DungeonsecDragonsPlayer's Handbook Rules Supplement

The CompleteNinjas

Handbook

By Aaron Allston

2155XXX1501

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Introduction 4Chapter 1: The Ninja Class 5

Ninja and Rogue 5Ninja Experience Levels 5Ninja Class Requirements 6Alignment 6Weapons and Armor 6Thieving Skills 6Ninja's Followers 8Nonweapon Proficiencies 10Starting Money 10Multiclass Ninja 10Dual-class Ninja 11Other Character Creation Notes 11

Chapter 2: Ninja Kits 12Kit Descriptions 12Ninja Kits 12Stealer-In 12Shadow Warrior 12Intruder 13Consort 13Pathfinder 14Lone Wolf 14Spirit Warrior 14Ninja Spells 16First-Level Spells 16Second-Level Spells 18Third-Level Spells 19Fourth-Level Spells 20Fifth-Level Spells 21Sixth-Level Spells 22

Chapter 3: Shinobi, Spies, and Killers . . .23Shinobi 23Shinobi Fighter 23Shinobi Ranger 23Shinobi Mage 24Shinobi Illusionist 24Shinobi Priest 25Shinobi Thief 25Shinobi Bard 26Spies 26The Foreign Service 27Ninja Kits and the Spy 27What the Spy Does 27Demihuman Spies 27Killers 27

Restrictions 27Killer Kits 28

Chapter 4:Proficiencies and Martial Arts 30

Weapon Proficiencies 30Weapon Specialization

and Weapon Groups 30Nonweapon Proficiencies 30Nonweapon Proficiencies

from the Player's Handbook 31New Nonweapon Proficiencies 31New Nonweapon

Proficiency Descriptions 31Martial Arts 39Martial Arts Results 39Specializing in Martial Arts 40Mixed Campaigns 40Advanced Martial Arts (Optional) . . . .42Prerequisites to Learning Martial Arts .42Finding a Master 42Training Under the Master 43Learning the Style 43Pre-Campaign Learning 43Multiple Styles 44Style Characteristics 44Creating a New Style: Basics 47Creating a New Style: Weapons 48Creating a New Style:

Special Maneuvers 49Armed and Armored Opponents 59Stunning and Incapacitating 61Hit Locations 61

Chapter 5: Tools of the Trade 62Weapons 62Entangling Attacks 62Prone and Entangled Opponents 62Weapon List 63Missile Weapon Ranges 75Armor 76Miscellaneous Equipment 76Weapon Modifications 80Magical and Special Treasures 81Miscellaneous Magic 81Magical Weapons 84

2 • Table of Contents

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Chapter 6: Country and Clan 88Land of the Ninja 88The Ninja Clan 90

Chapter 7: Playing the Ninja 99Ninja in the Outer World 99Ninja in a Non-Ninja Party 102An All-Ninja Party 104Playing The Lone Wolf 104

Chapter 8: Campaigning the Ninja 105Secrecy Within the Campaign 105The Character Mix 107Ninja Adventures 110Ninja Kits in the Campaign 115Ninja Clan Resources 117Spy Campaigns 118

Chapter 9: Examples 119Examples of Ninja Characters 119Examples of Ninja Clans 123Other Ninja-Type Organizations 125

Tables1: Rogue Experience Levels 52: Ninja Thieving Skill Base Scores 73: Thieving Skill Dexterity Adjustments 74: Backstab Damage Multipliers 75: Thieving Skill Armor Adjustments . . .86: Clan Status 117: Spirit Warrior Spell Progression 158: Spirit Warrior Experience Levels 159: Shinobi Thief Base Scores 2610: Shinobi Bard Base Scores 2611: Proficiency Costs 3012: Nonweapon Proficiency Groups .. .3113: Broad and Tight Weapon Groups . .3214: Enamor Proficiency Results 3415: Escape Proficiency Penalties 3516: Martial Arts Results 4017: Common Martial Arts Styles 4518: Martial Style Combinations 4819: Special Maneuvers 5120: Ch'i Attacks 5921: Penalties and Bonuses

Vs. Armored Opponents 6022: Penalties Vs. Armed Opponents . . .6023: Martial Arts Hit Locations 6124: Weapon List 63

25: Missile Weapon Ranges 7526: Miscellaneous Equipment 7727: Weapon Modifications 8028: Ninja Clan Alignments 9429: Clan Member Alignments 9430: Ninja Clan Resources 96

CreditsDesign: Aaron AllstonEditing: Barbara G. YoungBlack and White Art: Jim HollowayColor Art: Clyde Caldwell, Fred Fields,

Les DorscheidTypography: Tracey IslerProduction: Paul Hanchette

Acknowledgements: Many elements of TheComplete Ninja's Handbook were derived fromparts of Oriental Adventures designed byDavid "Zeb" Cook. In particular, portions ofthe optional Advanced Martial Arts rules aredrawn from Oriental Adventures.

TSR, Inc.201 Sheridan Springs Rd.Lake GenevaWI53147USA

TSRLtd.120 Church End,Cherry HintonCambridge CB13LBUnited Kingdom

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DRAGON,and DUNGEON MASTER are registered trademarks ownedby TSR, Inc. The TSR logo is a trademark owned by TSR, Inc.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of theUnited States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorizeduse of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibitedwithout the express written permission of TSR, Inc.

Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwidedistribution rights in the book trade for English languageproducts of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book and hobby tradein the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd. Distributed to the toy andhobby trade by regional distributors.

©1995 TSR, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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What is a ninja? Everywhere you turn, youfind a different definition, especially in themovies. Is the ninja a cruel supernaturalassassin with godlike powers of invisibility,illusion, and teleportau'on? A modem, feelingOriental man with family, job responsibilities,and an interesting double life? A stone-facedwesterner who miraculously inherits theduties of an ancient ninja clan tradition whenhis adopted brother is slain? A martial artspractitioner celebrating hundreds of years ofunbroken tradition?

In the AD&D® game, the ninja is a highlytrained spy who is expert in matters of intru-sion, sabotage, and elimination. He is part ofa tight-knit clan whose profession and goalshe shares. Some ninja are generalists, equallyat home in matters of stealth and combat.Some are specialists, becoming adept at socialskills, magic, or interaction with nature.

They're all exotic, secretive, and danger-ous—just the thing for the player who's feedof stand-up fighters, clean-cut clerics, andnearsighted scholar-mages.

Ninja have been here before, in the pages ofDRAGON® Magazine and the Oriental Adven-tures supplement. Now they return, slinkinginto the game's shadows in their night-suits,learning the balance of weapons and toolsmade a little unfamiliar by adaptation toAD&D® 2nd Edition rules. We've missed them,and if s high time to welcome them back.

The Complete Ninja's Handbook is a supple-ment to the Player's Handbook. It consists ofoptional rules that are intended to round outand add color to a campaign.

The key word here is "optional." No DM isrequired to introduce any of these rules intohis campaign simply because they're in print.Likewise, any DM should feel perfectly at easeplundering these guidelines for rules andoptions he likes, whether or not he introducesninja characters into the campaign. Ultimately,the DM, not this rulebook, is the final author-ity on what appears in the campaign.

Arrangement of the SourcebookChapter 1: The Ninja Class provides char-

acter class information for the ninja.Chapter 2: Ninja Kits details kits that

allow you to further customize ninja charac-ters.

Chapter 3: Shinobi, Spies, and Killersintroduces kits to create shinobi (adjunctmembers of ninja clans), spies (characters builtwith the ninja rules but employed by non-Oriental organizations, and killers (NPCs builtwith the rules of the ninja class).

Chapter 4: Proficiencies and Martial Artsdetails the roles of certain proficiencies usedby ninja, adds new proficiencies, and expandson martial arts and weapon proficiency rules.

Chapter 5: Tools of the Trade describesweapons and armor available to the ninjacharacter.

Chapter 6: Country and Clan discusses therole of the ninja character within his culture.

Chapter 7: Playing the Ninja providesinformation and tactics for the player whointends to play a ninja character.

Chapter 8: Campaigning the Ninja talksabout secrecy, missions, duties to clan, andother details, and gives hints for placing theninja in existing campaigns.

Chapter 9: Examples is full of easily cus-tomized ninja characters.

Players should familiarize themselves withchapters 1 and 2, and at least glance throughchapters 3-7. Players should not read Chapter 9unless their DM invites them to do so.

The Dungeon Master should become famil-iar with chapters 1,4,5, and 8. These shouldgive the DM a good idea of what to expect ofa ninja PC in the campaign.

4 • Introduction

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CHAPTER

The Ninja Class

In seventh century Japan, Prince ShotokuTaishi won a war against an enemy namedMoriya. The prince's success rested on informa-tion brought to him by a spy named Otomo-no-Saijin, whom Shotoku Taishi honored withthe name Shinobi, meaning "stealer in." It isprobably from this incident that the use of theterm shinobi has come to refer to highly trained,clan-based Japanese spies.

(In Japanese and Chinese, there may be twoor more ways to pronounce the same writtencharacters. An alternate pronunciation for shi-nobi is ninja.)

Japanese techniques of military intelli-gence, heavily influenced by espionage advi-sors from China and Sun Tzu's classic manualThe Art of War, developed over a period ofseveral hundred years.

During the Kamakura era, from the latetwelfth to early fourteenth centuries, manysamurai and their families fell out of favorwith the court. Some of these families fled todistant Iga and Koga provinces and settledthere in reduced circumstances to make theirliving as farmers. Among them were expertsin military intelligence, who began sellingtheir expertise to daimyo, Japanese feudallords. It was in this setting that the modernidea of the ninja—an agent with espionageskills for hire but whose loyalty belongs firstto his own clan—truly took hold.

In their isolated villages, the ninja clansdeveloped specific espionage and combattechniques. These are collectively referred toas ninjutsu, though that term is also used torefer to only their unarmed and weaponcombat techniques.

Spies and ninja found many opportunitiesfor employment in the great anarchic periodsof the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. In themore stable Tokugawa shogunate of the sev-enteenth through nineteenth centuries, theywere used less often, and it is reasonable toassume that their numbers declined. Somemodern historians believe that the last of thetrue ninja died during World War II (or ear-

lier), while others believe that the moderncombat and espionage techniques now beingtaught under the name ninjutsu are genuine,linear descendants of the real ninja skills.

Ninja and RogueThe ninja character class, like the thief and

the bard classes, belongs to the rogue group.However, the ninja's similarity to other rogueslies not in temperament (ninja do not believethat the world owes them a living, and are notknown as carefree, happy-go-lucky people)but in skills. (Ninja are proficient in matters ofstealth, intrusion, and investigation.)

Like other rogues, ninja combine traitsfrom several character classes. They havemany of the skills of the thief and some of thecombat options of the fighter. A few are ableto learn some magical spells.

Table 1: Rogue Experience Levels

Level12345678910111213141516

18 /1920

Ninja0

1,2502,5005,00010,00020,00040,00070,000110,000160,000220,000440,000660,000880,0001,100,0001,320,0001,540,0001,760,0001,980,0002,200,000

Hit Dice (d6)12345678910

10+210+410+610+810+1010+1210+1410+1610+1810+20

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Ninja Experience LevelsNinja earn experience levels as other rogues

do. Table 25 from the Player's Handbook isreproduced on page 5.

One type of ninja, the Spirit Warrior (seeChapter 2) may learn magic spells and mustearn more experience points to gain levels.

Ninja of experience levels 1-5 are genin, thelowest-ranking ninja. Those of experiencelevels 6 through 9 are chunin, the middlemanagement of the ninja clan—sometimesgetting their hands dirty and sometimes hob-nobbing with the upper ranks. Those of expe-rience level 10 and above are jonin, the uppermanagement of the clan.

Ninja Class RequirementsAbility Requirements

Dexterity 13Intelligence 10

Prime RequisiteDexterity

Races AllowedHumanDwarfHalfling

The ninja must have a Dexterity score of atleast 13 (reflecting intensive training fromchildhood in ninja arts) and an Intelligencescore of at least 10.

The ninja PC, regardless of race, must havebeen raised from youth by a human ninjaclan. There are no demihuman ninja clans,and the DM and players will have to be verycreative to account for a ninja clan's fosteringof a dwarf or halfling. For exceptions to thisrequirement, see the section on "Spies" inChapter 3.

The DM has the right to decide whether aplayer can run a ninja character. Ninja bringnew levels of secrecy and intrigue into a cam-paign. The DM who does not wish to compli-cate the campaign to this extent may forbid

the use of ninja PCs.

AlignmentTechnically, a ninja may be of any align-

ment. However, each ninja belongs to a clan(see Chapter 6), and each clan's members arerestricted to a range of alignments. A playermight be able to choose the character's clanbut cannot then choose an alignment inap-propriate for that clan.

The standard ninja clan allows its membersto be of any lawful or neutral alignment (LG,LN, LE, NG, N, NE). The "lawful" aspect ofthe alignment applies to the rules of conductof the clan, not those of the society or thenation.

Weapons and ArmorThe ninja can use any weapon, giving a

much wider range of choices than a thief has.Armor choices are limited to leather, padded,studded leather, ring mail, brigandine, scalemale, hide armor, and chain mail. The ninjacan use a shield and fights as a rogue.

To avoid any adverse effect, ninja avoidwearing armor heavier than leather whenthey plan to use their thieving skills.

Thieving SkillsLike other rogues, ninja can learn thieving

skills. They are not as proficient in most ofthese skills as thieves are, but a ninja whobecomes very experienced and specializes intwo or three thieving skills can achieve greatproficiency.

Table 2 shows the base scores for ninjathieving skills.

To these base scores, apply appropriatebonuses and penalties for Dexterity (Table 3,reproduced here from Table 28 in the Player'sHandbook), for race (below), and for armorworn (Table 5, replaces Table 29 from the

6 • Chapter One

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