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At first I must say that I'm a little bit biased, as I'm not a great fan of the inqusitor class. I always felt that it's a swiss army knife class, which could do practically anything, and even features some "silver bullet vs. everything" abilities like Bane. So in this light it's quite telling that I really like this new sourcebook.
Overview
This short 23-page supplement has a surprising amount of content, even with Rite Publishing standards. While the rules are on only 19 pages it's includes 7 new archetypes, 5 new inquisitions, 36 new feats for solo tactics (also compatible with the Super Genius Games's Warmaster class) and 11 new judgements.
The layout of the book is the usual 2 column format, and the artwork is the same mixed quality you find in most products from the publisher. Well, except for the cover image, which is maybe the best (at least to my liking) I seen recently.
The Content
The book starts with the 6 archetypes, each providing a new kind of inquisitor never done before. I think they made a good work researching a market and asking potential customers, as most of the new archetypes are really feeling like something you must have.
The first archetype Herons of the Fountain are trying to cleanse the land from drugs, alcohol, curses, insanity and other afflictions. The next one, the Thief-Taker is an interesting one, something between a bounty-hunter and an intermediate to the underworld, and they are often (mostly) redeemed thieves themselves. I guess the Monster Hunter is really self-explanatory, while the Questioner of Trail and Tide is hunting brigands, highwaymen and pirates in the name of vengeance, and without any regard to local laws. The Channeling Martinet has no special "story focus", but they replace most of their class abilities for the cleric's channel energy, offering an interesting option to players. All four archetypes are really spot on.
Maybe the most interesting archetype, and something which I really wanted to see are the Purifiers of the Burning Pentagram, the inqusition of Asmodeus. I'm really happy to see evil inqusitors at last, and the will surely purify a lots of souls with fire around many gaming tables.
From the game mechanics perspective the most interesting is the Truth Seeker : a non-spellcaster inqusitor with rage class feature. I think a combat oriented inqusitor is an interesting option, even if it's an interesting choice for a Truth Seeker, as I think a more spellcasting oriented one with divination spells could be more fitting.
As I mentioned we received five new inqusitions, all nicely complementing the archetypes of the sourcebook. For example the Asmodeus’ Inquisition features a Hellfire Bolt, and the ability to Greater Command on higher levels.
The next big part of the book contains 36 feats inspired by the 36 Stratagems attributed to Sun Tzu and/or Zhuge Liang. I think the feats are really good and unique, and only a few (like the Beauty Trap) which seems to do too much for a feat.
The new 11 judgements cover the last page of the book, providing even more options for inqusitors. While most of those are combat oriented my favorite is the Warning Sign judgement, which enables the character to inform somebody or a group of people if any debilitating afflictions, conditions, charms or compulsions affect him.
Final words
I have to say that The Secrets of the Inqusitor is a very good Pathfinder supplement, providing a lot of content with high quality. As I mentioned in the beginning I'm not a big fan of the class, so congratulations to Steven Russell to write a book about it I really like. Clearly it's 5/5 points from me.
For those who are interested in the book, it is already available on DriveThruRPG.
Zoltán "Cain" Mészáros
