Hi all, well, today seems to be the day for posting new stuff, so I'll have my turn. Yes, this is a version of the Knights Templar, I've been working on this since well before I was on the list, and was most surprised to find someone else working on them also. Mine are not Kindred, but an independent human organization loosely allied with some mages. I sent this one to White Wolf, but they have yet other ideas about the Templars (Sigh) so I'm giving them to you.
The Military Order of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon was a medieval military-religious organization whose members were considered both knights and monks. It was founded in 1119 in France, and its original purpose was to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land in the days of the Crusades. The Order amassed vast wealth and power, both in Palestine and Europe. Legends began to grow up around the mysterious knights who fought for no lord and bowed to no priest, strange legends of foreign customs and occult powers. In 1307, the pope and the king of France joined forces to destroy the Order, arresting the knights and seizing their riches. Though it is said that the pope and king were motivated by greed, the Templars were tried for heresy by the Inquisition. In 1312 the Order was suppressed by the pope, and The Grand Master of the Order was burned at the stake. The Order's treasure went into the king's coffers, its temples were destroyed, its knights scattered, tortured, or burned. So ends the official history of the Order.
Unknown to official history, however, the Order survived. Legends of the knights' special powers were sometimes based in truth. Some knights escaped the king's bailiffs or remained in the Holy Land. Treasure, knowledge, and the secret documents of the Order were smuggled out of France by surviving knights, to a place known only as Outremer (French for overseas, literally, across the water). Whether Outremer is a Templar outpost somewhere in the Holy Land, or a hidden site somewhere else is not known. It became the Order's new center, from which, slowly and quietly, the organization was rebuilt. New knights, no longer bound to the nation or the church that had betrayed them, slipped back into Europe, the Middle East, and eventually the United States. The location of the Order's stronghold is now a secret known only to a few of the highest-ranking knights. Unknown to most people, present-day Knights Templars operate throughout the modern world.
Many things have changed for the Order since the days of the Crusades. Betrayed by king and pope, and unnerved by an attempt to link the Order with German nationalism in Hitler's time, the Templars no longer tolerate either religious or political affiliation, and maintain a very low profile. The Order has built up great resources of both money and information. It is most active in the United States, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Though all knights receive paramilitary training, they come from all walks of life, and the Order has come far from its days as a guild of soldiers. Membership is open to anyone who can discover the Order, pass the tests of entrance, and who will swear to give allegiance to the Order above all considerations, follow its rules of conduct, and maintain silence concerning the Order's private business. The basic mission of the Templars has not changed, however. They still exist to protect travelers, though now travelers of all faiths, on all roads, in all places.
The Order has two grades of knights. Undedicated knights form the majority of the membership. They may resign from the Order if they wish, as long as they swear to keep their activities for the Order secret and to not discuss the Order with members of the media. Those who break this oath may be subject to retribution. Undedicated knights do not know many of the Order's secrets. An undedicated knight who violates the rules of the Order may be warned by a tribunal or expelled from the Order. Dedicated knights have sworn an oath of lifelong service to the Order. They may be party to its secrets, and are more knowledgeable about its structure. They receive special training. Dedicated knights have a year's probation before they are confirmed. Undedicated Templars must place their allegiance and obedience to the Templars above that to any other organization they belong. This includes the laws of any nation they are a citizen of and the rules of any church they belong to. Dedicated Templars may not belong to any other organization, which bars them from everything from joining any church or fraternal organization to being a citizen of any nation. Dedicated Templars must remove themselves from all such organizations at the close of their year's probation; to remove citizenship they may either fake their deaths or use computer hackers to remove all evidence of their existence from non-Templar records. Dedicated Templars cannot resign.
The Knights Templars operate in pairs (their symbol is two knights on a single horse, or behind a single shield). Both members are either dedicated or undedicated. In other ways, differing people are usually paired: male and female, native-born and foreign-born, black and white, blind and sighted, a magician or information specialist or healer with a cynic or thief or warrior. Each pair of knights is aware of the identities and locations of another pair of knights of their own grade and another pair of knights senior to themselves. The senior knights know another pair still more senior, and so on. Dedicated knights may know the identities of a number of other pairs. In this way information is passed from the least experienced knights to the most experienced, and advice and missions are relayed down. Knights of all grades may not know each other by their real names or addresses; nommes de guerre and regular meeting places are common. Power in the Order is based on seniority, with the most experienced undedicated knights junior to the least experienced dedicated ones.
Knights may suggest their own missions. These must be approved by a council of the most senior dedicated knights in the area of operation of the planned mission. Missions may also be assigned by a council of senior dedicated knights. When on a mission, knights may choose to act incognito. To identify themselves as knights of the Order, Templars wear a white shirt, jacket, dress, or coat with the Order's heraldry: a red circle quartered by a cross, representing the pathways of the world. Around the border of the circle is written the word Outremer. Every knight has the right to refuse any assigned mission. If a knight is accused of violating the rules of the Order, they are tried by council. Dedicated knights are tried by a council of other dedicated knights. Undedicated knights are tried by two smaller councils, one of dedicated knights and one of knights of their own grade. Judgements vary from verbal warnings, to probation, to disciplinary action, to expulsion from the Order or death. If the two councils do not agree to expel an undedicated knight, lesser action must be taken. A sentence of death must be agreed to by a full council of 72 dedicated knights. The Order has no right to pass sentence on anyone who is not a member or a former member.
Templars are engaged in both natural and supernatural missions throughout the world. The most common missions for knights have always been of two types: guarding a pathway, or guarding a group of people or objects on a journey. In zones of war or civil unrest, knights may be found escorting caravans of food, relief supplies, or medical personnel into dangerous areas, or escorting groups of refugees out. Templars do not escort active military personnel or supplies. In areas of political tension, Templars are often asked through informal channels to provide safe escort to diplomats and political leaders. The organization may elect to undertake such missions, but support is not partisan; knights will, for instance, bring all negotiating parties to neutral ground. Protection is not offered only to the rich and powerful; in the days before the Civil War, Templars were actively involved both in bringing runaway slaves to free states and in preventing the murder of the pattersols who pursued them.
The guarding of pathways is another common duty, and the definition of pathway to the Order is very broad. "Armchair" Templars may be found arguing legal cases for the rights of refugees to leave a country or of immigrants to come to one, or for the proper disposition of stolen art and artifacts. More active guardianship of pathways may be anything from assisting in the construction of safe road crossings for animals in wilderness areas to the patrolling of roads, rail lines, and airports to prevent intentional or accidental damage that would injure travellers. Routes between the mortal world and the Umbra are considered pathways, as is the use of magic, particularly magic which summons people or creatures.
Templars may be found in situations which also involve vampires, werewolves, or magi. Routes in and out of war-torn or otherwise violent areas are often known to vampires, who may hunt habitually there for the wounded, forgotten, or exhausted humans who make easy prey. Such roads are as likely to run through Watts as through Beirut. Though the Templar's primary concern is for human beings, their definition of travelers is not limited to humans. Knights have been known to guard archaeological artifacts, fine art, or bodies of the dead which are being transported. Protection of wildlife corridors may lead to positive interactions with the Garou, just as the protection of human roads may lead to negative ones. Neonate vampires fleeing their Sire are considered travelers until they have settled into their new life, as are vampires searching for Golconda. Summoned beings, fairies in the mortal world, and ghosts are travelers by definition, and Templars will strenuously avoid destroying them in favor of helping them to a final destination. Magi who habitually bring beings from other places into the mortal world against their will may find themselves at odds with knights of the Order. Those with the power to travel between worlds may be sought out by Templars trying to bring stray beings back to their proper homes.
The Knights are a fully independent order. They are forbidden from swearing allegiance to, or making a permanent alliance with, any other organization. This rule means that the Knights tend to deal with individuals, rather than with groups However, the Knights have a number of de facto policies regarding other groups.
The Kindred: Vampires are undead corpses who exist by drinking human blood. This fact alone is enough to make the Knights, both individually and as an order, regard vampires with suspicion and distrust. In general Knights do not like vampires, and will not work with vampires. However, the behavior of an individual vampire is still the most important factor. Vampires who casually kill their victims, or who engage in torture or other anti-human acts will be destroyed by the order if they are encountered. In contrast, a vampire who feeds exclusively from blood banks or willing sources will usually simply be avoided by Knights, unless this vampire either offers to help the order, or has access to something of use to the order. In these cases Knights may agree to work with a vampire. The only exception to the order's dislike of vampires is when Knights come across newly embraced kindred, especially kindred who were embraced involuntarily, or without full knowledge. In such cases individual Knights may offer to help the vampire(s) to learn to deal with their Beast, and to, if necessary, free themselves from their Sire. Opinion among the Templars is divided as to whether the best response to vampires is to eliminate them, ignore them unless they prey on the innocent, or turn them from their path of destruction one neonate at a time. However, two rules are generally observed: Templars should not become too personally involved with vampires, and vampires who have accepted help from a Knight are considered travellers on the road to Golconda, under the Order's protection unless they take a human life. Vampires who agree to work with the order, and to learn to control their Beast will have powerful allies, vampires who turn down this aid will be watched, and destroyed if they become a menace. A Knight who aids a vampire that later "goes bad" is considered personally responsible for that vampire's destruction. The Order will never involved itself in Vampire politics. The Sabbat and the Camarilla are the same to the Order; all that matters is the behavior of the individual vampire.
The Garou: The Order and the Garou have many common goals, and many differences. As a rule Garou who see all humans as a blight on the landscape are enemies of the Order, while Garou who believe in helping and protecting humanity from the depredations of the Wyrm are often friends of the Order. A number of Children of Gaia, Silent Striders, Stargazers, and some Uketena are friends of the Order. The Order rarely interacts positively with Black Furies, Get of Fenris, or Red Talons. However, once again the behavior of individual shapeshifters is more important than their clan or any other allegiances they hold. The Order is well aware of the actions of the Wyrm, and of the danger these actions pose to all life on the Earth. Some Knights interact with the Garou on a regular basis, and work with them to defeat the Wyrm. It is known that the Order has a particular interest in the Umbra, and that keeping pathways between the Mortal World and the Umbra accessible and safe is considered a part of the Order's mission. Senior Knights who are asked about this preoccupation with the Umbra's contacts to the Mortal World will often respond with the same phrase: "To keep the Pilgrim one must also keep the Road". In some way, the Knights seem to connect the relations between humans and Garou to this mission. They will often aid human friends or allies of Garou, for instance, or mixed groups of humans and Garou. A curious but persistent rumor has it that Outremer is located in the Umbra, and that some dedicated Knights know at least as much about the Umbra as the Garou. They are said to work closely with some Umbra dwellers and visitors, including Garou, on important and secret projects.
Mages: The Knights have no formal treaties with any Mage organization or group, but experienced Knights, especially magically gifted Knights, and Mages are often known to each other. Some mages resent the Order's policy of taking magically gifted members, since this lessens the number of potential apprentices. In most cases, however, Mages and Knights get along reasonably well. If the goals of an individual mage coincides with those of a Knight they will work together, if not, usually they will ignore each other. However, some Knights have become close friends with Mages, and since both dedicated Knights and Mages can live uncommonly long lives these friendships can last a very, very long time. Those who have become close to Knights who wield magic know that the Order teaches a philosophy of magic, as well as the use of it. The balance of forces, and the idea that all power comes from somewhere, is central to their teaching. Therefore, Knight magi argue that the source of a power must be considered at least as well as its strength and convenience, and that any power loosed without balance is a danger in the world. If Magi are more closely scrutinized by the Order than most human beings, it is because they have a more immediate power than most to affect the balance of things.
The Order interacts most often with those who are not yet magi; initiates, like neonate Vampires, are considered travelers until they have settled into a particular path of life. For magi, experience with the Order most often takes the form of mysterious figures who intervened to save them from the Pogrom when they were young and untrained. The Order's commitment to protect magi and their responsibility for them ends when the initiate is chosen by and accepts a Mentor. Therefore, most magi never see their mysterious defenders again once their training has begun, and may never learn of the Order at all. Mages who belong to one of the Traditions may join the Order if they wish, but they must make sure that their loyalty to their Tradition does not interfere with their duty to the Order. No Mage trained in one of the Traditions may ever become a dedicated Knight unless they both forswear all ties to their Tradition, and fake their death, so that all except the Order, including all Mages who know them, believe them to be dead. In this way, dedicated Mages cannot bring their previous conflicts and alliances into the Order with them. Euthanatos Mages may never become dedicated Knights. Mages of the Traditions may not learn the Mind and Body powers of the Order; they are already dedicated to a philosophy, a discipline, and a way of life different from that taught by the Order. Orphan Mages may join the Order without restriction, and may learn the Powers of the Order, this is discussed in the section on character creation.
The Technocracy: The Technocracy exits to place barriers between humans and the supernatural, including the Umbra. The Order exists to aid travelers and to preserve and protect paths of travel. These two goals are often in opposition to one another. However, the technomancers believe the Order died out in the middle ages, and the Order wishes this belief to continue. The Order does not attack technomancers directly unless they attempt to shut down a gateway to the Umbra, or similarly seek to prohibit travel between realms. If the Order does intervene, the Knights involved will make sure that the secrecy of the Order is preserved if at all possible. In general, a natural antipathy exists between the two groups, and while they rarely fight directly, individuals from the Technocracy and the Order almost never help each other.
However, the Order is very interested in the doings of the Void Engineers, since this group is the most involved with ideas of travel. To the Order, the Void Engineers present a tricky problem; if they are allowed to excel at their work, the Technocracy may be allowed entry into the Deep Umbra, and more pathways will be closed to travel. On the other hand, Void Engineers are the group of Technocrats most open to change, and may be a key to the peaceful end of the Pogrom against magi and the building of walls between the realms. As with Vampires, opinion about the Void Engineers is divided, but all agree that they bear watching.
Faeries and Ghosts: As both Faeries and Ghosts who are in this world are travelers far from home (Faeries are journeying between Arcadia and the mortal world, and Ghosts between life and death) the Order takes an interest in such beings. Faeries or ghosts who need help in either dealing with this world, or in reaching their own realm will be aided by Knights as readily as Knights would aid ordinary mortals. Faeries or ghosts whose presence is disturbing to this world and its inhabitants will be escorted home. If necessary, Knights will enlist the aid of other beings to help in showing a particularly hostile faerie or ghost the way out of the mortal world. People who have been abducted by Fairies and are attempting to escape are considered by the Order to be another class of travellers, and will frequently be helped, even if helping risks the anger of the Fairies.
Governments: The Order makes no formal allegiances with any government or official body. In general, requests or offers from governments and their agents are regarded with suspicion. The Knights have no quarrel with governments, but they will not allow themselves to act or to be seen as acting as political agents. They are perfectly happy to assist official bodies in furthering the goals of the Order, where interests coincide, but they will not allow themselves to be seen. The Order is glad to make use of information it can obtain from government sources, but Knights will never directly aid governments or government agents who are engaged in official investigations. Indirect aid may be provided if the cause is important to the Order and the stakes are high, but the Order and its Knights are working for a cause, not a country. Most importantly of all, Knights will never involve themselves in politics or political struggles. Any Knights who choose sides in such a struggle, and become directly involved with politics will, at minimum, be warned by the Order to cease such activity.
The Inquisition: These are the people who almost destroyed the Order in the 13th century, and who today see their mission, as the Society of Leopold, as ridding the world of all that is supernatural, a goal the Order strongly disagrees with. No member of the Order will ever aid the Inquisition in any way. Even if a a pair of Knights and a Witch-hunter are both working toward the same goal, say destroying an insane vampire, they will not assist the Witch-hunter, and may interfere as long as this does not keep the Knights from their goal.
The Knights Templars are very selective in the kind of people they admit to their ranks. No one under 18 can become a Knight, neither can anyone with any mental or psychological flaws worth more than one point. However, characters who have physical or sensory disabilities may become Knights. In addition, all prospective Knights must possess the merit Iron Will (see page 35, Vampire Players Guide). The Templars are a human organization; they do not accept Vampires, Ghouls, Garou, or other non-humans as members.
The Knights Templars teach their students a variety of skills and also a few extraordinary physical and mental techniques, many of these were developed early in the history of the order, and enter the realm of the supernatural.
All Knights have the following skills in addition to the skills picked up in the basic generation of the character: 4 points from Firearms, Melee, Brawl or Dodge, Meditation 2, First aid 2, Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Survival 2, Occult 1, Stealth 1, Leadership 1, Diplomacy 1, and History 1. In addition, Knights receive training in the extraordinary powers of the Order. These powers fall into two categories, Body and Mind: Body powers allow Knights to overcome the limits of ordinary mortal bodies. Mind powers allow Knights to enhance their senses, and to sense and respond to supernatural events. A beginning Knight has 4 points to spend on these powers, and must begin with a minimum score of one in Body powers. A Knight who has reached a given level of mastery in one of the categories is able to learn all powers in the category which are at that level. Each dot in either Mind or Body allows the Knight one free ability at that level, plus the option of learning more powers at that level. Each additional ability of a given level costs the Knight 3 freebie or 2 x level experience points. Achieving a new level of mastery with an ability costs 7 freebie points, or Current rating x 7 in experience points. Undedicated Knights may only learn powers up to level three. Only dedicated Knights who have proved themselves worthy may learn the powerful level four and five powers. Some of these powers duplicate the effects of Vampire Disciplines or Garou Gifts. If these Disciplines or Gifts normally call for the expenditure of either a blood or a Gnosis point, Knights use the same ability by expending an equal number of Willpower points.
Orphan Mages: Orphan Mages may join the Order, they receive much the same training as do other Knights, except that they are also allowed sufficient time to develop their magick. An Orphan Mages who is also a Knight is generated just like any other Mage, except that they may spend their points in spheres on the Powers of the Order instead. All Orphan Mages who join the Order must spend at least one of the these points to get one level of Body, and may spend up to of these three points on Powers of the Order. In addition, while their study of Magick does detract from their mundane studies, they still receive 1 point in leadership, 1 point in history, and 1 point in diplomacy from their studies with the Order.
Level One Powers
Catlike Balance: (Equivalent to the 1 point Merit, The Players Guide to the Sabbat, page 127, except that whenever you fall, if you can make a Dexterity+Athlethics roll (difficulty 6) you land on your feet, and take half damage (after soak) from the fall).
Ambidextrous: (Equivalent to the 1 point Merit, The Werewolf Players Guide, page 20).
Silence: (Equivalent to the 1 point Merit, The Players Guide to the Sabbat, page 125).
Pain Block: You can overcome pain through force of will. You may ignore the -1 die penalties to actions from taking damage to the Hurt or Injured wound level. The damage from wounds greater than this is unaffected as it represents loss of bodily capacity due to injury.
Level Two Powers
Enhance Attribute: You may increase any single physical attribute by one at the cost of one Willpower point per scene, by spending two Willpower points per scene you may increase all three of your physical attributes by one.
Mimicry: You may mimic any voice or sound you have heard, the level of this mimicry is such that it is capable of fooling electronic voice analysis, and similar sophistical electronic techniques, as well as the enhanced hearing of Vampires or Garou. Roll Per+Ventriloquism to fool such techniques, the level of difficulty is usually 6-8 for electronic techniques, and Per+3 for Supernatural beings.
Death Trance: At the cost of 1 Willpower point you can put yourself in a trance which allows you to seem dead. You roll Stamina+Meditation vs any doctor's Perception+Medicine to seem dead. While in this state you do not need to eat or drink, and your need for air is reduced by a factor of 10. In addition you may remain in this trance for up to a month, coming out of it either at a preset time, or when external circumstances indicate. You cannot see, but you have a limited sense of touch, smell and hearing. While in this state wounds you have received do not heal or deteriorate, so if you are incapacitated you may enter this state until you can be given medical attention.
Pain Immunity: You can be fully immune to all negative effects from wounds of any level short of death, to do this you must spend one Willpower point a turn. Once you cease doing this if your wound level is Wounded or greater you must make a Willpower roll with a difficulty equal to the number of body levels lost+2. If you fail you lose consciousness.
Level Three Powers
Speed of Will: You can take one extra action a round without penalty by taking a turn to stand still to focus your mind, and spending 2 points of Willpower. This effect lasts for the entire scene.
Disease and Poison Immunity: You are immune to all ordinary diseases, and by making a successful Stamina+Meditation roll you can cleanse your body of poisons and drugs. The difficulty level ranges from 5 for alcohol to 9 for cyanide and each success subtracts 1 from the damage and or die penalties due to the poison or drugs.
Aggravated Damage: You can channel your force of will into your hands or any melee weapon you are using. You must chose a focus for this power: your hands, your family sword, etc... When using your focus you may do aggravated damage at will. When using a weapon other than your focus you must first take a full turn to concentrate and spend one Willpower point, then you can do Aggravated damage to Vampires, Garou, or any other supernatural being for the entire scene.
Stunning Touch: You are taught special pressure points and methods of non-lethal combat. If you can either strike a hand to hand blow which does damage before soak is rolled, or touch your target on the skin, you may make a Perception+ Medicine roll vs their Stamina+Dodge. One or two successes when touching a limb will paralyze the limb you touch for the rest of the scene, three or more successes touching the target anywhere allows you to totally paralyze your target for the entire scene. Using this ability costs one Willpower point.
Level 4 Powers
Self-Healing: This ability may be used once a day. You must Meditate quietly for at least 15 minutes, and then may make a Stamina+Medicine or First Aid roll, with a level of difficulty equal to the number of body levels you have lost+2. Each success achieved on this roll restores one health level. These levels return at a rate of one per turn after the meditation is over.
Alter Appearance: You can change your appearance. These changes are accomplished by using muscular effort to reshape your face, and to alter your height, stance, and vocal capacity. To do this you must make a Percetion+disguise roll with a variable level of difficulty. To simply make yourself look unrecognizable the level of difficulty is 6. One success allows you to be unrecognizable to anyone who only knows you casually, while 2 or more successes will fool even your close friends and family. To add one, or to subtract one or two from your appearance the level of difficulty is an 8. This ability allows only physical disguise; Acting skill is useful for prolonged imitation. It is only possible to disguise yourself as another person using this ability if the target's height, weight, skin color, and other physical characteristics are roughly similar to your own. However, dye, padding, false hair, etc. may be used to supplement a disguise; each success on the alter appearance roll adds successes to any ordinary disguise rolls you make. To use this ability you must spend one Will power point per scene
Extraordinary Attributes: This ability works just the same as the level two ability Enhance Attribute, except that the Willpower cost is doubled, and the Attributes are increased by two instead of one.
Level 5 Powers
Extend life-span: This ability allows you to prolong your life. You must roll Willpower, with a difficulty of 8. Each success on this roll allows you to ignore aging for one year. However, you age a minimum of one year between rolls. For example, if you roll 3 successes 4 years pass and you only age one. At the end of this time you may roll again. Failure means you age normally for the next year, with no repeats until that year is up, and a botch means that you age two years in the space of one.
Heroic Action: This ability allows you to raise any relevant attribute to superhuman levels (equivalent to an attribute of 8 as defined in A World of Darkness: Mummy, pages 27-29) for the purpose of accomplishing a single stated action. Examples of actions are: "rescue the people from this burning building", "destroy the opponent I am now fighting", "convince this crowd to take action (whatever action you persuade them to take)", "find any computer record of this woman". You can perform no other action until your Heroic Action is complete (if forced to interrupt a Heroic Action, the attribute enhancement does not apply to the performance of any other actions). This ability can only be used when the desired action can be attempted immediately. To perform a Heroic Action, you must spend all Will power points but one. The enhancement lasts as long as is necessary to complete the action, but for no longer than one scene. When the action is complete, you must roll your one remaining Will power die against a difficulty level of 8 to remain conscious.
Level One Powers
Immunity to Delirium: You are now immune to the Garou power of Delirium.
Bond of the Order: You can call on the bond which all Knights share. On a Successful roll of Willpower+meditation (difficulty 9) you may alert any other Knight you know to your basic emotional and physical state and approximate location, regardless of their distance from you. Each attempt costs one point of Willpower, and takes 15 minutes.
Magic Sensitivity: (Equivalent to the 1 point Merit, The Players Guide to the Sabbat, page 125).
Danger Sense: (Equivalent to the 3 point Merit, The Werewolf Players Guide, page 22)
Eidetic Memory: (Equivalent to the 2 point Merit, The Werewolf Players Guide, page 19).
Wakefulness: You can remain awake without penalty for extended periods of time. To remain awake an additional 24 hours you must make a Willpower roll with a difficulty level of 6. Each additional day awake requires another Willpower roll, with the difficulty level increased by two each day. It is impossible to stay awake more than 3 additional days with this ability. If this roll is failed you must sleep within an hour, if you botch you must sleep within 1 turn.
Level Two Powers
Sign of Power: By making a specific and complex sign with your hands you can cause any opponent to be stunned for the next full turn. You roll Manipulation+Sign Language with a level of difficulty equal to your target's Willpower. If you succeed your target is stunned, if you fail they are unaffected. Using this ability costs one Willpower point per target you are attempting to affect with a single action, and it can only be used successfully once a scene on a given target. It can only be used if your target is within 5 yards, is looking at you, and can see your hands. Non-targeted observers are unaffected. However, the Sign's effects are very subtle, and if your target or any observers fail a Perception+Alertness roll (difficulty 8) they will be unaware that you did anything (even if they are affected by the Sign).
Heightened Senses: Equivalent to the Vampiric Discipline Auspex Level One, except that this Power does not allow you to see through vampiric Obfuscate (Vampire page 93). This Power is usable at will.
Aura Perception: (Equivalent to the Vampiric Discipline Auspex level two (Vampire page 94), except that this ability does not allow you to negate the Vampiric Discipline Obfuscate, but still allows vampires to be distinguished from mortals by their aura.
The Sight: You can see, hear and talk to spirits, including Ghosts and all natives of the Umbra.
Clear Sighted: (Equivalent to the 3 point merit, The Hunters Hunted, page 61).
Emotional Control: At the cost of one Willpower point you may gain total control over your emotions and body language for an entire scene. This allows you to lie nearly undetectibly and to fool all manner of technological and magical methods of lie detection if you succeed in a Manipulation+Meditation roll (with a difficulty of 6 to fool people or devices, and 7 to fool magic) for each lie you tell. In addition you may add 2 dice to any speech or other emotional appeal , for pleading for your life, to attempted seduction, because you are so convincing.
Level Three Powers
Hide Mind: You have learned to hide your mind from probing. IF you make a successful roll of Wits+Subtrefuge you may hide your mind form all forms of magical, psychic, and supernatural probing and contact. This ability may be used at will, but if it is successful anyone who knows of your presence (such as someone who can see you) will notice that there is a very obvious blank where your mind should be. If they wish to probe further they must succeed in a roll of Perception+Subtrefuge vs your Wits+Subtrefuge.
Hounding: If you are following a target (which can be either an individual or an object and) can make a Perception+ Alertness roll with a difficulty level equal to 8 each success allows you know in what direction the target is, an (very) roughly how far away for 6 hours, even if you cannot perceive the target at the time. Once this ability has worn off to use it again you must again have the target in sight. This ability only works on beings who are human, part human (like Garou), or once were human (like Vampires).
Resist Magic: If you spend one Willpower point, and make a Stamina+Occult roll with a level of difficulty equal to the level of the spell, ritual or Thaumaturgical path+2 You may instantly cancel the effect of any magic directed against you or anyone or anything you are directly touching.
Level Four Powers
Mental Protection: At the cost of one Willpower point per scene you may make yourself, and anyone else you wish who is within 3 yards of you, immune to the effects of all forms of mental and magical control or influence. To be effective this protection must be established before the influence it is protecting against begins. You may walk, drive, or perform other ordinary actions while using this ability, but you cannot fight or perform other stressful and strenuous activity and maintain it.
Neutral Guard: (Equivalent to the Level Three Salubri Discipline of Obeah, The Players Guide to Vampire, page 133). Note that the Neutral Guard is not an "invisible wall" which prevents attacks from reaching you, but an aura of power which prevents hostile people from choosing to attack or approach.
Walk Between Worlds: This ability allows you to "step sideways" just like a Garou, the only differences being that you roll Perception+Occult, and not Gnosis vs the Gauntlet, and you must walk along a road or path rather than step through a reflective surface to reach the Umbra.
Level Five Powers
Journey Between Worlds: You must first have the ability Walk Between Worlds to use this ability. This ability allows you to take others with you on journeys to and from the Umbra. Each success you make on your Perception+Occult roll may be used to either reduce the time needed to enter the Umbra, or to bring one additional person with you into the Umbra. If it is necessary to bring more people with you than you have successes, you may spend one Willpower point per person to bring additional people along. No additional Willpower need be spent to help them leave the Umbra, but any people whom you bring into the Umbra can only leave if you or some other being capable of "stepping sideways" helps them do so. All people who you bring to and from the Umbra must be holding hands or otherwise touching when both entering and leaving the Umbra.
Hidden Journey: You and those companions you designate (up to 10 people) are invisible and undetectable to everyone including humans, animals, Vampires, Garou, Ghosts, and all similar beings. This ability costs one point of Willpower an hour to use, and to use it you must make a Manipulation+ Stealth with a difficulty of 7. One success means that any being must make a Perception+ Alertness roll vs a difficulty of 6 to notice you are there. Each additional success raises this level of difficulty by one. Beings may only attempt this roll if they have some reason to suspect there is someone unseen or hiding in their vicinity. When using this ability everyone must move and speak in a quiet, careful, and stealthy manner, any attempt to attack or otherwise use violent and obvious action on the part of anyone protected by this ability immediately negates the ability for everyone. To use this ability everyone involved must first remain quiet and stationary for 3 turns while you activate it.
In addition to Body and Mind powers, Knights who have the potential may also learn magic. The Knights Templars teach a form of magic similar to the Hedge Thaumaturgy described in The Hunters Hunted pp 63-64. In addition to buying Body and Mind powers, Knights may use any or all of their 3 Gift points to buy levels in Thaumaturgy. Each level gives you one level each in Casting, Duration, Extend, Ritual, and Path. (Path is an ability taught by the Knights, similar to the Vampiric Thamaturgical Paths, except that each Knight may choose only one path) Available Paths are: Movement of Mind, Weather Control, Conjuring, Spirit Thaumaturgy, Elemental Mastery, and Morpheus. No other magical ability may exceed you level of Casting. The Knights have an extensive library of Spells and Rituals. Additional levels may be bought using freebie points or experience, with each ability bought as an ordinary skill. The Knights can not teach Psychic abilities or True Faith, but are more than happy to recruit members who already possess them. Sample Characters.
Communicate (Level 1): After a 30 minute ritual the caster may send a brief message to any individual they have both seen and talked to. The caster will then be able to receive a brief reply. However, subjects who are asleep, or unfamiliar with magic will usually assume the message is a dream or daydream.
Tongues (Level 2): This ritual allows the Knight to be able to speak any single language for the duration of the spell. The duration of the spell as rolled for the duration ability. It takes 10 minutes to cast, and costs one Willpower point. Aid Healing: This ritual costs one Willpower point, and takes an hour to cast. Once cast the target (which may be the caster will experience the equivalent of a week of restful, complication free healing from wounds or disease during a full nights sleep. If the subject is woken during the night the ritual is negated. This spell may be used on successive nights. The ritual only works on living targets.
Slumber (Level 3): This ritual will make any single target who is not actively engaged in any activity fall asleep until they are either woken up, or wake naturally from a long nap (usually around an hour). You must roll Manipulation+Empathy vs Wits+Alertness. If you fail your target notices the approaching sleepinesses, and becomes temporarily too alert to be subject to this ritual for at least 10 minutes. This ritual takes but 4 turns to perform, but requires that you can either see or hear your target.