D&D 3E/3.5 (3.5) aw screw it, I'm playing a Ninja

[krupintupple]

Instead, I'd try to figure out what it is I want my "ninja" to do and then find the class or class combo that lets me do it... also look at classes like the bleh, Lurk or blah.

i'd second the lurk, as your stand in for a "ninja".

if you're leery about psionics, merely rename it "Knowledge of the Whispering Shadow" and power points "Shadow points", and you basically get a re-flavoured character that can do everything a ninja can, except better.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

Human Ninja all the way

your skills should reflect how you want him to play, is there another rogue in the party? thats nice, max out balance and tumble and jump, be a ninja, they were stealthy and moer agile than some common thief

feats?
if you focus on melee, anything that helps helps
toughness is always good, mainly at low levels atleast
but ninjas, well speed... dodge boosts your armor, take enough ranks in tumble and start fighting defensivly and you never get hit (cept for that rare time you do and its a fire giants, and he crits you, and you die..yeah, bad memories) then take mobility, good for moving through people, but it opens up spring attack, over looked because of its requirments, but being able to move, strike, and move again, its pretty ninja

also, focus on a single attack destroying a foe
sure, twf is nice because who doesnt like having two weapons? but you only apply sudden strike on one attack, this is where power attack comes in
only one attack? MAKE IT COUNT! with an enemy already denied dex bonus, you can hit easier, so power attack can really mess people (or monsters) up, and if you are a human, perhaps take a very un-ninja weapon, you get an extra feat after all, exotic weapon proficeny with teh bastard sword can make you deadly (remember, a katana is a masterwork bastard sword, so it makes sense) or even the kursu-gama, it doesnt do much damage, but it has reach

now onto a more importantly overlooked part of ninjas, poison use

this, if done right, keeps the DM on their toes, applying poison takes a round, but if you apply poison and not use the weapon for a few rounds, they forget, then you can destroy your foe

and lastly, your KI ability, stay ninja, you get cooler uses and with the right feats they put the paladin's smite to shame

 

[Dandu]

toughness is always good, mainly at low levels atleast

No it isn't. A feat which provides a very small benefit that does not scale with level cannot be called good.

There's a lot wrong with most of your advice, but someone else will probably come along to address that.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

Im saying what worked for me, not what works for you, the greatest thing about D&D is everyone plays differently, my ninja was all about ambush and hit and run, someone else's can be different, thats no problem, im just saying what worked for me, granted he had to be brought back after an unlucky turn of events against some giants, atleast I wasnt the knight who fell into the lava!

 

[Dandu]

And that's great, but from an objective, mechanistic point of view Toughness sucks harder than a leech.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm hardly a mechanics optimizer, preferring instead to make my build descisions based on what helps me best model my PC concept.

...And I agree with Dandu: I've never used Toughness for a PC, even after they published feats that have it as a prereq. It's poorly thought out- it SHOULD have done something like boost your Con-based HP bonus, maybe even boosted your Fort save. As is, I can only see it being a benefit (taking into account all other build options) for the oddest of corner-case PCs.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

If I were playing an arcane caster in a level 1 one-shot game and had nothing better to spend my feats on...toughness would actually be nice for ~+50% hp. That's basicalyl it for usefulness, though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If I were playing an arcane caster in a level 1 one-shot game and had nothing better to spend my feats on...toughness would actually be nice for ~+50% hp. That's basicalyl it for usefulness, though.

And even then, Goodman Game's Wizard Strategy Guide called it "Fool's Gold" and I opted for a Toad familiar and a pair of Draconic Heritage feats for my 1st level, maul-wielding, scale-mail wearing human standard sorcerer rather than Toughness.

Honestly, I'm not sure I even included it in my Martial Arcanist database.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I thought I included the word "core" in there, but apparently I forgot to.

If it's not core, I'd do Precocious Apprentice (Scorching Ray) + Fiery Burst reserve feat, myself.

 

[pawsplay]

No it isn't. A feat which provides a very small benefit that does not scale with level cannot be called good.

There's a lot wrong with most of your advice, but someone else will probably come along to address that.

I think, in brief, one could do worse than following the opposite of all the advice given.