Way of the Shadow Ninja (5e Subclass)
Way of the Shadow Ninja[edit]
Monk Subclass
As the saying goes, a ninja cannot be seen unless it wants to be seen. Shadow ninjas take this notion and put a magical spin on it by harnessing the power of ki to see through darkness, escape from sight in a multitude of ways, and even create dark environments to fuel their powers.
Shadow ninjas that leave their monastery to embark on their own journeys in life tend to serve as spies and assassins thanks to their unique set of skills, though it isn't uncommon for one to become an adventurer. As far as the world at large is concerned, shadow ninjas don't exist. The various monasteries have different goals, but they're all good at concealing their existence, sometimes by making themselves seem like ordinary roguish crime guilds and sometimes by keeping themselves out of public knowledge entirely.
Fun fact, the land of many shadow ninja monasteries are in a state of being dark or dimly lit even when in broad daylight, which creates a feeling of danger to any would-be intruders.
| Monk Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Bonus Abilities, Shadow Step |
| 6th | Step of the Night Skies |
| 11th | Cloak of Darkness |
| 17th | Total Shade |
Bonus Abilities
At 3rd level, you learn some of the basic arts of being a shadow ninja. You gain the following benefits:
- You have darkvision with a range of 30 feet if you don't already have it from another source.
- You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill if you don't already have it. If you already have that proficiency, you instead gain proficiency one of the following skills of your choice: Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Religion, or Sleight of Hand. In any case, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses Stealth.
Shadow Step
Also at 3rd level, you learn to step from one shadow to another and exploit a foe's distraction. As a bonus action while you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can teleport up to an amount of feet equal to half your speed (rounded up to the nearest 5 feet) to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in an area of dim light or darkness.
After teleporting in this way, if you take the Attack action before the end of your turn, you can do one of the following:
- You can give yourself advantage on the first melee attack you make during that Attack action.
- You can spend 1 ki point to make an additional unarmed strike as apart of that Attack action.
Step of the Night Skies
Also at 6th level, you learn to harness ki more efficiently when using it to move around and get out of sight. As a bonus action, you can take either the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. In addition, you can move stealthily at a normal pace if you are traveling with no more than 2 other creatures, difficult terrain doesn't cost you extra movement on any turn during which you take the Dash action, and your jump distance is tripled.
This feature replaces your Step of the Wind feature.
Cloak of Darkness
At 11th level, you learn to become one with the shadows. As an action while you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can become invisible. Anything you're wearing or carrying also becomes invisible as long as it remains on your person. This effect lasts until you're in an area of bright light or until you end it (no action required).
This effect ends early if you make an attack or cast a spell. If this happens, the next time you would use this feature before finishing a short or long rest, you must spend 1 ki point to use it.
Total Shade
At 17th level, you learn ways to create shadows which you're able to step to and from or become one with even when you otherwise wouldn't have any to work with. As an action, you can spend 4 ki points to cause magical shade to spread from a point within 60 feet of you. An area of shade created in this way lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you die or if you dismiss it as an action or bonus action. The shade fills one of the following areas of your choice centered on the point you chose earlier:
- A cuboid with a maximum length, width, and height of 120 feet each. You decide how long the length, width, and height are.
- A cylinder with a maximum radius of 60 feet and maximum height of 120 feet. You decide how long the radius and height are.
- A sphere with a maximum radius of 60 feet. You decide how long the radius is.
The shade spreads around corners and passes through solid objects to fill as much of the designated area as possible, though 3 feet of wood or dirt, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, or a thin sheet of lead block it.
The shade magically turns normal darkness into a special type of magical darkness which prevents other creatures from seeing through it using darkvision, dim light into normal darkness, and bright light into dim light. When you create your area of shade, you can choose to not turn normal darkness into the special type of magical darkness. This shade affects both non-magical light as well as magical light that wasn't created by a spell of 6th level or higher. If two such areas of shade overlap each other, their effects do not stack.
The area of shade can be dispelled as if it were a 6th level spell, though the area of shade is considered to be neither an area of light nor an area of darkness for the purpose of being dispelled.
Finally, instead of creating an area of shade as an action, you can create one by spending 1 minute or longer in meditation. If you do, the creation process is gradual enough that creatures in the area of shade are unlikely to immediately notice anything is changing, and you can spend additional ki points to increase the maximum dimensions and maximum duration of the area of shade. If you create an area of shade and would later create another one with the same parameters in the same spot, you can instead extend the duration of the original area of shade by an amount of time equal to what the duration would otherwise be. Extending the duration so that it would last for 30 days or longer instead causes it to last until dispelled.
The table below shows how much you can increase the maximums based on how long you spend in meditation and how many extra ki points you spend:
| Additional Requirements | Maximum Radius |
Maximum Length, Width, and Height |
Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 minute in Meditation and 4 Additional Ki Points | 60 feet | 120 feet | 1 hour |
| 10 minutes in Meditation and 8 Additional Ki Points | 150 feet | 300 feet | 1 day |
| 1 hour in Meditation and 12 Additional Ki Points | 500 feet | 1000 feet | 3 days |
| 8 hours in Meditation and 16 Additional Ki Points | 1/2 a mile | 1 mile | 7 days |
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Character Options → Subclasses