Wise Ninja

[GutterFace]

Ok i am going to try this again. there are some holes that need to be plugged up so hopefully someone has some ideas. the campaign is starting at 5. no Prc's, only allowed one multi to start (if any). no starting magical items. and only small towns and hamlets will be on the adventure campaign so no access to bountiful shops full of cool things. so keep this bland and simple.

Human Ninja level 5 (32 pt buy)

str:10
dex:13
con:12
int: 10
Wis: 17+1 (wise ninja!) im trading dex for wis for this build
cha: 14

skills (the main ones)

Iaijutsu Focus: 16 with mods, points and feat focus
Skill Trick: Hidden blade (need for 1 extra FF attack when Ki is out)
Tumble
Hide
Spot/Listen
Tumble

feats: in order

Sacred vow
Vow of poverty (important for ac, attack, etc.)

Nymphs kiss need this for skill ranks

Quick Draw (for IF)

Intuitive Attack (wisdom build!) +4

Skill focus (IF)

so i worked out the math and my ac is:
standard:23, touch 22! (thanks ninja bonus!), flat 22

i dont plan on getting hit with a barbarian in the front but this makes up for the lack of Con/Hp

BAB 3 + 1(vow weapon) + 4 Intuitive = 8 melee. +2 on Flank

(not bad)

I will carry 4 Sickles for IF/hidden blade

Damage is 1d6 +1 (vow) + 4 Intuitive + 3d6 sudden strike + avg. 4d6 IF

not bad!

With Ki and the wisdom bonus ill be able to sneak up and drop a decent attack almost every turn.

thoughts???

[Glimbur]

Intuitive Attack gives you Wis to hit, but not to damage.

You have six Ki points. This means 6 rounds of invisibility. You can supplement this with winning initiative: people are generally flat footed until they have acted in combat. How many combats/day do you expect?

[GutterFace]

good point. i can switch out skill focus it was a "dump" feat...for improved initiative.

also i thought intuitive replaced str mod for combat which means to hit and str substitution for combat? if not ill pray to roll higher on my IF check

internet keeps going in and out if i double post sorry

hidden blade will give me also another +1 ff combat jump

this is a mid level game prob 5-10 so i am unsure how many combats there will be per time we play

[Aeryr]

I am experimenting with ninjas for a gestalt campaign too and I believe that the most beneficial (at least for me) is adding to levels of monk to the mix:

You get the following from 2 levels of monk

Improved unarmed strike as a bonus feat
Another bonus feat, that you don't need to meet the prerequisites to get (lvl 1)
A second bonus feat that you don't need to meet the prerequisites so ascetic stalker it is (it lets you stack monk and ninja to determine unarmed strike damage and your ki pool uses)
Invisible fist ACF that makes you invisible for a round once every 3 rounds.
Better saves

Of course that renders less useful to be able to use iajitsu focus, but I believe it's still viable.

[GutterFace]

very cool

i will have to look into these as well. thanks!

keep em coming

[Callous]

INTUITIVE ATTACK? WHAT IS THIS!?

<Hurries off to create an even crazier c... God-zilla>

[Venusaur]

Vow of Poverty is usually a bad feat, but if you don't think you will get magic items, then it isn't as bad.
Do you have access to Tome of Battle? If so, the swordsage is a better wisdom using sneaky type of class than the ninja.

[Kuulvheysoon]

There's also some ninja-specific feats in CS; one adds uses to your ki pool (+2/day, I believe), while the other makes your ki use abilities last an extra round (Enduring ki)

EDIT:


INTUITIVE ATTACK? WHAT IS THIS!?

<Hurries off to create an even crazier c... God-zilla>

It's a feat from the BoED (Book of Exalted Deeds). Lets you replace your STR on your to-hit modifier with your Wisdom, but only with simple weapons.

[GutterFace]

Intuitive attack is from the book of exalted deeds. it replaces Str with Wisdom when making a melee attack

[GutterFace]

and good lord yes Expanded Ki Pool from CS is good...a must have ill trade that for Skill focus


Sword sage with Shadow maneuvers looks good too...i will have to consider this

[Kuulvheysoon]

If the Book of 9 Swords is on the table, have you considered the Shadow Sun Ninja (Prestige Class)?

[GutterFace]

I would yes, but campaign is no Prc's

[ThiagoMartell]

Vow of Poverty is usually a bad feat, but if you don't think you will get magic items, then it isn't as bad.
Do you have access to Tome of Battle? If so, the swordsage is a better wisdom using sneaky type of class than the ninja.

Not for what he is doing, no.

[Aeryr]

Actually I will get martial study (cloak of shadows) later on, another invisibility 1/encounter can be handy.

[ThiagoMartell]

Actually I will get martial study (cloak of shadows) later on, another invisibility 1/encounter can be handy.

...but you already get that from Ninja. :smallconfused:

[Urpriest]

By the way, what is your DM doing to even the numbers, given the whole "no magic items" thing? The most common way to do it is to just give everyone an alignment-independent vow of poverty, but since you're taking the feat presumably that's not what he's doing.

[GutterFace]

we generally play low to mid level is small areas or dungeons where there just arent magical items until we do something big. i know a lot of DM's over load people like in modern MMO's...that's not D&D. magic items should be rare and hard to come by and random. ive played a lot with different people and a lot fo dm's love throwing magical items at lowbies (1-8) then it becomes a stat game and not a figure it out game

[tyckspoon]

...but you already get that from Ninja. :smallconfused:

Ki uses are a per-day resource, and they can be used on other things than invisibility (although Ghost Step is pretty clearly the *best* use of them.) Martial Study: Cloak of Deception is basically a 'free' extra Ki use per encounter.


we generally play low to mid level is small areas or dungeons where there just arent magical items until we do something big. i know a lot of DM's over load people like in modern MMO's...that's not D&D. magic items should be rare and hard to come by and random. ive played a lot with different people and a lot fo dm's love throwing magical items at lowbies (1-8) then it becomes a stat game and not a figure it out game

Your DM used to play a lot of older editions, didn't he?

[Callous]

I intuitive attack!

[Kelb_Panthera]

nitpick: unless your dm says otherwise, you're only carrying one sickle per the description of VoP.

[Aeryr]

...but you already get that from Ninja. :smallconfused:

More invis = More sudden strike

And ninja's are limited by day nor by encounter. That's why I said that invisible fist monk is a great addition.