Question on Investigators

[eocine]

Simple one really, what kind of non magical equipment would you find it feasible for a Paridonian Investigator to carry around to help in his work?

[Jonathan Winters]

Not enough time to answer right now, but look at Van Richten's Arsenal...

Tons of ideas there. After all this time (what three years?), it's still one book I always come back too...

Gotta love the Alchemy section!

Patrick

[Rotipher of the FoS]

When deciding how much a criminalist in Ravenloft would be able to draw upon science to solve crimes, remember that it's not just low technology that would limit the investigator's options: scientific crime-solving requires a basis for comparison, and that usually means lots of previous studies have to have been done. Fingerprinting, for example, is certainly possible with the tools available in the more advanced domains; what's missing is a reliable body of evidence proving that no two people's fingerprints are identical.

Techniques a Ravenloft investigator might find both useful, and sufficiently accepted to base a prosecution on, might include:

Matching torn-off ends of paper, cloth, or rope to their sources

Collection of trace evidence no smaller than what tweezers can pick up

Footprints in soft soil matched to well-worn (but not new) footwear

Chemical assays for mineral-based or slow-degrading poisons in tissue, hair, or nails

Comparison of cast-lead bullets to their casting-irons (but not the unrifled guns that fired them)

Detection of gunpowder-residue and gunsmoke at crime scenes or on suspects' clothing (mostly by smell)

Bite-mark comparisons ... assuming the biter's not changing shape at the time the wound is inflicted

Primitive autopsy procedures to determine cause of death and to recover stomach contents and imbedded projectiles (Van Richten did this, BTW)

Simple crime-reenactments, e.g. checking sighting-lines for gunshots or how long it would take to move from point A to point B

Identifying blood as blood (but not its species); a Lamordian scientist might be able to narrow it down to being mammalian or not

Gross biometric measurements to identify individuals

Determining sex, race, ethnicity, physical condition and approximate age of skeletal remains

Most of these techniques could be performed with nothing more complex than a magnifying glass, but chemical assays would require a suitable kit (alchemist's or scientific chemist's), and an autopsy requires a chirurgery kit and a suitable place to work. An investigator would also need to bring a sketchpad everywhere, as photography is definitely far outside of Ravenloft's range of technology .... even if your name is Mordenheim.

[Boccaccio Barbarossa]

Rotipher's got you covered, though I would add one thing: though the institution may not belive in the power of certain sciences and methods for dis/proving crimes, it IS possible for your PC/NPC to hold the view that they CAN solve problems this way. He's just be something of a mevarick (a little like Crane in Sleepy Hollow, say.)

Not much I can think of to add to the list, really: it's very complete (and useful!!!)

[Ail]

Rotipher's got you covered, though I would add one thing: though the institution may not belive in the power of certain sciences and methods for dis/proving crimes, it IS possible for your PC/NPC to hold the view that they CAN solve problems this way. He's just be something of a mevarick (a little like Crane in Sleepy Hollow, say.)

Not much I can think of to add to the list, really: it's very complete (and useful!!!)

I think such an investigator, on the other hand, could take the opposite point of view and understand that some magic might also give him an edge. Like magic for discerning lies and getting the truth out from suspects. Or even the regular Hypnosis skill, in this regard, could be useful. I don't have a list of spells, but I think there will be some more useful ones.

Ail

[eocine]

Thank you very much for that reply Rotipher, I'll work on the contents of his kit based on your advice.