Once again, Dragon makes another article that proves they have the best D&D designing team EVER!

And it's not just a bias ninja review, (Ok maybe it is.. :P)

Dragon made several feats that go well with psionic characters or fighters, psi-warriors, soulknives, and fighters would conceivably make the best "ki oriented" ninja as used to describe the ki use in this article. As well as they should!

The Koga also notices the tribute to Naruto, both in the chakrah gestures, the manipulation of ki, and the drawing looking like Sensie Kakashi!

Perhaps with this among articles, The Koga could finnaly create a pirates vs ninja d20!

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks.

I'll own up to being a huge Naruto fan, but I tried to temper some that with honest-to-god research. I knew I was keeping all those back issues of Inside Kung-Fu, and Ninja! from the 80s for a reason. Ah the 80s, when you could prowl the roof of the local junior high in ersatz ninja gear without getting homeland security called on you.

I instantly thought of Naruto when I saw the picture - perhaps it helped that I have a figurine of Master Kakashi above my monitor ;)

I'm glad it wasn't simply a Naruto conversion since I very much enjoy originality over conversions, but part of me wishes Wesley Schneider had okayed my suggestion for a Naruto-based "Divine Inspiration" article. Think of the great feats it could have made!

Clone Jutsu [Ki]
You create illusory duplicates to confuse opponents.
Prerequisite: Ninja level 1+
Benefit: You can spend one daily use of your ki power to create two or more illusory duplicates of yourself, as the spell mirror image.

Shadow Clone Jutsu [Ki]
Your illusory duplicates are real and can fight.
Prerequisite: Clone Jutsu, Ninja level 62nd, must have read sacred Konoha village scrolls (greater artifact)
Benefit: You can spend one daily use of your ki power to create one shadow duplicate of yourself per ninja level. These shadow duplicates use your statistics, but your hit points are split equally among the clones. Your equipment is divided between them as you wish. The shadow duplicates remain for one round per ninja level or until you dismiss them. Clones which are killed disappear in a shower of leaves.

Makeout Paradise [General]
Your senses are so heightened that you can react to opponents even while reading dirty comics.
Prerequisite: Base reflex save +5, Combat Reflexes, Wisdom 15+
Benefit: Once per round, you can take out or put away one nonmagical manga as a free action. You retain your Dexterity bonus to AC if attacked while reading manga. You may make an Attack of Opportunity against any opponent who attacks you while you are reading manga.

Seppuku Anything!
Use the ancient ninja art of killing yourself by ritual disembowlment using anything, be it a coconut, a 10' pole or a masterwork disguise kit!
Prequisite: Dex 28, Character Level 20
Benefit: Spend a full-round action getting super pissed, then use a free hand to grab any object at the end of that round. At the beginning of your next turn, as a free-action, you may disembowl yourself. If you do, everyone in a seven mile radius craps their pants if they fail a Will DC 10 + CL.

Where's the Harem Jutsu!? ;)

The Koga knew it! Kakashi read porn not "romance novels". He's a lonely adult male ninja who doesn't exactly scream hopeless romantic, what else would he be reading?

Alot of The Koga's friends (who happen to be teenage girls) compare him to Kakashi, they have for awhile now, and The Koga only recently started watching Naruto. (At that dubbed for American view Naruto, so that's like.. half of the real thing lol!)

lol, we can only hope for more jitsues later, perhaps even a hadoken! (Not Blackmage hadoken, like Ryu from Street Fighter hadoken..)

Where's the Harem Jutsu!? ;)

Harem Jutsu [Ki]
Your Sexy Jutsu ability can create multiple clones.
Prerequisite: Sexy Jutsu, Shadow Clone Jutsu
Benefit: Whenever you use Shadow Clone Jutsu, you may opt to have yourself and your clones assume the appearance of a naked woman, as per Sexy Jutsu. The DC of the Will save increases by +1 for every four clones you produce.
Special: If your DM is using the "censorship" variant, your female forms are wearing bikinis.

I instantly thought of Naruto when I saw the picture - perhaps it helped that I have a figurine of Master Kakashi above my monitor ;)

I'm glad it wasn't simply a Naruto conversion since I very much enjoy originality over conversions, but part of me wishes Wesley Schneider had okayed my suggestion for a Naruto-based "Divine Inspiration" article. Think of the great feats it could have made!

Clone Jutsu [Ki]
You create illusory duplicates to confuse opponents.
Prerequisite: Ninja level 1+
Benefit: You can spend one daily use of your ki power to create two or more illusory duplicates of yourself, as the spell mirror image.

Shadow Clone Jutsu [Ki]
Your illusory duplicates are real and can fight.
Prerequisite: Clone Jutsu, Ninja level 62nd, must have read sacred Konoha village scrolls (greater artifact)
Benefit: You can spend one daily use of your ki power to create one shadow duplicate of yourself per ninja level. These shadow duplicates use your statistics, but your hit points are split equally among the clones. Your equipment is divided between them as you wish. The shadow duplicates remain for one round per ninja level or until you dismiss them. Clones which are killed disappear in a shower of leaves.

Makeout Paradise [General]
Your senses are so heightened that you can react to opponents even while reading dirty comics.
Prerequisite: Base reflex save +5, Combat Reflexes, Wisdom 15+
Benefit: Once per round, you can take out or put away one nonmagical manga as a free action. You retain your Dexterity bonus to AC if attacked while reading manga. You may make an Attack of Opportunity against any opponent who attacks you while you are reading manga.

Special: If your DM is using the "censorship" variant, your female form is wearing a bikini.

As incredibly corny as it sounds it would probably be very effective versus your average humanoid opponent. Then again, if you have ninjas in your campaign, corniness shouldn't be a deterrent.

Then again, if you have ninjas in your campaign, corniness shouldn't be a deterrent.

(|:|)-<-<

Ninja Level 62? for shadow clone? All I have to say is wow, that has got to be the highest level requirement for a feat I have ever seen. Wow.

Jonathan Drain wrote:

Special: If your DM is using the "censorship" variant, your female form is wearing a bikini.

Don't you mean strategically positioned 'wafts' of cloud-like vapor? ;)

Well, if the ninjas are just dropped in to a fantasy world without a plausible reason for their existence there, then yes they are corny. Especially, if said ninja is still in the black night suit in medieval Europe. But a member of a monastary where individuals are trained to harness ki and develop 1337 ninja skills, does not have to be corny unless it is desired

Craig Clark wrote:

Then again, if you have ninjas in your campaign, corniness shouldn't be a deterrent.

Hey wait. What are you trying to say about ninjas?

(|:|)-<-<

I was thinking of the Naruto game, in which they had to use a bikini because the wafts of smoke are harder to position strategically in 3D.

Well, if the ninjas are just dropped in to a fantasy world without a plausible reason for their existence there, then yes they are corny. Especially, if said ninja is still in the black night suit in medieval Europe. But a member of a monastary where individuals are trained to harness ki and develop 1337 ninja skills, does not have to be corny unless it is desired

There's so much potential for the ninja. The cultural aspects can easily be stripped away. I loved Kyle's article, and the names of the jutsus alone were worth the price of admission. I surely want more ninja material; they're just so much more flavorful than the rogue.

Don't like ninjas in medieval times? Stop playing in medieval times. :P

I didn't even know they had a Naruto game, I have only seen the cartoon, which I do enjoy, but it is a little corny.

The Naruto game is actually on its third sequel (Naruto 4: Gekitou Ninja Taisen), although it's only out in Japan as far as I know. Japan is at leats a hundred Naruto episodes ahead of America so you end up seeing all these weird new characters like a guy with giant backwards hands for wings. I can't see how those can give him better maneuverability than Clumsy...

The article was pretty cool, but what's up with the feats not being supernatural? I'm not familiar with the ninja class, but all of the monk abilities that involve ki certainly are magical.

Could someone, by any chance, tell me at what levels a ninja gains the "ghost strike", "ghost step (invisible)" and "ki dodge" abilities (I think those are all the prerequisites of the jutsu feats), as well as the "ki uses per day" progression? I don't want enough information to use them in any way, shape or form - I just want to turn the jutsu into monk feats, available at roughly the same levels and usable about the same number of times per day. Monk/rogue multiclassing makes for a decent ninja substitute; that's precisely what Eberron's Shaarat'khesh goblins do, and I love the idea of a little stowaway Wind Oxen'ing his victim off an airship.

Craig Clark wrote:

Then again, if you have ninjas in your campaign, corniness shouldn't be a deterrent.

Hey wait. What are you trying to say about ninjas?

(|:|)-<-<

Is anyone concerned about the power level involved with these feats??? I have a brand new ninja in my Age of Worms campaign that outshines both the monk and the paladin with his awesome healing ability. With a single Ki point, he can heal 20 damage to himself at level 5. The Paladin can do that once per day, and the monk won't even come close when he gets a similar ability at 7th level. How do I fix this?

Also, once fixed, I'd like that ability to be used on other people, calling it Reiki. It would work similar to the Paladin lay on hands, but with Ki power. I just don't want the ninja to be able to heal 200 points of damage at 5th level. Any ideas would help.

Honestly, I don't think it's overpowered. Lay on hands and the like are underpowered. I even think this is underpowered. 20 points? You survive one round longer. You use it outside combat? Well, you're that many points shorter for the next fight. It's just another use for a resource, and not really a good one anyway.

Honestly, I don't think it's overpowered. Lay on hands and the like are underpowered. I even think this is underpowered. 20 points? You survive one round longer. You use it outside combat? Well, you're that many points shorter for the next fight. It's just another use for a resource, and not really a good one anyway.

What I'd like to do is open up a unique use for Ki that doesn't take any starch out of the Paladin but is still worth the feats to obtain. A striking balance between "More hitpoints than an appropriately leveled encounter can handle" and "I spent two feats on what??".

Some options include making it Charisma based like the Paladin's Lay on Hands, or simply making it equivalent to a day's rest (1 or 2hp/level). Also, I'm going to have to make it a standard action to heal, rather than a swift.

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be great.

Re-reading the Ninja's healing ability, I find that I was mistaken. I thought it was wisdom multiplied by level, not by 1/2 level(as did my player). I'm okay with the compromise, as the use of two feats and his precious ki pool make the ability to heal very useful, but hardly broken.

As I'm running this Ninja in the Age of Worms, however, an interesting thought occurs: no mention of the Ninja's invisibility states what kind of effect it is. There are creatures immune to figments and glamours, but since the invisibility of the Ninja is not listed in itallics, I am wondering if that will have an effect at all. Also, is the invisibility dispelable, or does it work like regular invis versus greater invis?

It may be cool as a player, but I'm finding the ninja a bit frustrating to DM for.

I always treated it the same as regular invisibility. I say that it should fool even those immunities however. It is the main shtick, it shouldn't be so easily negated. I'd even go as far as see invisibility doesn't reveal the ninja.