Ninja (Dungeons & Dragons)

The ninja is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

The ninja class appeared in the original 1st edition Oriental Adventures book. In a review of the book, reviewer Ashley Shepherd commented: "The ninja is a class that everybody has had a go at designing. The 'official' version is the most satisfactory yet. It is not a whole character class, but a split class available only with one of the other new classes, and weaker than you might suppose, with fewer hit points, skill restrictions, and the possibility that the whole ninja clan might hunt you down if you fail in your appointed mission."Jim Bambra also commented on the ninja: "To be a ninja, a character must qualify for one of the 'normal' classes as well as that of the ninja class. In keeping with their secret nature, ninja use their normal class as a cover identity. They may adventure with other characters, but they must be careful to keep their ninja identities secret, as loss of honor (and sudden death) may occur if the PC is unmasked."

The Complete Ninja's Handbook, a sourcebook by Aaron Allston dedicated to the ninja class, was released in 1995.

The concept of a ninja was presented in 3rd edition as a prestige class titled the Master Ninja and went on as further prestige classes like the Ninja Spy from the 3rd edition Oriental Adventures. The first ninja base class produced by Wizards of the Coast made its debut in the Complete Adventurer supplemental book.

The ninja class is a class that favors stealth over sheer combat prowess. It is intended to come into the fray unseen, attack furiously and then depart without a trace. Relatively weak in a straight up confrontation, the ninja excels when it takes its foes by surprise. In this way it shares a large similarity with the Rogue.

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Wikipedia