Ninja
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When the wealthy and the powerful need an enemy eliminated quietly and without fail, they call upon the ninja. When a general needs to sabotage the siege engines of his foes before they can reach the castle walls, he calls upon the ninja. And when fools dare to move against a ninja or her companions, they will find the ninja waiting for them while they sleep, ready to strike. These shadowy killers are masters of infiltration, sabotage, and assassination, using a wide variety of weapons, practiced skills, and mystical powers to achieve their goals.
Role: The ninja spends almost all of her time honing her skills, practicing her art, or working on her next assignment. Even when not specifically working, the ninja is ever vigilant and ready for the situation to turn deadly. Her line of work earns her many enemies, but it is a list that she frequently reduces through assassination and misdirection.
Note: The ninja is an alternate class for the rogue core class.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Starting Wealth: 4d6 × 10 gp (average 140 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Class Skills
The ninja’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks per Level: 8 + Int modifier.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Poison use, sneak attack +1d6 |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Ki pool, ninja trick |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | No trace +1, sneak attack +2d6 |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Ninja trick, uncanny dodge |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Sneak attack +3d6 |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Light steps, ninja trick, no trace +2 |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Sneak attack +4d6 |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +2 | Improved uncanny dodge, ninja trick |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +3 | No trace +3, sneak attack +5d6 |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Master tricks, ninja trick |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Sneak attack +6d6 |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +4 | Ninja trick, no trace +4 |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +4 | Sneak attack +7d6 |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +4 | Ninja trick |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +5 | No trace +5, sneak attack +8d6 |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +5 | Ninja trick |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +5 | Sneak attack +9d6 |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +6 | Ninja trick, no trace +6 |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +6 | Sneak attack +10d6 |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +6 | Hidden master, ninja trick |
Class Features
The following are the class features of the ninja.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Ninja are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the kama, katana, kusarigama, nunchaku, sai, shortbow, short sword, shuriken, siangham, and wakizashi. They are proficient with light armor but not with shields.
Poison Use
At 1st level, a ninja is trained in the use of poison and cannot accidentally poison herself when applying poison to a weapon.
Sneak Attack
If a ninja can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage.
The ninja’s attacks deal extra damage anytime her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the ninja flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every two ninja levels thereafter. Bonus damage from sneak attacks is precision damage. Should the ninja score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this precision damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.
With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (such as a sap, unarmed strike, or whip), a ninja can make a sneak attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack, even with the usual –4 penalty.
The ninja must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot, and must be able to reach this spot. A ninja cannot sneak attack while striking a creature that has concealment.
Ki Pool (Su)
At 2nd level, a ninja gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy she can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in the ninja’s ki pool is equal to 1/2 her ninja level + her Charisma modifier. As long as she has at least 1 point in her ki pool, she treats any Acrobatics skill check made to jump as if she had a running start. At 10th level, she also reduces the DC of Acrobatics skill checks made to jump by 1/2 (although she still cannot move farther than her speed allows).
By spending 1 point from her ki pool, a ninja can make one additional attack at her highest attack bonus, but she can do so only when making a full attack. In addition, she can spend 1 point to increase her speed by 20 feet for 1 round. Finally, a ninja can spend 1 point from her ki pool to give herself a +4 insight bonus on Stealth checks for 1 round. Each of these powers is activated as a swift action. A ninja can gain additional powers that consume points from her ki pool by selecting certain ninja tricks.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive. If the ninja possesses levels in another class that grants points to a ki pool, ninja levels stack with the levels of that class to determine the total number of ki points in the combined pool, but only one ability score modifier is added to the total. The choice of which score to use is made when the second class ability is gained, and once made, the choice is set. The ninja can now use ki points from this pool to power the abilities of every class she possesses that grants a ki pool.
Ninja Tricks
As a ninja continues her training, she learns a number of tricks that allow her to confuse her foes and grant her supernatural abilities. Starting at 2nd level, a ninja gains one ninja trick. She gains one additional ninja trick for every 2 levels attained after 2nd. Unless otherwise noted, a ninja cannot select an individual ninja trick more than once.
Tricks marked with an asterisk (*) add effects to a ninja’s sneak attack.. Only one of these tricks can be applied to an individual attack and the decision must be made before the attack is made.
No Trace (Ex)
At 3rd level, a ninja learns to cover her tracks, remain hidden, and conceal her presence. The DC to track a ninja using the Survival skill increases by +1. In addition, her training gives her a +1 insight bonus on Disguise skill checks and on opposed Stealth checks whenever she is stationary and does not take any action for at least 1 round. Every three levels thereafter, the increase to Survival DCs and the bonuses on Disguise and opposed Stealth checks increase by 1.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
Starting at 4th level, a ninja can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She cannot be caught flat-footed, nor does she lose her Dexterity bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. She still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A ninja with this ability can still lose her Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against her.
If a ninja already possesses uncanny dodge from a different class, she automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.
Light Steps (Ex)
At 6th level, a ninja learns to move while barely touching the surface underneath her. As a full-round action, she can move up to twice her speed, ignoring difficult terrain. While moving in this way, any surface will support her, no matter how much she weighs. This allows her to move across water, lava, or even the thinnest tree branches. She must end her move on a surface that can support her normally. She cannot move across air in this way, nor can she walk up walls or other vertical surfaces. When moving in this way, she does not take damage from surfaces or hazards that react to being touched, such as lava or caltrops, nor does she need to make Acrobatics checks to avoid falling on slippery or rough surfaces. Finally, when using light steps, the ninja ignores any mechanical traps that use a location-based trigger.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
At 8th level, a ninja can no longer be flanked. This defense denies another ninja (or rogue) the ability to sneak attack the ninja by flanking her, unless the attacker has at least four more ninja (or rogue) levels than the target does.
If a character already has uncanny dodge from another class, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack when determining the minimum ninja (or rogue) level required to flank the character.
Master Tricks
At 10th level, and every two levels thereafter, a ninja can select a master trick in place of a ninja trick. Unless otherwise noted, a ninja cannot select an individual ninja trick more than once.
Tricks marked with an asterisk (*) add effects to a ninja’s sneak attack.. Only one of these tricks can be applied to an individual attack and the decision must be made before the attack is made.
Hidden Master (Su)
At 20th level, a ninja becomes a true master of her art. She can, as a standard action, cast greater invisibility on herself. While invisible in this way, she cannot be detected by any means, and not even invisibility purge, see invisibility, and true seeing can reveal her. She uses her ninja level as her caster level for this ability. Using this ability consumes 3 ki points from her ki pool. In addition, whenever the ninja deals sneak attack damage, she can sacrifice additional damage dice to apply a penalty to one ability score of the target equal to the number of dice sacrificed for 1 minute. This penalty does not stack with itself and cannot reduce an ability score below 1.