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We've also seen inquisitors in 2e books already. Personally I really like the name more than any of the others suggested here.Inquisitor is probably fine given how historically removed the inquisitions are from any living person's actual experience, might as well axe the viking archetype, although I'll admit Intercessor is a really fun name just because it feels like a euphemism.
"Its my job to... intercede, wherever Pharasma deems it necessary"
Makes them sound like cleaners and it has such a brutal ring to it, try saying it with an evil british accent.
Both true, but the NPC inquisitors are evil, right? It may not be on the docket for a player-facing option.
I know for a fact that at least one person at Paizo knows how bad the RL Inquisition. Plus if Paizo changed the name of phylacteries to avoid antisemitism, inquisitors are much worse.
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As far as mechanical considerations, I really liked the PF1 inquisitor but I don't really hold a strong attachment to any of its specific features.
But in a very broad sense, divine warrior/battle priest/warrior of the gods archetypes are very broad and cover a huge swathe of fictional characters across all spectrums and right now it barely exists in PF2. Champions aren't very magical, are more alignment focused and are built more around being defensive. Clerics, Oracles, Sorcerers and Witches just aren't very good at being martial even though they have options facing that way. Summoners technically fit, but have fairly specific and unique flavor and mechanics that don't make them a great fit for a broad range of concepts.
Having something in between those options just seems important to cover what feels to me like a gap in the design space of existing classes.
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I am jewish. Phylacteries are things used positively by people today. It would be more akin to out rage that would occur from having Lich’s exclusively use crucifixes as the source of their power.
The inquisitor is really not offensive a title to me because the inquisition is viewed clearly as a terrible thing through modern eyes. Honestly, the class name Barbarian feels more problematic to me than inquisitor but I have no problem with either.
I've always noticed that the Inquisitor has been highly requested, but never understood exactly why. The class is a variety of discrete mechanics playing to a specific theme, but never had a cohesive mechanical identity nor a single defining feature like the Magus's Spellstrike. In addition, its flavor is often hard to distinguish from the 1E Warpriest or "X but Cleric Archetype" (substitute Ranger/Rogue/Fighter/Investigator/Thaumaturge).
With that in mind, what specifics do you want out of Inquisitor in 2E? Full class with new, revamped mechanics? Focused archetype? Class hybridized with 1E Warpriest mechanics?
I'd probably consider revisiting some of the PF1 features and reimagine them to PF2. Bane is a property now, and Inquisitors could apply that a number of times per day based on creature type as an additional rune not unlike a Blade Ally feature. With a Greater feature to increase the damage dealt. Judgements could give special benefits like they did in PF1, like fast healing, status to hit/AC, etc. as a focus point. Or have them good at Recall knowledge with some bonuses on critical successes and such. Give them Wave casting with Divine list at Master DCs and maybe Master in all martial weapons, depending on Judgement powers.
Could be done as either a Champion or a Cleric Archetype depending on balance.
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What if it's a rogue racket?
I’d be miserable.
We've also seen inquisitors in 2e books already. Personally I really like the name more than any of the others suggested here.Inquisitor is probably fine given how historically removed the inquisitions are from any living person's actual experience, might as well axe the viking archetype, although I'll admit Intercessor is a really fun name just because it feels like a euphemism.
"Its my job to... intercede, wherever Pharasma deems it necessary"
Makes them sound like cleaners and it has such a brutal ring to it, try saying it with an evil british accent.
Both true, but the NPC inquisitors are evil, right? It may not be on the docket for a player-facing option.
I know for a fact that at least one person at Paizo knows how bad the RL Inquisition. Plus if Paizo changed the name of phylacteries to avoid antisemitism, inquisitors are much worse.
I'm curious what books have these NPCs. NPCs follow different rules, but it could still give us some insight. Plus I might want to use such an NPC myself.
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There are parts of the inquisition and witch trials that people really misunderstand in the modern context - while Jewish people definitely have connection to the oppression's of the Inquisition, the other targets where mainly people wrongfully accused of being witches, and "heretical" sects of Christianity that largely don't exist today (such as the Cathars).
I am a practicing witch, but I find other modern witches trying to lay claim to the oppression's of the inquisition and witch trials to be pretty irresponsible - while modern witchcraft and wicca draws on a weird hodgepodge of ancient paganism (in many cases, appropriates), as a 20th century invention we have very little direct link to the people who where wrongfully accused of being witches in the 20th century, as they weren't actually witches - just people who didn't fit in or who where political enemies of the accusers (there are actually many recorded cases of politically powerful men falling victim to the inquisition as a means to remove them from power). Most of the people subjected to actual witch trials where Christians (Jewish people where heavily targeted in different ways than witch trials by the inquisition).
This isn't to say that the term is necessarily defensible, just that people need to keep in mind who was actually harmed by the Inquisition, and that playing into the idea that actual witches where oppressed by the Inquisition actually means buying into the false accusations made by the oppressors in the first place.
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As anyone else read the stats for the Inquisitor of Walkena in the Secrects if the Temple City, part 5 of Strenth of Thousands?
They stats and abilities are exactly what I want go see in an Iquisitor class.
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As anyone else read the stats for the Inquisitor of Walkena in the Secrects if the Temple City, part 5 of Strenth of Thousands?
They stats and abilities are exactly what I want go see in an Iquisitor class.
Care to spoil? I'm interested to see.
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I think a big part of the dissonance is that religion in Golarion is on a fundamental level not even the same concept at religion on earth. On earth religion is a cultural anchor, an element of the community to express the values and rules of a people, and sort of a touchstone to which a cultural identity can be grounded. Clearly discrimination and persecutions founded on this basis is an appalling thing to do.
But none of that is what religion IS on Golarion. Different religions on Golarion are not differences in faith, because faith is not an element. Lesser details aside the cosmology and history of every faith is the same, just emphasizing differing events or view points to a greater or lesser degree. Everyone knows who the gods are, what they did, and that they exist, and instead the religion is founded on which one of these gods they serve. This is not a system of cultural values and ideals but personal ones, where members of the same house often worship different gods. And it is not a system of belief but one of loyalty, where you are serving under a real and active being with a real and active agenda.
And these active gods find themselves at odds with one another, they war with each other, they try to undermine each other in areas where their viewpoints are at odds. Inquisitors are not perusing those that are different, they are are perusing foes that are actively working against their own god in a real tangible way. And furthermore given that no less than three faiths have the end goal of destroying all sentient life on Golarion I think the idea that religion should be innately defendable is just not something that applies in this setting
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Care to spoil? I'm interested to see.As anyone else read the stats for the Inquisitor of Walkena in the Secrects if the Temple City, part 5 of Strenth of Thousands?
They stats and abilities are exactly what I want go see in an Iquisitor class.
https://2e.aonprd.com/NPCs.aspx?ID=1710
For lesser spoilers than the whole block:Essentially judgement is single target like hunt prey with a damage booster and a rider that I assume will be variable based on feat choices and the option to flurry the target with her deity's favored weapon which I assume would also be a feat choice.
Seems to be modified wave casting having 3 vancian spells of spell levels 4-7 available plus cantrips. Creature level is 16 so while a level 16 magus has 8th level spells by this point this npc has a lower top level but way more spells overall. Idk about being behind a whole spell level, but having double the spells of a magus and quadruple that of a summoner is far less constraining. Just don't ever try to incapacitate, counteract or battleform I suppose.
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I'm curious what books have these NPCs. NPCs follow different rules, but it could still give us some insight. Plus I might want to use such an NPC myself.We've also seen inquisitors in 2e books already. Personally I really like the name more than any of the others suggested here.Both true, but the NPC inquisitors are evil, right? It may not be on the docket for a player-facing option.
I know for a fact that at least one person at Paizo knows how bad the RL Inquisition. Plus if Paizo changed the name of phylacteries to avoid antisemitism, inquisitors are much worse.
I'm thinking of Worknesh the Golden Blade (LE female human inquisitor 16) High-Inquisitor of Walkena and commander of Mzali’s martial forces, from the Mwangi Expanse book.
I never played 1e so I may be off base here, but it seems to me like a Ranger class archetype could be a really good fit? A lot of the flavor of being good at pursuing targets and ferreting out secrets is already there, so all you'd really need is a set of class feats and maybe a unique hunters edge to pull in the divine flavor.
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I never played 1e so I may be off base here, but it seems to me like a Ranger class archetype could be a really good fit? A lot of the flavor of being good at pursuing targets and ferreting out secrets is already there, so all you'd really need is a set of class feats and maybe a unique hunters edge to pull in the divine flavor.
It’s certainly one way to do it. Other possibilities include cleric, Thaumaturge, investigator, possibly even rogue. It could even be an archetype all it’s own, as befitting the different needs different faiths would have and recruit for.
I guess for me it depends on how tightly they focus the theme. The CRB classes seem to try to cover multiple possible tropes, while the later classes are nearly as focused as archetypes. I’d prefer to see that trend reversed. If the want is for an offensive divine class, covering several reasons someone might find themselves doling out judgment on their faith’s behalf, then I’d welcome a class by whatever name they’d chose.
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If this thread is about justifying Inquisitor as a class now...
1. There's a power niche for it, in that we have a have a Legendary AC/Master Weapons non-caster, and a Master AC/Master Weapons full-caster, so a Master AC/Master Weapons wave-caster fits neatly, with wave-casting construed as one step below full-caster.
2. There's plenty of special mechanics you could build into its chassis.
3. It has a ton of popularity from 1E.
I recommend the name Divine Troubleshooter, since that's basically what Inquisitors were in 1st Edition. They also have skill-based abilities that fit well with an outlook of Paranoia (even though I never actually got to play that).
Making this a prestige class archetype with several skill feats useful for troubleshooting would let you stick it on several different classes for greater coverage of different troubleshooting roles:
Put it on a Ranger or Investigator to make a divine stalker, including the monster hunter/cult hunter role.
Put it on a Divine Summoner for the divine representative/minor herald role.
Put it on a Cleric (either type) for an inquisitorial priest.
Put it on a Champion for an inquisitorial holy warrior.
Put it on a Witch (any type) for a Coven's troubleshooter.
You could even put it on a Sorcerer, but the low number of skill proficiencies would hurt.
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as for what i want out of an inquisitor, i actually have a pretty detailed chasis in mind, to the point i could probobly build a full homebrew if i could be bothered to flesh out the class feat selection.
wis prime stat
ideally it would have legendary perception
d8 hd
master martial weapons + deity favored weapon
master medium armor
spont divine wave casting with domain spells added to repetoir and auto signitured
high starting skills
judgements are a series of pseudo stances that are triggered as reactions that apply fairly strong status buffs to the inquisitor that only apply when interacting with the foe that triggered the judgement
also some way of getting extra skills, probobly not full rogue skill progression but some amount of bonus skills
I think it would be better if the dietys spells are added to the spell list but you still had to pick them. If they automatically learned them then that benefits dietties like Nethys( who has spells from9 different levels), and it also favors dieties who have spells that are actually heightenable
I'm assuming you mean the diety spells. Since domain spells are focus spells which would already be heightened and I don't think get added to your repertoire and it something else
But beyond that it's a pretty interesting start for chasis.
Wisdom vs STR/DEX as main stat may be a topic of contention.
If Wisdom is their core stat, they need an alternative means to hit as to stay sufficiently distinct from the "I hit less but I cast spells great" Warpriest, while still maintaining passable accuracy.
An interesting mechanic could be tied to having Wisdom to hit only against enemies who fail a saving throw/are hit by a spell attack by the Inquisitor. Maybe they could have a Focus Cantrip that allows them to make melee/ranged spell attacks against enemies with a fixed damage dice, and upon hit they get to make Wisdom-powered melee/ranged attacks against that target.
Maybe they could get some situations in which they don't need this condition – some Inquisitors could always get Wisdom-to-attack on strikes against enemies if they are flat-footed, some of them could get Wisdom-to-attack against enemies who performed an offensive action, some of them could get Wisdom-to-attack against enemies who have other types of conditions like frightened, etc.
If STR/DEX is their core stats, I believe there's more margin for creativity, as the class doesn't need to focus on solving the accuracy problem. Personally I'd prefer this approach, but the Investigator proves that the previous approach can also work.
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If the inquiistor can get master weapon proficency at the rate of most martials I think it will be fine with wisdom is its main stat, Inventors, can only get a 16 and they do fine, and the Thaumaturge for the most part works.
That being said the Magus which will probably be the closest parallel to the inquisitor uses a str/dex option so I can easily seeing it go that route.
If the inquiistor can get master weapon proficency at the rate of most martials I think it will be fine with wisdom is its main stat, Inventors, can only get a 16 and they do fine, and the Thaumaturge for the most part works.
Investigators do get INT-to-hit for Stratagem though.
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I would much rather wis be the prime stat because we have a severe lack of wis classes to begin with, and it is a -1 to hit half the time and equal to a "full martial" the other half, also I feel like any class dc effects they inflict should key off wis rather than str or dex
If the inquiistor can get master weapon proficency at the rate of most martials I think it will be fine with wisdom is its main stat, Inventors, can only get a 16 and they do fine, and the Thaumaturge for the most part works.Investigators do get INT-to-hit for Stratagem though.
That doesn't negate my point that the Inventor does fine, and that the Thaumaturge playtest worked fine as well. 16 is a perfectly fine starting stat to hit.
I don't see how investigators play into my comment. They have their own mechanics seperate from what I was trying to say and work fine as well.
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My ideal for KAS would be player's choice of Str, Dex or Wis. Allows them to pick an attribute based on what they want to focus on.
Isn't that the purpose of archetyping?
To some extent, but archetypes are a poor approximation for a lot of these ideas because they're just too slow and not robust enough. A fighter/thaumaturge/ranger/etc. with a divine MC lacks any significant magical presence until fairly deep in a campaign. A cleric/witch/sorcerer with a martial MC lacks staying power as a physical combatant, they never get that particularly good at it.
You're right that new classes need compelling, defining mechanics. My point is just that I'm more flexible on how that mechanic manifests itself and I don't really care if Bane or Judgement come back in recognizable forms.
But no archetype build will ever really effectively fill that niche for the same reason Fighter mc Wizard was a poor substitute for the Magus.
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As anyone else read the stats for the Inquisitor of Walkena in the Secrects if the Temple City, part 5 of Strenth of Thousands?
They stats and abilities are exactly what I want go see in an Iquisitor class.
I wonder if it’s possible to do that for a PC class. She’s effectively an oracle base that loses the mystery and focus spells for better weapons and a very weak version of hunter’s edge. I don’t forsee it being that strong as exactly that tradeoff, because leveraging both of those feature halves together isn’t that possible, though I do believe paizo overvalues master weapon prof without a damage booster so I don’t see it being likely to be printed as that.
If anything, I suspect it will be a wavecaster with a judgement mechanic, if it comes at all. The prevailing thought might already be that ranger with an archetype does it.
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Okay well, let's look at what an "Inquisitor" type class would probably look like, and let's fill in the blanks from there!
First things first, chassis.
I think we all agree that Magus is a solid template here for this.
- Master Spellcasting, Master Weapon Prof, Master Armour Prof (Medium).
- Bounded, Prepared, Divine Spellcasting.
- Subclass options that give thematic twists to performances that mix combat with their divine focus.
- Solid Focus spells that both fit into the subclass option and enhance playstyle
- Some means of adding extra spell slots to the bounded casting.
- Unique class feature that sets them apart
- Capstone feature augments this unique feature.
So, with this rough template in mind, let's get designing!
First off, Subclasses!
"Orthodoxies" seems like a good name for various subclasses, as it means the doctrine or practice of that part of their faith. Which feels appliacable.
We'd need 3-4 Orthodoxies to start with. Off the top of my head I'm thinking:
- One that allows you to swing around a holy tome on a chain. Like the "Living Tome" archetype from PF1. Plus other book-based shenanigans.
- One that lives the hysterical "Burn it with fire!!" live. Maybe they can use a torch as their weapon and treat it like a heavy mace or some such.
- One that helps buff teammates. Helps resist fear, grants bonuses to the team on Recall Knowledge checks, lets them apply special properties to their weapons, etc.
- One that is tanky and allows for a "Shield of faith" feel to it.
For the unique feature, I'm thinking of a hybrid between "Hunt Prey" and "Spellstrike", wherein you get some bonus' to attack a specified enemy, with a conditional rider that lets you cast the 3-action Harm spell centred on the enemy a limited number of times. Perhaps with the rider being tied to your orthodoxy. Call them "heresies" and give unique conditions to trigger plus a general one.
That way you get some smite-like damage in there as well.
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- Bounded, Prepared, Divine Spellcasting.
I am going to live up to the hysterical "burn it with fire!" approach if this happens.
No more Prepared Casters for some time please, unless you want them to be CHA-based.
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All I need mechanically from inquisitor is some kind of judgement mechanic and a class feat/feature for getting a rune on their weapon. Gotta have that chainsword.
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So, for me... I just generally disagree with the whole "you can handle it with archetypes" argument. I mean, at one level, of *course* you can. There's enough breadth in the system currently that you can mostly bodge together just about anything that isn't breaking new ground entirely, and has been for some time. Ranger and Champion could both have just been Fighter with a few archetypes. Oracle could have been Cleric or Divine Sorc with some refluffing. Swashbuckler and Investigator could have been Rogue Rackets. Barbarian could have been Fighter with a few more class feats. The initial concept for Magus very nearly has "Fighter with a spellcasting archetype" written right on it.
That's not the point, though. Any of those "could haves" would have been clunky and awkward and might have been viable characters, but wouldn't have actually given the experience that people want from the concept. When you build a class around the concept, the whole thing flows a lot better. (That's assuming you do it right. Paizo has a pretty solid history of doing it right.) So the question on "should we make this a class" is never "could we conceivably build something that looks sort of like this concept any other way?" It's "Is it possible to implement this concept in a way that really feels right?" on the one side and "If not, then do we have enough interest in this concept that it's worth building a class to support it so that you can implement it in a way that feels right?"
Now, my window on such things is limited, but from what little I can see, the demand is not lacking here. It certainly seems to have a decent number of defenders here. It's also a classic concept in a number of other works. For the former... I'm going to have to say "no". The core concept here is a divinely empowered character who serves as knife hand and dispenser of Divine Wrath for their God, ideally with some "rooting out the hidden corruption" and "carving out the cancer" feel. "Vicious back-ally knife-fights For The Glory Of A Higher Power" and all that. I mean, it even makes sense that it resonates. The problem is... the pieces that we have don't fit. Like, every piece that you could add that might bring in any divine influence at all inherently reduces the "back-alley knife fight" and/or "Instrument of Wrath" aspects, and often both. Any piece that you might bring in to increase the degree of back-alley knife fighting inherently reduces the feeling of connection with the divine. With enough refluffing, you can make it work... sort of. You'll even still have a playable character coming out the other end, if only because PF2 is really good about letting your customization decisions not sink you. It just won't be right.
For me, one thing that I'd love to see... I don't know how viable this really is from an overall gameplay standpoint, but I'd love to see some sort of mechanic where they'd get extra kill-power and/or other little bennies when directly serving their deity's ends, or fighting those that the deity hates - betrayers of the faith, enemies of their God, and so forth. The Champion has requirements, to limit them so that they might not stray from the true path. The Intercessor should have goads, to inspire them to fervently pursue their god's ends. I want to see Intercessors of Pharasma that get really into the idea of hunting down and destroying the undead.
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Whatever else he can do, I want his main weapons to be Fear, Surprise, Ruthless Efficiency, and a Fanatical Devotion to his cause.
And he should be completely unexpected.
Fear: some sort of class feat support for intimidation. Seems entirely appropriate. Fitting in Charisma is going to be tricky, though, as "combat stats plus wisdom" is already pretty tight. Possibly a way to intimidate based off some other stat and/or inflict the frightened condition directly?
Unexpected and Surprise: some sort of support for stealth as well. This is starting to fall a bit into the Rogue side of things, but is still pretty in-theme. I'd again suggest that it should be either subclass or class feat, rather than being in any way core to the class.
Ruthless Efficiency: Having some action economy advantage from dropping an enemy would be cool. The issue is that it happens rarely enough in any given combat that you'd have to make it a pretty beefy effect. Worse yet, in poorly coordinated groups, it would keep not firing, and feel bad, while in particularly well-coordinated groups it would fire regularly and feel overpowered. Perhaps instead have it based on applying negative conditions? Like, say, a reaction that allows you to make a melee attack when you apply a negative condition to someone and they're within range. I'm thinking that feels like... lvl 16 class feat (assuming the hit gets to ignore MAP)? Certainly, the idea that this is a class (or at least has a subclass) that eschews opportunity attacks because it wants to focus its attentions on the target in front of it that needs to die? That's not alien to the concept.
Fanatical Devotion: Sounds like a great name for a "your will save proficiency just got better" class feature, though I don't know what extra bennies I'd put on it. Really, though, there's all sorts of feats and/or features you might attach it to - something for shrugging off conditions, perhaps, or the previously mentioned bonuses for attacking enemies of the faith, or
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I strongly disagree that the magus is a good chassis for the Inquisitor. They do very, very different things with their spell casting, the only similarity is that they are martial characters with built in spell casting abilities.
However, wave casting would be less fun on an inquisitor than it is on magus, because the Inquisitor is not going to have "bypass accuracy issues" built into their spell casting features, so it doesn't make as much sense for them to need to be pushing highest spell level slots and only having 4 of them. The divine spell list really doesn't support that very well.
Instead, I think something more like the psychic's spell casting progression or even just built in multiclassing spell casting proficiency without spending class feats on it would give the inquisitor much more of a PF1 feel with their spell casting. Then they can focus more on Judgments that give martial like accuracy boosts or defense boosts (depending on which you chose) as focus spell as class feats that work like team-work feats and I think it would be a fun, unique and interesting class.
But with wave casting, building into being a powerful caster is going to majorly feel like a trap because you have so few spells per day, making Wis a problematic key stat.
So there's an interesting question. The Intercessor (I've come to really like that name for the class, and no one can make me stop using it!) is clearly supposed to be divinely powered in some way. There's a general feeling that they should have some sort of slotted casting... which would, of course, be divine spells. So... what spells would they be using? For those who Really Like the old Inquisitor and want something like it back, and who also have a good solid grounding in the spell lists... what Divine spells would you see them as using? How much of their career would you see them being used? How well do they scale if cast from a higher-level slot? What cantrips make sense for them, if any? What slots would they actually need in order to get the spells that make the concept shine?
But with wave casting, building into being a powerful caster is going to majorly feel like a trap because you have so few spells per day, making Wis a problematic key stat.
I think you don't have to assume no accuracy changes baseline, the Investigator, for example, interacts with accuracy directly.
Either WIS-based with an accuracy boost to weapon attacks reliant on a conditionality (for example, hitting with a spell).
Or STR/DEX-based with a spell accuracy boost reliant on a conditionality (for example, hitting with an attack).
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But with wave casting, building into being a powerful caster is going to majorly feel like a trap because you have so few spells per day, making Wis a problematic key stat.I think you don't have to assume no accuracy changes baseline, the Investigator, for example, interacts with accuracy directly.
Either WIS-based with an accuracy boost to weapon attacks reliant on a conditionality (for example, hitting with a spell).
Or STR/DEX-based with a spell accuracy boost reliant on a conditionality (for example, hitting with an attack).
What is appealing about wave casting for an inquisitor? It feels like people want it because they think that is the only way to get decent martial proficiencies alongside casting, but that doesn't have to be the case. Now if people are primarily interested in casting for attack spells and counteracting abilities, the Inquisitor would require top level spell slots, but only having 4 spells a day is incredibly limiting for the build if their primary thing is going to be casting attack spells.
The summoner gets by on wave casting because they are usually only casting 1 spell slot per combat, either to buff with a duration or something like a summon. But that doesn't really feel like what the inquisitor is wanting to be doing with their spell slots.
The summoner gets by on wave casting because they are usually only casting 1 spell slot per combat, either to buff with a duration or something like a summon. But that doesn't really feel like what the inquisitor is wanting to be doing with their spell slots.
I feel like the Intercessor ought to be spending most of their time in combat stabbing enemies in the face, maneuvering around, and possibly using class abilities and/or focus powers. "Cast a spell" is something they should be doing every once in a while, but it shouldn't be every round, or even most rounds. I think that "cast one or two buffs with a duration per fight" is actually pretty reasonable as an Intercessor gameplan, but I think it's going to depend on what the distribution-by-level of useful spells looks like, and I don't actually know the divine list all that well. It wouldn't surprise me if they were better off not having cantrips, and that's certainly worth a few points off the build budget. The Magi need them so that they have something they can throw into spellstrike without spending slots. The Summoners need them so that they have something that the caster-body can do at all without spending slots. The Intercessor? Maybe not as much. The kind fo martial/caster synergy effects that would work well for them thematically don't necessarily fit cantrips particularly well.
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I think the divine list pairs pretty well with wave casting, because a lot of divine spells are situational tools or buffs that generally last a whole fight or longer, which works fine with our hypothetical inquisitor as long as they have some interesting in-class tools. Arguably a lot better for them than the Magus.
ANd for better or worse, right now wave casting is the model for martial proficiencies + spell slots. If Paizo wants to open up alternatives, that could be cool, but working with what we have right now that seems like the best way to put them together.
I think the divine list pairs pretty well with wave casting, because a lot of divine spells are situational tools or buffs that generally last a whole fight or longer, which works fine with our hypothetical inquisitor as long as they have some interesting in-class tools. Arguably a lot better for them than the Magus.
ANd for better or worse, right now wave casting is the model for martial proficiencies + spell slots. If Paizo wants to open up alternatives, that could be cool, but working with what we have right now that seems like the best way to put them together.
My concern is more which levels those things are at. The "fight-long buff" is great as long as there's a reasonably smooth progression, but if there's a great empty spot for spell levels 6 and 7 (or whatever), and the lower-level spells that you'd actually want to cast don't scale into the higher-level spell slots all that well, it's going to feel really unsatisfying as you climb through those levels and you're technically getting higher-level spell slots while practically you're getting basically nothing.
The other side of it is the utility spells. There's a meaningful argument to be made that the Intercessor might want to spend at least a few spell slots out of combat - specifically on the investigative side of things, as they track down their foe. That... doesn't necessarily work so well for a wave caster, especially if the spell slots they do have are in some way spoken for by their class features.
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But with wave casting, building into being a powerful caster is going to majorly feel like a trap because you have so few spells per day, making Wis a problematic key stat.
If you wanted to be a powerful caster, wouldn’t the warpriest better serve that need?
I can’t recall any way to make the Inquisitor a powerful caster either. Even focusing solely in casting was tough on bards and they had better casting tools than inquisitors.
I hope that the class they make for Inquisitor will fit with the concept of Salim Ghadafar. An Inquisitor of Pharasma but he does not worship Pharasma, although his divine abilities come from her.
I like a bit of the edginess of the class. And yes, it is very easy to imagine an Inquisitor who is not Good. And we have historical basis for understanding what that can bring. The historical Inquisition was not a good thing. I personally don't think naming a class an Inquisitor is claiming those historical events are welcome for the players to recreate. It may be welcome force for the characters to struggle against however, be that from the inside, or outside. But the goal of the class won't be to make innocent people die for the advancement of some factions consolication of power.
However, yest Fear and Interrogation seems aspects common to most or many Inquisitors. Some form of Bane/Smite providing a combat buff, and/or Judgements which provided buffs to allies/debuffs to opponents. Honestly, it seems like Bane and Judgements could be potentially merged, or selections from some available abilities, that offer the buff/debuff options.
I have to admit obvious choice seems to be having divine casting (either low slotted, or wave casting). And I like the idea of them likely having access to the domain spells like clerics do which would be attached to their deity.
However, after listening to the Thaumaturge Class, there was some talk that made me wonder if they intended it to take over much of the role of Inquisitor. In the end it really didn't feel that way, but it had already gotten me thinking.
I actually wondered if though primarily Divine in nature/origin, I wondered if part of a Inquisitor's separation from their deities normal Anathema might reflect their deities having imparted these abilities with a more Occult nature. Maybe a WIS or Cha based Occult spells that can be cast using a divine focus, and count as Divine. [not sure about prepared or spontaneous] but they cast inquisitor spells they have (prepared/spontaneous) as a Divine spell. They can use religion to make spell related checks that would normally take Occult, if related to a spell they have prepared(or in repertoire)
The above seems like it could be interesting, but I'll also admit it is also kind of complex. Although I can really enjoy complexities that are fascinating, I understand it may be an uncommon taste.
Another option...
A martial with access to cantrip/litanies that produce individual and area buffs for in combat, as well as utility effects for tracking/investigation. Access to the domain focus spells of their deity if they choose to invest in them with feats. Potentially, option for access to cast divine spells from scrolls(maybe wand), probably bought by feat investment.
Some litanies might be cantrips (like the other class specific focus cantrips) while others might be focus spells they gain access to as they level up. Litanies might include fear like effects to improve Intimidation (perhaps removing normal bolstering from multiple normal intimidation attempts within the area)
In this way, they could be Divine spell-casters, without necessarily needing full slot investment, and keeps them from needing 'to mechanically' need to comply with the typical Divine anathema requirements. They use their combat ability/tracking and such to track down the enemies of their church, and use allies as well as consumable resources provided to them by their church, to insure these matters are dealt with.
Can an inquisitor go bad... well that isn't impossible. Their power is less directly powered by their patron. This allows them to potentially infiltrate better, but also leaves room for story arcs involving one becoming corrupted themselves.
Giving them access to use divine spell completing items helps some of those past concepts and stories that might have been already written that had them casting spells known to be slotted spells for instance. A divine sorcerer/oracle/cleric multiclass might also be an option to lay slots easily on top a cantrip focused inquisitor chassis too, if they decide to leave Slots off the main chassis of the inquisitor.
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I wasn't suggesting trying to make them a powerful caster. I was suggesting either giving them more of a martial frame and lower level spell casting, but more spells per day, or giving them something like the psychic, with really powerful focus stances that functionally increase their offensive or defensive abilities and only one/two spells per level.
I agree that divine cantrips really will not provide the Inquisitor with much value, which is further cause for considering something different than the wave caster model. If they are a martial strike with divine flavor and some support casting, I'd much rather see the avenger from 4e serve as the design focus, with perhaps no spells by default and spell slots something the class buys into with class feats, at the cost of boosting/gaining new/more powerful focus spells. If they are suppose to retain a fair bit of utility casting, I'd much rather see something other than wave casting. That is apparently just me though. Everyone else seems pretty married to wave casting. I would just rather see something new and more creative.
Wave casting feels right for the bloodrager, but not really the inquisitor to me.
^In world, it is a reasonable possibility that Iomedae came to hate that too -- hence her shift from accepting Lawful Neutral worshippers to no longer doing so, once she recovered from