Specialist Trees
Investigation, Inquisition, Espionage.
3 trees5 advancements + 1 ultimate1 skill point each, 2 for the ultimate
Investigation
Observation, Deduction, Evidence, Questioning
- 1
Scene Reading 1 pt
Scenes tell you their secrets.
Core: Notice what's been disturbed, removed, or added to a location. Tell approximately how many people were present. Recognize when a scene has been obviously staged.
Advantage: Reconstructing specific movements/positions, detecting subtle staging, reading older scenes, understanding chaotic multi-person events.
- 2
Physical Evidence 1 pt
Objects tell you where they've been.
Core: Identify obvious origins of materials (this mud is from a riverbed, this fiber is wool). Match a tool to clear marks it left. Notice obvious traces of handling.
Advantage: Precise origin identification, matching subtle tool marks, identifying specific handlers, tracing objects through multiple locations.
- 3
Body Reading 1 pt
The dead tell you how they died.
Core: Determine obvious cause of death. Estimate time of death within a day. Notice clear signs of struggle, restraint, or movement after death.
Advantage: Subtle causes, precise timing, detecting drugs/poisons, distinguishing staged wounds from real ones, reading severely decomposed remains.
- 4
Interview Technique 1 pt
People reveal more to you.
Core: Recognize obvious signs someone is withholding information. Help willing witnesses recall details they overlooked. Put nervous witnesses at ease.
Advantage: Detecting subtle omissions, perfect witness recall, interviewing hostile/traumatized subjects, catching rehearsed stories.
- 5
Deduction 1 pt
Pieces fall into place for you.
Core: Recognize when two pieces of evidence are obviously connected. Eliminate impossible explanations quickly. Organize clues into coherent timelines.
Advantage: Connecting disparate clues, leaps of logic, asking GM one yes/no question about what happened (3+ clues required), recognizing missing pieces.
- 6
Ultimate: Master Detective 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Investigation advancements
The truth reveals itself to you.
Core: Know when you're missing crucial information. See connections invisible to others. Organize any amount of evidence into coherent narrative.
Advantage: Once per mystery, ask GM "Who did this?" or "Why did this happen?" for truthful answer. Solving cases with minimal evidence.
TOTAL: 7 points
Inquisition
Hunting Evil, Forbidden Lore, Interrogation, Purification
- 1
Sense Corruption 1 pt
Evil leaves a stain you can smell.
Core: Detect obvious undead, fiends, or active curses within 30 feet. Recognize objects or locations visibly tainted by dark rituals. Notice when someone openly bears marks of forbidden powers.
Advantage: Sensing hidden/masked corruption, detecting subtle taints, identifying specific types of evil, sensing corruption through barriers.
- 2
Forbidden Lore 1 pt
You study what others fear to name.
Core: Identify common cults, demons, and undead by their obvious signs. Know general weaknesses of standard fiends. Recognize forbidden texts and ritual components on sight.
Advantage: Identifying obscure cults, knowing specific weaknesses, recognizing subtle symbols, understanding methods to destroy cursed objects.
- 3
Interrogation 1 pt
Confessions come easily to you.
Core: Recognize when someone is obviously lying about supernatural involvement. Put witnesses at ease when discussing traumatic dark events. Know the right questions to ask cultists.
Advantage: Detecting subtle lies, extracting information from cultists/possessed victims, questioning those resisting confession.
- 4
Sanctify 1 pt
You cleanse what darkness has touched.
Core: Purify a room or small area (10 minutes). undead uncomfortable entering, minor summoning circles broken. Cleanse cursed food or water. Remove taint from mundane objects used in dark rituals.
Advantage: Barring undead entirely, breaking powerful circles, cleansing larger areas, purifying artifacts (not powerful ones).
- 5
Hunter's Mark 1 pt
Once you have the scent, prey cannot hide.
Core: Once you've confirmed a creature is undead, fiend, or cultist, recognize their corruption trail. Know when marked prey is nearby (100 feet). They cannot hide from you by simply walking away.
Advantage: Tracking through concealment, following old trails, sensing marked prey through barriers, tracking prey that actively hides.
- 6
Ultimate: Grand Inquisitor 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Inquisition advancements
You are the fire that burns away darkness.
Core: Your presence unsettles hidden fiends and undead. Know the true name of any demon you can see. Recognize any form of corruption instantly.
Advantage: Forcing fiends/undead to save or reveal themselves, declaring something unholy (1/day) to force save or repulsion (10 ft, 1 minute), confronting greater evils.
TOTAL: 7 points
Espionage
Tradecraft, Codes, Cover Identities, Intelligence
- 1
Forgery 1 pt
Your fakes pass as real.
Core: Create documents that pass casual inspection. Match handwriting after seeing a sample. Recognize obvious forgeries instantly.
Advantage: Surviving active scrutiny, matching unfamiliar hands, detecting expert forgeries, replicating official seals.
- 2
Concealment 1 pt
What you hide stays hidden.
Core: Conceal small items so casual searches miss them. Know when a room or person has obvious hidden compartments. Create basic hiding spots.
Advantage: Surviving thorough searches, finding subtle compartments, concealing larger items, hiding things in plain sight.
- 3
Dead Drops 1 pt
Your messages pass unseen.
Core: Establish a dead drop in any location (10 minutes) that casual observers miss. Tell if a dead drop has been obviously disturbed. Recognize other agents' standard dead drop methods.
Advantage: Drops in surveilled areas, detecting subtle compromise, spotting professional tradecraft, creating untraceable message chains.
- 4
Codes 1 pt
Your ciphers don't break.
Core: Create codes that resist casual attempts to break them. Break simple codes in minutes. Know when text obviously contains a hidden message.
Advantage: Unbreakable codes, breaking complex ciphers (hours), detecting subtle steganography, creating codes only specific people can read.
- 5
Read Tradecraft 1 pt
You see the invisible war.
Core: Notice when you're being obviously followed or watched. Recognize surveillance setups and security measures. Identify when someone is trying too hard to blend in.
Advantage: Detecting professional surveillance, identifying trained operatives, recognizing counter-intelligence operations, spotting triple agents.
- 6
Ultimate: Master Spy 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Espionage advancements
You leave no trace.
Core: Create cover identities with basic histories that survive casual inquiry. Disappear from a location without obvious trail. Know when a cover has been compromised.
Advantage: Identities that survive thorough investigation (histories, witnesses, paper trails), vanishing completely, knowing about blown covers before anyone acts.
TOTAL: 7 points