Institute Researcher

The methodology exists to make sure that what you found is real and not what you wanted to find. This is harder than it sounds when what you found is a ghost telling you something specific about a murder.

Favored Save: Wit Save (+1D to Wit + Resolve rolls)

Power Access: Mediumship or Glamourist (optional). Aldersham treats tradition access as a research tool, practitioners are recruited for roles where their capacities are methodologically relevant. Access at 1D, no Talent cost, requires appropriate lineage.

Starting Resources: Institute credentials (respected by government agencies with active Aldersham contracts and by most academic institutions in the Institute's advisory network), laboratory and database access appropriate to their research division, a professional publication record or equivalent research portfolio, and standard field investigation equipment.

Lineage Affinity: Haunt, Human. Aldersham's research culture draws heavily on analytical Wit profiles; Haunt lineage researchers contribute perceptive capacities that are directly relevant to several of the Institute's primary research areas.

Progression Track: Institute Researcher

Stage 1 (10 XP), Research Certification
  The researcher has completed Aldersham's internal certification process
  and has access to the full scope of the Institute's resources.
  - Methodological Rigor: The researcher's findings are documented to
    Aldersham's standards; they survive institutional review, legal
    scrutiny, and the kind of expert challenge that government clients
    sometimes apply to assessments that contradict preferred conclusions.
    When the researcher's findings are disputed, the documentation provides
    +1D to Wit + Persuade rolls defending the assessment.
  - Institute Resources: The researcher can request laboratory analysis,
    data processing, and research support from Aldersham's internal
    infrastructure. Standard requests are fulfilled between sessions;
    urgent requests can be expedited at the cost of other projects being
    delayed.

Stage 2 (25 XP), Senior Researcher
  The researcher has a track record and the access that comes with it.
  - Client Interface: The researcher can represent the Institute in client
    relationships, presenting findings, managing expectations, and
    negotiating scope adjustments when a project develops in unexpected
    directions. This gives the researcher standing with the Institute's
    client network, including government agencies and other organizations
    that the Institute serves.
  - Cross-Division Access: The researcher has working relationships across
    Aldersham's research divisions, including the Field Research Division
    and the laboratory. They can access expertise and resources outside
    their primary specialty through these relationships without a formal
    request process.

Stage 3 (50 XP), Principal Researcher / Division Lead
  The researcher has become one of the Institute's recognized experts,
  the person the Director puts on client presentations and the person
  the Ethics Board calls when a contract raises questions.
  - Institutional Authority: The researcher can commit Institute resources
   , field teams, laboratory time, contracted external support, to an
    active project without escalating to the Director. The Institute trusts
    their assessment of what a project requires.
  - Expert Standing: The researcher's published work and client track record
    give them personal standing in the hidden world's analytical community.
    Their assessments are sought independently of the Institute's contract
    relationships. Once per campaign, the researcher can invoke this standing
    to obtain access, cooperation, or information from a party that would
    not otherwise be available to them, the professional reputation opens
    doors the institutional one doesn't.