Duellist sounds like a promising career for me to transition to, but there is very little info on it available and I'm not sure I can justify buying OoW yet JUST for this mystery career that may not be what I need. Can anyone share what the Talent slots are and the general thrust () of the career ability?

Tactic x2, Reputation x1

Bonus to defense and attack rolls when engaged with only one other creature (so, you know, dueling them).

Agility and Toughness. CCRR. Ballistic Skill, Charm, Coordination, Intimidate, Weapon Skill.

the duellist is a fun career to pick, if you like to transition to it might be a little expensive for you if you don't already have the "duelling gear" which includes most times a rapier and a pistol. what's your current career?

and don't forget about the unreliable factors of blackpowder weapons, an unreliable 1 weapon backfires more often than it hits, at least for my group

but still it was fun seeing my player challenge NPC to a duel. i once had them attacked by the skulltaker, who picks one target and challenges him to a duel, the duellist was even fast than the skulltaker to engage in one haha. i love that career

as a side comment, Omens of War is a must independently of the duellist career.

Thanks for the info everyone.

nephtys said:

Is rapier + pistol actually a Special Requirement or just Typical Trappings?

I am currently a Reikland Human Pit Fighter (really a street fighter). I am big on active defenses and would love to get Coordination, Charm, and more Action Card access early, but the routes to do that and reach Duellist without increasing the total advance penalties are very convoluted. If Duellist was not actually the right place for me, I'd look at alternatives, but it really does sound like an excellent fit.

paulsk said:

It's not really a requirement, it's up to your GM to make the call. But Duelists has the Noble trait, so a pit fighter (brass or possibly silver tier) transitioning into Duelist may be a bit hard to motivate unless you can build a story around it. I'm sure you can do it though. One player in my group went from Gambler into Duelist, he's just doing a noble con (and has been "lucky" with the cards, which allowed him to buy a pistol). Pistols are a Noble's weapon in the Empire, most common people will who see someone with a pistol in fancy clothes will assume that he's a noble without even talking to him.

exactly. these items are typical trappings but it is up to your GM to make a call. I would say that in order to be able to transition into that career you should already have the gear. you can do that in a quick storyline. maybe a duellist comes up to you and challenges you and your call will be that the winner takes the loser's weapons. if its a duel to the death, well then…finder"s keeper"s eh?

for the noble i would also go for disguising yourself as a noble at first and maybe get a chance to really become noble by helping out one of the gold tier, although you might have to help him ALOT for that…

What is the general opinion of high elf duelists? Would one prefer the longbow over the pistol?

I'm curious as one of my players is looking for a mix of combat and social for his next career, and duellist looked like the best option. But themetically pistols would be rather poor for an elf, not to mention very expensive.

Duelling would be more of a Dark Elf rather than a High Elf career.

Karma Kollapse said:

A bow doesn't feel very duelist-like, but there's nothing that prevents a character from duelling only with a rapier either (and a buckler or a main gauche). All duels do not have to include guns. What I think about when it comes to duelling with pistols western movies where you stand back to back, walk for a bit and then wait until the church bell chimes, turn around, draw your revolver and shoot at the other duellist. That would be very awkward with a bow I think, a bow isn't a duelling weapon at all.

For Dark Elves crossbow pistols would do the trick though.

As a houserule I'd probably remove Balistic Skill from a high elf duellist and add a skill that would be more appropriate, discipline for example.