Ninja but in a different setting

[Curse]

Dear swarm intelligence
I am starting a campaign in the Silver Marches. One player is considering to play a ninja but of course the aesthetics would not fit in to the setting. What would a person look like or how would you imagine someone with ninja skills but who grew up in the Silver Marches?

[Ashtagon]

Whatever justification you use for spellthieves would work for ninja. Basically a thief/assassin sect that integrates a certain style of non-casting magical training into the mix.

[Bullet06320]

kara tur is a thing in the realms, https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Kara-Tur
there be ninjas in the far far far far east, couple ninjas couldve moved long time ago for reason and are hiding out in the silver marches secretly still training thier kids

[Curse]

To clarify: I think it would be very unreasonable for a ninja to run around in traditional ninja style black clothing. In the winter of the Silver Marches you would freeze to death, ethereal or not.
So if you had a clan of ninjas located within the Silver Marches - what clothing would they take? What would be different from the Japanese style ninjas? (weapons? gear? clothing? movement? skills? ...)

Edit: My question is about fluff, not builds or stats

[loky1109]

Ninjas appear as regular persons and wear regular clothes. If you can identify ninja by his appearance he's bad ninja, kill him.

[Wintermoot]

Google image search: Arctic Storm Shadow.

[Maat Mons]

Boots of the Winterlands. You need them so you don't leave tracks in snow. But they also give you continual Endure Elements. Then you can comfortably run around the frozen tundra naked. Get rid of that armor check penalty all clothing secretly gives.

[Prime32]

Let's see... the Ninja class is similar to Rogue, but fights unarmored instead of with light armor, and is appropriately more agile. They're also a bit more self-sufficient (they can't sneak attack by flanking) and aggressive (fewer skill points but better Will save; instead of reacting to surprise attacks, they know how to handle poisons). At 2nd level they gain the ability to turn invisible for 1 round as a swift action. They don't get Use Magic Device like rogues do, so they can't use wands to heal the party or perform energy-based sneak attacks or strike at the weak points of unusual creatures; again, more emphasis on personal skill and less on teamwork.

What I get from this is a street rat. Someone who's lived the Rogue lifestyle from a young age, running along rooftops while small and malnourished and too poor to be exposed to armor or magic items. Not good at trusting people. Maybe they had dreams of becoming a wizard, but couldn't afford tuition. Still, that invisibility spell is so incredibly useful for someone in their profession that they grew hungry for it (especially since their stealth advantage over adults was gradually fading). They trained and trained trying to use invisibility by themselves, and eventually they managed to pull it off but it only lasts for a few moments. Or maybe it was just a random thing they were born with - those kinds of minor talents are hardly out of left field in a setting as magical as the Realms.

[Saintheart]

Leaving aside Boots of the Winterlands or other obvious magical options -- I'd be looking at arctic predators for inspiration. Classic ninja seem to operate in warm and civilised areas such as cities or settlements; the Silver Marches are much more wilderness areas, where most of the assassinations and stalking are carried out in the wild, when the person's out on the hunt. Yetis get significant bonuses to Hide in snowy settings, as do Frost Folk, Snow Spiders, and Snowcloaks (from Frostburn) and they can stay motionless for hours below the snowpack just waiting for the right moment to strike. Out of real-world examples, I'd lean into snow camouflage, especially the winter ghillie suit or something similar.

I think the ninja of the Silver Marches would be in modified or optimised forms of Inuit outfits, daubed white or outright drawn from yeti fur and similar - any fur, hide, or leather that's both very heat efficient and comes from a creature that's adapted to blend in with the landscape. No cloaks or capes, as with superheroes. Their weapons would tend to be very short-bladed weapons like knives; not much point trying to stab straight through heavy clothing and armour and flesh, better to be trained to find one of the few uncovered points of the body like the face or temples and ram a weapon home there. Possibly there'd be more emphasis on hand crossbows and poison for similar reasons.

They'd certainly have head coverings, in a winter environment it's death not to trap heat loss from the head, your hair doesn't do the job on that front at all. I would think this wouldn't be the standard hooded cowl since they're basically just umbrellas against sun and rain. The Silver Marches is basically subarctic, i.e. there's little precipitation, and therefore less need for rain protection. I think again their head coverings would be more like efficient white turbans or headwraps, again leaning towards the Inuit for inspiration. Also, ninja have to get close to kill mostly, and big hoods or cowls are things that can be grabbed easily in a scuffle. And yes, the face would be mostly covered, both for identity protection and to stop heat loss while waiting for a target in the snow.

In short - a Silver Marches ninja would ideally be in a white/brown ghillie suit optimised to balance freedom of movement and heat conservation. He'd be armed with short daggers and ranged weapons that don't strike from long distances. If they have opportunities to set ambushes, they'd be using traps, deadfalls, even pits in the snow - something to make their target unable to move until they can close to deliver a killing blow.

[KillianHawkeye]

Winter ninja = *scrubbed*?

Headcanon accepted!

[Saintheart]

Winter ninja = *scrub the post, scrub the quote*?

Headcanon accepted!

Look up a mythological Inuit monster called the Tuunbaq, Dan Simmons wrote about it in The Terror.

Indeed an order of assassins whose method of killing involves shapeshifting to a form that's suited to the wild might be an alternative too.

[OracleofWuffing]

Well, the fact that you've never seen a ninja in the area means either the area is thriving with ninjas, or the pirates are keeping everything in check. As long as there's no pirates around, you're good.

[Eladrinblade]

Elves as typically-depicted are basically forest ninjas. Instead of black (which real ninjas didn't really wear, btw), they can wear camoflage. I actually see cloaks of elvenkind as being kinda camo. There is a picture of Soveliss wearing a ghille suit somewhere.

Ask yourself this: if rogue/monks are allowed, why not ninjas?

[Curse]

Thanks so much for your replies. There is a lot to work with and quite what I hoped for.
If there are more suggestions feel free to keep them coming - the campaign is young and there is a lot of room to work stuff in 😆

[Saintheart]

I'm partly repeating myself, but Frostburn is your friend for most campaigns in subarctic or arctic environments. There's just a wealth of fluff, flavour, and nice bit of crunch with their gear. Some of the weapons unique to it are actually pretty solid for exotic weapons, specifically the Tigerskull Club and the Ritiik. I haven't got any more specific recommendations right now, but I would certainly suggest delving into it for ideas at least.

[liquidformat]

To clarify: I think it would be very unreasonable for a ninja to run around in traditional ninja style black clothing. In the winter of the Silver Marches you would freeze to death, ethereal or not.
So if you had a clan of ninjas located within the Silver Marches - what clothing would they take? What would be different from the Japanese style ninjas? (weapons? gear? clothing? movement? skills? ...)

Edit: My question is about fluff, not builds or stats

Honestly, Assassin's Creed is a pretty good starting point for what a ninja would look like in a western setting. From there it really depends on where exactly the ninja is going, what they are getting up to, and what class break down they are exactly.

[Kish]

Ninjas appear as regular persons and wear regular clothes. If you can identify ninja by his appearance he's bad ninja, kill him.

Yes, this. Ninja wear all black, when they do, to avoid being seen at all on a dark night; it's not a uniform. A ninja trying to avoid being seen at all in a snowy setting might wear all white.

[Ashtagon]

Yes, this. Ninja wear all black, when they do, to avoid being seen at all on a dark night; it's not a uniform. A ninja trying to avoid being seen at all in a snowy setting might wear all white.

Not even that.

The myth that ninja wear black stems from the Japanese theatre tradition of kabuki. It's important to note here that kabuki theatres typically did not have a stage curtain to hide the stage between scenes. The crew responsible for changing the scenery would conventionally wear all-black (the infamous "ninja costume"). The all-black costume was a way of signalling to the audience that they were not supposed to pay attention these crew members as they re-arranged the stage props ready for the next scene.

Later kabuki playwrights began to take advantage of this convention by having black-clad crew carry objects across the stage during a scene to signify something that was being thrown (in slow motion), poltergeist activity, and the like. As the audience had already been trained not to notice the black-clad stage crew, this early special effect worked. This later developed into having thieves and spies wear the all-black outfit, so that the performer could walk about the stage "unnoticed", and then interact with stage props and even other actors, "suddenly" appearing from nowhere.

You know what actual ninja wore?

Ordinary clothes. Peasant clothes, artisan clothes, courtly clothes. Whatever was needed to appear as the "type" they were trying to pretend to be for the mission at hand. They'd never have intentionally worn an all-black "ninja outfit". Because nothing says "suspicious" like a set of clothes unlike any ordinary "legit activity" outfit and designed with the express purpose of hiding. If they needed to hide in dark places, they might have worn clothes with a dark colour scheme (within the limits of what would have been ordinary clothing styles), but it would primarily have been chosen to look like normal clothes, in order to not arouse suspicion when seen.

The best kind of hiding is not looking like you are a threat, after all.

[loky1109]

Yes, this. Ninja wear all black, when they do, to avoid being seen at all on a dark night; it's not a uniform. A ninja trying to avoid being seen at all in a snowy setting might wear all white.

Black, white, it all is excessive.

How does look ninja?
Ninja looks like your neighbour. Maybe your neighbour actually IS ninja. Be careful!

[KillianHawkeye]

Maybe your neighbour actually IS ninja. Be careful!

Oh come on, what are the odds of TWO ninjas living right next to each other??

[loky1109]

Oh come on, what are the odds of TWO ninjas living right next to each other??

About one hundred percent. At least.

[Maat Mons]

Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice. And they always live next door to each other.

[Wintermoot]

Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice. And they always live next door to each other.

*a man is in his front yard, watering his rose bushes. Looks down and sees a piece of dog poop. He looks around surreptitiously then picks it up and throws it over his neighbor's bush. Instantly, from seemingly nowhere, three shuriken bury into his back*

"Unk. Sorry Master! Sorry!"