Clan of Origin: Lion
Dojo: Shiro Matsu

Description: The Matsu Swordsman School is a stark contrast to its more disciplined, analytical counterpart, the Akodo Swordsman School. Matsu Bushi are vicious, ferocious, and personally powerful. However, Matsu Swordsmen still retain the characteristic Lion honor and respect for their ancestors.

A Matsu Swordsman’s strategy is to kill the opponent before he has the chance to kill you. To accomplish this, he uses tactics similar to a Bearsark Vestenmannavnjar warrior, throwing himself into combat while roaring like his Clan’s namesake, heedless of personal danger. He also learns to attack with lightning speed, raking his sword across an enemy’s body twice in the same time it takes an enemy to attack only once. Matsu Swordsmen even train in hand-to-hand combat, as ne may lose his weapon in the course of a battle, but that does not mean he has to give uo the fight.

The overzealousness of Matsu Swordsmen can prove to be their undoing. A patient adversary, capable of sustaining an initial onslaught and waiting for a key opening, can strike down a frenzied Swordsman before being felled by his ferocious blows.

Basic Curriculum: Hard Martial Arts, Kenjutsu
Knacks: Beat (Kenjutsu), Corps-á-Corps, Double Attack (Kenjutsu/Kenjutsu), Exploit Weakness (Matsu), Lunge (Kenjutsu)

Revised Swordsman Knack: Beat. When attacking an enemy, you can declare a Beat. You roll Brawn + Beat, and must take a number of Raises equal to your enemy’s Brawn in order for your Beat 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: Warriors of the Matsu School respect their Akodo cousins’ leadership skills, but they know that a furious attack often overwhelms an enemy. Once per Round, after successfully executing a Lunge, a Matsu Swordsman may immediately spend an Action Die, even if it is not legal, to attempt an Intimidate Repartee Action against the opponent he just struck. The Swordsman gains one free Raise on his Contested Roll for each Raise taken on his Lunge attack roll (assuming it is not used for some other purpose, such as increasing damage). Should the Swordsman use this Technique against the same opponent later in the melee, the effects of the Intimidate Actions are not cumulative; only the most effective Intimidate Action applies.

Matsu Swordsmen study at the dojo in Shiro Matsu, the ancestral home of the Matsu family, where they are rigorously prepared for battle: it It is the lifeblood of the family, and the environment in which they truly come alive. A Matsu Swordsman may subtract twice his Mastery Level from any Wounds sustained from a roll on the Personal Results table during Mass Combat.

Journeyman: Death means nothing in the face of the loss of honor, and no Matsu Swordsman will yield while he still draws breath. By spending a Drama Die at any point in a Round (combat or otherwise), the Journeyman may ignore the penalties associated with being Injured until the end of that Round. He may also add twice his Mastery Level in Matsu to any Wound Checks he attempts. (He does not need to spend a Drama Die to activate the latter effect.)

Master: When focused on the attack, a Matsu Swordsman’s momentum continuously builds until he becomes a practically unstoppable force. When the Master succeeds with a Lunge attack, he may immediately make another Lunge attack against anyone within range (other than his initial target) without spending an Action. He may do this as often as he likes, until one of his attacks is unsuccessful; however, each Lunge beyond the first extends the negative consequences of the Lunge by an additional Phase.