New Class- Shinobi

[Balgus]

Shinobi of the Hidden leaf- Shinobi relies on quickness and cunning. He is adept at manipulating his
body's energy into physical forces.

I basically took the bard:
- spells and class features + jutsu
- 2 skills/lvl +Evasion and impr evason (kawarini)
- Weapons and armor/shield proficiency +Monks’ AC bonus, and WIS to AC

weapon prof- all simple, kunai, shuriken
armor and shield prof- none, but shinobi gets WIS bonus to AC
HD- D6
skills- 4+int
Monk's AC bonus
Bard's BAB and Saves
Level / CP / Class Ability
1 / 2 Speed +10, improved unarm strike, Jutsu 1
2 / 5
3 / 10 evasion
4 / 14 Jutsu 2
5 / 20 Speed +20
6 / 27
7 / 35 Jutsu 3
8 / 44
9 / 54 Chuunin Rank (D6)
10 / 65 Speed +30
11 / 75 Jutsu 4
12 / 83
13 / 91 Improved Evasion or Kawarini
14 / 100 Jutsu 5
15 / 110 Speed +40
16 / 121
17 / 133 Jutsu 6
18 / 148
19 / 165 Jounin Rank (D8)
20 / 200 (Something Cool)

Skill list: balance, climb, concentration, disguise, escape artist, gather info, hide, jump, listen, move Silently, spot, suvival, tumble, use rope

Jutsu- at any lvl where you receive a new jutsu, you may choose from any of the following. Manifesting the jutsu uses one chakra point from your chakra pool per lvl of manipulation. You can spend up to your lvl in chakra points per round.

Upon gaining access to a second jutsu, you can take a second one, or the same one again to increase its power. The jutsu now does one Die higher in damage, But you have to pay +1 CP to manifest.
Example- you take firee breath at lvl 1, and again at lvl 4. You now deal 4d6 (5 CP) in damage instead of the normal 4d4 (4CP). But since you can only spend your lvl in CP per round, you can only manifest 3D6 (4CP).

Katon Ryuuha- fire breath- you deal 1d4 per chakra point spent.
*at chuunin lvl, you can control your fire breath: You can breathe in a line (5ft x 30ft), cone (15ft x 15ft) or semicircle (10 ft radius). reflex (DC 10 +caster lvl/2 + Wis Bonus) for half damage.

Kage Bunshun- you produce one clone per chakra point spent. Each clone has only one HP, deducted form you HP total. If the clone is destroyed, you lose that HP. If you recall that clone, you regain HP.
*Taking this jutsu a second time will allow your clones to manifest jutsu at ½ your lvl and at 1.5x normal CP cost. These CP does not count towards your max CP manifested per round.

Shadow Bind- Roll D4 per CP spent. The total X3 is the maximum distance your shadow can travel to bind target. Will save (DC 10+ caster lvl/2 +Wis) harmless. Otherwise, target must imitate caster exactly. Duration-concentration
*Multiple Bind- taking jutsu second time will allow you to split your shadow to bind more than one target. Each target makes Will save. The total shadow length does not change.

64 point Strike- Every target in 10 ft radius makes reflex save to move out of target area. Caster then deals any combination of 1,2,4,8,16,32,64 points to anyone left in area. Caster must pay 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 CP respectively to deal full 64 points of damage (so if you only have 4 cp, you can only deal combo of 1,2,4,8 = 15pts of total damage, 5 cp = 1,2,4,8,16 = 31 total)
*At Chuunin lvl, your radius increases to 20 ft
*At Jounin lvl, you learn 128 point strike

Garouga- Blind Spinning charge- Deal 1d4 per chakra point spent. Caster moves into target square (AoO) but the charge does not stop. The attacker must move the full distance of the move action, pushing the target back that distance, and cannot voluntarily stop mid charge.
*With the mobility feat, you can change directions of the charge, but the full move distance is kept. You spend 1 CP per turn of up to 90 degrees
*At Chuunin lvl, you may hit a second target if your speed allows.
*Taking Jutsu a second time will allow you to charge at 3x your speed, and hit the same target a second time (if your mvmt permits) or multiple targets twice each. Note that you need at least 10 ft for a charge.

Lightning Edge- Chidori- Touch attack -Deal 1d4 per chakra point spent.

Kawarini- If you pay CP equal to your lvl, you can avoid damage altogether by placing a clone in your place. Attacker then makes spot check to see if he notices where you went. If check fails, you can move your character up to 50 ft away from original position without being noticed. Target gets +2 circumstantial bonus against spot check because attacker is occupied with attack and is not expecting the switch.

Chuunin Rank- your strength at chakra manipulation is increased from 1d4 to 1d6 per chakra point spent. This stacks with jutsu increases (so if you took firebreath at lvl1, and again at lvl4, your jutsu strength would be D6 per CP. At lvl 7, you take Kage Bunshun and at lvl 9, your fire breath will deal 8d8 damage instead of just 9D6)

Jounin Rank- your strength increases from 1d6 to 1d8 per chakra point. This stacks with the jutsu increases (so with the same example, you will deal 18D10 at lvl 19 instead of 19D8)

 

[gogo_jerrick]

looks slightly overpowered.........especially from the jutsu abilities. Fire breath, am i misreading when it says 1d4 * 1d4 * CL? If you had the points available and were 20th lvl, and rolled a 4, you would deal 80d4 points of damage in an area(avg=200 pts of damage)? That's massive, and a bit overpowered I'd say. That's the equivilent of a meteor swarm and an empowered meteor swarm just to do avg damage. That's a 9th and 11th level spell(24 minimum)

 

[Brasswatchman]

Someone else was taking a stab at a Naruto-based class over on the Monte Cook boards a while ago. Here's a link to what he had:

Click here.

 

[Balgus]

looks slightly overpowered.........especially from the jutsu abilities. Fire breath, am i misreading when it says 1d4 * 1d4 * CL? If you had the points available and were 20th lvl, and rolled a 4, you would deal 80d4 points of damage in an area(avg=200 pts of damage)? That's massive, and a bit overpowered I'd say. That's the equivilent of a meteor swarm and an empowered meteor swarm just to do avg damage. That's a 9th and 11th level spell(24 minimum)

*edited original post for clarity

Sorry- It was a bit confusing. What I meant was:

for every point of chakra, you roll 1d4 of damage.
So at lvl 4, you roll 4d4 in fire damage (ref for 1/2) and at lvl 20, it would be 20d8 (cursed seal lvl 2), ref for half. which is avg 90 point of damage- ref for 1/2. Not at all too overpowered in my opinion. considering a lvl 20 fighter can deal way more damage with his 4-6 hits at ~30 pts per hit.
So looking at it that way, I think it's a little UNDER powered.

My plan was to scale the abilities with the class. And have it varied it enough that it doesn't have too many abilities. But instead, have a signature ability you can use for the class. Maybe even, instead of having the person take all seven jutsu, they will take one, or two, and scale that up in power and make it comparable to the barbarian rage...

Hopefully, with fine tuning, I can make some feats to go along with it, and level it out at the higher end.

Thnaks abunch
Keep'em coming

 

[Kisanji Arael]

This is a small rant. I'll address your class after three dashes, so read or don't at your own behest. It'll probably end up with me making a class of my own.

ummm.... Naruto spoilers. Don't read if you intend to watch the series and haven't been watching subs. Of course, if you've only been watching the English series, you won't know half of these characters at all.

The problem that seems to arise in the Naruto based classes that I've seen is that they all try to encompass too many of the classes or they try to hit the more interesting abilities, ignoring the brunt of the class. I don't like the 3.5 Ranger, but a similar set of powers might need to be set in for Shinobi to be accurate to the series. I feel that there are a few things that most have in common (The only thing I think we all agree on is that they need evasion), but ewveryone else feels differently. For instance, you do a nice job of implementing Sasuke (as well as parts of others) but some characters, such as Temari or Hinata, you don't cover at all. What needs to be set up is a "level of aptitude" marker. What I mean is... A character gains so many skills just by leveling. But for master warriors to learn the big skills, the ones other that aren't standard teaching, they have to find them and be taught. Sabin from FFIV and the Bum Rush. Goku and everything he ever learned. Monkey and the secret of cloud-hopping. These "insane" skills need to be found individually, earned, and then payed for with XP.

I feel that the whole thing needs to be done in learning potential. At the very beginning of his or her career, a shinobi should decide which of many routes they want to go. As an example, Li would take a disadvantage which made his body dead to magic and psionics (leaving only taijutsu), and his determination would give him bonuses to Will (running after having passed out from exhaustion) and Reflex (rising leaf, I think his style is callled). His stats would probably be in the range of Str 18, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 12 Wis 8, Cha 6. Yeah, that looks right, though charisma might be a bit high.

Before we begin this, remember that Naruto, much like DBZ or Bleach, is for the large part broken. If you hit 20th level before they turn ten, you're special, not exceptional.

Li would, by the time he went to the Chuunin tournament, have access to No weak skills (Kawarimi, Henge, Bunshin) but in exchange he would have the rising leaf, the special Gai-style taijutsu (which he would spend chakra to use) and the ability to control the bandages on his arms (this is his only weapon type thing). He would also have a skill which gave him speed boosts after removing his leg weights. He'd have hidden skills in Drunken Boxing, and (like most shinobi) skills in hiding, jumping, throwing weapons, and unarmed combat. finally, and most powerfully, he would have an ability very similar to but even stronger than rage, in his Initial Lotus ability. If it were just these I would place him at about CR 10 or 12--- certainly capable of dealing with most foes his size, but would face significant problems when it came to giants, dragons, etc.

Then we get his "other" technique. I won't elaborate on this, but it puts him up at least four levels. It imbalances nearly everything by itself. He had to earn it by showing his dedication, training for it for months, and literally putting everything that he could into learning it, overcoming any chance at other fun, for this skill. In addition to his effort, he would also give up a certain number of "maximum techniques that can be learned" points. It would cost him, it would be imbalancing, and it would ultimately limit what he could learn, but that's the only way to balance a technique like this.


---
I generally like how you've made them a psedo-psionic class, based off of psi points. I like that a lot. I think you're the first one to have done that. If I were you, I would set the jutsu up in chains though, so that after shadow bind, you learned multiple shadow bind, then shadow strangulation (or whatever the thing's called).

64 point strike is too powerful, and doesn't accurately represent what you want. It's ability damage (cutting the tenketsu) and it cuts off the chakra flow, sealing Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, as well as psionic potential. It can kill, but the power isn't in the damage. Power point should be 1 for the first level and each additional level should cost three more. AKA - If you had 6 PP you could only cast 2 levels. First level should deal 1 damage, then d2, d4, d6, d8, d10, d12. Each level has a 12% cumulative chance of sealing all magical and psionic abilities. It should also seal the following: first level - Con based skills. Second level- Str and Dex based skills. Third level through sixth level - all Physical stats reduced by 3 for duration. Remember, there is also the 128 seal much later on, but I don't know what it should do.

I hardly think that cursed seal is a power that should be handed out. It's a plot point, not a level skill. Oh, and it drives you insane and you lose your will completely to the one who gave you the seal, which isn't something that should be considered lightly Overall, there are much better skills that could be handed out in its place.

The summon is too powerful.

You forgot all of the minor skills. Bunshin no jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, Henge no jutsu, Kai,and the hiding technique (shown in episode 1 with the fence).

 

[Balgus]

Wow! thanksa lot for the feedback.

I was thinnking of putting th elesser jutsu in. Like Kawarini would be: you give up CP equal to 1/2 damage dealt, and you can avoid the attack. But then that would dip into the limited CPool. Plus, it would give the class too many abilities. I had to take some out for balance.

Also, I wanted "up the wall" from psionics. But thought that could be achieved through combinig balance and climb checks. The improved speed would make up for any slow down in the running up or down of trees/walls.

The hiding jutsu would just be a hide skill. And the class has average skill points. Didin't want to step on the toes of the rogue. Plus, four is plenty.

Hyuuga's ability would be a problem. As psionincs, this would be alternate, and different from the other two. My DM ruled that spells and psi work the same way, and so spellcraft, SR and the like works for both. I didn't want to make something that would break the system. Just a character that had a few spiffy abilities to flash. Sealing chakra flow would be dangerously powerful. My DM would never let that fly in a game.

As for it being overly powerful. Take it compared to fireball at lvl 7 (which is when you get the full power of the jutsu). A lvl 7 fireball deals 7d6 fire damage to 20 ft radius- with say 4 people in the radius (not uncommon) which is a total of 25*4 people ~100 points. The 64 pt strike would deal 127 points spread between the four. OK- slightly overpowered, but fireball scales and jutsu doesn't. Now take the same example at lvl 10: fireball does 35*4~140 points. Then you throw maximize and empower, you go way over. Jutsu is stagnant at 127. So from lvl 7-9, it is great, but at lower and higher lvl, it is weak.

As for following the movie and progessing one person in one jutsu, I thought about that too. Maybe a person can take the same jutsu more than once, each time they would increase the power in that jutsu. like Chidori: take once, it would deal D4 damage. Second time (at lvl 4) you deal D6. At lvl 9, the cursed seal would improve that to D8, and at lvl 19, to d10.

As for the cursed seal being plot hook and should not be incorporated in the game, I had to find a way to improve the jutsu so that it is not too powerful in th ebeginning, but not too weak at higher lvl.

The summons are no more powerful than time stop, or power word kill. But I can see where the problem can come in. Maybe I should take that out altogether and make it an epic thing.

Still working on this- but thanks a bunh for the feedback. It really helped.

 

[Kisanji Arael]

Change cursed seal 1 to Chuunin rank, and cursed seal 2 to Juunin rank. Set it up like 2nd Edition druid: you have to go through the test before you can gain the level.

Now that my brain is up for a bit more, here is my suggestion to make this class workable. Delete the skills and jutsus. All of them except for evasion and improved evasion.

At first level, the character gains an aptitude. This could be, for example, Rock Li's ineptitude for all but taijutsu, but would be countered by the ability to learn taijutsu at half cost (this is how I'm justifying the fact that he is game breaking to myself). It could be Naruto's near incompetance (learns skills at 50% extra cost), balanced by a psion's Power point pool and Fast Healing 1 (not that I'm saying it's balanced without the mental trauma, mind you). It could be any number of power sets, or even a bloodline power (which gains access to hidden techniques associated with it).

*minor spoilers*

At each level, the character gains a certain number of "talent" points which he can put toward Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu (Oh, right.... where do you have that again? ) They can be saved up between levels, and each skill has requirements and a learning DC. Any character learning skills not directly associated with his aptitude must succeed at a DC at each of the many stages of learning a skill every week. For Rasengan, pro exemplia, Naruto must first succeed at a DC (15) to learn the first stage, the water baloon. For the second stage, the save increases to 24. However, he is aided by the time he takes on it, and eventually seeing the cat rolling the ball gives him a bonus (DC -5 due to fundamental realization). At 19, it is easily within reach for him, given enough time. Finally, the third stage increases the DC to 35. He is unable to perform the technique on his own, but with a Kage Bunshin, he is able to use synnergy to learn the skill. However, until his own skill gets high enough to use it on his own, he is unable to cast the skill without Kage Bunshin or the aid of Kyuubi.

It's also possible that Naruto has help on that technique due to his geneology. *cough cough*.

Add Up the Walls. That's a good idea. Oh, and put in an equivalent for water walking at a later level. Also, while fast movement is definitely part of the package, I think that the emphasis is more on bursts of speed.

 

[Balgus]

That's a lot to take in. Good ideas tho

Wow! That basically scraps my entire idea and makes another one- more in line with the manga, but extremely hard to get right.

First- the easy one: Fast movement. Since this is almost never an issue out of combat, I didn't see the need to place it as a free-action activate in combat jutsu. Instead, keep the movement stagnant, and say that outside of combat, he slows down so as to not leave his party behind.

Second- the Genjutsu is too complicated. and they would fall under the realm of the bard or other illusion based casters. I wanted to concentrate on the ninja aspect- and some special techniques that would set them apart from the other classes.

Now- the characters: Of course it would be best if I could have it like a fighter- set up the character and skills/feats chains where the character can level up and choose them as they see fit. But that would require a huge amount of work to set up each char, and their skills. And also the balance is hard to keep.

I know that Naruto characters are super powerful- you have Genins taking out Jounins. That is why I toned down their power a lot.

But I do like the suggestion of having Chuunin and Jounin rank take the place of the cursed seal. That would get rid of the faces people give me when all my char have th ecursed seal. Plus, I could save that now for a PrC- if it ever comes to that.

Thanks a bunch
Balgus

 

[Kisanji Arael]

Oh, I didn't honestly expect you to follow my advice. That was my rant mode again.

No, I put my only serious suggestion before the split, hoping you'd follow it, and then I slipped back into "the thing I'm too lazy to do myself but can describe rather well"

 

[Storyteller01]

Why not leave the bard spell progression in place, using them as the jutsus known. Several spells fit what I've seen (granted, I've only seen a few episodes). Or perhaps have jutsus based off of skill rolls.