Dungeon Master Forum

I never could find out what Ninjas are good for. They can cast no spells, they can use no powerful weapons. What does a poor ninja do if all arrows are gone and that scorpion is still alive?

Ninja skills as I remember them.. 1.better open hand combat and increased dammage for weapons 2.increased aim and power to thrown objs 3.increased evade blows 4.and then there are the lock picks if you get a high enough level and you may get to make use of them but only on gold key locks (the most common locks) I'm not positive on that one but it seems to ring a bell. I've only opened a door *ONCE* with them.. otherwise they were useless
more or less the ninja skills are that of a fighter.. but a lot more could have been done with the ninja.. it's so underused.

I agree, ninja does sem to be the 'back-up' class Want more health, do a little more damage and dodge better - go ninja!
I use it as a way for magicians in the back that can't handle combat to get better health in a safe long-distance way.
I seem to rememebr someone saying dexterity goes up slowly...which ninja's gain more than anyone else...not sure about this.

Give a diamond edge to a master ninja against a stone golem or a knight and you'll be proud of him.

I'll tell you exactly what Ninjas are good for. STATS. My two fighters were also ninjas. By going up in two skills I got my stats raised twice as much. Three quarters into DM my two fighter characters were both first level master fighters AND ninjas. So I got the extra health, the added strength and dexterity, plus random boosts in the other stats.
I did this for everyone. Near the end of the game all four of my characters were master everything. And if you play the game only using one character (I liked Chani for that), practicing ninja skills every now and then is critical to gain those extra few points in stats. The extra health alone is worth it.