Ku-Kak Respect Thread

[Darth Durin's Baneling]

Ku-Kak is a Wampa Dark Jedi armed with an enormous Sith Sword. He is somehow a scarier opponent than that sounds. Respect him!

Background - Wampas

G-Canon

3 ABY

A Wampa easily kills a Tauntaun and knocks Luke Skywalker out with a single strike, badly injuring his face.

A Snowtrooper runs into a room with a Wampa inside, and is pulled in and killed. The other Snowtroopers and Darth Vader give him up for dead.

C-Canon

General

Wampas are ferociously strong and cunning predators, the most dangerous on Hoth.

S-Canon

General

Wampas have very high Strength (22) and Constitution (20) stats, and Intelligence (10) and Wisdom (10) stats that are average for sentient species.

General - Ku-Kak

C-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak is Phylus Mon’s personal bodyguard. His arrival in the battle signals a shift in the battle’s dynamic from “manageable, but difficult” for the Living Force Campaign heroes to becoming “the fight of their lives”.

Mon offers the heroes a single opportunity to turn around and leave. He doesn’t expect them to comply, and the question itself is a signal to his lieutenants to initiate combat mode. For a round, things look like they might be manageable, if difficult. Then Mon’s personal bodyguard arrives – an enormous, angry Wampa with a black sword. The heroes are in for the fight of their lives, as Mon’s small army of Mantessan Panthacs, Coruscani Ogres, the Wampa, and his Chev Force-users attack.

(At this point, the heroes are the strongest people at the Almas Jedi Academy except for Lanius Qel-Bertuk and Devan For’deschel.)

Master Lanius has already sent out Jedi patrols to various locations, and hopes the heroes choose to go with Malksch. It was only a few minutes ago that Malksch made his discovery, and the heroes are the most capable individuals (aside from Lanius himself, and Devan) currently inside the academy. He can provide whatever resources they need (within legal limits), including a ship to get them there, if needed.

S-Canon

~20 BBY

The encounter with Phylus Mon, Ku-Kak, and Phylus’s other forces isn’t supposed to be winnable through brute force alone. The heroes’ victory depends on “good judgment and wise use of resources”, and they don’t necessarily have to defeat any of their enemies directly to succeed (Phylus and Ku-Kak are the two opponents specifically called out for this part).

Success against Phylus Mon depends on good judgment and wise use of resources – and the ability to know when it’s time to run. The heroes have to destroy the vessel that holds the Force essences of the captured individuals. No one ever said they had to kill Phylus Mon, his bodyguard, or any part of the small army that travels with him. Resourceful heroes may have even devised a way to keep from having to do that dirty work at all – since one of the other things high-level heroes have is contacts. No one but the heroes, though, can do the one thing that most needs to be done. The heroes must free the trapped essences, if they are to be successful. How they get there is up to them, to you, and to the story as it unfolds.

The fight is not written to kill the heroes – but it very easily could, if they aren’t smart. The Panthacs are vicious, the Coruscani Ogres are big and mean, and the Wampa – well, the Wampa is a beast. Then there’s Mon himself, his lieutenants – well, you get the picture.

Ku-Kak is a Level 16 character - Level 3 Predator, Level 3 Soldier, and Level 10 Dark Side Marauder.

The level cap in the system is 20 (that'd be people like Darth Sidious, Yoda). Level 16 would put Ku-Kak with people like Darth Bane, Odan-Urr, Ulic Qel-Droma, and Yarael Poof, and above several of the campaign's top characters such as Ki-Adi-Mundi (Level 12), Lanius Qel-Bertuk (Level 14), and Garth Ezzar (Level 14).

The absurdity of the way Ku-Kak’s stats stack up is acknowledged and confirmed as intentional. Even without taking Rage into account, Ku-Kak stands to have a +30 attack bonus for his first strike with the Sith Sword, +25 for his second in that same round, +20 for third, and +15 for the fourth. (For reference, Marka Ragnos’s base starting attack bonus with the Sith Sword is +20, Naga Sadow’s +14, and Ludo Kressh’s +13, also going down by 5 for each sequential strike.)

Each of Ku-Kak’s landed strikes stand do 6d6+15 – 36 damage on average, ignoring critical rolls (which would bring the number up). Assuming all four strikes land (high probability, with those attack modifiers in mind), this averages 144 points of damage per round. Despite the updated rules that make it harder to fully kill a player character, Ku-Kak killing one of the heroes in a single hit is extremely plausible.

Ku-Kak is designed to not only be “far and away” the scariest melee opponent of the encounter, but in the entire Living Force campaign up to that point.

Assuming Ku-Kak obtains a standard result on his Battlemind (+4 Force bonus to attacks) and Enhance Ability (+6 Force bonus to both Strength and Dexterity) checks, and assuming he spends a Force point to give him bonus dice in damage for the next 20 rounds, his attack sequence is as follows: +30/+25/+20/+15 (6d6+15/18-20, Sith sword wielded two-handed). This is assuming he doesn’t choose to Rage, of course. Even with the revised edition rules for death and dying, this makes Ku-Kak a legitimate threat for a one-hit kill. If he hits all four times in one round, bear in mind that his average damage will be 144 points, and that’s not including any potential criticals. He is, far and away, the scariest melee opponent in this encounter (and probably in all LIVING FORCE events to date).

Ku-Kak’s appearance is supposed to be considered optional (this is emphasized). Ku-Kak is fully expected to “shred” at least some of those present, and so should only be included in the battle if at least some of the heroes are inhabiting borrowed bodies, and have no risk of dying personally. Otherwise, Ku-Kak shouldn’t be “anywhere near” the final encounter – presumably, because it would result in the permanent death of at least one hero. Ku-Kak is the only enemy for whom this exception is made.

KU-KAK SHOULD BE CONSIDERED OPTIONAL. If your group did not elect to borrow bodies for the second round of this adventure, Ku-Kak shouldn’t be anywhere near this final encounter. If they did, I hope that you will go after the heroes in borrowed bodies first – or better yet, go after Malksch first. He’s in a borrowed body, and it’s probably not a body the heroes will cry about seeing shredded.

The “trick” to defeating Ku-Kak is to try to break his Sith Sword, but even without a weapon, Ku-Kak is a monstrous opponent.

Smart heroes will attempt to sunder the Sith sword. Even then, he’s still a scary beast.

(At this point the heroes are each supposed to be at least Level 9. There is no Level cap for this mission).

“Slavery”. If there’s a less pleasant word, it’s probably “Sith”. Fortunately, there are no slavers in Cularin, and the Sith fortress is dormant. No slavers, dormant fortress… that’s correct – isn’t it? An adventure for LIVING FORCE heroes levels 9+, with no retirement cap.

Combat Skill

C-Canon

~20 BBY

According to rumor, Ku-Kak is well-trained, and even more brutal and dangerous than Phylus Mon himself.

To get to him, though, requires going through whatever creatures and assistants he has with him. These are usually enough to stop any would-be assassins, and Phylus enjoys watching the combats. He favors a combination of fast attackers, powerful defenders, and Force-users, and the “zoo” with which he travels (this is what he calls his slave pens) allows him access to an impressive army of creatures. It is rumored that he has a highly-trained Wampa in his employ, a creature that is even more brutal and dangerous than Mon himself.

Ku-Kak “knows very well” how to use his Sith Sword.

Ku-Kak knows very well how to use his Sith sword. It’s a “trinket” Mon picked up some time ago, and which he gave to Ku-Kak when he made the Wampa his personal bodyguard.

Ku-Kak has been trained to fight Jedi. He gifted the lightsaber of Jedi Knight Ish-Bel Tur to Mischa Vorfren, and has several trophies like it, suggesting that he killed Tur, and several other Jedi besides.

Ish-Bel Tur’s lightsaber: This green-bladed lightsaber is clearly marked with Jedi Knight Ish-Bel Tur’s emblem. Ish-Bel Tur was a Knight at the Almas Academy who was apparently killed when the ship he was on, escorting Gerta Haman to a meeting on Coruscant with Senator Wren, was destroyed. That his lightsaber made its way into Mischa Vorfren’s hands casts some doubt on Thaere’s “official” version of the story of the death of the Jedi Knight, the resistance leader, and a number of its own soldiers.

He has been trained to put a big hating on any Jedi he sees. He identifies Jedi because they (a) have lightsabers and (b) are not Mischa, whom he considers an ally. Besides, Mischa only has a lightsaber because Ku-Kak gave him one of his trophies.

S-Canon

~20 BBY

The Wampa uses Battlemind to enhance his combat skills before engaging in battle. He waits for a lightsaber-wielding opponent to appear before striking, suggesting a specialization against Jedi opponents.

The Wampa enhances its Dexterity, then activates its Battlemind. It is waiting for someone with a lightsaber (other than Vorfren) to come into view.

The Wampa, as soon as someone passes its location, moves out and attacks. It prefers to attack and kill Jedi, so anything other than Vorfren with an ignited lightsaber is target one. Its hatred of Jedi is so complete that it spends a Force point the first round to power up its Sith sword.

Ku-Kak has a Defense score (how difficult it is to land a hit on him) of 28. (For reference, this is equal to Yoda’s best Defense score in the D20 system, from the Revised Core Rulebook, despite Yoda being 0.66m tall to the average Wampa’s 2.5m and Defense taking size into account). That score is brought up to 29 with the Chevs’ Force Mind boost.

He has a Sith Sword base attack bonus of +23 (For reference, Marka Ragnos’s is +20, Naga Sadow’s is +14, and Ludo Kressh’s is +13. Palpatine’s highest lightsaber attack bonus, from Villains of Revenge of the Sith, gives him +22, and Yoda’s highest, from Heroes of Revenge of the Sith, gives him +21.)

His initiative modifier is +6.

He has +15 Battlemind.

Through using Battlemind, Ku-Kak can gain a bonus to his attacks for each attack for ten rounds (one minute). This can either be rolled for with a d20, or a 10 can be taken as the roll.

If rolled for: there’s a 45% chance of it being a +3 bonus, a 50% chance of it being a +4 bonus, and a 5% chance of it being a +5 bonus. This comes at the cost of 2 Vitality Points per bonus achieved.

If 10 is taken: it’s a +4 bonus.

Physical Ability

C-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak is described as especially large even for a Wampa, suggesting even greater reach and strength.

Survival DC | Information Gained

0-25 | Look, it’s sand!

26-30 | Tracks around the obsidian archway indicate that thirteen individuals went in – six came out.

31-39 | Three individuals whose movement and positioning indicate they were defending the entrance were among the thirteen who went in – they went in after the other ten.

40+ | The tracks coming back out are deeper than those going in, in some cases. One of the sets of tracks almost definitely belongs to a wampa. A BIG wampa. None of the tracks coming out match the tracks of the defenders who entered the fortress.

Then Mon’s personal bodyguard arrives – an enormous, angry Wampa with a black sword. The heroes are in for the fight of their lives, as Mon’s small army of Mantessan Panthacs, Coruscani Ogres, the Wampa, and his Chev Force-users attack.

S-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak only receives a Constitution amp from the Chevs’ Force Mind, as he can give more significant amps to his Strength and Dexterity stats.

Mon has no intention of letting the heroes go. He also doesn’t intend to have any further dialogue with them. Those words were a signal to the three Chev Force Adepts seated as his feet to use their Force Mind ability to augment all of the allies currently visible to them (this includes Mon, his lieutenants, the other Chevs, the Panthacs, the Ogres, and the Wampa (who is not visible to the heroes, since he is behind one of the two walls shown on the map, but is visible to the Chev; he only receives the benefits of the Constitution enhancement, since he can do his own Strength and Dexterity and get a better result))

Ku-Kak uses Enhance Ability to enhance his Strength and then his Dexterity as he waits.

Tactics, Round 1

[...]

The Wampa enhances its Strength and waits.

[...]

Tactics, Round 2

[...]

The Wampa enhances its Dexterity, then activates its Battlemind. It is waiting for someone with a lightsaber (other than Vorfren) to come into view.

Ku-Kak has 250 Vitality Points and 26 Wound Points (28 after the Chevs’ boost), a +21 Fortitude modifier (+22 post-boost), and a +13 Reflex modifier (+14 post-boost).

Ku-Kak has a Strength of 24, a Dexterity of 14, and a Constitution of 26. (For reference, General Grievous has a Strength of 22, a Hssiss 22, Chewbacca 20, and Darth Vader 16).

Ku-Kak has a 2 meter reach with each arm.

Ku-Kak has +15 to Enhance Ability, the Burst of Speed feat, and the Rage feat.

Through Enhance Ability, Ku-Kak stands to gain a bonus to his Strength or Dexterity for 10 rounds (one minute) at the cost of 3 Vitality Points. This can be rolled for with a d20, or a 10 can be taken, or a 20 can be taken.

If rolled for: 20% for +2 bonus, 25% for +4 bonus, 25% for +6 bonus, and 30% for +8 bonus.

If a 10 is taken: it’s a +6 bonus.

If a 20 is taken: it’s a +8 bonus and it lasts for 2 minutes, but it costs 60 Vitality Points.

Through Rage, Ku-Kak stands to gain a temporary +4 Strength, +2 vitality points per level (so 32 additional vitality points for Ku-Kak), and a +2 bonus to both Fortitude and Will for 13 rounds (a minute and 18 seconds), at the temporary cost of 2 defense and use of patience-based skills, feats, and special abilities for the same duration and the loss of 13d4 vitality points after the rage has expired.

Through Burst of Speed, Ku-Kak stands to move 10x his normal speed (so 100m in 6 seconds) for a turn’s only action and a cost of 5 Vitality Points.

Force Power

C-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak was chosen by Phylus Mon as his bodyguard because of his ability to use the Force.

Note that Ku-Kak, having been found on an icy world far, far away from here, was chosen by Phylus Mon because of his potential to wield the Force.

S-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak has 9 Force Points and 12 Dark Side Force Points. He has the Alter, Control, Sense, and Attuned feats.

Fear

S-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak has a +17 modifier to the Fear skill.

Through the Fear skill, Ku-Kak stands to deal a penalty to his target’s skill checks and attack rolls for the duration of combat (noncumulative with other uses of Fear) and gain a Dark Side point at the cost of 2 Vitality Points. This can be rolled for, or a 10 can be taken.

If rolled for: 10% chance of a -4 penalty for Ku-Kak’s target, 25% chance of -6, 25% chance of -8, and 40% chance of -10.

If 10 is taken: it’s a -8.

Telepathic Resistance

S-Canon

~20 BBY

The only language Ku-Kak knows is Chevin, so he is immune to language-based telepathic suggestion in any other language.

The Wampa does not understand any language other than Chevin. This is by design – Mon didn’t want him to be subject to Affect Mind suggestions in Basic or the other more common tongues. So, unless the heroes know Chevin (or unless they free the Chev and ask the Chev to command the Wampa), the Wampa isn’t going to be affected by Affect Mind suggestions – since it can’t understand them!

Ku-Kak’s training has only taken place in Chevin; he doesn’t understand any other language, and is thus not subject to Affect Mind commands unless they are spoken in Chevin.

Tutaminis

S-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak has the Dissipate Energy feat.

Ku-Kak is partial to the use of his Dissipate Energy feat. This is made easier by his high Constitution score.

Note that the change in Constitution score does not retroactively affect vitality points, but it does change Fortitude saves and wound points (and since Mon loves his Dissipate Energy, as does the Wampa, this makes a difference for them).

Through Dissipate Energy, Ku-Kak stands a chance at nullifying damage caused by energy-based attacks and instead converting it into Vitality Points for himself.

This costs nothing from him, but is dependent on his Fortitude save (d20 + 21) exceeding the amount of damage inflicted + 10. The exchange of damage prevented to Vitality Points gained on a success is 2:1.

Intelligence/Wisdom/Knowledge

S-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak can speak Wampa and understand Chevin. He has a Will modifier of +5, an Intelligence of 10, a Wisdom of 10, and a Charisma of 14. He has a +5 to Knowledge of dark side lore.

Equipment

S-Canon

~20 BBY

Ku-Kak is able to power up his Sith Sword with a Force point, and does so. He is “as well-equipped as possible” with the Sword.

The Wampa, as soon as someone passes its location, moves out and attacks. It prefers to attack and kill Jedi, so anything other than Vorfren with an ignited lightsaber is target one. Its hatred of Jedi is so complete that it spends a Force point the first round to power up its Sith sword. (The Wampa, after all, is Mon’s personal bodyguard – and when you’re an evil slaver, you want your bodyguard as well-equipped as possible…)

The Sith Sword is resistant to lightsaber attacks, and can be powered up by the wielder’s dark side bonus dice for 10 rounds + 1 per wielder’s Force level (so 20 rounds, or two minutes, in Ku-Kak’s case).

The critical information about a Sith sword is as follows (from the Dark Side Sourcebook). First, Sith swords retain their hardness/DR against lightsaber attacks. More importantly, the wielder of a Sith sword may call on the dark side and spend a Force point to “power” the sword. Doing this allows the wielder to add his dark side bonus dice to the sword’s damage, rather than ading it to his attack rolls with the weapon. This bonus to damage lasts 10 rounds + 1 round per Force level of the wielder.

Summary

Ku-Kak is seemingly the most dangerous opponent in the Living Force Campaign up to this point (later into the Clone Wars), even overshadowing his teacher, Phylus Mon. He stands a good chance at oneshotting the heroes, who are more skilled than exceptional Jedi Masters. It’s implied that he has killed several Jedi and collected their lightsabers.

Ku-Kak, going by his weapon skill, is among the best duelists in the game system, overshadowing everyone else with his preferred weapon, a Sith Sword, and possessing a stronger defense than nearly anyone in the system, despite his enormous size.

Ku-Kak is, unsurprisingly, very powerful in terms of physicals. At base, he is above practically any other Force user in terms of strength, and he is given not one, but two ways of boosting his strength considerably beyond even that.

While not the brains of the operation, he’s not especially stupid, either – he is roughly on par with the average human in terms of intelligence, and has some knowledge of dark side lore. He cannot understand basic, meaning that a typical Jedi mind trick, unless spoken in his language or in Chevin, will have no effect on him.

His strength is in melee combat, not ranged combat (though he does have some options even there), but he will almost always be able to close the distance by using the Force to enhance his charge. He will be enraged, and use the Force to increase his physical prowess beyond that, while also using the Force to inspire fear in his enemies far beyond even the natural amount brought on by a charging, sword-hefting Wampa, greatly diminishing their ability to do anything to combat him. He has a large pool of health, and an even greater amount of stamina in his reserves. He has his nigh-impenetrable defense to guard him from most attacks, and energy dissipation to deal with energy attacks (while also working to replenish his stamina).

Ku-Kak is a truly monstrous Force user. Respect him!