Writing & Design Cover John Wick Fredrik Alfredsson From an idea by Editing Jess Heinig Annie Rush Additional Editing & Comments Jess Heinig, Hyrum Savage, Jared Sorensen “… amidst the errors there shone forth men of genius, no less keen were their eyes, although they were surrounded by darkness.” — Petrarch Thirty: A Little Game about a Big Secret is © and ™ 2005 by John Wick. Cover © 2005 by Fredrik Alfredsson. All rights reserved by the Author, published here under permission. Any mention of trademark or copyrighted material is not a challenge to those marks. The stories, characters and situations in this book were inspired by history, but are entirely fictional. Except the knights. They were real. So are you. Contents INTRODUCTION. 3 Introduction PLAYER SECTION Part 1: The Order. 6 Part 2: Joining the Order. 9 Part 3: Game . 19 GAME MASTER SECTION Part 1: The Long Walk Home . 28 Part 2: The Spheres . 33 Sphere I: The World of Forms . 33 Sphere II: The Land of Lights. 34 Where did they go? And what did they take with them? Sphere III: The Unfinished Tower . 47 Sphere IV: The Storm . 53 In the fourteenth century, the Pope declared the Poor Knights of Christ and Sphere V: The Gateway . 66 the Temple of Solomon – better known as “the Knights Templar” – to be Sphere VI: The City of Angels . 69 heretics. Their lands and lives were forfeit. But when the Inquisition came Sphere VII: Gang War. 74 to claim the riches rumored to be held in the Orders coffers, they found… The Abyss . 84 nothing. Sphere VIII: Wisdom . 92 Thirty knights were missing when the Inquisition came. Sphere IX: Truth . 96 Sphere X: Beauty . 100 Where did they go? And what did they take with them? Afterward . 102 They are the seed of almost all modern conspiracy theory. From this one mystery spring the Masons, the Illuminati, the Merovingians, the APPENDICES Rosicrucians, the Golden Dawn and almost every other occult society of the 1: Important Dates. 106 modern era. I’m talking, of course, about the Order of the Poor Knights of 2: The Letter . 109 Christ and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The Templars. And the 3: Maps . 110 seed of all modern conspiracies is their fabled treasure. 4: The Rule of the Templars . 112 There are hundreds of books about the Templars. Historical books, 5: The Three Imposters . 127 speculative books, fantasy books, and even science fiction books. Many 6: Thirty Treasures . 128 have hoped to find where the Templars went and what they took with them. 7: Suggested Reading . 134 This book is one of them. 8: The Spheres. 136 Thirty is a roleplaying game. With it, you play the roles of thirty Templar Knights carrying a secret treasure, lost in a magical mist, trying to find your ABOUT THE AUTHOR . 140 way home. The story you tell together with your friends is the journey those thirty Knights took. This game contains everything you need to play; you won’t need any other books. Of course, if you’d like to read more about the CHARACTER SHEET . 143 Templars, there’s a small suggested reading section at the end of this book. This journey is not historical, but fictional. It was created out of my imagination. I make no claims whatsoever to actually know where the SECRET . 144 Knights went, and while I do have my own private suspicions, they do not have anything to do with this game. 2 3 Really. Honest and for true. But who were the Templars and what kind of treasure are we talking about? The answer to that question involves a little history and a little more speculation. QUICK CAVEAT The history of the Templars has been chronicled by a lot of people – all of whom know a helluva lot more about the Knights than I do. I make no claims of historical accuracy at all. None. I’ve done research, but nothing compared to the vast amounts of work done by other authors. Even making the appearance that I know more than they do about this subject is Player an insult to the work they’ve already done. If you come across something in this book that differs from something you found by another author, defer to them rather than me. A NOTE ON GENDER There were no female Knights in the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon. Sorry, ladies. Because of this annoying historical fact, the male gender is used exclusively in this book – except when referring to Section the GM. We’re assuming she’ll be offended if we don’t. On the other hand, if you want to include women in the Order, I won’t show up on your doorstep with the Historicity Police. The point of the game is to have fun. If putting women in the Order helps you do that, go for it. Just don’t expect it when I run the game. SPECIAL THANKS I want to take a moment to thank some people who have helped me on this journey. It's been a long one - a lot longer than I thought it would be. What started off as a simple suggestion from Jess - "What happened to the thirty Knights who took the treasure from Paris?" - quickly became its own grail quest. So, a tip of the hat to these folks for helping me across the sword bridge. To Jess for giving me the idea in the first place, for being the best Scholar Knight a friend could want, and for being the best Buddhist Knight I know. To Annie for reading the early drafts, for being my spiritual compass through the Abyss, and for being one of three people who will actually understand all the hidden humor. To Jared for asking me to be a part of his wedding ritual, for reminding me that beauty lies in simplicity, and for smiling and nodding when I go off on esoteric rants. To Hyrum for sharing his home and friendship, for putting up with my skeptical doubt, and for (unintentionally) giving me the idea for the Three Imposters. To Eric for giving me the Latin translation for the tombstone in Scotland. To Sheldon for illuminating conversations. To Cheryl, Tony, and Rob for being the first of the Thirty. That’s it. On with the game! 4 5 command the respect and legendary in their own day. They imaginations of the people, but were both revered and loathed by were also financially powerful and the people, made subjects of verse free from any demands of the and tale, but toward the end of their Church. For many, this was too Order propaganda made them out to much. For a few, it demanded be villains who spit on the cross, Part 1: The Order blood. practiced “obscene kisses,” and worshipped the Devil. The truth of th On the 13 of October, 1307, King these claims is a deep part of the HISTORY As the Church struggled, Hughes de Phillip le Bel of France began a Templar mystery. Were the The Order of the Poor Knights of Payen created the Knights Templar, systematic and coordinated series of accusations true? No one may ever Christ of the Temple of Solomon in an order of Knights that not only raids against the Knights. His know. Jerusalem was both a chivalric and had the right to bear arms, but could authority was backed by the also perform the duties of clergy. Avignon Pope Clement V who But an even deeper mystery than monastic order. This dual status was their crimes lingers to this very day. unheard of in the Knights’ time, The Knights were holy men, declared the Knights heretics, guilty capable of all manner of holy rites. of many crimes including spitting Where did the Templar treasure go giving them a bit of controversy to and what exactly was it? begin with; a controversy that This gave the Templars significant on the cross and worshipping would grow as the Order did. influence, but it was the demons. Both hoped to seize the authorization of Pope Innocent II in treasures captured by the Order In the age of the Templars, Europe 1139 that began a steady increase of during the Crusades. Although they was divided into three castes: the power for the Order. Innocent gave arrested hundreds of Templars, the nobility, the clergy, and the the Templars complete King and Pope found no treasure. peasantry. Each caste had its own independence, declaring they were The near-legendary fortune had clear delineations from the others answerable only to the Pope disappeared, leaving them with and a specific role to play in the himself. In 1161, Pope Alexander nothing but jails full of Templars. social order. Nobles fought wars, III gave them immunity to tithes For seven years the Order’s last the clergy prayed, and the peasants and bestowed the right to tithe upon Grand Master, Jacque de Molay, suffered. This was the way of things the Templars. What began as a refused to divulge the location of for almost one thousand years. modest and struggling chivalric the Templar Treasure. Nor would he Order suddenly became a monetary But then came the Knights Templar: speak a single word of its contents. power in Europe. an order of fighting clergy. Men Finally, in 1314, de Molay was put who were trained in the arts of war Kings and other nobles gave the to death. He was tied to a tall pole, but were also ordained by the Holy Order lands and moneys.