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I was somewhat inspired by the concept of a reckless, penitent inquisitor who throws themselves into treacherous battles with the enemies of their faith in the hopes of finding a glorious death in combat against something or someone they oppose on a grand scale, or on religious grounds, so I wrote up this archetype. Still fiddling with balance and such, and I'd love it if the members of this community would share their thoughts - some criticism would be wonderful to try and shape the build. Hell, tear it to pieces! Something better usually rises from the ashes.
I intend to playtest the archetype myself, but if anyone else intends to I would love to hear character ideas! So, without further ado, the build:
A death seeker is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, plus the favored weapon of her deity, but is not proficient with shields.
A death seeker may cast one fewer spell of each level than normal. If this reduces the number to 0, she may cast spells only if her Wisdom allows bonus spells of that level.
This ability is exactly like the barbarian class feature of the same name. Your effective barbarian level for this ability is equal to your inquisitor level. The death seeker may use penances even while raging. At 6th level, and every 6 levels thereafter, the death seeker may select a rage power, and must meet all prerequisites for these powers.
For the death seeker, every judgment she pronounces on her enemies is also a judgment of herself. This ability replaces the standard inquisitor judgments with a new set of judgments called penances. This ability otherwise functions exactly like the judgment class feature and any abilities or effects that modify judgments also modify penances.
- Castigate: The inquisitor is disgusted by the sins of her enemies, inflicting grievous wounds upon them, but begins to sweat blood as her own failings weigh upon her. The death seeker gains a +3 sacred bonus to all weapon damage rolls, but takes 2 bleed damage per round as long as the penance lasts. The damage bonus and bleed damage increase by 3 and 2 respectively for every four levels the inquisitor possesses. The bleed damage from this penance cannot be mitigated in any way while the penance is active.
- Heartseeker: The inquisitor casts aside her own protection to strike down the enemies of her faith. She increases the critical threat range of her weapon by one, and gains a +4 sacred bonus on critical confirmation rolls, but takes a -2 penalty to AC. The bonus to critical threat range increases by one for every 6 levels the inquisitor possesses, and does not stack with other abilities that modify a weapon's critical threat range. The bonus to critical confirmation rolls and penalty to AC increase by 4 and 2 respectively for every 5 levels the inquisitor possesses.
- Agony: The death seeker is wracked with a searing divine pain, driving her to absolute clarity of purpose but leaving her barely able to focus on anything but smiting her foes. She gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls, but takes a -2 penalty to concentration checks, caster level checks, attribute checks, and skill checks as long as the penance persists. The bonus and penalties all increase by 2 for every 5 levels the inquisitor possesses.
- Pursuit: The inquisitor is infuriated by cowards and lends all of her strength to her thundering footsteps, throwing balance and caution to the wind. She gains a +5 bonus to her base move speed, and is able to charge as a standard action rather than a full-round action, but takes a -2 penalty to her CMD. The bonus to move speed and penalty to CMD increase by 5 feet and -4 respectively for every 3 levels the inquisitor possesses
- Irrepressible: The death seeker inflicts blows that cannot be ignored, but must commit everything to the strike to do so. This penance functions as the smiting judgment, with the following changes: At 2nd level, the inquisitor's weapon counts as cold iron or silver (choose one upon activating the penance) for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. At 14th level, the weapon special abilities granted by this penance may also negate fast healing or regeneration, if applicable. At 18th level, the inquisitor's weapon counts as epic for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. However, the death seeker's saving throws are taken at a -1 penalty for as long as this penance is active. This penalty increases by 1 for every 4 levels the inquisitor possesses.
At 2nd level, the inquisitor gains a bonus equal to her Wisdom modifier (if any) on all saving throws. In the case of Will saving throws, she effectively applies her Wisdom modifier as a bonus twice. This ability replaces cunning initiative.
At 3rd level, the death seeker gains a 5 foot radius aura of pain. Creatures within this radius (allies included) take half the penalties you take from your active penances, after applying all relevant immunities. For example if an 8th level death seeker with the castigate and heartseeker penances active is fighting a skeleton, the skeleton would take no bleed damage, but would take a -2 penalty to AC.
At 8th level, the radius increases to 10 feet and the inquisitor may exclude a number of creatures equal to her Wisdom modifier from the effect.
At 16th level, the radius increases to 15 feet and those affected take the full effect of the death seeker's active penances. This ability replaces solo tactics.
At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, the inquisitor gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats. The inquisitor must meet the prerequisites of the selected bonus feat. This ability replaces teamwork feat.
At 15th level, the inquisitor gains the greater rage ability. This ability is exactly like the barbarian ability of the same name. This ability replaces slayer.
At 20th level, once per day while raging, the inquisitor can enter a relentless onslaught as a swift action. For the next minute, she gains the ferocity universal monster rule, and cannot die or be knocked unconscious from hit point damage (though her negative hit points continue to accumulate and she may die when the effect ends or if she is killed by some other effect, such as a death effect). In addition, she gains immunity to the following conditions: exhausted, staggered, paralyzed, stunned, and fear effects. Time spent in a relentless onslaught counts against the inquisitor's rage rounds for the day – if the inquisitor runs out of rage rounds, the effect ends prematurely. This ability replaces true judgment.
Appropriate Domains/Inquisitions
Fervor Inquisition
Justice Inquisition
Persistence Inquisition
Valor Inquisition
Zeal Inquisition
Death Domain
Destruction Domain
War Domain
Blood Subdomain (War)
Ferocity Subdomain (Strength)
Heroism Subdomain (Glory)
Martyr Subdomain (Nobility)
(Inquisitions are found in Ultimate Magic. Subdomains are found in the Advanced Player's Guide.)