I have a group of PC's who is taking every single enemy prisoner after a fight to interrogate them. It is not that i want to punish them for doing that, because it's a smart thing to do! However i could use some advice on how to throw them off track with this technique.. For example they ask the bandit to draw a map of the hideout, and roll a 15+4 persuasion +1d4 Guidance,, and then you have a 21 and you kindda feel obliged to give them something worth a 21 :P
How do you guys manage interrogations and handing out information?
Not all prisoners are created equal. Not all bandits will talk and not all of them that do talk will tell the truth. Of the ones that will talk, not very many of the lower ranking ones will know the full extent of what is going on in their organization.
Like, as a quick example, gun to your head, can you draw out a fully useful map of your workplace? Can you list where all, most, or even some of your fellow employees, guards, or any other janitorial staff will be at any given time?
EDIT: Importantly, you are not obliged to give your players anything. If there is nothing to learn of value, then it doesn't matter how high they roll.
Low ranking members of an organization will only know what's needed to function in their duties. They will have limited access to areas, a materials. They will not know anything about the upper echelon that isn't hearsay or the occasional interaction. How often do you think the CEO will find his/her way down to the sales floor of their retail stores to have a casual conversation with a cart pusher about where to invest the next 50 million of the company?
People who fear for their lives are just as likely to tell you a lie as they are the truth, anything to make the threat of death go away. They will turn on people they don't care for, they will toss people they dislike under the bus, and they will make up information that sounds plausible because they have just a touch of information to build from.
Persuasion is not magic, it cannot grant a person the ability to do anything they normally wouldn't be able to do. You may convince them that they can draw a map of the BBEG's lair, and they may believe whole heartedly that they can, especially since you've charmed them with your words and fists. However, if they have no clue what it looks like beyond a single wing, then everything they do draw is going to be a guess. They simply believed that they could do it because you were so persuasive. Think of all the people who have been convinced that some new holistic treatment can cure their ailment only to find out months later that it did nothing except create a placebo effect, no treatment was had and they're worse off now.
Allow them to do what they will, allow them to gain information, and allow them to be misled. Interrogation, persuasion, and many of the spells people choose to use, don't quite guarantee accurate information.
Thanks for the info! I'm quite new to being a DM, so how to balance the info given to them is something i need to work on! And your advice is fantastic, thanks alot!!
Recently discovered Mat Colville's videos and am remembering one particular bit of information reading this post: The Bad Guys want to win. That said, I would say the skill checks were successful in getting a prisoner to talk. As already mentioned, that does not mean they said anything of value, or with any veracity. One phrase has stuck with me over the years: "When lying, use as much truth as possible." Can easily believe any prisoner would use just enough truth to sound truthful while providing zero information of use.
Here are a few ideas I have to make this less of a reoccurring problem:
Have the enemy humanoids you're running speak languages that your players do not know. They cant get a lot out of them if they can't understand them!
Have the enemies be smart about their information protection: Maybe they all wear band of loyalty so when they fall unconscious (if you have them do that) they die. Or maybe they pocket some cyanide like herb in their cheeks when they go out hunting adventurers, so if they lose their fight and are caught, they kill themselves, or maybe they outright slit their own throat if capture looks imminent. Maybe their leader is super powerful and casts mind blank on his lackeys to protect the information their minds hold.
Run less humanoids that know things and run more monsters. It's kind of hard to capture and interrogate an angry chimera
Lastly, try having combat be more creative so capturing an enemy is less likely to happen. Maybe that last bandit alive tries running away, or blowing a horn to call for reinforcements so the party is less inclined to capture. I am not sure if you're having them surrender, but if you are, don't - have that bandit fight until his last breath instead of being captured. If capture still happens after all this, maybe that guy just has a really low intelligence score and was just their for a paycheck, so reproducing information is super hard.
You have a lot of other really good suggestions on this post providing some really good alternatives and answers as well!
I'll add to the "persuasion is not magic" comments with another; persuasion is not always applicable.
Persuasion requires an appeal to reason or understanding. A tied-up prisoner is not going to be reasonable or understanding.
What are the PCs doing? Are they threatening the prisoner? That would involve Intimidation proficiency, not Persuasion. Are they offering release for information? In that case, does the prisoner trust them? Maybe the captured foe says, "I don't believe you'll let me go if I talk, I think you'll just kill me after you learn what I know." In that case, Deception might come in to play, perhaps with Insight to read the prisoner's truthfulness.
If they are trying to bribe the foe for information then they first need to determine what the foe considers valuable enough. That is going to need observation and deduction; a combination of Perception, Insight and Investigation.
In short, one proficiency is not enough. The party has to cover multiple skills.
Additionally, what reputation do the PCs have? Are they known as people who keep their promises or are they known to be shifty and untrustworthy? Their past actions have consequences.
Thanks alot for all the relevant points! I will certainly use every one of the above in upcomming sessions..
But I have one Question.. When the pcs reduce a humanoid to zero, they can choose if they want to kill it, or "knock it out".. So as far as I am concerned, they Are the ones deciding if they want to capture or kill an enemy, am i wrong?
On the skill check point, I told my players that a high skill check does not mean you necessarily succeed. It could, instead, mean that you avoid a negative outcome.
Example: Trying to convince a King to give his crown to one of the players with an Intimidation check with no spells. They roll a 25 (arbitrary, really). That doesn't mean they get the crown. Instead, it would mean that they don't necessarily get imprisoned/executed for their antics, maybe just banished or something.
In essence, "success" means many things, and they aren't always what the PCs might be hoping for. In the above example, they successfully manage to not get imprisoned/executed. ;)
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Hello Everyone.
I have a group of PC's who is taking every single enemy prisoner after a fight to interrogate them.
It is not that i want to punish them for doing that, because it's a smart thing to do!
However i could use some advice on how to throw them off track with this technique.. For example they ask the bandit to draw a map of the hideout, and roll a 15+4 persuasion +1d4 Guidance,, and then you have a 21 and you kindda feel obliged to give them something worth a 21 :P
How do you guys manage interrogations and handing out information?
Not all prisoners are created equal. Not all bandits will talk and not all of them that do talk will tell the truth. Of the ones that will talk, not very many of the lower ranking ones will know the full extent of what is going on in their organization.
Like, as a quick example, gun to your head, can you draw out a fully useful map of your workplace? Can you list where all, most, or even some of your fellow employees, guards, or any other janitorial staff will be at any given time?
EDIT: Importantly, you are not obliged to give your players anything. If there is nothing to learn of value, then it doesn't matter how high they roll.
Metamongoose has it:
Low ranking members of an organization will only know what's needed to function in their duties. They will have limited access to areas, a materials. They will not know anything about the upper echelon that isn't hearsay or the occasional interaction. How often do you think the CEO will find his/her way down to the sales floor of their retail stores to have a casual conversation with a cart pusher about where to invest the next 50 million of the company?
People who fear for their lives are just as likely to tell you a lie as they are the truth, anything to make the threat of death go away. They will turn on people they don't care for, they will toss people they dislike under the bus, and they will make up information that sounds plausible because they have just a touch of information to build from.
Persuasion is not magic, it cannot grant a person the ability to do anything they normally wouldn't be able to do. You may convince them that they can draw a map of the BBEG's lair, and they may believe whole heartedly that they can, especially since you've charmed them with your words and fists. However, if they have no clue what it looks like beyond a single wing, then everything they do draw is going to be a guess. They simply believed that they could do it because you were so persuasive. Think of all the people who have been convinced that some new holistic treatment can cure their ailment only to find out months later that it did nothing except create a placebo effect, no treatment was had and they're worse off now.
Allow them to do what they will, allow them to gain information, and allow them to be misled. Interrogation, persuasion, and many of the spells people choose to use, don't quite guarantee accurate information.
Thanks for the info!
I'm quite new to being a DM, so how to balance the info given to them is something i need to work on!
And your advice is fantastic, thanks alot!!
Recently discovered Mat Colville's videos and am remembering one particular bit of information reading this post: The Bad Guys want to win. That said, I would say the skill checks were successful in getting a prisoner to talk. As already mentioned, that does not mean they said anything of value, or with any veracity. One phrase has stuck with me over the years: "When lying, use as much truth as possible." Can easily believe any prisoner would use just enough truth to sound truthful while providing zero information of use.
As DM, the players capturing a prisoner means a wonderful opportunity for me to leak out just enough story to guide the party's next move.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Here are a few ideas I have to make this less of a reoccurring problem:
You have a lot of other really good suggestions on this post providing some really good alternatives and answers as well!
This. Drop juuuuuuust enough info to point the party in the direction you want them to go.
I'll add to the "persuasion is not magic" comments with another; persuasion is not always applicable.
Persuasion requires an appeal to reason or understanding. A tied-up prisoner is not going to be reasonable or understanding.
What are the PCs doing? Are they threatening the prisoner? That would involve Intimidation proficiency, not Persuasion. Are they offering release for information? In that case, does the prisoner trust them? Maybe the captured foe says, "I don't believe you'll let me go if I talk, I think you'll just kill me after you learn what I know." In that case, Deception might come in to play, perhaps with Insight to read the prisoner's truthfulness.
If they are trying to bribe the foe for information then they first need to determine what the foe considers valuable enough. That is going to need observation and deduction; a combination of Perception, Insight and Investigation.
In short, one proficiency is not enough. The party has to cover multiple skills.
Additionally, what reputation do the PCs have? Are they known as people who keep their promises or are they known to be shifty and untrustworthy? Their past actions have consequences.
Thanks alot for all the relevant points! I will certainly use every one of the above in upcomming sessions..
But I have one Question.. When the pcs reduce a humanoid to zero, they can choose if they want to kill it, or "knock it out".. So as far as I am concerned, they Are the ones deciding if they want to capture or kill an enemy, am i wrong?
They do get to decide so long as they reduce the enemy to 0hp with a non-magical, physical attack.
Specifically, a melee attack. No spells, no ranged attacks. You can't pull the punch on a crossbow.
It can be a melee spell attack.
From the PHB:
You can knock someone out with a spiritual weapon but not with an eldritch blast (and certainly not with a fireball).
On the skill check point, I told my players that a high skill check does not mean you necessarily succeed. It could, instead, mean that you avoid a negative outcome.
Example: Trying to convince a King to give his crown to one of the players with an Intimidation check with no spells. They roll a 25 (arbitrary, really). That doesn't mean they get the crown. Instead, it would mean that they don't necessarily get imprisoned/executed for their antics, maybe just banished or something.
In essence, "success" means many things, and they aren't always what the PCs might be hoping for. In the above example, they successfully manage to not get imprisoned/executed. ;)