How cool is the ninja? Really, be honest... Shuriken attack!


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


I am a child of the 80's when I was a kid we would play army man vs ninja's. american ninja's amazing dialogue is burned into my small tiny man brain..

that being said Has any body done the "ninja thing" I feel like the ninja is like the rogue should be with cool ninja powers, But I am afraid if I play one one of 2 things will happen

1. My expectations will not be met and I will cry

2. The ninja will not live up to what I want it to be and I will woefully make the character poorly and the result will be a fat guy in a black mask screaming with a lisp "I am hanzo! HAttorio fear my blade"

I have read the guide to the ninja and I like his suggestions except for dumping will. I realize it may be one sided can any body give me some feedback on how the ninja character went in there game. some pros and cons some realistic non Michael Dudikoff expectations is the ninja able to do more than throw stars wear black and kill people? can he handle a fighter?

EDIT: full can of monster just went in my belly So I am a bit hyper.

Liberty's Edge

A lot of a ninja's success is going to depend on how it is built. However, as a general rule, it will not beat a fighter in a toe to toe match. And really, it shouldn't, ninjas have plenty of other things, let fighters have pure fighting.


IMO NO ONE should be able to beat a fighter in a toe-to-toe match, but that's another thread. :)


I understand they cant take a fighter on. though as a ninja fan boy I think they could. But that is not the whole point of this post what type of ninja build do you like?


the guide said there are 3 options TWF Unarmed or KI focused are here more? what have folks had fun doing?

Liberty's Edge

I, personally, prefer 2 hands on a katana. It just gives better pay out for the investment than TWF.

Shadow Lodge

A ninja who tries to take on ANY of the full BAB classes toe-to-toe should get stomped into the ground. A ninja who fights ANYONE toe-to-toe is a ridiculous failure of a ninja.


so its going to be that thread huh? a can the ninja beat x thread.

Shadow Lodge

I vote Pirate.


Lobolusk wrote:
so its going to be that thread huh? a can the ninja beat x thread.

Could be worse. Could be the "ninjas are better rogues" crowd.


Odraude wrote:
Could be worse. Could be the "ninjas are better rogues" crowd.

I confess that thought had also occurred to me, but I really wasn't out to derail the thread. So, by all means, ninja lovers discuss your recommended builds. :)

Liberty's Edge

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Lobolusk wrote:
so its going to be that thread huh? a can the ninja beat x thread.

You asked "can a ninja handle a fighter." You shouldn't complain that people are answering your question. If you didn't want to discuss that, don't bring it up.

Dark Archive

Lobolusk wrote:
...the result will be a fat guy in a black mask screaming with a lisp "I am hanzo! HAttorio fear my blade"

I lol'd.


I Dm'd a group of tricky ninja assassins called The Sisters of Sundown and had so much fun with them I was sad when the PC's would kill one. They were harassing my players all through some deep canyon ruins so I kept track of their resources and hp during the entire session. I point this out to show that I didn't just one encounter these girls but ran with them for a good while getting a good feel for the ninja class.

I stuck to heavy acrobatics, higher ground action - never, ever went toe-to-toe but rather hit-and-run tacticked the heck out the players. Flitted in and out of the shadows and went all "clever girl" raptor on them. Made them chase a lone ninja into an ambush. Divided and conquered. Veni Vidi Vici. Naw mean?

Now, I understand this isn't your vision of Michael "Joe Dude" Dudikoff, and neither is it mine. So, if we're talking about building a Dudikoff Ninja I'd say just talk to your dm to make a fighter with an asian weapons theme. And make sure you take some unarmed combat feats!

EDIT: And hair mousse. Don't forget hair mousse.


I dunno, the Ninja's sounds like she's a pretty good chance against a fighter... Maybe even better.

Vanishing Trick (Invisibility), Invisible Blade (Greater Invisibility), then Stealth.
The invisibility is at least a +20 to Stealth, Ninja's specialize in Stealth. What's the fighter going to do? He doesn't even have Perception as a class skill, and may not even have the skill ranks to max it.

Blind-Fight would bring in something interesting, and may conflict with Stealth...

Back to OP, Shuriken sounds rather difficult to pull off. Shuriken is a 1d2 weapon, uses Dex to hit, and STR for damage. Probably difficult to pull off without the assistance of feats, magic items, and maybe rolling stats. However, the concept is pretty cool, and I believe you could apply various poisons to each one, or make them all the same for a rather difficult DC... Hm, maybe I shouldn't focus on Damage for shurikens...

Or do something else, Ninjas are pretty stinkin' cool, and with that said, I really need to get back to working on my Ninja for our second darkness game.

Shadow Lodge

Attack + Vanish

Next round

Attack + Vanish

Rinse and repeat.


Marthian wrote:

I dunno, the Ninja's sounds like she's a pretty good chance against a fighter... Maybe even better.

Vanishing Trick (Invisibility), Invisible Blade (Greater Invisibility), then Stealth.
The invisibility is at least a +20 to Stealth, Ninja's specialize in Stealth. What's the fighter going to do? He doesn't even have Perception as a class skill, and may not even have the skill ranks to max it.

Blind-Fight would bring in something interesting, and may conflict with Stealth...

Back to OP, Shuriken sounds rather difficult to pull off. Shuriken is a 1d2 weapon, uses Dex to hit, and STR for damage. Probably difficult to pull off without the assistance of feats, magic items, and maybe rolling stats. However, the concept is pretty cool, and I believe you could apply various poisons to each one, or make them all the same for a rather difficult DC... Hm, maybe I shouldn't focus on Damage for shurikens...

Or do something else, Ninjas are pretty stinkin' cool, and with that said, I really need to get back to working on my Ninja for our second darkness game.

Well, if you have Invisible Blade, then you grab Flurry of Stars and you're throwing 2 extras at highest bonus per round (and Rapid Shot and TWF if you're hitting reliably for another 2, but the penalties add up). And instead of being 1d2+str, they're 1d2+sneak attach+str, since you're invisible and all...that's pretty much gonna ruin the fighter's day. Provided you can hit. <_<


Grab Eldritch Heritage: Sylvian if the GM allows it and grab yourself a Giant Mantis (or anything else you feel like). It does wonders for a class that is reliant on flanking like Ninja.


You know, I just took all the Ninja stuff and gave it to Rogue as either class features or Rogue Talent options. Along with all the Assassin and Shadowdancer stuff.

So you pick Rogue as your class? You get to decide whether you're a Swashbuckler or a Thief or a Hitman or a mystical Ninja.

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