Poisoned Shadows - Swordsman Schools

Calderón

Country of Origin: Castille

Founded: 1668

Description: The Calderón style of fencing was established by a Castillian Swordsman (Juan Carlos Calderón de Gallegos del Castillo) after an extended visit to Eisen and an encounter with the Master of the Cesáro style. Although it has only been a year or so since Calderón was developed, it has already become fairly popular among members of Castille’s lesser gentry seeking a method of self defense that allows them to thumb their noses at the more traditional schools favored by their parents and older siblings. Master Calderón is never at a loss for well-to-do students, and many people would be surprised if the school is not Guild-sanctioned in the very near future (assuming Juan Carlos can find the time to travel to Kirk for testing, or find a suitable candidate to train and send in his place).

The stance of the Calderón style is quite distinctive: body slanted away from the opponent, feet close together, sword extended towards the opponent and held at shoulder level. The duelist’s off-hand is held down and out of the way, generally curled into a fist. He relies on quick movement and evasion to keep the opponent at a fixed distance, while directing his attacks at the opponent’s upper body, especially the face. A Calderón duelist keeps a careful count of how many facial scars he has doled out; those with higher counts are accorded greater respect. At one point, students of the school were fairly evenly split between the use of a traditional rapier and a heavier cavalry sabre. After the sabre-wielders dominated a friendly tournament sponsored by the style’s founder, use of the rapier dropped off completely. Calderón is now exclusively a sabre style.

The style’s primary flaw is its reliance on upper body attacks. Not only does this make a Calderón duelist predictable, it increases the likelihood that he will fall victim to an attack to the legs or abdomen, especially if it is set up by a series of strikes to the head and chest. Fencing in the Calderón style does not permit the use of low strikes, particularly in friendly training contests, so a duelist using this style is less prepared to defend against them.

Basic Curriculum: Athlete, Fencing

Swordsman Knacks: Exploit Weakness (Calderón), Riposte (Fencing), Tagging (Fencing), Wall of Steel (Fencing)

Apprentice: The stance of the Calderón duelist, particularly the positioning of his weapon, makes him adept at intercepting attacks and delivering quick, slashing responses. Whenever the Apprentice attempts a Riposte, he receives his choice of a Free Raise to the Parry associated with it, or to the Attack portion of the Riposte instead.

Calderón is not currently sanctioned by the Swordsmen’s Guild, so its students do not receive Guild membership for free. Instead, a student of Calderón receives a free Rank in one of his Swordsman Knacks.

Journeyman: Journeymen of the Calderón style have begun to make their Wall of Steel Knack an essential part of their defense. Once they have abandoned it to attack, every strike they make is designed to maneuver themselves into a better defensive position, reestablishing the Wall one layer at a time. Every attack a Journeyman makes which successfully penetrates the target’s Passive Defense increases the TN to hit the Journeyman by 2 if he uses Parry (Fencing) as his Defense Knack. The TN to hit the Journeyman can be increased to a maximum of twice his rank in the Wall of Steel (Fencing) Knack. At the end of the Round these bonuses disappear, and the Journeyman once again has full use of his Wall of Steel Knack to begin the next Round.

Master: Masters of Calderón have virtually perfected both their blade control and their economy of movement. They rely on their graceful maneuvering to keep themselves out of harm’s way, while their opponents struggle to keep up, off-balance and susceptible to vicious attacks. A Master may attempt a Riposte while using either Footwork or Balance as his Defense Knack instead of Parry, and he may still apply the Free Raise granted by his Apprentice technique to his Active Defense if he wishes. Furthermore, when making the Attack portion of a Riposte, a Master does not have to declare Raises until after he has made his Attack Roll. Once he has chosen to do this, he is no longer able to increase the roll by adding Drama Dice. Raises may be used for called shots, to impress onlookers and gain Reputation, or to add Unkept dice to damage rolls.