Heirs to Heresy: The Fall of the Knights Templar: A Roleplaying Game

By Alan Bahr, Jelena Pjevic, Wietse Treurniet and Randy Musseau

You are one of the thirty Knights Templar who awoke on Friday, 13 October 1307, only to find themselves wanted criminals and branded heretics by the King of France. Abandoned by the Vatican and sent away early in the morning, you must leave Paris on a day of reckoning and try to find your way across a dark, mythic Europe to a mystical utopia where you can rebuild!
Heirs to Heresy starts as a historical-fantasy roleplaying game, but is heavily influenced by Gnosticism, European Folklore, esotericism, and the myths and legends that surround the Templars. The game will ask you to craft the secrets of the Templar treasure, the enemies, and mysteries they will face, as your Knights undertake a mystical journey to the center of themselves along the road to Avallonis.
The mechanics are a blend of narrative, storytelling rules, and classic adventure-gaming inspired roleplaying rules that work to create rich aspect-driven characters. As Templar Knights, your skill at arms is unquestionable, but it is the potential access to gnostic spells, unique powers, or intensely powerful faith sets you apart from your comrades.
Can you tap into your potential, guarding the mysterious Templar treasure on this last quest you will take for the order and find the answer to the burning question: are the Templars Heirs to Heresy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Oct 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781472847621

Alan Bahr

Alan Bahr is the lead designer and founder of Gallant Knight Games. A game designer best known for the bestselling TinyD6 line of games, along with other games such as Cold Shadows, For Coin & Blood, Planet Mercenary, Eorathril, and many more, Alan has been working in the RPG industry on a multitude of projects and has dozens of titles and writing credits to his name. He's an avid fan of Noir films, Arthurian mythos, smooth jazz, clever roleplaying games, and his amazing wife.

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

What is a Roleplaying Game?

A Word of Warning

What You Need to Play the Game

The Most Important Detail

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

Chronology

Life as a Knight Templar

A Brief History

1302–1307

Europe in 1307

CHARACTER CREATION

The Basic Test

The Goal of a Character

The Character Creation Process

Attributes

Skills

Derived Statistics

Starting Equipment

Personal Details

Relationships

PLAYING THE GAME

The Basic Test

The Power of Faith

Combat

Advancement

Other Rules

Journeys

Equipment

Mass Battle

Gifts

THE GRAND MASTER

Being a Grand Master

Running a Safe Game

Campaign Structure

Creating Adventures

The Truth About the Knights Templar

Relics

Tying it All Together

Downtime

Pursuit Points

ENEMIES

Enemy Statistics

Enemy Qualities

Enemy Actions

Sample Mobs

Sample Fearsome Foes

ESOTERICA & POWERS

Magicks

Blessings

Martial Esoterica

Combining Esoterica

THE FLIGHT FROM PARIS

Setting Up the Flight from Paris

Friday, October 13th, 1307

Ending the Session

APPENDIX

Pregenerated Characters

Character Sheet

Angels & Demons

Bibliography

FOREWORD

Before we begin, there is an essential note from the Author we must cover. Over the last few decades, hate groups have attempted to co-opt the iconography of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar, into symbols of white supremacy, religious intolerance, and persecution, and the basest of human emotions: hate.

We roundly reject these hate groups and their beliefs, and we refuse to allow the worst elements of our society to co-opt our shared history, truth, or religion for their violent and hateful cause. Hate and prejudice is never to be celebrated; only stamped out and destroyed. If you wish to represent hatred at your table, this game, our communities, and our time are not for you.

Secondly, this game deals with themes that draw from and impact real-world religion, history, and cultures. Every attempt has been made to ensure we remain respectful to the belief systems of those represented here, though the details are removed from the present day by history in many ways.

While history has a way of separating us and making us feel distant from those who lived in times before us, many of the religions and faiths presented in this book still exist. In that regard and to that end, we owe them respect, clarity, and honesty.

While reading this book, we hope that the reader will note that any element of religion presented herein is interpreted through the narrative of the story this game is attempting to tell, and is not an accurate representation, text, portrayal or discussion regarding the details and beliefs of those faiths.

Related to that, this game is a work of historical fantasy, where elements of magick, religion, and history blend into something new. Nothing in this book should be taken as historical fact; much of it is the product of years of imagination, lots of research (subsequently mutilated by the author), and loads of wild conjecture and outright lies. The back of the book contains a bibliography of the books the author considers most essential to the creation of this game, though it pulls from many sources, and the list is not exhaustive.

It bears repeating: The reader, players and Grand Master should not assume that anything presented in this game is accurate historical or religious fact, and one should do their own research before drawing conclusions from this text.

We’ve deliberately presented falsehoods as historical fact for the sake of narrative, story, and theme.

INTRODUCTION

Heirs to Heresy puts you in the cloth of one of the last of the Knights Templar, a doomed order of religious knights brought low by earthly vices and politics. Officially known as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, the Knights Templar are a subject of myth, mystery, and conspiracy, and as such are a natural fit for dramatic and cinematic storytelling.

Their fall from grace after a meteoric rise to power has left a great hole in our knowledge of history.

Once one of the most powerful entities in Crusader-era Europe, this Papal-sanctioned order of religious soldiers accumulated massive wealth, political and religious power, and territories all throughout Outremer (modern-day Palestine, Israel, and the surrounding areas), as well as Europe and western Asia.

However, on October 13th (a Friday), in 1307, the Templar order found itself beset. A combination of decades of political missteps by the Templars, the debts of Europe’s royalty, and the Templar’s immense financial reserves prompted King Philip of France to launch an assault on the Templar hierarchy and power structure in Paris, declaring them heretics and traitors to the Church.

Legend has it that thirty Knights Templar escaped from Paris, carrying the Templar’s treasures to parts unknown. You take on the role of one of those thirty Knights Templar, charged with safeguarding the mysterious treasures of the fallen holy order, and transporting them to a new home, safe and far away from the corruption of the mundane world.

Are these treasures just mere gold and silver, mundane coin and jewels, or are they religious relics of strange power and sacred nature? Or, perhaps, these relics are something altogether darker and more sinister than those outside the order could ever be allowed to know? Was the assault by King Philip a justified purge of the heretical Templar order? Or were the Templars wrongly maligned exemplars of Catholic virtue and martial prowess, devout and pure to the end? Where does the truth lie, and what secrets have been lost to time?

You’ll answer these questions as you play!

The following sections are written in a more conversational manner than the rest of the rulebook, as we’re attempting to impart necessary information that doesn’t benefit from technical exactness.

DESIGN NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

A note on the design goals of the game from the author. As I’ve written more and more roleplaying games, I find that the clearer I made the design goal of the game, the more likely it is that folks will understand the potentially confusing or strange choices that have been made in pursuit of it.

To that end, here is the design goal of the Heirs to Heresy:

Heirs to Heresy is a toolkit game, designed to provide you mechanical frameworks that get you 90% of the way to everything you need.

That last 10% is a do-it-yourself element, where you, your fellow players, and Grand Master will make decisions, change rules, add in house rules, and create new material to the game to make it truly your own.

This rulebook does not answer every question or situation; it is not exhaustive and has no intention of being such. The goal is to provide a foundational set of mechanics for the world, narrative, and themes the game presents, and let your table build on top of them.

Best of luck, and I can’t wait to hear about the stories you’re telling.

WHAT IS A ROLEPLAYING GAME?

Heirs to Heresy is a tabletop roleplaying game. If you’re not familiar with the concept, roleplaying games are a medium of collaborative storytelling that uses mechanical elements you might be familiar with from other types of game (dice, rules, character growth) and social conversation to create a compelling adventure and story. It’s a movie where most players are the main characters, and the Grand Master is the Director. You all work together to create the final movie and story.

Roleplaying games are great, because they are the only storytelling medium where the audience is directly influential upon the narrative. Most other media (movies, books, even video games) are entirely passive, and the audience simply sits and takes in what’s occurring as the story progresses from beginning to pre-defined end. In roleplaying, the audience gets to directly influence the story by making decisions, offering new ideas and suggestions, and pushing the story in the direction they want it to go. There aren’t any constraints other than what the group at your table has decided. There are infinite branches, stories, and choices to be made, in a way that other mediums currently can’t offer!

In a roleplaying game, you get to be an actor, a hero, a villain, have flaws, wield exceptional powers, experience emotional highs and lows, and tell a story that no one else can tell, all with your friends!

If you’re not familiar with roleplaying games, that’s ok! This one is designed to be easy to understand and play. There’s a lot that goes into them and they can feel daunting, so don’t hesitate to stop and digest anything you find within these pages. If you’re confused or don’t understand something, there are lots of online resources for roleplaying games. Roleplaying games use a lot of specific terms that are general across the medium (almost like a secret language for a secret conspiracy) and at times we can forget to explain them, however we will do our best.

There are two sorts of participants in Heirs to Heresy: Templar Characters and the Grand Master. Templar Characters might also be called players, TCs or PCs. The Grand Master might also be called the GM.

Throughout this book, we might refer to something as in-character or out-of-character. The distinction is relatively simple. In-character actions and behaviours are executed by the character you are playing. When you speak in-character, you are acting and speaking as though you were that character. Out-of-character actions are done on the opposite side of the coin, being those you take as a player outside the context of what’s happening in the game, such as telling a joke about a popular video game series that features Templars, asking the table if they want something to drink, or referencing a movie.

It’s important to maintain enough in-character behaviour to avoid harming anyone’s enjoyment, but you should not expect that you need to be in character all the time.

Players

Players are responsible for taking on a single role, that of a Knight Templar tasked with protecting and escorting the Templar treasure out of Paris to safety. They are an elite warrior, trained by one of the best fighting forces currently in existence. This is their Templar Character.

The players will direct their character’s actions based on their interpretation of the game world as seen through the eyes of their character. They will use the history they create for their character, how their character might feel in specific situations, and use the events that occur in the game to show how their character grows and changes, both mechanically on their character sheet, as well as in their personality and behaviour. When challenges or risky behaviours and actions need to be resolved, players will roll Tests, using their character’s Attributes and Skills to overcome these obstacles.

The players carry many responsibilities in the game:

Players keep the story moving forward with their actions.

Players provide drama and excitement by interacting with the game world as their characters and making decisions as their character. However, this doesn’t mean they always choose the perfect action or decision in order to win. Like all people, Templar Characters are flawed and make mistakes. It’s a lot of fun to play a character who is imperfect and doesn’t always make the best choice in a given situation.

Players work together to ensure everyone at the table (including the Grand Master) is having fun.

It’s important to be a good player throughout the game. The steps above are a great baseline, but don’t ever forget to be considerate with your tablemates!

The players’ characters are Knights Templar by profession and lifestyle, but we refer to the role and person they play as in the game as Templar Characters. Templar Characters are marked by something (destiny, faith, God, magick, or something else) and are a cut above even the average Knight Templar.

By the time the game is over, the players will have forged a secret legend, one that the world will never know, but the ramifications of which will echo down the annals of history!

The Grand Master

The Grand Master is the director of this movie you’re sharing. They help populate the world, they know where the story is going, and they work to help keep you on track. They take the role of everyone you meet, enemies and allies alike, and the Grand Master is there to ensure everyone has fun and a good time.

The Grand Master is the adjudicator, referee, and leader of the game. What they say goes in the game world, and you should trust your Grand Master. The Grand Master’s ultimate goal is to ensure that everyone has a good time and the story is engaging and enjoyable.

If you’re the Grand Master, you have some serious responsibilities:

The Grand Master plans the overall story, including the foes and obstacles players will encounter.

The Grand Master takes on the role of everyone who isn’t one of the Templar Characters.

The Grand Master injects danger, risk, and intrigue into the game world.

The Grand Master listens to the players, ensuring they are having fun and enjoying their time together.

If you ever feel stuck or unable to generate the next step in the story as the Grand Master, remember that your biggest resource is the players’ character sheets. The sort of Skills, Attributes, and abilities the players choose for their characters is your biggest guide for the kind of story they want to see and experience. A Templar Character with a high focus on combat wants to get into conflict; they want to draw swords and shed blood. A Templar Character with a high Faith Attribute and Religion Skill wants to experience stories about religion, belief, and how they influence the people and world around them. Your players are constantly communicating to you what they enjoy via the way they choose to play the game, and your job is to pay attention to that and, using what they’ve marked on their character sheets, grow and guide the story in a direction they’d like.

THE RULE OF THIRTY

Only thirty Knights Templar escape Paris at the start of a game of Heirs to Heresy. This means that if Templar Characters die, there is a decreasing amount of them in the world to replace them! In effect, if thirty characters die, the campaign as ended as the Templar treasure will be lost.

This would be an exceptionally lethal game however, and such a scenario is highly unlikely to occur. It’s just something worth keeping in mind as you play! You’re one of the last of an elite group and such a situation will undoubtedly colour your personality and approach to the problems and tasks the game presents you with.

A WORD OF WARNING

History is complicated, full of shades of grey. There are no profoundly good heroes in history, just flawed human beings undertaking the tasks of the day and age. Humanity is a product of its environment, and replicating a flawed environment serves little purpose other than to inject its problems and