Country of Origin: Montaigne
Salon: Charouse (Average)
Founded: 1667
Sanctioned: 1670

Description: Pierre Beauchamp is a professional dancer, a courtier, and a dandy, and he was perfectly content to live his life flitting from one noble’s house to another, remaining at each until he had almost overstayed his welcome, then moving on to the next. He never had any particular martial aspirations until he attended a party in L’Empereur’s honor in 1664. At this particular party, Diane Sices du Sices dispatched a number of men that sought to kill her, using nothing more than a borrowed rapier and the steps of a common waltz. Pierre was intrigued: if this woman could improvise a Swordsman School based on a simple dance, surely he, with his years of experience as a dancer, could exceed her efforts with more complex movements and a calculated School. Pierre began splitting his time between the courts of Montaigne and its fencing salons, formulating a series of unique Techniques even as he studied Valroux and Galois.

Beauchamp is a school predicated on fancy footwork and fancier bladework. If a Beauchamp Swordsman is not dazzling his opponent with a breathtaking “sword dance,” he is pirouetting, striking at an opponent with every turn until one of them is exhausted. Meanwhile, the Swordsman’s feet flutter through a near-incomprehensible series of steps, slides, and turns. It is very common for a Beauchamp Swordsman’s footwork and bladework to move to different tempos, so their movements, attacks, and parries can be difficult to track.

Maestro Beauchamp is something of a chauvinist and does not accept women as students. However, enough women have attended in disguise, or blatantly stolen the Techniques through careful observation and practice, that it is not unheard of to find a woman who is trained in the School.

Beauchamp Swordsmen are well-known for their dramatic swordplay: every thrust of a rapier is a thing of either breathtaking beauty or wild abandon, but each must come to a crescendo before the attack is made. There is always a slight pause before the Swordsman shifts from performance to attack, and by looking for these micro-pauses, an experienced opponent can more easily defend himself. If he can somehow ascertain the pattern of the Swordsman’s “dance steps,” he may also attack with greater confidence.

Basic Curriculum: Fencing, Performer
Knacks: Disarm (Fencing), Exploit Weakness (Beauchamp), Flourish (Fencing), Flurry (Fencing), Tagging (Fencing)

New Swordsman Knack: Flourish. When attacking an enemy, you can declare a Flourish. You roll Panache + Flourish, and must roll a number of Raises equal to your enemy’s Panache in order for your Flourish 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.

New Swordsman Knack: Flurry. When attacking an enemy, you can declare a Flurry. You roll Resolve + Flurry, and must roll a number of Raises equal to your enemy’s Resolve in order for your Flurry 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: A student of Beauchamp learns to incorporate dance steps into his swordplay, making him a twirling, whirling force on the battlefield…and notoriously hard to hit. In Phase One of every Round, the Apprentice may spend an Action (even if it is not legal) to roll Panache + Dancing. For every five full points made on this roll, the Apprentice may add one to his TN to be hit until the end of the current Round.

Journeyman: A Journeyman of Beauchamp has learned to batter at an opponent’s blade repeatedly until it is finally knocked out of alignment for a quick strike, followed by a simple tap to dislodge the weapon from his opponent’s hand. Once per opponent per Round, the Journeyman may attempt a Flurry and, if the Flurry is successful, immediately spend an Action (even if it is not legal) to attempt an active Disarm against the same opponent. The Journeyman does not need to take two Raises to target the opponent’s weapon on this Disarm attempt.

Master: The Beauchamp Master has been dancing (and dueling) for so long that he knows how to incorporate his sweeping defensive steps into an attack (or series of attacks). If the Master chooses to use his Apprentice Technique, he may also apply that bonus directly to his attack rolls, including the use of his Flourish, Flurry, and Tagging (but not Disarm) Knacks.