Here is my next rewrite for the ninja, another class that was just too weak when first written. Instead of trying to give the ninja a bunch of mystic ki-powered stuff, I went with manoeuvres from the Tome of Battle. The Shadow Hand and Setting Sun disciplines were perfect fits, like they were designed for the class.
I went with Sneak Attack instead of Sudden Strike, because the latter ability was just flat-out inferior. I also created an ability for the class to make poisons more viable at higher levels.
Ninja (ToB variant)Hit Die: d6
Alignment: any
| Saves | Manoeuvres |
Lv | Base Attack Bonus | Fort | Ref | Will | AC Bonus | Abilities | Known | Readied | Stances |
1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Trapfinding, AC Bonus | 3 | 2 | 1 |
2 | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Sneak Attack +1d6, Bonus Feat | 3 | 2 | 1 |
3 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Evasion | 4 | 2 | 1 |
4 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Great Leap (x1.5) | 4 | 2 | 1 |
5 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Poison Use, Quick Draw | 5 | 3 | 1 |
6 | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | +1 | Rapid Stealth | 5 | 3 | 2 |
7 | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | +1 | Sneak Attack +2d6, Deadly Poisons 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
8 | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Hide in Plain Sight, Nondetection | 6 | 3 | 2 |
9 | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Skill Mastery, Great Leap (x2) | 7 | 3 | 2 |
10 | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | +2 | Improved Poison Use | 7 | 4 | 2 |
11 | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | +2 | Camouflage, Improved Quick Draw | 8 | 4 | 3 |
12 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | +3 | Sneak Attack +3d6 | 8 | 4 | 3 |
13 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | +3 | Deadly Poisons 2 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
14 | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | +3 | Improved Evasion, Great Leap (x2.5) | 9 | 4 | 3 |
15 | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | +3 | Greater Blink | 10 | 5 | 3 |
16 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | +4 | Stealth Critical | 10 | 5 | 4 |
17 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | +4 | Sneak Attack +4d6 | 11 | 5 | 4 |
18 | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | +4 | Mind Blank | 11 | 5 | 4 |
19 | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | +4 | Deadly Poisons 3, Great Leap (x3) | 12 | 5 | 4 |
20 | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | +5 | Double Strike 4/day | 12 | 6 | 4 |
Class Skills (8+int mod skill points per level, x4 at 1st level): Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex)
Class AbilitiesWeapon and Armour Proficiency: Ninja are proficient with all simple weapons, plus the hand crossbow, kama, kukri, nunchaku, sai, shortbow, short sword, shuriken, siangham, rope dart, and kusari-gama, and also have Improved Unarmed Strike. Ninja are not proficient with any armour or shields. Ninja are also proficient in the use of improvised weapons, and do not take the normal -4 penalty to attack rolls when using improvised weapons.
Manoeuvres: A ninja begins with three known manoeuvres. The disciplines which she can choose them from are Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, and Tiger Claw.
Once she knows a manoeuvre, she must ready it before she can use it (see Manoeuvres Readied, below). Manoeuvres are considered extraordinary abilities unless noted otherwise in its description. Manoeuvres are not affected by spell resistance, and do not provoke attacks of opportunity for initiating one.
The ninja learns additional manoeuvres at higher levels, as shown on the table above. She must still meet any prerequisites to learn it. See table 3-1 on page 39 in ToB:Bot9S to determine the highest level manoeuvres she can learn.
Upon reaching 4th level, and every even-numbered ninja level thereafter, she can choose to learn a new manoeuvre in the place of an old one. In effect, she loses the old manoeuvre in exchange for the new one. The new manoeuvre can be of any level up to the maximum currently available, so long as she meets its requirements. She can only swap one manoeuvre at any given level.
Manoeuvres Readied: A ninja can ready two of her manoeuvres known at 1st level. As she advances in level, she can ready more manoeuvres at one time, as shown on the table above. It takes 5 minutes of meditation to ready the manoeuvres or change which ones are. They remain readied until she chooses to change them again. There is no rest requirement to ready manoeuvres.
At the start of any encounter, all readied manoeuvres are unexpended and available. When a manoeuvre is initiated, it is expended until the end of the encounter, though they can be recovered earlier.
To recover expended manoeuvres, a ninja must spend a full-round action to meditate quickly. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity. She then recovers all expended manoeuvres at once, making them available for use after her turn ends.
Stances Known: A ninja starts with one stance known, and learns more as she gains levels the class. At 1st level and every 5 levels thereafter (6, 11, 16) to a maximum of four at 16th, she can choose a stance from any discipline open to her, up to the highest manoeuvre level she can learn and use. Unlike manoeuvres, stances are not expended when used, and do not have to be readied. They last until deactivated or the ninja falls unconscious, or the active stance is changed. All stances known are available at all times, and can be activated or changed as a swift action. Stances are extraordinary abilities unless stated otherwise in their descriptions.
Unlike manoeuvres, stances cannot be replaced as the ninja advances in level.
Trapfinding (Ex): Only characters with this ability can use the Search skill to locate traps with a DC higher than 20, as well as use Disable Device to disarm magic traps. If the ninja beats a trap's DC by 10 or more when disarming, she and her party can bypass it without disarming it.
AC Bonus (Ex): Ninja are highly trained at avoiding blows, and have a sixth sense about when to dodge. So long as she is unarmoured and unencumbered, the ninja adds her Wisdom bonus (if any) to her AC. This bonus increases by +1 at every 4th level.
The bonus applies against touch attacks as well, and functions even when flat-footed or otherwise denied her Dexterity to AC. The only time the bonus is lost is when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any kind of armour or shield, or when her encumberance is greater than light.
Sneak Attack (Ex): Whenever a ninja of at least second level catches a foe who is unable to defend himself effectively, she can strike a vital spot for bonus damage. Whenever the foe is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC (whether he actually has a Dexterity bonus or not) or whenever the ninja flanks the opponent, she gains bonus dice to damage from Sneak Attack. The bonus dice start at +1d6, and improve by an extra 1d6 every five levels thereafter (7, 12, 17). Sneak Attack dice are not multiplied on a critical hit or other damage multipliers.
Ranged attacks can be sneak attacks as well, but only so long as the target is within 30 feet.
The bonus damage is the same as that which the weapon deals. If the ninja is wielding a weapon that deals non-lethal damage, the bonus damage from Sneak Attack is also non-lethal. She cannot gain the bonus damage when not wielding her weapon optimally, such as dealing non-lethal damage with a lethal weapon at a -4 penalty. The ninja must also be proficient in the weapon being used.
Against foes with Improved Uncanny Dodge, ninja levels count as rogue levels for the purposes of being able to flank effectively.
Creatures that are immune to critical hits cannot be affected by Sneak Attack. Also, because the ninja needs to be able to precisely determine her victim's vital locations, any creature with concealment cannot be sneak attacked either. Finally, if a creature's vitals are out of reach, such as a tall giant, the ninja cannot sneak attack them, either.
Bonus Feat: Ninja are very agile, and gain their choice of Weapon Finesse or Shadow Blade for free at 2nd level. If she already has either, she may choose another feat for which she qualifies.
Evasion (Ex): At 3rd level, the ninja gains Evasion. She can avoid blasts and the like, whether magical or mundane. Whenever an attack would allow a Reflex save for half damage, the ninja takes no damage on a successful save instead. This ability cannot be used when the ninja is rendered helpless or if she wears armour of any kind.
Great Leap (Ex): Upon reaching 4th level, a ninja learns how to jump with incredible prowess. From now on, she is treated as always having a running start for jumps, and gains a multiplier to the distance she can jump, of 1.5 times the check result. Every five levels thereafter, the multiplier increases by +0.5.
Poison Use (Ex): At 5th level, ninja learn how to apply poison to their weapons without the risk of poisoning themselves.
Quick Draw: Also at 5th, ninja gain the Quick Draw feat for free. If she already has it, she may choose another feat for which she qualifies.
Rapid Stealth (Ex): Ninja learn to move much more quickly without revealing their presence. At 6th level, the ninja no longer takes penalties to Hide or Move Silently when moving up to her speed, and only takes a -5 penalty to those skills when moving up to double her speed.
Deadly Poison (Ex): Ninja are experts at poison use, and learn techniques to improve their use. Starting at 7th level and every six levels thereafter, the ninja gains this ability, which increases the save DC of any poison she uses by +2, and increases any ability damage it deals by +1. If the poison does not deal ability damage, it still benefits from the save increase.
Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): Starting at 8th level, a ninja can hide even while being observed. She must either not be in daylight, or must have some sort of concealment in order to do so. The ninja cannot use this ability if she is wearing any armour or carrying a load heavier than light.
Nondetection (Su): At 8th level as well, the ninja's stealthiness also improves supernaturally. From now on, she is under a continuous
Nondetection effect, as the spell found on page 257 of the PHB. Treat the ninja's class level as the caster level for the effect.
Skill Mastery (Ex): After reaching 9th level, ninja master several of their skills. A ninja can always take 10 with the skills Balance, Climb, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, and Tumble, even when she would not normally be able to do so.
Improved Poison Use (Ex): Once a ninja has reached 10th level, she learns to apply poisons to her weapons quicker. It now takes only a move action to apply a poison to a weapon.
Camouflage (Ex): At 11th level, a ninja's skill at hiding is so great that she can now hide in any sort of natural terrain, even if there is no cover or concealment. She cannot use this ability if she is wearing any armour or carrying a load heavier than light.
Improved Quick Draw (Ex): Also at 11th, the ninja's ability to rapidly draw hidden weapons becomes a flurry of motion. She can now draw hidden weapons as a free action instead of a move action.
Improved Evasion (Ex): Upon reaching level 14, a ninja's evasion improves. She now only takes half damage if she fails a Reflex save when an attack allows a Reflex save for half damage. If the ninja cannot use Evasion, she cannot use Improved Evasion either.
Greater Blink (Su): Twice per day at level 15, a ninja can start vanishing from the physical world for brief, controlled moments. She goes ethereal, able to pass physical obstacles and avoid attack. This ability functions similarly to
Greater Blink, found on page 32 of the SpC.
Stealth Critical (Ex): After gaining level 16, ninja become even more capable at stealthy attacks. So long as the ninja remains undetected by her target, her attacks are so precise that her attacks gain a +2 to the critical threat range, after any other increases are applied, and a +1 to the critical damage mulitplier, as long as the victim is not immune. The target must be within 30 feet for this ability to work, when using ranged attacks. For instance, a hidden ninja with a +1 Keen kukri has a threat range of 13-20, and will do x3 damage on a critical hit.
Mind Blank (Su): Upon attaining 18th level, the ninja has so mastered the art of stealth, she can hide her very mind. This ability functions identically to
Mind Blank, as found on page 253 of the PHB, except that it functions continuously.
Double Strike (Ex): At 20th level, the ninja has mastered her offensive skills. Four times per day, she may, as a full-round action, activate two different strike manoeuvres, so long as they only require standard actions to activate. The first manoeuvre is chosen and resolved, followed by the second. A 5' step may be taken in between manoeuvres. If, after the first manoeuvre is resolved, the ninja does not wish to, or cannot initiate a second strike, the use of Double Strike is still expended and the ninja has still used up a full-round action.