Country of Origin: Castille (any member of Sandoval’s Guard can learn Gallardo for 25 HP, regardless of nationality)
Salon: Vaticine City (Large)
Founded: 1651
Sanctioned (Swordsman’s Guild): 1662

Description: Lieutenant Antonia Gallardo was an Aldana Master who served in the royal guard of Castille, protecting her king faithfully for twenty years until she retired in 1650. Antonia was incredibly popular with her fellow guardsmen, who continued to come to her even after she retired for advice and (especially) training. While Antonia was content to provide basic instruction in fencing, over her two decades of service, she had developed certain “tricks” that she also passed on to her students. Over the course of a year, and at her students’ urging, she began to codify these tricks into a cohesive rapier School. Maestra Gallardo had intended to keep this School exclusive to the royal guard, but her former captain (also retired, at this point) persuaded her to submit it for Swordsman’s Guild sanction and open it up to the general public.

The Gallardo School relies on a classical fencing stance: facing the opponent sideways, to present as small a target as possible, while the rapier is held in one’s dominant hand and the off hand held behind one’s back. The rapier is used for defense only as a last resort; Gallardo Swordsmen rely primarily on their footwork to defend themselves. In fact, a Gallardo Swordsman remains in constant motion, pressing forward with a flurry of attacks, falling back when defense is called for, and pivoting to step out of the way of an opponent’s strikes.

Movement and a defensive stance are so essential to the Gallardo School that any effort to disrupt them diminishes the School’s efficacy. Launching a series of attacks at the Swordsman’s legs may trip him up, while attacking his weapon may force him out of his defensive stance, creating a wider target.

Basic Curriculum: Athlete, Fencing
Knacks: Exploit Weakness (Gallardo), Feint (Fencing), Flurry (Fencing), Riposte (Fencing), Sidestep

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.

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 Gallardo Swordsman’s footwork is his greatest strength. Whenever the Swordsman is using Footwork to determine his Passive Defense, he may add twice his Rank in Gallardo to his TN to Be Hit.

Journeyman: Mobility is the key to the Gallardo School, and the Journeyman excels at using his defenses to set up his next attack. The Journeyman receives a free Rank in his Sidestep Knack. This may increase his Rank in the Knack to a six. If it does not, he may increase it from a five to a six later by spending 25 XP.

Master: Gallardo is designed for one-on-one duels rather than wild melees against multiple opponents, but what it does, it does very well. For each successive attack against a single target (i.e., not a Brute Squad) in a Round, the Master receives a free Raise on all attack rolls against that target. Free Raises can be applied to the use of his Attack (Fencing) Knack, as well as any of his Swordsman Knacks. For example, if a Gallardo Master with a Panache of four directs all of his attacks in a Round against the same opponent, he receives one free Raise on the second attack, two free Raises on the third, and three free Raises on the fourth.