Editing Ninja (section)

==(Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons ==
[[File:Ninjas PHBR15.jpg|right|300px]]
===[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons#AD&D 1st Edition|1st Edition]]===
Ninja made its D&D debut in the [[Oriental Adventures]] book, as a "secret" sort-of-multiclass rather than an independent class in its own right. The idea is that since ninjas aren't supposed to exist, they each have another class as an undercover identity. Any bushi, sohei, wu jen, or yakuza you meet might be a ninja in secret: they get most of the traditional thieving skills ([[Derp|except picking pockets or hearing noises]]), disguises, thief-acrobat tightrope-walking and pole-vaulting, slow falling they stole from the monks, some escape-artistry, backstabbing and assassination, and finally some rudimentary ki abilities. Most of the time they can only use these abilities when nobody's looking: if their true identity is ever discovered, they're almost guaranteed to get killed by their own clan in retaliation. All Oriental Adventures characters take [[Honor]] [[Serious Business|pretty seriously]].

===[[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons#AD&D 2nd Edition|2nd Edition]]===
They're introduced into the 2nd edition through the Complete Ninja's Handbook, which suddenly flips the above policy around: ''all'' ninjas are single-class only, no multi- or dual-classing allowed. They also [[Fail|lose most of the really cool shit detailed above]], being mostly just your regular sort of thieves with a bit better sneaking and more weapon options. At least they can detect noises and pick pockets now (though they're still worse at them than thieves). On the bright side, there's kits: Stealer-In is the basic package, Shadow Warrior is better at fighting but worse at thievery (and imposes onto you a racist accent and compulsion for dick jokes), Intruder is the sneaky spy that's never off-duty, Consort is the seductive charmer, Pathfinder all alone and aloof in the wilds, Lone Wolf even lonelier and usually hunted down by either his old clan or whatever enemy wiped them all out, and Spirit Warrior does magic. The other classes also get some quasi-ninja kits of their own.

===[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3rd Edition]]===
[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] made the ninja a shitty [[rogue]].  Intended as a rogue/[[monk]] mix, but unlike Pathfinder they get much fewer skills than the rogue, no armor, and can't do rogue backstabbery unless invisible.  They also can't use their [[weeaboo]] powers for shit because all of them draw from a super tiny ''ki pool'' and last only one round.  The only one they get early enough to be worthwhile is invisibility which they need to (and can't) spam like crazy because, as said before, they get a shittier version of Sneak Attack that only works when invisible.  So basically, they're rogues that [[FAIL|can't skillmonkey OR backstab as well as rogues and get pretty much nothing in return.]]

[[Eberron]] has no Japan analog, or at least not one that hasn't been conquered by the Quori. Here Ninja are instead a creation of [[Elf|Elves]] with the Mark of Shadow. Note that Samurai, by contrast, are a [[Dwarf]] tradition.

{{D&D3-Classes}}

===[[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|5th Edition]]===
In [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]], rather than make an entirely separate ninja class, they decided to simply roll it into the [[monk]] class as one of the "Ways" that a monk can choose to follow upon reaching level 3. The ninja option is the Way of Shadow, which allows the monk to use ki to cast certain spells (darkness, darkvision, pass without trace, silence, minor illusion), teleport from shadow to shadow, become invisible in darkness, and get a bonus attack against an enemy that was hit by someone else in that same round.