1.5.6 The Duelist
Some warriors indulge in unique training methods that draw on arcane forces to enhance their speed and agility.
Duelist Benefits
The Duelist is a partial Mage class, meant to be taken by an Adventurer in conjunction with another partial class. Partial Warrior/ Duelist is the most common pairing, for a skilled light-armor combatant with high mobility and a number of useful combat techniques. Partial Expert/Duelist might represent an assassin who relies on stealth as much as steel, while a rare few Mage/Duelist combinations speak of adventuring wizards who perhaps have more talent for the sword than for the spell.
All Duelists gain Stab as a bonus skill. No Duelist worth the name is entirely incapable of effective use of melee weapons, though the style lends itself heavily to specialization.
The Flaw Of Fragility
While the canons of the duelist make for an excellent one-on-one combatant, their practitioners spend much less time at raw physical conditioning than their more traditional warrior peers. The techniques they use are swift and lethal, but they aren’t as generally applicable to enduring harm as are standard training methods.
As such, Partial Warriors/Partial Duelists use 1d6 for their hit dice, rather than the Partial Warrior’s usual 1d6+2. Other partial class mixes are unaffected by this flaw.
1.5.6.1 Duelist Arts
Duelist Effort is based on Stab, and is equal to the PC’s Stab skill plus the highest of their Dexterity or Intelligence modifiers, to a minimum of one point. All Duelists begin with the Favored Weapon art and one more of their choice. Additional arts are learned as the PC advances in experience.
The arts of the Duelist require agility and free motion. The Duelist cannot benefit from any art of this class while wearing medium or heavy armor or carrying a large shield. Dual-wielding is practiced by some Duelists, but most prefer the defensive advantages of a small offhand shield.
- Favored Weapon: Choose one specific type of non-unarmed me lee weapon. You begin play with such a weapon, and when using this type you may use the Favored Weapon attack bonus column on the Duelist table to determine your base hit bonus, unless it’s already better for some other reason. If your second partial class is Partial Warrior, your class’ base hit bonus with the weapon is instead equal to your level. You cannot apply this or other Duelist arts to thrown weapons.
Other Duelist Arts
- Blood for Blood: Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action when an enemy hits you with a physical attack. If you attack that enemy with your favored weapon before the end of the next round, the first blow hits automatically and can do no less damage than was done to you, up to the weapon’s maximum.
- Burst of Speed: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action. You may move your full normal movement rate as an On Turn action. This art can be used only once per round.
- Code Duello: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action when engaged with a single foe. So long as no other combatant attacks either your target or you, and you attack no one but your target, you gain a +4 bonus to your Armor Class and can roll your hit rolls twice, taking the better result. Once the Code Duello has been disrupted or ended, it cannot be invoked again during that scene.
- Crushing Superiority: Your favored weapon gains the Less Lethal quality if it doesn’t already have it. Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action when you hit a target; they must immediately make an Instinct check. This ability can be used only once per scene on any given target.
- Dauntless Step: Commit Effort for the scene as an On Turn action. The Move actions you make for the rest of the round can cross vertical surfaces or difficult terrain at your full normal movement rate, provided you end the round standing upright on a surface that can bear your weight.
- Dodge Doom: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action when caught in some explosion or other burst effect. You take half dam age, or no damage if the effect allows a save and you succeed at it. You can move yourself up to ten feet away from your original location, provided the new location is behind cover or away from the blast’s point of origin.
- Forced Engagement: Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action when making an attack with your favored weapon; you may ignore one foe’s Screen Ally action for that attack.
- Gentleman’s Withdrawal: Commit Effort for the scene as a Move action. As part of this, you may move at your full movement rate without being hindered by armed foes unless they completely block your path. You count as having made a Fighting Withdrawal against any enemies engaged with you at the time.
- Graceful Leap: Commit Effort for the scene as an On Turn action to immediately leap up to ten feet horizontally or vertically, counting it as a Fighting Withdrawal. You can’t use this art more than once per round or after you’ve attacked. You are immune to falling damage from plunges of less than 30 feet.
- Lightning Draw: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action at the start of hostilities; you win initiative against anyone without a similar ability to act first and may ready a Stowed favored weapon Instantly.
- Piercing Strike: Commit Effort for the scene as an On Turn action and choose a visible target. For the rest of the scene, their AC is treated as 10 for purposes of resisting the Shock of your favored weapon.
- Spiritual Weapon: You are able to translate examples of your favored weapon into a spiritual template that you may manifest as you wish. Any favored weapon can be turned into such a template, including a magical weapon, but the process destroys the object’s physical form. To manifest a template, Commit Effort as an Instant action; a ghostly copy of the weapon appears Readied in hand for you until you release the Effort or stop touching the weapon. Dual-wielders can summon the same weapon into both hands with one use of this art.
- Unbindable: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action when ever you wish to escape chains, grapples, shackles, ropes, or even a magical spell of physical binding. You automatically wriggle free from mundane restraints and gain an Evasion saving throw to instantly end a physical magical binding of some sort. You can use this art only once per round.
- Unworthy Rabble: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action. For the rest of the scene, when using your favored weapon, reroll any failed hit roll against foes with one hit die. At eighth level, this ability applies to foes with two hit dice.
- Whirling Evasion: Your base Armor Class becomes equal to 13 plus half your level, rounded up. This AC can be modified by small shields and your Dexterity modifier, but not by armor or large shields.
Partial Expert/Duelist
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6 | +0 | 1 Expert +1 Expert |
| 2 | 2d6 | +1 | +1 Expert |
| 3 | 3d6 | +1 | |
| 4 | 4d6 | +2 | |
| 5 | 5d6 | +2 | +1 Expert |
| 6 | 6d6 | +3 | |
| 7 | 7d6 | +3 | +1 Expert |
| 8 | 8d6 | +4 | |
| 9 | 9d6 | +4 | |
| 10 | 10d6 | +5 | +1 Expert |
Partial Mage/Duelist
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6-1 | +0 | 1 Any |
| 2 | 2d6-2 | +0 | +1 Any |
| 3 | 3d6-3 | +0 | |
| 4 | 4d6-4 | +0 | |
| 5 | 5d6-5 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 6 | 6d6-6 | +1 | |
| 7 | 7d6-7 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 8 | 8d6-8 | +1 | |
| 9 | 9d6-9 | +1 | |
| 10 | 10d6-10 | +2 | +1 Any |
Partial Warrior/Duelist
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6 | +1 | 1 Warrior +1 Any |
| 2 | 2d6 | +2 | +1 Any |
| 3 | 3d6 | +2 | |
| 4 | 4d6 | +3 | |
| 5 | 5d6 | +4 | +1 Any |
| 6 | 6d6 | +5 | |
| 7 | 7d6 | +5 | +1 Any |
| 8 | 8d6 | +6 | |
| 9 | 9d6 | +6 | |
| 10 | 10d6 | +7 | +1 Any |
Duelist Arts and Favored Weapon Bonus
| Level | Favored Weapon Bonus | Arts Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 | Favored Weapon and Any One |
| 2 | +2 | Any One |
| 3 | +3 | |
| 4 | +4 | Any One |
| 5 | +5 | Any One |
| 6 | +6 | Any One |
| 7 | +7 | |
| 8 | +8 | Any One |
| 9 | +9 | |
| 10 | +10 | Any One |