ending. However, Naruto marries Hinata, that is beautiful, so I can forgive the more insane stuff.
Applying Naruto Elements to a D&D Homebrew Setting
Now that we've broken down the unique elements of Naruto's setting, let's see how we can incorporate them into a custom D&D setting:
Characters: Players and game masters alike will need to look more to Asian media for character archetypes. Not that universal archetypes aren't present, of course they are, but they are seen through the lens of a different country. In order to capture the feel of anime, you need to observe the flavor of anime character archetypes.
Ninja Clans as Factions: Instead of traditional fantasy races or factions, you can introduce various ninja clans as the main factions in your setting. Each clan can have its own unique abilities and specialties, providing players with a wide range of options.
Chakra Instead of Mana: As far as I know Dungeons and Dragons never outright gives any explanation for how magic works. So saying it's Ki or Chakra instead of Mana or Ley Lines, or whatever western fantasy tropes you usually would use, isn't difficult.
Jutsu as Spells: To bring the jutsu element into your D&D setting, you can reflavor existing spells or create new ones inspired by the jutsu in Naruto. For example, a fireball jutsu can be translated into a fireball spell, while a water manipulation jutsu can become a control water spell. The components used in DnD for spell casting is already mostly present in Naruto. The complex hand gestures and yelling to gather energy is no different to somatic and verbal hocus pocus. The only major difference is material components, which do not feature much in Naruto. Some require something physical to take place, such as painting, or casting ones shadow, or using prepared scrolls full of weapons, etc. The solution of which is very simple, either ignore it if you are aiming for actually playing in the world of Naruto or one just like it, or keep it as normal to preserve game play balance. In my experience, material spell components rarely come up anyway, and there really isn't much consistency with them to begin with. You can cast a disintegrate spell with a lodestone (natural magnet) and a pinch of dust, which you get to keep. If a character is killed and disintegrated the only solutions are two 9th level spells. Wish, which has its own drawbacks, OR True Resurrection, which requires diamonds worth 25,000 gold, which are consumed. Healing magic in general is far weaker and/or more expensive. I find these differences to be arbitrary and motivated more by the desire for melodrama than game balance.
Hidden Powers as Class Features: Just like in Naruto, you can introduce hidden powers or bloodline limits as special features for certain character classes. This allows players to tap into their character's unique abilities during gameplay. It encourages you to work with your players to find a gimmick they can lean into more so than normal DnD games.
Gish-Tastic: Naruto is the ultimate sort of setting for players who love Gish characters. Which means characters who use both physical and spell based abilities. While it could be viewed as limiting, a Naruto based setting practically demands that players be either a subclass that adds casting, like Eldritch Knight, or half-caster classes like Ranger.
Go Hog Wild On Power Levels: Naruto is not as nuts as the various Dragon Ball series in terms of, literal, planet destroying power... but it's not too far off. So don't be afraid to go a bit nuts with homebrewing some crazy powers and abilities for both your players, and your antagonists. It makes keeping things balanced harder, but it's more fun.
Reflavoring High Fantasy to Ninjitsu
The biggest step in shifting a game using DnD rules into a more Naruto based setting, is reflavoring existing elements.
Classes and Subclasses: Reflavor existing D&D classes and subclasses to fit the ninja theme. For instance, a rogue would fill the role of a traditional ninja, while a sorcerer subclass could focus on elemental manipulation. As mentioned before it is a setting that lends itself to characters who combine spellcasting and martial abilities. Pretty much every character in Naruto can fight and has powers that would be considered magic.
In order to really capture the feel you will want to require players to either take half-caster classes, subclasses that give spellcasting, and multiclass. Starting at third level and having all characters start with two levels of Monk, plus one level in another class gives the best foundation to capture the feel of young ninja who are setting out on their first missions are newly graduated full ninja.
The real problem is that characters in Naruto tend to have one specialist power, while in D&D characters often have lots of options for what they can do. Especially spellcasters. Unfortunately there is no obvious answer for how to approach this. It depends on how close to Naruto you want to get.
The lite version is to play DnD pretty much normally, but to reflavor everything. The more difficult version, would require a lot of homebrewing.
Weapons and Armor: This one is a lot easier. Replace traditional fantasy weapons and armor with ninja weapons like shurikens, kunais, and smoke bombs. Reflavoring equipment can go a long way in creating an immersive ninjitsu experience. Pretty much every weapon common in DnD has some sort of Chinese or Japanese equivalent, and you can also draw from anime and video games. Both are full of characters using huge sword, or other strange weapons.
Quests and Storylines: Craft quests and storylines that revolve around espionage, infiltration, and secret missions. Emphasize the stealth aspect of ninja gameplay, rewarding players for their cunning and ability to navigate dangerous situations unnoticed.
Conclusion
Creating a custom tabletop RPG setting for Dungeons and Dragons based on the anime Naruto opens up a world of possibilities for both fans of the show and tabletop gamers. By incorporating key elements of Naruto's unique setting and reflavoring high fantasy elements to have a ninja anime feel, you can create a captivating and immersive experience for your players. So gather your friends, unleash your imagination, and embark on an epic adventure filled with magic, mystery, and ninja prowess!