Skill Scale Down 2021

This skill has been impacted by the Skill Scale Down. The impact of this for this skill is as follows:

• This skill remains.

• Knowledge from Interrogation may be counted as Investigation knowledge - or as Torture.

• For how to deal with XP, please see the page Skill Scale Down 2021 for links, information, and a player guide.

• The scope of this skill now includes appropriate aspects of what was previously covered by Interrogation. Please ensure that you take this into account going forward.

Overview

Investigation has a range of applications from criminal investigation to intelligence gathering to doctors and academics studying mysteries. While not everyone who investigates is doing so because of the law, professional investigators (or detectives/sleuths) usually come in contact with the law due to tracking criminal activity in their inquiries. Depending on what the investigator is delving into, it can be important to know where they stand with the city they are within, the locations they must interact with to find clues, and whether to work with relevant people or not. Investigators can work with the support of society or outside the bounds of polite civilization. Investigation, broadly put, is the determination of causes. It is seeking to find the answer to a currently unknown "What" - what happened, what was the cause; the "Why" - why did it happen; the "Who" - who was involved; How - how did it all happen; ("what" - whether that is what happened in a place (eg: a crime scene), what caused an event to happen (eg: a disaster) , what an individual has done (eg: a corrupt politician).) All of these questions and their subsequent findings build a better picture for the investigator to derive understanding from.

Elements of Investigation

Evidence Investigators, in whatever form or function, are seeking to find out. If speculation were sufficient, then investigators would actually be able to just sit and chat about most likely answers. Evidence, in terms of this skill, is anything which points the investigator towards (or away from) an answer to the questions they are asking. It might be physical or testimonial, absolute or very unclear. It is the pointer towards the final answer. It is essential for those investigators following the law's justice (rather than "street justice") for the collection of evidence to build a case in criminal dealings or to convince others of a finding.

Networks While, undoubtedly, some investigation is done alone, for many who seek to undertake investigations regularly - of whatever kind - then a network of contacts is undoubtedly useful. Witnesses, causes, background information - all of these can be much easier to gain when one has a network. Note, however, that this overlaps heavily with the Intelligence skill and an investigator with no points in that skill might know a lot of people - but they are unlikely to have information of any use.

Reporting Just as much as gathering information from people is important, making that information clearly legible and understandable, and moreover convincing is just as important if not more so. One can know something beyond a shadow of a doubt, but it's of limited value if you can't convince anyone else of your findings.

Equipment The equipment needed to investigate something is dependent on what is being investigated. But the truly cool and awesome investigators always have magnifying glasses, long trenchcoats, stylish hats, umbrellas and canes, cigarettes, journals, stamps, stationary, lots of red string, and a handkerchief.

But on a serious note, tool kits related to this skill are as varied as the subjects of investigation. While criminal investigators may benefit from tools that allow them to track how a crime was committed, from bits of string to indicate various lines of movement to and from a victim, to chalk to trace the outline of a dead body, another type of investigation may benefit from tools that border on archaological investigation. Such as brushes, shovels, paper to take rubbings of bas reliefs, and so on.

The equipment an investigator employs is very much a changeable thing, depending on the type of investigation. Just as varied as the personalities and focus of investigators involved in any search for information.

Procedure of Investigation

1. Collect evidence / data

2. Examine evidence - build up initial hypothesis

3. Analyse evidence in detail - refine hypothesis

4. With refined hypothesis - follow up questions / leads / gather more evidence as needed

Repeat 3 and 4 till you have built a case study sufficient to answer the initial question.

Skill Ranks

Novice (0-25)

At this level of investigation, the detective is just beginning to make connections between facts that are at their disposal. Their ability to piece together forensics and other forms of investigative data is still raw and untested, and more often than not will lead them astray without a guiding influence to teach them the right way to interpret the information they uncover. However, bolstered by successes here or there, they may be able to catch petty criminals, to find out vague information leading them onward, and make other minor finds, enough so that they'd be useful to an investigating team.

Competent (26-75)

At competence, the Investigator has come into their own and finds moderate success uncovering the truth of the subject of their investigations. Whether chasing criminals or fact-finding for their selves or an organization, they are able to produce concrete results at this stage given time and even some major misdeeds can be uncovered/solved in the case of criminal investigation. The Investigator more often knows where to look for information, and how it can correlate to the subject of their searches. Their forensics capability is still somewhat limited, but with related skills they can shore up their efforts to track the subject of their investigation, and find more information on them. Without sufficient tactics skill, they won't be great at staying one step ahead of the criminal, but they will definitely know and understand some details of the crime scene when they happen upon it.

Expert (76-150)

An expert investigator is recognized professionally by the areas they operate within. The authorities in their resident city tend to know them based on the results of their former findings, and either have favorable or unfavorable relations with the investigator. They will have the capability of working successfully whether independently or in a team, and will even find great success while working alone, although having backup and contacts will only increase their efficacy and the accuracy of their findings and conclusions. Their forensics capability allows them to pinpoint potential crimes, fact-finding, or searches to within a few city blocks, and even some level of prognostication has begun to feed into their ability to track the subject of their investigation to their source.

Master (151-250)

From the eye of a master investigator, there are precious few places that are safe to hide for those attempting to evade their notice. Their forensic capability has reached such a level that given enough time and effort, the master can find nearly anything out. Field-research investigations often engender great results when it comes to finding out information sources, and seeking out the exact bit of information they are looking for, even without being aware of it or having a solid conclusion of where their search is leading them. At this stage, Investigation is much more automatic, and the investigator, no matter how meticulous and detail oriented, will tend to find their nose leading them right to the source of their investigation, given enough time.

In the case of criminal investigations, whether they can stop their quarry from striking again is only a matter of stages. Each crime the Investigator uncovers brings them inevitably closer to the criminal. One can only hide their deeds so long before the investigator puts all the pieces together and finds out the who, why, what, and where of a criminal. These investigators are capable of putting together detailed dossiers of exceptional accuracy, to the point where one could've sworn they knew the criminal better than some of their most intimate friends and family without having met them. It's near impossible for a criminal to continue performing their misdeeds, without eventually informing the investigator as to their guilt and whereabouts.

The Master investigator has developed a sixth sense of prognostication when it comes to the subject of their investigation, and they are able to deduce where they will strike next as often as not, or where the next finding ought to lead their investigation. This enables the Master Investigator to stay several steps ahead of the subject of their investigation, to where they can possibly skip entire steps.

Credit

Thanks to Llyr Llywelyn with additions by Woe

Progressing Investigation

• Capstones
• Grandmasters
• Tier 2 PCs

Investigation Knowledge

The collapsible below has examples of Skill Knowledge for this skill. If you are unsure of what Knowledge is, please check the Knowledge Primer for details. Please remember that our Peer Reviewers will be checking to make sure that your Knowledge claim is appropriate to what you have learned in the thread and ensuring that you are not duplicating knowledge.

A guide to knowledge can be found here (this link takes you to the site) and the person reviewing your thread will do so following the steps laid out in the Peer Reviewer Guide. If you wish to use one of these knowledge in your request, please ensure that it is appropriate to your thread.