Why did they put the Ninja class in Monk instead of Rogue?

[Daddy Kaneki]

And why did they split Ninja and Assassin into two different subclasses? Wouldn't it make sense for the ninja to also be an assassin?

I'm glad that mods remedy the issue for me and allow me to play as a ninja/assassin but I'm just curious why they went this route.

Does anyone know the game-design specifics of why they went this route?

[MercenaryGrok]

Ninjas feel like more monk than rogue
you got that vanishing smoke bomb trick you usually see with ninjas.

[Some guy]

It's simple

WotC doesn't like Monks (hence bg3 needing to balance them) and gave them the leftover scraps for subclasses (hence bg3 changing ALL of them to actually be decent)

[Daddy Kaneki]

Originally posted by Some guy:

It's simple

WotC doesn't like Monks (hence bg3 needing to balance them) and gave them the leftover scraps for subclasses (hence bg3 changing ALL of them to actually be decent)

As someone who's never played DND, a game won't behave exactly the same going from a tabletop to an actual 3d video display. I don't think BG3 buffing Monks has anything to do with your supposition of WotC keeping them intentionally weak.

[MrsJekill]

Because Ninjas and Assassins are two different things...

[Chummy 8]

I'm actually enjoying my level 12 shadow monk in Act 3. Main problem is that I kept bouncing between four elements and shadow so much that I lost my characters backstory

[justfaded]

Originally posted by MrsJekill:

Because Ninjas and Assassins are two different things...

I mean in this game monks and ninjas are the same thing. They just lumped all the east Asian stuff together. Got a shaolin monk type thing mixed with Japanese ninjas, pretty funny actually.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Barbarians, Monks and Rangers should be removed from the game, or at least made into subclasses (of Fighter, Cleric and Fighter, respectively).

[MrsJekill]

Originally posted by justfaded:

Originally posted by MrsJekill:

Because Ninjas and Assassins are two different things...

I mean in this game monks and ninjas are the same thing. They just lumped all the east Asian stuff together. Got a shaolin monk type thing mixed with Japanese ninjas, pretty funny actually.

It could be that they chose Monk class because Ninjas are Martial Arts based not killer based. I will admit that it is a wee bit odd but if you think about it as more of a Martial Arts thing it makes sense.

[Mike Garrison]

Monk was always an attempt to put Kung-Fu / Bruce Lee / Asian martial arts into D&D. Thieves (now "Rogues") ended up getting "Assassin" as a subclass, but "Ninja" is more thematic with the Monks.

[Recjawjind]

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Monk was always an attempt to put Kung-Fu / Bruce Lee / Asian martial arts into D&D. Thieves (now "Rogues") ended up getting "Assassin" as a subclass, but "Ninja" is more thematic with the Monks.

To be fair, ninja were far more cunning spies & saboteurs than martial artists. They are often heavily romanticized these days.

[Daddy Kaneki]

Originally posted by MrsJekill:

Originally posted by justfaded:

I mean in this game monks and ninjas are the same thing. They just lumped all the east Asian stuff together. Got a shaolin monk type thing mixed with Japanese ninjas, pretty funny actually.

It could be that they chose Monk class because Ninjas are Martial Arts based not killer based. I will admit that it is a wee bit odd but if you think about it as more of a Martial Arts thing it makes sense.

I guess that makes sense.