lvl 1 Ninja build thoughts?

[popaduex]

Hello all,

So I'm building a halfling ninja from the ground up and being that this is my first character I was thinking it would be nice to see what other, more experienced, players though of him. So here are the stats, keep in mind that all bonuses from the race have been applied:

Str: 11 Dex: 19 Con: 10 Int: 9 Wis: 9 Cha: 16
SKILLS: Acrobatics=10, Bluff=7, Disable Device= 8, Escape Artist=8, Perception=5, Sleight of Hand=8, Stealth=12

Intitiative=8, Fort=3, Ref=9, Will=2, AC=17, CMB=0, CMD=13

I went with the blowgun with drow poison and Katana to start out with. I decided katana being that it's a 1d6, but later I was thinking of getting two wakizashis with two weapon fighting after the -2 penalty didn't matter, such as after level 3

My thoughts are that I want him to be the stealthy punch-you-in-the-nuts-with-out-you-knowing-who-did-it-then-finish-you-off kind of guy. I know later more of the ninja tricks and other feats I'd like, which, by the way, my first feat was improved initiative to make the enemy flat-footed.

Thoughts?

[Deadmanwalking]

Eesh. That's...not a very good build, mechanically speaking.

Are you using point-buy or rolled stats? Either way, you need more Con and Wis than that for Saves and probably more Int for skills if you can arrange it. In contrast, your Str is higher than you really need, and you could easily get by with 18 Dex.

Katana's a bad weapon past first level because you're gonna want Weapon Finesse and fast, and it's not finesse-able. Paired wakizashis are solid combined with the aforementioned Weapon Finesse, though.

Improved Initiative isn't a bad Feat, but IMO you'd be better served with Weapon Finesse (if you don't want to burn a Ninja Trick on it at 2nd level) or perhaps Iron Will (which you'll need eventually no matter what). This is especially true since if you go with Weapon Finesse you can get Vanish at 2nd level and get your Sneak Attacks in that way.

Switching Sure Footed for Fleet of Foot is also a very good call for any Halfling who needs to move around a bit (and Rogues and Ninjas both need to do that to set up flanking).

Also, while Ninja's better than Rogue you might want to consider going with another class instead. Archaeologist Bard and Vivisectionist Alchemist are both solid alternatives, as are the Investigator and Slayer from the ACG playtest. All would likely let you do the same concept with more options and mechanical effectiveness, if in a slightly different way.

[popaduex]

They were rolled stats, I didn't switch anything around either. Not sure how I'd get better Con, Wis, and Int other then waiting until lvl 4.

I see what you mean by weapon finesse, being that that would be my "attack bonus" and make it a +4 rather than 0 and start out with double wakizashis to negate the -2/-2 penalty and put a +2/+2 on them.

[Imbicatus]

Rolled stats are killing you here. The build is playable, but barely. I would NOT use two weapon fighting at all. Use Finesse, and a single wakizashi. You do not have a good way to raise your accuracy, so an extra attack will mean both may miss where one would hit.

[Deadmanwalking]

popaduex wrote:

They were rolled stats, I didn't switch anything around either. Not sure how I'd get better Con, Wis, and Int other then waiting until lvl 4.

If you can rearrange stats, you could get Str 7 Dex 19 Con 13 Int 9 Wis 10 Cha 16

Then raise Dex and Charisma as you level. Your damage will suck early on, but Sneak Attack helps and you can eventually get the agile Weapon enhancement.

Alternately, if you need slightly more damage at the early levels, you could leave Wis at 9 and get Str 8.

You could also, as I mentioned, go with another Class entirely, which helps with the Save problems in many cases...and that makes the whole thing quite a bit easier.

popaduex wrote:

I see what you mean by weapon finesse, being that that would be my "attack bonus" and make it a +4 rather than 0 and start out with double wakizashis to negate the -2/-2 penalty and put a +2/+2 on them.

I wouldn't try the double wakizashis until you have the Feat, obviously, so that's still 3rd level or so.

Imbicatus wrote:

Rolled stats are killing you here. The build is playable, but barely. I would NOT use two weapon fighting at all. Use Finesse, and a single wakizashi. You do not have a good way to raise your accuracy, so an extra attack will mean both may miss where one would hit.

There are two schools of thought on this. Personally, I feel that the extra attack is worth the penalty, but going single weapon definitely has it's advantages (especially if you grab a buckler...more AC is very nice).