Editing Unwritten: System Reference Document/Discovery and Investigation (section)

===The Process===

An investigation consists of the following steps:
* The first look
* Action rolls
* Asking questions
* Digging deeper

====First Look====

An investigation begins with a first look. We assume that the first question your character will have is “Because of who I am and what I know, what do I notice?” If it makes sense that a clue would be obvious to your character, the GM tells you the clue. That’s it. No rolls involved. You can mention why you think that an aspect, stunt, or high skill is relevant to the investigation, but the GM won’t base the first look entirely on that.

So how do you know if ‘it makes sense’?

* Aspects - If you have an aspect that implies that you would know about the subject or that the clue would be apparent to you, that is justification enough.
* Skills - If you have a high enough appropriate skill, then the GM can decide that it would make sense that you would see the clue.
* Stunts - You may have a stunt that makes certain clues easier to find. Or a stunt that implies knowledge that might justify discovering a clue.

Each involved character gets a first look at the situation.

====Action rolls====

After the first look, all of the characters involved declare what they are going to be doing:

If you are looking for answers, you describe what you are doing and how. Then attempt a discover action.

If you are assisting others, you describe what you are doing toward that end. You can then attempt overcome or advantage actions to reflect that.

The actual order in which these actions are taken is flexible. If you are attempting advantage actions to give other investigators an edge, or overcome actions to remove obstacles, then you will want to do those first so those benefits are available to those performing discover actions.

====Asking Questions====

At the end of the action rolls, your characters will have a set of questions to ask. Each player asks their questions. Keep in mind that the questions you ask must relate to the process that you described when making the action rolls—if you were taking samples for chemical analysis, then you won’t be able to ask questions about the demeanor of the frightened explorers that were found near by.

It’s likely that all of the PCs will be working together on the mystery in front of them. You can as well. Questions can be asked in any order, and you should use the answers to inform what question you or another player asks next. Build off of each other’s work. If anyone has hints available from excelling at a discover action, they can be spent during this time as well.

Questions continue until all the players involved run out of available questions or feel that they have uncovered enough information.

====Digging Deeper====

What happens if you have used up all of your questions, but you still want to know more? You have the option of digging deeper by changing the situation.

You and the other players must do something to change the situation at hand in order to justify another round of questions. Some options are:

* Change things in the scene using an overcome or advantage action, such as setting up specialized equipment, performing extra experiments or tests, or sweet talking someone who doesn’t want to talk any further.
* Take a scene to go perform research or collect relevant information and support.
* Spend a fate point to declare a relevant minor detail based off of one of your aspects.

The GM decides what would be appropriate. It should be something that requires thought, effort, or time (or a combination of the three).

Once the change has been made (and the GM is satisfied), go back to the Action Rolls step and start the process again.