Questions About Class: the Inquisitor

Welcome back readers! Here is another entry in our Questions about Class series, this time focusing on the inquisitor. As you may (or may not) know, Flying Pincushion Games is about to release its next book, Into the Breach: The Inquisitor.  So we thought it was a good time that I, Kiel Howell, sit down with fellow Pincushioneer Jeffery Harris to talk about the class.

KH: First of all, thank you for taking the time to sit down and answer these questions!

JH: My pleasure Kiel, thank you for taking the time to lay down some excellent questions about the inquisitor class!

KH: Can you give the readers a little about yourself and your role at The Flying Pincushion?

JH: Well sure, I am of course Jeff Harris, co-owner, CFO, sometimes editor and lead designer here at The Flying Pincushion.  I have been gaming for more than 24 years, but have only been in the industry officially for about two and a half years.  I am married to a lovely wife and live in a house with as many cats as there are core classes.

KH: So what exactly is an inquisitor? Is it someone who tortures folks for religious reasons (ala Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition)?

JH: The Spanish Inquisition is likely the default, go to, idea that many folk have.  Thankfully the inquisitor in Pathfinder need not fall into this trope.  While they can be zealous religious fanatics, there is an infinite variety of ways to see the class.  From skilled detectives of the many goods, to vengeance sworn monster hunters.  With the right inspiration and  careful building/character design, inquisitors can be nearly anything the player can brain storm up a story for.

KH: Why does this stand as a whole class to you? Would it have been better as an archetype of the Paladin or perhaps a type of Cleric?  Personally I think the inquisitor stands up very well as a class of its own.  

JH: While a paladin could be a zealous hound of the faith, their paladin code would restrict them from accomplishing any dirty or nasty deeds that need doing.  Conversely clerics seem to (as a class) trade much of their ability to be a skilled character out for their powerful magic and domain powers.  That is not to say a cleric cannot be a skilled character, as a class it is simply not their main focus.  Thus the inquisitor seems to fall somewhere in between, with more divine power than a paladin in terms of spells, but less combat ability, and far more skill breadth than a cleric, but with less divine magic.  Overall the class seems to have a little bit of both paladin and cleric, merged with the practical mindset and broad skills set of rogues.

KH: What exactly are judgments and what are they supposed to represent?

JH: As far as I can tell, a judgment is meant to represent an inquisitor calling down divine justice (or vengeance) against their foes or providing divine reward to themselves or allies.  In general I suspect judgments are the physical manifestation of the inquisitors faith in his or her god, and the rewards for said service.

KH: Some of the abilities seem a little out of place, like Monster Lore and Slayer, what are your thoughts on the cohesiveness of the class?

JH:  To me this is an issue stemming from what fantasy settings commonly employ.  Because it is not just humans that populate the world, it makes perfect sense (in the context of say, Golarion) that inquisitors would have to deal with monsters and non-human foes as part of their gods church.  Slayer, while mechanically sound, perhaps suffers from a less than perfect name for the ability.  To recap the questions, I am fine with Monster Lore and Slayer, I see them as just extension of placing a real world influenced class into a fantasy setting, and its adaptation to that move.

KH: This class seems to suffer from lone wolf syndrome, in that there are abilities that allow the inquisitor to treat allies as if they possessed (without receiving the bonuses from) any teamwork feat she possesses, so she can effectively act alone. Does this work? Is it going against the flavor of the class?

JH:  The “lone wolf” issue is one that I also see as a bit of a problem.  From a theme perspective, the “lone heretic hunter” works nicely, but Pathfinder and table-top RPG’s in general are not solo games, and more than ever now in Pathfinder teamwork is a must.  So, from a game perspective, the thematic power of solo tactics is less than ideal.  It can be worked around, and worked with, but it does leave a bit of a bitter taste in the rest of the parties mouths when only Bob Lone Wolf the inquisitor benefits from his Teamwork feats and everyone else is just a placeholder.  That said, if the players decide to more heavily invest in Teamwork feats, the pain can be mitigated somewhat.

KH: The way the class itself reads, there isn’t much flexibility for what type of character you can play...

JH: I personally feel that while this is true, the build of a class does not prevent interesting and unique inquisitor characters.  I tend to feel that if the chassis is a bit limited, which here one could indeed say that, then it is HOW the inquisitor progresses, and how the player RP’s their character that will make them stand out.  The same issue could be said of a fighter, but there are many levels of detail available (nearly limitless really) beyond just what the inquisitor class ability table provides that can and does make inquisitor characters interesting and unique.  I feel behind every inquisitor is a great story of WHAT made them into what they are, and given the class focus and flavour, those stories can indeed be amazing.  I dare say that is just as valid, perhaps more, than flexibility that is built into the class design. The option of taking specific inquisitions can help support a detailed and interesting inquisitor, and provide more support for their detailed backstory and personality elements (more about that in a later question though.)

KH: The inquisitor gets spells from both the cleric list and the sorcerer/wizard list (such as true strike), yet they are obviously a divine inspired class. What’s the deal?

JH: I suspect this is another of those issues that comes from the mechanics aspect of the game rather than fluff or source material.  In order to provide a list of spells that fits with the class theme it would seem that both lists were scoured and then combined into the mongrel spell list the inquisitor uses.  As I do this often when working on archetypes and class design, I can’t really fault Paizo for doing so, and overall feel the spells are appropriate, even if in the back of my mind I know that they are not all divine in origin.

KH: Should the inquisitor be a d8 hitpoint class or should they be more of a d10?

JH: Given the scope of their class skills, spells, judgments, and other abilities, I feel a d10 would be going too far. Having a d8 for hit die suites me just fine, I might well think differently with d10’s, which also tends to come along with a full BAB class.  So nope, I think they (inquisitors) have the correct HD for what they are and for balance purposes.

KH: What would you change about the base class if you were given free reign?

JH: Solo tactics is my pet peeve, I would want more teamwork focus, rather than benefits for the inquisitor only.  Heretics are dangerous, one would think that friends would be a good thing in the battle against them.

KH: Have you ever had to ban or have you seen the class banned at a table?

JH: I have never banned the inquisitor, though I freely admit nearly none of my players tend to favour the inquisitor class.  I suspect that somewhere someone has banned it, but given that I do not see endless ban this class threads either on Paizo’s forums, or in PFS, I would think its banning is rare in general.

KH: What is your advice for building a successful inquisitor?

JH: While I could go through lots of game mechanics and discuss how to make a deadly awesome murder-hobo inquisitor, in my personal opinion, the best way to make a successful inquisitor is build something that is at least mechanically sound, then FOCUS very hard on roleplay and character motivation/personality.  Because this class has mechanics that to me scream, “there is a really good story behind why I can do this”, it deserves to have those aspects played up.  I dare say that it is the intangibles that make inquisitors memorable at the table.  I suggest picking an inquisition rather than a domain and then writing a hell of a story about the why your inquisitor has said inquisition.

KH: Thank you for taking the time to have this chat, Jeff!

JH: As always, it was my pleasure Kiel, it was a fine set of questions you wrote for this installment of “Questions About Class.”  I hope we have shed a bit of light on a class that is often in the shadows.

Celtris Tales: Small Packages Chapter 6: Hunted

Small Packages: Hunted

Thankfully Luca called a halt. Marius dismounted quickly and started stripping Kane of gear. Even with Marius having stripped to his riding leathers and loading up Seline, since Luca rode Calia today, and even with the magic Luca used to ease their run, the pack had been ridden hard today.

The poor wolf was lathered in sweat and would need some water. It was why Luca halted, the water was clear and the stream was small and lined with rock. It looked like a tended water source. Behind it were dozens of hills, with the tall grass and the stream to hide their scent this could well end the chase.

Unfortunately one of that burn scarring patrol lickspittles managed to blow a trouble horn before he was dispatched. The orcs poured out of their Fort like five thousand angry ants. The empire’s war machine was a well oiled one as they splintered into formation based search parties working a grid pattern within a dozen or so minutes from the fight.

After the second time being spotted, they agreed to ride to try and gain some distance. Luca hated dismissing Iz but it was the only way. The trium of war boar mounted ranger trackers caused another merry chase. Marius had to waste another three charges from his web wand and Luca the majority of their pepper to lose that unit.

The last chase was by an air cutter. The small skyship was fairly fast and carried enough archers to ruin a good gnome’s day. Some light tree cover and an obscuring mist spell was their last bit of salvation. The wolves had been running at top speed for nearly three hours since then. Twice Marius laid hands calling on his paladin powers to ease the fatigue of each of the wolves, as Luca casts a spells to lend them strength.

Wolves were sprinters not distance runners. They could cover serious ground by utilizing an efficient trot but what they endured today was very different, the chases had really put a strain on them. Marius moved to attend Calia as Luca finished recalling Iz. Something in his brother’s posture made Marius a little extra leery. He scanned the area feverously fearing he was missing some kind of threat. Luca’s attitude was echoed by the wolves, as they whined slightly and cowered a little lower to the ground after they drank deeply of the stream.

Marius was unsure when his blade came out, but he suddenly understood the tension as his spine chilled and straightened and the hair on his neck rose. Something unnatural was nearby, something contrary to the idyllic scene before him.

“Hello,” Marius ventured in a normal voice that felt like a shout. It was then he realized what was wrong. He could hear the burbling of the stream but nothing else. No insect buzzed or birds making their songs. No frogs, no crickets, just a quiet foreboding.

Luca merged with Iz but remained silent. They all stood on their heels for a long moment, waiting. Then Marius realized he heard a new sound, a buzzing. The sound was getting closer.

“Pyrite,” Luca swore, “I know where we are.”

Marius then spotted the source of the buzzing, some sort of cattle like creature which was also clearly dead as its ribs were clearly visible and sun bleached shambled towards them. A rather large wasp hive filled in the spaces where it’s guts used to be.

“They weren’t trying to catch us. The orcs herded us here, into the famine king’s burial mounds,” Luca said this with almost a reverent tone.

The zombified bull sauntered into a position with a direct line to their own and waited.

Luca walked forward and insanely began to shout at the zombie, “I humbly request passage through your lands, great famine king. I would but request passage for myself and my companions and offer in tribute my brother’s wand of webs. Do you accept?”

To Marius’ horror the bull nodded.

Next Chapter

Pairing it Down: Unification Day

     Welcome one and all, new and old! This week’s theme here at the Flying Pincushion is Firefly. Joss Whedon, you have my heart with this show. Can I say something that might not be taken well? I feel like I can trust you, the readers. I think Buffy is better off where it is, in the past. I had such fond memories of that show until I tried to start re-watching it.

     Firefly, on the other hand, is probably Whedon’s best series show. A rich universe, plenty of history, and most importantly, his characters feel like people.

     I wrestled with what to write about for this week’s Pairing it Down even before I wrote last week’s piece on Gilgamesh. Firefly is a show that has fans with a dedication bordering on fanaticism (myself included). Nathan Fillion (Mal), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Gina Torres (Zoe), Morena Baccarin (Inara), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), Sean Maher (Simon Tam), Summer Glau (River Tam), and Ron Glass (Shepherd Book) all make for a primary cast of amazing characters. The interactions, the sotto-voice mutterings, the love, and the dysfunctions that make us feel like it could be our family on the screen, these are paramount to what makes this so deserving of our loyalty. These same qualities are readily apparent in all the extemporaneous characters too. There isn’t really ever a sense of a “red shirt” in this show.

     Let me give my favorite example of character building and back story from this show. It comes from the second (what was supposed to be the second) episode; The Train Job. It starts out in a bar, as so many of our adventures do, with Jayne, Zoe, and the good old captain drinking at a table. A man obnoxiously calls for attention and gives a toast to the Alliance and Unification Day. We see an inkling of what Mal’s past means when Nathan Fillion gives one of his trademark looks and walks over to the counter. He orders in what I believe is Mandarin Chinese, another point I’ll make later, in his distinctly brown coat. He seems to innocently do this right next to the obnoxious Alliance lover. Some misdirection through the use of goading happens and Zoe is right there giving a mean punch with the butt of her gun to the man. The rest of the bar stands up slowly to fight, Mal and Zoe look to Jayne, who gives one of the best insights into his motivations as a character when he says “I didn’t fight in no war. Best of luck, though.” and rests his boots on the table.

     All of that happens in the second chronological episode. We see that Mal and Zoe, while having been on the losing side of a war, still believe in what they were fighting for in the past. Shortly after that, they have a great scene with Wash coming to rescue them from the edge of a cliff with a transport ship and a phenomenal bluff about having any firepower whatsoever. Then a wonderful family moment happens when they get to the interior and Kaylee asks about a fight, Simon worriedly asks about the Alliance, and Mal just says “An honest fight between folk.”

     Character and a character are very important distinctions in any game. You can have any number of characters, but if they don’t have any character then the game will feel lifeless and dull. This falls onto both sides of the DM screen. The DM is responsible for an entire world full of characters that have to have character when the spotlight is on them. When you stop and think about how many NPCs and monsters you meet in an average session then you realize that is a lot. The players are responsible for their characters to have character as well. That may seem unfair to the DM, but the players are responsible for developing a back story and motivations that are revealed over a long period. I would say that 99% of a DM’s characters are once and done; the players are the protagonists and thusly have to make their characters just as interesting on the last session as they were in the first. Maybe that involves speaking another language comfortably and intermixed with whatever passes for the common tongue.

     That’s a quick little sidebar I’d like to point out that goes along with last week’s world building Pairing it Down. Decide if there is a common tongue and then give it some flavor by building a history that says another language got absorbed into it and became mixed in to create this common tongue. Mandarin interspersed with English makes for a wonderfully evocative sense of the future.

     In the gaming industry there is something called a “plot hook”. These are devices that are intentionally left general enough that the DM can grab onto those hooks and make any number of adventures/exchanges/etc. off of just that one bit of information. The Pathfinder iconic monk Sajan is looking for his sister. Captain Ahab is looking for Moby Dick. Mal is looking for freedom. Decide first what your character is looking for in life. It doesn’t have to be grand, but it certainly can be grand. Start small though. You’d be surprised at what kind of stories and plot hooks come from simple and slightly general back stories. Resist the temptation to build a 10 page essay about the search for your sister; instead give a quick recap and leave it at the last place you heard she was seen. Maybe you are simply looking for the next something to steal (not that you are planning to steal the Mona Lisa). Perhaps you are looking to travel so you can find the next place to help, not that you are looking to go help Sister Sarah’s church.

     That’s what I’m pairing down this week. My character’s back story and then realizing when I’ve paired it down enough. If you read your character’s back story and realize that character is doing something specific in a specific location then try to back up a level. They can do something specific but omit the specific location bit. I challenge anyone brave enough to give me a short yet plot-ful back story in the comments. Until next time, when I look for inspiration from Last of the Mohicans, you can’t take the sky from me.