Ninja

Ninja:

Creatures of the night, the ninja class encompasses more than just the stealthy assassins that are always thought of in modern days. All ninja have similar abilities, but other than that there is a certain amount of specialization that the ninja encompass.

Ninja are dishonorable, however they have a different type of honor that is unknown or simply disregarded by most. Ninja sacrifice their own honor for the honor of their masters. Many people need "dishonorable" tasks completed, if anything else to counter the dishonorable actions of others. That is where ninja come in.

Ninja follow 3 oaths above all else:

Secrecy: as ninja are technically illegal, no one must know you are what you are if you are in fact a ninja. Secrecy is the single factor that allows ninja organizations to survive. Ninja dojo's teach ninja to be resistant to torture, and if a ninja talks, they, and whoever they revealed themselves too, are considered dead. Ninja have done such a great job protecting their secret lives, that most commoners consider ninja superstition.

Loyalty: Ninja must be loyal to their clan, their current master and their fellow students. Sensei are equally as loyal to their students as samurai sensei are, if not even more. Students are equally as loyal to their sensei as their sensei to them.

Duty: A ninja is defined by its duty. Ninja make the greatest sacrifice, abandoning everything that those who follow Bushido cherishes for the good of the master they serve.

Increased Agility: Ninja have the agility of a cat and speed of a leopard. OK, maybe not that much, but they do get an enhanced amount of agility and speed just by taking the class.

Concealing Weapons: Ninjas are masters at concealing weapons.

Poison Use: All ninjas know how to use poisons, and have an advanced knowledge of having it, knowing how to use it, identifying it, healing it, and applying it to weapons.

Ninja Weapons: Ninja have a unique set of weapons, armor and items that only they know how to use. They are considered dishonorable by some people.

Advanced Hiding: All ninja have the ability to hide extremely well. They are also very quiet, even in

Danger Sense: Ninja have an acute sense when it comes to identifying traps and danger in combat.

Roles: Ninja select roles from the following lists:

Roles:

-Spy: The original ninja were created by a single command from the emperor: "Watch." This established the first and most important role of the ninja--the spy. An agent with the skill to slip behind enemy lines, learn the enemy's secrets, and escape unnoticed is an extremely valuable retainer. There are many more ninja spies than any other sort of ninja. Espionage is a fine way to utilize a ninja's unique skills, and is both less risky and less dishonorable than assassination.

Memory: As you advance as a spy, your memory skills increase. Essentially, you can memorize more and more things until you essentially have photographic memory at level 5.

Sleepless Nights: At level 3, Spies gain the ability to stay awake longer and conserve their energy. As long as they do not move, they can stay awake for a whole day and it affects their health as if they didn't sleep for only 3 hours. During this time, they have below normal abilities and can only observe around them. This is used mostly for spying.

Acute Hearing: Spies can hear much better than most other people.

Hawk Eyes: Spies also can see much greater detail at distances most cannot.

Master of Disguise: This person is an expert at applying makeup and catching details on people in crowds to imitate them, as well as changing little things in their accent, posture, etc...to look like different people. They also start with a disguise kit and some cloth alteration equipment, as well as a common kimono that can be worn equally as well in courts and on the streets without attracting a second glance.


-Guardian: Some say the best way to deal with a ninja is with...a ninja. And so, the guardians are made.

Watchful Eye: Like hawk eyes (see above) with an added twist. These ninja can target a specific individual and never lose sight of them up to 50 feet per level away. This person must be an ally or charge.

Fast Reaction Speed: This is an enhanced version of Danger Sense and allows the guardian to react to things extremely fast. At level 5, they can also react to traps as well as people. At level 10, they get a split second before the opponent's action to respond (with a third post in battles) if they spend their time awaiting them to do something.

Sacrifice: At level 2, a guardian may quickly leap itself in front of oncoming danger. Although this may seem foolish, this ability is potent when combined with their Advanced defenses ability.

Advanced Defenses: Guardians can pad and armor certain areas of their bodies to prepare for strikes from the most common foes. This procedure takes about 30 minutes and 5 koku worth of leather and padding which the guardian stats with (but might have to replace later). The guardian must know what type of oppoenent to guard against (either by race, or by class if the opponent has a class, or by style or role). This decreases damage done to it and can be used with the Sacrifice ability and advanced agility of the ninja to allow it to roll slightly to have attacks hit less vital or heavily armored areas. This is made to stop light attacks, usually from other ninja, so it won't stop things like falling trees or clubs from hurting, but can help against swords and senbon (throwing needles).

Scout Danger: Guardians automatically know the intent of any murderer in the vicinity who is preparing to strike upon seeing him, unless that person is taking steps to avoid it (essentially, unless that person is a ninja at least 3 levels lower). If a ninja is in it's presence and at a lower level than the guardian, but disguised, there is a chance the guardian will be able to pick up hints that he is up to no good or that he or she is, in fact, a ninja. They know the habits of ninja from other dojo as well.


-Saboteur: few ninja devote their entire careers to sabotage. Usually they are spys or thieves as well and go into this class. Either way, they are rather useful. They have all the abilities of the spy, except sleepless night and memory, but get an additional ability.

Explosive Knowledge: Saboteurs know quite a bit about how explosives work. This includes their production, although they cannot produce them unless they are an alchemist (but they can spot one being produced or the ingredients needed, if need be, and at level 5, make a makeshift bomb with reduced effectiveness). They are masters of the fuse and also know quite a bit of engineering...if it applys to destroying certain structures. For example, a saboteur can make a 40 second fuse, attach the bomb he never saw before unnoticeably to the key point in a bridge he never saw before and destroy it in a single blast before being caught. They are well paid for their work, but are less needed than most other ninja roles.

Forgery: Ninja saboteurs know a crude form of forgery, allowing them access to places others cannot go into. They cannot forge documents for political gains or essentially for any reason other than gaining access to some places, as most documents that are required that, if forged, would cause long term harm would be carefully inspected. Although not able to sneak into the emperor's quarters with a forged note which would be carefully inspected, or steal a house or cart, they could sneak into a powder room or a construction site.

-Assassin: Although all ninja can kill silently, assassins are much rarer than spy (contrary to popular belief). Assassin's are well payed and dangerous. They can kill without a trace and even make it look like a natural death. However, they are dangerous things--an assassination is still a murder, no matter how honorable the intent, and the lord who ordered it is an accomplice to that murder, which means many times a daimyo may try to do away with assassins after their deeds are done, lest their knowledge be used against them.

Sleepless Nights: At level 3, Assassins gain the ability to stay awake longer and conserve their energy. As long as they do not move, they can stay awake for a whole day and it affects their health as if they didn't sleep for only 3 hours. During this time, they have below normal abilities and can only observe around them. This is used mostly for staying awake when awaiting the perfect chance to kill. They can even wait in awkward positions, like on rooftops or hanging on ropes.

Natural Death: An assassin can make a body appear like they died of natural causes, no matter how they died. The higher the level of the ninja, the more convincing this ability becomes...but never to the point of insanity (i.e. a sliced off head).

Critical Spots: Assassins are carefully trained in human anatomy and can strike where it counts. An assassin can spend 10 seconds to aim for a perfect strike that is very lethal at high levels. This increases to 30 seconds when fighting non-humans. Each level past 1 decreases this abilitys activation time by 1 second.

Master Thrower: This class also gains the ability to throw knives, shuriken and other ninja weapons with extreme accuracy. The accuracy increases as time goes on untill level 10, when it is finally mastered.

Art of Distraction: This ability allows this class to snap their fingers, waive their arms or do other things to throw the opponent off balance, just for a second, to get in an extra, quick blow, or to run away. Most smart enemies don't fall for this twice, but high level ninja can do this often with flashier techniques that usually decieve, since they make the affected opponent feel his life is on the line.

-Thief: With their talent in infiltrating hostile areas, ninjas make extremely talented thieves. Few focus entirely on theft; most are simply at the right place at the right time. But ninja thieves are no common burglars--their objectives are generally more important than mere wealth. A ninja thief may be commissioned to steal an enemy's battle plans, shame an enemy family by stealing a valued heirloom, or even to recover a stolen item. They have the same abilities as a spy, except for memory.

Pick Pocket: Ninja thieves can steal without being noticed rather well.

Pick Locks: Does this really need a description? All ninjas can do this, they just do it better.

Conceal the Booty: I had to call it this. Anyways, ninja thieves can conceal stolen goods quite well. Almost supernaturally well.

Appraise: A ninja thief is still a thief at heart and can tell what is worth what a little more than other classes with a careful study of the items in a room.

Art of Distraction: This ability allows this class to snap their fingers, waive their arms or do other things to throw the opponent off balance, just for a second, to get in an extra, quick blow, or to run away. Most smart enemies don't fall for this twice, but high level ninja can do this often with flashier techniques that usually decieve, since they make the affected opponent feel his life is on the line.

-Weapon Specialist: These ninja are masters of thrown and non-thrown weapons. They can use all small and medium-small weapons like an expert, and even find deadly ways to throw weapons like nunchucks and sycthes.

Master Thrower: This class has deadly accuracy and can hit very precise locations from far distances. At level 3, it can target joints. At level 5, open mouths, and at level 7, it can even hit a moving eye.

Fast Thrower: These specialists can throw weapons at extreme speed, as well as pull them out of their sacthels faster than normal people. At level 4, they gain the ability to instinctively be able to pull out exactly what weapon they need from their own bags if they packed it without even having to look or take any time.

Mid-Air Thrower: At level 6, this class can aim and throw in mid-jump, even against other targets in mid-jump. They can essentially throw 1/2 their level in a jump that lasts a second.

Hawk Eyes: See the spy.

Many prestige classes exist for ninja, but they might be harder to find than other classes due to the ninja's secretive ways. They include stalkers, hunters, acrobatic warriors, more powerful assassins and even masters of the shadows themselves.

-Tejina: This secret sect of ninja cannot be taken in the outset as a role, but must be taken like a prestige class (although it is a role). They are a secretive group that uses shadow magic...