Gunslinger

Spike’s weapon of choice was a nine millimeter, which obviously translates into being proficient in firearms. It would have been fun to have done a subclass for Spike’s arch enemy Vicious, as his weapon of choice is a sword. But since we are talking about Spike, firearms is what you become proficient in.

The Hunted

Also at 3rd level, you get a modified version of the Ranger’s tracking ability. In Cowboy Bebop, Spike hunted down mostly humanoids but it can be argued that a few of the people he attempted to collect the bounty on were magical creatures of some sort, but in really they were still humanoid. Therefore Spike gets two choose two humanoid races to be his favored enemy. Wisdom for tracking and Dexterity for sneaking up on the bounty works well here. Finally, you get to add one additional favored enemy at 9th and 15th levels.

Strike Fast

For anyone that has watched the show, they know Spike can fight like Bruce Lee in close quarters. He is just as good in hand to hand combat as he is with a gun, possibly even better. The fight scenes in the show were amazing. The animation was so far ahead of its time (and still better than some of the anime crap that is out there now) that the scenes were detailed, fluid and beautiful to watch. The crazy ninjitsu that Spike would use in the show was basically the Monk’s Martial Arts skill. I didn’t want to create a whole new skill set (that’s Stephens forte), so the using the Monk skill with a few minor tweaks made sense.

Gettting the Jump on Them

The element of surprise is important for any bounty hunter. Spike would seemingly appear out of nowhere and get the jump on his quarry. Sometimes he would act the fool, with his opponent underestimating him and getting the crap kicked out of them. Sure, sometimes it went horribly wrong, but that makes for good TV. The opening of the movie is a good example. Spike plays the idiot when he walks in on the people he is hunting, and he (along with Jet) take them down quick. Of course they didn’t realize that one of the bad guys was in the bathroom, but Spike was able to drop him with one well placed gunshot. At 13th level, you gain advantage on your initiative rolls, and for good measure you can’t be surprised.

Take Them Down

Spike could usually take his opponent down with one crippling strike, either from his gun or some crazy karate chop. Sure, I know you’re thinking, “Why not use that strike first and end the fight right there?” First, it’s a TV show and we want our action scenes. Second, you have to wear your opponent down a little bit before the attack will be truly effective. At 17th level, you gain the ability to land a critical hit on any one attack. You can use this ability equal to your Dexterity modifier per long rest.

There it is, the Spike Spiegel Bounty Hunter Rogue Subclass. Please feel free to comment below, and if you have any ideas for a pop culture class/subclass you’d like to see, drop me line.