Templars : The Broken Vow

TEMPLARS: THE BROKEN VOW

Keep your faith. Question your orders.

A tabletop roleplaying game of theological horror, secret warfare, and costly conviction in the modern world.

You belong to the Ordo Templi Aeterni, a hidden order confronting horrors humanity cannot know exist. Investigate supernatural disturbances, recover dangerous relics, confront possession, and decide what your vows demand when obedience and mercy lead in different directions.

Faith grants you power. It does not make your decisions easier.

THE GAME AT A GLANCE

• Group: 4–5 players, guided by a game master called the Confessor.
• System: Six-sided dice pools, with each 6 counting as a success.
• Setting: A modern world concealing an ancient supernatural war.
• Four playable Paths: Knight, Infiltrator, Magister, and Exorcist.
• Play: Investigation, roleplaying, dangerous combat, and consequential choices.
• Character tools: Interactive character sheets for digital use on a computer.
• Development: One year of playtesting with game masters and players.

Created for mature audiences. Templars explores fictional religious themes, possession, violence, corruption, and spiritual conflict.
 

ENTER THE WORLD

The war did not end. It learned to hide.

Behind hospital doors, beneath crowded streets, and within archives that officially do not exist, the Ordo Templi Aeterni continues its vigil.

Its members live among us. A doctor. A mechanic. A teacher. A priest. Ordinary identities provide access, shelter, and something worth returning to when the work is done.

Then a relic disappears. A witness remembers something impossible. An apparently routine assignment becomes a choice between completing the mission and saving the people caught inside it.

You follow the evidence. You prepare the rites. You enter places where the Order’s authority may mean very little—and where its account of the truth may not be enough.

The supernatural is real. Understanding it is another matter.

By morning, someone will expect you home.

They will ask where you have been.

EXPLORE THE LORE

Every recovered fragment changes the story.

The history of the Ordo survives in suppressed reports, disputed chronicles, and fragments of the Codex Aeternum. Witnesses disagree. Records contradict one another. Those entrusted with preserving the truth have also spent centuries concealing it.

Discover hidden sanctuaries, forbidden scripture, and an inheritance of faith carried into the modern world.

This history reaches directly into play. An old report can change the meaning of a mission. A recovered text can undermine the authority of the person who sent you. A relic can become the reason your cell must enter a place everyone else has abandoned.

RELICS OF THE ORDER

Some objects are too dangerous to lose—and too important to leave buried.

Relics connect the Order’s past to the choices your characters face now. They can become instruments of survival, subjects of investigation, and burdens entrusted to people who may understand only part of what they carry.

Recovering one may complete your assignment.

Deciding what to do with it may begin the real story.

This history reaches directly into play. An old report can change the meaning of a mission. A recovered text can undermine the authority of the person who sent you. A relic can become the reason your cell must enter a place everyone else has abandoned.

The deeper you investigate, the more difficult obedience becomes.

CHOOSE YOUR PATH

Four ways to serve. Four ways to bear the cost.

Every Templar takes a vow. Your Path defines how you carry it into the field.

THE KNIGHT — MILES CHRISTI

Hold the line.

Knights stand between their companions and the worst of the fighting. They bear relics into danger, defend vulnerable positions, and buy the time others need to complete a rite or bring someone out alive.

When the plan fails, someone must remain standing.

THE INFILTRATOR — UMBRA MILITIS

Reach what others cannot.

Infiltrators work through stealth, deception, and precision. They penetrate guarded places, retrieve what must remain hidden, and protect the secrecy on which the Order depends.

Their most important victories may leave no witnesses.

THE MAGISTER — CUSTOS RITUM

Understand enough to act.

Magisters study forbidden texts, interpret supernatural patterns, and practise the rites that help the Order confront and contain its enemies. Their knowledge opens possibilities that weapons alone cannot offer.

Every discovery brings a question: how much more can you afford to understand?

THE EXORCIST — VOX DEI

Speak when silence becomes surrender.

Exorcists confront possession and supernatural influence through ritual, resolve, and the authority of the spoken word. They defend those whose minds and souls have become contested ground.

Driving something out is only part of saving its victim.

BUILD YOUR CELL

Combine your strengths, cover one another’s weaknesses, and decide what kind of Templars you will become. Your Path gives you a role. Your choices give you a character.

THE CORE BOOK

Your initiation begins here.

The Core Book brings together the world of Templars, character creation, the rules of play, and guidance for the Confessor. It gives your group the foundation for missions shaped by investigation, supernatural danger, and the obligations of life within the Ordo.

INSIDE THE CORE BOOK

• The Order’s hidden history, sanctuaries, and presence in the modern world.
• Character creation and the four playable Paths.
• Merits, Flaws, vows, and supernatural Endowments.
• Faith, spellcasting, and sacred relics.
• Combat, damage, defense, and character advancement.
• Antagonists, supernatural abilities, and threats for your missions.
• Guidance for the Confessor running the game.

THE PERSON BEHIND THE VOW

Before the Order, you had a life.

Begin with that person. Choose your Path, assign Attributes and Skills, and select the Merits, Flaws, and Endowments that shape your Templar. Take a vow that will matter when keeping it becomes difficult.

Your civilian identity gives you a place in the world. Your companions give you people to depend on. Your obligations to the Order may place both at risk.

The result is a character with a role in the mission—and a life beyond it.

INTERACTIVE CHARACTER SHEETS PDF.

Interactive character sheets have already been created for digital use on a computer, giving you another way to manage your Templar at the table.

LOOK INSIDE

Explore sample pages from the Core Book for a closer look at the setting, character creation, and rules.

EXPLORE THE BOOKS

The world of Templars extends beyond a single volume.

The collection brings together the game, its adversaries, campaign material, visual world, and fiction. Each book offers a different way into the setting, from creating your first Templar to discovering the stories behind the people who serve the Ordo.

THE CORE BOOK

The foundation of the game: setting, character creation, playable Paths, rules, supernatural powers, adversaries, and guidance for the Confessor.

BESTIARUM OBSCURA

A dedicated bestiary exploring the threats that inhabit the world of Templars, bringing together their lore and game material for use in your sessions.

Companion cards are also planned for the Bestiary.

CAMPAIGN — VOLUME I & VOLUME II

Two volumes of campaign material that bring the world’s dangers, mysteries, and difficult choices into play. Take your cell beyond initiation and into stories where its decisions carry consequences.

ANGELS AND DEMONS

A dedicated exploration of the angelic and demonic forces within the fictional world of Templars, deepening the supernatural background of the setting.

THE ARTBOOK

A visual exploration of Templars: The Broken Vow, bringing its imagery, atmosphere, and artistic identity into focus.

THE INTRODUCTORY NOVELLA

A short work of fiction introducing the concept and atmosphere of Templars—a first encounter with the setting through story.

THE PHYSICAL BOOKS

The planned physical editions are US Letter size, 8.5 × 11 inches, with hardcover bindings.

The writing for every book in the collection is complete. The remaining work centres on bringing the artwork, design, and final presentation to completion.

WHY WE ARE ON KICKSTARTER

The books are written. Help us give them the visual quality they deserve.

Templars: The Broken Vow has reached this stage through our own funding, sustained creative work, and a year of playtesting with game masters and players.

The writing for all books is complete. The Core Book is ready apart from approximately 10–15 remaining artworks.

Our funding goal is €17,000.

The next stage requires resources we can no longer provide through self-funding alone. This campaign will support the remaining work, with particular emphasis on illustration, book design, and the final presentation of the collection.

For a game built around atmosphere, the visual experience matters. We want the illustrations to give the world presence, and the design to make these books inviting to read and practical to use during play.

Your support will help us carry that work through to completion.

STRETCH GOALS

Our priority is completing the announced books to the strongest standard we can achieve.

We are keeping the stretch-goal scope focused. One possibility under consideration is the addition of four new playable classes, expanding the ways characters can serve within the Ordo.

These additional classes are not part of the currently promised content. Their scope and funding requirements must be finalised before they become a campaign commitment.

MEET THE TEAM

Game Design & Writing
Nikos Mastrokolias

Writing
Stefanos Dimitrakopoulos

Editing
Margarita Bourneli

Art Direction & Illustration
Penny

Additional Illustrations
Yannis Roumpoulias, also known as Rubus

Layout & Graphic Design
Katerina Kontozanis

We are also grateful to the game masters and players who have spent the past year testing Templars, questioning its rules, and helping us understand how it performs at the table.

PRODUCTION STATUS

• Writing: Complete for all books in the collection.
• Core Book: Ready apart from approximately 10–15 remaining artworks.
• Playtesting: One year of testing with game masters and players.
• Interactive character sheets: Created for digital use on a computer.
• Remaining focus: Artwork, book design, and final production work across the collection.

DIGITAL DELIVERY

Our current estimate is approximately six to nine months to complete the remaining work and prepare the books in their finished PDF form, including artwork.

This is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed delivery date. The remaining illustration and design work must be completed before the final PDFs are ready.

PHYSICAL EDITIONS

The planned physical books are US Letter hardcovers. A physical delivery schedule is not yet confirmed.

The PDF completion estimate does not include printing and shipping time. Physical production specifications, shipping arrangements, and delivery estimates remain to be finalised.

RISKS & CHALLENGES

The project has completed its writing stage and has undergone a year of playtesting. Its main remaining challenges lie in illustration, design, and production.

Artwork can take longer than expected. Integrating finished illustrations into layouts can require revisions, and final checks may reveal corrections that must be addressed before release. These dependencies may affect the estimated PDF completion schedule.

Physical books involve further stages, including print preparation, proofing, manufacturing, and shipping. Those stages require their own timetable.

Our priority is to complete the announced collection. Any additional content must be weighed against the time and resources needed to deliver the books already promised.