Ninja / Wizard build: Is it viable?

[Bender is great]

Hey, I was doing some character creation, and thought it might be neat to try and combine a wizard with a ninja. I was wondering if it was possible to make one that actually could be useful in a fight, along with other uses.
Thanks! :)

[Kazaan]

How about using the Shadowcaster Wizard archetype? You can prepare bonus spells in your shadow which can be accessed in normal or dim light. So if it's normal light, you pull out a darkness spell to make it dim and better for stealthing and such. At level 5, you get Darkvision 60' so you can take the light fully down to dark with darkness and deeper darkness spells for ninja stealthy goodness. Specialize in the Shadow subschool of Illusion, of course.

[I Hate Nickelback]

What you want is a SORCERER ninja. They both use charisma.

[Bender is great]

I thought of that, but as he is kind of an assassin, he needs more variety. Also, the DM has a 25 point buy system.

[Captain K.]

Are you planning to go Arcane Trickster?

With 25 points you can put points into Cha for the ninja stuff and still take wizard, it should be ok.

Str 10
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 16
Wis 8
Cha 14

Before race adjustments does all the lifting. Try not to get hit, mind.

[Shalafi2412]

I remember back when the ninja class was first introduced in Oriental Adventures that a ninja needed to have another class and wu-jen was one of the options.

[Bender is great]

Actually, I prefer con and wis to be 10, but other than that, those were the stats that I was planning on using.

[Adamantine Dragon]

I have built a number of arcane/assassin characters over the years, it's one of my favorite character types. I call it the "sneak-mage". The most common approach I've taken has been the sorcerer/rogue approach, but I haven't actually built one since I converted to Pathfinder, so I'm not sure what the best approach would be. However, I think that there are a number of viable options and which you take depends on how much mechanical effectiveness matters compared to flavor. I tend to favor flavor.

[Matthew Downie]

You probably want to decide if you're a ninja with some spellcasting abilities, or a spellcaster with some ninja abilities. A ninja who can use wands, cast glitterdust on invisible foes, etc is pretty useful. A wizard who can turn invisible as a swift action is useful. But if you try to go 50-50 you'll probably wind up combining weak combat abilities with weak spellcasting.

[Bender is great]

Well, I have been trying 50-50, and it seems to work so far, as long as you do not try to blaster cast. If you stick to things like invisibility then it works fine. And of course, ninja's start off with poison use...

[Adamantine Dragon]

Bender is great wrote:

Well, I have been trying 50-50, and it seems to work so far, as long as you do not try to blaster cast. If you stick to things like invisibility then it works fine. And of course, ninja's start off with poison use...

50/50 should be fine power wise, if you pick the right 50 from each.

I put a level 5 halfling rogue/sorc and a level 5 gnome cleric against a party of five regular level 5 PCs and was able to give the entire party a very difficult encounter. Sneaky magic can be devastating if done right.

[Kazaan]

Half-Elf Ninja/Wizard

Attributes and Traits

Spoiler:

25 pt buy
Str: 10 (0)
Dex: 16 (10)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 16 (10)
Wis: 8 (-2)
Cha: 16* (5)

Traits
Magical Lineage (spell of your choosing)
Omen

Racial Alternatives
Drow Magic (Darkness, Faerie Fire, or Dancing Lights SLA 1/day)

Level Build

Spoiler:

1) Ninja 1: Bab +0, Weapon Finesse (lvl 1), 1d6 SA
2) Ninja 2: Bab +1, Trick: Unarmed Training
3) Shadowcaster Wizard 1: Bab +1, Shadow Strike (lvl 3)
4) Ninja 3: Bab +2, 2d6 SA, Trick: Weapon Focus (Unarmed)
5) Ninja 4: Bab +3, Sap Adept (lvl 5)
6) Ninja 5: Bab +3, 3d6 SA, Trick: Combat Trick (Sap Master)
7) Wizard 2: Bab +4, Skill Focus (Intimidate)
8) Wizard 3: Bab +4
9) Wizard 4: Bab +5, Nightmare Fist (lvl 9)
10) Wizard 5: Bab +5
11) Arcane Trickster 1: Bab +5, Nightmare Weaver (lvl 11)
12) Arcane Trickster 2: Bab +6, 4d6 SA
13) Arcane Trickster 3: Bab +6, Shatter Defenses (lvl 13)
14) Arcane Trickster 4: Bab +7, 5d6 SA
15) Arcane Trickster 5: Bab +7, <Feat> (lvl 15)
16) Arcane Trickster 6: Bab +8, 6d6 SA
17) Arcane Trickster 7: Bab +8, <Feat> (lvl 17)
18) Arcane Trickster 8: Bab +9 7d6 SA
19) Arcane Trickster 9: Bab +9 <Feat> (lvl 19)
20) Arcane Trickster 10: Bab +10 8d6 SA

Strategy

Spoiler:

With Drow Magic, you can use Darkness, Faerie Fire, or Dancing Lights as SLA once per day. When you hit lvl 3, you can put Faerie Fire on a creature in darkness and sneak-attack them with Shadow Strike, or put down Darkness in an area of normal light to accomplish the same. Sap Adept and Sap Master will bolster your sneak attack dice. Lvl 10 gets you 60' Darkvision from the Shadowcaster archetype so you can sneak attack perfectly fine in your magical darkness. If you want, you can pick up Weapon Focus (Ray) to trigger Shatter Defenses on a target when you hit them with a ray spell (so long as they're at least shaken) and set them up for sneak attacks. Or, just run up and punch their lights out... or, rather, lights out and then punch them. UseewhatIdidthar?