Ninja in DnD 5e

[t209]

Well, not exactly Ninja class.
But someone who is RPing as ninja and here are my current builds I am trying as new player.
- All Rogue, any archetypes (Thief being the saboteur and espionage style and Arcane Trickster being Jutsu user)
- Rogue 1 and Ranger 3 (mostly Umbral due to being ambush based and dark vision)
This was done for Adventure League, so I can't do more than level 4 or I can't mix it up above that level.
I tried range but most of the time I get caught in CQC and Archery skill doesn't seem to cut out for me (tried Ranger since I want to use Longbow).

[Luccan]

There's always Shadow Monk. It seems pretty well intended for the shadow-magic and faster-than-the-eye type of ninja.

[zinycor]

I think Shadow Monk would be the most direct way to be a ninja.

[t209]

Yeah, but the thing is that Shadow Monk is kinda squishy, Rogue kinda had things that ninja should ideally have (thieves tools, cunning action, and sneak attack) even he or she can’t do martial arts.
Also I am thinking about ranged and not sure if Longbow (take ranger for that) as main or have a crossbow (rogue can use it) as a backup.

[Appleheart]

I think Shadow Monk would be the most direct way to be a ninja.

I think Shadow Monk makes a great base for a ninja. Grab 5-6 levels of that first(ish).

Then, as others have said, a multiclass into Rogue and/or Ranger can flesh it out well, and both make it stronger and cover some of the bases that the monk missed.

Something like 5-6 levels Monk and 5 levels Rogue is a great combo. Use the shadow monk tricks for mobility and base DPR, with Cunning Action, Sneak Attack, and Uncanny Dodge for bonuses. Expertise in Stealth and such helps a great bit as well.

Arcane Trickster would also probably be my pick from the Rogue. Grab stuff like Invisibility, Misty Step, Shadow Blade, Shield, etc.

[da newt]

Depending on what 'ninja' means to you, any of the monk subclasses could work.

If you are willing to focus more on the window dressing side of things to make your PC a 'ninja' you can make most any martial work as a ninja by putting them in black PJs and sneaking around. I think a hexblade warlock, gloomstalker ranger, any fighter or barbarian could be 'ninja-ed' with RP, background, and race choices.

[zinycor]

Yeah, but the thing is that Shadow Monk is kinda squishy, Rogue kinda had things that ninja should ideally have (thieves tools, cunning action, and sneak attack) even he or she can’t do martial arts.
Also I am thinking about ranged and not sure if Longbow (take ranger for that) as main or have a crossbow (rogue can use it) as a backup.

I would personally use a shortbow, if you go rogue, most of the damage comes from your sneak attack, so shortbow is perfectly fine.

If you really want to use a crossbow, then grab crossbow expert as soon as possible.

[ImproperJustice]

Five Levels of Rogue for Uncanny Dodge, and 3d6 sneak attack is pretty Strong for a Shadow Monk IMO.
Rogue Cunning action boosts survivability and KI economy.

If in a campaign that goes the distance to 20, you still will get access to Diamond Soul.

[LibraryOgre]

Five Levels of Rogue for Uncanny Dodge, and 3d6 sneak attack is pretty Strong for a Shadow Monk IMO.
Rogue Cunning action boosts survivability and KI economy.

If in a campaign that goes the distance to 20, you still will get access to Diamond Soul.

Cunning action is so useful to a Monk, and is a free version of something they pay ki for, so I'm always amazed when monk-heavy builds don't throw in two levels of Rogue to get it (and more skills).

[J-H]

You may like this thread:

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?614978-Shadow-Monk-damage-dealer-of-the-group-how

[t209]

Note that this is adventure league, so some aspects won’t work like Assassin.

[zinycor]

So, what are your thoughts so far? I believe Ninja is broad enough of a concept that there are plenty of ways to make it happen.

[Arkhios]

Juvenile anthropomorphic shinobi shellpads!

[djreynolds]

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?469125-GUIDE-Dealing-Death-Handbook-of-the-True-Assassin&p=6707781#post6707781

This is a good place to start.

Warlock, shadow monk, and assassin

[BoutsofInsanity]

So a level 4 Ninja build?

There are a couple of ways to get there but I think some of the best ways are as follows.

For a more combat spell focused build I would do Scout Rogue 3 (Netting some skills, and the ability to reaction move away from an opponent to gain distance. And then the rest in ranger.

I think the classic is of course Assassin rogue 3 / Shadow Monk six. Pass without trace, silence are the golden goose along with all day teleporting.

A less ambush focused build would be the shadow monk 6 / Ranger X.

Lastly, going straight ranger with a focus on melee can allow you to feel pretty ninja esque.

Lastly Ill throw out a straight Warlock with all of the social features and hiding features. They can be a more magical ninja instead.

[Tvtyrant]

Well, not exactly Ninja class.
But someone who is RPing as ninja and here are my current builds I am trying as new player.
- All Rogue, any archetypes (Thief being the saboteur and espionage style and Arcane Trickster being Jutsu user)
- Rogue 1 and Ranger 3 (mostly Umbral due to being ambush based and dark vision)
This was done for Adventure League, so I can't do more than level 4 or I can't mix it up above that level.
I tried range but most of the time I get caught in CQC and Archery skill doesn't seem to cut out for me (tried Ranger since I want to use Longbow).

Armor Artificer can be easily fluffed as a Ninja, they were all about tool usage and the Armor Artificer gets super mobile armor and uses intelligence to hit and damage.

[djreynolds]

I guess you could have two ninjas

A realistic historical representation.... thief rogue with some monk.

Or, not a fantasy based, but a ninja build based on fantastical tales or legends. Things that ninja may have done that seem supernatural.

[Detective]

I agree with most, that a shadow monk would suit the theme of a ninja. If you are going to play and eventually level up, there is also the possibility of going rogue 2/ monk 2, and then leveling up monk and take shadow monk, without touching rogue again.

The main reason why I think rogue 2 can still work, is because of three things:
1) You'll start with four skill proficienies from the class alone instead of two from monk. Also gives you access to thieves tool proficiency.
2) Expertise. Boost up your stealth modifier, and one more skill of your choice, depending on preference.
3) Cunning Action. Its essentially a zero-ki cost step of the wind (only without the doubled jump distance), which can help mitigate the ki-cost early on by letting you use ki just for flurry blows and patient defense.
Cunning action also gives you to go into stealth as a -bonus- action, which can be helpful in attacking and then immediately going back to hiding.

From there, you can either just go shadow monk and keep rogue at 2, or eventually spend a level in rogue to get an archetype. If Assassin won't work for you, two options that I see can work instead, are the scout, or swashbuckler archetype:

With scout, you get Skirmisher, which gives you the ability to use your reaction to use half your speed to get away when an opponent gets close to you. What I find interesting is that it can go well with monk's unarmored movement down the line, giving you more feet to away the higher level you are in monk.

However, swashbuckler is where I think gives you the better bonus down the line. If you made a melee attack on a creature during your turn, hit or miss (unless I am not reading it right), that creature can't make opportunity attacks against you.
That... Can be quite beneficial for a monk who can make up to three attacks with flurry of blows, just at level two. The +charisma modifier to initiative from swashbuckler is a nice bonus too, if you happen to have the charisma for it.

That said, I should point out that multiclassing this early on can make you be a bit weaker than if you were focusing on just class (At least until you get the main features from each class).

[Nagog]

I would go Gloomstalker Ranger 3, Shadow Monk X. Ranger gets you some good armor you can wear when you need AC (though it will shut down Martial Arts), but once you hit Monk levels you can stack Hunter's Mark damage on every hit of your Flurry of Blows. Picking up Fog Cloud as a Ranger spell is also a wonderful option for a smoke bomb type thing. Zephyr Strike, Jump, and Snare are also very thematic and potentially fun (though Snare is a bit of a bear to use).

[Derpldorf]

Straight Whisper Bard 4. It fills literally any ninja architype you can think of with nothing more than a little refluffing.

[MrStabby]

Cunning action is so useful to a Monk, and is a free version of something they pay ki for, so I'm always amazed when monk-heavy builds don't throw in two levels of Rogue to get it (and more skills).

I have to say, I find it even more surprising for a ranger than a monk - the overlap with monk abilities is high but for a ranger it adds a facility they don't have already. The same for mobility.

For a monk, your two levels of rogue cost you two levels of Ki advancement. So that is disengage/dodge/dash twice per short rest that you need to do just to break even on Ki. I am not saying you won't do it - but I don't think that you would opt to do it vastly more; if you are playing the monk "right" then I would expect to end up next to casters and other less melee focussed targets that you won't need to run from or targets that by the end of your turn are stunned. The freedom to spend the Ki from those two levels on any of your abilitys is pretty valuable too. I do love a rogue dip, but it is mainly for the skills for me.