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sometimesrosy · 5 years

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As the show has progressed, I feel like Raven and Clarke have been slowly pulled apart both physically and emotionally/mentally (getting to the point in 4x13 where Bellamy is the one that gives Raven a successful pep talk), and I agree with a lot of your meta that this distance will play a part in the way that our characters come back together. What do you think are the cornerstone moments in Clarke and Raven's relationship?

YES! That moment when she couldn’t inspire Raven to fix the rocket and had to turn to Bellamy to do it? That was a marker for me that showed how far they had come apart.

You know, I’m not sure I could tell the cornerstone moments in their development. I maybe have neglected the development of their relationship. I think it’s easy to do so, because they have really been at odds so many times. Their entire relationship began with Finn between them, and even when they both left him behind, there was still jealousy, and then war, and then Finn who had massacred a village and Clarke who killed him. Raven blamed Clarke for a lot of that.

This is something I have never been comfortable with, but I don’t think Raven has ever let it go.

So, I think Raven started out wanting to feel a connection with Clarke, because of Abby. And there was a respect there, because they recognized the other’s value, but Finn was always between them. Even with that really important moment of “I’d choose you first,” that was because FINN didn’t choose Raven first and that hurt her. Then they were separated and their reunion was nice.

BUT then, even after working together to save Finn, Clarke ended up killing him. Raven TOLD her to kill Lxa, gave her the knife, and she used it to kill Finn instead and Raven never forgave her for that, even though killing Lxa would have sentenced Clarke and Finn to immediate death and then they would have massacred all of camp jaha.

Raven didn’t understand what Clarke had done, really, until she saw Lxa torture Gustus to death, and even then, I don’t think she forgave Clarke for her decision to kill Finn.

She uses it instead to prod Clarke forward and get her to do things Raven thinks she should. She did it in season 2, where she told her she didn’t give up so Clarke didn’t get to either. She did it again in season 4, where she told her that she was always the one who decided who lived or died (this is a direct dig at killing Finn) so she had to make that list.

Clarke has had her difficult journey, struggling with leading and making the right decisions and keeping people safe and running away from pain. But Raven has also had a difficult journey, struggling with her health and will to survive, and need to be the person with the mechanical knowhow to get the job done.

But I do not feel like Clarke and Raven’s relationship goes in a forward motion, getting stronger and deeper, like Bellarke, even with their obstacles constantly put between them.

I feel like Clarke and Raven’s relationship has gotten continuously more complex and HEAVY.

I do not think they have EVER dealt with the original pain that came between them. Finn. And Raven continues to hold Clarke responsible for things. And Clarke continues to FEEL responsible for things, and feel permanently damaged from it.

I believe they love each other. Raven is always worried about her when she’s away, but when she sees her, she almost always it at odds with her, blaming her for the things she has done to save everyone, and acting like she has no part in it. Clarke always reached out to Raven first… after Bellamy, and is often scolded or rebuffed by Raven. Leading to that Praimfaya scene where Clarke CAN’T connect with her.

I think Clarke and Raven’s relationship is deeper than friendship. It seems to resemble a sibling relationship. Sisters. Raven is the older sister. Raven is the one who always nags Clarke or scolds her. They not only share Finn, but also share ABBY, as mother/mother figure. Oh so messy. And now Raven is family with the people who left Clarke behind. It’s been six years, but Raven and Clarke can communicate without words and get the job done, even with a betrayal or two between them. They are STILL a team. They are still connected. But there are other things for Raven to hold Clarke accountable for… things that are about Raven’s family… so she’s got to decide if spacekru is her family, then what is Clarke to her?? Is Clarke still her family or is that gone after six years, after closing the door on her, after leaving her alone on earth and not coming home. Would Raven have worked harder to get them home if she had known that Clarke was alive? If she hadn’t given up hope? What happens now when her new sister Echo is at odds with her old sister Clarke? Does she side with Echo and leave Clarke on the other side of the door again?

This is a lot of responsibility. Raven has to make her own choices and decide, not who lives or dies, but who belongs and who doesn’t. That’s gonna hurt. Is Clarke going to stand up for herself with Raven? Because she never has. She always accepted whatever Raven said to her, and took it. D:

Oh. We’ve never heard anyone talk bad about Clarke TO Raven. We’ve only heard Raven confront Clarke. What happens if someone ELSE treats Clarke like the enemy? You know that rule about how you can talk as bad as you want about your sibling but no one else is allowed to? This could be an issue.

Oh I don’t think season 6 will be easy on Raven, in regards to her relationship with Clarke. I think she’s going to have to face up to what she owes Clarke and how Raven was not actually ever there for Clarke. :O

I wanted to have an easy outline of Clarke and Raven’s relationship. But I don’t have one. They have always shared an antagonism, and blame, and a desire for approval. Raven has always pushed Clarke away and Clarke has always run away. It’s interesting that Clarke and Bellamy continuously confront each other and hold each other accountable, but Clarke is unable to stand up to Raven. ??? Am I forgetting any time? Even RavenALIE was very defensive. My meta on this seems to be mostly about Raven’s pov. I don’t know why. I feel like Clarke is rather passive in their relationship, allowing Raven to lead.

Clarke and Raven’s relationship is a MESS. Will they finally get to work it out in season 6? I really don’t know. I can see a trajectory to Bellarke, part of that is because it is the central relationship and now a main plot. But Raven’s stories have always been side plots and Clarke’s relationships with the other characters have also been side plots. They generally aren’t tied into the main themes, but more are tied to the plot and move the story forward. BUT I see princess mechanic stories finally tied in with the forgiveness storylines that MANY of the characters need to face. AND with the c/b/e love triangle, which will hopefully allow the pain of the OLD c/f/r love triangle to finally be exorcised.

#the 100 #princess mechanic #clarke x raven #sisters

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disappearinginq · 5 years

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Yes, me again😳- please can you write something for “ withholding medical treatment” for Bad Things Happen?

Yes, yes I can! Hopefully, this works for your prompt!

He’d never seen Thomas look so pale.

He pressed down harder on the bleeding wound, the overshirtalready soaked through with red. Cold, pale fingers shook as they tried to pushhis away, but every ounce of strength was gone.

“Leave it,” he snapped, ignoring the tremble in thosescarred hands.

His response was so quiet, Rick almost missed it.

“I’m going to bleedout,” Magnum slurred, his head falling back against the door of the Rover. Hischest barely moved, breathing rapid and shallow as he fought to keep his eyesopen, even though every time he blinked, they stayed closed longer and longer.

Rick shook his head. Whether to tell Magnum that, no¸ you most certainly are-fucking-notor to ward off the sudden image of a disturbingly similar scenario, many yearsago on the dirt floor of a makeshift cell block beneath the earth, feeling justas useless as he did now, trapped behind a locked cage door. “No, you’re not.”

“ y’got ‘nother….bullet?”

He wished.

“We have to go to a hospital,” he snarled at the driverinstead.

The young man behind the wheel didn’t even bother to turnaround. He was hunched over the wheel as if it would make him invisible, flinchingwhen Rick raised his voice. “No. You’re a-a soldier. I know it. You talk likeone. You can make do.”

“Look, kid, carjacking is one thing. Shooting someone isanother. Negligent homicide is awhole new matter entirely.”

“Then I guess you best make sure he lives, huh?” thepassenger said, leaning around to point his gun at Magnum. “Unless you think Iought to just put him out of his misery now, huh?”

Rick gritted his teeth. “You shoot him, you better be thefastest gun since Jesse James, because then I’ll be out of reasons to let youlive.”

The man laughed. “You got balls, son. I’ll give you that.But that’s pretty ambitious for someone sitting on the wrong side of a gun,unarmed, with his hands tied together.”

“Ambitious,” Rick conceded in a flat voice. “But not wrong.”

“Lee, maybe we should– ”

Lee turned on his partner so fast Rick was surprised hedidn’t get whiplash, cuffing the kid in the back of the head hard enough thatthe Rover swerved into the opposite lane before the driver wrestled it backonto the right side. “What’d I tell you, dumbass?”

The kid flinched. “Just drive.”

“That’s right. Just drive.I don’t need you getting any smart ideas.”

“If he dies, you’ll be lucky to go down for murder one,”Rick pointed out. He tried not to think about the warmth of the soaked ragbeneath his fingers. Tried not to look at the growing stain on the high-endleather of the Rover’s back seat. Or how cold Magnum’s fingers were. Or the wayhis teeth chattered. Or tried to shift away from him every time Rick presseddown to stem the bleeding.

Lee scoffed. “And if we’re unlucky, hot shot?” The gun remained pointed at Thomas, who twistedagainst the corner of the seat and the door, did little more than glareblearily at him.

“No one will ever find your bodies.”

The kid’s fearful eyes met his in the rearview mirror, andRick knew he had his attention.

“Hawaii’s a great place for body dumping,” Rick continuedconversationally. “Volcanoes. An ocean filled with currents that’ll take youmiles out in a matter of minutes and sharks that may or may not be tempted totake a chunk out of you. Rainforests so dense and damp that the only way anyoneis gonna find you is by accident, fifty years from now when the only thing leftbehind is your teeth.” Rick paused, considering it for a moment. “And that’sassuming I leave you with yourteeth.”

“You ain’t doing squat from the back seat of a car with yourhands tied, so sit back, shut the hell up, and take care of your friend beforeI decide I don’t want to listed to him moan anymore,” Lee snapped. “As you justhelpfully pointed out, lots’a places for bodies ‘round here.”

“Or,” Rick immediately snapped back, “you could just let usout at the fucking curb, I’ll lie and tell them this is your car, you took us tothe hospital after we were attacked by someoneelse, and you can drive off at your own pace while shock and trauma robs meof any cognitive memory of what you looked like when the police come calling.”

“Lee – ” the driver tried again, but shut up when Lee raisedhis hand again.

“Why would you do something like that?” Lee askedsuspiciously.

“Because this ain’t my car, and I don’t give a rat’s assabout what happens to it, or you, if you let my friend live,” Rick said. Hedidn’t mention the part where it belonged to a feisty British majordomo whotook her job a little too seriously that would hunt them down later having madeno such promise to leave them be.

He also didn’t mention the fact that the Rover was equippedwith Lo-Jack, they were already two hours late returning the vehicle to theNest, and Higgins was going to wonder what the hell they were doing on thewrong side of the island when she got impatient and looked up their location onthat fancy laptop of hers. He just hoped they were out of the vehicle by thetime the cops showed up, because he had no doubt Higgins was the type to reportthe car stolen if she thought they were off joyriding, and there was no wayThomas was going to survive a high-speed chase.

Lee stared at him, assessing. Rick could see him mull itover in his head, weighing the benefits of not having a murder attached to him,hassle of having to hide a body if he did against the likelihood that Rick waslying about not telling the hospital staff the truth.

“It doesn’t even have to be a hospital for chrissakes,” Ricksnapped. “I’ll take a goddamn vet at this point. A CVS with a pharmacy and aphone, I don’t care, but if you don’tlet us out of the vehicle, I’m going to make your lives a goddamn nightmare for what remains of them.”

“We’ll think about it.”

And Lee turned back around, completely ignoring the two menin the backseat.

Rick forcibly bit the inside of his cheek to keep fromsaying anything, desperately trying to channel his inner Nuzo to keep his mouthshut and not antagonize the bad guys into letting Thomas die out of spite forsomething he said. The hospital was agood option. Lee just had to convince himself that it was his idea, and notsomething he’d been bullied into by a hostage.

Rick just didn’t know if he had that kind of time.

The hole in Magnum’s leg missed the artery, or he would’vebeen dead already, but that didn’t mean he was in the clear. Close range, theexit wound was large and messy, and besides a shirt, Rick had literally nothingfor first aid. If they’d been driving the Ferrari, or even his Porsche, therewouldn’t have even been space for them to be hostages, but that’s what they gotfor doing Higgins a favor and taking the Rover in for service while they werealready in town and she was entertaining another cultural tour of the Nest. Italso meant no first aid kits.

He pressed down harder on the still bleeding wound, thoughthe shirt was already saturated through. Magnum hardly moved under the newonslaught of pain, and Rick tried not to think about the sound he made thatwasn’t quite human. He was conscious, but just barely, his teeth chatteringagainst the cold of shock, but he could do little more than let Rick try whateverhe could to stem the flow of blood.

The car rounded a corner and came to a screeching halt inthe middle of the road, skidding on the tarmac before coming to a stop.

It took all of Rick’s effort to keep Thomas from flying offthe seat, and he cried out as Rick’s full weight came down on his leg, even hashe braced his shoulder against the seatback in front of him.

“Shit, sorry Thomas,” he apologized quickly, risking aglance out the windshield. He half expected traffic, or road work, but healmost laughed out loud when he saw the flashing red and blue lights.

Higgins was more paranoid than he gave her credit for. Ormaybe Katsumoto was a better detective than he thought.

Either way, he owed them both drinks, because he’d neverbeen happier to see half of HPD creating a road block with weapons drawn andpointed at him.

Two more cruisers pulled in behind them, blocking them frombacking up and making an escape in reverse.

This was more than just Higgins being annoyed and vindictiveabout the car going rogue. Someone had to have reported the carjacking, orgunshots, or something, because this was a coordinated response – no matter howlittle Katsumoto liked Magnum, there was no way he would rope half thedepartment into teaching him a lesson about joyriding without the majordomo’s permission.

“This is HPD – step out of the car with your hands in theair where we can see them, nice and slow,” Katsumoto called over the radioloudspeaker. “We have you surrounded. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Rick snickered, though it was probably more nervous reliefthan actual humor. “Ha, ha,” he managed, reminiscent of Nelson Muntz. “I takeback all previous offers. You’re screwed.”

“Am I?” Lee snarled.

Rick didn’t have time to contemplate what the gunman couldpossibly mean before the man threw open his door, using it as a shield betweenhimself and the police, swinging around to rip open the door Thomas was leaningagainst, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him out of the vehiclebefore Rick could protest or even think to stop him.

The soaked makeshift bandage came loose in his hand asThomas was ripped out from underneath it, hauled up in front of Lee as a humanshield.

Thomas didn’t even scream, and maybe that was worse. Hecouldn’t stand on his own, the only reason he was upright was Lee’s arm aroundhis neck and shoulder, the little color he had absolutely gone, his face ashenand pale. Rick was honestly shocked the abrupt change in position didn’t makecause him to pass out, but dammit all if Magnum was a fighter. Dark eyes keptthreatening to roll to the back of his head as he fought to stay conscious, onetrembling hand on Lee’s arm holding him up, and the other hovering shakily overthe gunshot wound to his leg as he tried to keep his weight off of it.

“I already shot him once,” Lee shouted at Katsumoto. “I’mokay with doing it again. Are you?”

Katsumoto’s face didn’t so much as flicker. That manshould’ve been a professional poker player. “If your goal is to get out of thisalive, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Yeah?” Lee snarled, digging the muzzle of the pistol intoMagnum’s jaw with bruising force. “Well, maybe I got different plans.”

“Your intent suicide by cop?” Katsumoto retorted. “We can dothat. But first, release the hostage.”

“This guy?” asked Lee, his tone suddenly pitching towardsmania. “This guy, right here?” He gave Magnum a slight shake. “Nah. I don’tthink so. I kinda like the sounds he makes.” And with that, he took the gunfrom Magnum’s jaw to shove against the wound in his leg.

The ragged scream barely made it past Magnum’s lips beforeRick slammed into Lee, catching the gunman in the side with his shoulder hardenough he heard the crack of ribs. He collided with such force he actually knockedThomas forwards and away from them, his friend half catching himself with one hand– just enough to not smash his teeth out on the concrete – before collapsing tothe ground.

Rick didn’t see any of it. Didn’t hear the police shouting,didn’t hear Katsumoto order the other officers not to shoot, didn’t hear the goahead for the EMT’s.

His vision tunneled. He grabbed Lee by the hair, twisting itas hard as he could, his nails digging into the man’s skull as he yanked hishead up by the hair only to smash it down against the road with an audiblecrack.

“Shoot my friend, will you?” Rick snarled through gritted teeth, gripping thegunman’s head in his bloodied fingers. “Refuseto take him to a hospital, huh?”He slammed Lee’s head down again. “Maybe I’ll like the sounds you make.”

He wrenched the man’s head up again, with every intention ofsmashing it against the road until it split – and maybe not stopping even then –except…

“Rick.”

He froze, fingers still gouging into Lee’s scalp, halfway toslamming it down again.

“Rick.”

He turned to Thomas, who was currently being fitted to aback board as one of the EMT’s pressed sterile dressing against the entry wound,despite him trying to flinch away from contact.

Thomas was barely conscious. If Rick hadn’t seen the hellthat man could go through, he would’ve been surprised. He could tell that the medicswere – though impressed was probably the wrong word for it. Thomas’s handsautomatically went to the oxygen mask, pulling stubbornly at it the second theyreplaced it, rolling his upper body as soon as they let go of him as they kepttrying to hold his hands down while they strapped him in.

Rick dropped Lee without a second thought, reaching forMagnum’s clumsily flailing hand as it reached for the mask again.

“Leave it,” he ordered, gently placing Thomas’s hand back athis side.

Magnum’s fingers gripped Rick’s sleeve, twisting in the fabric.The mask fogged slightly as he tried to speak, but whatever it was, was lost inthe chaos.

He tried not think how unnervingly familiar all of this was.

At least they weren’t being loaded into a helicopter.

Rick suddenly found himself gripping Thomas’s hand, thesudden sensation of dread that this would be the last time he’d see Thomas aliveso forceful he felt himself stumble.

Maybe that was just because the EMT’s finally lifted himfrom the ground. At least, that’s what he told himself.

A hand on his shoulder had him flinching, jerking violentlyat the slight touch.

Katsumoto held his hands back, palms out in ‘surrender’pose, and it was only then that Rick realized he’d been trying to talk to himfor the past several moments.

“Should I call your friend?” Katsumoto asked. Judging fromthe slight sigh at the end of the question, Rick guessed he must have asked itmore than once.

“Yeah. Sure. Probably.”

The detective raised an eyebrow, then glanced back at the unconsciousgunman. “Normally, the precinct would be your next stop, but –”

“I think I’m in shock. I need medical attention,” Rickrecited hollowly. That was what his uncle taught him to tell the police – or anyoneelse, for that matter – if things ever went sideways. Something close to itanyway.

Katsumoto’s lips twitched in what might’ve been a knowingsmirk, but who could tell? “I’ll take care of it.”

Rick wasn’t even sure what ‘it’ was, but he didn’t care.

Huh. Maybe it wasshock.

Or maybe just relief.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. He let the EMT’s loadThomas into the back of the waiting ambulance, his hand still gripping tightlyagainst cold fingers.

Cold fingers that held onto his just as tightly.

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noblecrumpet-dorkvision · 7 years

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Rogue Week: Rogues in the Game

image credit: Bogdan Marica

As a Player:

Ambushing: Combat with a rogue is all about the ambush, and it's up to you to set it up. Scout ahead of the party and carefully keep an eye and ear out for unwary prey by listening at doors or around corners. Scan the battlefield for potential hiding places, areas that are heavily obscured, or total cover which will give you advantage to proc your Sneak Attacks. If you are an Arcane Trickster, use your illusions to set up the ambush. You have your full damage potential (especially as the Assassin subclass) when you have a surprise round. It's essentially a second sneak attack instead of just one, which is normally enough to kill most CR 2-3 creatures at an average level. At higher CRs, this damage is essential to keep up with your allies.

Speaking of allies, fill the party in on your plans so they can act accordingly. You don't need to tell people what to do (that never feels good) but you can say "Looks like the goblins haven't noticed us yet. I can sneak over to those bushes and backstab the big guy but I'll need some cover. If one of you sticks with me, I can keep getting in some cheap shots to bring them down." It's not explicitly telling other players what to do, but it lets them know what you can do and how to make the most out of them. And trust me, you will need your allies because past the first few rounds, it's a lot more difficult to break away from combat to hide so you will need that flanking clause to give yourself Sneak Attack.

Action Economy: As a rogue, your bonus actions and reactions are pretty full. You will be using your bonus action to either hide or disengage (so you can go hide) thanks to Cunning Action. Dual-wielding is thus affected because your bonus action attack can't be made. If you have to choose, only make that extra attack when it has a Sneak Attack applied. Your reaction, while you might be tempted to use it for attacks of opportunity, I would advise against it unless it will have a Sneak Attack applied. Otherwise, if you're high enough level, you should always wait to use your Uncanny Dodge to halve the damage of an incoming attack. You are fragile and need that damage reduction for survival, and a non-sneak attack is just not worth it.

Magic Fingers: Know when to use your thieving skills. Steal that guard's keys or steal that magic amulet from the big bad or those weapons from the sleeping guards. You can even earn a bit of pocket change by pickpocketing the upper class you see in towns and cities. I would advise against stealing from other players as it often leads to you getting killed or kicked out of the party. These guys decided to keep you around and are okay with you stealing from and killing other people. To a street urchin or criminal, that's pretty much family.

Use your investigative skills to check for traps you can disable. You have pretty good DEX saves and Evasion so you will be able to dodge pretty much all traps that don't target your mind. Even poison traps will need to hit you before they impose CON saves, so you are still pretty safe as a scout.

Don't forget to use kits other than your Thieves Tools. A Forgery Kit can help you get into well-guarded places without needing an entire mini adventure. Heck, if no one notices you can set up a land grant for yourself and set up a stronghold with some good checks. A Disguise Kit can do the same thing as a Forgery Kit with the added bonus of looking like a specific person which opens up new roleplaying opportunities. A Poisoner's Kit seems handy at first, but when you take into account how long it takes to make even simple poisons it looks a lot less promising. The Poisoner's Kit is best used when harvesting poisons from monsters because it's quicker and usually stronger.

Roleplaying: Seeking out the back alleys and shady dealers is the easiest way for you to roleplay a rogue. You can usually trust another thief to give you a useful perspective on the local militia, the government, the merchants, and the daily comings and goings. Joining a thieves' guild can be not only a fun story experience but also open up a lot of avenues that might otherwise be closed to you.

When dealing with NPCs, you are essentially the same thing as a bard but primarily employ Deception rather than Persuasion. I mean, most people wouldn't trust you otherwise if they knew you were a rogue! A little advice, don't make your lies too outlandish. That will most likely get you disadvantage at best or at worst cause you more problems down the road. Smaller twists of the truth can be explained away as forgetfulness or bad intel. The city that was destroyed by a dragon is going to be harder to explain when it's found safe and sound.

As for your own character, make sure you have a motivation. Being a rogue just so you can get away with anything is just poor storytelling. What drives you? Is it greed or a lust for adventure? Why did you join the party? Maybe they can bring justice to the city where your government failed. What are you willing to kill for? Even assassins have codes of conduct or moral compasses. Answer these questions and you might have a better grasp on your character so you can more effectively play the role and make decisions.

As a DM:

Rogues Gonna Rogue: Give them opportunities to be a rogue. When filling rooms in your dungeon, add places to hide or cover for ranged combat. Put traps in your dungeon not just to wear down your players but for them to find and feel good about disabling. Use poison as loot for the rogue to use. It's like giving out healing potions except they kill people!

Rogues are best at roleplaying with other rogues. Having a thieves' guild is a simple solution, but it can always be made more robust. Flesh out that guild. How organized is it? What sort of gestures, words, or symbols make up their Thieves Cant? What sorts of illicit activities are they involved in?

Something for rogues to roleplay against are people in power and governments. Someone has to make the kingdom's laws to be broken! How do people in power antagonize rogues or the thieves guild? What activities and items are considered illegal? On the flip side, are there any people in power who need help from a rogue for assassination or thievery? The nobility are going to frequently become the targets of your party's rogue and their Deception skill checks, so make sure they are fleshed out with ambitions.

Challenging the Rogue: Rogues are good against weaker creatures caught out by their ambush (since they can get two sneak attacks in) and against larger creatures that are distracted by the tank of the group. To challenge a rogue, give them a hard-hitting enemy that's smart enough to take out the rogue once it realizes the damage output.

Other ways to force rogues out of their comfort zone include giving the enemy a good Perception check or reducing the environmental clutter for the rogue to hide in. Separating a rogue from the group or at least spreading out the party means the rogue can't just flank enemies for bonuses anymore, and must rely on stealth again.Ironically, some of the best ways to take down rogues are with the skills and tactics rogues use. High bursts of damage can make mincemeat out of their HP. Rogues have weak CON saves so poisons work wonderfully. Rogues also have low WIS saves so mind control is somewhat effective. Some rogues will opt to take Perception as a skill or even put Expertise in it, but those that don't can be punished by other stealthy creatures surprising them.

Thieving Thief: If you have a rogue that is a problem player that routinely steals from other PCs, hoards all the treasure they found. It's not ideal, but you can't NOT let that player steal from the party. But be aware that it's happening and how often and how much is taken. Other players will start to notice if they are important objects or a large quantity of gold. They might begin to suspect the person in their group who is lauded every single encounter for their ability to be a thief or assassin, especially if they are in a dungeon with no one else around to steal anything.

Many players will think about flat-out killing the offending player. After all, they've likely had a lot of metagame anger building up at this point whenever the rogue steals something from the party and they fail their Perception check. However, it's important to remind the players that the rogue has (most likely) been rather helpful in their adventures; maybe even saved someone's life. This behavior should be addressed, but ideally it should either end with the rogue giving back all or most of the stuff they stole or else with the players kicking the rogue out of the party. If the offending player has NOT been particularly helpful and has been actively working against the party and putting lives in danger, it will likely escalate beyond that.

If you don't want thievery to destroy a party composition, plant some loot that is worth stealing but won't anger the party too much. A lizardfolk's satchel of 10 sp isn't going to upset the other players out-of-game too much if it's stolen by the party rogue. It just isn't enough to warrant an argument. Furthermore, a rogue "hiding" 4,000 gp they found is difficult, physically speaking, unless they have a lot of time and a few Bags of Holding on hand. Most players will spot them shoveling gold coins into their pockets until they overflow and then not much else will fit on their person beyond that. For such a case, I would never allow a player to even attempt a skill check to hide that from other players. But to sate their greed, maybe let them pocket a handful of coins before the other players notice. Maybe they only pocket a single gem or piece of jewelry, but it was the most valuable of the bunch. The other players aren't starved of gold but the thief can still feel as if they are acting in-character for a thief.

#Rogue Week #thief #assassin #trickster #D&D 5e #Dungeons and Dragons #rogue #sneak attack #thieves guild #surprise round #D&D #DnD #DnD 5e #roleplaying #RPG #tabletop gaming

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saxophonekory · 7 years

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Unpopular Pro-Trans Opinions:

Hey there, Kory here; and to celebrate having reached 130 followers, I have a milestone special that's going to cost me a lot of followers! Yay! So, I've been meaning to make this post, for a while, because as a supporter of trans-rights, I see a lot of ideas thrown around that group of activists that make me kinda understand why people think the whole concept is so crazy; but I was torn over how it may be alienating to my followers. But now that I have a big enough following where losing followers shouldn't be that big a deal, let's get into the list! #1. Minors Should Not Be Allowed To Transition - Sure, many would compare this to minors getting tattoos, but minors transitioning is a completely different ballpark. Tattoos are cheap, and so is removal, when you compare it to most sugeries. Transitioning, on the other hand, is mind-numbingly expensive; and when you transition, the odds that you could afford to reverse it are slim. Plus, even if you could, with medicine's current abilities, it could leave the transitionee with unsatisfactory results. You may roll your eyes at me for saying this, but people transitioning and feeling unhappy with their choice not only can actually happen, but has actually happened; and in many cases, people have killed themselves over it. Transitioning is a tough decision, and is one that you need to think over, a lot; and hence, I don't feel minors have feasible responsibility to make such a tough decision. #2. There Are Only Two Genders - I know, you're probably getting annoyed with hearing this one, but hear me out. I believe trans identities are valid, because studies have shown up demonstrating such. If you don't understand what I mean, humans a sexually dimorphic species. Sexual dimorphism is a trait of certain species that causes biological charecteristics to differ between the two sexes; for humans, at least, dimorphism exists in both how the body and the brain are built; and the brain is the particular focus of the point I'm framing. This difference is hence, accompanied by a noticable difference in behavioral tendencies exhibited, between the two sexes. The importance of this fact to my point is that there are recorded instances in which people have shown signs of brain development patterns extremely similar to the opposite sex. For nonbinary people, no evidence has surfaced to show that such is also the case fo them. In fact, whether/not that's even possible is strongly debatable. Sorry, but at the end of the day, the concept of nonbinary genders seem less valid, and more just like an arbitrary response to seeing trans people be validated. #3. Transitioning Should Not Be Free - (This one is more centered in the United States, but there are other countries where this priciple applies) It pains me to say this, but the United States can't afford free healthcare; with our current debts, the brink of war, and the already ongoing wars, our economy may not be able to survive making healthcare free. And as long as such is the case, I believe it's only fair that you have to pay for your transition. Like the rest of our economy, medicinal practice also has a line between needs and wants; and as is, there's procedures that are far more important that are twice, five times, or ten times, if not twenty times as expensive. Keep in mind, kidney transplants cost over $200,000.00 dollars, heart transplants cost over $700,000.00, and if you're unlucky enough to need an intestinal transplant, you could be paying more than a wopping $1,000,000.00 just to save your life. If you can acknowledge that fact, and yet still tell yourself reassignment surgery is a special exception, you're less of an activist, and more of a selfish prick. #4. Transtrenders Do Exist; It's Not Just A Dickish Slur - Do not take this the wrong way, I'm not saying all trans people are just being trendy; hell, I'm not even saying most are. However, there are people out there who do fake being trans to fit in, especially in areas where the idea of trans pride is a more popular movement. There do exist people out there who unwittingly do it too; essentially, being given the wrong idea about the concept, and treating it like it's some sort of fashion material. #5. It Is Safe To Assume - As a gay man, I face similar experiences with assumptions; and even having those experiences, I can still safely say assuming is not such a fucking crime. Such is the case, because statistics show that the majority are straight, and that cis are also the majority; people generally make those assumptions, because the odds of their assumption being wrong are little to nothing. In my experince, politely correcting them usually works; and if that doesn't work, I dunno what to tell you, except they're just dicks. #6. Gender Is Not Just A "Social Construct" - The concept of gender is the observation of the biological and neurological difference between the sexes. That's not a social construct, it's a scientific fact. Plus, even if it were just a "social construct", why would the transgender concept even be a thing, in the first place? #7. Older People Have An Excuse To Misunderstand - Transgender rights are only only very recently being validated; and just a few decades ago, not too many people even considered the concept. Not to mention, the elderly were brought up in a time when even racism was socially-acceptable; so, you can't really blame them for misunderstanding this concept. If a baby boomer doesn't understand the concept, you should be especially patient with them. #8. Children Should Be Raised Cis, Until They Suggest Otherwise - Children, especially ones of very early childhood will most likely not properly understand the concept; and raising them cis, until they begin to understand the concept of trans identities will allow them to consider it with much less confusion. For you to simply force trans identities will only distort their understanding of it. #9. Just Being Trans Is Not An Accomplishment - I'm looking at you, Caitlyn Jenner! As a gay guy, I can relate to this situation. When people find out I'm gay, their typical response is to congradulate me; and if their was anything to make me roll my eyes any harder, I would probably pull a muscle. Seriously, I like dick, it's not like I cured prostate cancer; and like being gay, being trans is just a birth circumstance; it has no indication over how you are as a person. Possessing such traits does not make you any superior or inferior to others. #10. Getting Treaten Like Shit Does Not Justify Demonizing Cis People - Even as a cis person, I am still gladfully supportive of trans-rights. Yes the people who antagonized you were cis, but to throw them all under the bus paints them all as transphobic, which is simply not the case; this is the same logic used to justify most modern hate groups' ideologies and actions. #11. Simply Being Unattracted To Trans People Is Not Transphobia - Y'know, it's funny too, because I've seen most of our movement complain about "fetishization". Being unattracted to you is not a personal judgement of you; people are not obligated to find you attractive. As a gay man, I obviously am a pretty big fan of the dick, and I'm personally disgusted by the vagina; and I would personally prefer a relationship that is both romantic and sexual. Having said that, I would not date a pre-op trans boy; and for post-op, that depends on how well the trans penis resembles a regular penis (I personally see a visual perfection to the structure of the penis that can be very easilly ruined.). For a pre-op trans woman, it depends on whether/not they plan to become post-op; and for post-op, no. I don't have any personal issues with trans people; it's just, for sexual partners, if you don't have a dick, you're not gonna stick. I think people who call it transphobia are basically on level with people who act like little bitches, because they got "friendzoned". Keep in mind, these people don't choose to find you unattractive; I think the gay rights movement has made that fact explicit enough, the past fifty years. #12. If You're Developing A Sexual Relationship With Someone, Your Gender Identity Is Their Business - If you are in a sexual relationship with someone, and you are knowingly hiding a trait of your body that you know for a fact would automatically make your partner uncomfortable, that is an act of rape; birth-gender is not an exception. These people do not choose to be uncomfortable with that, and they have every right to sexually disconsent that you do. If you don't let your sexual partner know this, and proceed to sexually interact with them, I'm sorry, but what you are doing is wrong, and you should be ashamed of yourself. They have every right you have to diconsent to sex, it's not all about you, their consent matters just as much as yours.

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