Tunnel Rat - Saga Style
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Tunnel Rat

Strength
6d
Agility
5c
Intellect
5x
Willpower
7d

Hand Size:
Edge:
4 (25)
2

Known Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

Anti-Venom Cannon:
this large, back-mounted tank is filled with a liquid solution that can reverse Dr. Mindbender's 'Venomization' process when applied in a heavy enough dose. This was devised as a humane way to cure the unwitting victims of Cobra's rather unscrupulous recruting methods.

Assuming its targets resist (such as the leaders of some of Cobra's Venom troops) treat this as an intensity 10 power.

Explosives: being a combat engineer, Nicky occasionally has to blow things up. As such, he carries plastic explosives with him on the job - usually enough material and detonators to produce several explosions of up to intensity 13 power, which inflict fragmentary (physical) damage.

Flashlights: you never want to find yourself in unlit tunnels while in enemy territory. That's why Nicky carries not one, but two flashlights. Each of these devices can generate intensity 6 illumination for several hours at a time, and can use one of several different colored filters (red, green, etc...).

Handgun: a back-up for his M-60 or high-energy weapons, this hand cannon is less deadly, but only barely. Nicky can fire it to inflict his Agility +4 damage in a single shot, or his Agility +5 damage in a clip-expending, semi-automatic burst of gunfire.

the Joe-Com: this is a new device given to all Joes upon the group's reactivation. This high-tech wristband functions as an audio/video transceiver with an intensity 6 - 250 mile - range, is equipped with a G.P.S. system, a heart monitor, and can store up to a terabyte of raw data - not bad, eh?

Of course, this device also stores a variety of nutrients it can use to supplement activity, which are absorbed directly into one's pores (think of this as intensity 1 life support, where food is concerned). So, not only is the thing a nice, high tech video phone, but it can also save one's life in a pinch!

Knife: a must when wading hip-deep through icky subterranean tunnels full of nasty biting things, Nicky always has this with him on missions. Made from m.s. 12 metals, Nicky can use this to cut through items of like m.s., and can also use it to inflict his Strength +2 damage in melee.

Rifle: when surprise is on his side, Nicky often makes use of a high power rifle to do his dirty work. He can fire this weapon to inflict his Agility +5 damage per attack. Furthermore, it has a 'scope on top that he can use to gain a +1 to hit when he takes an exchange to ambush his foe.

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Boxing:
thanks to both his childhood and his Army training, Nicky has mastered this distinct fighting style. He can divide his pre-cardplay action score between two unarmed melee strikes, the last of which he can then attempt as a contingent action (but both are at a reduced difficulty).

Demolitions: a combat engineer and E.O.D. specialist, Nicky naturally has this skill. An expert in explosives, Nicky can either set or defuse bombs in the field, and when doing the former, he can usually tell the ideal place to lay explosives for maximum effect (reduced difficulty on such actions).

Marksmanship: learned as a part of his basic training, this skill demonstrates Nicky's ability to use most practically any firearm. Whether he's wielding a standard, semi-automatic, fully automatic, or even directed energy rifles or pistols, Nicky may do so at a reduced difficulty level.

Military / United States: the basis for most of his talents (save for his boxing, maybe), this 'background' skill has served Nicky well over the years. It gives him an instinctual understanding of military protocols, and allows him to lead fighting men and women into battle when necessary.

Calling:

Adventurer:
Nicky has been tested time and again throughout his life, whether on the mean streets of Brooklyn or in Ranger school. This has made him slightly jaded and virtually fearless, and as such, he usually only enjoys himself while he's being severely challenged - and usually in some unknown locale.

Costume:

Nicky's eighth uniform is a variant of his sixth. It includes black and orange camo-patterned trousers, a dark yellow, long sleeved shirt, gray leather boots, black leather gloves, gray knee pads, a gray leather belt, a black harness to hold his flash lights, and a black bandana on his head.

Personality:

Nicky is one tough fellow, a guy that lets little rattle him - he's virtually fearless. While he has one of the more difficult jobs on the G.I. Joe team, Nicky actually seems to enjoy it, since the challenge makes it more interesting. Couple this with a wry sense of humor and you've got a great Joe in the making!

Real Name: Lee, Nicky, grade E-5
Occupation: G.I. Joe E.O.D. operative
Legal Status: citizen with the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: Toxo-Viper (one of his Spy Troops disguises)
Group Affiliation: G.I. Joe

Height: 5' 6"
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 140 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none

Story:

Nicky's family tree has more branches than most, being of primarily Trinidadian Chinese descent, with bits and pieces of Irish, Spanish and Indian thrown in for good measure. He grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, which made him tough as old shoe leather, and became virtually fearless in the process.

Of course, after he enlisted in the Army, Ranger school finished that job, and you'd be hard-pressed to find something that scares Nicky. Oh sure, he'll run from something if he's got no chance of beating it - he's not stupid - but true fear is something you won't find in this guy... he's just too tenacious.

At the same time, he's got quite a wry sense of humor, and is a little bit reckless, which means he's got a knack for getting himself into trouble one way or another. One would think that this would be a death sentence for a guy who defuses bombs and blows things up for a living, but not in this case.

It actually makes Nicky startlingly effective at what he does. This is how the man eventually got shoe-horned into working for the Joes - not that he minds being assigned to the most prestigious military organization on earth (though the Oktober Guard might disagree on that score).

Having formally joined the team shortly after the second Pit was demolished by Hawk in an effort to take out Cobra's high command (who had invaded the place while it was empty), Nicky was on the Joe's payroll just in time for the group's first meeting with the deranged Cobra accountant, Raptor.

This because Raptor had used his accounting and computer hacking skills to track down Nicky's payroll records, believing him to be a Joe. Noting that his pay had been forwarded to specific locations in the Rocky Mountains, he journeyed there, and sicced his trained attack raptors on the Joes.

Once they found Hawk's convoy of Joe vehicles, which was headed to the team's new Pit base in Utah, Raptor sicced none other than Cobra Commander on the team. This villain was flying the Pogo Ballistic Battle Ball, a special invention of Fred VII's, a Crimson Guardsman with a knack for electronics.

While his invention didn't take off in the Cobra arsenal, the Commander nonetheless used it to dramatic effect against the Joe team's convoy, which lacked proper air support at the time (you don't expect to get attacked by high tech terrorists while driving cross-country, you know).

Despite all this chicanery, Nicky stuck with the team through thick and thin, having participated in several of its infamous battles against Cobra, including the Cobra Island Civil War, the Battle of Millville, and more. Nicky proved his worth to the team time and time again, until it was disbanded in '94.

This because, of course, it was believed that Cobra had been dealt with once and for all. Organizations like that are notoriously difficult to stamp out, though, and when Cobra resurfaced a few years later, the Joes were reassembled - in smaller numbers at first, but in time the group was back at full strength.

While he wasn't amongst the first wave of Joes to rejoin the team, Nicky eventually made it back into the fold, having done so because the G.I. Joe team can always use someone crazy enough to wade through hip-deep sewage in potentially booby-trapped tunnels in order to get the drop on Cobra goons...!

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G.I. Joe directories featuring a version of Tunnel Rat:

  1987 1988 1990 2003 2004 2005  

* Note: 2004 saw three versions of Tunnel Rat (Versions 5, 6 and 7).