Flourish

Discipline: Swordmaster

Talent: Melee Weapons

Rank: 7

Cost: 100

The Flourish knack enables a swordmaster to dumbfound an opponent by making a flashy display of swordsmanship without doing actual harm. The swordmaster makes a Melee Weapons Test against the target's Spell Defense. If the test succeeds, the opponent is stunned for the following Combat Round and suffers a penalty to all his step numbers based on the success level achieved. An Average success reduces the target's step numbers by 1, a Good success by 2, and so on. Additionally, other characters who attack the dumbfounded target during the following Combat Round gain a step bonus to their Attack Trsts equal to the penalties described above. A 1-step penalty becomes a 1-step bonus for attacking characters. This bonus does not apply to Damage Tests.

If the test fails, the target is not affected and attacking characters receive no step bonus. Using this knack costs the swordmaster 1 Strain Point.