Heightened senses and Investigation

[BigDogsRunning]

Vargr have heightened senses of smell and hearing sufficient to give them a bonus on Recon and Survival rolls. Do Vargr get any sense of peoples emotions from their sense of smell? The way that dogs do?

Should that be applicable to Investigate, since Investigate is noticing things up close?

Would Investigate be a usable skill in face to face negotiations, to notice little things like pupil dilation, sweating, micro-expressions, increased heartrate (visible at pulse points), etc. could it be used as a complementary skill for diplomacy/persuade/deception, etc skills?

 

[BigDogsRunning]

Any thoughts at all about heightened senses, or non-standard senses?

 

[Linwood]

I think this is the sort of situational modifier that falls squarely in the “GM fiat” bucket. For example, enhanced scent might help recognize a suspect’s body odor at a crime scene, pick out the subtle hint of poison from the victim’s last meal, or otherwise detect a faint scent that could be a clue. Enhanced hearing might pick up on background noise from a radio transmission or recording, or maybe detect a faint trace of a regional accent.

But all of these are arguably Recon checks. I suspect that technically Investigate applies to the interpretation of those clues and necessarily the initial detection. But I see nothing wrong with rolling the detection into the Investigate check if it feels appropriate.

For example - a Vargr with Recon skill might detect a faint scent and recognize it as a human perfume popular on Regina. Another with Investigate might also connect it to a certain noble who had just spent spent several weeks on Regina.

 

[Condottiere]

They might be able to detect disease, and land mines.