Country of Origin: Montaigne
Salon: Bascone (Small)
Founded: 1632
Sanctioned (Swordsman’s Guild): 1667

Description: René Rousseau was a commoner growing up in Bascone, though he managed to rise above his lowly station to become an expert Swordsman at the age of eighteen, an innovator in combat techniques and tactics, and the closest confidant of Maurice Gaulle dul Motte, son of the patriarch of the Gaulle del Motte family. As Maurice grew increasingly more frustrated with the unnecessary frills associated with Valroux, he convinced his best friend to abandon the School and focus his efforts on developing a rival style focusing on the use of a triple-dagger.

While the pair worked together often in developing a new style, they agreed that each would put his own unique spin on the technique. While René’s creation was arguably more effective than his friend’s, more people were interested in studying under the noble (probably hoping to impress him with their prowess and gain access to his father). Like Gaulle, Rousseau would have been relegated to a minor footnote in Montaigne’s martial history had fifty-four-year-old René not been killed in a duel with a younger, stronger Valroux Swordsman. Stewardship of the Rousseau salon passed to René’s daughter Sophie, and Maurice sought to immortalize his friend by seeing that Rousseau was approved by the Swordsman’s Guild. More reserved (and less ambitious) than her father, Sophie refused Maurice’s pleas, believing that her School would never be approved by the Guild. It was not until Maurice sent one of his most gifted pupils to Kirk to earn Guild sanction and prove to Sophie that it was an attainable goal that she relented, traveling to Kirk herself and earning the respect of the Masters of the Guild.

Stylistically, Rousseau bears many similarities to Gaulle; it is defined primarily by its differences from that School. The verbal barbs so common to Valroux remain a part of the Rousseau School, as René was always more sharp-tongued (and less disdainful of the Valroux School) than Maurice. Fancy swordplay plays a minor role in both Schools, though René’s creation focuses more on offense than defense. Finally, unlike Maurice, René focused (and his daughter continues to focus) on strength training marginally more than speed.

Rousseau shares the main weakness of Gaulle: reliance on the triple-dagger and the tricks one can do with it, with swordplay taking a secondary role (albeit a greater focus than one finds in its sister School). By keeping one’s weapon away from the dagger and attacking the sword-arm side of a Rousseau Swordsman, an opponent greatly reduces the efficacy of the School.

Basic Curriculum: Fencing, Knife
Knacks: Bind (Knife), Disarm (Knife), Exploit Weakness (Rousseau), Feint (Fencing), Sunder (Fencing)

New Swordsman Knack: Sunder. When making an attack, you can choose to strike at an enemy’s weapon, hoping to break it and leave your opponent defenseless. To make this attack, you roll Finesse + Sunder, taking two Raises to target the enemy’s weapon. If your hit is successful, roll damage as normal; this damage is not applied to the opponent, but compared against the following chart to see if the opponent’s weapon breaks:

Type of Weapon	TN to Sunder
Dagger, Knife, Main Gauche	20
Fencing Weapon	25
Heavy Weapon	30
Firearm, Polearm	35
Buckler, Shield	40

Game Masters should use their discretion in applying the Sunder Knack to other kinds of weapons. These Target Numbers can be adjusted by the following modifiers:

Weapon Quality	TN Adjustment
Inferior Weapon or Shield	-5
Quality Weapon or Shield	+5
Dracheneisen Weapon	+10
Djinn or Sidhe Weapon	+15

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: A Rousseau student becomes used to using a triple-dagger, both to defend himself and to deprive an opponent of his weapon. He has no off-hand penalty for using a triple-dagger, and while wielding one, he gets a Free Raise on all rolls he makes using Disarm (Knife).

Journeyman: A Journeyman of the Rousseau School is adept at defending himself from harm by using his triple-dagger. He may use Bind (Knife) as a Parry Defense Knack. If he uses it as an Active Defense Knack and succeeds, the opponent’s blade is Bound as normal.

Master: The Rousseau Master can take advantage of his strength training (and of basic principles of leverage) to break an opponent’s weapon more easily than a student of Gaulle. Whenever the Master uses his Sunder Knack, he may add five to his Damage Roll if the attack is successful. If the Master has his opponent’s weapon in a Bind when he attempts the Sunder, he does not need to make an Attack Roll against the opponent’s weapon, and may instead make a Damage Roll automatically, adding ten to his result instead of five. It still requires an Action to attempt the Sunder, even though no Attack Roll is required.