D&D General The 5e Ninja, would it be a class or a subclass?

[Corinnguard]

Back in 3e, Complete Adventurer had a 20-level Ninja class. If WoTC brought the Ninja class into 5e (for a possible 5e Kara-Tur setting? ), would it be its' own class or would it be a subclass of another class (such as the Monk or the Rogue)? And if it was its' own class, what would everyone like to see in it? Ditto for subclasses.

 

[J-H]

The Shadow Monk covers 90%+ of the pop-culture ninja themes quite well. Stealthy, shadow teleporting, surprise attacks, nerve cluster poke disables, martial weapon use (monk dedicated weapon), wall-running, etc. The only thing it doesn't really provide is the ability to do disguises or poison, but most pop-culture ninjas prefer to wear ski masks and black gis instead of looking like "just another peasant in the field when the samurai walk past."

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I'm going to be boring and say Ninja should be a background, with proficiency in Acrobatics, Stealth, the clan secret language/hand signals, and either Poisoners kit or Disguise kit. Maybe each clan could offer a different feat? Alert, Lucky and Skilled all fit, and Magic initiate goes a long way with minor illusion.

Between various monk and rogue subclasses I think the mechanical fantasy is actually pretty well covered. The assassin covered the murder ninja and the thief's fast hands covers the smokebomb tossing ninja that climbs around.

The background also allows for wizard ninjas, fighter ninjas, etc without making a subclass for each class.

 

[Corinnguard]

but most pop-culture ninjas prefer to wear ski masks and black gis instead of looking like "just another peasant in the field when the samurai walk past."

Or in the case of the Shinobi from the Naruto anime, a special forces-like uniform.

 

[Steampunkette]

The Shadow Monk covers 90%+ of the pop-culture ninja themes quite well. Stealthy, shadow teleporting, surprise attacks, nerve cluster poke disables, martial weapon use (monk dedicated weapon), wall-running, etc. The only thing it doesn't really provide is the ability to do disguises or poison, but most pop-culture ninjas prefer to wear ski masks and black gis instead of looking like "just another peasant in the field when the samurai walk past."

Fun note: That's because of traditional japanese theatre!

In traditional japanese theatre you had actors wearing costumes performing on stage, you had sets and staging in the form of furniture and the like, and you had people who wore all black from head to toe that weren't part of the "Scene" but existed as stagehands.

They'd come in during scenes to move furniture around, wave fans to represent winds, or otherwise do "Special Effects" for the actors.

And in at least a few plays, -one- stagehand represented an assassin that you couldn't see. So you'd have the stagehands doing their thing, and then one would pull a knife and murder one of the actors and it was a big shocking moment because those guys 'didn't exist' within the conceit of the play!

And that's why ninja wear black in most pop culture, even in Japan.

Also you could do it as a monk or rogue archetype, or you could do it as a full standalone class even more completely, which would take notes from both monk and rogue to be 'perfect' based on fantasy tropes.

 

[occam]

I agree with several comments already made, the pop-culture ninja trope is too broad to be represented in D&D by a single class or subclass, and there's no need to create one because the bases are already covered, between the Shadow Monk, Gloom Stalker Ranger, Whispers Bard, practically any Rogue archetype, ...

It works better as a background, IMO. I'd probably do (in 5.5 terms):

Ability Scores: Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma
Feat: Alert
Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Stealth
Tool Proficiency: Disguise Kit (or choice of Disguise Kit, Poisoner's Kit, or Thieves' Tools)

 

[Zardnaar]

Aren't they Samurai in light armor?.

 

[Marc17]

I'd say if you have ninja, then you are doing some sort of Not-Japanese fantasy like typical old D&D was Not-European. It would be its own class. Subclasses would be something like grass, those that act as spies and hidden agents living out their entire lives in a false persona, shinobi, the personal agent and guards of powerful samurai, and then some sort of out in the open agent. They don't claim they're ninja, but those that hire them and those that come up against them usually know. (That's all my interpretation heavily influenced English translations of mangas by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, Lone Wolf and Cub, Path of the Assassin, and Samurai Executioner.)

 

[Plaguescarred]

Ninja could be a Monk or Rogue subclass. I don't know if it wouldn't be too close to them as a full class.

 

[Minigiant]

The Complete Adventurer Ninja is a Rogue subclass that gets Focus points.

The Popular Western Media version of a ninja is a Monk subclass that can FOB with Daggers and shortswords.

The Popular Japanese Aneme/Manga version of a ninja is a 20 level half caster.