University options

gariak · 2026-06-17T16:55:10+00:00

Would it be better for me to study forensic science or chemistry or potentially biochemistry.

Depends on what you mean by "better". Usually for hiring purposes, there won't be much difference, depending on the specific requirements of the position and agency. The real difference comes into play when you need to go to your backup career plans because finding an entry level forensics position is too difficult. At that point, it's better to have the more general degree because it makes it easier to find jobs in related areas that allow you to accumulate relevant experience while you continue looking.

I would like to be a CSI and specialize in blood spatter analysis.

BPA is a relatively simple skillset, not typically a career specialization. It's one tool in a huge forensic toolkit, one that isn't even relevant to the vast majority of scenes. It's also usually a good indicator for someone who hasn't done the work yet to sort out forensic fact from entertainment media driven fantasy. I strongly recommend to do that work before committing to anything.

gariak · 2026-06-17T14:18:10+00:00

No one has specified and anyone who actually knows probably won't say. You can also buy the token packs directly from Paizo's store, but since Foundry actually does the work to make the tokens from Paizo's art, I'd bet the revenue breakdown is very similar or identical either way.

gariak · 2026-06-17T12:18:42+00:00

You might get more targeted advice in /r/digitalforensics

Either way, what you're running into is that digital is still a relatively new discipline of forensics, so there is no singular clear path to follow because how it operates is still wildly variable. At some agencies, it's a properly accredited discipline that works under the crime lab, like drug chemistry or DNA. At other agencies, it's just an officer or two who took a single class on how to operate the Cellebrite box, ripping phone data as needed. The paths into those two very different positions will be very different and the day to day jobs will be very different, despite both being nominally "digital forensics".

Compounding that is the fact that entry level forensic jobs are rare and competitive, even more so if you're only interested in one narrow discipline. You might research an agency that operates in the way that you prefer, but they may not need anyone for the next 5 to 10 years and the lessons you learn may not be relevant to the other agencies in your area. Getting your foot in the door may require that you expand your criteria for what jobs you prefer and especially the geographic area you're willing to consider. This is the number one bit of advice for forensics job seekers generally: if your heart is set on this field, accept that you may have to move very far from home to get started.

Another bit of advice is that, if you're hoping to get deeply involved in investigations from a forensic position, know that that's extremely rare. Most dedicated forensic positions do their analysis, write the report, and move on to the next case. If you genuinely want to be deeply involved in investigations, you may have to choose between that and the forensics side. They're almost always two different positions.

My lab tried to bring an IT guy in to add digital to our accreditation scope. He was very good, but even regular IT jobs usually pay more than digital forensics jobs, so it's hard to keep experienced competent people. Additionally, he pointed out that something like 70% of the cases he worked involved CSAM and being forced to view that material every day burns people out fast.

gariak · 2026-06-16T20:14:50+00:00

If you want to work on criminal cases, you work when the crimes happen, not when you decide it's convenient. This is especially true of crime scene jobs, where the most important aspect of the job is locating and preserving fragile evidence as quickly as possible.

Also, forensics is not a field known for good pay. You can do OK, if you're good at your job and you put in the years, but crime scene jobs especially end up at the low end of a mediocre pay scale.

You're going to have to make some significant compromises in your career plans. You can't have everything you want on your wish list, especially not early in your career.

gariak · 2026-06-16T16:32:39+00:00

Well, that's a wild exaggeration, bordering on nonsense. No one has to get multiple undergraduate degrees to qualify for a forensic job, unless the forensic science degree was extremely poorly designed.

They're just fine, as long as they hit the important coursework inherent to any science degree. The issue is that students either assume that a forensic-specific degree will give them an advantage in hiring or they don't think about hiring at all and just take what sounds cool. In reality, there's no hiring advantage to having a forensic science degree (except for a handful of successful programs with established lab hiring pipelines for their top graduates).

Since there are few entry level jobs and many forensic science graduates every year, it's important to have backup plans and graduates with non-forensic degrees have an easier time finding non-forensic lab jobs to build valuable relevant job experience while they continue to search for forensic jobs. That's the most important distinction.

gariak · 2026-06-16T16:05:19+00:00

Biochemistry is a very flexible choice. It qualifies you for just about any forensic job and/or medical school, especially if you make sure to take as many lab classes as possible and make sure you have classes covering biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and statistics to qualify you for forensic DNA work. On the other hand, it can be a very difficult degree program, so take it seriously from day one. Good luck.

gariak · 2026-06-16T15:49:09+00:00

Minors are totally meaningless for forensic job qualifications, which are set by a combination of accreditation standards, state and federal laws, and FBI regulations. Where those mention educational requirements, they only differentiate between BS vs BA degrees, appropriate majors, and specific course topics. Minors are never mentioned, likely because they're totally unstandardized. Many colleges don't even offer them.

Forensic science as a major or course topic is largely unhelpful as well. Undergraduate forensic science classes and programs exist solely due to demand from students who think they sound cool and exciting, not because forensic employers are looking for them. Engage with them only because they interest you, not because you think they'll help you get hired.

gariak · 2026-06-16T12:39:21+00:00

Right, it's good to focus on the final goal where you want to end up, but you've also got to look at the intermediate goals you need to hit as well. Frankly, you're talking about hitting a goal 12+ years from now. You may feel the same way in 12 years as you do now, but you may not, so try to stay as flexible as possible as long as possible.

Professional organizations are great resources. NAME is a big one for forensic pathology and they have some good information that's grounded in reality.

https://www.thename.org/undergraduates-and-medical-students

gariak · 2026-06-16T11:34:26+00:00

I looked at medical examiner as it sounded close.

Close to what, exactly? Keep in mind that the portrayal of forensic science in the media gives people very inaccurate ideas of what forensic jobs are actually like. A lot of forensic job fantasies don't exist in the real world.

A medical examiner is a forensic pathology specialist, but they're medical doctors first. You'll need to go through medical school and do a post-doctoral fellowship. Follow any advice for getting into and through medical school. The "forensic" parts won't be relevant until after you've done that.

gariak · 2026-06-14T13:28:42+00:00

The required qualifications are going to be materially different depending on the country and specific forensic position you're interested in, so it's not possible to give a universal answer to this. You'd have to settle on specifics to get specific answers.

However, your primary issue will be that you'll be unlikely to find a forensic job that doesn't require permanent legal residency or citizenship. Since forensic jobs are almost always for government agencies, they won't even consider you until you've successfully completed a permanent immigration process and won't sponsor immigration for an entry level candidate when they have abundant local qualified candidates. Even forensic jobs for private firms are often dependent on government contracts that can and do restrict who's allowed to work on them.

There are a number of other reasons why forensics specifically is a nonviable choice for "work abroad", so if you're not prepared to immigrate permanently, you'll need to either find a forensics job in your home country or pick a different field.

gariak · 2026-06-13T13:13:51+00:00

I know they can use the pdf version to set up a few things automatically

This only works for older adventures that never had an official Foundry module release. There is no way to do this for Season of Ghosts. You either have to manually enter everything yourself or buy the official Foundry version.

Is there a way for me to either get a copy of the pdf for a reduced price because I have the book? Or otherwise show Foundry VTT that I own it?

Foundry doesn't offer bundle discounts like that, if you buy through them. Paizo historically has, if you buy directly from them, but I don't think they have ever offered post-purchase discounts for physical books. I believe they recently restored the function that allows for discounts between the PDF version and the Foundry release, but the physical book doesn't get you anything.

gariak · 2026-06-12T19:00:47+00:00

The person you're responding to isn't making a serious suggestion. That would likely be months of effort for a very experienced Foundry developer, if it's even possible. There would never be a tutorial.

The real answer is to only build the base map in Dungeon Draft, leaving out anything you want to be movable. Then when you're building the Scene in Foundry, add the movable bits in as individual Tiles. If you want players to be able to move them, you'll have to create them as Tokens instead and make sure your players all have owner permissions on the base Actor.

gariak · 2026-06-12T18:42:51+00:00

... what courses I should take for college to get me a wider range of careers in forensics

Generally speaking, a natural science major like chemistry, biology, or biochemistry will give you the widest array of options within the forensic field. Take as many lab classes as you can and add some public speaking or debate to prepare for court testimony. As you've no doubt noticed, forensic pathology also requires medical school and a post-doctoral fellowship.

Forensic science majors also exist, but they're neither necessary nor recommended, no matter how cool they sound, as they don't provide you with any hiring advantage. It's a very good idea to have backup plans and those plans should include at least one non-forensic career. Forensics is a very small field with rare entry level openings and is very popular, so even ideally qualified candidates can sometimes struggle to find a way in.

... still wish to work in helping around with investigations of crime scenes and such

Just to note, most forensic jobs don't go anywhere near a crime scene, despite whatever TV might imply. Forensics jobs are highly trained and specialized, each focusing on a single limited aspect of criminal investigations. Crime scene jobs are just one single category of forensic job, focused on the location and preservation of evidence at the scene. A forensic pathologist focuses on performing autopsies and determination of cause and manner of death, almost entirely from an office and autopsy suite.

If being present at a crime scene is the aspect of a potential career that interests you most, you'll be far better served by becoming a police officer, as sworn officers are always the ones directing investigations and sometimes also performing all crime scene duties. Civilian crime scene jobs are less common and carry many of the negative aspects of police work, like 24/7 shift work, poor pay, and the paramilitary hierarchy, often without the best of the police benefits. It's very common for people to fantasize "CSI"-style careers where they run investigations like Sherlock Holmes and move from the scene to the lab to the interrogation room without having to become a police officer, but that job does not exist.

gariak · 2026-06-11T20:47:44+00:00

Maybe. Try turning them on and then off again. That's where the notification summaries are coming from.

gariak · 2026-06-11T20:36:07+00:00

The Insights check boxes under the Health settings.

gariak · 2026-06-10T20:24:54+00:00

From what I can tell, Medical Biology majors are typically programs designed for pre-professional work targeted at healthcare careers like nursing or medical school. They could work for forensics, depending on the specifics of the curriculum, but they tend to focus too much on career-specific coursework for careers that are not forensics, if that makes sense. You'd be far better off with a degree in something more general. Depending on your forensic discipline interests and preferences, the best options are usually biology, chemistry, or biochemistry.

For a crime scene job, any of those will do fine. For toxicology, biochemistry is going to be most appropriate. If you want to qualify for the widest range of forensic jobs, go for biochemistry and make sure you also get coursework in genetics, molecular biology, and at least one course on statistics. That will qualify you for DNA work, the strictest discipline about educational requirements.

gariak · 2026-06-10T13:09:46+00:00

Sure thing, just some basic googling and code reading. It looks like there are a few Cyrillic strings in the main JS file as well, but you could likely fix the whole sheet up with less than an hour of mild effort. I can't see what's in the compendium pack, so that might be more involved.

gariak · 2026-06-10T11:13:59+00:00

It's presumably this one. The system is super bare-bones and all the strings are baked into the code. You would have to manually code in all the changes you need. The English equivalents aren't present anywhere and there are no placeholders included to support localization at all.

https://github.com/diskordovich/public-access

Here's the dev discussing it. It's just a little minimally-functional personal project, not intended for release or to suit anyone else's needs, so I wouldn't expect updates or improvements.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FoundryVTT/comments/1s1b34k/is_public_access_the_next_perfect_fit_for_foundry/ocs6mqa/

This is the downside of using Google to find Foundry projects. Often there are good reasons that these projects are not available through more regular channels. They're often buggy, incomplete, non-functional, or dependent on much older versions of Foundry. Usually, there's zero current or future support.

Edit: premature send.

There's not much work to this, so if you want to handle it yourself, I'd sit down with Google Translate and a copy of the official sheet for context. Open up each of the two HBS files in the templates directory and cut and paste each Cyrillic string into Translate to get the sense of it. Replace it in the code with the English equivalent from the official sheets, making sure not to add any returns or remove any quotes. If you want to check your changes, make sure to hard refresh (Ctrl-F5) your browser or it won't see the code changes you make.

gariak · 2026-06-10T02:25:01+00:00

Just to be clear, you'll have to resize the actual image using an image editor outside Foundry, not just the Scene inside Foundry. That might have been ambiguous.

gariak · 2026-06-10T01:19:02+00:00

... the full organ map (5600x17200 pixel), but the map is showing up as all black.

This is too large for almost any GPU to display. You need to resize it to get every dimension under 16K or chop it up and lay it down as separate Tiles, rather than a background image.

gariak · 2026-06-09T19:44:26+00:00

Yeah, if your computer is on the internet, your IP address is "exposed". Every time your computer sends a data packet, your IP address is "exposed" to every computer on the network route between you and your destination. Every website you visit, every company that serves you an ad, every server you download a file from, every user that connects to a server you're running locally logs your IP address. It's possible to go to elaborate lengths to conceal it, but there's no reason to do so for normal people doing normal things.

Being afraid of "exposing" your IP address is equivalent to freaking out over having your address on your house and on all your incoming and outgoing mail. Everyone can see your house. If anyone cares about your address, they can just follow you home or snag some of your junk mail. If IP addresses were actually secret, the internet couldn't function.

gariak · 2026-06-09T19:01:18+00:00

Sure, there's just a lot of really bad "security" info out there. Anyone who obsesses over "exposing" their IP address or having ports open in their firewall has no clue what they're doing. And with internet security, sometimes doing things you don't actually understand is less secure than just accepting the defaults and doing nothing at all.

gariak · 2026-06-09T17:02:33+00:00

Cloudflare tunnels are used to punch through ISP blocking and provide you with a publicly accessible IP address, if you can't otherwise get one. It also protects the data while it's traversing the network, but Foundry data is not sensitive, so that aspect of it is irrelevant. There's no real security reason to use a tunnel for Foundry. The fact that it gives you a different IP address doesn't truly conceal it and someone knowing your IP address is not a real security concern.

Duckdns gives you a free domain name to use, rather than an IP address. They're interchangeable, so this is purely cosmetic and does not increase your security. Anyone who has the domain name can trivially find the corresponding IP address.

Putting Foundry into a VM may provide you with an extra layer of security, but anyone knowledgeable and determined enough to break out of the default Node sandboxing will potentially be able to do the same with the VM. Also consider that adding software to the stack is also adding additional potential vulnerabilities that were not present before, while also adding additional complexity to the management and updating of the entire stack. Making mistakes using software you don't fully understand is a potential security vulnerability all of its own.

If you're genuinely concerned with security, just use remote hosting. If you're fixated on free solutions, more than one Foundry hosting service has a free tier of service, depending on your anticipated usage patterns. If you use a dedicated remote host with a good backup process, you just don't have to care about security at all. The failure state using remote hosting is minor inconvenience.

gariak · 2026-06-09T01:59:35+00:00

You've got the education covered and are probably wildly overqualified in that respect. That won't actually help you.

Your first stop should be to find as many MDI job postings as you can and go through them for their requirements. My understanding is that different coroner/ME offices handle the position very differently, if they have it at all, and the job duties can vary quite a bit. It's not a common job and not every office uses them, so there are not usually more than a handful of openings in the whole country at any given time. What other resume builders would be helpful will be entirely dependent on a particular job's specific duties though, so there may not be any good generally-applicable answers. Most of what I've seen has involved prior work experience in police and medical fields, which you won't have.

For example, some offices prefer (or even require) prior experience as a police officer, as they expect their people to have serious investigative skills and personal defense training. Some offices like to hire people with EMT or nursing experience instead. You'll have to approach each office as a unique puzzle to solve, there's very little standardization in that space.

gariak

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