DCC-Dune: Swordhands

The Sword of this Dune-a-fied setting is very much like the Warrior class of DCC-RPG. There are certain changes and flavour text to get it a science fiction vibe, but ultimately that will come in to play through the scifi weapons and adventures.

Shielding Fighting (or Dueling) is quintessential to Dune and I will finally go into detail about it further below!

Swordhand

You are a skilled warrior bound by a sworn oath to protect and serve your House. There is no melee weapon with which you are not skilled. You may be a royal guard, an instructor to the heir, the commander of a garrison, or perhaps all three.

After the invention of the personal shield the use of projectiles became rather futile. Master Assassins became the currency on which disputes were settled and masters of the sword became the necessity for which the noble families were protected. All Swordhands learn their trade on the harsh planet of Hizaal. There after a lifetime of trials the trainees, if they survive, leave the planetary school as adepts skilled in all manor of melee weapons and hand-to-hand combat techniques to join the Noble-house of their home world.

Swordhands serve their houses with the utter most loyalty; however, there have been reported instances of swordhands going rogue. These few often become sell swords and are known to be extremely dangerous.

Hit points: A swordhand gains 1d12 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: A swordhand is trained in the use of all weapons and if using a melee weapon of any kind the swordhand’s initiative and deed dice are both raised +1d.

Alignment: A swordhand is usually always of the same alignment of the Noble-house they serve.

Attack modifier: (Same as DCC Warrior class)

Mighty Deeds of Arms: (Same as DCC Warrior class)

Shield Fighting: See below...

Critical hits: (Same as DCC Warrior class)

Initiative: A swordhand adds his class level to his initiative rolls.

Luck: At first level, a swordhand’s Luck modifier applies to attack rolls with one specific kind of weapon. This is the weapon they were most superior with on Hizaal. It must be chosen at first level and the modifier is fixed at its starting value – neither the weapon nor the modifier changes over the course of the swordhand’s career.

Action dice: A swordhand always uses his action dice for attacks. At 5th level, a warrior gains a second attack each round with his second action die.

Languages: Common, House’s secret battle language, plus 1 additional language for every +1 Intelligence modifier.

Level	Attack	Crit Die/ Table	Threat Range	Action Dice	Deed Die	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+d3	1d12/III	19-20	1d20	d3	+1	+1	+0
2	+d4	1d14/III	19-20	1d20	d4	+1	+2	+0
3	+d5	1d16IV	18-20	1d20	d5	+2	+2	+1
4	+d6	1d20/IV	18-20	1d20	d6	+2	+3	+1
5	+d7	1d24/V	17-20	1d20+1d14	d7	+3	+3	+2

Level	Title (Lawful)	Title (Neutral)	Title (Chaotic)
1	Serviceman	Soldier	Raider
2	Swordsman	Brigand	Brigand
3	Knight	Cavalier	Marauder
4	Champion	Defender	Ravager
5	Master	Adept	Reaver

Shield Dueling

Shield Dueling is a fairly new style of fencing designed to take advantage of the slight vulnerability of the personal shield. With the careful precision of a slow moving object, usually that of a dagger, an attacker can penetrate an opponent's shield. Prolonged shield dueling however is extremely dangerous as the increased friction between the two phase-fields can cause a Phlogiston Disturbance!

To make a precise strike during a shield duel, the attacker must land a successful attack roll when his or her’s Precision is equal to or greater than his or her’s opponent’s current AC.

Below are the basic rules by which the art of Shield Dueling is accomplished:

1. Both fighting players set a d20 in front of their person. This d20 represents their Prescision. At the start of the duel both fighters set their d20 to 10.
2. Both fighters roll for initiative. Whomever wins the initiative attacks first and sets their precision tracker to 11.
3. The attacker rolls his action die (usually 1d20) and adds their attack bonus plus their Agility modifier. If the roll is equal to or above the defender’s AC the attack lands and the attacker raises their precision die by a number equal to their Agility modifier. If the attack was a miss the attacker lowers their precision die by a number equal to their Agility modifier.
4. The defender now rolls to attack following the rules above.
5. If an attacker fumbles their roll they must roll on the Fumble Table (DCC-RPG p. XX) and lower their precision tracker while their opponent raises theirs.
6. If an attacker rolls a critical they score an automatic hit through the shield which wounds their opponent.
7. The Judge rolls a percentage die to determine if the shield duel has resulted in a Phlogiston Disturbance! This is a 2% cumulative chance each round.
8. Both opponents re-roll initiative and begin the second round of fighting.
9.