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How does one play a good Ninja?


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You must first come into terms with the fact there is no "good ninja round". Someone will always be upset you did not personally interact with their character who is hidden in the most remote part of the station and is deaf/mute/socially akward and doesn't speak to strangers.

Second, people are going to be upset if you do too well however if you do too bad you'll be called unrobust and waste of an antag round.


Second, you come to terms with the fact ninja is the second worst gamemode after changeling and was originally only an admin-spawnable role that was supposed to accompawny an already existing antag. You are in all ways the weaker and shittier wizard. Like a temporal wizard but on analbetics.


Three, you understand that ninja is just a Mercenary but on steroids.

You know all those times other mercs fuck up and you're the only one left? That's ninja and nobody is going to call you a coward if you perform guerilla warfare. Deceive, entrap, sabotage and kidnapp.

Remember if someone calls you a bad antag, tell them to try it next round so we can see what a good antag looks like.

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You must first come into terms with the fact there is no "good ninja round". Someone will always be upset you did not personally interact with their character who is hidden in the most remote part of the station and is deaf/mute/socially akward and doesn't speak to strangers.


Second, people are going to be upset if you do too well however if you do too bad you'll be called unrobust and waste of an antag round.


Remember if someone calls you a bad antag, tell them to try it next round so we can see what a good antag looks like.

Yep. People are gonna say you suck no matter what because a solid chunk of this community is made of a bunch of whiny manbabies who are still in their "I think it's cool/funny to be rude" stage of maturity. It's a huge problem. "Never be antag again" should not be more common than "bad rounds happen, you'll get better."

Not saying you should dismiss all criticism with "Do it urself lol", just saying the server has a legit problem with antagonists because nobody but the same 9 people keeps actually readying up as an antag.

And it's exactly why this happens.


But, the inevitable aside...


I've never played ninja, so I can only pull advice from being on the other side of one, hearing people talk, playing other antags, and general observation.

-Exploitable info is an excellent tool. Read them, even if you don't want to center a gimmick around them.

-Anything that leads to you being chased around in tunnels for half an hour or more is boring for everyone. This depends a good deal on sec not being validhunty, but still worth remembering if you plan to "go loud" very quick into the round. You'll probably get chased EVENTUALLY but after a while it gets old.

-Basically what Coalf said. Blackmailing and intimidating crewmembers is a good tactic. It's not all about your sick ninja gear

-Sec can and will kick your ass in many head-on confrontations. Unless you got the crew on your side, you gotta be careful; medbay isn't going to patch you up if you get shot and let you go free.

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As Ninja I just do a bunch of cryptic pseudo-metal gear shitposting and just generally lurk around the station, causing the occasional ruckus and then going back into hiding. I think the key feature is to be ominously omnipresent and somewhat mysterious. I think a good ninja round is one where everyone says, "Could he be right here in this room with me right now?"


I've had really mixed results, mostly because I'm better at making a slippery escape than I am at actual combat, so Ninja feels more tailored to my style of antagonism. I try to make it feel like a goose chase for security while dropping in and interacting with the crew across the station, usually stealing some of their items or delivering vague threats or waving my sword around to spook em. When it comes down to it, you're not geared for a direct confrontation with security, so if they whine about having a bad round because you wouldn't give them a decisive battle, then you just shrug your shoulders and remind them you wouldn't be a good ninja if you did.


As far as narrative goes, I try to spin one over time but leave it incredibly cryptic at first and clarify going off the cuff over time. "Oh I'm from getmorechoclate corps and I'm here to steal all your vending machines." Something dumb like that. I keep hoping to roll Ninja again so I can bring the new Adhomai lore to the station and be an M'sai samurai from Amohda, there to do some form of espionage I guess.

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As Ninja I just do a bunch of cryptic pseudo-metal gear shitposting and just generally lurk around the station, causing the occasional ruckus and then going back into hiding. I think the key feature is to be ominously omnipresent and somewhat mysterious. I think a good ninja round is one where everyone says, "Could he be right here in this room with me right now?"


I've had really mixed results, mostly because I'm better at making a slippery escape than I am at actual combat, so Ninja feels more tailored to my style of antagonism. I try to make it feel like a goose chase for security while dropping in and interacting with the crew across the station, usually stealing some of their items or delivering vague threats or waving my sword around to spook em. When it comes down to it, you're not geared for a direct confrontation with security, so if they whine about having a bad round because you wouldn't give them a decisive battle, then you just shrug your shoulders and remind them you wouldn't be a good ninja if you did.


As far as narrative goes, I try to spin one over time but leave it incredibly cryptic at first and clarify going off the cuff over time. "Oh I'm from getmorechoclate corps and I'm here to steal all your vending machines." Something dumb like that. I keep hoping to roll Ninja again so I can bring the new Adhomai lore to the station and be an M'sai samurai from Amohda, there to do some form of espionage I guess.

 

I layed adult section books down before and when people got close knocked on a window or made noise to fuck with them like that

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As Ninja I just do a bunch of cryptic pseudo-metal gear shitposting and just generally lurk around the station, causing the occasional ruckus and then going back into hiding. I think the key feature is to be ominously omnipresent and somewhat mysterious. I think a good ninja round is one where everyone says, "Could he be right here in this room with me right now?"


I've had really mixed results, mostly because I'm better at making a slippery escape than I am at actual combat, so Ninja feels more tailored to my style of antagonism. I try to make it feel like a goose chase for security while dropping in and interacting with the crew across the station, usually stealing some of their items or delivering vague threats or waving my sword around to spook em. When it comes down to it, you're not geared for a direct confrontation with security, so if they whine about having a bad round because you wouldn't give them a decisive battle, then you just shrug your shoulders and remind them you wouldn't be a good ninja if you did.


As far as narrative goes, I try to spin one over time but leave it incredibly cryptic at first and clarify going off the cuff over time. "Oh I'm from getmorechoclate corps and I'm here to steal all your vending machines." Something dumb like that. I keep hoping to roll Ninja again so I can bring the new Adhomai lore to the station and be an M'sai samurai from Amohda, there to do some form of espionage I guess.

 

I layed adult section books down before and when people got close knocked on a window or made noise to fuck with them like that

 

Best mod 2460? y/y?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ninja has some pretty good potential to wreak havoc and interact with people because of their guerilla warfare style of play. In general some good ground rules are first and foremost, don't behead, you're already strong enough in the first place and can kill people again if they didn't get the message the first time. Avoid IPCs they'll ruin your day because the best counter is lasers and emp, neither of which you have. Don't vent areas unless by god you have to. It's a pain in the neck for everybody. Set simple goals for yourself and the fun will come with it. Play like a hammer too, just waltz into medbay if you need to pickup some splints if your leg gets capped, or some painkillers. Immediately everyone knows what's going on, and if someone is stupid enough to attack you take off a leg and keep going. If you need a power cell, or want to cap science in the knees before they arm Security with super weapons? Teleport in past their lockdown, it's ideal for you. Restrain them, grab what you need and keep going. It's a simple and foolproof way to get people interacting in the round, save power, and practice your ninja skills. If you're very inclined to do a gimmick, plan before hand. Gimmicks are very, hard to pull off, and the more elaborate it gets it becomes exponentially more difficult. You might also have to resort to some faux pas like emptying out the armory or grabbing captain access at the beginning of the round. Sure, it's a dick move, but it gives you a lot more utility to deal with the numerous problems your gimmick will encounter. In general, be opportunistic and B-line to what you need at the very moment, if a situation arises that you can intervene in, get stuck in. It's unfortunate you don't really have ways to build up like Wizard, or get people station side to join your cause like a Necromancer and his apprentice creating a skeleton army. Also, maintenance is your friend. You have thermal goggles, an energy sword, and Security's advantage is numbers. If you're in a tight spot use a choke point to your advantage. Human shields are also the tankiest thing you have, they'll block shots from Security, and even better you can avoid fighting in the first place.

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The ultimate tip you can use and abuse yourself as long as you don't blast yourself with it is to grab an ion rifle for yourself. In this way you can directly counter IPCs, hitscan energy weapons as well as people goofy enough to have synthetic limbs.


Just don't shoot an adjacent wall or anything. Ion rifles are quite strong in shutting down people's ability to engage you offensively with energy weapons.

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Ninja is probably one of the strongest antags in the game, seconded only to a wizard. Use this to your advantage by being antagonistic without killing people. The energy sword and teleporter hardsuit modules are absurdly powerful, with the sword deflecting lasers like they are nothing and taking off limbs in one maybe two hits, and the teleporter giving you absurd mobility. Grab mesons and swap your suit to thermals and suddenly you are Coldsteel The Hedgehog. Grab the chemical one as well just so you can use hit and run tactics when you need to, although its limited nature should not completely free you from medical. In general it's a good idea to speak with someone in charge of medical—there's usually one even if there's no CMO—and establish a sort of agreement. You don't shoot up medbay or anyone in it, and they treat you. This gives them interaction with the antagonist (Very important), and makes it so you aren't fully self sufficient on your own.


The most important things for any antagonist IMO is having solid goals. For Ninja I tend to pick something like stealing the AI, but always have a backup goal in-case that doesn't work. Science is an often neglected department that can give you a lot of things your character would want to steal, and give those poor scientists something other than the standard fair extended round.


Overall though I think the main important part about Ninja is crew interaction. Use your radio a lot, the ninja is strong enough that you can be incredibly open about your antagonistic nature, and that is purrfect for crew interaction.


And if you want a gimmick that might get you intrigued? Try playing a phantom thief style character. You call out your target, and then steal it right in front of everyone, preferably without them even seeing you. Ninja is strong enough to facilitate some pretty difficult gimmicks, so the sky is the limit.


Most important of all, though? Remember people will always give you crap for being an antagonist. Antagonists have tons of weight put on their shoulder as the people who have to toe the line between fun and grief, while still driving the round and making conflict happen.

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Well, I guess the only real thing to point out that I could help you with is to always base your gimmick around one or two people (if you're"re going to kill people) or to have a material motive like espionage or 'liberating the pets.'


You can't be an ... actual ninja and pick off people one by one before they know what hit them, because bwoink.

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