The rules are fairly fast-paced and shift rapidly. Players should memorize them perfectly and not use any kind of written aid.
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**Supplies needed**: None, in the worst case. Ideally, each player tallies how many stars they have thrown--you tally in front of you on paper, or take a penny from a stack in the middle whenever you throw a star. If you wish, you can play with a 30-minute timer. If your group has trouble keeping track mentally, you can also use nine nickels to track throwing stars.
-##Before starting
+##Setup
One player shouts "First!". A second player shoulds "Second!". The slowest player is Third.
- the first player decides the **Place**. Do ninjas have naruto powers or they realistic? Are there cell phones? Is your team good or bad? Where does the exam take place?
- the second player decides the **Team**. They come up with three ninjas. Everyone else picks a ninja--whoever grabs it first gets it. The **Team** player gets the remaining ninja. Whoever grabbed the very first ninja is in **Front**. I recommend naming ninjas after one-syllable colors (Green, Red, and Blue), and having each player be the same color game to game.
-- the third player decides the **Mission**. They decide the mission the three ninjas have to accomplish for their final exam. How complex the mission is determines how long the game will be.
-- Each player grabs three **ninja stars**. Every time you throw a star, it will be to the Front ninja. You will lose a star and they will gain a star.
+- the third player decides the **Mission**. What exactly do the three ninjas have to accomplish for their final exam? How complex the mission is determines how long the game will be.
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+Stars
+- Each player grabs three **ninja stars**. You never throw stars as Front. Every time you throw a star, it will be to Front. When you throw, you lose a star and they gain a star.
- You can keep track of how many ninja stars you have in your head, or by counting on your fingers. Ninjas don't talk about how many stars they have. If that doesn't work for your group and players lose track, pass around nine coins instead.
-- The Front ninja is the team leader, so they assign the three **Roles**--Goal, Enemy, and Cheat.
-- The goals of the game are to accomplish your mission, be super awesome, and throw as many stars as possible as quickly as possible.
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+The Front ninja is the team leader, so they assign each player a unique **Role**--**Goal**, **Enemy**, or **Cheat**.
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+The goals of the game are to accomplish your mission, be super awesome, and throw as many stars as possible as quickly as possible.
##Front
-One ninja is always in **Front**. The are the team leader and decide what the team does. Attention is on Front. Front's team accomplishes tasks quickly, in cool ways, and then quickly goes to the next step of the plan.
+One ninja is always **Front**. The are the current team leader and decide what the team does. Attention is on Front. Front's team accomplishes tasks quickly, in cool ways, and then quickly goes to the next step of the plan. Who is in Front will shift rapidly.
- Front should describe both what the team does, and what's happening in the world. If there's a lull, another ninja can jump in and describe what's happening in the world.
- Ninjas are cool, skillful, deadly, quiet, efficient, they cheat constantly, and they have perfect teamwork. The point of the game is for the ninjas to show off being as awesome as possible.
##Problem Stars
- **Goal** throws Front a **star** to introduce a new goal, or shift an existing goal. A child might scream in a nearby room--the team needs to save (or gag) them. Or their assassination target might turn out to be an undercover agent, and the real villain is someone else. They yell "Goal" and quickly explain what happened and what the new goal is.
-- **Enemy** introduces new enemies or events (someone spots you on the roof). Enemies are always people, never physical obstacles. Front or Cheat introduces physical obstacles. They yell "Enemy" and introduce the problem.
-- **Cheat** throws Front a **star** to introduce a twist or surprise. They're consistent with the Place set up at the start, but it might not match the story so far. The car you stole to get away was rigged with remote explosives, or the boss you killed in Act One shows up again looking fine, with your infiltration plan in hand.
+- **Enemy** introduces new enemies or events (someone spots you on the roof). Enemies are always people, never physical obstacles. Front or Cheat introduces physical obstacles. They yell "Enemy" and introduce the problem. An enemy could be a boss, a horde of peons, or a lone watchman ready to sound the alarm.
+- **Cheat** throws Front a **star** to introduce a twist or surprise. Surprises are consistent with the Place set up at the start, but it might not match the story so far. The car you stole to get away was rigged with remote explosives, or the boss you killed in Act One shows up again looking fine, with your infiltration plan in hand.
##Point Stars
-- Front doesn't grade the team--only the other two ninjas throw points stars.
-- If the team accomplishes a goal, does something quickly, **Goal** throws Front a star. If the team accomplishes a goal, but Goal or Cheat throws in a twist as they finish the original goal, Goal should still throw Front a star.
+- Front never awards points--only the other two ninjas throw points stars.
+- If the team accomplishes a goal, or does something quickly, **Goal** throws Front a star. If the team accomplishes a goal, but Goal or Cheat throws in a twist as they finish the original goal, Goal should still throw Front a star.
- If the team does something cool, or Front introduces an obstacle, **Enemy** throws Front a star.
- If the team does something skillfully or in a clever way, **Cheat** throws Front a star.
- If a ninja runs out of stars, they shout "Ninja Down". They are now Front. The old Front immediately swaps Roles with them, permanently. For example, if Front (Red) was Cheat, and Enemy (Blue) runs out of stars, then Blue becomes both Front and Cheat, and Red takes over as Enemy. Both other ninjas throw the new Front a star so they're no longer out.
- If **Goal** decides the team accomplishes the main goal, they shout "**PASS!**". The ninjas have passed the final and won the game. The game is over.
-##Grades
+##Exam Grade
- At the end of the game, your score is the number of stars you threw. My recommended method is to make a tally mark whenever you throw a star. This is your individual grade. The team score is the sum of the individual scores. If you don't have paper, or don't want to keep track, you can just guess instead.
- (Optional) The ninjas **fail the final** if 30 minutes pass and they haven't won. They also lose one point for each minute that passed before they complete their mission.