My group of PCs needed a little help with a juiced up version of Death in Freeport set in Riddleport, so I thought I'd have an inquisitor give them a hand. Here she is:
http://mxyzplk.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/salvadora-beckett.pdf
She's a half-orc fourth level inquisitor of Iomedae. She fought with the third level party against foes including CR5 degenerate serpentfolk, undead, and an evil priest.
She did well, and the players thought she was helpful but not overwhelmingly so. Her scouty kind of focus helped them; the tracking, Perception, init boost, knock spell, that sort of thing, in fact she was stepping on the party rogue and ranger a little. She was decent in combat, although bad hit rolls (not her fault, just dice luck) held her back. The bane power at fifth level would help out immensely.
Her spellcasting was nice, it was a good mix of cleric and wiz especially for people going into a hidden evil temple with undead in it. And since her spellcasting is not really for in combat, she was freed up to do support stuff and put buffs on PCs. She put Prot from Evil on the monk (saving his bacon on poison saves) and then later did an Acrobatics to get over and do a Cure Light on him while he was badly wounded. He actually gave her a big hug when the dungeon was over! Sure, a paladin could have done the same, but the pally is usually more focused on kicking ass himself and not taking time to heal others in combat; the inquisitor's more scouty and less front line so they would exercise that more I think.
The clerical domain is almost pointless since they don't get spells from it. Domain powers are suckily weak. Once, I had her waste a round by using a standard action to touch someone to give them a +2 to damage for one round. The PCs were like "We tell her to stop screwing around and do something!" I didn't do that again, and neither would a PC (it pretty much always is worse than "shoot your bow"). That's more of a complaint about the horrible clerical domain powers but also a request to not saddle another class with them and pretend it's a perk.
The teamwork feats were meh. I gave her Lookout to capitalize on the high Initiative and Perception bonus, and it did kick in once, but it was complex to use. It was hard and fiddly to figure out who all was getting the benefit from it at a given time, and it was also a strange fit for the general inquisitor "monster hunting loner" kind of image. I mean, I could see an inquisitor taking a teamwork feat because that's what they want to do personally, but as a core part of the class? Seems like it would fit way better in other classes. Read the class description. "Often travels with others as a cover" is not "master of teamwork." Also, they get so many of them and there are so few that at high level you basically have "all the teamwork feats". And if all the other PCs have them too as a result - the complexity would be insane! Can you imagine? It's not like one is active at a time, it means that your four buddies in melee with you all suddenly have a big ol list of bonuses to everything - CMB, CMD, Reflex, flanking, sneak attack, AC, concentration, etc (that kicks in and out as people 5' adjust around). As a high level party I'd want like a halfling inquisitor strapped into a papoose pack and put on the back of the barbarian just for the unlimited buffs. Even if you keep these, you need to change solo tactics to specify that the inquisitor has to choose one specific one to be sharing.
I felt like she suffered from having "too many little things." She has a bunch of different (and not individually that overwhelming) powers that can be used an extremely limited amount. If I were a PC playing the inquisitor I'd be like "Can I give up the domain to get a couple more judgments, or double the rounds of bane?" or the like. It made her complex to run (this one is for 2xlevel rounds a day, this one is 2 times a day, this one is 3+WIS times a day...) and less effective. Given the arguable but I would say almost universally true premise that most play happens in levels 1-10, I'd narrow down the broadness and give more of a couple things. Frankly I'd swap the domain and solo tactics for more judgments and bane rounds and switch the teamwork feats to a custom combat feat list.
I think you were playing the tactical feats wrong. Solo tactics only gives the Inquisitor the bonuses, unless their teammates also take the feat. So she wouldn't buff the barbarian unless the barbarian also has taken the feat. The point is the barbarian doesn't need the feat to give the inquisitor the bonus from it.
Personally, I like the inquisitor. They do get a bunch of little bonuses. Their big one kicks in at level 5 though. Bane is awesome.
|
I'll check the new rules, but in the previous version of the class only the inquisitor gets the bonus of the teamwork feats. Her fellow adventurers are treated as having the feats only for the purpose of the inquisitor getting the benefit from them. So if feat A grants a +2 ac bonus when you are adjacent to a party member who also has this feat, Fighter B who is next to the inquisitor is treated as having the feat for the purpose of the Inquisitor gaining the bonus. The fighter gets nothing out of the deal except the knowledge that he is aiding his fellow adventurer!
I'll check on it, but I can't imagine they would have changed that particular aspect.
EDIT:
Solo Tactics (Ex): At 3rd level, all of the inquisitor’s allies are treated as if they possess the same teamwork feats as the inquisitor for the purpose of determining if the inquisitor receives a bonus from her teamwork feats. Her allies do not receive any bonuses from these feats unless they actually possess the feats themselves. The allies’ positioning and actions must still meet the prerequisites listed in the teamwork feat for the inquisitor to receive the listed bonus.
Ah, I did do the tactics wrong.
My group of PCs needed a little help ... so I thought I'd have an inquisitor give them a hand.
Your description of the Inquisitor's performance is quite useful. Thanks for sharing it.
I'm testing an Inquisitor in a PFRPG game this coming weekend, and I've been worried about the in-combat effectiveness of the class. I thought about the painful wait for the bane ability, and wondered if the poor fellow wouldn't suffer from entry-level-wizard's disease until he reached CL 5th.
I went for Inquisitor for the RP angle ... the game is to be set in rural Galt, amidst all the hysteria surrounding a new "revolutionary government." I pitched my DM on a spy character -- sort of a cross between the "Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Simon Templar." Against-type, high-Cha dwarf spy, with a story arc focused on smuggling nobles out of Galt before they get fed to "Madame Justine." Given the story, the Inquisitor class was perfect for the part. Better than any bard or rogue, and rich with potential. Now I just have to pull it off.
More to follow as the test commences.
My group of PCs needed a little help ... so I thought I'd have an inquisitor give them a hand.Your description of the Inquisitor's performance is quite useful. Thanks for sharing it.
I'm testing an Inquisitor in a PFRPG game this coming weekend, and I've been worried about the in-combat effectiveness of the class. I thought about the painful wait for the bane ability, and wondered if the poor fellow wouldn't suffer from entry-level-wizard's disease until he reached CL 5th.
I went for Inquisitor for the RP angle ... the game is to be set in rural Galt, amidst all the hysteria surrounding a new "revolutionary government." I pitched my DM on a spy character -- sort of a cross between the "Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Simon Templar." Against-type, high-Cha dwarf spy, with a story arc focused on smuggling nobles out of Galt before they get fed to "Madame Justine." Given the story, the Inquisitor class was perfect for the part. Better than any bard or rogue, and rich with potential. Now I just have to pull it off.
More to follow as the test commences.
Yeah, I have to say, I put her in as a fourth level Inquisitor so she could hold her own with third level PCs. When bane kicks in it'll be a different story, but definitely at levels 1-4 not hell on wheels. She was a lot better out of combat than in...
Good luck in your playtest! Let us know how it goes.
Oh by the way the entire writeup of the session Salvadora the Inquisitor was in has been posted... Thrill to the conflict! She was enough of a success that she got a hug from the party monk in the end.