Listen, I don’t care if you don’t want to sign up with the Alliance. We’re not exactly the conscription types, you should know that. But you’ve got to admit, if you can touch the Force? The Empire is going to be hunting you. If you signed up we’d protect you, yes, but if you’re going to keep ‘listening to the Force and following your Destiny’, we still don’t want you caught. Moral considerations aside, we don’t need more redblades getting added to the roster. Alliance Special Operations has put together some dossiers on Inquisitorius agents. If you have nothing else to do with us I still want you to read these and be careful – we lost people getting this information, make it worth it.

“The Monk”

Characteristics: Brawn 5, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 2, Willpower 4, Presence 3

Species: Karkarodon

Force Rating: 3

Wound Threshold: 25

Strain Threshold: 24

Soak: 7

Defense: 1

Abilities: Amphibious: Can breathe underwater without penalty and does not suffer movement penalties travelling through water.

Jaws: Brawl attack checks deal +1 Damage with a Critical Rating of 3.

Talents: Adversary 3, Sapith Sundering, Supreme Precision Strike

Skills: Brawl 4, Melee 3, Lightsaber 2, Discipline 4, Vigilance 3, Athletics 3, Perception 2, Coercion 2, Cool 1

Force Powers: Enhance (Control x10, Range), Endure (Strength x4, Control x3, Duration, Mastery)

Equipment: Armored Robes, Talisman of Iron Fists

Briefing: The Karkarodon Inquisitor that SpecOps has dubbed “The Monk” is absolute murder in a melee fight, despite the fact that they wade in bare-handed. Reports say they’ve shattered weapons and armor with their strikes, and one of the commandos that escaped swears her vibroaxe just couldn’t bite into them the way it should have. 

Good news is that they don’t seem to have any of the more esoteric abilities, and they’ve got nothing at range aside from the ability to close it in big leaps. Get your hands on a Plex launcher and fire from extreme range, and have enough reloads to make sure it works. Better yet, air strike.

Actually, for the record, ‘Y-Wing bombing run, find the body, then dump it into a star’ is the best solution for all of these monsters, but do what you can with what you have. 

“The Puppetmaster”

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Willpower 4, Presence 5

Species: Gungan

Force Rating: 5

Wound Threshold: 22

Strain Threshold: 24

Soak: 4

Defense: 1

Abilities: Amphibious: May breathe underwater and not suffer movement penalties when swimming.

Talents: Adversary 3

Skills: Discipline 5, Leadership 4, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 3, Knowledge (Warfare) 3

Force Powers: Battle Meditation (Magnitude x4, Range x3, Control x2, Strength, Duration, Mastery), Imbue (Strength, Range x4, Control, Strength x2, Duration x2, Mastery), Foresee (Control x3, Magnitude x2, Range x3, Strength x2, Duration x2), Alter (Control x7, Range x2, Duration, Strength x3, Mastery)

Equipment: Armored Robes

Briefing: Credit has to go towards a team of slicers on this one – in-person confrontations with this Inquisitor are vanishingly rare. The Puppetmaster doesn’t seem to have any real combat ability themselves, but comparing the records the slicers stole to battles we’ve catalogued shows that if they’re present, the Imps become uncannily effective, and every plan rebel forces came up with was countered. And by present I mean in a bunker, guarded by a platoon of those same uncannily effective stormtroopers, if not in orbit in a Star Destroyer. So to take this one out, you’re in for one heck of a fight to reach them in the first place, with even the terrain turning against you.

They’re also often guarded by one or more droids as a last line of defense, although since droids wouldn’t be affected by most of their abilities it’s possible that the droids are actually the Empire’s insurance policy. Might be something you can make use of, there, if you have the skills.

If you get the slightest hint that the Puppetmaster is working with another redblade to hunt you? Run. Get off the planet. Leave the sector. Consider setting off on an extragalactic expedition and never coming back.

“The Shadow”

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 5, Intellect 3, Cunning 4, Willpower 3, Presence 3

Species: Kyuzo

Force Rating: 3

Wound Threshold: 22

Strain Threshold: 23

Soak: 4

Defense: 1

Abilities: Dense Musculature: Once per round, as a maneuver, may suffer 3 strain to leap to any location vertically or horizontally within medium range.

Talents: Adversary 3, Ataru Technique, Parry 4

Skills: Lightsaber 4, Gunnery 3, Ranged (Light) 2, Stealth 4, Piloting (Space) 3, Deception 3, Perception 3, Cool 2

Force Powers: Misdirect (Range x3, Duration, Strength x4, Magnitude x2, Control x3, Mastery), Ebb/Flow (Magnitude x2, Range, Strength x3, Control x5)

Equipment: Lightsaber Shoto, Armored Robes

Briefing: It took one of our more… eccentric spooks with a cortosis sword to get confirmation of this Inquisitor’s existence – until then all we had were bodies with lightsaber burns, which could’ve been anyone. Eccentric he might be, but he’s trustworthy, so when he says the Inquisitor “appeared out of thin air and then vanished into Shadow”, we have to factor that into our threat assessment. 

The Shadow is an ambusher, but they’re also a skilled duelist once the fight really gets going, so it’s not enough to just survive their first strike. Sharpen your eyes, work on your quick draw, and go for the kill immediately, or they’ll just slip away to start getting ready for another strike. For what it’s worth, they don’t seem very capable at blocking shots, so don’t be afraid to pour the blaster fire on too.

“The Doctor”

Characteristics: Brawn 4, Agility 2, Intellect 5, Cunning 3, Willpower 3, Presence 3

Species: Polis Massan

Force Rating: 3

Wound Threshold: 24

Strain Threshold: 23

Soak: 6

Defense: 1

Abilities: No Vocal Chords: Cannot speak.

Telepathy: Can communicate at short range with simple broadcast telepathy. Anyone within short range ‘hears’ them. Can only whisper privately to beings within engaged range.

Talents: Adversary 3, Pressure Point, Anatomy Lessons

Skills: Brawl 4, Melee 3, Lightsaber 2, Medicine 4, Discipline 3, Knowledge (Xenology) 3, Charm 2, Coercion 2

Force Powers: Harm (Range x2, Magnitude x3, Strength x2, Control x4, Mastery) Influence (Range x3, Magnitude x3, Control x2, Strength, Duration x4)

Equipment: Armored Robes, Lightsaber

Briefing: We really don’t like this one. Inquisitors taking people alive is always a grim prospect, but the “Doctor” specializes in taking victims completely intact for interrogation, and the things they do with the Force are . . . chilling. We assembled this dossier after a SpecOps team rescued an Intelligence agent the Doctor had captured, and the spooks apparently saw fit to proton bomb the entire facility in retaliation for what the Doctor had been doing. Unfortunately they didn’t get lucky enough to take the Doctor out.

Whatever they do on the torture table makes them really lethal at short range if they want to be, so we don’t have much better advice than ‘kill them hard and fast’, but the fact that they’re Polis Massan means they actually can’t use vocal comlinks in any way. If you can get them alone, you might not have to worry about Imperial reinforcements.

“The Sorcerer”

Characteristics: Brawn 4, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Willpower 5, Presence 2

Species: Iktochi

Force Rating: 3

Wound Threshold: 24

Strain Threshold: 25

Soak: 6

Defense: 1

Abilities: Precognition: Able to see glimpses and flashes of the future, may spend 3 advantage or a triumph in an initiative check to perform a free maneuver before combat begins.

Talents: Adversary 3, The Force Is My Ally

Skills: Lightsaber 4, Melee 3, Gunnery 2, Discipline 4, Knowledge (Lore) 3, Vigilance 2, Athletics 2, Cool 1

Force Powers: Protect/Unleash (Range x3, Strength x4, Control x3, Magnitude x2, Duration, Mastery), Suppress (Strength x2, Duration, Range x3, Control x3, Mastery), Move (Magnitude 4, Strength 4, Range x3, Control x3)

Equipment: Armored Robes, Lightsaber

Briefing: The Sorcerer is skilled with their lightsaber, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing that while they’re busy hurling lightning and any improperly secured starfighters at you. Aside from the aforementioned air strike, our typical protocol for dealing with an opponent like this would be making sure that we had a sensitive or two on hand to counter them.

However, the last time we tried taking the Sorcerer out, the sensitive we sent swears that their abilities didn’t work. They said they tried to hurl a rock at the Sorcerer and it just . . . didn’t happen. “Like trying to push through a fog that’s been turned to durasteel,” they said.

In short, watch out: you may not be able to trust your abilities to be there for you when you need them the most. If you can figure out how they’re shutting down Force abilities, you might be able to turn it against them. Oh, and if you figure out the trick, let us know? Please?

“The Sharpshooter”

Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 4, Intellect 2, Cunning 5, Willpower 3, Presence 3

Species: Clawdite

Force Rating: 3

Wound Threshold: 23

Strain Threshold: 23

Soak: 4

Defense: 1

Abilities: Changeling: As an action, suffer 3 strain and make an Average (2 difficulty) Resilience check. Success allows The Sharpshooter to change appearance to match a character who was previously observed. Others must make an opposed Perception vs Deception check to detect something is amiss.

Talents: Adversary 3, Sniper Shot, Crippling Blow

Skills: Ranged (Heavy) 4, Gunnery 3, Ranged (Light) 2, Deception 4, Skullduggery 3, Perception 3, Resilience 2, Piloting (Planetary) 1, Piloting (Space) 1, Survival 1

Force Powers: Farsight (Control x6, Duration, Range x2), Seek (Magnitude x4, Control x3, Strength x2, Duration, Mastery)

Equipment: Armored Clothing, Heavy Blaster Rifle

Briefing: We’d probably still think there was an entire team of Inquisitors like this one, except a Bothan agent managed to get a glance at them changing form after an encounter on Ord Cestus actually went our way for once. The Clawdite shapeshifting is its own problem, but the Sharpshooter seems to have uncanny senses. It seems to be in real time, not any sort of precognition, but once they’ve got your scent they seem almost impossible to shake. With that huge blaster rifle of theirs, they don’t even need to get within the range of most of your weapons to take your head off. 

It’s not like it’ll be pleasant, they’re still a kriffing good shot, but your best bet is going to be to lead them someplace that’ll favor your own capabilities – something with a lot of cover, somewhere with shorter lines of sight so you can trade fire better. Better yet, get a vibroaxe and go for the rifle – without it they don’t seem to have much else.

How To Use These Adversaries

First of all, despite Alliance Special Operations compiling these dossiers, these bad guys are going to find themselves most at home in a Force and Destiny campaign, hunting the party of aspiring Force sensitive characters. If you play things right and keep them alive – always have an escape plan and dark side points to help enable it – any one of them could be the party’s Nemesis in the truest sense of the word. If you and your party are up for it, though, they could be a rotating cast of villains, each appearing when appropriate or even replacing a previously vanquished enemy.

If you wanted to use them for Edge of the Empire or Age of Rebellion, the simplest way is if there’s at least one Force-user among the player characters for one of them to hunt – don’t drop the entire merry band of them on the party’s trail, lest less scrupulous party members start to consider dropping the redblade bait (or the non-Force-users start to feel of secondary importance). There are other ideas, though. Perhaps your Edge crew are moving old Jedi or Sith artifacts, whether they know it or not, and an Inquisitor is dispatched to retrieve them and kill the witnesses. Perhaps your squad in Age of Rebellion are the Inquisitor hunters, specially tasked to eliminate these threats (I’m actually remembering this idea from an old Tales from the Hydian Way episode).

As for how to use them individually…

The Monk is a juggernaut, plain and simple. The Talisman of Iron Fists makes them a particularly good choice for going up against parties who favor lightsabers or high-Pierce weaponry, as they can fight aggressively without worrying about their soak being bypassed, and Endure helps them shrug off critical hits. They’ll be at their nastiest if they can catch the party in close quarters. 

On the other hand, characters who can figure out what the Talisman is doing for The Monk can try to take it, which would leave The Monk vulnerable, and like the Alliance agent says The Monk can’t do anything at a distance. They can close the distance quickly with Enhance’s Force Leap though, making them potentially handy for chase scenes.

The Puppetmaster is more of a scene modifier than a direct threat. They can use Foresee to get one step ahead of the party (seeing as how you the GM can generally know what the party is up to anyway, even if you only find out in the moment, you just need to roll the dice well to inform the Puppetmaster of those same plans). Enemies that the party face can then be boosted with Battle Meditation, with particular champions supercharged with Imbue – think very carefully before supercharging another Nemesis like The Monk or The Shadow, they’ll be devastating – all the while the party is hampered by Alter. Since they can be quite removed from the action, The Puppetmaster can more easily be a long term problem, and eliminating them could be the focus of an entire small campaign.

Speaking of elimination, they really can’t do anything to the party once they’re actually found, so running for it and using Alter to cover their tracks while their guards stand is the going strategy. 

The Shadow is your ambush adversary, and the best ‘duelist’ in this bunch thanks to Ebb/Flow and their ranks in Parry. Honestly, this one is pretty straightforward – they can use Misdirect to get the drop on the players, fight for as long as they can, and use Misdirect again to disengage and flee as necessary. 

Basically, if your players are the kind who absolutely will not suffer a Nemesis-grade enemy to live to fight another day – and let’s be honest many are – the Shadow is your simplest bet for having a recurring villain. If the players have turned things around and are the ones doing the hunting, then the Shadow is going to be one of the more interesting and challenging targets to track.

The Doctor’s primary combat feature is that they’re able to bypass soak easily, with either Pressure Point!Brawl attacks or the Harm power. Granted a lightsaber would do the same thing, but the Brawl attacks let them target Strain Threshold and take characters alive, and Harm can be lethal at range along with its host of more esoteric features like self-healing and life-stealing.

As an interrogator and torturer, though, The Doctor is downright nasty. Influence can make victims believe all sorts of things as the Doctor tries to get information or tries to force targets to the dark side – the 7 conflict gained by a character raised from the dead by Harm’s Mastery isn’t exactly voluntary. Suffice to say, using The Doctor in this way could dive into some very grim territory – do not use this character this way unless that kind of content is understood to be a potential part of the campaign and has been cleared by everyone. Even then, have the right kit in place.

The Sorcerer can be your go-to Inquisitor for when you want really flashy space wizardry to throw at your players. Fry them with lightning! Throw buildings at them! Suppress their powers!

Suppress their powers?

Suppress is basically counterspell for Star Wars, and like counterspell it can be a nasty gotcha move on the behalf of the GM. Personally I’d advise getting the most use out of the once-per-session incidental use to surprise the party, then lay in with Unleash/Move/Lightsaber. If a player character has nothing but Force powers in the tank, shy away from sustaining Suppress so they’re not left twiddling their thumbs, although it might help the Sorcerer escape. Then again, if you use the Control upgrade that lets the Sorcerer commit dice to reduce the number of pips an enemy could use, you might be able to remove light side pips until the players have to choose between not using the power and using the dark side, which could be interesting.

The Sharpshooter is a good shot, that’s what makes them deadly in an immediate sense, especially with Sniper Shot extending their range, but what they truly excel at is finding the party. For comparison, The Monk and to a lesser extent The Shadow are good for cinematic chase scenes, but The Sharpshooter is best at a ‘stern’ chase – they can be used to inflict a sense of looming threat and an inability to escape, taking potshots at the party every so often while using Seek and Farsight to hunt them. Crippling Blow, inflicting strain whenever targets move, makes them even harder to shake.

Changeling and their Deception ranks also make them a good spy and infiltrator, so if the implacable hunter isn’t your style, a little paranoia about who The Sharpshooter really is in a crowded cantina or base can spice things up.

On the other hand, they really aren’t all-seeing. Lean into that if the players are clever about trying to turn the tables; once they manage to get the drop on The Sharpshooter, most of this Inquisitor’s kit has been neutralized, although they’ll still be deadly.

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And, in a meta sense, if your characters are an Age of Rebellion party or an Edge or F&D party on good terms with the Alliance? Feel free to give them the Briefings!

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These aren’t the only threats the Inquisitorius has at its disposal, obviously, but they’re the ones we’ve managed to lock down so far. As I said, be careful. Taking them out would be great, don’t get me wrong, but we’d really just like you all to stay alive. Every spark of light we can keep going will help push the darkness back, whether we’re fighting alongside one another or not.

Good luck finding that Destiny of yours. May the Force be with you. Fulcrum, out.

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