I was thinking about ways to make Investigator's combat power less reliant on the narrative and more gamified. I'm currently running several fight simulations with no story, using an Investigator GM PC, and trying to figure out how to make it so she can get Devise a Stratagem bonuses some of the time without having to always use Person of Interest.

My solution is an action called Observe that lets you make a Recall Knowledge check about a creature, or make a Perception check against its Deception DC, and on success you can Devise a Stratagem as a free action against this creature for one minute (including this turn). On a failure, you can do it once for free this round, so Observe is only additive when compared to a single-action Devise a Strategy, unless you critical fail of course 🤣

Here's a more detailed action definition, followed by some of my little thoughts

Observe [single-action]

^(Concentrate, Investigator)

Range: 60 feet

Target a creature that is observed to you.

Make a Recall Knowledge check about that creature, or make a Perception check against its Deception DC.

Critical Success: You can Devise a Stratagem against this creature once as a free action now and once at the start of your turns for the next minute. You also receive the results of a critical success on a Recall Knowledge check about that creature this turn.

Additionally, you notice a weakness and can convey the information to allies to grant each of them a +1 circumstance bonus to their next attack roll against the subject, as long as their attack is made before the beginning of your next turn. If you use an attack stratagem this turn, this bonus applies to that attack roll too.

Success: You can Devise a Stratagem as a free action against this creature for one minute. You also receive the results of a success on a Recall Knowledge check about that creature this turn.

Failure: You can Devise a Stratagem as a free action against this creature once before the end of this turn.

*Special: If you have the Known Weaknesses feat, you may not apply it to Devise a Stratagem this round. Subsequent free action Devise a Stratagems due to this action are eligible for Known Weaknesses again.

*Special: If you are legendary in Perception, you can target creatures that are hidden and within range of any imprecise senses.

*Special: Increase the range of this ability if you have an effect that increases the range of your precise sense, such as eye slashes.

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It's an earned Person of Interest that you can use any time. It rewards high Perception in place of high Intelligence skills, if you want to make your character able to thrive outside their areas of expertise.

You wouldn't have to change any other rules for this! It's a little taste of the Known Weaknesses feat for every investigator if you're willing to spend an action on it. It still meshes with Person of Interest, since maybe you just don't want to risk rolling against someone.

I think this would get rid of adjudication concerns about Pursue a Lead bonuses and let people feel like they've earned their free actions through their powers of observation and analysis, plus maybe a little deduction as a treat.

I wonder if this would be something to add to the Pursue a Lead rules, or to replace the Pursue a Lead bonus altogether? If it were replacing Pursue a Lead, I'd want to add some buff to it. Otherwise, this is adding an action cost to something Investigators might have otherwise gotten for free, which means it'd be a nerf to an already underpowered class.

I'd welcome any thoughts!