#hexblade/paladin! jaune au

[howlingday]

au where jaune finds a magic sword when he's younger. it becomes his best friend and agrees to help him become a legendary hero since that's what it was made for in the first place. thing is no one else can hear it speak so everyone thinks jaune's insane. he's also extremely powerful and can use his aura in really interesting ways... he's just terrible at actually using the sword. might need some remedial training in that good thing he's going to beacon TLDR: jaune's a level 15 warlock, whos just now starting to pick up his first levels in paladin how does the story change? (just wanted to see how you think jaune's build would be different if he started off with a warlock instead of being pure paladin like we see in the show)

Hero of Dark Hope

Jaune's family trip to Vacuo had gone a strange direction. Though he was told to stay close to his sisters, his sense of adventure got the better of him... Well, his sister, too, but it's not like he tried to stop her. But the sands of Vacuo are not for those weak of heart. This lesson would be learned when he fell into a sinkhole that swallowed him faster than he could scream. He fell into the freezing cold water, thrashing about the grotto waters until he floundered his way to the cold comfort of dry land.

Jaune was alone, separate from his family. He called out to them, tears building in his eyes. He wanted to be a hero like his ancestors before him, but the cruel reality that he could die alone and so far away from his family was a very heartrending thought. He sobbed and wailed for every family member he could, hoping his voice would be carried up to them.

"ENOUGH!" Jaune whirled around to the center of the pool he was soaked from. "Your cowardice sickens me! Are you not a Maiden?!"

"N-No!" Jaune called back. "I'm a boy!"

"A boy? Where is the Maiden?"

"I'm..." Jaune gulped, sensing decreasing hostility, "I'm the only one here."

"Is that so? How did you enter my chambers?"

"I... I fell through the sands up there." Jaune pointed to the dark ceiling. Light began to glow bright from the pool until the beacon revealed itself to be a large, ornately crystalline sword floating in the air. "Who... Who are you?"

"I..." A small blue child decorated with golden strands of jewelry began, sitting atop the handle on his toes. His foxlike ears flicked as he grinned a toothy smile, "...am Yoki. The spirit who resides within the Sword of Destruction."

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"Whoa! What is that?!"

"C-Crap!" Jaune quickly tucked the hilt into his back pocket. "You saw that?!"

"Heck yeah!" Ruby said with eyes shining. "What is that weapon? I've never seen a sword like that! Can I hold it?!"

'Jaune, she's annoying me.' Yoki groaned into Jaune's ears. 'Can we blow her up?'

"No!" Jaune shouted.

"Oh! Right!" Ruby cleared her throat. "May I hold it?"

"Er, n-no. I, uh..." Jaune gulped. He made a deal with Professor Ozpin about Yoki. He doesn't tell anyone about it, and nobody has to know he has it. Well, now somebody does know. The biggest weapon's nut in Beacon, if not the whole world. Well, here he was now, so now he had to deal with it.

'Now?'

"No." Jaune said with a sharp tone, making Ruby flinch. "Oh, er, s-sorry. I was... Nevermind. I'm still saying no. See, I'm kind of not supposed to tell anyone about this weapon."

"Why not?"

"Um... It's a secret?" Jaune said with a sheepish grin.

'Wow, that was a really bad lie.'

"Wow, that was a really bad lie." Ruby echoed. "But I can respect your decision. And you can trust me! I won't tell anyone about your secret Grimm-killing weapon!"

"Thanks, Ruby." Jaune let out a huge sigh. "But, uh, since we're already keeping secrets, how about I at least bring you up to speed on me and Yoki."

"Yoki?" Ruby asked. "Why's your sword named Yoki?"

'I'm not HIS sword!' Yoki screeched, making Jaune cringe. 'I'm my own sword!'

"They're, uh, really sensitive about saying they're my sword. It's more like I'm borrowing it."

"Oh, you mean like Crocea Mors?"

"...Kinda?"

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Jaune clashed hard with Cinder in the realm between Kingdoms. He was so close to getting people safely out of Atlas, but then SHE had to show up of all times! With Crocea Mors destroyed, he had no choice but to bring out the big guns. Or big sword in this case.

"Finally!" Cinder said with glee. "I'll have three relics in one go!"

"You'll have to kill me, first!" Jaune charged at her, blade at the ready.

"That's the idea!"

Cinder swooped low, swinging her glass sword in with an intense heat behind it. Jaune could feel it, but it would still shatter into, well, glass once Jaune and Yoki struck against her. Seeing him easily best her sword, she expanded the distance, shifting her tactics to more ranged options. Arrows sliced through the air as Jaune backed away, his aura already catching a few. He was smart enough to swat them off once he felt the heat.

'Yoki, do you trust me?'

'Not a good time to ask, but yes.'

'Good, because I have a dumb plan.'

'As if that ever changed anything.'

Jaune decided to close the distance, charging towards Cinder, who continued to fire makeshift arrows. He dove, his hair receiving a small shave of a few strands. As he rolled forward, the exploding arrow launched him like a missile along the ground. As his shield skidded against the ground, he activated the gravity dust, the shock racking his body as he suddenly launched backwards, into the air. As he soared high into the air, Cinder chased after him with manic glee on her face. He readied Yoki, roaring as he came crashing towards her.

"CINDEEEEEER!"

[marcialhd]

Alright small warning though this is most likely gonna end up as a wall of text, so sorry in advance, now all of these are ideas that i have had for a while regarding a possible RWBY/D&D Crossover AU, as for actual ideas i only have really ironed out the details for teams RWBY and JNPR, so i’m mostly goin to focus on them, also i normally don’t use multiclassing on D&D 5e (which is the system i’m using as a reference) so all of these are basically single class characters, finally all of these were made with the Variant Human race in mind, except for Blake as she is using Custom Lineage as a sort of stand in for Faunus (basically the same rules as normal just with its “Variable Trait” feature being the Darkvision, plus a free proficieny on Perception representing Faunus enhanced senses) and with that out of the way here they are:

Team JNPR

Jaune: He is an easy one Paladin (though i could hear arguments for Cavalier Fighter or even a melee-focused Hexblade Warlock), as for the Oath well i think most of them could fit him, but specifically Devotion, Glory, Watchers or Ancients (though this later one mostly because of its tenets and how many of them fall in line with Jaune’s own mentality). As for Background i feel that Knight, Knight of the Order or even Inheritor would all fit him (and his story) very well.

Pyrrha: Everything about her screams Fighter, in particular i see her favoring the non-magical/supernatural subclasses (Mostly the Battle Master, though i could see Champion or even Samurai as possible options) except Banneret and Cavalier as the more “knightly” flavor of these would not fit her character. Besides this the only other subclass i would recommend is the Psi Warrior as its telekinetic abitlities are similar enough and could be used as a stand in for her Semblance. As for her Background feel that either Athlete or Gladiator are the best fits for her considering her past as a tournament champion.

Ren: At first glance he feels like a Monk and considering his fighting style many of its subclasses could fit (Open Hand, Kensei or Shadow being the most likely ones), but i think that there is another Subclass that would be better for him: The Soulknife Rogue, specially if we consider how Psionics in general tend to have a “monastic” theme similar to Monks and how the subclass in particular has abilities that help distort the perception of people, it could be used to tie well with his Semblance (which also distorts the perception of others). As for Backgrounds either Urchin or Far Traveler are the best choices considering his circumstances.

Nora: Many would say Barbarian (and being honest Berserker or a Sea-focused Storm Herald would fit very well), but similar to Ren i feel that there is another Subclass that fits her better: The Rune Knight Fighter, mostly because Nora is a living Thor/Viking reference and among all the Subclasses Rune Knight is the one that feels closest to that flavor (plus it gives her enough magical jumbo without the hassle of actual spellcasting which can help to keep things interesting). As for Backgrounds similar to Ren Urchin or Far Traveler seem the best for her.

Team RWBY

Ruby: Considering her love for creating and modifying weapons i feel that Artificer is the Best for her, and specially the Battle Smith as it gives her enough versatility to be good at both melee and range (plus she could make her Steel Defender as sort of mechanical version of Zwei), as for Background well Folk Hero seems to be the only one to really fit her backstory so that would be my choice, though admitedly i’m open to suggestions here since there simply aren’t that many that truly fit her.

Weiss: I don’t know how this one in particular could help you since i made it with her being a Bard in mind and since i never considered the idea of her being a Sorcerer then i don’t have much to share on possible subclasses for that one, so just take the following as suggestions for a possible Bard Weiss (though the Background choices could work for both versions). 

Now as for Subclasses i feel that either College of Lore or College of Swords would probably be the better ones for her, the first lets her lean more towards her scholarly/studious side and considering how she seems to rely on her semblance and her use of Dust, choosing a Subclass that focus more on Spellcasting wouldn’t really change her fighting style much. The second on the other hand lets her focus on improving the weakest part of her arsenal: her abilities as a duelist as Weiss has been shown to be relatively weak when forced to rely only on her weapon, so by taking a Subclass focuses on improving as a duelist help her both cover her weakness and develop more versatility on her fighting style. As for her Background Noble is the best fit (though i could hear arguments in favor of Entertainer considering her past as a singer).

Blake: Definitely Rogue, though similar to Pyrrha i don’t see her as any of the Supernatural Subclasses, and among the “normal” ones i feel that either Inquisitive or Mastermind the best choices for her. As for Background i feel that Faceless, Faction Agent or Spy would all be fitting for her backstory.

Yang: Oh boy let’s just say i took more time ironing her out than the rest, not necessarily because it was difficult to find a class or Subclass for her (in fact that was the EASY part) but rather to find a way to actually represent her fighting style well for you see besides simply rolling Monk there wasn’t much support for Unarmed combat in 5e, thankfully Tasha changed that with the addition of Feats, Items and even a new Fighting Style, so other classes could finally be pugilists too... with the right build of course. 

For you see the only class that fits Yang thematically is: The Barbarian (which for some reason DOESN’T gets Fighting Styles) which by its own has basically ZERO support for unarmed combat, meaning that if we want to replicate Yang’s style we need to either multiclass (which we aren’t doing) or get a Feat (luckily she is Variant Human so free feat at level 1) and the one we need is Fighting Initiate which gives us a Fighting Style from the Fighter on any class, and the one we want is the “Unarmed Fighting“ as it would make her fists deal a d8 in damage (if she isn’t holding a weapon or shield, in that case it becomes a d6).

Besides that the Tavern Brawler Feat, and the Insignia of Claws and Eldritch Claw Tattoo magical items would all fit Yang’s style well (specially the items since both give a +1 to unarmed attack and damage rolls, which can stack to a +2 when used together and both make such attacks magical allowing them to bypass resistance and immunity to non-magical attacks). As for actual Subclasses well either Berserker or a Desert-focused Storm Herald would be the best ones for her. Finally for her Background i feel that either Folk Hero or Urban Bounty Hunter are the best fit (specially the later since Yang outright claimed that she became a Huntress to be a Bounty Hunter).

And that’s it, frankly i while i knew it was going to be long i did not expect it to be this long, so again sorry for the wall of text, and hope you like my ideas.

Why not make Weiss a Bard instead? frankly it fits her far better than either Wizard or Sorcerer and you wouldn't need the hassle of dealing with multiclassing.

For example she always tries to excel at everything she tries giving her a very versatile skill set, Bards also tend to have multiple skills and often are very good with them (Expertise), she is a talented singer and we know she is also a decent dancer, Performance is a skill often associated with Bards as they are often performers of a sort (singers, actors, dancers, etc), she was raised in "high society" which taught her how to deal with social encounters, and Bards are often very charismatic (often being the face of the party) and tend to move on similar social circles as Weiss.

So yeah there is no way for me that she couldn't be a Bard.

I agree with your statements, and I think she wiuld make for a great Bard. If you'd like, feel free to make your own Bard!Weiss to your heart's delight. Unfortunately, the community has spoken and have all voted Sorcerer!Weiss.

I'll keep her mind, though, for future projects beyond this face value wet paper napkin poll.