This character class has been culled from a back issue of Dragon(tm) Magazine and details a character classes for use in a 1st Edition AD&D game.

THE DUELIST

For as long as personal combat has been going on, there have been specialists who would sell their prowess at it. Some have sold their services as mercenaries; this article has nothing to do with them. Mercenaries tend to be group-minded and barely proficient at arms; their place is to fill out a troop of soldiers. The emphasis in soldiering is on maneuver and cooperative effort. It is very fitting that most mercenaries in the game are permanently 0-level fighters. Repeated and frequent success in one-on-one combat requires something that a mere soldier is not up to providing. The specialists in personal combat became not mercenaries, but duelists.

And so evolved a distinct kind of profession. In Roman times, there were the gladiators, who made their way up from ignominy to international honor through their individual skill alone; in Renaissance times, there were the fencing instructors, who taught young rakes how to duel (and live to brag about it) the way that other specialists taught them how to dance or take snuff; and in all times, there have been the hired swords (“hired guns” in the Old West), who have wandered about, fighting for glory, or money, or for lack of a better calling in life. The duelist non-player character class for the AD&D system represents this type of expert - one who makes his living by selling his skill in individual combat.

Typically, the duelist is of common birth. Serfs are given no opportunity to learn to bear arms, and nobles who take up arms as a profession tend to become fighters or paladins. Sometimes, as with the Roman gladiators, duelists are of the lower class, though they might have wound up that way not by accident of birth but by running afoul of the law. Sometimes they are of the lesser nobility - younger sons of younger sons, with no inheritance to give them status and no mind to be soldiers. Sometimes they are merely disaffected types, loners or even outcasts, whose only claim to fame is their reputation with their blade.

This way of describing a duelist goes far to explain the alignment preferences of the class. The duelist has little use for law as an ethical principle, whether the law involved is good, bad, or neutral. Besides the fact that their profession is often illegal (though they are sometimes used by the protectors of the law), duelists also shy away from lawfulness because of their general outlook on life: They see things in individual terms (me against you), not in group terms (us against them). To be sure, most duelists are scrupulous about fulfilling contracts, but this is not a lawful-minded tendency so much as a matter of professional (by definition, individual) honor. Besides, an unreliable duelist gets no contracts.

Duelists, you see, have something of a code to live by, a parody of the knightly code of arms. The knightly code is born of law: Arms are to be used to execute justice; fair play (not taking undue advantage of an opponent) should influence behavior; the warrior is part of an arms-bearing brotherhood pledged to defend the community. By contrast, the duelist lives by a highly individualistic (i.e., chaotic) code. Professional skill is exalted rather than the obligation to do justice: if the duelist's conscience sometimes accuses him of being a mere assassin, he tells himself he is just doing his job (and doing it well, by thunder!). Professional pride is a more important consideration than "fair play" - a duelist, like a knight, does not take undue advantage of an opponent, but a knight does this to be fair, while a duelist does it lest his reputation be besmirched. (This explains why a duelist will not use poison or flaming oil in personal combat - these are tools good enough for a cheap assassin or a stupid tavern brawler, but it would be seen as a failure in the area of his professional skill and bravery for a duelist to do the same.) The duelist is a loner, which means his worth is not measured by his attainments as a member of a warrior class, but by his individual achievements.

And so the world fears, admires, shuns, and brags of acquaintance with the duelist, all at the same time. He is both hero and villain. And he does have his place, not only as a hired sword (or, in some cultures, as a professional athlete). Running a fencing school, as many duelists do, is a very respectable occupation. It should be noted that what a Fencingmaster turns out of a fencing school are not necessarily more duelists - it takes more than just fighting ability to fit that mold, it takes a certain kind of person. The Fencingmaster's customers are young men who desire to be accomplished at the skills of dueling - but who may be incapable of actually becoming duelists.

In a society or culture in which a gentleman is expected to be skillful at arms (even if the gentleman is obviously unfit for it), the Fencingmaster's school becomes a combination hangout, gymnasium, betting parlor, and male gossip-shop all rolled into one, and the Master himself is a man of reputation who is not only dangerous to cross but who can expel you from much of society by simply barring you from his hall. A paradox: The Fencingmaster has no place in society (being base-born and having to work for his living), but he is in many ways one of the keepers of the keys to society's door, like the innkeeper of the most fashionable watering hole. And, like inns, there is no better place to hear certain kinds of news than a fencing academy.

Athlete, hired killer, or patron of youthful nobility, the duelist plays many roles, but he is always what he is. Grim or merry, devious or straightforward, famous or infamous, he stands on his own merits.

THE DUELIST

Grand Fencingmasters are not limited in number, as are holders of top levels in the assassin, druid, and monk classes. A duelist may have no henchmen until he or she attains at least 7th level. Of all fighter encounters in a city or town, 5% (roll of 1 on d20) will be with a duelist. Duelists are regularly engaged to slay people for hire (often by "calling out" their opponents), and the fees for assassins' work are typical of duelist fees, for which the duelist gains experience. Likewise, the duelist gains experience points from the Assassination Experience Points Table for every foe he overcomes in single, open combat. Opponents so sought must be armed with a weapon, as opposed to being armed solely with natural weaponry (such as many monsters have).

Giving the duelist 12-sided hit dice is not intended to convey the impression that duelists are monstrous hulks, like sumo wrestlers. As the DMG points out (p. 82), hit points reflect both the actual physical ability. . . to withstand damage. . . and a commensurate increase in such areas as skill in combat and similar life-or-death situations, the 'sixth sense' which warns the individual. And again, the balance of accrued hit points are those which fall into the non-physical areas. In other words, a character taking damage in a long fight is not necessarily getting cut up so much as he is getting worn out; his concentration lags, his arms get tired, his feet begin to drag, until he is down to his last few hit points. That's when one simple thrust might kill him, as it would any man - when he is open to the blow. By definition, a duelist is an expert at hand-to-hand combat; his inventory of tricks, his professional skill, and his stamma are superior to those of other fighter-types. By giving the duelist 12-sided hit dice, these superior abilities are expressed in game terms. A 10th-level duelist will average more hit points than a 10th-level fighter, thus giving the former an appropriate edge in one-on-one combat; the duelist can outlast and wear out an opponent who is less skillful than he.

A duelist is surprised only on a roll of 1 on d6, and his code of "honor" makes him dislike attacking by surprise in a one-on-one fight. (But he is no fool; survival is ultimately more important than "honor," and surprising an opponent is certainly not prohibited.) However, he only gains experience points on the Assassination Table if the fight is entirely conducted in the open - unless his intended victim surprised him. Note that "open" merely means man-to-man, without surprise being used by the duelist. It does not imply a public fight, nor does it entail a challenge conveyed through seconds. The DM will have to adjudicate all situations that require a ruling on whether or not the duelist will get experience points for a one-on-one fight.

When fighting opponents armed with weapons (other than missiles), the duelist gains bonuses to his armor class, simulating his superior skill in parrying blows. He also gains bonuses "to hit" and damage (referred to in the table below as the "combat bonus") when fighting an opponent who is using a hand-held weapon. This bonus increases when the duelist is fighting an opponent using the same weapon the duelist is using:

Duelists use the combat tables and saving-throw tables for the fighter class, and conform to the specifications of that class with regard to psionics and the, use of magic items. In addition, they are considered as fighters for any other determinations not specifically mentioned herein.

When fighting humanoids of size S or M in hand-to-hand situations, the duelist (and his associates) gain a +10% bonus to morale. The associates get this morale bonus only if they know the duelist for what he is - that is, a member of the duelist class.

Duelists' special abilities

This special ability comes into play when the duelist is down to few enough hit points so that his opponent's potential maximum damage could kill the duelist with a single blow. The opponent's potential maximum damage, for purposes of this determination, is the maximum damage of the opponent's weapon, plus any bonuses that apply to the opponent's damage figure. If the opponent scores a hit, the duelist may attempt to parry the blow before dice are rolled to determine the actual damage.

Example: An opponent with a strength of 18/03 using a +1 long sword could potentially do 12 points of damage - 8 with the sword, +1 for the magic, and +3 for his damage adjustment due to strength. The duelist then has the option to attempt his parry when he is reduced to 12 hit points or less vs. this opponent, after the opponent has rolled a "to hit" die successfully, and before damage is actually assessed. Should the duelist be down to 5 hit points or less, he must attempt to parry automatically, since the minimum potential damage his opponent can inflict with a successful hit is 5 points - 1 with the sword, +1 for the magic, +3 for his damage adjustment.

As long as an opponent's minimum potential damage is less than the duelist's remaining hit points, the duelist does have a choice in whether or not to attempt to parry the death blow. After all, this is a last-gasp trick, and he might want to keep it as an "ace in the hole" for one more round. Should the duelist be fighting more than one opponent, he may be forced to choose which of two or more equally deadly blows he will attempt to parry; he cannot try this trick twice in a round. Life is full of hard choices, isn't it?

Two-weaponed combat: Duelists take 1 less point off in penalties for off-hand weapon swings in two-weaponed combat, but they will only fight in such a fashion against other two weaponed humanoids or plain old monsters. The duelists' code forbids them to seek a two-weapon advantage over a oneweaponed opponent, except in life-or-death situations.

Resistance to fear: Duelists make all saving throws vs. fear attacks at +2. Identify magical properties: At 10th level and above, a duelist has a 5% chance per level of identifying the magical properties of weapons usable by his class. (One attempt per weapon per level.)

The Fencingmaster and his school

Hiring a Fencingmaster as a teacher will cost 200 g.p. a month, and one can only be hired for a month at a time. Each month of work with a Fencingmaster gains a student a 10% cumulative chance of gaining a +1 "to hit" with a particular weapon the Fencingmaster employs. Dice are rolled once, at the end of the training, to see if the student gets the +1. This training must be uninterrupted by adventuring, and there is a maximum 60% chance of gaining the bonus. If the roll fails, the training must begin all over again. A student earning a +1 with a particular weapon (e.g., a long sword) cannot earn a further bonus with that weapon by continuing to study with a Fencingmaster, no matter how long he or she trains - but the +1 "to hit" could be gained in this way for more than one weapon, if the student engages in additional instruction.

The Fencingmaster can handle up to 30 students at a time, but if he goes out adventuring for more than 3 days in any month, his students will suffer from his absence, because their training will have been interrupted for too long - and the Fencingmaster will accordingly be deprived of the income those students would have provided.

The number of students a Fencingmaster has at a given time can be determined randomly by rolling 5d6 to see how many students a Fencingmaster has, and adding one student to the result for every 3 points of charisma the Fencingmaster has, up to a maximum enrollment of 30.

Fencingmasters, unlike fighters, acquire no followers upon reaching name level (10th), even if they establish a school. Duelists' reputations have a tendency to get around, and they are known, or known about, to a greater extent as they become more accomplished. Most duelists will be aware of other duelists of equal or higher level operating in the vicinity. Sometimes a duelist will "call out" another duelist on his own initiative, just to prove himself. Grand Fencingmasters are more often revered than challenged, however, and this is also the case with many other duelists of great reputation and high charisma. top of page

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