[Yoritomo]

Wandering Shinobi While the shinobi villages of the world have played pivotal roles for over a century now, with so much death and change occurring due to their existence it is easy for people to forget that they're a relatively new creation in the history of the world. While the youngest of generations couldn't possibly imagine a world without them, there are still some alive today who lived without them, fighting not for their village, but for their clans, immediate family, or their local lord. While many countries sponsor shinobi villages, there is still a larger majority that does not fund their own and instead typically rely on one of the established villages to handle their missions. It is in countries like this that some shinobi still follow the old lifestyle of training themselves in the ways of a shinobi and selling their skills as a mercenary when possible. Although there are not many shinobi walking this path these days, it does offer an odd sense of freedom. While there is no village to support their training and help them to push beyond certain limitations this lack of village support also means that they do not have to tote the village line, enabling them to travel to any nation in the world without having to worry about what the diplomatic situation is between where they're going and where they're from, at least not to the dangerous levels of someone from a shinobi village. Rules for Wandering-nin 1. Wandering shinobi regardless of rank can not start with any techniques higher than B rank. Any slots that would be for something over that (including specialization allowances) will instead be bumped down to B. 1.1 Wandering-nin who are of Academy Student rank may begin with the allowed three academy techniques. 2. Wandering-nin ranks follow the same Rank as any other fellow shinobi. [E.g. Academy Student, Genin, Adv. Genin, Chuunin, Sp. Jounin, Jounin, Elite Jounin] 2.1 The appropriate age for each rank follows the same rules it does for normal shinobis and their ranks, which can be found here. 3. Due to the lack of formal education regarding chakra and jutsu, Wandering shinobi initially have difficulty learning A & S rank techniques unless they have someone teach them or gain a good enough reputation with a shinobi village who would be willing to help them learn the techniques. Any such deal with a village would need to have an appeal filed that would require two staff members' approval as well as the approval of the village's leader. If no kage/lord/lady or shinobi council member is available to sign off on it then one of the staff okay'ing it must be an admin. The first 4 A rank techniques & S rank techniques cost 50% more xp to learn/purchase (this increase is taken after any relevant specialization discounts or penalties) unless the Wandering shinobi had a teacher or an affiliation established with a village, in which case they will pay the regular cost of the jutsu. After these initial jutsu Wandering shinobi may develop and learn A & S rank techniques normally. 4. Shinobi from villages caught teaching non-village shinobi high-ranking techniques; especially any kind of village-specific technique with that wandering-nin not being given the okay to learn in the village will likely get in trouble with their kage/lord/lady or shinobi council. 5. Wandering-nin unlike Missing-nin has no real restrictions on joining open threads. If a thread is going on in a country controlled by a shinobi nation or in a non-shinobi nation they may enter it freely. The only minor limitation they have is described in the next rule. 6. Wandering-nin while typically welcome in most shinobi villages [although a kage/lord/lady may refuse to allow wandering-nin in their village if they so choose] still do need to sign in at the gate upon entry. Any other attempts to enter the village without declaring yourself at the gates would be seen as a security risk and suspicious if not seen as an outright attempt to infiltrate and potentially carry out nefarious acts. 6.1 A village leader may implement rules to prevent wanderin-nins from entering the shinobi village, but they cannot completely ban them from the country without facing consequences. Village leaders who forbid wanderin-nins from entering their country completely will be unable to hire wanderin-nin for events/missions while the rule is in effect, and any opposition during events, skirmishes, or high-rank missions will automatically receive extra backup in the form of wandering-nin. 7. Wandering-nin may take missions from any village they have entered. However, rather than just claiming the mission a wandering nin must apply for the mission and the village kage/lord/lady or shinobi council member must okay them taking it. In some circumstances the Jounin Hanchou or Head Medic might be allowed to okay, but only if it is a mission specifically within their purview. 8. Wandering-nin may also register their missions. The IC reasoning behind this is that they would be taking missions for people who might not be able to afford a village shinobi to handle it or might not have the time to go to/message a shinobi village to take the job. However, missions not taken from a village will be limited to B rank or lower. 9. Unless Buki/Tai primary spec, Wandering-nin are not allowed to start with a S-rank weapon. They may however gain one IC'ly. They would either need to take one from a PC they have defeated/killed (although that may earn some ire from their village), by having a civilian smith make them one, or possibly through an event reward. 10. As wandering-nin are not supposed to start with any sort of connection to any particular village, wandering-nin may not generally be part of a village-based clan. However, wandering-nin may be part of scattered clans.