Friday, 26 April 2013

Random Ninja Class

Last Monday I Graded  at Ninjutsu. Inspired by this class from Monstrous TV, the Pathfinder Class and Zak’s series of Random roll classes like the Alice, Thief, Wizard, Fighter and Ranger I have made a mashup of the three of them.


Advancement table. Roll twice on this at 1st level and every time you level up.

01-15: +1 to hit (in 13th Age this also adds a dice to your damage)

16-30: Get better at some ninja skills (2 skill points for LotFP, 8+Int Mod for pathfinder or 3.X, Next Step up 2 points of your skill dice or add a new skill at D4, as per Zak’s post.)

31-45: +1 to all Saves

46-60: Get better at unarmed fighting like a monk. You are considered to be armed even when you are not. Gain the increased damage with unarmed strikes that a monk gets. Every time you roll this treat yourself as a monk of one level higher.

61: Stop Hitting Yourself: You are one of those smug pseudo-pacifist types who beats the fuck out of people up by directing their own strength against them. On the first round of combat, if the enemy strikes first (or if you let the enemy strike first) with a mundane physical melee attack you can announce you're are "fighting without fighting". You get no attack this round, but instead do a kind of clever dodge or redirect. The net effect is that if the enemy's attack would've hit, s/he does however much damage s/he would've done to you to him, her or itself instead (regardless of the enemy's armor class). Re-rolling this result means you can keep doing it in subsequent rounds.

62: Step on their foot and push them over: On a melee hit you can do your usual damage plus knock a human-sized opponent prone. If you try it twice on the same opponent they get a save or str check or something against you. If you roll this result again on this table, you get 2 free knockdowns before the saves kick in, then 4, etc. After that, re-roll

63: Martial arts - Gain Kung fu numbers equal to your Dex Mod +1

64: Poisons: +2 on saves vs Poisons, you can brew 1d6 doses of your own for some money (the same amount as a basic healing potion) and you can use them without as much danger of poisoning yourself. Make a roll to do with making poisons (Probably Int) your Poison deals 10+ your Check result damage. Save vs Poison for Half.

65: Assassination. Gain a Death Attack Like an Assassin. if you roll this result again your target gets -1 to thier save to avoid Death.  

66: Pressure Point strikes. +1 to damage, Re rolling grants +3 then +5.

67: Being really mean to prone people. If you hit someone who is knocked over you can either automatically Crit or do normal damage and something horrible to them like not let them stand up next turn or disarm them.

68: No Trace. You get +1 to all attempts to Hide, Obscure your Tracks or be disguised. Stacks if you re roll.

69: Learn a random Magic Spell that you can use once or get your name written on one of the mystic Ninja scrolls of summoning (use the Summoning spell from the Lamentations of the Flame Princess Grindhouse rules in the left column of that link).

70: Once per day, when hit, vanish in a puff of smoke and turn into a log only taking half damage.Reappear nearby at the start of your next turn.

71: Shadow Duplicates. Once per day you can cast Mirror Image as a Wizard of your level. If you roll this again the duplicates spread out and you can securely choose which one is you. Roll it a third time and you can swap positions with one of your duplicates as a move action once per fight.

72: Loads of Shuriken. 1 per fight When you attack with throwing Stars you can throw three at once.

73:”Weren’t there 4 of them?”
Automatically try to hide in shadows at the start of a fight once per day. re rolls give you +2 and an extra use per day.

74: Shadow Walk (as the rogue power in 13th age). You make an Attack against the highest Mental type defence or Save of your nearby opponents. If you Hit you vanish for one round and can appear nearby at the start of your next turn and deal double damage with your next attack. If you miss you can still take the rest of your turn but have spent your move action.

75: “Yoink!”
Steal something from your target when you hit, first time is free after that they get a save. If you roll it again they get -2 to the save.

76: Spring Attack once per fight.

77: Ninja vanish
Turn invisible until the start of your next turn, can also be used to leave a scene if no one is looking at you and the camera has briefly cut away from you, (like Batman).

78: Smoke Bombs, are designed to explode into a cloud of thick smoke when they hit the ground. Ninjas can hide in smoke clouds.

79: Run up walls and do awesome par cour type tricks. Automatically succeed at it once per day. Make a Dex type save to be able to use it again that day. Re rolls give you 2 free uses.

80: The cool thing you want within 4 sessions:
From Zak’s Thief class: Yesssss! Finally you've found it--that thing you wanted? The big score? The Jewel of the Throckmarten Throne? The parasite that eats bad karma? The magic knife that slits throats all by itself? The comely sibling of the monstrous vicar? Whatever. It's there. 4 sessions worth of adventure away or less. Tell your GM, who then must place it.

You must have a fair shot at it--like any other reward, but there's no guarantee you will get it. If you don't get it by the fourth session you can keep trying or let it go and roll again on this table. However if you choose to roll again and then you do get the thing somehow anyway, you lose whatever gimmick you rolled. GM think up some clever reason why.

81: Master of Disguise. Again from the Thief class:
Haaaa! It was me all along! You have learned the art of disguise. Mostly. It's a your Int vs. their Wis roll, assuming you have access to about 40 gp worth of stuff or the kind of materials you'd find in a civilized area. Every time you re-roll this you get +2 to the check.

82: +1 Dex. Your Ninja Training is going well

83: All of your Hiding in Shadows and Skulking around has paid off. you can see in the dark.
From Zak:
You're so used to walking around in the dark it's like you're a bat. You treat night-time illumination as if it was just an overcast day and lightless pitch nine-levels underground darkness as if it were night-time (on account of your other senses being developed and/or some kind of creepy Lamarckian evolution). If you re-roll this or are using some variant rules where you are some species that can already see in the dark, you have a Daredevil-like radar sense allowing you to find your way around fine in even magical darkness or fog or when blinded plus your regular sight extends another 20'.

84: Hidden Weapons. You can conceal your level in small weapons or items about your person. If this would normally require a skill roll then add your level to the roll.

85: Deflect Arrows. Like a Monk, Once per round you can parry one ranged attack targeting you. if you roll this again you can catch the projectile and throw them back If you roll it a third time you can do it to things you wouldn’t normally be able to like Magical attacks or Boulders and Siege Weapon shots.

86: Sabotage/demolitions. You can sabotage or weaken something up to the size of a cart without leaving any trace of having done so. Dexterity vs Perception roll for it to be detected. If they fail then the thing breaks next time they try to use it. Rolling this agin gives you +2 and lets you do it to bigger things, one roll makes it up to Bridge or House sized.

87: Uncanny dodge. You can’t be sneak attacked by anything not 4 levels higher than you. You get a +2 bonus to checks to avoid surprise and you can’t be caught flat footed. If you roll this again You can’t be flanked or Sneak attacked by anything and the bonus goes up to +4. Roll it a third time and you are never surprised by anything but your birthday parties are often less fun.

88: Void step Ninjutsu. Once per day you can run along the top of something without touching it. So running on Water or Lava and  jumping from really thin trees. You need to end your turn on a solid surface.

89: Fireworks. Loud Flashy Distracting Fireworks, in a pinch they do 1d4 Damage. They can be Rockets or Candle style and have a range of about 50’. you can also leave them on a slow fuse.

90: Ninja Rolling. When hit roll out of the way, move to somewhere nearby and take half damage, then make a save to see if you can do it again later in the day (but only once per fight)

91: Escape death/play possum once ever.
The gods of luck smile upon your worthless thieving Ninja hide. You may escape death or another equally awful fate exactly once. You must spend at least a round playing possum to build tension but....surprise, you jumped out of the way just in time! Re-rolling this means you get to do it again.

92: Mystic Dragon Strike: Once per day per level, the ninja can throw chi-infused ninja stars with unerring accuracy that act like the spell magic missile. The spell is cast as though by a magic-user of the same level as the ninja, and has a material component of one ninja star.

93: Falling Eagle Technique: Ninja always land on their feet, but with the Falling Eagle Technique, the ninja no longer suffers fall damage if the fall is equal to twenty times the ninja's level.

94: Master Of Beasts: The ninja has developed a mystical connection to a predatory animal. It has to be a really cool and sneaky animal like a wolf or an eagle or a jaguar. If the animal is reduced to zero hit points, circumstances during the battle will result in the body not being found. The animal will show up fully healed in a number of days equal to twice its hit points. Also the animal is really smart and understands English, but is super loyal to the ninja and doesn't listen to anyone else. If the ninja is a high enough level that wolves or whatever are too weak, the GM should make the wolf extra strong because it has been receiving ninja training.

95: Flickering Death Technique: The ninja can move so fast that they effectively teleport. They can only use this power in a room where a smoke bomb has gone off, or in low light conditions. Instead of moving during a round, they can disappear and reappear anywhere they want within 10' + 5' per level, including vertically.

96: Spider Clan Sense: The ninja is never surprised because of their highly cultivated danger sense. Also when they get hit with an attack that deals half damage on a successful saving throw, they don't suffer any damage if they succeed on the roll.

97: Ultimate Stealth Power: If the ninja is successfully hidden through the use of the ninja training skill, they become invisible, as the spell of the same name. This invisibility lasts as long as they remain in shadows, but they become visible if they attack anyone or walk into the light.

98: Move Like A Ghost Technique: If a ninja is currently hidden, or in the company of only other ninjas, they can pass through walls once per day. This can be anything from wooden walls to thick castle walls, but not dungeon walls (because there is just more dirt on the other side). They can totally pass through a closed door though.

99: Ghost Fire Strike: The ninja can focus his chi and launch it as a blast of white energy shaped like a dragon or a pheonix. Once per day per level, the ninja can make a standard melee attack, except that the attack has a range of 100'.

00: Flash Bombs explode in a bright white light. Everyone who is facing the explosion must save or be blinded for 1-3 rounds.

Ninjas should use the Ninja Drawback section of Monstrous TV’s class.

Make a note each time a Ninja Kills an opponent without being detected when a ninja is about to strike from hiding he can roll 2d10 if the number on the first dice is less than the total number of opponents killed this way he can learn the HP, AC or saves of his Target.
If the number read as a percentile is less than the total number of opponents killed this way then he deals double damage with his first attack.

To make this (or any of the random) class work in 13th age (as that is what I am running right now.)
+1 to hit on the charts also adds to damage dice
+1 to saves adds to defences

1st level of 13th age is roughly equivalent to 3rd level in most OSR Games and therefore about 6 rolls on this table.
Each other level is about the same as 2 of these levels so I would probably just let them roll on the table every time they get an incremental advance.


What does your 1st level Ninja end up with?

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