El Diestro
Starting Equipment: Espada ropera, fancy cape, a couple of dice, half a bottle of Orijo de hierbas. Starting skills: 1. Mathematics 2. Poetry 3. Gambling +1 to hit and to saves against Fear per template
A-Angulo recto, Tretas particulares
B-Tretas generales, Canto de un real
C-Medios universales, Ojos afilados, Espada sincera
D-Medios de maestre, Son mis amores reales
Angulo recto
As long as you wield a espada ropera you have +2 to AC. If you are hit by a melee attack you lose this bonus. You enter fights in Angulo Recto unless you are surprised.
Tretas particulares
A fencer may learn hundred different techniques, but each has a time and a place. As long as you wield a espada ropera you may roll on the table of Tretas particulares instead of attacking normally. All tretas are melee attacks unless they say the opposite. After rolling for a Treta, but before executing it, choose: either re-enter Angulo Recto or reroll la Treta and choose which one to execute.
When upgraded to Tretas generales and/or Medios universales, you may roll at the appropriate table instead.
Canto de un real
Diestros occupy a very particular place in folklore and everyone seems to have an opinion of them. Colors the opinion of NPCs of you, depending of their social standing:
-Citizens and plebes act like they respect you, when they actually fear you.
-Priests alienate you from their flock, but in private try to redeem you.
-Soldiers and law enforcement look down on you, but also find you useful.
-Nobles adore you, but secretly resent you for your freedom and life of adventure.
Nomads, outsiders and adventurers recognize you as one of their own.
Ojos afilados
Once per day, while you are speaking with an Npc, you may ask the DM for their HD, Defense, Attack bonus or their prefered style of combat.
Espada sincera
Once per day, while fighting an Npc, you may ask one of these questions.
-What’s their general temperament?
-Do they fear me or my group? What about me/us do they see as dangerous?
-What are they fighting for?
-Do they have someone who would miss them if they fell here? (also reveals who if you know them).
Medios de maestre
Whenever you roll 1-4 on a Treta table you may change it for any other 1-4 result. Once per day, instead of rolling a random treta you may perform una Cometida Perfecta.
Son mis amores reales
Once, during a drunken revelry, you met a strange soothsayer who predicted you would perform seven amazing deeds that would go down in legend. You thought he was drunker than you at first but you now feel the truth in your bones. Your tale will be immortalized… but you know what they say about the brightest flames.
You may perform each of the following seven Deeds once in your lifetime. Once they have all been achieved your time is up and you know it. You may get to go back to say goodbye to your friends and family, you may fall before you get there, but one way or the other your time is up.
Deeds:
-Parry a lighting bolt (or some other ray-based attack, including spells).
-Compose a poem that brings tears to the eyes of all who hear it or utterly humiliates someone.
-Bitterly remember a lesson relevant to the situation at hand that you learned when you were younger, braver and more innocent. It provides advantage to your next roll or the next roll of an ally (or if the DM thinks it’s particularly appropriate, it can guarantee a success).
-Reveal that an enemy or rival is an old friend the first time you meet them.
-”Sacar fuerzas de la flaqueza”: if you start a combat with less than max HP, heal to full before rolling initiative. If you lose the combat all that damage comes back with all of its consequences.
-Dodge death once, as long as you can explain how you did it and how you just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
-Invent a new treta: instead of rolling, you can come up with a treta on the spot and explain to the group why it’s a highly specialized move that only works in this particular situation; just this once, it’s an automatic crit. If you are ever in the same situation you can perform your treta instead of rolling.
Tretas particulares (1d4):
Atajo: A sword is just a sharp lever. By positioning your tercio fuerte over the opponents tercio débil, you can redirect their weapon safely. You don’t attack this turn. Instead, choose a weapon an opponent is wielding: until the end of their next turn they have a -2 to hit with that weapon and they deal you half damage with that weapon.
Estocada: The queen of Destreza, the main move in all fencing. Which is exactly why your opponent will be expecting it. If you started the round in angulo recto you gain a +2 to hit and, in case you are successful your opponent has a -1 to hit you on their next turn.
Medio tajo (o Medio Revés): You move your opponent's weapon out of the way, then close the distance and slash their face. While it’s true that roperas were built for thrusting, a kilogram of steel to the face hurts; a sharp kilogram of steel will slice your nose off. If you hit, your opponent has a -2 to hit you on their next turn.
Tajo (o Revés): With a spinning wrist movement you manage to both liberate your weapon and make a sweeping cut, creating some space between you and the opponent. If you hit, you gain +1 to AC against melee attacks until the start of your next turn. Hit or miss, you enter Angulo Recto.
Tretas generales (1d8):
Atajo medio: After clashing weapons you close the distance, forcing the opponents weapon to the side. Choose: either Atajo o Tajo Medio; if you have already performed an Atajo against that opponent, you may do both. *=If your opponent isn’t wielding a weapon, treat this result as a Tajo Medio.
Botonazo: You lunge for the enemy’s side, before quickly stepping and swinging for the other. You gain advantage to the attack roll.
Estrechar: You spin the opponents blade to create a fraction of a second window of attack. Attack with a +1 to attack and damage for each of the following that is true: -The opponent is wielding a melee weapon or was wielding it last round. -The opponent attacked you with a melee weapon last round. -The opponent missed you with a melee weapon last round.
Flaqueza sobre/bajo la fuerza: There’s a certain danger in moving your tercio débil next to your opponents tercio fuerte, but it’s equally dangerous for your opponent. Estocada. Instead of rolling To Hit vs AC, you may roll a contested Dex roll.
Medios universales:
Conclusión: In one swift move, you close the distance until you grip your opponents weapon (traditionally by the cazoleta), leaving him open to a wicked stab. like Atajo Medio, but if you have already performed an Atajo you may instead make an attack with +6 to damage; also, choose a weapon the target is wielding: if they try to use it on their next turn, they have to succeed on a contested Str roll.
Revolución: You spin your opponents weapon, before shoving it aside violently. If the opponent is not quick enough, they are wide open to your blade. If the attack is a success you may roll a contested Strength roll to turn it into a crit. If it’s already a crit, it deals x3 damage.
Golpe: You block during the first stages of the Tajo, the attack the opponent before they can raise their guard again. If the opponent tried to attack you since the end of your last turn and missed, this attack is an automatic success.
Ganancia: You stab the opponent right when they are winding up for their attack. Not the most showy move (it’s just an estocada with good timing) but no one is giving points for style. You don’t attack this turn. Instead, choose an opponent: if that opponent tries to melee attack you before the start of your next turn you may attack it first. If you are successful, cancel their attack.
Medios de maestre:
X. Cometida perfecta: Supposedly a perfect strike without openings, mastered by so few masters you could count them with one hand, who use it sparingly out of respect for the art. In reality, the move does have a weakness which is why those few who have learned use it sparingly.
If the target of the attack has 3 HD or less, the attack is an automatic crit. Against targets of 4 HD or more it’s a crit as long as the attack hits, but on a 1 on the roll the enemy automatically crits you with one of its weapons (if they don’t wield a weapon nothing happens).
Authors notes: I recently started Historical Fencing and what we have here is the result of those particular brainworms. I want to stress: this is not a particularly accurate portrayal la Verdadera Destreza, since I'm far from an expert and I had to make some sacrifices in game design.
The core idea behind the class was born from observing than a real fight scenario you don't have complete freedom in choosing what moves you do, they are always informed by the last move you did, the last move your opponent did, your respective stances... So in wanted to design a class that reflected this alck of total freedom while still letting you make choices.
Ironically enough the abilities that don't interact with this system are the ones that I'm more satisfied with. I think I really hit the nail in the head in portraying the sort of "Diestro" that I would be interested in playing, at least out of combat.
I will almost assuredly post a small glossary with the terms I use in this post, either today or tomorrow.
PD: Since it’s inception, this class has struggled with a problem: a lot of tretas only work against armed opponents. I have tried a couple of alternatives (let the player reroll, let the player execute a treta particular of their choice instead…) but what I finally decided is… don’t change nothing.
Apply the treta RAW and change the description of the move instead: instead of controlling the opponents weapon with an Atajo you use the range of your sword to control the distance defensively, instead of shoving the weapon violently aside with a Revolución you tackle them with your shoulder so they are unbalanced or even punch them in the face.
If someone wants to try something different they have my blessing (in fact, please, tell me about it!) but this is the most elegant solution I found.
If you have anything to comment, I'm interested in your opinion: https://komments.cloud/8b9ea0821e517dd4792269 Au