My Version of The Inquisitorius

[Underachiever599 870]

I've been a big fan of the Inquisitors in Star Wars ever since the Legends days. The idea of this Dark Side equivalent to the Jedi Order, run the way Anakin had always wanted to run the Jedi (As enforcers rather than mediators). Something about it was just so fascinating to me. So needless to say, when I found out the main antagonist of Rebels was going to be an Inquisitor, I was thrilled. I've avidly followed the series, and enjoy most of the changes made to the Inquisitorius. Sure, the lightsabers are a bit silly, but it's far better than having Inquisitors like Jerec who rival Vader in power, or having an army of Inquisitors that can all use Force Lightning as if it's the easiest thing in the world. It makes a lot more sense having the Inquisitors be this low-leveled threat that can challenge the average Jedi Knight, but no more.

I've taken heavy inspiration from this while building my Star Wars campaign, and now that Season 1 of my game is over, I felt like sharing some of the ideas I had. I'd love to get your opinions on these ideas, and feedback for changes or additions that I could make.

As far as I know, there are only 8-9 confirmed Inquisitors, as we know of the Grand Inquisitor (Who I don't believe has a number assigned to him),  the 5th Brother, 6th Brother, 7th Sister, and 8th Brother. Logically speaking, there has to be Brothers and Sisters 1-4 as well, though it's likely one of them was killed by Darth Maul (Which is how he got his lightsaber in Rebels and knows of the Inquisitors).

In the game I've been running, I have created The First Brother, The Second Sister, The Third Brother, The Fourth Sister, The Ninth Sister, and the Tenth Brother as well. I've done my best to give backstories to each of these Inquisitors, aside from the Fourth Sister (In my campaign, she was the one Darth Maul killed). 

1. The First Brother is a Trandoshan who had been catching and hunting Jedi with his clan during the Clone Wars, just like what we saw in the animated series. However, during one such hunt with his brother, he Force choked a Jedi out of instinct, and his brother saw it happen. Once they returned to the rest of the clan, his brother informed the rest of the clan, and they began hunting him. Skip ahead a few months, Order 66 has been executed, Darth Sidious has recruited a former Jedi Temple Guard as his Inquisitor, and Vader is tasked with finding any remaining Force sensitives and either recruiting them or slaying them. Vader goes to Trandosha, where he recalls Ahsoka had been taken during the Clone Wars. The idea being if the Trandoshans had kidnapped Ahsoka, there may be other kidnapped Jedi still surviving on the planet. Instead what Vader finds is a Trandoshan who wiped out his entire clan and is quite powerful in the Dark Side of the Force. He was recruited as The First Brother. In my campaign, he was (and little do they know, still is) the primary antagonist of the party, though his influence on the game has been mostly indirect up until the last game of "Season One." He's by far the most powerful of the Inquisitors, aside from the Grand Inquisitor, and very nearly took down the party on his own in the final game, despite the party being backed up by a fully fledged Jedi Knight (A Jedi NPC built with 1,000 XP, but deliberately built and played sub-optimally). 
   1. Statwise: Brawn 5, Agility 2, Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Willpower 4, Presence 3, FR 3. I gave him Parry 4, Reflect 4, Improved Parry, Improved Reflect, Terrifying, Enhance (Mostly for the Force Jump stuff), Bind (The base power, a Magnitude upgrade, and a Range upgrade), and Move. Equipment-wise, he has armored robes and a double-bladed lightsaber (Thematically, the same style as the Grand Inquisitor's).
2. The Second Sister is an Umbaran who survived the Clone Wars, and strongly remembers the horrors that transpired on her planet as a result of the Jedi. She's unaware that the Jedi Master Pong Krell had actually fallen to the Dark Side. She just remembers how terrible he was, and that has influenced her view of the Jedi Order as a whole. The Grand Inquisitor discovered her during a peacekeeping mission to Umbara. While the First Brother focuses more on raw power, the Second Sister emphasizes skill and leadership. She's the most technically skilled Inquisitor below the Grand Inquisitor, and took after his training when it came to the Jedi Arts. She's quite skilled at dueling, though when it comes to dealing with ranged combatants, she lets her ever-present minions do the fighting for her. 
   1. Statwise: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Willpower 4, Presence 5, FR 3. I'll be giving her Parry 4, Improved Parry, Intense Focus, Lethal Blows 2, Lightsaber Mastery (Presence), Imperial Valor, Aura of Command, and Move. Equipment-wise, she has armored robes and a single, curved lightsaber.
3. The Third Brother is a Mandalorian. A large faction of the Mandalorians still hold a grudge toward the Jedi, especially after the Republic occupied their home world during the Clone Wars. When Darth Vader returned to Mandalore to find out what happened to Ahsoka and Maul, he learned that Ahsoka had supposedly been "killed" and Maul was driven off, but had disappeared. While on planet, Vader met a Force-strong Mandalorian who had been taken as a prisoner of war, and had fought alongside Death Watch. Vader sensed his potential and managed to convince him to join the Inquisitorius. He typically goes for a more under-cover approach to Jedi hunting, continuing to wear his Mandalorian armor after being recruited as an Inquisitor. He also makes heavy use of other implements rather than a lightsaber, which he only pulls out as a last resort. However, he is devastatingly skilled with the weapon in battle. 
   1. Statwise: Brawn 3, Agility 5, Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Willpower 4, Presence 2, FR 3. I'll be giving him Parry 4, Reflect 4, Improved Reflect, Crippling Blow, Lightsaber Mastery (Agility), Intimidating Presence, Move, and Bind. Equipment-wise, he has Mandalorian armor with a jetpack, wrist-mounted grapnel launcher, wrist mounted flame projector, some variant of blaster rifle (Haven't decided yet), and a double-bladed lightsaber. (Thematically, the same style as the Grand Inquisitor's)
4. The Fourth Sister died. The end. 
5. The Ninth Sister was a former Nightsister of Dathomir. However, much like Asajj Ventress, she ventured off-planet at some point in her life. When she finally returned to her homeworld, she discovered that it had been razed, her clan was dead, and she was the last Nightsister (Or at least, the last of her clan). In her fury, she sought out the Separatists who were responsible for wiping her clan from existence. What she found instead, however, was Darth Vader. The man that annihilated the Separatist leadership and brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to the Empire. She basically hero-worships the Dark Lord, and while she doesn't have much potential, Vader took her on as an Inquisitor simply because it would be a waste not to. 
   1. Statwise: Brawn 3, Agility 4, Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Willpower 5, Presence 2, FR 3. I'll be giving her Parry 4, Intense Focus, Drive Back Scathing Tirade (Improved), Lightsaber Mastery (Agility), Harm, Unleash, and Move. Equipment-wise, she has armored robes and a lightwhip. 
6. And finally, the Tenth Brother. Originally I was going to end it at the Ninth Sister, but one of my players gave me a great backstory for his character, and her twin brother. The two were Force sensitive Zabrak twins growing up Aladdin-style, and as they matured, they began leaning heavily into a life of crime. During a particularly daring robbery, the two had a fierce argument and went their separate ways. The player knew that his character's brother was still somewhere in the galaxy, but they believe the character's brother may have been leading a life of crime. However, during a vision from the Force, they discovered that their brother was captured by the Empire. The player now believes the character's brother is likely dead. Instead, I will be introducing her brother in Season Two of my campaign (Hopefully starting back up in August or September). The brother of the player's character will be revealed as the Tenth Brother, the most recently recruited Inquisitor of the Empire. This will be especially interesting, as at the end of our last game, this player's character fell to the Dark Side while fighting and (seemingly) killing the First Brother. 
   1. Statwise: Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 5, Willpower 4, Presence 2, FR 2. I'll be giving him Parry 4, Reflect 4, Improved Parry, Improved Reflect, Lightsaber Mastery (Cunning), Move, Bind, and Misdirect. Equipment-wise, he has armored robes and a double-bladed lightsaber (Thematically, the same style as the Grand Inquisitor's.)

I've given a lot of thought to each of these Inquisitors, and it was a lot of fun using The First Brother to harass my party over the past several months. I'm excited to bring in the rest during Season 2, now that I know my party can handle one (Though barely). The Grand Inquisitor won't be making an appearance in my campaign, nor will Darth Vader (Aside from possibly as a plot point, if I can manage to recruit one of the characters into the Inquisitorius with the influence of her brother). The First Brother will continue to be the primary antagonist, and will only grow more powerful as the game continues. Eventually I plan on giving him FR 4 and Unleash, but that will be way down the line. For now, he's still a frighteningly powerful foe, especially when they won't have a Jedi Knight backing them up by throwing fruit carts at him with Move. The other Inquisitors will be introduced now and then to give some variety to the Force-based threats, and each has a purpose in the overall story I have planned for the campaign beyond just appearing as some big powerful threat. 

So, what have you guys done with the Inquisitors? Have you stuck close to the current canon examples, or have you gotten more creative with the Inquisitors' inclusions in your games? Does anyone have a really fun story about bringing Inquisitors into their games?

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by Underachiever599

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

I've just ignored the whole "#th Brother/Sister" bit as that felt rather silly, and since the games where I've introduced Inquisitors were set during the Rebellion Era proper (i.e. after ANH), I've just used the original/Legends rank and name system.  Rationale I use being that after the events of Malachor, the Inquisitors as shown there were pretty much phased out after being shown to not be nearly as effective as originally hoped.

And since Filoni's made it pretty clear he's got no intention of bring the Inquisitors back, using "we didn't see them in the original films" as his justification, I don't really have to worry too much about later canon contradicting the approach I use.

[The Grand Falloon 1,718]

On 7/16/2017 at 3:54 AM, Donovan Morningfire said:

I've just ignored the whole "#th Brother/Sister" bit as that felt rather silly, and since the games where I've introduced Inquisitors were set during the Rebellion Era proper (i.e. after ANH), I've just used the original/Legends rank and name system. 

Where, pray tell, would I find this ranking system?

 

[Lareg 367]

I think you can find it on wookiepedia. It's rather simple:

Grand Inquisitor 

High Inquisitor

Chief Inquisitor

Inquisitor

Apprentice Inquisitor

You can have as many as you want in each rank except the Grand Inqusitor that should always be 1. Personally i don't like very much the Chief Inquisitor rank so i would erase it, but the rest sounds good. I don't know what difference each rank entails mechanically or if it's just fluff, but maybe increase adversary by 1 for each rank (apprentice 1, Inquisitor 2, High Inquisitor 3 Grand Inquisitor 4)

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

14 hours ago, The Grand Falloon said:

Where, pray tell, would I find this ranking system?

As Lareg noted above, from Wookieepedia.

[The Grand Falloon 1,718]

Oh, yeah.  That's pretty simple.  I would actually be tempted to stat up the Grand Inquisitor as a total non-combatant, with Bootlicking 5 and the custom power, Force Management and Delegation.

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

8 hours ago, Lareg said:

I think you can find it on wookiepedia. It's rather simple:

Grand Inquisitor 

High Inquisitor

Chief Inquisitor

Inquisitor

Apprentice Inquisitor

You can have as many as you want in each rank except the Grand Inqusitor that should always be 1. Personally i don't like very much the Chief Inquisitor rank so i would erase it, but the rest sounds good. I don't know what difference each rank entails mechanically or if it's just fluff, but maybe increase adversary by 1 for each rank (apprentice 1, Inquisitor 2, High Inquisitor 3 Grand Inquisitor 4)

And, of cource there is the most famous of High Inquisitors (from Fragments from the Rim), High Inquisitor Tremane. He was the first Inquisitor ever revealed in SW lore. 

 

Edited July 18, 2017 by Tramp Graphics