Hedge Duelist

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House Ruled Physical

Rites of Spring p. 91
Preq's	Wyrd ●●●
Level(s)	● (2XP) ●● (6XP) ●●● (12XP) ●●●● (20XP) ●●●●● (30XP)
Venue	Changeling
Possessed By
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While any changeling can step into the Hedge to duke it up with an opponent, for some, Hedge battles have become an art form. Characters with the Fighting Style: Hedge Duelist Merit have dedicated time and effort into perfecting combat within the Hedge’s unique environment, turning the Hedge Duel into an (often lethal) art form.

Dots purchased in this Merit allow access to special combat maneuvers that are applicable only to combat within the Hedge (not Arcadia), and only in formal duels.^[1]

Each manoeuvre is a prerequisite for the next. A character can’t purchase Briar Bite until he has mastered Quick Count and Cruel Blow. The manoeuvres and their effects are described below.

Quick Count (•)

In a traditional pistol duel, opponents walk in opposite directions, counting to 10 before turning and firing at each other. This often means that whoever has the quicker reflexes gets the benefit of the first shot. Experienced Hedge Duelists seem to be able to get the “drop” on their opponents more often than not, perhaps simply by quick reaction times, or perhaps through some subtle manipulation of the Hedge’s time flow. With Quick Count, your opponent gets a +2 bonus to her Initiative when beginning a Hedge Duel. If Storytellers are using the alternate Initiative rules on p. 151 of the World of Darkness Sourcebook, the bonus applies to each Initiative roll.

This Maneuver has been changed to: Quick Count (•): In a traditional pistol duel, opponents walk in opposite directions, counting to 10 before turning and firing at each other. This often means that whoever has the quicker reflexes gets the benefit of the first shot. Experienced Hedge Duelists seem to be able to get the “drop” on their opponents more often than not, perhaps simply by quick reaction times, or perhaps through some subtle manipulation of the Hedge’s time flow. With Quick Count, you gain a +2 bonus to your Initiative when beginning a Hedge Duel.

Cruel Blow (••)

Demoralizing an opponent is an effective, if unscrupulous, tactic for Hedge duels, and your character has perfected it. When targeting an opponent’s mind (see p. 226 of Changeling: The Lost), she has an uncanny ability to choose whatever words will do the most damage. Add either your character’s Empathy or the victim’s (whichever is higher) to your character’s Manipulation + Subterfuge rolls against the victim’s Clarity or Resolve + Composure.

Briar Bite (•••)

For an expert Hedge Duelist, the Hedge itself becomes its own, oft lethal, weapon. By spending a Glamour, a Hedge Duelist is able to use the Hedge against his opponent without regard for the opponent’s own powers. When your character uses the Hedge to strike at a rival, your opponent’s Wyrd is treated as two less for purposes of defense (to a minimum of 0).

No Mercy (••••)

Normally, a character suffers no more than a –2 penalty for losing all of her Willpower to a Hedge Duel opponent’s mind-attacks. Characters with the No Mercy manoeuvre, however, give no quarter to their opponents’ weakened state, pursuing the mental abuse to the point where it can totally incapacitate their foes. Once an opponent has been reduced to 0 Willpower, each successive strike at his mind with the No Mercy manoeuvre increases his dice penalty by 1. Using this tactic calls for a Clarity roll if the attacker’s Clarity is 7 or higher (roll three dice). In addition, opponents who end a Hedge Duel with more than a –2 penalty thanks to this punishment suffer from a mild derangement (or an upgrade of an existing derangement from mild to severe) for the next 24 hours. Those who end a Hedge Duel with a –5 or greater penalty or less Willpower suffer the derangement or upgrade for an entire week. When an opponent reaches a –10 penalty, he are no longer able to function and falls to the ground in a quivering, fetal ball. It is considered exceptionally poor form to kill an opponent who has been so incapacitated, even if the duel was announced as being to the death, so adroit Hedge Duelists will often attempt to pause their mind attacks just short of this threshold if they intend on killing their victim. (Killing a victim who is incapacitated in this manner calls for a degeneration roll if the attacker’s Clarity is 2 or higher. Roll two dice.)

Hedge Wrath (•••••)

The Hedge is not a nice place. The fact that it seems to cooperate more freely with changelings who come into its fickle environ for the purposes of harming each other is just one example of its cruel nature. For those who are able to harness this cruelty, however, the Thorns are an incredible weapon. With Hedge Wrath, your character is able to sacrifice her own Willpower to fan the Hedge’s lethal potential even higher. She may spend a Willpower point to enhance any Hedge Duel attack in which she is reshaping the Hedge to strike at her enemy; the usual benefits apply. In addition, if that attack is an exceptional success, all damage the attack does is aggravated, rather than lethal.