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Jack Warlow
2012-10-22, 12:33 PM
I'm currently an Inquisitor in a pathfinder game. Now this is less of a rules question and more of a role-playing based question. I am a Dhampir Inquisitor of the church of Pharasma, sworn to basically eradicate undead. However one of my party members is a bit of a necromancer, and while they haven't raised any dead personally, they have gained control of one which they disguised with clothes and has basically used it to "assist" villagers disguised as a living person, now - My character was away from the party during this and he would most certainly not approve, and if the villagers knew they would likely not respond well.

Is it my duty as an Inquisitor for Pharasma, to destroy this undead or should I not... and go against my character to avoid party conflict which will likely result in the death of my character - since two of the other party members have wands of cure light wounds, which would easily dispatch me as while Dhampir still grow old and die, and are not technically undead - they take damage from cure spells.

So what should I do?

hamishspence
2012-10-22, 12:45 PM
"Sworn to eradicate undead" is a bit of a problem.

But if the character says to themselves "I will destroy this undead- at my own convenience- right now it's inconvenient but eventually it won't be"

then it's less so.

Lord Tyger
2012-10-22, 12:51 PM
Inquisitors are granted a fair amount of leeway in how they carry out their tasks. If allowing this undead to survive for now aids you in carrying out your missions (for Pharasma), you can let it slide for the moment.

somethingrandom
2012-10-23, 03:59 PM
I do not know what sort of relationship you have with the other member of the party who is a necromancer but have you considered taking to him you may be able to settle this without violence.

Beowulf DW
2012-10-23, 08:49 PM
Inquisitors are granted a fair amount of leeway in how they carry out their tasks. If allowing this undead to survive for now aids you in carrying out your missions (for Pharasma), you can let it slide for the moment.

Pretty much. Inquisitors only lose their powers if they "slip into corruption" or go into a radical change of alignment. Worse comes to worst, you're permitted to take the Heretic Archetype, change out some of your class features, and keep going as before.

KnightOfV
2012-10-25, 10:21 PM
As the others have said, you have some leeway, as Inquisitors are designed to break rules and do whatever it takes for their goal. Depends on your alignment, but what I would do...

If Good/Neutral- Have a chat with this Necromancer, let him know you do not approve, and will be watching him for any signs of him slipping further down that dark path. If he is clearly doing blasphemous things, like raising dead, let him no in no uncertain terms that it is fine -for now- but you will deal with his heresy when whatever bigger quest you are on is over.

If Neutral/Evil- Say nothing. Give the necromancer some glares, be aggressive, or dismissive towards his character. He can live... for now. One day, when the time is right your holy sword shall strike him down for his crimes, but not until the time is right (ideally at the end of the campaign.)

In both cases, you should probably make it clear OOC that you will not attack the party member until the end of the campaign, or at least not without warning unless your group is into more PvP.

SigniferLux
2012-10-26, 03:24 AM
"As the goddess of death and rebirth, she abhors the undead and considers them a perversion"
http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Pharasma

She does not leave small windows of "well, if it is a kind undead, forgive it".

Depending on the reasoning the DM gives to "why creating undead is evil", i would act accordingly, but also influenced by my alignment.

If the soul of the dead is tortured while in the state of undeath then:
Good: Destroy the undead outright and speak with the necromancer.
Neutral: Destroy the undead and intimidate/persuade the player.
Evil: Attack the player, make him an undead and then kill him again and ressurect him. If you have not enough funds, intimidate him that he will be joining undeath soon if he doesn't dismiss it.

If there is nothing really bad happening with the soul:
Good: Ask him to dismiss it as respect to your faith and beliefs and try to proselityze him to your religion. After all, an undead controller is the best undead killer.
Neutral: Slay the undead and announce the insult to your faith from your comrade.
Evil: Slay the undead and try to beat the player to submission.

You are an inquisitor!

holywhippet
2012-10-28, 08:02 PM
If the soul of the dead is tortured while in the state of undeath then:


I think for most undead the soul isn't a factor - their soul is off in the afterlife. Only intelligent undead (like liches) have a soul.

The spells used to create undead are clearly marked as being evil. There are no good undead and people who create undead are acting evil when they do so.

Your duty as an inquisitor is to eradicate undead. Your necromancer companion should be convinced to either give up their evil ways or die. Using the undead to do good deeds isn't a valid excuse since they are doing evil first. If they really want to help the villages there are non-evil means available to a spellcaster.

Fouredged Sword
2012-10-28, 08:27 PM
Make it very clear that the undead are to be destroyed. You can tolerate them being used as tools before their ultimate end, but that end will be soon and it is by no means up for negotiation.

So long as the other characters don't make the problem worse by raising more undead you should be able to tolerate the controlled undead for a short time, even if just to keep the necromancer in the group. The quest NEEDS his magic, however questionable the potential. So long as he toes the line he should be used for the greater good.

You should destroy anything that can create spawn, or think on it's own. Just because the making of a sword is evil and the sword must ultimately be destroyed doesn't mean the blade is any less sharp.