There are a few classes that could make a serviceable ninja. Rogue, Thief, O-ssassin, E-ssassin, Avenger, maybe a Ranger or a Warlock, not to mention hybrids. What class would you go with if you wanted to make a ninja? What would the pros and cons of that class be?
Just for fun
Seriously, though, you should check out the PbP Haven. You might also like Real Adventures, IF you're cool.
Knights of W.T.F.- Silver Spur Winner
4enclave, a place where 4e fans can talk 4e in peace.
Rogue's got all sorts of cool things, but Ninjas strike me as being more about the myth. That is, the supernatural. And the non-martial classes have more of that.
Want to sneak into the sealed room? avenger can walk throught the walls, warlock can teleport in trivially. Both do good-enough assassination damage. Both can escape easily enough.
Warlock doesn't quite have enough weapon powers for my taste. (Eladrin) Warlock|Exe can hide from you right in front of your face though, and that's worth a lot of style points. Avenger doesn't wear armor, and carries weapons that he can't concievably hide in the clothes he's wearing. And that's also worth style points.
Basically, what part of the Ninja do you want to focus on?
Weapon master? Mundane but exceptionally skilled? Master of many skills, deceit, bluff, disguise? Rogue
Invisible whenever you want to be? Warlock or Warlock|Exe.
Zealot in service to a clan, more Hashishin? Small taste of shadow powers? Avenger
All-shadow-all-the-time? O-ssassin.
"Nice assumptions. Completely wrong assumptions, but by jove if being incorrect stopped people from making idiotic statements, we wouldn't have modern internet subculture." Kerrus
Practical gameplay runs by neither RAW or RAI, but rather "A Compromise Between The Gist Of The Rule As I Recall Getting The Impression Of It That One Time I Read It And What Jerry Says He Remembers, Whatever, We'll Look It Up Later If Any Of Us Still Give A Damn." Erachima
Go Half-orc, take the Sohei theme, put Str @ 14 (16 after racial), Dex @ 18 (20 after racial). 1st level feat for Hybrid talent for Ruthless Ruffian. Take Disheartening Strike Rogue At-Will, Five Storms At-Will (mostly for the shift 2 move technique to kite away from damage), Torturous Strike rogue encounter, and Hounding Assault daily to turn all your attacks into rattling for the encounter (including your Monk attacks!). Rock some nasty DPR with ninja skillz! (don't forget to train Intimiate for that rattling keyword!)
As ya level you'd wanna take defense feats (Leather or Unarmored Agility, Improved Defenses, etc.), take club/mace related feats (Crashing Tempest Style to beef up FoB, Crushing Mace, etc.), and once ya get to PP take Blade Bravo for off-turn attacks.
Granted the whole Club/Mace thing isn't as "ninja" as some might think, but one of the most feared weapons in feudal japan was the Kanabo (wooden iron studded war mace) and Tetsubo (a smaller version of the Kanabo) as they were often used in tales of the Oni (demons)(seen here). Ninja often interweave their mythology with that of the Oni in regard to their "supernatural abilities" which were just hightened skillz.
Oh and both of these classes have the starting weapon proficiency with Shurikens, lol.
PROs:
Massive damage potential
Loads of Class/Race/Skill synergy (mechanical and fluff)
Awesome "vicious Oni" flavor from the nightmares of feudal Japan!
CONs:
Low defenses require significant feat investment
Doesn't use a "Katana" to suit the tastes of the more popular Ninja archetype.
There are a few classes that could make a serviceable ninja. Rogue, Thief, O-ssassin, E-ssassin, Avenger, maybe a Ranger or a Warlock, not to mention hybrids. What class would you go with if you wanted to make a ninja? What would the pros and cons of that class be?
Just for fun
What kind of Ninja?
Real Historical Ninja: Anybody trained in Intimidate. The whole 'nobody ever sees a ninja' thing was because guards were threatened. "You tell anybody you saw me, I kill your family." Thus, 'masters of stealth' ...
Classic Non-Magical Black Pajama Ninja: Rogue
Classic Magical Black Pajama Ninja: Monk or Original Assassin
Teenage Mutant Ninja: Rogue or Ranger (seriously, three out of four dual-wielders?)
Modern Anime Ninja: Pretty much 'whatever'.
Another day, another three or four entries to my Ignore List.
There's also the Ninja build of the Executioner Assassin, whose skilled with Poisons, the Ninja-to (Shortsword), Shuriken, and the Kusari-Gama. And of course, shadow magic used to conceal his presence and baffle his enemies.
F-111 Interdictor Long (200+ squares) distance ally teleporter. With some warlord stuff. Broken in a plot way, not a power way. Thought Switch Higher level build that grants upto 14 attacks on turn 1. If your allies play along, it's broken. Elven Critters Crit op with crit generation. 5 of these will end anything. Broken. King Fisher Does an excellent job at keeping an enemy disabled in a few ways. Strong. Boominator Fun catch-22 booming blade build with either strong or completely broken damage depending on your reading. Very Distracting Warlock Lot's of dazing and major penalties to hit. Overpowered. Pocket Protector Pixie Stealth Knight. Maximizing the defender's aura by being in an ally's/enemy's square. Yakuza NinjIntimiAdin: Perma-stealth Striker that offers a little protection for ally's, and can intimidate bloodied enemies. Very Strong. Chargeburgler with cheese Ranged attacks at the end of a charge along with perma-stealth. Solid, could be overpowered if tweaked. Void Defender Defends giving a penalty to hit anyone but him, then removing himself from play. Can get somewhat broken in epic. Scry and Die Attacking from around corners, while staying hidden. Moderate to broken, depending on the situation. Skimisher Fly in, attack, and fly away. Also prevents enemies from coming close. Moderate to Broken depending on the enemy, but shouldn't make the game un-fun, as the rest of your team is at risk, and you have enough weaknesses. Indestructible Simply won't die, even if you sleep though combat. Sir Robin (Bravely Charge Away) He automatically slows and pushes an enemy (5 squares), while charging away. Hard to rate it's power level, since it's terrain dependent. Death's Gatekeeper A fun twist on a healic, making your party "unkillable". Overpowered to Broken, but shouldn't actually make the game un-fun, just TPK proof. Death's Gatekeeper mk2, (Stealth Edition) Make your party "unkillable", and you hidden, while doing solid damage. Stronger then the above, but also easier for a DM to shut down. Broken, until your DM get's enough of it. Domination and Death Dominate everything then kill them quickly. Only works @ 30, but is broken multiple ways. Battlemind Mc Prone-Daze Protecting your allies by keeping enemies away. Quite powerful. The Retaliator Getting hit deals more damage to the enemy then you receive yourself, and you can take plenty of hits. Heavy item dependency, Broken. Dead Kobold Transit Teleports 98 squares a turn, and can bring someone along for the ride. Not fully built, so i can't judge the power Psilent Guardian Protect your allies, while being invisible. Overpowered, possibly broken Unnamed Avenger|Runepriest/Hammer of Vengance Do lot's of damage while boosting your teams. Strong to slightly overpowered. Charedent BarrageA charging ardent. Fine in a normal team, overpowered if there are 2 together, and easily broken in teams of 5. Super Knight A tough, sticky, high damage knight. Strong. Super Duper Knight Basically the same as super knight, only far more broken. Mora, the unkillable avenger Solid damage, while being neigh indestuctable. Overpowered, but not broken. Swordburst Maximus At-Will Close Burst 3 that slide and prones. Protects allies with off actions. Strong, possibly over powered with the right party.
F-111 Interdictor Long (200+ squares) distance ally teleporter. With some warlord stuff. Broken in a plot way, not a power way. Thought Switch Higher level build that grants upto 14 attacks on turn 1. If your allies play along, it's broken. Elven Critters Crit op with crit generation. 5 of these will end anything. Broken. King Fisher Does an excellent job at keeping an enemy disabled in a few ways. Strong. Boominator Fun catch-22 booming blade build with either strong or completely broken damage depending on your reading. Very Distracting Warlock Lot's of dazing and major penalties to hit. Overpowered. Pocket Protector Pixie Stealth Knight. Maximizing the defender's aura by being in an ally's/enemy's square. Yakuza NinjIntimiAdin: Perma-stealth Striker that offers a little protection for ally's, and can intimidate bloodied enemies. Very Strong. Chargeburgler with cheese Ranged attacks at the end of a charge along with perma-stealth. Solid, could be overpowered if tweaked. Void Defender Defends giving a penalty to hit anyone but him, then removing himself from play. Can get somewhat broken in epic. Scry and Die Attacking from around corners, while staying hidden. Moderate to broken, depending on the situation. Skimisher Fly in, attack, and fly away. Also prevents enemies from coming close. Moderate to Broken depending on the enemy, but shouldn't make the game un-fun, as the rest of your team is at risk, and you have enough weaknesses. Indestructible Simply won't die, even if you sleep though combat. Sir Robin (Bravely Charge Away) He automatically slows and pushes an enemy (5 squares), while charging away. Hard to rate it's power level, since it's terrain dependent. Death's Gatekeeper A fun twist on a healic, making your party "unkillable". Overpowered to Broken, but shouldn't actually make the game un-fun, just TPK proof. Death's Gatekeeper mk2, (Stealth Edition) Make your party "unkillable", and you hidden, while doing solid damage. Stronger then the above, but also easier for a DM to shut down. Broken, until your DM get's enough of it. Domination and Death Dominate everything then kill them quickly. Only works @ 30, but is broken multiple ways. Battlemind Mc Prone-Daze Protecting your allies by keeping enemies away. Quite powerful. The Retaliator Getting hit deals more damage to the enemy then you receive yourself, and you can take plenty of hits. Heavy item dependency, Broken. Dead Kobold Transit Teleports 98 squares a turn, and can bring someone along for the ride. Not fully built, so i can't judge the power Psilent Guardian Protect your allies, while being invisible. Overpowered, possibly broken Unnamed Avenger|Runepriest/Hammer of Vengance Do lot's of damage while boosting your teams. Strong to slightly overpowered. Charedent BarrageA charging ardent. Fine in a normal team, overpowered if there are 2 together, and easily broken in teams of 5. Super Knight A tough, sticky, high damage knight. Strong. Super Duper Knight Basically the same as super knight, only far more broken. Mora, the unkillable avenger Solid damage, while being neigh indestuctable. Overpowered, but not broken. Swordburst Maximus At-Will Close Burst 3 that slide and prones. Protects allies with off actions. Strong, possibly over powered with the right party.
