The Fencing Master [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Vencarlo

The Fencing Master is a free, four-part series of web fiction (available here) written by the Pathfinder Tales line's most successful author, Dave Gross.  The main character here is the protagonist of several Pathfinder novels: a Chelaxian nobleman and gentleman adventurer named Count Jeggare.   The story is set entirely in Korvosa as Jeggare visits a dueling academy in search of a bodyguard.  There's a lot of action in the serial, including an exciting scene set at a museum and a lot of sword-fighting.  A solid portrayal of what the Vigilante class looks like within the fictional world of Golarion is definitely a plus.  All in all though, I thought the story was fairly average, with only an intriguing dangling thread at the end to hint of better things next time.

SPOILERS

I've read the first couple of Jeggare and Radovan novels, and this story must be set later in their continuity because Radovan is not present and Jeggare is auditioning for a replacement bodyguard.  It was a bit confusing at first.  A former Sczarni bravo named Vencarlo seems to be the best candidate as bodyguard and is hired on, only to chafe upon learning that Jeggare has lent his services to catching a notorious thief named Blackjack.  Vencarlo sees Blackjack as a sort of Robin Hood-type (stealing from the rich and helping the poor), so he tries to foil the ambush attempt.  There's some exciting scenes and a respectable revelation of who Blackjack is.  I also quite liked the revelation of the identity of a mysterious assassin as well (a beautiful noblewoman), and I hope that's a thread that gets picked up somewhere in the future.