Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > Roleplaying in General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-06-2019, 03:56 PM   #1
jason taylor
 
jason taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Occupational Forensics

I just realized that a Medieval Sheriff can tell if someone was a monk by looking at his knees or his writing hand. He could tell an archer from his upper arms. Obviously that has game implications, if for instance, someone is in disguise.

Any other ideas along that line?
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison
jason taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2019, 05:25 PM   #2
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

The swordsman's callouses, or the lutenist's. The dyer's stained fingers. The distinctive odors of many trades (Turtledove and Tarr discuss a man who uses urine professionally as a mordant, for example). Bow legs for certain occupations.

Sherlock Holmes observes the flattening of a young woman's fingertips and concludes that she may be either a pianist or a typist.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2019, 06:18 PM   #3
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

Though it depends to what degree you think it should be possible to estimate capabilities based on appearances, because players might not want characters who actually look their attributes (high ST characters will have a lot of muscle, high DX characters will have a lot of muscle relative to their size. It's possible to have someone at ST 8/DX 15, like Dai Blackthorn, but he's not going to be 5'6" and 115 lb, he's going to be 4' and 60 lb).
__________________
My GURPS site and Blog.
Anthony is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2019, 06:35 PM   #4
(E)
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

A shepard's soft hands.
A mason's or lime burner's cough(?)
A sailors tan (reflected sunlight)
A milkmaid's strong grip or cow pox scars(?).
A washerwoman's skin
A poor person's dietary deficiency or tanned/toughened feet.

And then there is blurring the line with outright stereotypes.
A shepard's skill with a sling.
Fat butchers etc
__________________
Waiting for inspiration to strike......
And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs
Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn
(E) is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2019, 08:18 AM   #5
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

Quote:
Originally Posted by (E) View Post
A shepard's soft hands.
A mason's or lime burner's cough(?)
...
A hatter's madness.
A beat cop's saunter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by khorboth View Post
For instance, woodworking tools are often sharp in unexpected places. leatherworking tools are kept polished clean except on the handle. I'm sure there are more that could be investigated.
Getting away from the medieval era, but it's always distracting for me when a movie or show has a media scrum scene, with extras all holding their SLR cameras the wrong way. People used to compact cameras hold the body with both hands, but photographers hold an SLR with one hand supporting the lens, to control the zoom and hold the camera's weight more evenly.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!

Last edited by Daigoro; 11-08-2019 at 08:23 AM.
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2019, 12:07 PM   #6
Þorkell
Icelandic - Approach With Caution
 
Þorkell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
People used to compact cameras hold the body with both hands, but photographers hold an SLR with one hand supporting the lens, to control the zoom and hold the camera's weight more evenly.
Left hand under the lens with fingers on the lens, right hand on the grip. Yup, it's a dead giveaway if a person holds a (D)SLR camera any other way.
__________________
Þorkell Sigvaldason

Viking kittens | My photos | More of my photos
Þorkell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2019, 10:38 PM   #7
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

Quote:
Originally Posted by Agemegos View Post
Having worked in a lot of kitchens I can tell you that right-handed cooks get cuts on their left hand and burns on their right one, left-handed ones vice versa.
I believe that one. And one of the hazards of getting a newly sharpened knife is that it always wants a blood offering. Though at least it hurts less than a cut from a dull knife.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2019, 01:45 AM   #8
Michele
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

It's not occupational, but class-related. Today, the rich tend to be well tanned, in some cases even in winter. For long times in history and in many civilizations, the rich, especially rich women, are not tanned - farmers are.

Also class-related: the feet. The poor have thick-skinned and calloused feet; they often walk around barefoot, or in poor-quality sandals or rags. The rich walk less, and when they do it's with good footwear.

---

Since the OP mentions disguises, I think it's important to observe signs that don't tell who the victim was, but who he was not.
I.e., signs on the body that are indicative of the victim having recently begun an activity that was, however, not habitual for him. If the "knight" is dressed as such and even seems to have owned that horse in the stable, but his buttocks and thigs and calves show he was actually not accustomed to the saddle, maybe he was no knight, after all. If the "porter's" body show signs of chafing and bruising on the shoulders, and open sores on the hands, then either he had just begun with that job, or he wasn't a porter.
__________________
Michele Armellini
GURPS Locations: St. George's Cathedral
Michele is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2019, 04:20 AM   #9
The Colonel
 
The Colonel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

There are a couple of "medieval CSI" series out there for inspiration: Bernard Knight's Crowner John series feature a first generation coroner, Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael, Michael Jeck's Bailiff Simon Puttock and Susanna Gregory's Dr. Matthew Bartholomew are all also various forms of medieval investigator who do this sort of thing a lot...
The Colonel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2019, 05:58 AM   #10
RogerBW
 
RogerBW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
Default Re: Occupational Forensics

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
I believe that one. And one of the hazards of getting a newly sharpened knife is that it always wants a blood offering. Though at least it hurts less than a cut from a dull knife.
Building computers is the same. IME those tend to be cuts and scrapes on the back of the hand.
RogerBW is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:50 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.