Heirs to Heresy - Inspiration

Our latest tabletop roleplaying game from the talented author Alan Bahr, Heirs to Heresy has arrived. Now that many of you have your hands on copies of the book, we wanted to help set the scene for gamemasters and players before they begin their perilous journeys.

Here’s author Alan Bahr to discuss a little about what influences inspired the game, as well as some excellent further reading to immerse your players.

Inspiring Media for Heirs to Heresy

It can be a bit difficult to find inspiring media for your games of Heirs to Heresy – a problem it shares with lots of historical focused RPGs. But there are plenty of options out there, and I’m happy to steer you the right way, offering you some of the best options for generating ideas and evoking the setting.

Print Media

To start, Heirs to Heresy’s bibliography does an excellent job of getting you up to speed! In particular, to understand the basic structure of the Knights Templar, you can’t do better than Michael Haag’s books, which are all eminently readable and accessible.

While there is also a lot of fiction out there, much of it focuses on the Crusades rather than the fall of the Templar order.

Music

I have an Heirs to Heresy Spotify playlist I would play while running the game. I prefer instrumental, religious hymns or gothic music for the game, though you’ll find a perhaps eclectic mix on there! If you like the playlist, please do give it a follow and remember to hit that shuffle button.

Movies & Series

Lots of movies about the Knights Templar don’t actually deal with the Templars directly, but the aftermath and end result of their conspiracy or actions in Europe. While potentially a bit more challenging, there are still great ideas to mine!

The Da Vinci Code: While only tangentially interested in the Templars, the plot and conspiracy in this movie is absolutely focused on studying the aftermath of an Heirs to Heresy campaign! The story of the San Greal and the historical mystery the characters are trying to unravel could easily be plugged into the main plot of your game of Heirs to Heresy. Of course, this goes for the book as well.

Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade: Perhaps the most obvious one (only challenged by The Da Vinci Code), this movie again shows the end results of the mission of the fleeing Templars. Is this their final fate in your game?

The Brotherhood of the Wolf: A near-perfect example of an Heirs to Heresy campaign in tone, visuals, action, and theme, this movie casts our Templars as having gone rogue, but the ideas herein are fantastic.

Other films or series that might provide inspiration in theme, tone, action, or visuals are: Knightfall (TV Series), The Bastard Executioner (TV series), Kingdom of Heaven (I recommend the director’s cut), National Treasure, the Arn duology of films, and for really obscure Templar horror, the Spanish cult movie Tombs of the Blind Dead and its sequels are great ideas and fun, though dated.

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That's all from Alan Bahr this week. If you'd like to find more about Heirs to Heresy, you can find more devblogs on our website here. 

Our latest tabletop roleplaying game from the talented author Alan Bahr, Heirs to Heresy hasarrived. Now that many of you have your hands on copies of the book, we wanted to help set the scene for gamemasters and players before they begin their perilous journeys.

Here’s author Alan Bahr to discuss a little about what influences inspired the game, as well as some excellent further reading to immerse your players.