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I've seen several unchained ninja homebrews in many PF forums, many simply taking notes from the unchained rogue without adding more or less of what makes a ninja stand out from the rogue.
This is my version of the Unchained Ninja..
What separates this from the UC rogue and other UC ninja homebrews are 4 new things:
1. Ninja Clans - A new class feature, it allows ninjas to be affiliated with a clan, gaining new Ki Powers, Class Skills and Ki Masteries at the cost of restrictions. This makes ninjas more diverse in how they're made, lending inspiration from historical ninja clans.
2. Ninjutsu Training - Replacing the old ninja's No Trace class feature, Ninjutsu Training lets a ninja select two class skills to specialize based on their selected clans, letting them specialize further into their role.
3. Improved Light Steps - The old ninja's light steps class feature was good, but not great. I simply included new things which grants the UC ninja more mobility, without being broken.
4. Ninja Weapon Stances - Included in the new ninja tricks section, Ninja Weapon Stances allows players to even further customize their ninjas by making them have a unique fighting style based on their ninja weapons similar to the monk's style feats. Currently I'm only providing the 'standard' stances, and the 'improved' and 'greater' stances are still WIP.
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Play a slayer if you want a sneaky martial character who's actually useful both in and out of combat. (I love your guide, but snark is obligatory)
This guide takes a character which is already vastly better than rogues in every way, and makes them even better. I also like ninjas and hate rogues, so this doesn't overly bother me.
I left some comments on there.
TheGreatWot wrote: Play a slayer if you want a sneaky martial character who's actually useful both in and out of combat. (I love your guide, but snark is obligatory)
This guide takes a character which is already vastly better than rogues in every way, and makes them even better. I also like ninjas and hate rogues, so this doesn't overly bother me.
I left some comments on there.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll work on them immediately.
As for the input regarding the Slayer = Ninja parallels, I do understand there is more room for my homebrew UC ninja to be less martial-focused and be more "ninja-like" (more stealth, infiltration, scouting foci) I'll see what I can do to make the clans less Slayer-like and add more versatility options outside of combat.
Updated. New Tricks, Rebalanced Features and couple more minor changes!
I didn't mention this in my comments, but props on not only the function, but the style of the additions. I love the diversity of choices, and some of the names are pretty cool and fitting as well (although I don't know anything about the Japanese language, honestly).
TheGreatWot wrote: I didn't mention this in my comments, but props on not only the function, but the style of the additions. I love the diversity of choices, and some of the names are pretty cool and fitting as well (although I don't know anything about the Japanese language, honestly). Thanks for the feedback, the Japanese words are based on the research I did on actual tools, martial arts styles and weapons ninjas used historically. Even the clans are all based on actual ninjas (obviously I had to embellish certain things, but I tried to keep it as accurate as possible)
Things like the Fuuma clan being talented marksmen is a fact, and they did invent the Fuuma Shuriken, which was a stacked shuriken.
The Kato clan were the very progenitors of 'ninja riding on kites' myths, particularly Kato Danzo, nicknamed "the Flying Kato". I just changed it to an actual flight power in PF.
The Hosoya clan, although not ninjas (though their roles extended into being saboteurs and arsonists), did design pyrotechnics and were under the service of Nobunaga to create cannons and muskets.
The only actual person in the Sarutobi clan who was known of being an animal handler is Sarutobi Kizuki, who kept monkeys as pets but never used them in actual missions.
The Koga ninjas weren't the only ninjas to use poisons, but were the most successful in using poison to kill several prominent warlords.
And lastly, the Mochizuki clan were indeed a geisha school under the ownership of Mochizuki Chiyome who did train kunoichi (female ninjas).
Updated with new Ninja Tricks and better wording for some class features.
I think you've done a great job with this. I honestly think almost all classes would benefit from having something akin to domains/bloodlines/oracle mysteries/cavalier orders, etc., i.e. a little package of thematic abilities sort of like a mandatory archetype. In this respect, I love the ninja clan concept, and it's also so immensely flavorful and cool. I haven't gone through all the clans yet, but the structure of them is really nice, with the unique Ki Power, the skill bonus, mastery and restrictions. I've dabbled some in trying to make an "unchained ninja" myself, but this is leagues ahead of what I accomplished.
Don't really have any specific balance notes right now, except possibly the Oni's Healing ninja trick seems to require an unnecessarily high level and grants rather paltry fast healing. I'd suggest requiring level 12 and having the fast healing be equal to your Cha mod, rather than just 2 hp per round. I've been away from PF for a longish while though, so maybe my balance instincts are a bit rusty. It's just my gut feeling right.
Anyway, great work!
Ethereal Gears wrote: I think you've done a great job with this. I honestly think almost all classes would benefit from having something akin to domains/bloodlines/oracle mysteries/cavalier orders, etc., i.e. a little package of thematic abilities sort of like a mandatory archetype. In this respect, I love the ninja clan concept, and it's also so immensely flavorful and cool. I haven't gone through all the clans yet, but the structure of them is really nice, with the unique Ki Power, the skill bonus, mastery and restrictions. I've dabbled some in trying to make an "unchained ninja" myself, but this is leagues ahead of what I accomplished.
Don't really have any specific balance notes right now, except possibly the Oni's Healing ninja trick seems to require an unnecessarily high level and grants rather paltry fast healing. I'd suggest requiring level 12 and having the fast healing be equal to your Cha mod, rather than just 2 hp per round. I've been away from PF for a longish while though, so maybe my balance instincts are a bit rusty. It's just my gut feeling right.
Anyway, great work!
Hey, thanks for that feedback. I appreciate it!
Regarding The Oni's Healing Ninja Trick, the reason it is kept at level 16 is due to how ninjas aren't supposed to be a one-man army, in terms of survivability, as they should rely on a cleric or paladin to provide healing. The Oni Healing ninja trick is essentially an emergency option due to how lethal certain monsters are at higher levels of play and its meant to keep a ninja alive after taking an unlucky crit and should not be meant to be a ninja trick to replace a cleric's healing.
Regardless, I rebalanced it to be available at 12th level instead.
honestly, my preference for having it at 12 instead of 16 might be because I don't play that many high-level campaigns, but considering the kind of insane stuff casters can do at 12, I don't think an emergency heal seems too unbalanced at that level. I'm gonna go through the ninja clans more thoroughly today or tomorrow and come back with more feedback!
Updated! Added two new Ninja Clans, new ninja tricks, author notes and other details.
Be sure to take a look!
Updated! There are now a total of 14 ninja clans to choose from, new ninja tricks, new master ninja tricks and updates to the ninja's weapon proficiencies!
This is amazing. Have you considered publishing this as a PDF? It's high quality and just needs a bit of proof reading, plus a few more tricks for some of the clans. Long as the upfront doesn't cost you too much, it could be a way to earn a bit of cash off your RPG developer skills.
Errant Inlad wrote: This is amazing. Have you considered publishing this as a PDF? It's high quality and just needs a bit of proof reading, plus a few more tricks for some of the clans. Long as the upfront doesn't cost you too much, it could be a way to earn a bit of cash off your RPG developer skills. Currently, I have no plans yet to publish a pdf. This is just a hobby of mine, but thanks for the words of encouragement!
Updated. New ninja clan.
Upcoming ideas: Alternate Capstone for each Ninja Clan.
Minor update. New Ki Powers and Ninja Tricks. 1 New ninja clan, but I removed an older clan due to poor implementation.
New exciting updates!
Three new Unchained Ninja Archetypes to give even more new way to play the ninja!
The Origami Master archetype lets any Ninja create tools and weapons out of paper from mere playing cards, parchment, and even Harrow Decks and Spell Scrolls.
The Yama-Inu archetype gives the Ninja the terrain versatility of the ranger, allowing them to serve as the party's frontline scout and ambusher in hazardous places.
The Oniwaban archetype turns the Ninja into an information gathering spy, sacrificing the Rogue's toolkit, in place of the Investigator's versatility!
Please check it out!
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New updates!
The return of the previously abandoned Kirigakure clan ninja, as well as a new Unchained Ninja Archetype:
The Kirigakure Clan are now relegated as the maritime ninja. With a selection of new Ki powers and tricks making them suitable for campaigns set on the high seas!
The Shugenja makes the ninja draw from the Kannagi and Miko mythologies of being able to strike maladies and hexes upon their foes.
Be sure to check it out!
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