Country of Origin: Montaigne
Salon: Prevoye (Small)
Founded: 1651

Description: Despite its Montaigne name, the Aubigny fighting style has its roots in Eisen. It arose during the War of the Cross as Vaticine and Objectionist Eisen citizens sought newer and ever more efficient ways to kill one another. The style caught on among both sides, with mixed results. While Aubigny duelists tended to single out enemy commanders and eliminate them efficiently (often sparing the men and women under their command), just as often they were cut down themselves, depriving their “side” of a valuable asset and leading to one costly, bloody battle after another.

Aubigny is atypical of ranged weapon schools, as it encourages its students to charge into melee, raining down fiery death upon their opponents while bludgeoning nearby enemies with their spent weapons. A typical combat for a student of Aubigny involves charging at an opponent, slamming him to the ground, and firing at him while he is down, possibly depriving him of his weapon along the way for good measure. Aubigny fighters excel at Au Mouchoir dueling, and prefer this to all other forms of combat.

Students of Rasmussen have a complicated relationship with those of Aubigny. On the one hand, Aubigny fighters promote pistol dueling, and this goes a long way toward legitimizing Rasmussen on mainland Théah as an alternative to sword fighting. On the other hand, Aubigny, as a fighting style, is stepping on their toes. A student trained in Aubigny is a student who did not study Rasmussen (and therefore, did not put their training fees into Rasmussen coffers).

The weakness of Aubigny lies in its reckless disregard for personal safety. An Aubigny fighter will attempt to close into combat with a one-shot weapon that has virtually no reach after it is fired. If an opponent can weather an Aubigny fighter’s initial assault, he will be at his leisure to end a fight on his own terms while the fighter struggles to draw his next pistol

Basic Curriculum: Firearms, Improvised Weapon
Knacks: Charge, Corps-á-Corps, Disarm (Firearms), Exploit Weakness (Aubigny), Point-Blank Shot (Firearms)

New Swordsman Knack: Point-Blank Shot. A Point-Blank Shot is a rapid attack with a loaded pistol against an opponent in melee range. It is designed to disrupt a melee attack. When an opponent attacks you and you have a loaded pistol in hand, you may spend a Current or Held Action (but not an Interrupt Action) to perform a Point-Blank Shot against him. To do so, roll Wits + Point-Blank Shot as an Attack Roll against the opponent. If you hit, you deal your normal pistol damage to him. If this causes a Dramatic Wound to your opponent, then the attack he was about to make is canceled without effect and his Action Die is lost.

Apprentice: Students of Aubigny spend as much time in melee combat with their discharged weapons as they do taking aim and firing from a distance, so they know all the tricks necessary to use their improvised weapons appropriately. An Apprentice never needs to worry about his firearm breaking as a result of using it as an improvised weapon, and he receives a free Raise on any Attack (Improvised Weapon) roll he makes while doing so.

As a firearm style, Aubigny will never be submitted for sanction to the Swordsman’s Guild. In lieu of Guild membership, students of Aubigny receive a free Rank in one of their Swordsman Knacks.

Note that at range, Disarm (Firearms) must be attempted actively and requires firing one’s pistol at the target’s weapon hand. In close quarters, it may be used actively or passively, and does not require a loaded firearm (the fighter can batter the weapon free of an opponent’s grip with his pistol rather than shooting it out of his hand).

Journeyman: A Journeyman of Aubigny seldom misses his mark; each shot hits close to its intended target on an opponent’s body, reducing the chance of merely grazing the opponent and inflicting a minor wound. The Aubigny Journeyman (and Master) may reroll any damage die that rolls less than his Mastery Level in Aubigny.

Master: Masters of the Aubigny style have become experts at close-combat fighting, and have established a credo of win-at-all-costs, even if it means using dishonorable tactics. Once per Round, while a Master of Aubigny has a loaded pistol in his hand, he may spend an Action to attempt a Corps-á-Corps attack against an opponent in melee range. If this attack is successful, the Master may immediately spend another Action, even if it is not currently legal, to make a pistol attack against his fallen opponent.