Authority, investigation, interrogation, forbidden knowledge, command, social pressure, and sanctioned paranoia. The Inquisitor knows what others are not allowed to know.
Authority is a weapon. Suspicion is ammunition.
The Inquisitor is the investigator, judge, interrogator, hunter, and sanctioned nightmare of Bolt & Blade.
An Inquisitor does not win by being the strongest body in the room. They win by knowing which question breaks the room, which door should not exist, which official is lying, which relic should be burned, and which enemy must be named before it can be killed.
The class fantasy is simple:
An Inquisitor survives through authority, investigation, forbidden knowledge, social pressure, suspicion, and the willingness to make terrible choices before anyone else admits they are necessary.
The Inquisitor should not play like a generic investigator or a lightly armed noble. The class should create moments like:
Granted automatically by class selection. One Bonus Action per turn — full rules under Combat > Bonus Actions.
Identify a priority target. The first successful attack against the marked target by you or an ally before the effect ends gains +1 to the attack roll and +1d4 bonus damage, then the mark is consumed. Only one target may be marked at a time — a new mark removes the previous one.
Forge VTT: Fully automated: the mark sits visibly on the target; attacks against it gain the bonuses in the roll breakdown and a hit consumes the mark.
Choose one: the ally immediately moves up to 5 ft. without triggering ordinary reactions; the ally draws or stows one item; or the ally gains +1 to their next test before the start of your next turn. Never grants an additional attack.
Forge VTT: Guided: the chosen benefit posts to chat; the +1 option places a consumable modifier effect on the ally (auto-applied to attacks, table-applied to other tests).
Mandates are the Inquisitor's signature class mechanic.
A Mandate is an exercise of sanctioned authority, investigative pressure, tactical condemnation, or institutional violence. It may be a spoken command, an accusation, a displayed seal, a written order, a quiet threat, or the simple act of naming someone as dangerous.
Where Guardsmen issue Orders to survive the battlefield, Inquisitors issue Mandates to define the battlefield.
Mandates can expose suspects, compel cooperation, mark targets, seize evidence, pressure enemies, protect allies from deception, and turn authority into direct tactical advantage.
Mandate DC = 8 + Proficiency Bonus + Presence modifier
If a Mandate is purely investigative or analytical, the GM may allow Intellect instead of Presence.
Mandates are special. Inquisitors do not gain a new Mandate every level.
Some Inquisitor Mandates refer to a Suspect.
A Suspect is a creature, object, location, faction, lead, clue, or theory the Inquisitor has formally marked as significant.
A Suspect is not always guilty. That is what makes the mechanic useful.
Suspicion is not proof. It is where proof begins.
| Inquisitor Level | Mandates Known |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 4 |
| 9 | 5 |
| 13 | 6 |
| 17 | 7 |
This progression is a working draft. Mandates should remain meaningful and powerful, not become a bloated list of minor tricks.
Target: One visible creature, object, location, faction sign, clue, or lead.
Mark the target as your Suspect. Until the end of the scene, the first attack, Inquiry check, Lore check, Tech check, or Guile check made by you or an ally against that Suspect gains +2. You may only have one active Suspect unless a feature says otherwise.
The first shot is an accusation.
Target: One NPC, official, soldier, civilian, guard, functionary, or Imperial-aligned authority figure who can understand you.
Gain Advantage on one Presence + Command, Presence + Guile, or Presence + Inquiry check made to demand access, seize evidence, compel cooperation, override hesitation, or make someone comply with your authority. If used in combat, one ally within 30 feet who can see or hear you may immediately end the Pinned condition if they succeed on a Willpower Save.
The seal opens doors. Fear opens the rest.
Target: One creature you can question, pressure, threaten, wound, or confront.
After you succeed on an Inquiry, Command, or Guile check against the target, or after you hit the target with an attack, ask the GM one short question about the target.
Good questions:
The GM answers truthfully, but may be brief, partial, or framed through the target's behavior.
Everyone confesses. Some do it before they die.
Target: One visible enemy or suspicious creature within 30 feet.
The target must make a Willpower Save against your Mandate DC. On a failure, the target's Movement becomes 0 until the start of your next turn. On a success, the target may move, but becomes Exposed until the start of your next turn if it moves away from you or your allies.
Flight is evidence.
Target: One ally within 30 feet who can see or hear you.
Choose one active Suspect. The target ally gains +2 to hit on their next attack against that Suspect before the end of their next turn. If the attack hits, it deals additional damage equal to your Proficiency Bonus.
You do not ask the squad to kill. You authorize it.
Target: One object, document, corpse, machine, relic, room, scene, or clue.
For the next minute, you and allies who can hear you have Advantage on checks to locate, preserve, secure, identify, or prevent tampering with evidence connected to the target. If an enemy attempts to destroy, hide, move, corrupt, or falsify the evidence during this time, the GM should call for an opposed check.
The dead may lie. The evidence does not get permission.
Target: One creature, object, ritual, machine, symbol, or situation you have observed for at least one round or one minute outside combat.
Ask the GM:
The GM gives a truthful but concise answer. This may reveal a threat, weakness, hidden danger, consequence, or connection to a Suspect.
Knowledge is not safety. It is ammunition.
Inquisitor progression uses Doctrine Trees.
Doctrine Trees replace the idea of a locked subclass plus scattered feature choices. An Inquisitor does not choose one permanent subclass and then receive a random pile of features. Instead, they earn Doctrine Points and spend them across Inquisitor Doctrine Trees.
A player may specialize deeply in one tree or spread points across several to become a broader investigator, commander, or hunter.
Doctrine Trees represent the kind of threats the Inquisitor has survived and the methods they have chosen to trust.
Each rank costs 1 Doctrine Point and requires the previous rank in that tree unless future rules say otherwise.
Inquisitors gain 1 Doctrine Point at every even level.
| Inquisitor Level | Doctrine Points Gained |
|---|---|
| 2 | +1 |
| 4 | +1 |
| 6 | +1 |
| 8 | +1 |
| 10 | +1 |
| 12 | +1 |
| 14 | +1 |
| 16 | +1 |
| 18 | +1 |
| 20 | +1 |
This progression is a working draft. Final class balance may change after the other classes are designed.
When you make an Inquiry or Guile check to detect lies, omissions, fear, or withheld information, gain +1 to the roll. If the target is your Suspect, gain +2 instead.
When you use Confess and the triggering check or attack succeeds by 5 or more, ask one additional follow-up question. The follow-up must relate to the first answer.
When investigating a scene, corpse, room, ritual site, crime scene, or aftermath, you may mark the location itself as your Suspect. While the location is your Suspect, you and allies gain +2 to Inquiry checks made to uncover relevant clues there.
Once per safe rest, when an NPC refuses to answer, lies successfully, or withholds a critical truth, you may force a contested check: your Presence + Command or Presence + Guile against their Willpower Save. On success, the GM must reveal one useful truth, fear, leverage point, or contradiction.
Once per safe rest, when you use Confess on a target marked as your Suspect, you may force that target to make a Willpower Save. On a failure, the target is Frightened of you until the end of its next turn or gives up one decisive truth, GM's choice based on the scene.
The right question is sharper than the knife.