From the epic lightsaber duels between Jedi and Sith to the settling of scores between Lords of the Expanse, duels and swordfighting are a large part of the swashbuckling tradition of Star Wars. These rules are based on the above Martial Arts rules (which, in turn, are based on the martial arts rules of CyberPunk2?.0.2.0) and are intended to provide a cinematic, yet detailed enough simulation to make swordfighting an interesting part of the game rather than simply comparing attack rolls without knowing what is going on. A variety of forms are presented below, both terrestrial and Star Wars. Note that these rules may also apply to just about all melee combat, regardless of the actual sharpness of the weapon. Modifiers and difficulty for non-listed schools are at the GM's discretion.

As much as martial arts are bodily art forms, the logical extension are the swordfighting and dueling, which are often as much a part of the martial arts as are the unarmed versions. These styles developed almost universially as civilizations moved from using stones to spears to metal swords and were often codified and "perfected" as the sword itself was becoming obsolete next to firearms. Additional schools were created later as the art moved into a sport or schools were merged. As with all things, competition is key and many well-followed schools compete in tournaments across the galaxy, and many also compete in "open" competitions to determine the "best" technique. Rivalries are as common as in more traditional martial arts and often follow the same lines if connected with an unarmed school.

Melee combat in duels follows the same range bands as the unarmed combat listed above. Range becomes more important as different weapon classes now have minimum ranges, so you can get inside your opponent's weapon, making them rely on less lethal martial arts attacks. For minimum ranges not listed, a good idea is that anything other than knives and daggers is useless at touching range, and close is within the reach of greatswords and polearms but already at -1 initiative to knives and daggers. Stand-off presents a -1 to shortswords, longswords, and anything larger than 20cm but less than 1.5m and -2 to knives and daggers. Greatswords finally take a -1 at far range and everything else takes an additional -1. As a free action, a combatant can increase or decrease the range by one level. A full action may adjust the range by two levels. As before, with multiple combatants, diagrams are recommended.

Initiative is also critical in duels. It follows the same rules as the martial arts listed above. As before, a Force Point will allow a parry or dodge even when initiative says it is impossible, but the difference is subtracted from the total before the skill checks are compared.

Dueling techniques can be broken down into Stab, slash, parry, dodge, and disarm. Some techniques may be also have parry projectile, with restrictions on what sort of projectiles can be parried, i.e. only arrows/spears, and other slow-moving objects, or all sorts of projectiles and cohesive ranged weapons. These will be listed in the notes section of each technique. Each school of swordfighting or other melee weapon will have certain techniques available to it. As with normal skills, some can be slightly interchanged if they come from a similar source. These cases will be listed in the description of each technique. Each maneuver may have a bonus in a certain school, ranging from +2 to +2D. When performing that maneuver using that technique and skill, the bonus is added to your roll. As in martial arts, the bonus cannot be higher than the skill is above the attribute.

To stab, you thrust your weapon at the opponent, trying to impale him on it. This works best with weapons with sharp tips and slender design, but it is commonly used in other cases anyway. The benefit to stabbing is acting at -1 to initiative at close and stand-off distance, but the penalty is a -2D to the ability to parry as you have lunged foreward exposing yourself somewhat. Regardless of the starting range, stabs end the range at close, except with a knife or dagger, where it is reduced to touching. A successful stab deals the attacker's STR+weapon in damage.

Slashing uses the longer sides of a blade or object to cut the opponent. Often capable of doing significant damage, it also has the advantage of allowing you to parry any counterattacks more easily than if you had stabbed. A slash acts as a normal attack, with no initiative or parry modifiers. Slashing reduces the range to close, unless a knife or dagger was used, which reduces the range to touching. A successful slash deals the attacker's STR+weapon in damage.

When getting slashed or stabbed, it is often a good idea to bat the opponent's weapon out of the way with a parry. Parries act at +5 to your initiative and any additional bonus they have over the opponent's initiative is added to your roll. At the end of a successful parry, the parrier may elect to reduce the range by one step. Knives are more difficult to parry and to parry with, so all attempts to parry them are at -1D and to parry with are at -2D. Try dodging instead. Also note it is possible to parry using a martial art. However, a successful parry in that case simply redirects the damage of the weapon onto a limb of the parrier's choice.

Sometimes you can't, won't, or don't want to stand your ground and parry. But you still have to get out of the way. So you dodge. Dodges happen at +10 initiative but do not have spillover from initiative to their total like parries. At the end of a dodge, the defender may elect to increase the range to stand-off. Dodge is interchangable and will work equally well against both martial arts and melee in all incarnations.

Disarms try to remove your opponent's weapon. Often a difficult maneuver even at the best of times, it is nonetheless a better way to force surrender without killing your opponent. Disarms act as slashes, but a successful disarm makes the opponent attempt a Dexterity check to retain a grip on their weapon equal to twice the amount the disarm attack succeeded by. If they succeed, they retain a grip but must spend an action to re-ready the weapon and forefit all additional attacks that round. If they fail, they lose their grip and must spend two actions, one to move to the weapon and one to retrieve the weapon. Finally, they forefit all additional attacks the round they regain the weapon.

Feints work the same way as in martial arts. An opposed con and human perception check is made with the winner getting half the margin to their initiative. This may readjust the initiative order. Also, the con dice may not be greater than the style skill being used.

Projectile parries involve deflecting or destroying incoming projectiles by intercepting them with your weapon. This is common with Jedi who practice this as a routine part of their weapon training, but it is far less common with other schools. Nonetheless, there are instances of parried arrows and other slow-moving projectiles. If there is an entry in this column other than "--", the school does teach the technique. However, it cannot be performed unless the penalty in this column will allow the user to still have dice in the skill above the attribute, i.e. if the column entry is -5D, the a user with 3D Dexterity would require 8D+1 in the skill to even attempt this.