So a friend told me that there was a playtest of the classes, I just greedily DL it. Gunslinger, Ninja, and Samurai after looking them over applause applause (no sarcasm) they look good. You can play a theme with them ie. portray historical figures that were Gunslingers and Samurai or you can do a 7th Samurai/Gunslinger and throw in the Team feats. The Ninja you can do a teenage mutant... well you get the idea; in a campaign I'm currently playing I staked my claim on her(the ninja in the playtest pdf the ninja is a she). When I played 3.5 the DM wouldn't allow me to play a ninja for some reason *shrug, and I shook my fist at him saying, "one day just you wait one day..." if only he could see me now *diabolical laugh. My bad I don't know where I was going with that rant. It was love class at first sight for me because it was the first time that I had absolute had clarity as to how I would want to build her.
I am truly excited for the way Paizo constructed the Ninja, for she has the awe, stealth and mystic; which in legendary sense plays up to and beyond our own world of Ninjas. For in Pathfinder she can attack pressure points, vanish, throw her voice, jump great distance, climb, smoke bomb people, make multiples of herself and even make her own double etc.
It is also brillant that she can use starting at 2nd level Ki powers and ninja tricks ( you can replace trick for rogue talent to give her minor/major magic which gives her spell like ability). In using ninja trick, if you chose Forgotten Trick she can use any minor ninja trick by spending the appropriate Ki points. Furthermore with Forgotten Trick she can experiment on the minor tricks to see which will be her permanent trick for the 4th level. If you were to multiclass a Monk and Ninja then her Ki pool value would increase which would grant her options on how to spend her Ki points (check Ki descriptions for details on the compatibility, as well with GM and the rules). In order for the Ninja to use the Ki powers it stems from her charisma score whereas the Monk it's his intelligence/wisdom.
In my humble opinion, there are some discrepancies I have with the class regarding the Ki pool. As you already know the Monk and Ninja so far can access Ki power, but yet they can't use the same bonus feats or powers that require Ki points. Take for instance the feat Wholeness of Body if the Monk spends 2 Ki points he can heal some damage, with the Ninja this feat is not accessible. In the spells list the Sorcerer/Wizard share the same spells thus they are compatible in that regard. Thus so should both Ninja and Monk have compatibility of Ki feats and powers also.
I would also like to say that considering that the Ninja is a super or glorified rogue, I hope to see her included in the updated version of the Pathfinder Society classes (psst I'm looking at you PFS). Now if this doesn't happen I will pack a suitcase and take my pathfinder material and spend the remainder of my days in a psyche ward wearing a housecoat and slippers, mumbling in a zombie like gaze " ninjas belong in PFS, ninjas belong in PFS" repeatedly banging my head on the glass window.
I am looking forward to the official release of UC, happy gaming people ^_^
