D&D 5E Making a real Ninja in D&D

[MichaelSomething]

If you're looking for advice on how to play a historically accurate Ninja, Youtuber and Japanese culture fanboy Gaijin Goombah recently uploaded "How to Build a REAL Ninja in Dungeons & Dragons!" I always enjoyed his stuff and now I can post it here since it has something to do with D&D!

 

[Samloyal23]

Well, take the Rogue as a base, add more combat ability, and emphasize stealth and mobility over social skills. Less picking pockets, more parkour and climbing...

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I would rather a "shadow assasin", a stealth class but with some maneuvers of the shadow hand school from "Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Sword". In my opinion samurai and ninja shouldn't be only subclasses but classes to be published in a future Oriental Adventures (is it now "Wuxia & Tokusatsu" because OA isn't enough politically correct?).

 

[akr71]

My son wanted to play a ninja in our last family campaign. He didn't want to multiclass, so I just put together a Assassin Rogue/Way of the Shadow Monk multiclass path for him. Re-flavor daggers and darts to kunai & shuriken as well as a bunch of other weapons - I even gave him a ribbon ability called 'makeshift weapons' that allowed him to pick up normal everyday (light) objects and wield them as proficient weapons (inspired by any number of kung-fu movies where the hero has to grab something at hand to defend him/herself).

There were a few other non-ninja things on the m/c path that I swapped out for homebrew abilities along the way too. The point is, it was easy to do, and he had his own 'ninja' class.

 

[aco175]

A "REAL" ninja.

 

[Shiroiken]

The problem with making a "real" ninja in any game setting is setting the definition. In the Legend of the Five Rings (AEG editions), ninja is a real class option that is limited to one clan. They fit the stereotypical ninja of Japanese lore, but their mystical powers are much more misdirection than actual magic. There are also the true ninja not aligned to any clan, which have magical powers granted by the Shadow, a mythical being that wants to unmake existence. Both are ninja, but they fit different definitions of the term.

Another problem is the fanboy issue. Look at how many people were upset that the katana was "only a longsword," rather than the uber weapon of destruction they feel it should be. Making a ninja in D&D would suffer the exact same thing, where they're supposed to be able to do everything, rather than being specialists (spy, assassin, saboteur, martial arts expert, etc.). Rogue can cover the first three specialists with different sub-classes, while shadow monk easily covers the last.

 

[TwoSix]

As soon as you label anything as a "real ninja", be ready for a nerdstorm of epic proportions.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Well, if you look at the historical ninja instead of the 80s ninja, CHA would have to be a primary stat (deception and persuasion) and they'd do something like apply a damage die (similar to the monk damage die) to any improvised weapon and farming tools. They would have subclasses for spy, guerrilla warfare, and propaganda. So depending on the specialty, you'd have something like a monk/rogue hybrid, monk/ranger hybrid, or monk/enchanter (in fantasy terms) hybrid.

And anyone they fight named "Oda" would automatically score critical hits against a ninja

 

[MichaelSomething]

As soon as you label anything as a "real ninja", be ready for a nerdstorm of epic proportions.

Good things any ninja worth their salt has a good reflex save!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

A "real" ninja was just a Japanese person from an outcast-but-formerly-well-off family from a certain region (and a certain era) who trained in similar martial practices to other Japanese career soldiers of their day, but with (perhaps) a greater emphasis on infiltration/espionage and (some of the time) certain weapons that were otherwise not as common. As well as a lot of common weapons of the day.

So, sure... a rogue or a fighter. Monk's got too much magic to be real-world "historical". IMO.