Spelljammer
Master Swordsman
This skill enhances a specialist's ability with melee weapons. The specialist's rank with this skill cannot exceed his rank with his melee weapon(s).

Although this skill is called Master Swordsman, it can apply to any melee weapon in which the character is specialized, with the exception of blackjack, club, dagger, garrote, hand axe, javelin or war club.

Only those who have specialized in a melee weapon can develop this skill and then it only applies to those melee weapons in which the character is specialized (except as noted above). Thus, a double specialist with a long sword can develop this skill to to apply to long sword but if he attacks with a short sword, and he is not specialized in short sword, this skill cannot help him. If the character is single specialized in all swords, he may use this skill will all weapons in that category (except as noted above).

The Master Swordsman gains the following bonus with their specialized weapon (or weapons) as they improve in rank.

Rank
Initiative
Damage
Defense *
Notes
1
+1
+1
2
+1
+2
3
+3
4
+1
+4
5
+1
+5
6
+6
7
+1
+7
8
+1
+8
9
+9
10
+1
+10
+1 chance of critical
11
+1
+11
12
+12
Gain First Strike ability, +2 critical, +1 grievous
13
+1
+13
14
+1
+14
15
+15
16
+1
+16
17
+1
+17
18
+18
19
+1
+19
20
+1
+20
* Defense bonus applies only when opponent is using the weapon(s) that the master swordsman is specialized in.

Bonus to Quick Draw
The master swordsman gains a bonus of 3% per rank to his Quick Draw bonus. If he does not have Quick Draw skill, then he does not get this bonus.

First Strike
At rank 12, the master swordsman gains first strike with their specialized weapon(s). That means that if their initiative is tied with someone else, their attack is resolved first. If their opponent also has first strike, then the attacks are simultaneous.

Bonus to Defense
The master swordsman gains a +1 DEF per rank against opponents who are using the weapon that the master swordsman is specialized in. For example, if the master swordsman is rank 5 with this skill, and is specialized in all swords, then he gets a +5 DEF when facing an opponent wielding a sword.

Disarm Attack
A master swordsman can attempt a disarm maneuver. The maneuver can be attempted against any object carried by their melee opponent, including weapon and shield. The master swordsman rolls to hit normally but declares disarm as his action and states his target (weapon, shield, etc.). Compare the result to the table below.
  • Miss - The disarm attempt failed.
  • Normal Hit - 25% (+4% per rank) chance per rank of disarming the target. This chance is reduced by 3% per rank of the target (4% for specialists and double specialists).
  • Critical Hit - As above but increase chance to 30% (+5% per rank)
  • Grievous Hit - As above but also cause normal (not crit or grievous) damage to the target.

A disarmed weapon lands 1d10-1 feet away. A disarmed shield drops to the ground.

Note that this ability can also be used to "disarm" the target of objects that he carrying, but the attack must make sense. For example, this skill could be used to cut one of the straps on the target's backpack, but only if the attacker is using a weapon that cuts. In such cases, instead of the chance of success being reduced by 3% per rank of the target, it is instead reduced by the target's DEX. Thus, if the target had a DEX of 18, the chance of a successful disarm would be reduced by 18%.

Increased Chance of Critical or Grievous Hit
At rank 10, the chance of a critical hit occurring is increased by +1 (i.e., normally a modified SC of 90 indicates that a 5 or less is a grievous and a 14 or less is a crit - at rank 10, the chance of a crit is 15 instead of 14). At rank 12, this improves to +2 for crit and +1 for grievous.

Increased Chance of a Grievous Occuring When One is Indicated
When a grievous is indicated, it is actually only a chance of a grievous based on the class of weapon:

Class A = 20%
Class B = 60%
Class C = 30%

Each rank of this skill improves these chances as follows:

Class A = 3% per rank
Class B = 1% per rank
Class C = 2% per rank

Master Skills
A character cannot develop skill in more than one "master" skill. For example, if someone has Master Swordsman skill, they cannot develop Master Defender or Master of Hurled Weapons skill.