Brotherhood of the Cross

Similar to the Knights of the Cross, the Brotherhood of the Cross, also known as Squires at Arms, are men (and, presumably, women) chosen to wield holy weapons that God sent to Earth. Much like the weapons of legend, the Squires serve the righteous for a just cause. Each is reputed to bear a shard of wood from Christ’s crucifixion.

There are a eighteen weapons, whose names represent prominent Roman virtues:

• Auctoritas (Spiritual Authority), Greatsword
• Comitas (Humour), Club
• Constantinum (Perseverance), Falchion
• Clementia (Mercy), Sap
• Dignitas (Dignity), Shortsword
• Disciplinae (Discipline), Flail
• Firmitas (Tenacity), Dagger
• Frugalitas (Frugalness), Quarterstaff
• Gravitas (Gravity), Warhammer
• Honestas (Respectability), Spear
• Humanitas (Humanity), Trident
• Industria (Industriousness), Flint-Lock Pistol
• Iustitia (Justice), Longsword
• Pietas (Dutifulness), Hand Axe
• Prudentia (Prudence), Rapier
• Salubritas (Wholesomeness), Scythe
• Severitas (Sternness), Lance
• Veritas (Truthfulness), Mace

The Brotherhood is endowed with the power of Faith. Their weapons act as foci for their faith, and seem able to harm various supernatural beings. Unlike the Knights, the Brotherhood don’t get the frequent beneficiaries of seemingly coincidental events that either aid their cause or lead them to places where their assistance is required. Very little information is known about the Brotherhood but the original founding purpose was to protect the weak from the terrors of the night.

Merits

Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross (0)

Prerequisites: GM Approval and Ownership of a Weapon of the Cross
Minimum Morality Requirement: 7
This is the Merit that opens the gates to the rest of the Brotherhood Merits. By taking this Merit it allows you to pick of further Merits and grants access to the powers of one of the eighteen Weapons of the Cross. Membership also comes with the fringe benefit of being supported by the rest of the Brotherhood. This is not an organization that you work for, but more like a secret society that you work with.
It should be noted that if a Brother’s Morality every falls to 5 or lower, all his Brotherhood Merits stop functioning. Typically a Brother strives to maintain a higher Morality because it allows him access to greater tiers of power. The Minimum Morality Requirement listed with every power is the Minimum Morality a Squire must have in order to Purchase that merit, not use it. Once a Squire has access to a power, they can continue to use it as long as their Morality is 6 or Higher.
Jason has a Morality of 9 and buys God’s Wrath. Shortly after that he slips up and his Morality drops to 8. Jason can still continue to use God’s Wrath. If Jason screws the pooch a few more times (three more to be exact) and his Morality dips to 5, he can no longer use God’s Wrath (or any of his Brotherhood powers) until he redeems himself.
System: At any point a Squire may burn a Willpower Dot to activate Level 5 Brotherhood Merits; even if he doesn’t have or meet the prerequisites of that power. Consider this God’s insurance plan.

Language of the Heavens (00)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross
Minimum Morality Requirement: 8
When a Moral Squire takes this Merit he learns to speak in a language only compressible to Angels (unfortunately this also includes Fallen Angels) and other Servants of God, including other Squires, Knights of the Cross, or any being divined as “Holy” To the rest of the world the language sounds similar to Latin more elegant and commanding. This Language can not be recorded in any fashion, audio or video tapes of Squires speaking simply record gibberish, magical means simply fizzle, and attempts to memorize the phrasing get forgotten.

Holy Aura (00 to 000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross
Minimum Morality Requirement: 00 – 6 / 000 – 7
Cost: 1 Willpower Point to active the Aura
Time: Instant
Typically the first thing a Squire learns to do with their weapon is to make it glow with Holy Light. This is typically used as a signal to other Knights or Squires that the wielder is batting for the right team. Since only True Brothers can make their weapons glow, this is as close to a business card as they ever get.
At higher levels, the radiance of the Aura begins to absorb into the wielder himself. Giving him a more commanding and prominent presence in Mortal eyes. The radius of his Weapon’s Aura increase and the wielder himself becomes a beacon of light in the dark.
System: 00 – Weapon glows with an Angelic aura, acting as a small light source (approx 20 feet)
000 – The Weapon’s Aura range increases (approx 50 feet), the Wielder gains +2 dice on any Presence checks when dealing with Holy creatures, and can be identified (by anyone with the proper knowledge such as Angels, Knights, fellow Squires, and even the Fallen) as a Squire.

Holy Healing (000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross & Holy Aura (000)
Minimum Morality Requirement: 7
Dice Pool: Morality
Cost: 1 Willpower Point
Time: Standard Action
A dead Squire is a useless Squire; and God looks after his flock. With Holy Healing a Brother has gained the ability to heal his own wounds through Faith alone. By focusing for a few seconds, a Squire and heal bruises and even close wounds. This power is exceptionally powerful in the hands of Moral Squires but still effective for those who are starting to slip from Grace.
System: Roll dice equal to your Morality Rating, you can heal 1/2 of this in Lethal or all of it in Bashing.

Mind of the Angelic (000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross
Minimum Morality Requirement: 6
Cost: 1 Willpower Point
Time: Instant, but can no be used in Stressful Situations. GM has final say on if a situation is stressful or not.
Squires learn that being adaptive is key to their survival. Lack of knowledge doesn’t grant one reprieve from the terrors of evil. Of course, being one of God’s chosen goes a long way to help this situation. Whenever a Squire can focus on his task at hand, he can ignore any penalties for lack of know-how.
System: Spend 1 Willpower point and for the rest of the scene you roll your mental skill tests as if you have 1 more dot in those skills then you actually have. If you don’t have the skill, ignore the -3 penalty for being unskilled for the duration of the scene and roll as normal.

Will of the Angelic (0000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross
Minimum Morality Requirement: 7
Cost: 1 Willpower Point
Time:: Standard Action
Sometimes a Squire can’t allow little things like pain or injury to slow him down. Luckily, he has God on his side. With a little focus and determination, a Squire can tune out his injuries and negate the negative effects of them for a short time. The down side is that the pain doesn’t really go away, so after a time the injuries appear more painful then they actually are.
System: For the rest of the Scene you may ignore all wound penalties, however for the next scene penalties for the Wounds are doubled. You may spend another Willpower point in the next scene to ignore your wound penalties again but the next Scene the penalties will be doubled again. Consult the Following Chart for ease of understanding:

1st Scene	2nd Scene	3rd Scene	4th Scene	5th Scene
-1	-2	-4	-8	-16
-2	-4	-8	-16	-32
-3	-6	-12	-24	-48
6th Scene	7th Scene	8th Scene	9th Scene	10th Scene
-32	-64	-128	-256	-512
-64	-128	-256	-512	-1024
-96	-192	-384	-768	-1536

Armor of the Angels (0000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross & Will of the Angelic
Minimum Morality Requirement: 8
Cost: 1 Willpower Point
Time: Reflexive
Sometimes simply ignoring your wounds doesn’t cut it. Its times like these when the Brotherhood call on the Armor of the Angels. Like many of the Brotherhood’s powers the strength and duration of the armor is dependent on the Squire’s Morality. Some Squires have extremely impressive armor but those who have slipped from grace still get a little protection. The true strength of this power comes from the Squires ability to call upon it at any time, even after an attack has commenced.
System: The Armor Rating and Duration are all dependent on the Squire’s Morality Rating. Consult the table below:

Morality	Armor Rating	Duration
6	1/1	1 Round
7	1/1	2 Rounds
8	2/2	3 Rounds
9	2/2	4 Rounds
10	3/3	5 Rounds

God’s Wrath (00000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross & One other 000 (or higher) Brotherhood Merit
Minimum Morality Requirement: 9
Dice Pool: Morality
Cost: 1 Willpower Point
Time: Reflexive
Fighting a truly righteous Squire can be a frightening experience for the forces of darkness. God’s Wrath is the greatest weapon in a Squire’s library. By making skin to skin contact (which isn’t always the best idea…) with unholy creatures, the Squire can unleash the flame of Heaven onto the beast.
System: Simply reach out and touch your target, roll 1/2 of your Morality and deal Aggravated damage to an unholy creature who’s flesh you touch. What qualifies as unholy is wholly GM dependent.

God’s Grace (00000)

Prerequisites: Member of the Brotherhood of the Cross & Holy Healing (000)
Minimum Morality Requirement: 9
Dice Pool: Morality
Cost: 1 Willpower Point
Time: Instant
The saying ‘A dead Squire is a useless Squire’ can extend to the Squire’s allies as well. Since God looks after his flock, he makes sure the associates of his flock are safe as well. With God’s Grace a Brother has gained the ability to heal the wounds of others through Faith alone. There mere touch, a Squire can heal bruises and even close wounds. This power is exceptionally powerful in the hands of Moral Squires but still effective for those who are starting to slip from Grace.
System: Roll dice equal to your Morality Rating, you can heal 1/2 of this in Lethal or all of it in Bashing.