August 29, 2016

7th Sea Pre-Made Heroes - Cedric Bisset du Verre

Since we started off with a surly, salty seadog of a pirate, I thought I might switch it up a bit and present a character that is far more urbane and cultured.  After all, one of the core elements of the swashbuckling genre are swashbucklers themeselves, men of good breeding and education that are can cut you down with a well-timed jibe just as easily as they could with their blade.

If any of the nations presented in 7th Sea could be said to fall in line with the romanticized ideal of the swashbuckling hero, then it with little doubt has to be Montaigne.  Mirroring France just before the bloody revolution, Montaigne is a land where the nobility live the high life at the expense of the peasantry, but opportunities abound for those of noble ideals to do the right thing.  And while the stereotype of a Montaigne noble is a vain fop that spends their time indulging in one passing fancy to the next, some of the nation's nobility are up to the challenge of representing the best that Montaigne has to offer...

Cedric Bisset du Verre, Montaigne Dilettante 
Traits:Brawn 2, Finesse 3, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Panache 3
Backgrounds: Aristocrat, Duelist
Skills: Aim 1, Athletics 2, Convince 3, Empathy 2, Intimidate 2, Perform 2, Ride 1, Scholarship 1, Tempt 3, Weaponry 3
Advantages: Disarming Smile, Duelist Academy (Valroux), Fencer, Friend at Court, Rich
Arcana: Foolhardy, Victorious
Starting Reputation: 0
Starting Wealth: 3
Languages: Avalon, Montaigne, Old Thean
Personal Items: Fine-quality rapier and main-gauche, fine-quality clothing

Appearance: Cedric cuts quite the dashing figure, with his lean frame and aristocratic features.  His outfits are a mixture of fashionable and practical, allowing him to look his best while still having freedom of movement should trouble arise.

Background: The third child of a minor branch of the Bisset family, Cedric is still quite well off in comparison to most.  As a lesser child, he's been granted indulgence from the family's patriarch to pursue whatever matters might be of interest to the young noble, enabling him to have a passing grasp of a variety of topics as well as become a talented duelist and socialite.  Due to his lower station in comparison to his older brothers, it is Cedric who is most often sent out and abroad to handle matters of lesser importance for his family.

Notes: Back in first edition, being a swordsman in 7th Sea was something of a mixed bag.  In the early going a swordsman character simply had a few more combat options than other PCs, but had to pay a hefty price, but as they got more experienced a skilled swordsman could be an utterly devastating opponent in a fight.

In second edition, the waiting time to be awesome in a fight as a swordsman has been dramatically reduced, as the combat options available to anyone with access to a Duelist school means that they are going to be a terror to their foes once they draw steel.  While Cedric would prefer to present a far more refined image, he's no slouch when he decides it's time to fight, as he ably demonstrated during the one-shot I ran for my Friday Night Skype group as he pretty much owned the minor villain in a one-on-one duel (same scenario saw a PC completely obliterate a large Brute Squad thanks to the timely use of a particular Advantage).

It bears mention that Wealth is something of an odd thing in this version of 7th Sea.  Being more of an abstract concept (not to unlike Wealth as used in d20 Modern), most PCs are assumed to be able to live fairly well (if not extravagantly), being able to acquire decent quality weapons, clothing, and items without much hassle; after all, time spent haggling over goods is time that's not spent swinging from chandeliers, trading insults and blows with villains, or wooing lovely young maidens.  Since Cedric is very much a part of the upper class, he's not the type to really worry about money; what some might consider abject luxury he'd probably deem as barely adequate for a man of his station.

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