Inquisitor (game)
Encyclopedia
Inquisitor is a tabletop miniatures
game based in Games Workshop
's Warhammer 40,000
Universe. Whereas Warhammer 40,000 is based on squad based tactical warfare, Inquisitor focuses on a small group of adventurers and plays a bit like a Role-playing game
. Inquisitor has its own website and 54 mm scale models are available as "Specialist Games" from the Games Workshop catalogue.
Players choose a warband, usually made up of an Inquisitor and his/her henchmen, but also potentially led by any of a huge variety of rogues and heroes from throughout the Imperium
such as Rogue Traders, Space Marines
or Tech-priests. It even offers the chance to take on the guise of some of the Imperium's greatest enemies, such as Chaos Sorcerers, Genestealer
Cult Leaders or twisted Mutants.
division, which periodically releases new rules for the game through the Specialist Games http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landingArmy.jsp?catId=cat1290321&rootCatGameStyle=specialist-games. The game is intended for older wargamers, aged 16 and up.
The Inquisitor rulebook is available as a hard copy from Games Workshop, or as a PDF from the Specialist Games website. It gives information about the Inquisition and the WH40K universe in general. The name, when written, is sometimes shortened to =I= by fans, or =][=, or -][- in homage to the symbol of the Inquisition
as depicted on the cover of the rulebook.
Inquisitor uses a rules system based around the throwing of two 10-sided dice (known together as a d100 or d%), generating a percentile value, with one die representing the "tens" and the other representing "units". Standard six-sided dice are used for several of the game's mechanics also.
There are, technically, no limitations on the effective power and equipment of a player character - there are no hard and fast rules that prevent a player from creating a character armed with terrifyingly potent combinations of equipment and skills, although the game rulebook includes an optional "points" system that the organisers of a campaign might use to limit or guide their players. The expectation is that players exercise common sense when creating their characters. Unlike a tactical wargame or Role-playing Game, Inquisitor describes itself as a "narrative" skirmish game, and the emphasis is on spinning a good story along the lines of a great action movie or adventure novel, rather than focusing on winning at all costs.
their models, or give them unique paint schemes. However, the distances given in the rulebook are written as yards, so that players can use any scale of miniature they wish, including the same models with which they play standard Warhammer 40,000.
There are many different groups that players can play. Presented here are the archetypes represented in the Rulebook:
The first, in July 2001, was written by Charlie Engasser on the product. In his review, he states that the good aspects of the game are that "the production values as far as the printed material are excellent" and "Anyone familiar with the Warhammer universe will be pretty much at ease here." On the other hand, he describes the bad aspects such as the cost of the game and stated that "Completely ignoring races like the Space Orks, Eldar and most importantly, the Tyranids is a pretty glaring omission." The later release of random character generators (such as in White Dwarf Magazine, issue 258 and the second issue of the Inquisitor supplement Exterminatus) has partially rectified this problem, as well as the release of a supplement specifically describing a campaign against the Eldar
.
The second, in August 2001, was written by Sean Broughton-Wright on the game mechanics and playing. After noting problems with the variability of product quality ("the usual excellence displayed in such figures as Artemis to the rushed look of some others like Slick Devlan") and complimenting the quality of artwork ("all the good stuff that you'd expect of a Games Workshop product set in the 40K Universe"), he discusses the mechanics; he states, "The great strength of the GW game in its gearing towards competitive play is understandably missing here. As a war game it isn't very successful either." Among other issues, he was "bogged down in rules" and that he "Can't help but feel this would have been better as a first person shooter." This revolves around the issue that he points out, that "There seems to be very little support, even when compared to other sideline games like Mordheim."
However, while the above points on competitive play are accurate (although there is an annual tournament, the players are primarily ranked on their contribution to making the game an entertaining story), the introduction to the game rulebook sets out the game as a narrative game focused on the internal machinations of the Imperium allowing players and their Gamesmaster a large galactic sandbox, and that it should not be perceived as a balanced competitive game.
’s main franchises (Warhammer 40,000
, Warhammer Fantasy Battles), the game has slowly lost both appeal and support from Games Workshop
.
For a time articles featuring Inquisitor were commonly featured in Games Workshop
’s flagship magazine White Dwarf
together with new miniature releases. Partly due to the introduction of Games Workshop's The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
, and the resultant use of the magazine space for articles relating to it, Inquisitor's coverage was later moved to the games own magazine, Exterminatus. Exterminatus ran for a short period (10 quarterly issues), until Games Workshop grouped all of its ‘Specialist Games
’ range magazines into one larger magazine named 'Fanatic' (for much of its run, Fanatic was solely an online magazine) which was also later discontinued. Together with this miniatures were restricted to online sales only and some have since gone out of production such as the Kal Jerico model. In 2004 the rulebook was made available as a free PDF within the specialist games section of the Games Workshop
website.
The decline has also been reflected in the game's online support. In 2007 the game's online forum was removed from Games Workshop's servers (although a replacement is now hosted and run privately by fans at the-conclave.co.uk, where it still has a loyal fanbase).
At the same time, a considerable majority of the Fanatic online articles were taken down from the site. No "official" content has been released by Games Workshop since its site redesign, meaning that any new articles or updates for the game are fan written.
Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
game based in Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
's Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
Universe. Whereas Warhammer 40,000 is based on squad based tactical warfare, Inquisitor focuses on a small group of adventurers and plays a bit like a Role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
. Inquisitor has its own website and 54 mm scale models are available as "Specialist Games" from the Games Workshop catalogue.
Players choose a warband, usually made up of an Inquisitor and his/her henchmen, but also potentially led by any of a huge variety of rogues and heroes from throughout the Imperium
Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire of over a million planets that contains the vast majority of humans in the forty-first millennium, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop....
such as Rogue Traders, Space Marines
Space Marines (Warhammer 40,000)
In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 setting created by Games Workshop, Space Marines are genetically modified "super human" soldiers created by the Emperor to conquer the galaxy and defend mankind. According to Games Workshop, there are over a thousand recorded chapters of Space Marines,...
or Tech-priests. It even offers the chance to take on the guise of some of the Imperium's greatest enemies, such as Chaos Sorcerers, Genestealer
Genestealer
Genestealers are a fictional alien species in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and the opponents of the marines in the Space Hulk board game...
Cult Leaders or twisted Mutants.
The game
The game is supported by Games Workshop's Specialist GamesSpecialist Games
Specialist Games is division of Games Workshop which sells tabletop wargames that are no longer part of Games Workshop's core market ....
division, which periodically releases new rules for the game through the Specialist Games http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/landingArmy.jsp?catId=cat1290321&rootCatGameStyle=specialist-games. The game is intended for older wargamers, aged 16 and up.
The Inquisitor rulebook is available as a hard copy from Games Workshop, or as a PDF from the Specialist Games website. It gives information about the Inquisition and the WH40K universe in general. The name, when written, is sometimes shortened to =I= by fans, or =][=, or -][- in homage to the symbol of the Inquisition
Inquisition (Warhammer 40,000)
The Inquisition is an organisation in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. They act as the secret police of the Imperium, hunting down any and all threats to the stability of the God-Emperor's realm. In fiction relating to the games, Inquisitors are usually represented by extremely powerful,...
as depicted on the cover of the rulebook.
Inquisitor uses a rules system based around the throwing of two 10-sided dice (known together as a d100 or d%), generating a percentile value, with one die representing the "tens" and the other representing "units". Standard six-sided dice are used for several of the game's mechanics also.
There are, technically, no limitations on the effective power and equipment of a player character - there are no hard and fast rules that prevent a player from creating a character armed with terrifyingly potent combinations of equipment and skills, although the game rulebook includes an optional "points" system that the organisers of a campaign might use to limit or guide their players. The expectation is that players exercise common sense when creating their characters. Unlike a tactical wargame or Role-playing Game, Inquisitor describes itself as a "narrative" skirmish game, and the emphasis is on spinning a good story along the lines of a great action movie or adventure novel, rather than focusing on winning at all costs.
Source books
There are a few additional companion rulebooks for the Inquisitor game:- Thorian Faction Sourcebook:
- This book details the background and history of the Thorian philosophy and those who follow it. Amongst other topics, the book focuses on the efforts of Promeus, a semi-legendary figure from the earliest days of the Imperium, and his desire to revive the Emperor of Mankind from his half-life existence on the Golden Throne. It traces his, and his followers the Promeans', attempts to achieve their end and conflict with their allies and later rivals led by Moriana. After thousands of years, the two factions slowly disappear, but their history and achievements have paved the way for two new factions, the Thorians and the Horusians, to rise and seek out a new way to approach the divine nature of the Emperor.
- The book details additional characters and how the followers of the Thorian philosophy interact with other Ordos of the InquisitionInquisition (Warhammer 40,000)The Inquisition is an organisation in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. They act as the secret police of the Imperium, hunting down any and all threats to the stability of the God-Emperor's realm. In fiction relating to the games, Inquisitors are usually represented by extremely powerful,...
. It also provides additional weapons and powers to be used by the Thorians.
Campaigns
There are currently three campaigns in the game and each has a Conspiracies book:- The Cirian Legacy: details the planet of Cirian V that is controlled by Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Inside are 3 individual campaigns, lists and details on important characters, groups that deal with Cirian V, and background on the Scarla sector surrounding Cirian V. The campaign begins as a simple mission for the players to discover why the Adepts of the Conclave have ceased paying their Imperial tithes. But as things get nasty - in a mess of rioting miners, psychotic tech-priests and hallucinogenic smoke - will the players notice that something even more sinister is afoot?
- Death of an Angel: contains three different campaigns. Set on Karis Cephalon, the campaign guides the players both as allies and opponents in a storyline that begins with a simple mutant uprising, but swiftly turns sinister. Who is trying to release the daemon Phraa'gueotla and why? And can there really be any substance to rumours of a pre-Imperial superweapon - the Angel - hidden somewhere beneath the planet's surface?
- Heavenfall: contains two campaigns with details on important characters and background. The machinations of Inquisitors Scarn and Lichtenstein have collided on the once-beautiful Equinox. But with a rogue assassin on the loose and the enigmatic Eldar taking an interest in a world that was once theirs, the players will have to keep their wits about them to get away from this one...
Characters
Player characters are usually represented in-game by 54 mm miniatures purchased from Games Workshop, roughly twice as large as the standard 28 mm Heroic scale of WH40K miniatures. The models available represent existing characters (such as Witch-hunter Tyrus, or Inquisitor Eisenhorn) presented in the rulebook. Players wishing to depict their own unique characters are generally required to extensively convertMiniature conversion
Miniature conversion refers to the practice of altering the appearance of a miniature or model so as to deviate from the standard version purchased in a boxed set....
their models, or give them unique paint schemes. However, the distances given in the rulebook are written as yards, so that players can use any scale of miniature they wish, including the same models with which they play standard Warhammer 40,000.
There are many different groups that players can play. Presented here are the archetypes represented in the Rulebook:
- The InquisitionInquisition (Warhammer 40,000)The Inquisition is an organisation in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. They act as the secret police of the Imperium, hunting down any and all threats to the stability of the God-Emperor's realm. In fiction relating to the games, Inquisitors are usually represented by extremely powerful,...
: An order that defends the worship of the Emperor of Mankind and defends the ImperiumImperium (Warhammer 40,000)The Imperium of Man is a fictional galactic empire of over a million planets that contains the vast majority of humans in the forty-first millennium, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop....
from its alien and heretical enemies. - The Adeptus Astartes: They are the "Space Marines," a legion of warriors that serves the Emperor of Mankind and operate as a powerful army of genetically altered super humans.
- The Adeptus Mechanicus: They are the engineers of the Imperium and are focused primarily on technology and research.
- The Rogue TraderRogue TraderRogue trader can refer to*Rogue trader, person who trades financially in an unauthorised manner*Rogue Trader , the autobiography of Nick Leeson, the man who caused the collapse of Barings Bank...
s: They are bands of merchants adventurers, or similar people, whose allegiance may vary. - The Cultists and Fanatics: Street preachers and zealots who mostly serve the Ecclesiarchy and worship the Emperor of Mankind.
- The Imperial GuardImperial Guard (Warhammer 40,000)The Imperial Guard are a specific army or faction in the Warhammer 40,000 and Epic tabletop games and universe. The army itself is characterised by being capable of fielding a multitude of lightly armoured, average infantry in combination with some of the toughest and most powerful tanks in the game...
: Represent the average soldiers of the Imperium, and unlike the Adeptus Astartes, they are most often normal human beings. - Desperados: Gunslinging rogues, kin to Rogue Traders, their allegiance may vary.
- The Enforcers: They serve the Imperium but may also operate as independent/rogue groups under the command of a disloyal commander of an individual ruler of a world.
- The Mutants: Mutants are humans either warped by the power of ChaosChaos (Warhammer)In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy...
or mutated due to genetic deviancy. They are hunted down by Inquisitors who deem any mutation as a threat against humanity and the Imperium. - The Ecclesiarchy: The priest/religious organization of the Imperium and worship the Emperor of Mankind.
- The Arco-Flagellant: Heretics deemed by the Ecclesiarchy to gain redemption through using themselves as mindless living weapons against the enemies of the Imperium.
- The Assassins: Trained warriors who specialize in assassinations in the name of the Emperor of Mankind.
- The Daemonhosts. Daemonhosts are Daemons which are imprisoned within a human body. Mostly these will be used by the inquisition or chaos cults.
Critical review
With the release of Inquisitor came two reviews by RPGnet.The first, in July 2001, was written by Charlie Engasser on the product. In his review, he states that the good aspects of the game are that "the production values as far as the printed material are excellent" and "Anyone familiar with the Warhammer universe will be pretty much at ease here." On the other hand, he describes the bad aspects such as the cost of the game and stated that "Completely ignoring races like the Space Orks, Eldar and most importantly, the Tyranids is a pretty glaring omission." The later release of random character generators (such as in White Dwarf Magazine, issue 258 and the second issue of the Inquisitor supplement Exterminatus) has partially rectified this problem, as well as the release of a supplement specifically describing a campaign against the Eldar
Eldar (Warhammer 40,000)
In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Eldar are a race of elf-like humanoids who look into the future via psychic powers. They are one of the most ancient and advanced races in the universe's history, though younger than the Necrons, the C'tan, and the Old Ones...
.
The second, in August 2001, was written by Sean Broughton-Wright on the game mechanics and playing. After noting problems with the variability of product quality ("the usual excellence displayed in such figures as Artemis to the rushed look of some others like Slick Devlan") and complimenting the quality of artwork ("all the good stuff that you'd expect of a Games Workshop product set in the 40K Universe"), he discusses the mechanics; he states, "The great strength of the GW game in its gearing towards competitive play is understandably missing here. As a war game it isn't very successful either." Among other issues, he was "bogged down in rules" and that he "Can't help but feel this would have been better as a first person shooter." This revolves around the issue that he points out, that "There seems to be very little support, even when compared to other sideline games like Mordheim."
However, while the above points on competitive play are accurate (although there is an annual tournament, the players are primarily ranked on their contribution to making the game an entertaining story), the introduction to the game rulebook sets out the game as a narrative game focused on the internal machinations of the Imperium allowing players and their Gamesmaster a large galactic sandbox, and that it should not be perceived as a balanced competitive game.
Decline
After a good period on release where Inquisitor experienced relatively good popularity when compared with other games outside of Games WorkshopGames Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
’s main franchises (Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
, Warhammer Fantasy Battles), the game has slowly lost both appeal and support from Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
.
For a time articles featuring Inquisitor were commonly featured in Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
’s flagship magazine White Dwarf
White Dwarf (magazine)
White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...
together with new miniature releases. Partly due to the introduction of Games Workshop's The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game , and often referred to by players as Lord of the Rings, is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop . It is based on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, and the book that inspired it, written by J. R. R...
, and the resultant use of the magazine space for articles relating to it, Inquisitor's coverage was later moved to the games own magazine, Exterminatus. Exterminatus ran for a short period (10 quarterly issues), until Games Workshop grouped all of its ‘Specialist Games
Specialist Games
Specialist Games is division of Games Workshop which sells tabletop wargames that are no longer part of Games Workshop's core market ....
’ range magazines into one larger magazine named 'Fanatic' (for much of its run, Fanatic was solely an online magazine) which was also later discontinued. Together with this miniatures were restricted to online sales only and some have since gone out of production such as the Kal Jerico model. In 2004 the rulebook was made available as a free PDF within the specialist games section of the Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
website.
The decline has also been reflected in the game's online support. In 2007 the game's online forum was removed from Games Workshop's servers (although a replacement is now hosted and run privately by fans at the-conclave.co.uk, where it still has a loyal fanbase).
At the same time, a considerable majority of the Fanatic online articles were taken down from the site. No "official" content has been released by Games Workshop since its site redesign, meaning that any new articles or updates for the game are fan written.