[OA; 3.0] assassin in rokugan

[Bastoche]

I do not own the rokugan book, so our campaign is only based on the novels and the oriental adventures book so bear with me.

In the Shosuro family of the scorpion clan, it is said that they are mostly ninja spy and assassins.

Since there is no wizards in rokugan (no wujen either) how do you (should you) treat assassin's spells? Since int is important for the death attack, it couldn't be treated as a sorceror (or a shugenja for that matter). I'm wondering if I should just remove the spells and give them something else. What do you think.

Maybe it could've been posted in the house rules forum. But rule-wise, what should be done. It's more of a flavor issue than a rules issue ????

What are you doing in your rokugan campaign concerning assassins?

 

[hong]

I'd switch them over to spontaneous casting, but keep it based on Int. That's what the 3.5E assassin does, in fact.

Or you could remove the spells and give them funky spell-like abilities, a la the OA ninja spy. That would work too.

 

[Westwind]

I always took that reference to assassins as more a profession than a class. After all, ninjas pretty much fill that role (and a few others). If you wanted them to be distinct, then I guess you could either define the spells as maho or tejina.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Rokugan d20 has the ninja class, which is IMO more suited for rokugan.

You can keep the assassin as a special kind of ninja with shinobi magic (like one of the assassins used in the Crane Scroll of Clan War). The Way of the Ninja (a sourcebook for L5R d20) has more on shinobi magic (including new prestige classes and the like) afaik.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

The only thing the 3.0 assassin has in common with the Wizard is that they're both Int-based casters with spellbooks. I don't see what the compelling reason is to change that for OA, though an oriental "book" might be a scroll.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

I always took that reference to assassins as more a profession than a class.

Given that the sentence has parallel construction between "ninja spy" and "assassin," I'm 100% certain they meant to indicate the prestige class in both cases.

 

[Bastoche]

The only thing the 3.0 assassin has in common with the Wizard is that they're both Int-based casters with spellbooks. I don't see what the compelling reason is to change that for OA, though an oriental "book" might be a scroll.

Like I said, it's more of a flavor issue than an actual rule issue.

Kae Yoss: Shinobi magic... I haven't thought of that. Could you tell in which chapter. I read the crane book a while ago, I don't remember that part...

 

[Kae'Yoss]

The only thing the 3.0 assassin has in common with the Wizard is that they're both Int-based casters with spellbooks. I don't see what the compelling reason is to change that for OA, though an oriental "book" might be a scroll.

Except that you don't just gain magic in rokugan. You don't read some books and become a spellcaster. You are either a shugenja, negotiating your powers from the kami, or you are a maho tsukai, a blood sorcerer, which uses blood and the dark and tainting power of the shadowlands to fuel your spells. Other than that, you have to be gaijin and use foreign magic.

These two are the only great forms of magic in rokugan. The only known forms. The Nameless Darkness can grant its corrupted minions the power to emulate illusions: Shinobi.

Kae Yoss: Shinobi magic... I haven't thought of that. Could you tell in which chapter. I read the crane book a while ago, I don't remember that part...

[Spoilers - so if you read the Clan War series or will do so someday, you might want to skip that part of my post]

Chapter 3 (Toshimoko). The part where the assassins attack the lion ambassadors and the high-ranking cranes. On page 50:

..."Shinobi! Ninja magic!" Hoturi screamed....

The Way of the Ninja has more information on that kind of magic AFAIK, and Creatures of Rokugan has a couple of prestige classes, amongst whom are the Shadow-Walkers, beings currupted by the Nothing and able to use Shinobi spells.

[edit: significant t]

 

[Bastoche]

1000 thanks! I'll check that right now! (I guess you meant "Hoturi" not Houri )

 

[Black Omega]

Given that the sentence has parallel construction between "ninja spy" and "assassin," I'm 100% certain they meant to indicate the prestige class in both cases.

The quote goes as follows

Shosuro characters adopt either the ninja spy prestige class detailed in chapter 3or the assassin prestige class from the DMG.

So there is little doubt James Wyatt meant the Assassin prestige class. and I can't blame him, he had only one book to do a campaign world AEG has taken somerthing eight books (and counting) to really do out, and reusing non asian stuff saves space.

It's worth checking on the AEG website. They released the pdf for the ninja class there, so you wouldn't need to spend any more to add it to your game.

Use it however you wish, though. Leave it as is for your game, if that fits. Or change the magic to a complex series of gestures, a sort of ninja magic. Or even ki powers or a darker sort.