Augury - Divine Favor: The Inquisitor (Pathfinder)

Divine Favor: The Inquisitor is the lastest supplement by Stefen Styrsky dedicated to Pathfinder divine classes. Each Divine Favor gives 20 pages of new mechanical content for its class – usually things like new archetypes, feats, domains and such.

I always found the Inquisitor to be an odd class for Pathfinder (or for D&D in general) – basically because the class concept (at least mechanically) seems to be the perfect “lone wolf” character. The Inquisitor can not only fight decently, but also can heal, has a nice suite of features and skills, making for an extremely versatile character. In other words, I believe that the Inquisitor breaks the niche mentality that should be one of the founding blocks of games like Pathfinder. Let me be yet more succinct: no, I don’t like the class. I hope this PDF can at least warm me up to this wretched Van Helsing-like character.

Divine Favor: The Inquisitor starts with censures and condemnations, two new mechanics.  Censures work like small curses, inflicting different kinds of penalties (like restricting speed, attack penalties etc.) and consumes daily uses of Judgment. Condemnations replace Solo Tactics (a nice change by the way!) and impose greater effects, like conditions. I liked the flavor that both abilities grant to the class; I can’t pinpoint why, it just looks “biblical” (or something that a medieval priest would inflict upon heretics).

Next part is the Inquisitions – we get Balance, Darkness, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Nature, Obligation, Pestilence, Song, Thunder and Weapon Inquisition. The author supplies the deities of Zobeck as examples. The eBook has 8 new spells and 3 new feats (all dealing with the new condemnation mechanic).

Divine Favor: The Inquisitor also has new archetypes: Ghost Hunter, Hand of God, Penitent, Stalking Shadow, Sworn Foe and Witch Hunter (did you thought they would miss this one?). Most of the new archetypes are actually small “multiclass” hacks, enabling the Inquisitor to steal stuff of other classes, like Ranger, Rogue or Paladin. The best ones are Ghost Hunter (which is indeed very useful against incorporeal foes) and the Hand of God (which is almost a monk version of the Inquisitor, but nicely mixed with an infiltrator or assassin of its church – player will love it).

Divine Favor: The Inquisitor is a fine addition to any Pathfinder campaign. The two new mechanics are definitely the best part of the supplement, giving a more genuine inquisitorial flavor (no pun intended) to the class.