Ninja Class

11 Aug, 2026

Nathan, in his extremely famous poast about Thieves which has inspired a generation of gadabouts & ne'er-do-wells, said:

Clerics have a “flavor-setting” problem, while Thieves have a “mechanical” problem.

This mechanical problem is usually understood like this: with the Thief came a skill system that provided codified mechanics for tasks such as climbing or hiding that were previously resolved via rulings. The reason this is bad is because it can limit the field of play; if the Thief can “hide in shadows,” are other characters able to do so? This is typically the most common objection, which you will see noted again and again on various blog posts.

And it got me thinking about how I have no mechanical issue with the Thief, my issue is entirely one of flavour, as I have no particular place in my heart for Sword & Sorcery and just find the thing the Thief embodies kinda boring, so it got me wondering why that is. The answer I arrived at was this: the Thief as-writen just seems like a ninja to me, except more boring.

Then I was reminded of the fact that there are ninjas in the setting of The Halls of Arden Vul, which I am running, and therefore could make them with impunity. This is untested as of writing but I hope to get some spins on it soon.

The Ninja Class¹

For OD&D and other D&D shaped things.

Weaponry: May use swords, knives, throwing knives, and ninja weapons such as chains and sickles, and magical versions of any of these.

Armour: Can use up to Chainmail, but if doing so he cannot do anything other than his ninja arts. Magical armour, being extremely light, doesn't count for this. Yes they usually wear all black or dark blue - they can disguise themselves with magic so they don't need to dress inconspicuously.

The Ninja knows how to focus his ki² on his hands and feet and is thus able to run over any surface. They also have a 3 in 6 chance of being able to stick on and fight on that surface (improves per level), otherwise they must complete their movement. In any case, the Ninja can jump or dash (a light sort of run where the ninja appears like a shadow) to any place he could get to by running, and crosses the gap faster than anything with the same HD or less, as well as anything with more HD that isn't explicitly fast.

• At level 4, The Ninja can now run over water too, and the chance of sticking to a surface increases to 4 in 6;

• At level 9, the Ninja has perfect balance and no weight, being able to harmlessly balance upside down with the tip of his finger on top of a needle balanced on an egg. And the aforementioned chance increases to 5 in 6.

On his own, the Ninja has a 3 in 6 chance of Surprising enemies due to his sneaky nature; increased to 4 in 6 at level 9.

The Ninja is only surprised on a 1 in 6 and this is rolled independently of his companions. He also has 3 in 6 chances of detecting secret doors, and 2 in 6 of listening at doors; increased to 3 in 6 at level 6.

Ninjutsu

Ninjas have 1 Ki point per experience level. Each basic ninja art costs 1 Ki to activate unless described otherwise, and each advanced one costs 2 Ki. All Ninjas know all of the techniques as part of their basic training.

Fire Technique³ - The Ninja can focus his ki and spit it like fire, inflicting half their own HP in damage to all enemies within 5 ft of him in a fan like formation. Enemy Saves for half. The Ninja may choose instead to focus his ki on the tip of his finger and shoot it like a concentrated beam of energy, targeting a single enemy at a distance of 5 ft. per level.

• ADVANCED - Inflict the full HP in damage.

Shadow Clone Technique⁴ - The Ninja can create 1d6 afterimages of himself per Ki point spent in the activation. These move independently of himself, cannot affect the world meaningfully, and disappear once attacked. The enemy has an X-in-6 chance to hit one of the images instead of the ninja in a fight, where X is how many images have been created.

• ADVANCED - The Ninja divides his HD into however many clones he prefers. Any knowledge obtained by the clones is retained by the Ninja, as does any damage, but they don't share senses.

Transformation Technique⁵ - The Ninja can magically change his own appearance by spending 1 Ki per hour of duration.

• ADVANCED - The Ninja can look like an animal too or something monstrous, so long as no smaller than a big dog and no larger than a small horse.

Blinding Powder Technique⁶ - The Ninja can throw a ki-infused powder that affects all creatures within 5 ft. of himself in a fan formation. Creatures whose HD meets or exceeds the Ninja's by 2 HD are blinded for one round. Creatures which exceed the Ninja's own HD by 3 or more can Save to avoid the effect.

• ADVANCED - The Ninja conjures a cloud 40 ft wide of mist, smoke, or any other location-appropriate gas to follow him around for 4 rounds + 1 per Ninja level. Vision inside and into the fog is limited (except for the Ninja's keen senses) and attacking anyone inside the cloud has a 3 in 6 chance of missing altogether, before the hit roll is made.