I am asking this because we are in the middle of Book 3, most of the party was down due to a giant spider attacking us in the lodge and my character needed to step in and take control because he knew what was going on.
I had figured out exactly what all the distractions were about and wanted to act on this by forming an investigation in a classic Agatha Christie Poirot fashion.
The questions that struck me, as a player, the most was "Who gave you the right to investigate this? Who ordered this inquisition?"
We were asked to investigate, but given no authority to take over anything.
My character stood down because he was surrounded by 4-6 guards that had swords drawn. It was the right thing to do as shooting my gun provokes attacks of opportunity and reloading does the same, but the question stuck with me.
What authority does my character have to detain, hold, try or execute people that he knows are guilty?
My character is Lawful Neutral and is a follower of Abaddar with the Travel domain.
The next question that i can think of is, what does an inquisitor of Abaddar do?
I hope he is not just the IRS enforcer. I have pictured him as the sort that fights to defend civilization as it is his core belief that most humanioid existance would not exist without civilization and order.
May i have help as to what else an inquisitor of Abaddar is about?
I would imagine that your inquisitor has no legal authority in Ascanor Lodge. Abadar usually isn't even worshiped in Ustalav, and would despise the Ustalavian government as corrupt and ineffectual.
Legal authority also isn't worth a damn in Ustalav - see above about corruption and ineffectiveness.
Though it could make sense that in a lawless frontier situation, which Ascanor Lodge practically is, your inquisitor may conclude that he IS the law, Judge Dredd style.
With good bluff or diplomacy check, and adequate player chutzpah, you could get the guards and the huntmaster to help you. They're not bad people.
A lot of this is probably between you and your GM, though.
Thank you, i have asked him a bit more about all of this.The original concept might have fit Milani better, but it evolved into an Abaddar follower as i started working on it more and more.
I also saw my character as getting along with the judge that put to death 40 men for deserting the military. I see that form of justice fitting Markus( Character's Name ) as well.
So, I guess the question begs to be asked. How does one attain legal authority in Ustalav? Do I need to pick up a prestige class?
I hope I can get that authority through role-playing and not mechanics alone.
Well, I let slip that a war has already occured and, as befits our party's style, Everything happened at once; Ghost wolf thing possessed characters (one died), Estovian bolted,everything.
They were going to call in the constable, but that's what got me a bit confused as to my actual authority as i believed that the constable was another whispering way member who would help them out.
I wanted to take charge of the investigation right there and then, but had no idea of where the legal power of an inquisitor lies.
I also did not want Belik to get away as it was he whom i saw leaving one of the party member's rooms and found out that he was rifling through his stuff.
I have a good Diplomacy, bluff and Intimidate if needed.
It depends. Judge Daramid can probably give you authority. You can probably buy (under the table) a badge and position from a government official. You can just lie and dare them to disagree. Being an inquisitor doesn't give you de facto authority unless the government and your church are buddy buddy. It does gives you moral justification, so you won't have to worry about being a liar while you crush evil-doers despite the law.
To build on what MP is saying --
Your inquisitor absolutely has moral authority.
Legal authority is a much bigger pain in the ass - you need to talk an official into deputizing or backing you, and probably have to do it in every single province.
Judge Daramid could make you official for Lepidstahd and the province of Vieland, but I seriously doubt her jurisdiction extends to Ascanor Lodge.
I suppose Prince Ordraud could actually give you authority in every province, but that requires impressing the Prince. And a lot of places are more likely to try to kill you than to honor it.
Now, I believe Ascanor actually has someone who you could get as a backer, assuming he's still alive. I'm not going to say who, because you're a player and I don't want to spoil things.
It depends. Judge Daramid can probably give you authority. You can probably buy (under the table) a badge and position from a government official. You can just lie and dare them to disagree. Being an inquisitor doesn't give you de facto authority unless the government and your church are buddy buddy. It does gives you moral justification, so you won't have to worry about being a liar while you crush evil-doers despite the law.
That sounds GLORIUS!!! I love the sound of crushing evil-doers in the morning.
Also, i see it as more of a Markus wishes to bring Law to this land of lawlessness. By word or by bullet, either way, there will be Law as that is what seperates the men (Humanoids) from the beasts.
"It is only through the advances, cultivation, and mere existence, of civilization that men have grown and been allowed to prosper."
That is something Markus would say.
To build on what MP is saying --
Your inquisitor absolutely has moral authority.
Legal authority is a much bigger pain in the ass - you need to talk an official into deputizing or backing you, and probably have to do it in every single province.
Judge Daramid could make you official for Lepidstahd and the province of Vieland, but I seriously doubt her jurisdiction extends to Ascanor Lodge.
I suppose Prince Ordraud could actually give you authority in every province, but that requires impressing the Prince. And a lot of places are more likely to try to kill you than to honor it.
Now, I believe Ascanor actually has someone who you could get as a backer, assuming he's still alive. I'm not going to say who, because you're a player and I don't want to spoil things.
Thank you ever so much for not spoiling anything. This is good to know and something that my character might actually understand, but I do not, so thank you for that info.
Mechanically speaking nothing about gunslingers or inquisitors gives you legal authority over NPCs, and to the best of my knowledge no feats or alternate class features do that either.
The Leadership feat makes you the leader of a small warband, the Law Enforcer trait implies that you were a cop before you came an adventurer, but legal authority is an in-game RP thing.
For instance my players didn't just bust into Vorkstag and Grine's evil chemical willy-wonka factory. They went and got a search warrant from Judge Dramid first. Their first stop in any new town is always the guard house. They march up, plop down their letter of recommendation from the judge and ask to be deputized.
Actual authority? None.
Acting authority? Sure. If none of the NPCs step up then you have every right to take charge and make them follow.
Inquisitorial authority? Well, in this case... it depends on what you can convince your GM of. I had an inquisitor of Calistra who stepped up and demanded to inspect the brothel; while she didn't technically have the authority she was able to diplomance, I mean, 'convince' Estovian that if he didn't let her do her inspection then she'd shut the place down by divesting him of his whores.