If ninja are supposed to be what actually prevailed in historical Japan rather than what you find in Ninja Turtles comics then assassins should be what actually prevailed in Arabia: politically rather than fiscally motivated.
Actually rather religiously motivated and in syria and persia.
If assassins are always evil hired killers than ninja are always the stealth killers who always dress in black pajamas no matter how much they stick out in their actual environment as depicted in popular culture. What's sauce for the assassin is sauce for the ninja.
Again why does it have to be that one stereotype and just that one. You are completely aribitrarily picking one type of pop culture image that ninja have and rolling with it as if it had any significance. Yeah they are both not depicted true to their historical namesakes, but why does it have to be that one specific inaccuracy that they have to be depicted with?
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I don't think an assassin should ever be a Good alignment. And being an assassin means specialized training to kill a specific person, with the implication of doing so without harming/fighting other bystanders (*drops a nuke on a military base to take out a general* yo dawg, I'm like, totally an assassin!). It does not have to mean you're "getting paid to kill people", you could be doing it for a multitude of reasons.
I do think it should be possible to play a neutral (neither good nor evil) assassin. If you use your skills to snipe powerful evil figures to prevent war or mass murder or the like... maybe it's not a good act (or maybe it is; I don't want to debate it), but I don't really think it's an evil act. Certainly not in a game where you kill evil creatures all the time, that seems kind of silly to hold the assassin to higher moral standards than a typical adventuring party.
So yeah, I don't think the rules should bar someone from wanting to roleplay a non-evil assassin.
:p
Back to the actual topic... I kind of like the charisma ki, but as I said, current ninja is ridiculously MAD, and I would be fine if it were int-based or even wis-based instead. Hell, even dex-based. Whatever you can do to reduce the abilities needed is a-ok with me. I also think Ninja should go back to the playtest rules where ki-using tricks gave one free use per day, and the costs on some tricks (Forgotten and the capstone, if not others) were 1 lower than they are now. Then whatever the ki-granting ability is slightly less important, whichever ability it may be.
Seeing as ninjas really only have 2 primary stats, they are not anywhere near the most MAD class out there.
My biggest complaint about the ninja is that the Elven Curved Blade is finessable but the katana is not. So if I want to use a hard-hitting two-handed weapon with a high Dex, I need to waste a feat on exotic weapon proficiency. And this is despite the katana weighs 1 lb less than the ECB.
2 stats?
They wear light armor, need dex at the very least for AC
Chi is Charisma based, they need high charisma.
They are skill based, they need a descent int
They are combatants, they need at least some strength to carry their armor and weapons as well as deal damage.
They are combatants with d8 hit die, they need con for some hp and to cover their weak fort save.The only stat that that a ninja doesnt directly need is wisdom...
Why do they need int? A default ninja receives 6+1 ranks per level, another +1 for favored, another +1 if human, another +1 for a cheap headband of vast int. With just 6+1 skills from class, he receives as many skill points as a wizard with 18 Int while ninja has 12 Int.
Personally, I feel like charisma is often undervalued, and one I try to keep at least decent in most characters. It governs a number of useful skills, bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, and use magic device being the most obviously useful, but I've heart of people using it to abuse handle animal too.
Well, mechanically Charisma is undervalued in Pathfinder, yes. However, it really shouldn't be. Social influence is essentially power, and if you've ever played any White Wolf game, you'd understand it far better.
Personally I think Dexterity is far too potent. It mechanically affects far too many things in comparison to the other attributes. Constitution affects far too little, in contrast.
I think Wisdom should be renamed, as it really doesn't have anything to do with actual wisdom, and that it should be the bonus to hit with ranged attacks, instead of Dexterity. But I haven't tried to alter the game attributes that much just yet. I don't feel I completely understand the game mechanics all the way.
If ninja are supposed to be what actually prevailed in historical Japan rather than what you find in Ninja Turtles comics then assassins should be what actually prevailed in Arabia: politically rather than fiscally motivated.
Religiously motivated. The Assassin of the Middle East were a religious order. Religion and politics were inextricably linked in that area then (and it seems now). Power and religion and money tend to be hooked together in one fashion or another.
Speaking of religiously motivated killers the Thuggee of India are interesting. Devotees of Kali, the Black Earth Mother, Goddess of Death. Sometimes referred to as "Kali stranglers" for their method of murder. They used disguise, stealth (silence), teamwork and the Rumil (a silk scarf with a silver coin in it). For them it was a religious duty. But they robbed their victims as well. Suppressed by the British in the 19th century.
If assassins are always evil hired killers than ninja are always the stealth killers who always dress in black pajamas no matter how much they stick out in their actual environment as depicted in popular culture. What's sauce for the assassin is sauce for the ninja.
There are limited reasons for dressing in black and sneaking around. There are probably more reasons for blending in. An effective Ninja has to do both. So does an effective Assassin. Both the Ninja of Japan and the Assassin of the Middle East were quite capable of both. Both are essentially spies, saboteurs and assassins. No black pajamas for the Assassin though :) Besides the Ninja varied the color by environment (white for snow, black for night, etc.).
At this point, I am very tired of responding to trolling. Losing my patience, which is why I sometimes call it like I see it, and try to address any intellectual point immediately afterward. Sorry about the annoyance. My humanity is at times difficult to ignore.