Currently, the Inquisitor/Sorcerer dynamic is not particularly interesting. I believe there are two problems causing this:
- Magic Dust renders the Inquisitor’s checks to be so untrustworthy as to be useless. As an indirect result, the vast majority of Inquisitor wins come on the back of regular BD investigation.
- The Inquisitor has no goals after the Sorcerer is dead, but is still an active participant in the game. This must not be fun, since players frequently then set their own objectives by allying with one side or another arbitrarily.
I have two suggested reworks in mind. The first makes the Inquisitor a truly NEUTRAL character, who could be helpful or dangerous to the BD. The second cements the investigative role of the Inquisitor, but pushes him to a much more BD-sided loyalty.
—KILLER INQUISITOR—
INQUISITOR
Remove Find Magic
Give Ruthless Efficiency infinite uses
Change objective: live to see ALL magic users die, at which point the Inquisitor will “depart” (suicide)
SORCERER
Change Magic Dust: select 1 player to count as magic and be vulnerable to the Inquisitor’s Ruthless Efficiency on the following night
I think this makes for a much more engaging Inquisitor experience. Now he wants to keep his identity hidden, because he’s like a neutral killer lite. But if it’s a Cult game, maybe the BD want to keep him around because he kills Cult. Maybe the BD don’t want to take the risk with him because they have several paladins, court wizards, or a psychic. Perhaps the Unseen want to kill him early to save the Sorcerer, but then end up allying with him once the Sorcerer is dead to help finish off the BD.
Alternately…
—INVESTIGATIVE INQUISITOR—
INQUISITOR
Give Ruthless Efficiency only one use.
Make the Inquisitor immune to target changing and occupation (mostly so you don’t waste your one attack).
Once the Sorcerer is dead, the Inquisitor will “depart” (suicide)
SORCERER
Give Magic Dust only one use.
This solidifies the Inquisitor as an investigator, not a killer. With Sorcerer limited to one use of Magic Dust, the Inquisitor can reliably count on his checks, but still retains the slight uncertainty. This also makes the use of Magic Dust a more skill-based ability, as it can potentially lead to a BD getting executed the next day if the Sorcerer can predict the court’s reaction well.
—FINAL THOUGHTS—
I’m not totally in love with the Inquisitor dying after winning, but I can’t think of a better solution offhand. I prefer this to the Inquisitor remaining after victory, as this game is built on the idea that each player has a concrete objective and acts with rational self-interest. To act against that is throwing and is punishable. Having someone fulfill their objective early with no further goals throws that concept out the window.
Alchemist and Neutral King are the only classes that could obviously go either way, but they have the goal of surviving until the end, so at the very least you can count on an them to attempt to behave in a non-suicidal way. I don’t think the Inquisitor should necessarily gain this as an additional objective, but I think it’s a viable suggestion as well.
