Repented Heretic
Synonyms: Luciferian, Witch, Albigensian, Waldensian, Dulcinian, Excommunicated
Special: Archetype
Repented Heretic is an Archetype, it is a special kind of Feat. A character can only have one Archetype in total. Apart from that, Archetypes are like normal Feats and may be taken at character creation or on any level up. On your sheet, mark Repented Heretic as one of your Feats and add all Feats gained separately.
Description
You have been given a choice. Either repent or burn. You chose the former.
A common misconception is that the inquisition's task was to burn heretics, in fact the inquisition consistently spared any heretics who agreed to confess and repent, only those who refused to repent (or even worse, who retracted) had to be burned to purify their souls. Burning at the stake was an act of mercy because fire was believed to purify the soul and send heretics to heaven.
Your character has believed or was forced to follow a heretic cult. Most heresies were started by catholic priests or monks who had a particular vision of the faith, that was later on ruled as heretic by the church. (the entire Franciscan order for example was ruled as a heresy before being absolved shortly thereafter) But the darkest heresies are secret organisations designed to trick the weak into serving the legions of hell.
Some of your brethren decided to live their faith until the end and you saw them burn, the others like you where spared. Perhaps you even lead the inquisition to discover the cult when you realised it's true purpose.
Alternatively, you may have committed a severe crime against god and the church excommunicated you. You have decided to make penance.
Your repentance may or may not be sincere, depending if you took the Feat Lost Faith. Either way, the inquisition have mandated you to purge your sins by helping them for a given period of time. Part of your sentence is to use your knowledge about heresies to turn it against them.
As a Repented Heretic, the character gains the Feat Knowledge (heresy).
If his background justifies it, he also gains the ⭐ Faith Feat. (or potentially ⛧ Dark Faith if he has Handicap (lost faith))
Additionally, he gains one Feat of his choice in this list :
- Outlaw Wisdom
- Trickster
- Fanatic
- Charismatic (you were a heretic leader)
- Stealth
- Reputation
- Well Connected (some former members of your cult are high ranked)
- Survival
- Manipulative
- Foreigner
- Knowledge (cryptography)
- Background
- Magic Tricks
- Curse (witchcraft ?) (even if the character doesn't meet the prerequisites)
- Witchcraft (even if the character doesn't meet the prerequisites)
- Necromancy (even if the character doesn't meet the prerequisites)
- Handicap (lost faith) (your soul is still tainted by heresy)
- Handicap (insane) (the things you saw... the things you did !)
Unless his background justifies it, the character cannot take the Combat, Strong or True Strike Feats.
Note that not all repented heretics have this feat and the character may de facto have been a member of a cult without having it.
