Templar (Knight of the Holy Church)

Founded four hundred years ago to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, the Templars have borrowed much from their Saracen enemies and have evolved into a sophisticated organization operating on two continents. Like the Hospitallers and Protectors, a Templar is both monk and warrior, and must follow a strict Rule. Holy Church crusaders and clerics and paladins may become Templars, normally after serving as a novice with the order.
The Templars are steeped in the ancient wisdom of The Levant, and are said to have some of the world's greatest libraries in their houses. Their embrace of this ancient lore has given them knowledge not found elsewhere in the Holy Church. It has also led to suspicion that their practices are not entirely inline with the Church’s teachings. Even more controversial are the elaborate financial capabilities the order has developed to finance its far-flung operations. This has allowed the order to play the role of banker, lending to kings and powerful merchants alike. All in the service of the Holy Church of course.
The Templars headquarters are found in the Kingdom of Antioch, they also have “houses”, a combination of fortress and monastery, scattered across Western Europa. Each Templar belongs to a particular house, and while they are normally free to come and go as they choose, they remain at the service of the order. The symbol of the order is a red cross on white. Knights are required to display this prominently, and incorporate it into their coat of arms.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Templar, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Region: Britannia, Gallia, Iberia, Western Empire
Alignment: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral
Race: Human, Half Elf
Feats: Combat Casting
Skills: Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, Ride 3 ranks, Speak Language (Latin), Speak Language (Literate)
Weapons and Armor: Proficiency with Light Armor and Shields
Other: Member Holy Church, unmarried

Hit Die: d8
Class Skills: The Templar’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (any, each taken separately) (Int), Profession (Int), Ride (Dex), Speak Language, Spellcraft (Int)

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2+Int Modifier

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Cleric Spells per Day	Domain Spell
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Bonus Feat, Rule
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Domain, Turn Undead	+1 level	+1 1st level +1 2nd level
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Levantine Language	+1 level	+1 3rd level +1 4th level
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Bonus Feat	+1 level	+1 5th level
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4		+1 level	+1 6th level
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5		+1 level	+1 7th level
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Bonus Feat	+1 level	+1 8th level
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6		+1 level	+1 9th level

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Templars are proficient in all armor and shields. They are also proficient in simple weapons, the lance and the long sword.

Rule: The Templar must abide by the Rule of his Order. This is similar to the secular Knight’s Code of Chivalry, but loyalty must be given first and foremost to the Order and the Church. In addition the Templar must normally display the symbol of the order—a red cross on white— and must give 10% of his income to the Order, but can expect commensurate support in return. The Templar cannot marry.

Bonus Feat: At 1st, 4th, and 7th level, the Templar gains a bonus feat. He can choose a metamagic feat or an item creation feat. The knight must still meet all prerequisites for the bonus feat, including caster level minimums.

Cleric Spells per Day and Domain Abilities: At 2nd level and each level thereafter, if the knight can cast cleric spells their caster level and spells per day increase as if their cleric level increased by one. Their cleric level is also treated as one higher with respect to any level dependent domain abilities.

Turn Undead: At 2nd level a knight who can turn undead adds their friar level-1 to their cleric level (and or their paladin level –3) when making a turning check.

Domain: At 2nd level the knight, if they can cast cleric spells, adds Magic as a third domain. They gain the special ability from the domain, and can prepare their domain spells from it.

Domain Spells: Starting at 2nd level a Templar who can cast cleric spells can prepare and cast a second 1st level and 2nd level domain spell each day. At 3rd level he can prepare an additional 3rd and 4th level domain spells. At each additional level can they prepare and cast a second domain spell of a higher level, as indicated on table 2-28. They only benefit from domain spells if they can cast spells of that level.

Levantine Language: At 3rd level the Templar gains a rank in Read/Write and a rank in Speak Language that can be used to read and speak a language of the Levant, such as Arabic, Turkik, or Persian.

Templar Paladins: A Templar Paladin adds his Templar level to his Paladin level when determining the properties of his special mount,. A Paladin may take levels in Templar and then resume taking levels in Paladin.