A quick heads up to new viewers! We're going to be LIVE with the Unexpectables in literally 4 hours from this post! You can catch it at twitch.tv/takahata101 9pm cst!

"If you don't have a rope you're losing at d&d" -rune smith

Be blue, do crimes.

There's no perfect ninja in popular media Gaijin: Fine I'll do it myself

"Imagination is a weapon. Those who lack it are first to die."

Alternate Title : Gaijin gushing over his awesome kenku ninja

"And a towel." Douglas Adams would be proud.

Also the Dnd world has magic. Ninja use everything they can to their advantage. nuf said.

So I apparently discovered the "Quail Hiding Technique" on my own with a navy colored blanket/hoodie I got for Christmas. I found that, in at least one spot in the house, I could kneel behind an object, in my case a weight bench and medicine ball, and tuck my head in. Without fail I was mistaken for the shadow of the object or another medicine ball.

Another reason why picking Kenku for a ninja is great: They literally cannot divulge information they don't have spoken vocabulary for. Kenku can only communicate via mimicking the voices of others, so in order to get one to talk, you have to talk first. I'd also go a bit into Monk to get the Unarmored Movement buffs to allow them to use the Water Spider shoes and the Shuko climbing claws. And, of course, the taijutsu allowing you to stun opponents to make escapes easier.

Peter: "So you're saying that the bird is the word."

Me: You should make a video on DnD ninja Gaijin: Sure. By the way did you know I play one on stream? Me: Pikachu face

"You'd think a towel would be pretty dumb to have" Me, a hoopy frood: "You think too little of me, sir. Don't Panic."

Gaijin, “You’ll role a bunch of nat ones” Borky, “oh god, it’s got a knife”

“Getting the job done” says the Bird who sat down in the middle of a battle and read a book while the rest of the party killed a dragon. I joke because I know Greckals has been unbelievably useful in times past. But that entire situation was hilarious and I will never let you forget.

When making my ninja inspired character I decided to use the thief archetype since they can use items as a bonus action. I wanted to be a tool using ninja in a magical world, getting by on my cleverness and focusing on the versitility of the objects at my disposal. I had planned on using caltrops, flammable oil, grappling hooks, and a set of whistles with diverse sounds ranging from owl hoot to ghost wail. I had even come up with a few ways to utilize one of my favorite hazards in dnd: brown mold. Brown mold grows rapidly in the presence of extreme heat (fire), and the mold feeds on heat. The mold actually absorbs so much heat that creatures standing in patches of brown mold take substantial cold damage. The cold makes it useful for preserving meats for a long voyage, and can be mixed into a firebomb to coat enemies in freezing fungus. Shuriken coated in brown mold can inflict a painful cold over time, or be used to quietly put out a torch from a distance. Small amounts of brown mold can even be used to reduce swelling from an injury! A huge part of my build was thinking of all the various ways I could use items and tools. Unfortunately I am a forever DM, and won't be able to use my ninja for the foreseeable future.

"I'm playing a ninja, stealth and subtlety are paramount" *fights with a giant glowstick" I know you can turn it off but this made me cackle ^^

From the Player’s Handbook on the Way of Shadow tradition for monks: “Monks of the Way of Shadow follow a tradition that values stealth and subterfuge. These monks might be called ninjas or shadowdancers, and they serve as spies and assassins. Sometimes the members of a ninja monastery are family members, forming a clan sworn to secrecy about their arts and missions. Other monasteries are more like thieves’ guilds, hiring out their services to nobles, rich merchants, or anyone else who can pay their fees. Regardless of their methods, the heads of these monasteries expect the unquestioning obedience of their students.” And from the Dungeon Master’s Guide, in Flavours of Fantasy, Wuxia: “A ninja is a monk who pursues the Way of Shadow.” The Wuxia section in general might be worth checking out as it has a table of alternate Chinese and Japanese variants for weapons (which, by the way, lists wakizashi (and by extension kodachi) as scimitars, since stat-wise they’re identical to shortswords, except they do slashing damage rather than piercing damage). Way of Shadow monks are the official ninja class in D&D, and there is a lot that does support that from a historical point of view. Monks eventually learn to run across water and along walls, and even to become invisible and virtually intangible, and gain a movement speed bonus when wearing no armour, and that’s just in the base class. A Way of Shadow monk additionally learns to cast Minor Illusion, Darkvision, Darkness, Silence and Pass Without Trace at level 3, eventually learning to become invisible in dim light or darkness and teleport between shadows, and at level 18 they can use reactions to make opportunity attacks against enemies being attacked by allies. What’s more, monks use ki to fuel many of their abilities, and use simple weapons, which fits with the idea of ninja being peasants who had to use whatever they had at their disposal, not to mention unarmed strikes and martial arts, and immunity to poison and disease, the ability to end charm or fear effects on themselves, I could go on and on. That being said, this is an impressively in-depth character that you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into, and you’ve made as good a ninja as any monk, maybe even better. You’ve definitely convinced me to watch the Unexpectables, so great job! It’s so cool to see a character that you’ve created yourself using all of your knowledge, as well as the process that went into making him. I’m thinking of playing a ninja-inspired character, I was thinking a human Way of Shadow monk with the Spy background, since the background feature is all about intel gathering through networks of contacts, and a sickle/kama as his main weapon. I would love to see a Yokai Hunters video on D&D oni or ki-rin, and maybe a video on the Samurai fighter archetype, it would be really interesting to watch! Your videos are always amazing and interesting.

gaijin: the arcane trickster is the best ninja in DnD 5e Gloomstalker ranger: *Am I a joke to you?*

"You're gonna roll a LOT of natural ones" Yeah, that usually leads to rugs grabbing ahold of your acid dagger and shanking you with it

I like to think that the reason Greckles is able to speak fluid common is that his old master/sensei taught him pretty much every word in common he knew, and so Greckles speaks in his old master's/sensei's voice.

16:14 The Hitchhiker's Guide to Ninjitsu approves of your towel.

When I made a ninja in D&D I used a Shadow Monk. They can teleport and sneak around and such. More of a pop culture ninja, but pretty cool.

This video is “ hey let me show you my oc for 20 minutes “. And I love it ^_^

What this video taught me is that I have unintentionally been using ninja methods for all my dnd characters.

I'm really impressed with how much insight you have on the culture of the shinobi, you sure do a lot of good research

"Bird Crimes: His name is Gre-kles!"

"The art of arson" That is a wonderful title

One reason I appreciate the direction Greckles took his build is because lots of people fail to realize that while assassination was the reason ninjas were greatly feared, it was actually a very uncommon job for them, much in the same way snipers and black ops teams are very rarely used for lethal operations in modern times. Instead, they were mostly spies and sabotours. Disguising themselves as common people to eavesdrop on conversations, sneaking into secure locations to copy or falsify documents, and destroying supplies and infrastructure necessary for mobilization.

Before watching the vid: Expecting a Multiclass of Shadow Monk, GloomStalker Ranger & (Really any subclass) Rogue. After watching the Vid: Yeah this is pretty cool. I wanna give a shout out to tool proficiency as while magic can pull stuff on the fly, some DMs love to pull up smarter characters who can see through illusions. Alchemical Supplies for your Arson needs, Poisoners Kit to create potents of them, Disguise Kit as the Disguise Self Spell is a mere foreign touch away to become useless, Herbalist Kit to create treatments for some wounds, Forgery Kit but that race got you covered, Thieves tools is a given. There are many more to go into the rabbit hole that is to create the ultimate ninja within D&D but then this comment thread will be longer than the Video's script Thanks for this and I am ready to binge the Unexpectables!

I'm surprised he didn't mention the Scary Acid Dagger of Stab, though to be fair, the enemies have it more often than Greckles. The real question will be how ninja are Nick and Todd... I hope the weirdness of those statements out of context encourages people to watch the Unexpectables.

"You're going to roll a lot of natural 1's" *laughs in rug*

Dude... Changelings. They're an official 5e race as of Rising of the Last War and you can literally shapeshift to look, smell, and sound like anyone.

6:21 Correction: sneak in and lose the scary acid dagger of stab.

Fully replicating historical warriors into D&D seems like a ton of fun, I'd love to see more of it.

Thieves' Cant is already given to Rogues to cover the whole secret language thing. You didn't need Illusory Script. Otherwise, pretty well done. I would have picked Prestidigitation instead of Firebolt if you were going full Ninja, as unlike Firebolt Prestidigitation can create lasting fires that have to be put out manually while other spells don't.

JOCAT BRING ME HERE WALK FORTH FELLOW WIGGLER

Hey, GaijinGoomba ! I’m a dm myself (though I run pathfinder 2e more than dnd these days) and I wanted to stop in to say thanks! Not just for the great video, which draws attention to my favorite hobby and is full of fun facts, but for specifically mentioning that bit about fake letters being kept on a ninja’s person to incriminate their enemies if they were captured. My players will be very confused next time they kill a spy or assassin and find “proof” that a few of their favorite nobles are conspiring against them!

I was going through my players handbook thinking about this, then I got the notification

Gaijin: "Multiple ways to start a fire and how to use it" Google: "The FBI wants to know your location."

It's Funny. I made a Half Elf, Arcane Trickster as one of my first characters and I flavored him as more of a Magical prankster, yet his spell list, equipment, and build mirror your character almost one-to-one. Especially the spell list. It's uncanny how similar they are. I even took Firebolt for the sole purpose of wanting to have access to fire whenever I needed it. The biggest difference is that I got to take Prestidigitation at the start of the game, so I had a small magical tricks coming out my pointy ears. If I ever reuse my character I could very well just flavor him as a ninja instead.

Honestly, I find that Ranger makes a better ninja. multiclass into an artificer and you've got the perfect master of stealth, skill, and technology. Also: Changling. Literally just be anyone else including the voice.

16:14- A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhikers can have. Partly it has great practical value.

Something that has led to the creation of that much quality fan-art is something I must observe for myself

As I said over a year ago at the TFS office during their holiday party: thank you for Greckles. I may not have known half the stuff you explained here, but I am happy to see that the stuff I did know about from my own training and studies was indeed part of the character design

Honestly, I keep forgetting Gaijin is part of The Unexpectables, also I need to start watching The Unexpectables. Edit: I’ve started watching it.

Silver caltrops and coating a blade with holy water. That's freaking awesome. I gotta remember that for my ninja character later on when i'm writing my story.

If anyone is on the fence about whether or not you want to start watching The Unexpectables, let me just tell you that Monty is an absolutely _amazing_ DM, whom I personally rate up in the ranks of Chris Perkins, Matt Mercer, and Mark "Sherlock" Hulmes. Also, three words: "the Dog Zone."

Well, guess I now have 2 years of D&D to watch now.

This is no joke one of the most interesting videos you've made in this series. Actually it might be the most interesting bc while you're still going over the same stuff it's still things that can be used by anyone else for their d&d game. Which I will DEFINITELY be doing.

Woah woah woah woah. Let's get the record straight. The Adventure Zone started before Critical Role.

Nicely done Gaijin! I love the way that you chose to go rogue instead of monk with the Way of Shadow. Especially with your Arcane Trickster spell list. You really are the ninja bird. Time to start watching Unexpectables!

You can tell how dedicated he was to this. He even included the damn towel & chalk pens. He took the irl ninja used their folklore & real techniques to put them in a world where ninja can be at their best. Gaijin's content is truly god-tier in YT & Twitch.

"Does it have player's handbook official ninjas?" "Technically no, but-." Only true for 5th ed. There were Ninjas in D&D in 1st and 3rd, Pathfinder (Which is kinda a spin-off of 3rd) also has them. I quite like the one from 3rd (unpopular opinion though it may be) because it's a way to make a slightly supernatural rogue (Basically they could turn invisible for a short time or run up walls or teleport but were otherwise essentially the rogue class).

Now you know how to be a ninja, you're welcome.

More than just the great tips into making a stealthily, resourceful character, I love how this video clearly shows the love and attention dedicated to making your character. Good job, this was rally nice.

I remember watching your content when you were on Game Theory. Now I come back for the Dungeons and Dragons.

I used this whole Series as a way to build my Shadow Monk ninja Zed, so to hear that it was used by him to make another Ninja? You have no idea how happy that makes me

Hot, will definitely keep everything in mind the next time I decide to make a ninja for a campaign.

I actually have a DND Kenku rogue now. They're called Tori and they're based on a blue bunting.

Coming back to this, the best use of fog cloud as support was definitely the fight against Agranak's orcs within the most recent arc with Task. This has been most enlightening Gajin, thank you.

I would love to here a complete level 20 build for a true ninja, breaking down the reasoning for all your choices. Though as there are so many options, you'd likely need to make multiple videos covering the different character variations

*ahem* It's time, to get Orky! It's time, to get Borky! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I've been listening to the Unexpectables for over a year and I love the characters and the world. I spend my whole week waiting for the next episode.

I feel like there's a lot of classes that fit a ninja-like character, like a mastermind rogue who's skilled in forgery and disguise, and can read and deceive people easily. Or a ranger with stuff like hide in plain sight and vanish. Even trickster clerics can make clones of themselves. Super cool video, glad to see more and more people enjoying DnD!

Before this starts, I’m guessing there won’t be as many levels in rogue that you’d think. More in ranger for survival purposes. Edit: Never mind.

One thing you should have definitely talked about is backgrounds. They often add something more to your character. Some that would fit very nice with a shinobi character are the Charlatan or the Criminal/Spy

The only thing Greckels is missing is being able to make his own rations, good berry, and to heal himself, cure wounds or another healing spell.

I found the Unexpectables through this video. Thanks Gaijin for helping to create something so amazing to sink my time into😁

Prestidigitation all I will say And or JUST FIRE BALL

I can never get enough of these. I eagerly await for when you eventually cover Snake-eyes and Stormshadow, it will be interesting to find out how ninja clans treated outsiders and whether or not they would accept them as well as what would happen if ninjas in the same clan feuded with each other.

"How to burn down Farm Houses" You leave farmers alone! They got enough crap to deal with already, they don't need no Ninjas setting fire to houses.

Watching this after going into The Unexpectables really makes me feel nostalgic. I'm like, "Oh I remember that episode!" in some instances.

Just like in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy never leave without your towel.

Yo who else here watches The Unexpectables and not just Giajin Goombah’s videos

18:15 A true ninja always know where their towel is

Well... here’s the thing about Kenku mimicry & forgery. You can mimic & forge anything you hear and see, but that’s it. Kenku don’t have a voice of their own, they can only say what they have heard before, & they can only forge what they have seen. That’s just a part of their curse. So mimicry on the level you’re saying seems fairly difficult to pull off, since it involves mimicry of voice & behavior, & I don’t know if your Kenku character could’ve heard enough of someone’s dialogue to mimic them in every situation. Edit: Also another class option for Ninja, albeit possibly less authentic, is Way of the Shadow monk, which was Wizards of the Coast’s attempt at making a ninja class. It’s possibly less authentic, but it still has the whole focus on mobility, the strike hard & fade away thing, & the focus on not getting hit, although you just get evasion as a monk, not Uncanny Dodge

I really love this video, not just because i love all things DnD and it introduced me to another DnD stream/ podcast i can get into But because i love how much focus you put on non-combat uses for all the abilities/ items That kinda creativity is what i love about this hobby!

I know with all the 5e focus I'll never get it but I'd really love to hear Gaijins thoughts on the DnD 3.5 Ninja class.

To this day Greckles is one of my favorite characters in D&D and The Unexpectables is my favorite D&D stream so thank you so much for introducing me to them with this video.

I have been binge watching the Unexpectables for a good while now, just getting to the Realm of Discord. I have to say that I love the team overall along with the interactions, and when I first started watching I was floored/ecstatic that you were one of the players! Greckles has been interesting to see the growth of and fun to watch trying to play one of the two straight men to the general chaos of his group but also a strategic ninja. I agree with a lot of your choices for spells with extra praise to Fog Cloud, that spell has probably been your most used and useful over all with its careful positioning and timing. Hope to reach the most current episode soon and then try catching a live broadcasting to throw you guys some bits!

Oh man... this is so very informative. I love it! I had made an Arcane Trickster a little bit ago and a lot of these make me want to re-flavour them a little bit... less about being a ninja, but more about being an effective player. One difference I did was that I took the feats Keen Mind and Ritual Caster (made a variant human). His entire gimmick was going to be able to read spells and copy them into his ritual book at a later date (since Keen Mind lets you recall with perfect memory anything you've seen/heard up to 1 month). Very useful for a Ninja if you think about it... and also an effective way to get new spells, albeit ritual ones. Another feat that makes a lot of sense for a Ninja is Alert. Not being able to be surprised and getting bonuses on initiative would be very useful for a Ninja to enact their plans. Also, on a side note... I've used the quail hiding technique before as a kid once. It was at camp while playing manhunt (think team-bases hide and seek) and, not finding a good hiding spot, I hopped into a small field and curled up into a ball, pulling my hoodie over my head and not moving. I continued using this strategy over and over from that point on, because it just kept working. Like, the other team knew the general location I was in... and they STILL couldn't find me! One of them almost stepped on me and they STILL didn't know it was me!

2:43 Halfdragons? Ohhh no my good sir, dragonborn and halfdragons are not the same thing

As a big fan of the Unexpectables, I was SO HAPPY to see that this video got made, made possible by like-minded people who also wanted to learn more about our favorite blue bird shinobi. I always watch/listen to the sessions on Takahata101's youtube channel. I enjoyed the video very much and appreciate all the hard word you put into making it. I can't wait to watch more of your videos and learn more about your character, Greckles, in future Unexpectables adventures! Thank You~!!! ^_^

Sweet now I can actually make one without relying purely on gimmicks

Okay, now that I’m looking at the comments, I’m starting to see that there are many, many ways to make an authentic Ninja in D&D

*Reaches the mobility part of the video* Instantly remembers the secret Joestar technique.

I used this video to make my own ninja in a game I’m a dev member of known as SoulShards. Thanks for all the fun times I had from watching The Unexpectables. Been binge-watching the series for the past month and I’m on 81. Keep up the good work.

1:05 the 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons had a expansion book called "Complete Adventurer" that introduced the ninja class. was and still is a official wizards of the coast DnD book and i wait with baited breath for it's 5e remaster if any.

My interests in DND started with The Drawfee Channel’s Drawga, a DND adventure more focused on drawing solutions.

Yes. For when you are a six foot tall bird man ninja; you must always know where your towel is!

I could listen to you, Curt, Connor, Zito and Monty talk about your characters for HOURS. I literally never stop talking about the unexpectables to any poor unfortunate soul that will listen to me. Best DND stream I watch and it's so so fun to learn just how much thought went into Greckles because I so love your unique way of playing him as a ninja!!

well I came here at the speed of a Tabaxi Monk

I saw this video coming a mile away lol, I'm at episode 94 of Unexpectables so far. I also made a Yamabushi styled Blood Hunter in DnD myself though I haven't really been able to roleplay my backstory yet womp womp

3:37 actually they can't speak, they communicate through mimicry of sounds, which for some reason does not include speech

The first time I watch, I watched this just because it's a Gaijin Goombah video. But now that I started to delve into D&D myself this has become informative

because of this show (the Unexpetables) I'm so going kenku. But I think going to be a Kenku Kiwi with a frying pan.

One of my favorite pastimes with one of my favorite Asian stereotypes? Sign me the hekk up

Gonna be honest, my favorite time I played as a rogue was when I had taken the Arcane Trickster archetype and grabbed the green flame blade cantrip for him. A buddy of mine had set up a battle against a troll and my character had hidden in the tall grass. With the troll distracted, I struck with the green flame blade and scored a crit. With the critical effect table that my friend had used included as some fun flavor effects for the trolls in the Monster Manual... I had rolled a Decapitation. Which would only have been fatal if the troll took acid or FIRE damage... which I had done. First turn of combat... and I managed to one-shot a troll. Best... session... ever.

I made my own homebrew ninja class a long time ago, and now I feel like everything I've done was in vain.