Investigations

Introduction

Guaranteed Progress

Investigations are designed to be fun and interesting, not frustrating dead-ends. To that extent, a party performing an investigation are not trying to find out IF they discover the mystery, but rather how they do it; what path(s) they follow, what secrets they discover or miss, and what complications they run into along the way.

When To Use

This system wasn’t designed for every tiny little secret out there. Many “investigations” in Ettes Eternal may be resolvable with a couple of simple Skill Checks. This system was designed primarily for campaigns that want to center around investigations; A party that wants to solve mysteries, track down cults, and uncover hidden conspiracies. There can be plenty of combat still sprinkled into such a campaign (leaving the rest of the system still useful), but this system would provide the core gameplay experience for such campaigns or quest lines.

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Core Mechanics

The core mechanics of an Investigation will be very similar to those in Social Challenges. This is intentional so that there aren’t any new mechanics introduced simply for this sub-system. Additionally, for extra realistic investigations, one could transition directly into a Social Challenge when doing something like interrogating a suspect or witness to a murder, or other such ideas! Although the system described below uses simple Skill Check resolution mechanics, nothing is stopping you from mixing and matching the systems in Ettes Eternal however you prefer!

Using Skills

A large majority of the Skills already defined can be quite useful in Investigations;

• Perception - Physical evidence, crime scenes, noticing details
• Insight - Reading people, detecting deception, understanding motivations
• Academia - Research, historical records, scholarly analysis
• Influence/Deception - Social investigation, getting people to talk
• Arcana/Religion/Nature - Specialized knowledge for supernatural or technical mysteries
• Thievery - Covert investigation, accessing restricted areas
• Medicine - Autopsy results, understanding injuries or symptoms
• Athletics - Chasing down suspects
• Agility - Squeezing into hiding spots to eavesdrop

Some skills, like Combat Skills, Endurance/Willpower, or Survival/Crafting, will have very limited application directly to Investigations. Campaigns focused on investigations may end up with these remaining at base values for the most part, and that’s okay!

Information Points

In Investigations, you are aiming to gain Information Points towards clues. Each clue will have 3 Information Points (IP) that can be gained to learn more information:

• 1 IP will get you the very basics of the clue; this is the guaranteed result after providing your Skill Check.
• 2 IP will get you extra context and information
• 3 IP will yield useful, actionable information or even surprising connections/threads to pull on Various Skill checks you perform in the Scene will net you certain amounts of IP. Players are allowed to use multiple approaches to a Clue in order to stack IP gain up to the maximum 3 IP; so if the first approach only nets the party 1 IP, they can attempt a second (different) approach with another Skill to potentially gain the extra IP for more information, but they do this at the risk of Complications!

Position & Effect

As with the Social Challenges system, there are Position and Effect mechanics. These basically work the same, but for a quick overview, every time you describe your approach to investigating a Clue in a Scene, the GM will be making a judgement of the Position and Effect of your approach; How tenuous your approach is (Position) and how effective (Effect) the result is! The final arbitration of this is up to the GM.

Position

Position is defined by 3 tiers: Controlled, Risky, and Desperate. These will vary based on how you approach investigating the clue. A Controlled approach might be a calm methodical examination of a corpse or a casual conversation with a witness, while a Desperate approach might be frantically tearing through the clothes of a body in a hurry, or aggressively grilling the witness in a locked room.

Effect

Effect is also defined by 3 tiers: Limited, Standard, and Great. This depends on how effective the GM deems your approach to be to discovering the details of the clue, and will determine how many Information Points your Skill Check could potentially obtain. A Limited Effect might be a cursory look at the victim’s corpse or a non-probing coffee chat with a witness, while a Great effect might be a full autopsy of the victim or a detailed multi-hour conversation with the witness to establish rapport and probe on details.

Success and Failure

Unfortunately, unlike most other systems in Ettes Eternal, the Investigations do not have a concept of Hard/Major successes. You approach to investigating a clue, and the resulting Skill Check, are simply either Failure or Success, with Critical results available:

• Success: Achieve your Effect’s IP gain, revealing information and gaining complications based on the Position.
• Failure: Achieve lower IP gain for your Effect (minimum 1), but gain worse complications based on Position.
• Critical Success: As Success, but increase your effective Effect by 1 step (if possible); a Critical success on a Great Effect should result in lowering any potential complications.
• Critical Failure: As Failure, but you are guaranteed to have major complications regardless of your Position.

Complications

Complications can wildly vary based on what the situation is, but generally will range from “minor”, “medium” or “major” complications. At no time should a Complication ever destroy a potential Clue, unless absolutely necessary.

Example Complications

Minor Complications

• Witnesses become slightly suspicious or uncooperative
• You attract some unwanted attention
• Investigation takes longer than expected
• Minor evidence is contaminated or lost

Medium Complications

• Authorities take serious notice of your investigation
• Key witnesses become frightened and harder to reach
• Suspects become aware they’re being investigated
• Time pressure significantly increases

Major Complications

• Legal trouble or arrest
• Witnesses or sources are threatened or disappear
• Evidence is destroyed or tampered with
• Hostile parties actively work against your investigation
• Physical danger or direct confrontation

Results Tables

Position Table

Position	Success	Failure	Critical Success	Critical Failure
Controlled	No complications	Minor complications	No complications	Major complications
Risky	Minor complications	Medium complications	Minor complications	Major complications
Desperate	Medium complications	Major complications	Minor complications	Multiple major complications

Effect Table

	Success	Failure	Critical Success	Critical Failure
Limited	1 IP	1 IP	2 IP	1 IP
Standard	2 IP	1 IP	3 IP	1 IP
Great	3 IP	2 IP	3 IP	1 IP

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Flow of an Investigation

Approach New Scene

Each clue source should be designed with 2-3 applicable skills that provide different perspectives on the same information. Players can make multiple investigative attempts on the same clue source using different skills or approaches to accumulate up to 3 IP total per source. Example - Crime Scene Investigation:

• Perception: Physical evidence, signs of struggle, murder weapon location
• Medicine: Cause of death, time of death, attacker’s likely size/strength
• Insight: Emotional context, whether this was personal or professional

Players could examine the scene with Perception (gaining 1 IP), then follow up with a Medicine check (gaining up to 2 more IP based on Effect), accumulating information while risking complications from multiple attempts.

Reveal Information

Basic Clue (1 IP): Essential information needed to understand what happened and progress the investigation.

Detailed Clue (2 IP): Additional context that provides tactical advantages, identifies specific individuals, or reveals connections to other elements.

Complete Picture (3 IP): Full understanding including motivations, timeline, methods, and actionable intelligence for next steps.

Next Scene

Based on the results of these clues, one or more new Scenes should be obvious next-steps for the party. The party can collate their notes, and decide which Scene(s) to approach next as a group or individually.

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GM Guide to Investigations

Node-Based Mysteries

Structure investigations as scenes (locations, people, or events) connected by clues rather than predetermined linear paths. Each scene should contain multiple potential clues that can lead to other scenes, creating a web of information rather than a single chain.

Players can approach scenes in multiple orders based on what they discover, allowing for organic investigation flow based on character interests and player choices.

Rule of Threes

“Rule of Threes” is named as such to help you think about the ideal way to design a mystery and the individual scenes/clues:

• A Mystery should have at least 3 Scenes (but ideally more for complex Mysteries!)
• A Scene should have at least 3 possible Clues available to the party in it
• Each Clue should have 2-3 possible Skills that can be used to obtain the information

Skill Discovery

Rather than listing applicable skills upfront, describe scenes in detail and let players propose investigative approaches. When players suggest using a Skill, you can decide on the spot whether their fictional approach makes sense for uncovering information from that clue source, even if it doesn’t match the 2-3 Skills you planned for the Clue.

Example Scene Description: “The professor’s office has been ransacked. Papers are scattered across the floor, a computer monitor is cracked, and there’s a distinctive scent of expensive cologne lingering in the air. The building’s security guard is waiting nervously in the hallway.”

Players might then propose: examining the physical evidence (Perception), questioning the guard (Influence), researching what files were accessed on the computer (Academia), or checking for magical traces (Arcana).

GM Safety Net

If players seem stuck, you can mention that this scene offers opportunities for specific skills, but try scene description first. So if your players are waffling or unsure what to do, you might say “There are some good opportunities here for an Academia check, Alice” or “If you use your Perception Skill on the ransacked desk you might discover some interesting information” to help spark the players to investigate the scene. Try to avoid this if possible, but it’s always better to make things more explicit rather than letting everyone flounder and not have fun moving things forward.

Position & Effect

Don’t automatically scale difficulty with character level. A Level 15 character with 80 Perception should get Great Effect when examining crime scenes - they’re genuinely expert investigators.

Position should reflect fictional circumstances:

• How much attention will this approach attract?
• What are the risks if caught or discovered?
• How hostile is the environment?

Effect should reflect approach quality:

• How direct and efficient is this method?
• Does the character have the right tools and knowledge?
• Are they working with others or alone?

Designing Clues

When creating investigations, prepare each clue source with:

• 2-3 applicable skills that provide different angles on the information
• Multiple approaches possible - players can attempt several different skill checks on the same source to accumulate up to 3 IP total
• Basic information revealed with 1 IP (essential facts)
• Additional context revealed with 2 IP (tactical advantages, connections)
• Complete picture revealed with 3 IP (full understanding, actionable intelligence)

As always, be ready to improvise a bit! Players will always surprise you with their creativity (or sometimes lack thereof…) on how they approach the investigations. Don’t shoehorn them into your own perspective if they find unique ways of uncovering your clues.

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Example Investigation: The Riverside Murder

The Mystery

Professor Harold Winters was found dead by the Miskatonic River at dawn, apparently drowned. The police are calling it an accident, but his colleague hired the investigators to uncover the truth.

Investigation Structure: Multiple connected scenes, each with 3 clue sources. Players need at least 1 IP from 3 different clue sources total to solve the basic mystery.

Scene 1: Riverside Park (Crime Scene)

Clue Source 1A: The Body

Applicable Skills: Medicine, Perception, Insight

• 1 IP: Victim didn’t drown - died from blunt force trauma before entering water
• 2 IP: Multiple attackers based on wound patterns, expensive fabric fibers under fingernails
• 3 IP: Precise time of death (2 AM), ritualistic positioning of body, attacker height estimates

Clue Source 1B: The Scene

Applicable Skills: Perception, Survival, Academia

• 1 IP: Signs of struggle near parking area, drag marks to water’s edge
• 2 IP: Tire tracks from luxury vehicle, traces of ceremonial candle wax
• 3 IP: Specific vehicle model, number of participants (4-5 people), pattern matches historical ritual sites

Clue Source 1C: Witness Interview

Applicable Skills: Influence, Insight, Deception

• 1 IP: Groundskeeper heard chanting around midnight but was too scared to investigate
• 2 IP: Chanting was in Latin, saw robed figures carrying something heavy
• 3 IP: Recognized one voice as “that fancy historical society president,” saw distinctive limping gait

Scene Connections

Leads to University (Professor’s connection), Historical Society (witness recognition), Thorne Estate (ritual site patterns)

Scene 2: University Campus (Professor’s Life)

Clue Source 2A: Professor’s Office

Applicable Skills: Academia, Perception, Arcana

• 1 IP: Recent research focused on local occult history, signs of hasty document removal
• 2 IP: Hidden files about Arkham Historical Society’s true activities, threatening letters
• 3 IP: Complete member list of inner cult circle, documentation of previous ritual murders, meeting schedule

Clue Source 2B: Faculty Interviews

Applicable Skills: Influence, Insight, Academia

• 1 IP: Professor had been increasingly paranoid lately, mentioned “dangerous discovery”
• 2 IP: Specifically feared Marcus Thorne, had been receiving late-night threatening calls
• 3 IP: Professor planned to go to police tomorrow, had evidence of Historical Society’s criminal activities

Clue Source 2C: Professor’s Apartment

Applicable Skills: Thievery, Perception, Arcana

• 1 IP: Apartment searched recently, valuables left but research materials taken
• 2 IP: Hidden backup files reveal cult’s plan to open “gateway” during blood moon
• 3 IP: Exact ritual location (old Blackwood Estate), tonight’s ceremony details, names of all participants

Scene Connections

Leads to Historical Society (Thorne connection), Blackwood Estate (ritual location), Police Station (Professor’s planned evidence)

Scene 3: Arkham Historical Society

Clue Source 3A: Public Areas

Applicable Skills: Academia, Perception, Influence

• 1 IP: Legitimate historical society with suspicious gaps in recent activities
• 2 IP: Members nervous about recent events, several have stopped attending meetings
• 3 IP: Society founded as front organization, financial records show payments for “ritual supplies”

Clue Source 3B: Marcus Thorne

Applicable Skills: Influence, Insight, Deception

• 1 IP: Thorne is evasive about Professor Winters, claims minimal contact
• 2 IP: Shows signs of guilt and fear, mentions “unfortunate accident” before being told how Winters died
• 3 IP: Breaks under pressure, admits to cult leadership but claims killing was “necessity for greater good”

Clue Source 3C: Restricted Archives

Applicable Skills: Thievery, Arcana, Academia

• 1 IP: Hidden collection of genuine occult texts and ritual implements
• 2 IP: Detailed plans for “Crimson Gateway” ritual requiring blood sacrifice
• 3 IP: Full ritual instructions, timeline for tonight’s ceremony, backup location if primary site compromised

Scene Connections

Leads to Blackwood Estate (ceremony location), Police Station (evidence of crimes), Other Cult Members (participant locations)

Web of Connections

Minimum Solution Path (3 IP total)

• Clue Source 1A (1 IP): Murder, not accident
• Clue Source 2B (1 IP): Professor feared Thorne
• Clue Source 3B (1 IP): Thorne shows guilt about “accident”
• Basic Conclusion: Marcus Thorne killed Professor Winters

Enhanced Investigation (6-9 IP)

Adding more clue sources reveals the broader conspiracy:

• Cult involvement and ritual murder motivations
• Tonight’s ceremony requiring immediate action
• Specific location and participant identities
• Tactical advantages for confronting the cult

Alternative Investigation Paths

Players could focus on different scene combinations:

• Scenes 1 & 3: Crime scene + Historical Society (focuses on Thorne as killer)
• Scenes 2 & 3: University + Historical Society (focuses on cult conspiracy)
• Scenes 1 & 2: Crime scene + University (focuses on Professor’s research)

Each path provides different perspectives and tactical information for the resolution.

Sample Investigation Progression

Action 1: Medicine check on the body (Scene 1A, Controlled/Standard) - Success

• 2 IP gained, no complications
• Information: Victim died from blunt force trauma, multiple attackers, expensive fabric under fingernails

Action 2: Influence check with groundskeeper (Scene 1C, Controlled/Limited) - Failure

• 1 IP gained, minor complications
• Information: Heard chanting around midnight, too scared to investigate
• Minor Complication: Groundskeeper becomes nervous about talking, word spreads that investigators are asking questions

Action 3: Thievery check breaking into professor’s apartment (Scene 2C, Desperate/Great) - Success

• 3 IP gained, medium complications
• Information: Hidden backup files reveal tonight’s gateway ritual at Blackwood Estate with full participant details
• Medium Complication: Neighbor calls police about break-in, cult becomes aware investigators found the backup files

Action 4: Academia check examining Historical Society archives (Scene 3A, Controlled/Standard) - Success

• 2 IP gained, no complications
• Information: Society is a front organization, financial records show ritual supply purchases

Action 5: Insight check reading Thorne during questioning (Scene 3B, Risky/Standard) - Critical Failure

• 1 IP gained, major complications
• Information: Thorne shows obvious signs of guilt about “accident”
• Major Complication: Thorne realizes the investigators know too much, immediately contacts cult to accelerate timeline and warns them about police involvement

Total: 9 IP from 5 different clue sources across 3 scenes Mystery Status: Fully solved with complete tactical intelligence, but complications have created time pressure and alerted the cult to investigation. Players must act quickly to prevent the ritual and potential elimination of witnesses.