Pirates vs. Ninjas

[Hussar]

Stream - I'll see your pirate and raise you a ninja:

 

[Pbartender]

Anyone who says "pirates" will be stabbed in the back.

Brisco County Jr.: Uh, we heard you were alive, Pete.
Lord Bowler: We just didn't believe it. We saw you get killed by that Chinese death star with our own eyes.
Pete Hutter: Well, that's the thing about your Chinese death stars. An hour later you're alive again.

"The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.: High Treason: Part 2 (#1.27)" (1994)

 

[Asmor]

A ninja leaps from the clouds onto the bow the pirateship, unarmed. He quickly kills the captain with his own hook hand. Immediately, the ninja is set upon by angry swashbucklers. The first dozen, he stabs with the captain's peg leg. The next thirty he stabs with the captain's parrot. The last eight? He stabs them with the captain's eyepatch.

Ninja wins.

 

[Bump2daWiza]

No contest. The pirate. They go gangsta on your ass.

 

[Riposte]

Ninja is associated with a specific skill set. It's like a class. They use stealth a certain way, fight a certain way, and dress a certain way.

Pirates? More of a profession. It's like calling bandits a class. Anyone can be a bandit. Pirates are bandits of the sea. Pirates have existed in many cultures and still exist today. It's not just swashbuckling.

In fact, in some lores, ninja are pirates from the east who trade against the law of an eastern empire.

 

[Shadeydm]

Ninja is associated with a specific skill set. It's like a class. They use stealth a certain way, fight a certain way, and dress a certain way.

Pirates? More of a profession. It's like calling bandits a class. Anyone can be a bandit. Pirates are bandits of the sea. Pirates have existed in many cultures and still exist today. It's not just swashbuckling.

In fact, in some lores, ninja are pirates from the east who trade against the law of an eastern empire.

Would it be better if we framed the question in 3.5 and called it Swashbucklers vs. Ninjas?

 

[drothgery]

Would it be better if we framed the question in 3.5 and called it Swashbucklers vs. Ninjas?

No, because munchkin powergamer pirates and ninjas wouldn't touch those classes with a 10' pole.

Besides, in 4e it's Rogues vs. Rogues, so probably a draw.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Stream - I'll see your pirate and raise you a ninja:

Umm...mine WAS a Ninja. A Ninja in a semi futuristic world wearing a skintight body suit that presumably does useful crap like heat shield, but a Ninja nonetheless. Nice pics, though.

 

[thundershot]

And I thought Hussar's looked more piratey..




Chris (pirates all the way, but my campaign will most definitely have pirates AND ninjas)

 

[Trickstergod]

Pirates, no contest. It's called a gun, son. There's a reason that modern day armies don't run around with katanas and shuriken and it's because firearms replaced them.

A pirate's probably not all that sneaky. Not fantastic in a fight. But all the ninja moves in the world aren't going to help you when someone shoots you mid-flight during a jump kick.

Pirates, easy.