Swashbuckler

### **Story**

*He had seen enough. The pack of ne'er-do-wells had ruined the peace and quiet of his mug of beer. If there was one thing sacred to him, it was his drinking. He practiced when time allowed.*

*He stood up, still holding the beer, and shouted at the men, "That's the problem with today and all the tomorrows from now until the Darkness takes us."*

*They stopped. In unison they turned towards the Swashbuckler.*

*He stumbled over until he was less than an arm's length away. Bravado flowed from him. If he was honest...and he was always honest-ish...he loved this part the most.*

*The ugliest one, and that was indeed saying something, took the bait, "And what's that?"*

*With a flourish of his hand holding the beer, he answered, "You."*

*The fist came flying towards him slower than he had expected. He slipped left, leaning and twisting toward the ugly one. The hand holding the mug swept in front of the punch, deftly bringing it towards the waiting shoulder of the twisting savior of beer and defender of tavern peace and quiet. After the satisfying crack of the ugly one's elbow, he leaned right to dodge the punch racing towards the back of his skull. He completed the 360 degree turn to face the first's friend, who was equally ugly. The ugly one's punch connected with the ugly one with the broken arm, sending him crashing into the feet of a third very ugly fellow. He had time, so he took a nice long draw from the beer while he aimed a low kick at the knee of the punching ugly one. It bent backwards, sending the ugly one in careening forward into the Swashbuckler's rising knee. Hearing footfalls behind him, the Swashbuckler pitched his body to the right. Rolling on his back across the top of a small table, he sent it flying after the ugly one that had tried to tackle him.*

*He hadn't noticed when he started that ALL of these ruffians were in various stages of ugly.*

*The only two ugly ones not rolling around on the ground, groaning and clutching broken pieces, looked at him. Broken-toothed smiles split their faces. Behind him, he heard a chair exhale, as if a great burden had finally been lifted.*

*Looking at the two, made even uglier by their smiles, he asked, "He's behind me isn't he?"*

*They nodded their heads so hard, he swore he could hear the ocean...or was that sea shells...*

*Turning around, he stood staring at the great barreled chest of a massive, massively ugly giant of a man.*

*Silence clung to the tavern like the garments of the damsel he rescued from the rain that was assaulting her.*

*He drained his tankard dry and wiped his mouth across the back of the same hand. Slowly he placed the mug on the chest of a groaning ugly one...he couldn't remember if this was the second or forth...they blur together sometimes. He had been wrong earlier, if he was honest, it was this part he loved the most. Lifting his hand, he motioned the monstrously ugly giant man forward.*

*"I got this."*

#### **Playing the Swashbuckler**

The Swashbuckler is a hand full, but extremely fun to play. He is one of the best dual wielders in the game. But dual wielding doesn't define his play style as much as the swagger inherent in his cards. It is necessary to throw caution to the wind when you play the Swashbuckler. He excels when surrounded, outnumbered, and outclassed. He may or may not "have it", but you better play him like he does. He may need a pocket healer for those rare occasions he fails, but man does he fail with style. There is something about standing in a mass of monsters and watching them all kill each other trying to kill you.

The trick is knowing when to dual wield and when to utilize the amazing interrupts he has. He is a roller coaster with Threat. Until he is learned, he will cause Threat penalties. He is one of the few Heroes that can go from 0 to 10 in a single Darkness cycle.

**Stacked**

Journeyman has a keyword that hasn't really been touched on yet. It is stacked. The final 2.0 Acolyte cards will have this keyword, but the Swashbuckler uses this along with his Interrupts to really do some interesting Hero Cycle attacks and Darkness Cycle counters.