Hi guys! We're sorry we didn't say something sooner, but until very recently, we were under the impression that the New Order was not meant to encompass all of the Templars within or affiliated with the Inquisition. It has now become clear that this is not what some had in mind, but we think that is still the best route to take.
It's fine for some characters to be radical reformists, but what's being pursued here isn't something that the broader ranks would be willing to swallow at this point. Thedas on the whole is still very conservative and believes the Templar Order as it previously existed was a good thing. A couple of PCs will not really have the authority or the support to institute major reforms on their own, especially without a lot of time and work. We've updated the Skyhold page with information about the political climate and demographics of the Inquisition, including specifics on the mages and the Templar Order. Hopefully this will help give you more context going forward. (We are going to announce those updates in our OOC round-up post later today, but you can look early.)
Additionally, from an OOC standpoint, it isn't fair to players who want to play with the more nuanced aspects of the conflict--including both mage players and Templar players who are interested in the security vs. freedom debate, who app because they want to explore the political conflicts that exist in the setting, etc.--to change the organization this radically or rapidly. We've gotten the impression from a few people that the Mage vs. Templar conflict is being treated as a problem to solve as quickly as possible, but it's meant to be a fixture of the setting, and building a lasting solution should be a long-term, slow-burn project that everyone has a fair chance to participate in and that will likely experience a lot of ups and downs along the way.
At this point, we think the best way to frame the New Order would be as a kind of political party for current or former Templars who want to push for reform and work with the mage council. It does not have authority over Templars as a whole, and realistically never would have. We realize that because of a misunderstanding this isn't the assumption everyone has been operating under in previous threads, so at this point we can offer one of the two solutions:
1) A soft retcon--we can say that this is how it has always been and that its organizers have always been clear about that. This will only work if all affected people are able to explain their character's actions without needing the New Order to have been holding itself out as having authority over the entire Templar Order. We can include a clarification in our OOC post so other players understand the situation.
2) A pushback from NPCs, beginning now, who had previously been quiet or uninvolved in the political situation for a variety of reasons (apathy, focus on other tasks, not taking it seriously, etc.) but who think the New Order is going too far and claiming too much authority and will now make it clear that the New Order does not speak for all of them and never has.
For Option 1, we would need everyone affected to be okay with it. Otherwise we'll default to Option 2.
In the future, please consult with us before doing anything major that will affect entire groups or organizations. This isn't to stymie progress or so we can tell your characters not to have opinions, but so we can let you know how NPCs would respond or what sort of support they might have and help avoid potential confusion and the need to retcon. Mage Council business always includes input from us about the NPC population, and things involving the Templars or other large segments of the Inquisition need to as well.
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It's fine for some characters to be radical reformists, but what's being pursued here isn't something that the broader ranks would be willing to swallow at this point. Thedas on the whole is still very conservative and believes the Templar Order as it previously existed was a good thing. A couple of PCs will not really have the authority or the support to institute major reforms on their own, especially without a lot of time and work. We've updated the Skyhold page with information about the political climate and demographics of the Inquisition, including specifics on the mages and the Templar Order. Hopefully this will help give you more context going forward. (We are going to announce those updates in our OOC round-up post later today, but you can look early.)
Additionally, from an OOC standpoint, it isn't fair to players who want to play with the more nuanced aspects of the conflict--including both mage players and Templar players who are interested in the security vs. freedom debate, who app because they want to explore the political conflicts that exist in the setting, etc.--to change the organization this radically or rapidly. We've gotten the impression from a few people that the Mage vs. Templar conflict is being treated as a problem to solve as quickly as possible, but it's meant to be a fixture of the setting, and building a lasting solution should be a long-term, slow-burn project that everyone has a fair chance to participate in and that will likely experience a lot of ups and downs along the way.
At this point, we think the best way to frame the New Order would be as a kind of political party for current or former Templars who want to push for reform and work with the mage council. It does not have authority over Templars as a whole, and realistically never would have. We realize that because of a misunderstanding this isn't the assumption everyone has been operating under in previous threads, so at this point we can offer one of the two solutions:
1) A soft retcon--we can say that this is how it has always been and that its organizers have always been clear about that. This will only work if all affected people are able to explain their character's actions without needing the New Order to have been holding itself out as having authority over the entire Templar Order. We can include a clarification in our OOC post so other players understand the situation.
2) A pushback from NPCs, beginning now, who had previously been quiet or uninvolved in the political situation for a variety of reasons (apathy, focus on other tasks, not taking it seriously, etc.) but who think the New Order is going too far and claiming too much authority and will now make it clear that the New Order does not speak for all of them and never has.
For Option 1, we would need everyone affected to be okay with it. Otherwise we'll default to Option 2.
In the future, please consult with us before doing anything major that will affect entire groups or organizations. This isn't to stymie progress or so we can tell your characters not to have opinions, but so we can let you know how NPCs would respond or what sort of support they might have and help avoid potential confusion and the need to retcon. Mage Council business always includes input from us about the NPC population, and things involving the Templars or other large segments of the Inquisition need to as well.
Thanks!