The Inquisitor & Faiths of Purity


Pathfinder Player Companion

Dark Archive

Ok my group is starting a homebrew based campaign. Im wanting to play an inquisitor. I also just picked up the Faith of Purity book. While I have not read in detail. I did see the ideals set up for the paladin code. It would have been nice if Paizo included ideas for the inquisitor's goals. Its a small problem that Paizo has had since day one. They creat AWESOME products but sometimes only end up teasing you with the result, dont get me wrong I love Paizo and will continue to purchace their products but its still a problem so can the writers or the community help me out? Im stuck on the fluff portion of what would be main ojectives for each god so I can better create a background.

Thanks


Personally I hope they never ever ever release anything for the inquisitor that even smacks of a code like the paladin's. The paladin's code and the arguments that result from it are the worst things about the class.

Dark Archive

I understand what your saying but I need some advise on how to role play my character under some of the gods ideals. I hunt down heretics but what are they doing to become heretics. Im really brain farting here either that or thinking to hard.


Ashon Yashyen wrote:

I understand what your saying but I need some advise on how to role play my character under some of the gods ideals. I hunt down heretics but what are they doing to become heretics. Im really brain farting here either that or thinking to hard. [/QUOTE}

I would use the codes as a baseline. As you are the punishing arm of the faith, alter them so they reflect more of what you hunt as opposed to what you uphold, ie Given that Iomedae's Paladin code holds camaraderie and trust quite high for the Paladin, and Inquisitor would hunt traitors quite zealously.

Dark Archive

I knew I was brain farting thanks....never thought of that


Ashon Yashyen wrote:
I knew I was brain farting thanks....never thought of that

NP. Some of them can be a bit awkward to reverse-engineer aside from the general "get rid of evil".


The way I see it, inquisitors can also just be zealous followers of a deity that don't see their god's teachings the same way other followers do, or don't necessarily agree with the temple's teachings.

Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8

Caius wrote:
I would use the codes as a baseline. As you are the punishing arm of the faith, alter them so they reflect more of what you hunt as opposed to what you uphold, ie Given that Iomedae's Paladin code holds camaraderie and trust quite high for the Paladin, and Inquisitor would hunt traitors quite zealously.

I've been wanting to make an Inquisitor of Iomedae based on this tidbit from Gods and Magic:

Gods and Magic wrote:
News of witch-burnings and pillaging by soldiers and mercenaries in Iomedae’s name has troubled church elders, and they are considering authorizing a small branch of the church to investigate these stories and rein in activities that exceed the goddess’s teachings.

You could totally play up the Inquisitors as being the Internal Affairs Division of the Iomedaen faith :)


Benchak the Nightstalker wrote:
Caius wrote:
I would use the codes as a baseline. As you are the punishing arm of the faith, alter them so they reflect more of what you hunt as opposed to what you uphold, ie Given that Iomedae's Paladin code holds camaraderie and trust quite high for the Paladin, and Inquisitor would hunt traitors quite zealously.

I've been wanting to make an Inquisitor of Iomedae based on this tidbit from Gods and Magic:

Gods and Magic wrote:
News of witch-burnings and pillaging by soldiers and mercenaries in Iomedae’s name has troubled church elders, and they are considering authorizing a small branch of the church to investigate these stories and rein in activities that exceed the goddess’s teachings.

You could totally play up the Inquisitors as being the Internal Affairs Division of the Iomedaen faith :)

Or the inquisitors were the ones doing the witch-burnings as extremist of the Iomedaen faith. It doesn't jive with what the Church thinks is Iomedae's teachings, but the inquisitor might feel differently...

Liberty's Edge

I read this book and was inspired to make an Inquisitor of Shelyn. It is going to be for Carrion Crown and I am thinking of making him a Dhampir. Not the most mechanically sound combo but I have some interesting ideas tumbling around. Shelyn's Paladin Code gave me some ideas and got me thinking about extreme attitudes about love and beauty.

spoiler:

No one expects the Shelyn Inquisition

Sorry couldn't resist :)

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Sniggevert wrote:
Benchak the Nightstalker wrote:
Caius wrote:
I would use the codes as a baseline. As you are the punishing arm of the faith, alter them so they reflect more of what you hunt as opposed to what you uphold, ie Given that Iomedae's Paladin code holds camaraderie and trust quite high for the Paladin, and Inquisitor would hunt traitors quite zealously.

I've been wanting to make an Inquisitor of Iomedae based on this tidbit from Gods and Magic:

Gods and Magic wrote:
News of witch-burnings and pillaging by soldiers and mercenaries in Iomedae’s name has troubled church elders, and they are considering authorizing a small branch of the church to investigate these stories and rein in activities that exceed the goddess’s teachings.

You could totally play up the Inquisitors as being the Internal Affairs Division of the Iomedaen faith :)

Or the inquisitors were the ones doing the witch-burnings as extremist of the Iomedaen faith. It doesn't jive with what the Church thinks is Iomedae's teachings, but the inquisitor might feel differently...

To be honest, I'd wager Iomedaean inquisitors would be the people hunting down those that have been doing "witch" burnings like those in Mendev. The people committing those atrocities are clearly on the outs with Iomedae after all(see the web fiction set in Mendev for example), and it's been stated that one of the things Io absolutely hates is evil done in the name of justice, especialy so if it's done in her name.

Silver Crusade

graywulfe wrote:

I read this book and was inspired to make an Inquisitor of Shelyn. It is going to be for Carrion Crown and I am thinking of making him a Dhampir. Not the most mechanically sound combo but I have some interesting ideas tumbling around. Shelyn's Paladin Code gave me some ideas and got me thinking about extreme attitudes about love and beauty.

** spoiler omitted **

Check out Naderi for a good angle on heresies that could be commited "in Shelyn's name". ;)

Lots of fun to have there and elsewhere. Busting up suicide cults, rooting out Zon-Kuthonite influence, undermining "culture police" in authoritarian lands, rescuing precious works of art from looters, helping people escape from unhappy arranged marriages, etc...


Ill have to agree I find this one tough for several faiths.

For example, Inquisitors of LG gods seem easy, they just bent to rules to get the job done, use intimidate instead of diplomacy, and have rougher edges than the clerics and paladins....

Inquisitors of shelyn, I dunno what do they do, ruthlessly hunt down graffiti artists painting mustaches on timelessly classic statues in town?

Cayden Calien? "Hey you! you spilled that beer! that's alchohol abuse!"

The evil deities? Seems strange that there would be an arm of their church that operates outside of the "norm" they are already extreme and evil, so what, they do more lawful or good type actions to further their gods ends?
I dunno, Just having hard time envisioning it.

The Inquisitor as a class definitely stretches the imagination and makes for challenging RP.

I'm playing an Inquisitor of Pharasma right now, which is decidedly easier, routing out the undead and abominations of the world, and kicking down people's doors to ask them questions, roughing up the suspects a little and well if they aren't necromancers? then they shouldn't dress like ones!
Yea yea, I know you only cast false life, but Ill be keeping my eye on you!


Pendagast wrote:

Ill have to agree I find this one tough for several faiths.

For example, Inquisitors of LG gods seem easy, they just bent to rules to get the job done, use intimidate instead of diplomacy, and have rougher edges than the clerics and paladins....

Inquisitors of shelyn, I dunno what do they do, ruthlessly hunt down graffiti artists painting mustaches on timelessly classic statues in town?

Cayden Calien? "Hey you! you spilled that beer! that's alchohol abuse!"

The evil deities? Seems strange that there would be an arm of their church that operates outside of the "norm" they are already extreme and evil, so what, they do more lawful or good type actions to further their gods ends?
I dunno, Just having hard time envisioning it.

The Inquisitor as a class definitely stretches the imagination and makes for challenging RP.

I'm playing an Inquisitor of Pharasma right now, which is decidedly easier, routing out the undead and abominations of the world, and kicking down people's doors to ask them questions, roughing up the suspects a little and well if they aren't necromancers? then they shouldn't dress like ones!
Yea yea, I know you only cast false life, but Ill be keeping my eye on you!

For an Inquisitor of Shelyn at least I'd see them targeting those who destroy old art and cultural icons (akin to what happened in China after the communist revolution) for political purposes or those who use art to profane purposes. I could also see this extending to book burnings and such depending on how far the definition of "art" goes.

As for Inquisitors of evil gods I wouldn't find it surprising for them to be infiltrators and subjugators in cities where the evil gods are largely frowned upon and building the power bases before the actual priests can take over.


Caius wrote:
Pendagast wrote:

Ill have to agree I find this one tough for several faiths.

For example, Inquisitors of LG gods seem easy, they just bent to rules to get the job done, use intimidate instead of diplomacy, and have rougher edges than the clerics and paladins....

Inquisitors of shelyn, I dunno what do they do, ruthlessly hunt down graffiti artists painting mustaches on timelessly classic statues in town?

Cayden Calien? "Hey you! you spilled that beer! that's alchohol abuse!"

The evil deities? Seems strange that there would be an arm of their church that operates outside of the "norm" they are already extreme and evil, so what, they do more lawful or good type actions to further their gods ends?
I dunno, Just having hard time envisioning it.

The Inquisitor as a class definitely stretches the imagination and makes for challenging RP.

I'm playing an Inquisitor of Pharasma right now, which is decidedly easier, routing out the undead and abominations of the world, and kicking down people's doors to ask them questions, roughing up the suspects a little and well if they aren't necromancers? then they shouldn't dress like ones!
Yea yea, I know you only cast false life, but Ill be keeping my eye on you!

For an Inquisitor of Shelyn at least I'd see them targeting those who destroy old art and cultural icons (akin to what happened in China after the communist revolution) for political purposes or those who use art to profane purposes. I could also see this extending to book burnings and such depending on how far the definition of "art" goes.

As for Inquisitors of evil gods I wouldn't find it surprising for them to be infiltrators and subjugators in cities where the evil gods are largely frowned upon and building the power bases before the actual priests can take over.

ya bot how would evil inquisitors go against the grain of their church? Specifically a chaotic evil church?

Silver Crusade

Caius wrote:

For an Inquisitor of Shelyn at least I'd see them targeting those who destroy old art and cultural icons (akin to what happened in China after the communist revolution) for political purposes or those who use art to profane purposes. I could also see this extending to book burnings and such depending on how far the definition of "art" goes.

As for Inquisitors of evil gods I wouldn't find it surprising for them to be infiltrators and subjugators in cities where the evil gods are largely frowned upon and building the power bases before the actual priests can take over.

Also on the Shelyn angle:

Protecting natural beauty from despoilment.
Busting up suicide-cults of Naderi.
Infiltrating Zon-Kuthon cults, undermining them or bringing them back into Shelyn's fold from within.
Helping out those bound for unhappy arrainged marraiges, local law be damned.

For gods in general, inquisitors could be protectors of their faiths operating on their own, particularly in places where those faiths may be outlawed or persecuted, such as in Rahadoum or Razmiran. Desnan inquisitors in Nidal are one example.

They could also root out the enemies of their faith before they can undermine their bases of power. Zon-Kuthonite inquisitors hunting down Desnans in Nidal are one example.

And it could jsut be one lone guy out to do great deeds in his gods name, whether it's a Caydenite freeings slaves and inspiring the downtrodden or an adherent of Achaekek murdering blasphemers and would-be godlings.

Contributor

Some deities just wouldn't have inquisitors at all.


Sean K Reynolds wrote:
Some deities just wouldn't have inquisitors at all.

I was leaning toward thinking that. or you might use the inquisitor class as an enforcer arm of the clergy..


My own view of the Inquisitor class is that it's much more for hunting out external threats to the faith than it is at rooting out internal heresy. Not what my first impression would be, but it does work better in a polytheistic setting and particularly for an adventurer. So long as you view them as the 'hidden hand' of their faith, they can find a plausible role in almost every deity's faithful.

Liberty's Edge

Pendagast wrote:
ya bot how would evil inquisitors go against the grain of their church? Specifically a chaotic evil church?

Evil Inquisitors are basically the Enforcers and Secret Police of their Church's Leaders. They're the ones who monitor the average worshipper, making sure they obey orders and don't decide to abandon the faith when asked to perform an act of Evil in the deity's name. When a cultist of Lamashtu starts having doubts about his faith when he witnesses his first ritual sacrifice, the Inquisitor is the one who makes an example of him.

Heck, Lawful Evil Churches like the Asmodeans and the Zon-Kuthonites have even more reason to have Inquisitors, as those are faiths imposing a form of Order on their followers, and thus have reason to monitor the faithful for signs of dissidence. Cheliax and Nidal would both likely have very powerful orders of Inquisitors in service to their dominant churches.


Inquisitor of Shelyn = Mr. Blackwell

If all's fair in love and war, then Gorum doesn't get Inquisitors.

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32, 2012 Top 4

Mikaze wrote:
And it could jsut be one lone guy out to do great deeds in his gods name, whether it's a Caydenite freeings slaves and inspiring the downtrodden ...

I recently played a Caydenite inquisitor in a Carrion Crown campaign and he was great fun. I played up the "freeing the people of Ustalav from the tyranny of undead and sundry other horrors" angle. Sure he had plenty of ranks in Profession (brewer) and a handy haversack full of fine brandy, but he fit into the campaign's theme just fine.

Sadly, poor Exaunder Blackwood maxed out at fighter (cad) 1 / inquisitor 12 before being ripped in half by a glabrezu in the 4th installment of the AP. :-(

Silver Crusade RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

My thoughts

1) Just trying to reverse engineer the Paladin codes might not work. Your average Cleric (more generically priest) of a God is not going to be quite as fanatical about the faith as a Paladin. Albeit Inquisitors are also a bit more fanatical, it might not be in the same way a Paladin is.
2) A god has an alignment. Priests of that god need only be one alignment step away. An Inquisitor could, for example, be aligned on one of the axes, even if not the one the god actually as, and they view heretics as the jerks who are different from his view of the faith. Imagine a LN Inquisitor of Abadar, who is all about "mantaining the balance" and then there are these heretic Paladins of Abadar running around upsetting the balance! Abadar is the BEST example of this to me, as the concept of "heretic Paladins" seems a pretty great one to me.
3) How about a god like Erastil, where it is clear there are divisions within the church on subjects like "women in the priesthood." It would make sense that there would be Inquisitors crying foul about heretics on either side of that.
4) Inquisitors need not be all about going after members of their own faith either. An Inquisitor of Sarenrae might be running around with their purpose being to crush the remaining Rovagug followers in an area.


I always thought the priesthood of Abadar being ok with the Paladins since it's great PR, and while everyone is watching the shiny paladins doing good, you can get down to the business of running a city.


I can see Inquisitors being the ones rooting out traitors among their own, which would make sense for deities of any alignment.

An Inquisitor of Urgathoa would go around killing Clerics who might be endangering the local cult along with anyone else doing so.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Pathfinder Player Companion / The Inquisitor & Faiths of Purity All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Pathfinder Player Companion