Is a Ninja/Barbarian possible?

[Xombie Master]

If, in your world, a Barbarian could train to become a ninja then allow it. It's not powergaming to come up with an odd character idea. To check for powergaming, observe how the player spends his skill points and make some suggestions. Make sure he puts some in skills that show a character with diverse training. A barbarian may have to have Concentration to show his ability to focus on his training. Or perhaps he needed some diplomacy to convince the order to train him. Maybe he needed Gather Information to locate the school before he could seek to learn ninjitsu. This even can apply to feats, tell him he should consider feats like dodge, and combat expertise over power attack and cleave, showing his characters penchant for agility. Every skill point, and feat should reflect on your characters attitude and personality. If he prefers the shadows, than power attack and cleave may be inappropriate (from a roleplaying standpoint.) I find that powergamers loathe spending skill points in skills that don't apply to the physical side of DnD. They like bluff for it's combat applications but ignore concentration or Knowledge skills like the plague. How you play it is the thing.

That's the problem, people seem too quick to label something powergaming. In the event of an odd character sit down with the player during character creation and discuss his plans. You should be able to easily see whether the player just wants to roleplay abilities, or rollplay abilities.

Hope this helps, later.

 

[tetsujin28]

A ninja/barbarian is perfect for flipping out via rage and killing people. What can go wrong?

All he needs is a guitar.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Anyone who can't imagine the possibility that someone could tap into their rage and therefore become a barbarian later in life seriously needs to never DM. Really.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I echo Crothain.. more so since the player has brought you RP reasons for teh advancement this way. Much better to reward his effort with a slight bend of the class...
In order to stop the powergamey approach either:
Rule that he has learned to harness his Ninja Ki in an expression of Rage.. so he can't use both at the same time {potentially overcome this with a Feat}
Rule that he needs to take a Feat to multiclass...showing his cultivation of the beast within...simliar to the feats offered in the Eberron setting for other monk multi-class options.

I would prefer the first option, altho the second option is implicit in my current game.

I might even mention to the player the Dervish variant of the Barbarian whose rage boosts Dex and speed...

 

[Herobizkit]

I have two words for you... Samurai Jack.

Here's a guy that has wandered the world, sucked up all kinds of fancy training, and now wanders the Earth searching for his nemesis, Aku. He goes through a lot of harsh territory, almost always populated with enemies, almost always alone, and he still manages to come out on top.

Soo.... what if Cap'n Ninja was trained by his Ninja School, but then forced away from his training (or perhaps part of his training?) / school is wiped out by "foreign invaders" and left abandoned in some inhospitable territory? There he stayed for months/years, learning to survive by living off the land. Alone. He becomes a hardened man who speaks little (and *shrug* forgets how to read/write?) and is always staving off some sort of danger... environment, monsters, hunger/thirst... and *paf* he is now a Barbarian. And he's angry. Angey at the masters who left him for dead/the invaders who destroyed his village/having been so long from civilaztion that any remnants of it make him crazy (like Tarzan)...

Barbarian's only a title, after all.

 

[GravyFingerz]

Anyone who can't imagine the possibility that someone could tap into their rage and therefore become a barbarian later in life seriously needs to never DM. Really.

Then it is a good thing Dungeon Mastering isn't a part of your portfolio.

 

[Ranger REG]

Any comments?

Well, I would not associate a barbarian/ninja with the term "silent killer."

But if he abandon his barbarian lifestyle for the way of a ninja (which would be oddly civilized), then sure.

 

[ThirdWizard]

To check for powergaming, observe how the player spends his skill points and make some suggestions. Make sure he puts some in skills that show a character with diverse training.

Ugh. I have to fully reccomend against trying to force a player to take skills/feats/etc that he doesn't want in order to see if he is powergaming. "Hey, why don't you make your fighter take Bluff? No? Powergamer!!"

Anyone who can't imagine the possibility that someone could tap into their rage and therefore become a barbarian later in life seriously needs to never DM. Really.

This is one step above not letting someone take Sorcerer later in life. Which is also a bad houserule. "Sorry, you're either born with sorcerous powers or you can never have it. No manifesting the ability later in life."


My take on the situation: it's just two classes. Nobody ever said a Ninja has to be a "Ninja." A rogue can be a ninja and a ninja can be a guy who trains to focus his power within. Which could make an awesome combo with barbarian, since that is also bringing out the rage within. He becomes a very interesting character that can call out two, fairly dissimilar, powers. I think its a great concept.

And, I wouldn't be opposed to those who would rule that you can't rage and ki at the same time.

 

[Nyeshet]

I view becoming a barbarian through later multiclassing as taking a step towards the feral side. As a group, adventuring, I'm not certain how this would occur. I see it more likely occuring in a single character (or small group of characters) somehow separated from civilization for a long period of time. They learn to survive in the wilderness, and in doing so some of the veneer of civilization sloughs off, making them more barbaric - more prone to potentially going hand to hand against a wolf or puma, more prone to rushing into combat instead of using tactics, more prone to using rage.

My main problem with the initial post is not the idea of someone encouraging their anger into becoming a rage - that actually makes a certain amount of sense. But why would they have skills such as Survival? I suggest altering the skill set to a more urban variant - what might be expected of a street thug or a mafia guard. Then I could see it working.

Also, nurturing this chaotic feeling of anger and rage is not the calm / patient way of the ninja. Initially the ninja ki abilities should not be possible while in a rage. I would even wonder about how one could attempt to set up a sneak attack while in a rage - as the former requires precision while the latter uses the near opposite: brute force.

As I recall, there are feats that allow one to continue leveling in the special abilities of one class while taking another (these might be the Eberron multiclass feats mentioned above). Require a feat for the Ki abilities and Sneak Attack to work while in a Rage. You might also have a feat allowing either Rage/day or Ki abilities gained/per day to increase while leveling in the other class (that seems about par for the course in regards to the multiclass feats mentioned earlier).

So: alter the Bbn class skills slightly, and require a feat for using Ki abilities (and maybe Sneak Attack) while in a rage, and I think it will work out okay.

 

[EdL]

Sigh. My knee jerk reaction to this was: ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! However, that was based on my understanding of real world ninja and barbarians. Simply as classes, and given the player's reason for doing so, I have to reverse that decision and agree completely with it. I would, however agree that ki and rage powers should be seperate, no matter what the rules say. This is a role-playing decision that needs to be made, IMHO.

As for the person above who wants to know why a ninja would need Survival? READ something about real ninja!