#some human criminal: ''I don't know about you 'Master Jedi' but some of us just have urges that we can't fight!'' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

slightlysuspect · 1 year

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Aftermath

Ahsoka descends into the Coruscant underworld after the altercation with her old Master

Ahsoka Tano

"Another." The bartender wordlessly slides me another drink. I reach out and grab it with my right hand. My robot hand. It still feels so foreign to me. I've spent the last few weeks floating through the 1300's on Coruscant, almost stuck in a daze. In an instant, the world changed. I find out my master is a mass murderer, and then he cuts off my arm, right to where his was, to make me like him. I didn't get any synthskin either, because the place I went to didn't have my skin color. Every time I look at it, I think of him. It's all proving to be a little much, fortunately someone invented starshine surprise. My species isn't particularly susceptible to the effects of alcohol, but this stuff really does the trick. Most humans can't even drink it, and if they can they need help.

"Hey look, I ain't tryna upset you again, but for the last two weeks, you ain't ever actually said how you was gonna pay for all these."

Here this guy goes, asking a whole bunch of questions again.

"Do we have a problem?" I ask him.

"No ma'am not at all." The bartender says. "Just askin' if maybe you lookin' for work?" Hmmm...maybe I could use something to do.

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Well there's this guy, owes me a lotta money. You take care of him and your bar tabs covered babe." Every time this guy talks it makes me roll my eyes.

"Fine. Where can I find him."

He tosses me a tracking fob. "There's a bar I hear he be hiding out at. It's called Moshi on the-"

"I know the place." I throw back the last of my drink, and head to my destination.

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I've been to Moshi Bar once before. Master Plo Koon and I were looking for Boba Fett and Aurra Sing and found ourselves here searching for leads. Perspective is a funny thing. The first time I was here, I thought I was above all the lost souls scurrying through the under levels of Coruscant. Now I realize the glamour and safety at the top level and the Jedi temple are all just a grand illusion. The worst criminals sit in their high rises above the rest of us, and exploit anyone they can to ensure they remain on top.

As I enter the bar I do a quick screening of the crowd. No one seems particularly suspicious, and my fob doesn't seem to think the guy I'm looking for is here. Guess I have some interrogating to do.

"Barkeep!" I say. "I need something strong." He makes a gruff of acknowledgment and starts mixing something up. "Say you wouldn't know anyone who's got issues with a guy who runs Knox on 1306 would you?"

"Vague question." The bartender says. "And not my business to say. No questions, just drink." He passes me the drink he made. I guess I can respect client-bartender confidentiality. I wouldn't say I'm in a hurry or anything, plus this guy makes good drinks. Theoretically if I sit here long enough, my fob will go off...

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I wake up to find myself drooling on the bar. Ahhh... my head is splitting. What time is it? How long have I been here? Ow, my head. I need a drink. I signal the bartender and he has me a drink in an instant. This guy is reliable. Way better than that loudmouth at Knox. Maybe it's time to take a more proactive approach to finding the guy I'm looking for. I throw back the drink to cure my hangover, and as I stand up I get an intense wave of nausea. I stumble outside and vomit in a nearby alleyway, then I hit the streets in search of my guy. I don't know much about how these fobs work, other than they go off when you've got your guy. Even now though this thing knows where he is, I just don't know how to read the direction. If I could just get close enough to the guy so it starts beeping...I'm still unsure what time it is. Natural light doesn't make it to the undercity, so it always looks dark and fluorescently lit.

I should've asked for more details before I went on this wild goose chase. At this rate I'm never gonna find this guy, although it's hard to say how hard I've really been looking. I could really use a nap right now. There's an inviting looking bench on the side of the street where I could rest my eyes for second...

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I awake to the sound of my fob beeping, and try to orient myself quickly. I'm laying on a bench, and there's only one group of people walking down the street. Bingo. "Hey!" I yell as I run them down. "Any of you guys familiar with Knox on 1306?"

"Yea we been there a couple times." One of them says. "What's it to ya?"

"Owner says one of you owes him a lot of money." I say. The group of guys chuckle at this.

"And you're gonna get this money I owe all by yourself are ya?"

"Don't make this complicated." I retaliate.

"Don't worry we'll keep this real simple tailhead."

"I'm a Togruta!" I spout angrily.

"What's the difference? Look you're gonna walk off and get on with your bus-" I wrap my mechanical hand around his throat.

"You know, you do a lot of talking." I say. As he starts choking, his friends don't make any attempt to stop me. "How about I lay out the terms, 'kay? You and your friends are going to give me all your money and hope that it's enough to cover your tab."

The man I'm strangling gasps out, "Please this is a misunderstanding. We don't owe him any money." I snap his neck.

"Wrong answer." I drop him and turn to his friends. "You have inherited his debt." I put out my hand and await payment. Instead they decide to draw their blasters. Sigh. Now I have to resort to violence. I draw a lightsaber and cut them all down.

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"Your money." I hand the barkeeper at Knox all the money the guys had on them.

"Wow he had all this on him?" He asks. "Makes you wonder why he wouldn't just pay me."

"It's a mystery." I say. I hand him back his fob, and he does a quick inspection of it.

"Wow you didn't even have to off him? You got a true knack for negotiation."

"Wait, what d'you mean?"

"Well usually scores this big involve corpses. It's tricky to convince alive people to separate from such large sums of credits."

"The fob says your guy is still alive?" He gets a big smirk from this question.

"Obviously." He says. "Why ya ask?"

Author's Note

This is where the fun begins. I think this story marks the beginning of a revelation in my writing. Unique and good aren't necessarily synonymous, but I think something is happening here that feels magical to me. I of course am biased as the creator, but I bet Tyler would like it too.

#star wars #fanfic #alternate universe #ahsoka tano

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#34: Remy "Gambit" LeBeau [Marvel]

Somebody ordered Cajun? No? W-well... I... um... I'll take it...

Thinking about it, Gambit from the 90s X-Men cartoon (and X-Men: Evolution) might've been my bisexual awakening... and the reason my room usually had playing cards scattered everywhere. Nonetheless, he's a fun character, taking the classic Rogue (Hah!) and giving him just the right amount of flavour! Allons!

Next Time: You don't want a fist bump from this fierce Enforcer!

Let's see what we need for the Ragin' Cajun to win this particular game:

Pick a Card: Gambit's signature ability, kinetically charged playing cards. We need to be able to use any small thrown objects as improvised weapons and deadly projectiles.

Sticky Fingers, Quiet Steps: Before joining the X-Men, Remy was a master thief and an accomplished acrobat. All that, plus his staff fighting abilities, speaks Dexterity-based character to me.

Minor Mind Magic: Gambit can use his molecular manipulation to achieve some minor psychic feats, such as shield against telepathy or Jedi Mind Trick people.

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There's no doubt about Gambit's race; in D&D world, mutants would be Variant Human. We get a +1 bonus to two abilities of our choice (Dexterity and Charisma), we know Common and one additional language, we get a proficiency in one skill of our choice (Insight), and we get to pick a feat. The Quick-Fingered feat increases our Dexterity by 1, gives us proficiency in the Sleight of Hand skill, and lets us to use our Sleight of Hand check as a bonus action to do some small pickpocketing or plant an object on someone.

For Gambit's background, I had considered Criminal at first, but then decided to go for a modifier House Agent from the Eberron setting; making Remy the agent of the Guild of Thieves gives us proficiency in Investigation and Persuasion, two proficiencies associated with our House of choice (disguise kit and thieves' tools), and the House Connections feature. As a member of our chosen House, we can request food, supplies, and shelter for us and our allies whenever we visit a location associated with the House. We may also try and meet with some old acquaintances and ask for help with things.

ABILITY SCORES

Dexterity is undoubtedly first; we're nimble, we use mostly ranged attacks, and we need to be stealthy. Constitution will be next, being light on our feet means we must be able to take a hit without the help of a big hunk of metal on our back. Follow that up with Charisma, because honestly, Remy is pretty good with that sweet-talk.

We'll go for Wisdom next; Gambit is street-smart and prefers practice over academic theory. Strength is on the lower end, although we will find a way to enhance it later. Finally, we're dumping Intelligence; he's not stupid, but he doesn't display a lot of theoretical knowledge (and we need other abilities more).

CLASS

Level 1 - Fighter: We'll start by giving ourselves some solid combat base. Fighters get d10 as their Hit Dice, [10 + Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiency with light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Gambit appears to wear some sort of protection under his coat, so I'd say pick studded leather armour for that. In terms of weapons, definitely grab a quarterstaff and a steady supply of darts/throwing knives. Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Acrobatics and Perception).

Fighters begin by choosing their Fighting Style. For Gambit, the master of throwing stuff around, we're gonna pick the Thrown Weapon Fighting from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. This allows us to draw a thrown weapon as a part of the attack we make; personally, I would allow the player to pick a thrown weapon from the environment (like a coins from the table, something from the floor, etc). Additionally, when we hit a target with a ranged thrown weapon attack, we get a +2 bonus to the damage roll.

Finally, thanks to Second Wind, we can use a bonus action to heal [1d10 + our Fighter level] Hit Points once per short or long rest.

Level 2 - Fighter: Thanks to Action Surge, we can now take one extra Action on our turn once per short or long rest.

Level 3 - Rogue: Time to go for the main dish. Multiclassing into Rogue gives us proficiency with light armour and thieves' tools (which we already have, I would ask the DM if we can switch those for another type of artisan's tools), and we get to pick one class skill from the list; let's get Stealth.

Rogues start with several fantastic roleplay options, like Thieves' Cant (thieves can't what?), a system of phrases and symbols which can be used to encrypt a message or to identify a fellow Rogue in a busy tavern. Just come up to somebody and ask if when they go veiller and get too much to drink, they get honte, c'est non? Pauvre ti bête. We also get Expertise, which lets us double the proficiency bonus of two skills we're proficient with (or one skill and our thieves' tools). For this one, let's get Acrobatics and Sleight of Hand.

Finally, we get Sneak Attack. This feature lets us add extra damage whenever we get an advantage or our enemy is 5 feet within another enemy of theirs. We start with 1d6 extra damage, which increases as we level up.

Level 4 - Rogue: Thanks to Cunning Action, we can now use bonus action on each of our turns. It can be used to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide actions as bonus actions.

Level 5 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 2d6.

We also get to pick our subclass, our Roguish Archetype. Now, you would be inclined to pick the Thief or Scout archetype, but we need to give Gambit his kinetic tricks. We're once again taking a page from Tasha's and going for the Soulknife archetype. These Rogues use Psionic Powers to fuel their abilities. We get a pool of [our proficiency bonus x2] d6 Psionic Energy Dice, which we recover at the end of a short or long rest. We start with two psychic abilities:

Psi-Bolstered Knack allows us to spend one Psionic Die and add the result to a failed ability check for a skill we're proficient with.

Psychic Whispers gives us minor telepathic ability. We can select a number of creatures equal to our proficiency bonus and communicate with them via mind link for a number of hours equal to the roll of our Psionic Die.

Finally, we get the Psychic Blades ability. As an attack, we can create a blade-like construct (which is a melee weapon with the Finesse and 60 feet range Thrown properties) and attack with it instead of our regular weapon. On a successful hit, the blade deals [1d6 + the ability modifier used for the attack] psychic damage. After making an attack with the Blade, we can use our bonus action to immediately make a second attack which deals 1d4 instead of 1d6 damage. For this build, I would ask the DM to change the damage type from psychic to force; I don't think it'd make a big difference but would absolutely add the much needed flavour. Additionally, ask the DM if your Blades can be constructed around tiny objects that normally wouldn't do damage (such as pebbles or cards) for some extra spice.

Level 6 - Rogue: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement! Let's put one point into our Dexterity and one into Constitution.

Level 7 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 3d6. Also, our Psionic Dice are now d8.

Thanks to Uncanny Dodge, we can now reduce damage from all attacks we can see by half.

Level 8 - Rogue: We get another shot at Expertise. Once again, we can double the proficiency bonus for two skills we're proficient with, or for one skill and thieves' tools. We're gonna pick the former, upgrading Stealth and Persuasion.

Level 9 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 4d6.

We get Evasion, which is one of the best features in the game. Whenever we have to make a Dexterity saving throw that would result in us receiving half of the damage on a success, we instead receive no damage (and half damage if we fail).

Level 10 - Rogue: Halfway through the build, and we're getting the second ASI. Let's put one point into Dexterity, again, and one into Constitution to increase Hit Points.

Level 11 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 5d6.

We get our first subclass upgrade: Soul Blades. We get two more abilities to use with our Psionic Dice:

Homing Strikes let us spend 1 Psionic Die when our Psychic Blade attack misses and add the result to out attack roll. Think of it as Yondu's arrow from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Psychic Teleportation lets us use a bonus action to create a Psychic Blade and roll 1 Psionic Die. We can then throw the Blade at an unoccupied space up to [the PD result x10] feet. We then teleport to that space. The best comparison would be the Fourth Hokage from Naruto.

Level 12 - Rogue: Time for another ASI. This time, however, we're gonna pick a feat to further exploit Rogues as the resident skill monkeys of the game. The Skill Expert feat gives us a +1 to one ability of our choice (for us it's gotta be Dexterity for that nice 20), proficiency in one skill of our choice (Deception), and the benefits of Expertise for one skill we're proficient in (Insight).

Level 13 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 6d6. Also, our Psionic Dice are now d10.

We get another great feat, Reliable Talent. Whenever we make an ability check using a skill that we're proficient in, we can treat every d20 roll of 9 and lower as 10. This effectively eliminates Natural 1s for eight skills.

Level 14 - Rogue: We get another ASI. Let's put two points into our Charisma for that Southern charm.

Level 15 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 7d6.

We get our second subclass upgrade. With Psychic Veil we can use our psychic energy to mask ourselves. As an action, we can become invisible for 1 hour or until we dismiss it, attack a creature, or force a creature to make a saving throw. We can use this feature once per long rest, or spend a Psionic Die to activate it again.

Level 16 - Rogue: Again, Rogues get the best features. Blindsense gives us the ability to sense all activity within 10 feet of us, including sensing invisible and hidden enemies, as long as we can hear. This effectively prevents surprise attacks against us.

Level 17 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 8d6.

We also get a small but useful feature, Slippery Mind; it gives us proficiency in Wisdom saving throws, which are by far the most common ones in 5th edition.

Level 18 - Rogue: For the final ASI of the build, we're gonna increase our Intelligence by two points to get rid of the negative modifier.

Level 19 - Rogue: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 9d6.

We gain the final subclass upgrade: Rend Mind. When we use our Psychic Blade to deal the Sneak Attack damage, we can force a Wisdom saving throw upon the target with the DC [8 + our Dexterity modifier + our proficiency bonus] to stun the target for 1 minute. We can do this once per long rest or spend 1 Psionic Die to do it again.

Level 20 - Rogue: Our capstone is Rogue 18, which gives us the Elusive feat. Once again, another good one; if we're not incapacitated, attacks made against us cannot benefit from an advantage.

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And that's Monsieur LeBeau. Let's see if we got a good hand:

To start off, we're a pretty stealthy skill monkey. We're proficient in eight skills and an expert in five of those, plus three saving throws. Along with Elusive, Evasion, Reliable Talent, and Uncanny Dodge, which means that if we cannot avoid something, we must've offended the RNGesus somehow. We're also a consistent damage-dealer: the absolute minimum damage we can dish out is 8 (17 with Sneak Attack), and the maximum for a single Psychic Blade is 13 (67 with Sneak Attack).

Our AC is 17, we've a +5 bonus to our Initiative, and the average of 152 Hit Points.

Although proficient in a saving throw, our Wisdom game is still a bit low for the endgame play. We also have a resource to manage (Psionic Dice).

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That is all I could think of for Gambit. Let me know what you think, and I'll see you for the next one, mes chères <3

- Nerdy out!

#marvel #x-men #gambit #remy lebeau #dungeons and dragons #dnd #character building #d&d 5e #fighter #rogue #soulknife

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