New toys have arrived that may or may not distract me from this self imposed extremely late participation in the #RPGaDAY2020.

New toys that hark back to my youth, the early Eighties, and the home computer boom.

So before I get distracted and lost down memory lane trying to recapture better, simpler days long past. Here is today’s word of inspiration…

“Investigation

When you look around for clues and make deductions based on those clues, you make an Intelligence (Investigation) check. You might deduce the location of a hidden object, discern from the appearance of a wound what kind of weapon dealt it, or determine the weakest point in a tunnel that could cause it to collapse. Poring through ancient scrolls in search of a hidden fragment of knowledge might also call for an Intelligence (Investigation) check.” Players Handbook

What the designers of D&D are describing is basically what we witness Sherlock Holmes do at a crime scene. Use that as a great excuse to rewatch the BBC update with Benedict Cumberbatch on Netflix.

I see the investigation check going hand in hand with the perception check.

“Perception

Your Wisdom (Perception) check lets you spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of something. It measures your general awareness of your surroundings and the keenness of your senses. For example, you might try to hear a conversation through a closed door, eavesdrop under an open window, or hear monsters moving stealthily in the forest. Or you might try to spot things that are obscured or easy to miss, whether they are orcs lying in ambush on a road, thugs hiding in the shadows of an alley, or candlelight under a closed secret door.” Players Handbook

This is the “oh look what I’ve found”.

You may have deduced with the investigation check that an object might be hidden on or behind a book case from clues in the room. But the perception check will allow you to find that hidden object on the book case.