Inquisitor substitute in core?

[Sadronmeldir]

Hey all,

I'm in a group right now I really want to play an Inquisitor. The judgement mechanics, leadership feats and spell list all really blend together nicely for the character concept I have in mind.

Unfortunately, the DM is restricting us to core. Is there any way to pull off an inquisitor-like build with core classes so that it comes into its own by level 6-7?

[Kyoni]

It would never be as good as a real inquisitor, but multiclassing Cleric and Ranger is as close as you can get with the CRB only, imho.

[Kudaku]

Demagogue bard might fit the flavor you're looking for. The spell list and skill ranks are mostly similar, though you miss out on judgements.

Other than that, Kyoni's giving sound advice. See if you can get favored enemy: specific setting-appropriate Religion approved from your GM, maybe?

If so, bonus points because your character becomes more and more narrow-minded the higher level he gets (and adds more religion to his favored enemy list).

[Kyoni]

Kudaku wrote:

Demagogue bard might fit the flavor you're looking for.

I thought about Archetypes... but they are not in the CRB, unfortunately... and a basic Bard is very different from Inquisitors, but still great in it's own right.

Both Bard and Inqui can be built to excel at melee or archery.

[Ender730]

I realize inquisitors are divine, but bards are really their arcane counterpart. You get lvl 6 spells, you get the social skills, and you get the monster knowledge. Combat-wise, the dawnflower dervish gives a bard up to +8 to atk/dmg due to their self-only Inspire Courage.

If you really want divine, go Oath of Vengeance paladin.

[Sadronmeldir]

Very creative! I just took a very brief glance at demagogue (new archetype for me... seems interesting!). I've yet to consider ranger/cleric, so I'll do that as well.

With the inquisitor, I was actually going with the infiltrator archetype with a repeating crossbow. His spells were heavily focused on extracting information however possible. The ones I were most intrigued by were Interrogation, Persuasive Goad, Confess, Blood Biography and Speak with Dead. It seems like blood biography is the only overlap with bard.

Thank you for the feedback. I know this is very much like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Still hoping I can convince the DM that Inquisitor isn't inherently OP or that mechanics of the class are too unusual.

[Sadronmeldir]

Kyoni wrote:

Kudaku wrote:

Demagogue bard might fit the flavor you're looking for.

I thought about Archetypes... but they are not in the CRB, unfortunately... and a basic Bard is very different from Inquisitors, but still great in it's own right.

Sorry, I should mention that the DM is just excluding advanced classes or races. Archetypes, feats, etc from other sources are entirely allowed.

[Kudaku]

My bad on archetypes, I keep thinking that core only means core only classes but everything else is a go. Bad habit.

Edit: If archetypes are on the table, let's see... Another option is the Divine Hunter paladin?

You lose out on a lot of skill points but the spell list is similar, you'll be doing great(!) ranged damage with a bow, and you still have that whole "on the hunt for evil"-feel going.

[Kyoni]

Sadronmeldir wrote:

With the inquisitor, I was actually going with the infiltrator archetype with a repeating crossbow. His spells were heavily focused on extracting information however possible. The ones I were most intrigued by were Interrogation, Persuasive Goad, Confess, Blood Biography and Speak with Dead. It seems like blood biography is the only overlap with bard.

If other books are allowed for archetypes/feats/stuff, then the Detective Bard or other bard archetypes (like mentioned), are actually to closest to what you want.

Detective Bard Spells wrote:

Arcane Investigation: In addition, a detective's class spell list includes the following: 1st—detect chaos/evil/law/good; 2nd—zone of truth; 3rd—arcane eye, speak with dead, speak with plants; 4th—discern lies; 5th—prying eyes, stone tell; 6th—discern location, find the path, greater prying eyes, moment of prescience. A detective may add one of these spells or any divination spell on the bard spell list to his list of spells known at 2nd level and every four levels thereafter. This ability replaces versatile performance.

While Bards don't have the same spells, many Bard spells can be used to achieve the same thing.

[Ciaran Barnes]

Thematically I agree with Kyoni: ranger and cleric. However, it won't match the mechanics you're looking for. I suggest either ranger or paladin.