Country of Origin: Madeira
Salon: Oporto (Small)
Founded: 1669

Description: Martinez is a recently-founded School, created by Cristina Martinez, a camp follower turned soldier in the war between Montaigne and Castille. It likely would have languished in obscurity and died out with its founder had Victor Torres not led Ranchos Torres and Zepeda in seceding from Castille. Suddenly blessed with a new kingdom in search of its own identity, King Victor initiated a search for any fencing master who could train the newly-christened Madeirans in a unique, signature style. Word ultimately reached him regarding Cristina’s mastery of the rapier, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Martinez is a tricky, evasive school that relies on creating false perceptions in the eyes of one’s opponents and taking advantage of the resulting miscues. A Martinez Swordsman seldom does much damage against her opponents; she prefers to win by tricking her opponents into defeating themselves through feints, insults, and flashy displays of swordsmanship that appear more dangerous than they truly are.

Ultimately, these attempts at misdirection can also lead a Martinez Swordsman into defeat. Simply put, Martinez lacks the staying power to stand toe-to-toe with, say, Aldana or Soldano. An opponent who ignores the Martinez Swordsman’s taunts and flashy moves will quickly realize that there is little substance behind the style and quickly strike the Swordsman down.

Basic Curriculum: Acrobat, Fencing
Knacks: Corps-á-Corps, Exploit Weakness (Martinez), Feint (Fencing), Tagging (Fencing), Wall of Steel (Fencing)

Revised Swordsman Knack: Feint. When attacking an enemy, you can declare a Feint. You roll Wits + Feint, and must roll a number of Raises equal to your enemy’s Wits in order for your Feint to be successful. If you are successful, he cannot avoid the attack using any Active Defense. The Raises taken on this roll add Unkept Dice to your damage roll as usual.

Apprentice: Lacking an overpowering offense, the Martinez Apprentice first learns a stalwart defense. So long as the Apprentice receives the benefit of her Wall of Steel Knack, she may add her Mastery Level to her TN to be hit, and receives a free Raise on any Active Defenses she attempts.

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

Journeyman: A Martinez Journeyman learns a sort of “body-to-body” riposte which allows her to roll beneath an opponent’s attack and trip him in the process. Whenever the Journeyman successfully executes an Active Defense using the Tumbling Knack, she may immediately (without spending an action) attempt a Corps-á-Corps attack on the same opponent. This attack requires two Raises to execute successfully. 

Master: At times, a Martinez Swordsman must stand her ground and forego any measure of defense, unleashing a flurry of blows and hoping to incapacitate an opponent before he can offer any sort of resistance. After a Master has successfully executed an Attack using her rapier, she may immediately spend another Action Die (even one from later in the round) to make a second Attack at the same TN, plus five. If that Attack is successful, she may make a third attack, with the TN increased by a total of ten, and so on. The Master may make as many attacks as she wishes until she either misses an Attack roll, runs out of Actions, or chooses to break off the attack. Damage Rolls for a flurry of attacks are not adjusted for Brawn (though they may be increased by Unkept Dice by taking additional Raises on an Attack roll); however, the target does not make a Wound Check until the flurry of attacks is completely resolved.