3.5 Ninja's Sudden Strike

[Laharal]

Hello everyone!

I might play a ninja I a new game and I need some guidance with the sudden strike. I used to play a ninja in another campaign and most of my sneak attacks were perform,ed due to flanking an ennemy.

Since sudden strike can't be applied while flanking, do you have ways of making a ennemy lose his dex bonus? (Put a priority on the ones that I could perform without a wizard or utilitary spellcaster.. even though these means can be good to know) Any equiment? Alchemical things?

Here is the list that I will update:
Bluffcheck - feint
Sneaking from behind with the target not noticing me
Having a spell caster using Grease will work
Turning invisible
Stances and manoeuvresSapphire Nightmare Blade, and Cloak of Deception
Use marbles (Arms & Equipment Guide
Swordsage: Shadow Hand and Diamond Mind maneuvers
Acrobatic backstab (skill trick from Comp. Scoundrel)

[Starscream]

Well, the most popular way with a ninja is simply to turn invisible, which they can do multiple times a day.

Also: Almost certainly (and ironically) ninja'd!

[Project_Mayhem]

Ironically not!

I think there's a couple of stances and manoeuvres you could pick up with martial study/stance ... I shall check and return

Edit:

Yeah, there's a few - Sapphire Nightmare Blade, and Cloak of Deception at a quick glance

[Optimystik]

Use marbles (Arms & Equipment Guide.) 2 silver's worth gets you 2 lbs, or enough to cover a 5ft. square. They force a DC 15 balance check for any creature that walks across them, at which point they lose their Dex bonus and can be SS'ed multiple times. They're also reusable.

[Blackfang108]

Also: Almost certainly (and ironically) ninja'd!

That's not Irony, that's coincedence!

[Draz74]

Bluffcheck -feint

It works, but it's a waste of your actions.

Sneaking from behind with the target not noticing me

Situational but classic.

Having a spell caster using entangle or similar spells

No, that one actually doesn't work at all. Entangle gives them a -4 penalty to Dexterity, but doesn't deny them Dex to AC if they still have a Dex bonus. Grease will work, assuming your opponents don't have 5 ranks in Balance, but most other spells won't do what you want.

I have to warn you that Ninja is, in general, considered a pretty weak class. But hey, if you don't mind the challenge, other people have named some great options for pulling off Sudden Strikes.

[Person_Man]

Honestly, there is no reason to play a Ninja over a Rogue. Sudden Strike is much harder to trigger then Sneak Attack, and ALL of the Ninja's special abilities can be duplicated by relatively affordable magic items. On the flip side, you're giving up the Rogue's Uncanny Dodge, much earlier Evasion, Special Abilities, and superior Skills (especially UMD).

[Optimystik]

A swordsage is also a great choice - many Shadow Hand and Diamond Mind maneuvers fit Ninjutsu fluff like a glove.

[Laharal]

Many thanks to all, if there are more just throw them in ;)

[Claudius Maximus]

Blinding your enemies makes you invisible to them, and thus allows for Sudden Strike.

A Dust Eggshell Grenade from Oriental Adventures blinds with no save on a successful touch attack. You could throw one at the start of your full attack, and then move in and just go straight crazy on their face. 10 gp each.

[Susano-wo]

I think the option of Invis is strong and reliable. Also, if you are going to dip/take feats from ToB, I'd just go straight for Assassin stance (+2d6 SA). then you do more damage when you Sudden Strike, and can pull off 2d6 at least when you are stuck with just flanking.

[Optimystik]

Invisibility isn't strong at all. At low levels, Ninjas can't use it nearly often enough; at high-levels, everything and their mother can get around it. Blindsense, Tremorsense, Scent, See Invis, True Seeing, etc. Meanwhile, a rogue or spellthief will generally always have something it can flank with. In situations where invisibility DOES work, those two classes can do it too, especially the ST.

[Mushroom Ninja]

1. Find some way (either a ring or some wizard levels) to get blink.
2. Two-weapon-fighting-rapid-shot a crapton shurikens at your foes.
3.???
4. Profit

[jiriku]

If you are planning to play a small race, Confound the Big Folk (RotW) and Giantbane (CW) are helpful against creatures that are two or more size categories larger than you. Confound the Big Folk makes the target flat-footed whenever you occupy its space. Whenever the target misses you while you are taking full defense, Giantbane gives you a free attack on your next turn against which the target is flat-footed. A potion of reduce person can shrink you from small to tiny so you can gain this benefit even against medium opponents.

[Starscream]

Invisibility isn't strong at all. At low levels, Ninjas can't use it nearly often enough; at high-levels, everything and their mother can get around it. Blindsense, Tremorsense, Scent, See Invis, True Seeing, etc. Meanwhile, a rogue or spellthief will generally always have something it can flank with. In situations where invisibility DOES work, those two classes can do it too, especially the ST.

Take the Darkstalker feat from LoM. With 6 skill point per level, ninjas are perfectly capable of remaining unseen even without invisibility.

[JaronK]

Invisibility isn't reliable at high levels... too many things see through it. But a 5 level dip into Invisible Blade would get the job done, so long as you take the Surprising Reposte feat. That should help.

JaronK

[Draz74]

Take the Darkstalker feat from LoM. With 6 skill point per level, ninjas are perfectly capable of remaining unseen even without invisibility.

Works great for noncombat uses of stealth, but at low levels this won't let you attack (for Sudden Strike damage) multiple rounds in a row.

[Yucca]

The Flick of the Wrist feat allows you to catch an opponent flat-footed if you draw a light weapon and attack with it in the same round.

[tyckspoon]

Works great for noncombat uses of stealth, but at low levels this won't let you attack (for Sudden Strike damage) multiple rounds in a row.

It does if you have an applicable Hide In Plain Sight ability and a high enough Hide/Move Silent check to remain undetected while standing right next to somebody. Which is a little difficult, but not impossible.

[Starscream]

Works great for noncombat uses of stealth, but at low levels this won't let you attack (for Sudden Strike damage) multiple rounds in a row.

Yeah, but you don't really need it at low levels. Invisibility still works fine on most creatures. Only problem is if you have a low wisdom modifier, then you can't use it a lot of times per day.

It's at high levels that everything can see invisibility, and the ones that can't usually have blindsense/blindsight. That's when a maxed out hide skill with Darkstalker becomes crucial for any sort of stealthy character.