Field Investigator

The lab needs something to analyze. Your job is to get it back in a condition that's useful, which requires getting back in a condition that's useful.

Favored Save: Speed Save (+1D to Speed + Acrobatics rolls)

Power Access: Mediumship or Glamourist (optional). Field Investigators with tradition access find both useful in active investigation contexts, Mediumship for direct phenomenon interaction, Glamourist for assessment and, when necessary, making an Aldersham field presence invisible to parties who would find it inconvenient.

Starting Resources: Institute field credentials, personal investigation kit (documentation equipment, specimen collection, EMF and environmental monitoring), sidearm (Institute-approved, rarely discussed in official documentation), and a standing relationship with local law enforcement or agency contacts sufficient to explain a non-suspicious version of their presence at investigation sites.

Lineage Affinity: Haunt, Human. Field Investigators require both analytical capacity and field resilience; Haunt lineage investigators contribute perceptive and liminal capacities that are particularly valuable in active phenomena situations.

Progression Track: Field Investigator

Stage 1 (10 XP), Field Certification
  The Investigator has demonstrated they can conduct systematic
  investigation under field conditions and bring back findings
  the lab can use.
  - Active Investigation: Given a scene to work, the Investigator
    can produce a systematic assessment of an anomalous site,
    what occurred, what traces remain, and what type of phenomenon
    is responsible. Wit + Lore vs Threshold 2 for standard phenomena;
    Threshold 3 for unusual or variant types. The assessment meets
    Aldersham documentation standards.
  - Cover Management: The Investigator has a practiced set of cover
    identities and explanations for why they are at locations that
    warrant investigation. These covers hold against routine scrutiny
   , local police, property managers, standard witness interaction.
    Novel or high-stakes cover challenges still require a Wit +
    Deceive roll.

Stage 2 (25 XP), Senior Field Investigator
  The Investigator has enough field experience to have developed judgment
  that the methodology doesn't fully account for.
  - Active Phenomena: The Investigator functions effectively in situations
    where the phenomenon under investigation is still in progress. In active
    supernatural environments, ongoing haunting, active entity presence,
    live threat engagement, the Investigator rolls at +1D on investigation-
    related Wit rolls and does not take the standard Disadvantage that active
    phenomena impose on methodical research.
  - Specimen Recovery: The Investigator can recover physical samples and
    evidence from field conditions that standard collection protocols weren't
    designed for, active combat zones, contaminated sites, locations with
    significant ongoing supernatural activity. Recovery always produces
    usable material; the quality varies with conditions (Wit + relevant
    Talent vs Threshold 1–3 based on site conditions).

Stage 3 (50 XP), Lead Field Investigator
  The Investigator has become the person the Division deploys when the
  situation is beyond what standard field protocols cover.
  - Rapid Assessment: The Investigator can produce a working field
    assessment in significantly less time than standard investigation
    requires. What would normally take a full scene can be accomplished
    as a Primary Action, a rapid read of a site or situation that surfaces
    the most operationally relevant finding. The assessment is less complete
    than a full investigation but is accurate on what it covers.
  - Field Authority: The Investigator has the authority to make field
    decisions, abort, escalate, modify scope, call for external support,
    without consulting the Division. The Institute trusts their situational
    judgment. This authority extends to invoking Aldersham's client
    relationships for emergency field support when the situation requires it.