War, fighting, and death are significant parts of the Shinobi world. Whether in the name of their Village or the pursuit of a personal goal, the life of a shinobi is filled with battle, it is a cornerstone of the Ninja World. Nations vie for territory; shinobi hold grudges and assassins stalk the night hunting their marks.

Understanding the rules for combat, death, and character retirement is key to enjoying NarutoSaga. As with all things, fighting another character on Saga has its own set of rules, as well as moderators and criteria they judge combat based off of. Detailed here are the rules, incentives, and terminology for Combat and Death. Combat on Saga is always moderated as a case of Character vs Character, and not Writer vs Writer, this is to say merits are judged based on in-character logic and actions, not dictated by out of character details between or about the writers of characters.

By default, fighting is allowed in any thread, but characters may not be killed unless the thread has been tagged as Killing Enabled (KE), if a thread has not been labeled in this manner, there is no way to alter it in order to enable killing. Many Narrator Threads and site Storyline events may also be labeled as Killing Enabled, along with forums or sub-forums related to events.



Godmodding & Auto-hits -
In a role-play, you are only allowed to decide the actions and outcomes of things which directly affect your character. You cannot, by this logic, infer a hit onto another Player Character without their permission. The same is true for all forms of physical contact and environmental factors. Under no circumstances is it acceptable to infer any imposition on another player with certainty or as if it has already happened.

Metagaming -
The use of Out of Character (OOC) knowledge to influence the actions of your character, such as details of a person's Specializations, Elements, Clan or Jutsu List that a character could not reasonably know is strictly forbidden. Metagaming will include 'inexplicably' knowing an opponent's weakness or exploiting it in a way your character has not discovered. Using such methods to gain an advantage IC is considered disallowed. In addition to this, you cannot use writing to obfuscate details that would not reasonably escape a character's notice in-character, especially if this would cause the player of that character to cause them to react in a way that they wouldn't otherwise. This means the reverse is also true, you may not use out of character knowledge or write in such a way as to conceal details which could not be concealed in-character.

Powerplay & Realistic Limits -
Characters do not have endless stamina, nor are they omnipotent or all-powerful. Even though another player may not automatically hit you, it is the responsibility of all players to respect the limits of their rank in combat and represent fatigue, as well as injuries that have been withstood in an appropriate manner. This also extends to characters preparing for an absurd number of attacks or 'what if' scenarios. It is acceptable for a shinobi, especially one of high rank, to prepare for multiple scenarios, but not for an unreasonable number of, or infinite reactions.

Combat Posts & Posting order -
Posting order is an important part of roleplay at all times but especially so in combat, once combat begins, posting order is strictly enforced. Players should only post on their turn and may not infer something as having occurred until a full posting round has finished. When writing in a combat thread with another player, whether Killing is enabled or not, it is expected that all participants be able to understand the events occurring in the thread. For this reason, combat posts are expected to follow certain rules. Timelines in combat posts must be linear from first to most recent action. Combat posts should be in English, should be clearly readable, have no concealed words and contain no attempt to obviously confuse others. It is the responsibility of players to clearly explain the content of combat posts if asked.

OOC Hostility -
Attacking one another OOC is unacceptable. Harassing another player is never allowed, or players allowing PvP to influence their OOC actions is not acceptable. All players are expected to handle the subject of combat maturely and respectfully and are always encouraged to solve all disputes between one another before contacting a member of staff.



Combat is a way shinobi have honed their skills since the inception of ninja society. When fighting against another player, whether Killing is enabled or not, there are certain benefits. Combat incentives are reasons to forge an ongoing rivalry, teach your students in a spar, or participate in wars or battles.

Training Reduction -
When fighting with other players in a combat thread, Word Count used in that thread to train Stats and Techniques receives a 10% Word Count reduction benefit to whatever is being trained. This bonus stacks with any other bonus such as Quick Learner and applies to the thread as long as at least two rounds of combat posting have occurred.

Chakra Pool Increases -
By defeating other players of your rank or higher in combat, you may gain access to an additional 5 chakra, up to two times per rank. You may only gain this benefit from each opponent one time per rank (+10 at D-rank, +20 at C-rank, +30 at B-rank, +40 at A-rank, and +50 at S-rank).

Custom User Titles -
Continued success in combat threads against other players or in battles and events can result in a character being granted a custom user title to reflect their prowess.



Because there are Combat Incentives tied to defeating other shinobi in combat, these guidelines help to determine when you can consider having won an encounter and how you can expect combat threads to be moderated. Because Combat Incentives are active whether Killing is enabled or not, victory is not tied to the killing of another character implicitly for any victory condition. Battle Moderators judge combat based on a variety of factors including stats, descriptors, character experience, and most of all logic to determine rulings in the case of disputes.

Lethal Damage Threshold -
Shinobi are known for being able to withstand incredible punishment, their chakra and will alone allowing them to persevere. When characters withstand damage that would destroy or immediately kill a person, instead, they reach their Lethal Damage Threshold and are required to represent a lethal or devastating amount of damage on their next in-character post. While in this state, characters become cleansed of the effects of paralyzing techniques or effects which stun or impair their senses, such as Genjutsu, but are considered to have E-rank stats. Techniques which cause shinobi to bleed, suffocate or otherwise take lethal damage over time take 3 posts always before triggering this threshold. Causing another ninja to reach this threshold fulfills the requirements as a victory condition. In a Killing enabled thread, shinobi may only be killed on the post after their Lethal Damage Threshold is reached.

Bound & Unable to Act -
If a character is able to restrain another character or force them to remain unconscious or otherwise unable to act for a duration that would exceed 2 posts, they are considered to have fulfilled the conditions to combat victory.



Death is a reality in the shinobi world and ninja are trained to be vigilant. Though they can survive great punishment and are often able to escape before the moment of death, sometimes shinobi are killed as a result of their own negligence or lack of strength. In addition, characters may be Retired. Whether a character is killed off or retired, a player may apply for the character retirement benefits depending on the rank of the character. Once a Death and Retirement reward has been redeemed, the death/retirement is always permanent and there are no exceptions. To permanently kill or retire a character, make an Administrator Request linking to the thread where the character retires or is killed, as well as to the most recent version of the Character Application/Sheet.

As stated, all threads on Saga are Killing Disabled by default, this means that within those threads, characters are unable to be killed permanently due to actions initiated by other players; such as taking actions in a thread which would result in the imminent death of another character (cutting their throat, etc). Death may still occur in Killing disabled threads as long as all parties have agreed to such an outcome. Combat is allowed and still encouraged within Killing disabled threads and still grants its benefits as normal, it merely explicitly disallows death from occurring due to another player. Players may initiate their own death in any manner they may like, whether the thread allows Killing or not (such as in the event of a cinematic or non-combat death scene).

In a Killing disabled thread, players should not use the rules as a shield to prevent death even when taking actions of their own accord which would clearly result in their likely demise if it were not due to killing disabled rules. In the event the rules are being abused, Battle mods may enable Killing in a topic or make a ruling based on a character's actions as if Killing were enabled. Players may not imprison or capture a player in a thread that does not allow killing in order to move them to a thread with Killing enabled.

Retirement Rewards -
When a character dies or is retired, a player may redeem one of the following rewards.

B-rank character Retirement -

• 2000 Ryo.
  
• Four free C-rank or lower techniques or items.
  
• Next character may have stats begin at D-rank.
  

A-rank character Retirement -

• 3000 Ryo.
  
• May create characters beginning at C-rank.
  
• Five free B-rank or lower techniques, up to 2 may be traded for items of equal rank.
  

S-rank character Retirement -

• 4000 Ryo.
  
• May create characters beginning at C-rank.
  
• B-rank starting character or C-rank starting character with Genius Perk.
  
• Six free A-rank or lower techniques, up to 2 may be traded for items of equal rank.
  

Characters beginning at higher ranks may have two Stats begin equal to their rank and the rest of one rank lower.