11-14-2019, 09:05 AM | #41 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
It works in fiction because the GM or writer is simplifying reality. Reality doesn't have to make sense. It indulges in black swan events and weird coincidences.
In a book or game, the cook character will have certain cuts or burns (if the GM/author knows about it) because that's intended as a clue for the players/reader. The lack could mean ignorance on the GM/author's part, or a clue in the other direction -- that's harder to say. I would urge a real-life investigator to be more cautious about generalizing from generalities. |
11-14-2019, 09:30 AM | #42 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
It does remind me of a TV movie where Sherlock was reawakened from stasis into the "modern" world. During one scene he showed his amazing observational skills and rapid deduction... wrongly. He made leaps of judgment that were mistaken due to misunderstanding modern contexts.
For example, he assumed the cop questioning him was nicknamed Noodles, because the cup on his desk had that on the side. It was a Cup-O-Noodles.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
11-14-2019, 09:31 AM | #43 | |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
Quote:
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
|
11-15-2019, 05:23 AM | #44 | |
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: The Kingdom of Insignificance
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
Quote:
Got taught this living on the streets as a teenager. Still do it today.
__________________
It's all very well to be told to act my age, but I've never been this old before... |
|
11-15-2019, 05:26 AM | #45 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
Or with the ember to the inside of the mouth. That one seems distinct enough to give a clue about both profession and region.
|
11-16-2019, 09:26 AM | #46 |
☣
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
A related observation is whether someone is from "here" or not.
My area code is 910. Pretty much everyone from this area says it as "nine one oh" or "nine one zero". If someone says "nine ten" I can be pretty sure they are a transplant.
__________________
RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
11-16-2019, 12:09 PM | #47 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
Tailors too, it is in W.H. Hulme's The Theory of Garment-Pattern Making. He does not give many examples because its a pre-WW II textbook for a trade so pages were precious, and since the essence is "study the bodies of your customers rather than mechanically reproducing some table of proportions or the pictures in fashion magazines."
__________________
"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature |
11-16-2019, 12:19 PM | #48 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
Until roughly the 1950s and 1960s, poor rural people in most of the world tended to wear clothing made in their village of local products and a few well-known imports (like English broadcloth and Hudson's Bay blankets in North America), town people wore international fashions and imported materials. (Tracht/folk costume is the tail end of this).
Clothing often clearly defined ethnicity and social status. So characters should be able to recognize the peasant in his shapeless homespun and hide brogues or the fop in his scandalously short, garishly coloured clothing and double-soled shoes with silver buckles. A butcher, smith, or carpenter may have their apron ... Christians may wear pilgrim badges, Moslems may have something to tell whether they are hajis and details like the colour of their clothing, amount of hair they cover, and length of their trousers hint at their theology ...
__________________
"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature |
11-16-2019, 12:45 PM | #49 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
Like how so many mispronounce place names. It's weird how many natives of nearby Washington and California fail to pronounce Oregon correctly, but more than a few Brits can.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
11-16-2019, 03:43 PM | #50 |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
|
Re: Occupational Forensics
In the extreme case, of course, sumptuary laws enforce this. But I think this is a reason why Shakespeare's disguises as the opposite sex may have seemed more plausible in their day: clothing in the 16th century was both thoroughly gender-coded and not particularly form-fitting or revealing (in most cases), so if you saw "person in male garb" you would probably just assume male.
__________________
Podcast: Improvised Radio Theatre - With Dice Gaming stuff here: Tekeli-li! Blog; Webcomic Laager and Limehouse Buy things by me on Warehouse 23 |
|
|