The Ninja Class (CNH)

__TOC__
In seventh century Japan, Prince Shotoku Taishi won a war against an enemy named Moriya. The prince's success rested on information brought to him by a spy named Otomono- Saijin, whom Shotoku Taishi honored with the name Shinobi, meaning "stealer in." It is probably from this incident that the use of the term shinobi has come to refer to highly trained, clan-based Japanese spies.
(In Japanese and Chinese, there may be two or more ways to pronounce the same written characters. An alternate pronunciation for shinobi is ninja.)
Japanese techniques of military intelligence, heavily influenced by espionage advisors from China and Sun Tzu's classic manual The Art of War, developed over a period of several hundred years.
During the Kamakura era, from the late twelfth to early fourteenth centuries, many samurai and their families fell out of favor with the court. Some of these families fled to distant Iga and Koga provinces and settled there in reduced circumstances to make their living as farmers. Among them were experts in military intelligence, who began selling their expertise to daimyo, Japanese feudal lords. It was in this setting that the modern idea of the ninja—an agent with espionage skills for hire but whose loyalty belongs first to his own clan—truly took hold.
In their isolated villages, the ninja clans developed specific espionage and combat techniques. These are collectively referred to as ninjutsu, though that term is also used to refer to only their unarmed and weapon combat techniques.
Spies and ninja found many opportunities for employment in the great anarchic periods of the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. In the more stable Tokugawa shogunate of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, they were used less often, and it is reasonable to assume that their numbers declined. Some modern historians believe that the last of the true ninja died during World War II (or earlier), while others believe that the modern combat and espionage techniques now being taught under the name ninjutsu are genuine, linear descendants of the real ninja skills.
==Ninja and Rogue==
The ninja character class, like the thief and the bard classes, belongs to the rogue group. However, the ninja's similarity to other rogues lies not in temperament (ninja do not believe that the world owes them a living, and are not known as carefree, happy-go-lucky people) but in skills. (Ninja are proficient in matters of stealth, intrusion, and investigation.)
Like other rogues, ninja combine traits from several character classes. They have many of the skills of the thief and some of the combat options of the fighter. A few are able to learn some magical spells.
 Table 1: Rogue Experience Levels
Level	Ninja 	Hit Dice (d6)
1 	0 	1
2 	1,250 	2
3 	2,500 	3
4 	5,000 	4
5 	10,000 	5
6 	20,000 	6
7 	40,000 	7
8 	70,000 	8
9 	110,000 	9
10 	160,000 	10
11 	220,000 	10+2
12 	440,000 	10+4
13 	660,000 	10+6
14 	880,000 	10+8
15 	1,100,000	10+10
16 	1,320,000	10+12
17 	1,540,000	10+14
18 	1,760,000	10+16
19 	1,980,000	10+18
20 	2,200,000	10+20
==Ninja Experience Levels==
Ninja earn experience levels as other rogues do. Table 25 from the Player's Handbook is reproduced on page 5.
One type of ninja, the Spirit Warrior (see Chapter 2) may learn magic spells and must earn more experience points to gain levels.
Ninja of experience levels 1-5 are genin, the lowest-ranking ninja. Those of experience levels 6 through 9 are chunin, the middle management of the ninja clan—sometimes getting their hands dirty and sometimes hobnobbing with the upper ranks. Those of experience level 10 and above are jonin, the upper management of the clan.
==Ninja Class Requirements==
Ability Requirements	Dexterity 13Intelligence 10
Prime Requisite 	Dexterity
Races Allowed 	Human, Dwarf, Halfling
The ninja must have a Dexterity score of at least 13 (reflecting intensive training from childhood in ninja arts) and an Intelligence score of at least 10.
The ninja PC, regardless of race, must have been raised from youth by a human ninja clan. There are no demihuman ninja clans, and the DM and players will have to be very creative to account for a ninja clan's fostering of a dwarf or halfling. For exceptions to this requirement, see the section on "Spies" in Chapter 3.
The DM has the right to decide whether a player can run a ninja character. Ninja bring new levels of secrecy and intrigue into a campaign. The DM who does not wish to complicate the campaign to this extent may forbid the use of ninja PCs.
==Alignment==
Technically, a ninja may be of any alignment. However, each ninja belongs to a clan (see Chapter 6), and each clan's members are restricted to a range of alignments. A player might be able to choose the character's clan but cannot then choose an alignment inappropriate for that clan.
The standard ninja clan allows its members to be of any lawful or neutral alignment (LG, LN, LE, NG, N, NE). The "lawful" aspect of the alignment applies to the rules of conduct of the clan, not those of the society or the nation.
==Weapons and Armor==
The ninja can use any weapon, giving a much wider range of choices than a thief has. Armor choices are limited to leather, padded, studded leather, ring mail, brigandine, scale male, hide armor, and chain mail. The ninja can use a shield and fights as a rogue.
To avoid any adverse effect, ninja avoid wearing armor heavier than leather when they plan to use their thieving skills.
==Thieving Skills==
Like other rogues, ninja can learn thieving skills. They are not as proficient in most of these skills as thieves are, but a ninja who becomes very experienced and specializes in two or three thieving skills can achieve great proficiency.
Table 2 shows the base scores for ninja thieving skills
To these base scores, apply appropriate bonuses and penalties for Dexterity (Table 3, reproduced here from Table 28 in the Player's Handbook), for race (below), and for armor worn (Table 5, replaces Table 29 from the Player's Handbook and is compatible with Table 38 in The Complete Thief's Handbook).
 Table 2: Ninja Thieving Skill Base Scores
Skill 	Base Score
Pick Pockets 	0%
Open Locks 	0%
Find/Remove Traps	0%
Move Silently 	20%
Hide in Shadows 	20%
Detect Noise 	10%
Climb Walls 	40%
Read Languages 	0%
* Dwarf: +10% Open Locks, +15% Find/ Remove Traps, -10% Climb Walls, -5% Read Languages
* Halfling +5% Pick Pockets, +5% Open Locks, +5% Find/Remove Traps, +10% Move Silently, +15% Hide in Shadows, +5% Detect Noise, -15% Climb Walls, -5% Read Languages
Ninja receive extra training in their thieving skills as their careers progress. Each ninja at 1st level receives 60 discretionary percentage points to add to the base scores. (The ninja may put no more than 30 points into any one skill.) At each additional experience level, he receives another 30 points to distribute (and may put no more man 15 points into a skill).
As with the thief, the ninja cannot raise any skill above 95%, including all adjustments for Dexterity, race, and armor.
 Table 3: Thieving Skill Dexterity Adjustments
Dexterity	PickPockets	OpenLocks	Find/Remove Traps	MoveSilently	Hide inShadows
13-15 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
16 	— 	+5% 	— 	— 	—
17 	+5% 	+10% 	— 	+5% 	+5%
18 	+10% 	+15% 	+5% 	+10% 	+10%
19 	+15% 	+20% 	+10% 	+15% 	+15%
 Table 5: Thieving Skill Armor Adjustments
 	NoArmor	Leather	ElfinChain	Studded/Padded	Hide	Ring/Chain	Brigadine/Sprint	Scale/Banded	Shield
PP 	+5% 	— 	-20% 	-30% 	-60%	-40% 	-40% 	-50% 	-60%
OL 	— 	— 	-5% 	-10% 	-50%	-15% 	-15% 	-20% 	-20%
F/RT	— 	— 	-5% 	-10% 	-50%	-15% 	-25% 	-20% 	-20%
MS 	+10% 	— 	-10% 	-20% 	-30%	-40% 	-40% 	-60% 	-10%
HS 	+5% 	— 	-10% 	-20% 	-20%	-30% 	-30% 	-50% 	—
DN 	— 	— 	-5% 	-10% 	-10%	-20% 	-25% 	-30% 	-10%
CW 	+10% 	— 	-20% 	-30% 	-60%	-40% 	-50% 	-90% 	-30%
RL 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
===Backstab===
The ninja has the same backstab ability as the thief.
 Table 4: Backstab Damage Multipliers
Ninja'sLevel	DamageMultiplier
1-4 	x2
5-8 	x3
9-12 	x4
13+ 	x5
===Clan Signs===
Instead of thieves' cant, ninja know clan signs.
Clan signs form a language of hand-signs and written ideograms. Clan signs can convey entire sentences and complex sets of instructions. However, clan signs are not sophisticated enough to convey poetry, and do not include technical terminology unrelated to the ninja. (Topics such as philosophy, physics, and so forth are best left to normal spoken tongues.)
Each ninja clan knows its own secret set of clan signs. A member of one clan cannot understand the hand-signs or written symbols of another. The nonweapon proficiency Detect Signing (see Chapter 4) allows a character to detect when other clans' signs are being used, though the proficiency does not provide an interpretation of the signs' meaning.
===Use Scrolls===
The ninja does not automatically receive the thief's ability to use scrolls. However, the Spirit Warrior ninja kit (see Chapter 2) does impart this ability.
==Ninja's Followers==
Ninja do not typically build citadels the way fighters and other classes do.
At 10th level, the ninja achieves the rank of jonin, a group leader within the clan. The clan leader assigns the jonin 2d6 followers who are members of the clan.
All followers are related by blood to the PC ninja. Some may be distant cousins never previously met, but many will be close cousins and the ninja's own younger brothers, sisters, and perhaps even sons and daughters.
Half of the followers (round up) will be of the ninja character class. The other half will be of other character classes bearing shinobi kits. (See Chapter 3.)
The DM rolls Id6 to determine the experience level of each follower.
The ninja PC is responsible for teaching followers to be better, more effective ninja and shinobi. It's important to remember that the ninja PC has as many responsibilities to these followers as they have to him. They're members of his own family, so the PC should not risk their lives unnecessarily—only under the same circumstances he would expect his life to be risked by his superiors. (See "When a Follower Dies.")
With these followers, the ninja PC can begin to contribute more to the goals of the family. The ninja will now have to plan missions more carefully, deciding whether to undertake a mission alone, send one or more followers, or lead a number of followers in the assignment.
None of this precludes the PC from taking followers along when adventuring with other PCs. In fact, it's appropriate for the ninja PC to take one or more followers along on nonclan adventures to give them experience in the real world.
===When a Follower Dies===
If a follower dies while obeying the orders of the PC, the clan lord will gather information and the testimony of witnesses. A clan lord who determines that the ninja was unnecessarily careless with the follower's life may punish the PC by taking all followers away until the PC demonstrates more sense. If the PC has been grievously negligent, demotion and permanent loss of all followers is a likely punishment.
Whenever a follower dies, the DM should make reaction rolls for all other followers present. Use Table 59: Encounter Reactions, from the DUNGEON MASTER9 Guide, under the "Friendly" column. If the PC was careless with the life of his follower, the DM should apply a +4 modifier to the roll and use the "Threatening" column. On any result of "Hostile," the ninja follower making the roll decides that the PC callously sent his minion to certain death, thus offending the family honor. This follower attacks the PC on the spot, fighting to the death. If the follower survives, he will be the PC's enemy forever.
==Nonweapon Proficiencies==
The ninja PC receives initial weapon and nonweapon proficiency slots and earns additional slots as a rogue.
The ninja character class has the following nonweapon proficiency group crossovers: Rogue, Warrior, General. The ninja who selects nonweapon proficiencies from these groups pays the listed number of slots. Proficiencies selected from other groups cost one extra slot per proficiency.
==Starting Money==
Ninja receive the same starting money as other rogues: 2d6 x 10 gp. This rule is in effect regardless of the relative wealth of the ninja clan. Very poor clans save up enough money to give their agents an adequate stake, while rich ones choose not to spoil their members with excess funding.
==Multiclass Ninja==
Demihuman ninja cannot be multiclassed. Even if the DM decides to ignore the character race restrictions on the ninja class—in order to have elf ninja or some other combination appropriate to the campaign—such ninja should still always be single-class characters.
==Dual-class Ninja==
It is not recommended that the DM allow dual-class ninja. Ninja have such a rich range of opportunities that allowing the dual-class option is overkill. However, if the DM is determined to allow dual-class ninja, here are the guidelines to use.
If the campaign uses ninja kits, characters switching to the ninja class can take only the Stealer-In or Shadow Warrior kit.
Ninja Class Becoming Another Class: A ninja clan will not allow one of its members to start out as a ninja and then switch to another class. Only the Lone Wolf ninja (see Chapter 2) can switch to another class.
Another Class Becoming Ninja Class: This can happen in one of two ways.
— The PC starts out as a shinobi (see Chapter 3) in a ninja clan and decides to switch to the ninja class. The clan leader will discourage this, but generally will not forbid it.
— A PC from outside the clan has become good friends with a ninja and asks to be taught the secrets of the ninja class. The ninja clan lord must be convinced tht the PC is sincere and loyal. The PC will be put through a variety of tests to determine his loyalty before being adopted into the clan. Not all the tests will be obvious ones, such as risking one's life to save a clan member or turning down a bribe from a member of another clan.
If the ninja candidate fails to convince the clan lord of his loyalty, the clan must eliminate him because he knows their secret. Naturally, the friend who sponsored the PC candidate will be assigned this task as a test of his own loyalty.
==Other Character Creation Notes==
Players also need to decide their characters' names and determine their status in society.
===Status===
On Table 6, players roll to determine the social status of their characters' clans. From highest to lowest status they are: samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant, nonperson.
The PC's clan status has little effect on his usefulness in a campaign. A ninja will always pretend to be of the social class appropriate to the current mission.
The DM may assign the PC's social class, particularly if the DM has already assigned the PC ninja to a clan. In a campaign where the players won't automatically stampede for the highest social status, the DM may allow the players to choose social classes for their PCs.
 Table 6: Clan Status
1d20 	Result
1-2 	Nonperson (animal Tenderers, actors, prostitutes, etc.)
3-6 	Merchant
7-10 	Artisan
11-18	Farmer
19-20	Samurai
===Names===
A PC of the artisan, merchant, or farmer social class chooses a given names only. Such characters refer to themselves by appending their village, shop, or farm name to the given name. For example, Ai of Misasa village would be known as Misasa no Ai.
A character of the samurai social class chooses a family name and a given name. Most Oriental names are presented family name first.
The family name is not necessarily the same as the clan name. Only the close family of the clan lord bear the clan name as family name. The DM, rather than the player, should choose the name of the PC's clan.
Category:The Complete Ninja's Handbook Class