I have a player who wants a few homebrew modifications to his hunter. We have discussed them at length and decided that it would all come at a cost. He agreed to the cost in game. This was about a month ago.
On the last session, my BBEG captured his Character, along with another that I have a similar arrangement with, and this was going to be when I was to bring in the cost. Which brings us to the title of this thread.
That is, how to interrogate and torture a PC in a one player session?
If you have any tips or tricks I could use it would be of great help because I am at a loss.
investigation, perception, and persuasion for the interrogators.
Deception and persuasion for the interrogated.
No torture needed, unless the interrogators are not getting what they want. Then the character better have a very high constitution because even a stupid interrogator can cause a huge amount of pain and damage. A better interrogator causes less damage and more pain.
My first thought is, while the player agreed in game, did they understand what they were signing up for? Because this is the sort of thing that can really upset people (even the people not involved and just there while its happening). And while you have 2 PCs going through this, what's the rest of the party (the players) going to be doing? It could get boring for them really fast (assuming they aren't disturbed. or bored and disturbed).
If I were going to go through with this, I'd have it happen off camera. Tell the players their characters are being tortured, make a wis save or a con save to resist. Either a series of saves, or just one, and the higher the save is, the longer they hold out. Maybe they can last until they're rescued, maybe they can't. But I wouldn't detail just what's happening. Just use the roll to determine how much information they give up, and how quickly. Then go from there.
I have a player who wants a few homebrew modifications to his hunter. We have discussed them at length and decided that it would all come at a cost. He agreed to the cost in game. This was about a month ago.
On the last session, my BBEG captured his Character, along with another that I have a similar arrangement with, and this was going to be when I was to bring in the cost. Which brings us to the title of this thread.
That is, how to interrogate and torture a PC in a one player session?
If you have any tips or tricks I could use it would be of great help because I am at a loss.
So first of all, this is the exact opposite of a cost. You're rewarding the player with RP and story. Second of all, one-player sessions are generally a terrible idea. Thankfully, you have 2 players to work with, at least.
For the 2 captured PCs, give them a variant on the prisoner's dilemma. That's assuming you can trust them not to metagame. If you can't, it's fundamentally impossible to give them compelling RP, so drop the idea and move it off-camera.
For the rest of the party, give them an incentive to rescue their comradres quickly by making sure they know mental interrogation works by inflicting stat damage to mental stats (like feeblemind but worse, since it works on Wisdom, too, and can inflict things from the DMG's madness section) (the rest of the party knows because it's public knowledge, like knowing that being stabbed hurts you physically), then actually do it like this:
Every hour, roll 1d3 for Int/Wis/Cha. Interrogated PCs have to roll a DC 20 save for the relevant stat. On a failure, 1 point of stat damage to the relevant stat. When a stat hits 0, raise it to 1 and give the PC a short-term madness that lasts 1 hour (so they still have it on the next save). If a stat hits 0 while the PC has short-term madness, give them a long-term and cure the short-term. If it happens while they have long-term, give them an indefinite and cure the long-term. Note that this means they can keep accruing additional long-term madnesses until rescued.
Here's the thing about NPCs making charisma checks: they don't force any sort of behavior from a PC.
A high deception means that the PC doesn't know that the NPC is lying, but that doesn't compel them to actually believe the NPC. An intimidate check doesn't force the PC to do anything, neither does a Diplomacy check. You can role some dice if you want to, but ultimately this should be left to pure roleplaying, with the player left to decide on their own how their character acts during the interrogation.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
All really good points. Let me clear a few things up.
The entire party was fighting the BBEG henchmen who captured the two party members and then ran from battle. They jumped through a portal into a time-convoluted area and that is where I left the session end. Now, Both players will have an individual very short one encounter session where they will meet the BBEG in person. [Outside of game] the players both have consented to the idea of torture and because of the way they want their characters to play out, what they will be getting out if it long run is better. One will end up loosing his eyes, giving him a huge drop in perception (for dramatic purposes, the player will play two or three sessions with no eyes to really build the desire to find someway to help), but later on down the road meet a dragon who becomes a powerful ally who teaches him to see in other ways as well as a nice boost in power. the other player, a hunter, will end up dying [respec some points] and being reborn as a vampire with a slight tie to the BBEG, like a double agent. Again both players have agreed to it 100% so I'm not worry about people being disturbed.
In the short sessions, there will be a small interrogation, small encounter, and an escape to get back to the party. When they get back to the party, for them a week or so will have gone by, for the party only a few seconds...
That takes care of many of my concerns, but it raises others. The biggest is, why bother playing it through? Seems like you’ve got it all scripted out. Any choices they might make have already been made, so there’s not a lot of value in them being there. It’s like a cut scene in a video game where you technically have control of your character, but are only allowed to walk forward. You might as well just tell them what happens.
Is there a way or allow the players to resist the interrogation, mean not giving the answers to the interrogator's questions? What impact does it have on the game? If the answer is none, then I agree with Xalthu's statement above and just run the scene torture and all as a cut scene.
I really am not fond of telling a player how to play his character or force action from it, but if there is a time where it's possible is when it has mental breakdown. Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) contest could be a good way to handle this, where a win result in resisting and a loss result in the character cracking under pressure from torture and revealing the information that the interrogator is trying to obtain, In such case the player should then roleplay this the right way and reveal what it didn't originally want to.
This question is really interesting. I have had trouble with this in the past, and you made me think: why aren't there any rules mechanics for this? It feels like a jerk move to force a PC to give information without clear rules.
Whelp, here are some clear rules I made on the spot for interrogation. You can use them if you like, modify them if there's an issue with them, or pass. These have not been playtested, so if you use them, tell me how it went!
Setting up for an interrogation session I would have a session without all the players for the interrogation to prevent the others getting bored. You should discuss these mechanics with the player whose character will be interrogated so they understand how this session will work.
Setting interrogation DCs Before the interrogation, set DCs for how hard it will be for the interrogator to get each piece of information it wants out of the PC. Say your interrogator wants four pieces of information from the PC. One is not very secret or important, one is a valuable piece of information, one is a very closely guarded secret, and one is something so important that the PC would rather die than reveal it. For any checks the interrogator makes, we'll set the DC's for finding each piece of information to, in order, 10, 15, 20, and 30.
Revealing information The interrogator will make a series of intimidation checks, in which it asks either for a specific piece of information or generally for secrets. The PC will then reveal one piece of information that the interrogator beat the DC for (general) of the piece that the DC was beat for (specific). Once it has been revealed, the PC can repeat the information to the interrogator, but can't reveal it like this again.
Tricking the interrogator If the interrogator fails the DC, the PC can try to present a piece of false information, making a CHA (deception) check against the interrogator's WIS (insight). On a success, the interrogator believes the false information until given conflicting information or some other reason to suspect otherwise. On a fail, the DC to trick the interrogator cumulatively increases by 5 for all subsequent deception checks.
Torture The interrogator might have access to torture devices which it can use for the interrogation. The interrogator may use torture for the following reasons:
It believes the PC is lying (this belief may be true or false)
It has failed to acquire a specific piece of information multiple times
The PC said something that made it angry
Because it felt like it for some other reason (perhaps for the sheer joy of causing pain, if it's that type of interrogator).
When torture is used, the PC makes a WIS save with a DC based on the method and severity of the torture (decide what sounds reasonable for your individual situation). On a fail, the interrogator has Advantage on its next interrogation check, and the PC has Disadvantage on deception and persuasion checks to trick the interrogator, end the interrogation or beg for mercy. The torture might also deal damage on a failed save, or regardless of whether the save succeeded or failed. Use an amount of damage and type of damage that makes sense. For example, a whip would deal 2d4 slashing damage, while acid would deal anywhere from 1d6 to 5d6 depending on the amount and potency.
Begging for mercy If the PC is about to be tortured, it can make a CHA (persuasion) check with a DC of 15 plus the number of times it has been tortured to beg for mercy. On a success, the interrogator does not torture the PC.
Ending the interrogation If all the information the PC knows has been divulged, the PC can attempt a CHA (persuasion) check (DC 15+the number of times it has been caught lying or tortured) to end the interrogation. Alternately, if not all of it has been divulged, the PC can attempt a CHA (deception) check against the DC to lie to the interrogator, tricking the interrogator into thinking that the PC knows no more information. After 3 persuasion successes, the interrogation ends. After 3 consecutive deception successes, the PC can attempt a single DC 15 CHA (persuasion) check to end the interrogation. Finally, if the interrogator is satisfied with the information it has received, it ends the interrogation. Obviously, the interrogation also ends in the PC is tortured to death or somehow escapes.
I hope this helps you run your interrogation session a little more smoothly and that you and your player(s) have a good time using my mechanics. Now I want to interrogate a PC just so I can use these mechanics myself. Happy torturing!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
Thank you all for the input. I see what some of you are saying about why run it at all...but I do want to create the right atmosphere when the BBEG enters and I think playing this out will bring about just the right idea for them to bring back to the rest of the party when they are reunited.
What I have in mind so far is this, please give me any feedback or ideas...
Open the session with them tied up waking up from their last encounter being that they both went unconscious and were abducted. The big bad makes their entrance and then they are both separated and put into different cells (this way I can run two individual sessions, because the players have no idea about each others future plans with me.)
With one player, the hunter, I will bring him in and give him a choice, to either become the eyes for the BBEG to spy on the party or torture (I will do this in a subtle way that will sound 100% legitimately enticing so as to get a real response. ) undoubtedly the hunter will agree because I know what he wants, so he will undergo a painful process of fighting a powerful vampire, getting bit, dying, and transforming into a vamp. When he awakes he will have his new character sheet (which is already made) then with his new found powers he will see and hear his friend getting tortured and there will be a moment for the hunter to start a breakout.
The other player will immediately be blinded permanently from his eyes being taken in front of his friend. They will be separated and he will be given a choice to become the hands of the BBEG or to suffer torture, (I know my fighter and player well enough to know that he will give me a big f*** you. ) be that as it is I will put him into encounters where he will be faced off, unarmed and unarmored against different creatures who will kill him slowly all the while the BBEG will be aborbing his life force as it is lost. After so many there will be one in which right before the encounter, during the transition from cell to arena, where his friend will see him go into a certain room and then soon after screams... it is right at the point where his friend breaks him out that I will stop his session.
Then after that I will get them together simultaneously to find a way to escape and get back to the rest of the party. Once they pass through the portal, only then will they realize that only a few seconds have past in real time, and at least a week has past according to them.
That's different from what I was visualizing when I made my mechanics. This sounds like something you can run thematically without any sort of mechanics.
The original post suggested that you wanted to interrogate the PC for information, but now it sounds like you're trying to torture the PC and then present them with a dilemma. Can you clarify whether there will actually be any sort of interrogation at all?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
The interrogation will involve the henchmen, who have already battled and nearly lost to the party, interrogating my players fighter. They will be looking for information and weaknesses on the party and for information on strong allies of the party, (which there are some, one in particular which if he gives up will accelerate the time frame of the BBEGs plan.) This homebrew fighter has been nicknamed the meat sack because of his ability to take damage and keep going (e.g. his hit die is a d20 and he is lvl 13.) So I highly doubt he will ever give up his friends, but hey shit happens so you never know. But being that his character was built to never give up I doubt he will give in to the torture; my bet is that he will just endure it. But I want to give the big bad ample opportunity to get as much information as possible from their first encounter as to best prepare him for their next encounter with the party.
But I couldn't find any game mechanics for interrogating and torturing a PC so I figured I'd open it up to everyone.
Why would the BBEG offer a deal like, "join me or I torture you"? If the PC says no, any sensible villain will just kill them, not torture them. The only reason to keep them alive would be to get information. But, if the BEG was already in a place where his minions are fighting the PCs, and managed to capture two of them, that says that BBEG probably already knows a lot. What more do the PCs know that the BBEG doesn't? Why would BBEG go to all this trouble and not just scry them? And why ever let them go. They are already outside of time. BBEG could spend months or more prying information out of them, and the rest of the party won't have time, literally, to do anything about it. BBEG would be slow and methodical, no rush. Or, as I said above, would just kill them outright.
And if I were one of the other party members I would be suspicious (an understatement) of these transformed former allies. To the point I'd be asking to make an insight check pretty much anytime either of them do anything. Seems like you're setting up for a PvP situation, which almost always goes bad. Doubly so if the players (all the players, not the characters) didn't buy in beforehand.
Still, though, mechanics-wise, I'd go with a con or wis save to resist the torture. The better their roll, the less information they give up.
Kill the subject then just cast speak with the dead or something like that.
And if your still all gunge ho about torturing the character. I do not care how big or bad they are. When they start to lose limbs they get talkative. A character left with just a leg is not going into combat anytime soon.
Your not so far off. Great analysis. Im very impressed. But it's like this.
My big bad is a God or Goddess rather. And since she came into power she has been harvesting souls to fuel her own divine power. The more powerful the soul, the more powerful she becomes when she absorbs their life-force. She keeps all her "collections" alive and perpetually in a state between life and death. She tortures them, slowly collecting their essence and just as they would die, heals them and repeats the process...forever....
As I mentioned before, my BBEG is a Goddess, but not one who normally gets involved in the affairs of humans. Shes has only just come into the knowledge of their existence in the last session. Nonetheless, to fuel her thirst for power, she collects things, trinkets and objects with with powerful memories interwoven within them. As such, her head henchman go out into the world, as she cannot yet step foot in the mortal world being that she is not powerful enough to manifest completely, to collect these "things" and in many cases, they abduct people who are strong, or that have strong memories, or strong life forces and brings them to her as a token of faith.
You asked why would they make a deal?
My big bad gives a boon of power in return for their most powerful memory upon their destined death. If the person who is offered the deal accepts it, they become her eyes, ears, hands, and feet in the mortal world, knowingly or unknowingly feeding her information that might help her to gain more power in the long run rather than just simply killing them. If they refuse, then they spend eternity becoming fuel for her power source anyways.
I was worried about the suspicion of the transformed being a factor too. I had to delve deep into my sinister bag of f***ery to come up with a solution. Tell me what you think. As of this next session only one character will be transformed, the other will be deformed. But the one who becomes the vamp (the transformed hunter) has a best friend and pet companion that goes everywhere with him. The party knows him and loves him. After he gets transformed into a vamp, he will then be starved and after a while let into a room with his pet inside. It will be a massacre. Now, imagine your the other players who are meeting up with him and who now see a suspicious vampire. INSIGHT CHECK (i would too) you make a role of insight and succeed. but then he tells you how he was fed to a vampire. Turned. Starved. And then let loose on his best friend who he massacred. All is true. Suspicion gone....at least in my eyes. (Now, out of game, the player has already agreed to the death of his pet being part of the ideas he wanted, but nobody else does)
I wonder how you deduced that a pvp match was coming, that's impressive. It is coming but won't be happening for a while. The set up will actually be more like an all vs 1 who gets supercharged in a bad way. But, the 1 knows it and has agreed to the challenge. He seems excited. Spoiler: it's the blind meatsack.
I have never liked it when a DM brings a god or god like creature in as a direct adversary of the players.
There is a reason they are gods. They can never lose. They can reshape space and time around themselves with a simple wish spell. And even if you got close enough to killing them they just blip back home and they are safe. Safe to come back after the characters at any time.
Gods get bored with normal's. They are not a real challenge to them.
As for your "new" goddess.
How do the old gods like her taking their followers?
And as for PVP I never liked that either unless it was purely instigated by the players. Then it stands a great chance of adding to the overall story.
It's not fun for anybody. There are no mechanics that can make it work, or make it fun.
I take it you didn't see my perfectly good set of mechanics for torturing a PC earlier in the thread. I suggest looking at them before claiming that there is "no way" to make interrogating a PC fun.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I have a player who wants a few homebrew modifications to his hunter. We have discussed them at length and decided that it would all come at a cost. He agreed to the cost in game. This was about a month ago.
On the last session, my BBEG captured his Character, along with another that I have a similar arrangement with, and this was going to be when I was to bring in the cost. Which brings us to the title of this thread.
That is, how to interrogate and torture a PC in a one player session?
If you have any tips or tricks I could use it would be of great help because I am at a loss.
investigation, perception, and persuasion for the interrogators.
Deception and persuasion for the interrogated.
No torture needed, unless the interrogators are not getting what they want. Then the character better have a very high constitution because even a stupid interrogator can cause a huge amount of pain and damage. A better interrogator causes less damage and more pain.
Add in magic and the doors are wide open.
Are you planning to actually rp this?
My first thought is, while the player agreed in game, did they understand what they were signing up for? Because this is the sort of thing that can really upset people (even the people not involved and just there while its happening). And while you have 2 PCs going through this, what's the rest of the party (the players) going to be doing? It could get boring for them really fast (assuming they aren't disturbed. or bored and disturbed).
If I were going to go through with this, I'd have it happen off camera. Tell the players their characters are being tortured, make a wis save or a con save to resist. Either a series of saves, or just one, and the higher the save is, the longer they hold out. Maybe they can last until they're rescued, maybe they can't. But I wouldn't detail just what's happening. Just use the roll to determine how much information they give up, and how quickly. Then go from there.
Throw in intimidation for the torturer as well. I mean, that is 90% of the scenes from the movies.
So first of all, this is the exact opposite of a cost. You're rewarding the player with RP and story. Second of all, one-player sessions are generally a terrible idea. Thankfully, you have 2 players to work with, at least.
Here's the thing about NPCs making charisma checks: they don't force any sort of behavior from a PC.
A high deception means that the PC doesn't know that the NPC is lying, but that doesn't compel them to actually believe the NPC. An intimidate check doesn't force the PC to do anything, neither does a Diplomacy check. You can role some dice if you want to, but ultimately this should be left to pure roleplaying, with the player left to decide on their own how their character acts during the interrogation.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
All really good points. Let me clear a few things up.
The entire party was fighting the BBEG henchmen who captured the two party members and then ran from battle. They jumped through a portal into a time-convoluted area and that is where I left the session end. Now, Both players will have an individual very short one encounter session where they will meet the BBEG in person. [Outside of game] the players both have consented to the idea of torture and because of the way they want their characters to play out, what they will be getting out if it long run is better. One will end up loosing his eyes, giving him a huge drop in perception (for dramatic purposes, the player will play two or three sessions with no eyes to really build the desire to find someway to help), but later on down the road meet a dragon who becomes a powerful ally who teaches him to see in other ways as well as a nice boost in power. the other player, a hunter, will end up dying [respec some points] and being reborn as a vampire with a slight tie to the BBEG, like a double agent. Again both players have agreed to it 100% so I'm not worry about people being disturbed.
In the short sessions, there will be a small interrogation, small encounter, and an escape to get back to the party. When they get back to the party, for them a week or so will have gone by, for the party only a few seconds...
That takes care of many of my concerns, but it raises others. The biggest is, why bother playing it through? Seems like you’ve got it all scripted out. Any choices they might make have already been made, so there’s not a lot of value in them being there. It’s like a cut scene in a video game where you technically have control of your character, but are only allowed to walk forward. You might as well just tell them what happens.
Is there a way or allow the players to resist the interrogation, mean not giving the answers to the interrogator's questions? What impact does it have on the game? If the answer is none, then I agree with Xalthu's statement above and just run the scene torture and all as a cut scene.
I really am not fond of telling a player how to play his character or force action from it, but if there is a time where it's possible is when it has mental breakdown. Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) contest could be a good way to handle this, where a win result in resisting and a loss result in the character cracking under pressure from torture and revealing the information that the interrogator is trying to obtain, In such case the player should then roleplay this the right way and reveal what it didn't originally want to.
This question is really interesting. I have had trouble with this in the past, and you made me think: why aren't there any rules mechanics for this? It feels like a jerk move to force a PC to give information without clear rules.
Whelp, here are some clear rules I made on the spot for interrogation. You can use them if you like, modify them if there's an issue with them, or pass. These have not been playtested, so if you use them, tell me how it went!
Setting up for an interrogation session I would have a session without all the players for the interrogation to prevent the others getting bored. You should discuss these mechanics with the player whose character will be interrogated so they understand how this session will work.
Setting interrogation DCs Before the interrogation, set DCs for how hard it will be for the interrogator to get each piece of information it wants out of the PC. Say your interrogator wants four pieces of information from the PC. One is not very secret or important, one is a valuable piece of information, one is a very closely guarded secret, and one is something so important that the PC would rather die than reveal it. For any checks the interrogator makes, we'll set the DC's for finding each piece of information to, in order, 10, 15, 20, and 30.
Revealing information The interrogator will make a series of intimidation checks, in which it asks either for a specific piece of information or generally for secrets. The PC will then reveal one piece of information that the interrogator beat the DC for (general) of the piece that the DC was beat for (specific). Once it has been revealed, the PC can repeat the information to the interrogator, but can't reveal it like this again.
Tricking the interrogator If the interrogator fails the DC, the PC can try to present a piece of false information, making a CHA (deception) check against the interrogator's WIS (insight). On a success, the interrogator believes the false information until given conflicting information or some other reason to suspect otherwise. On a fail, the DC to trick the interrogator cumulatively increases by 5 for all subsequent deception checks.
Torture The interrogator might have access to torture devices which it can use for the interrogation. The interrogator may use torture for the following reasons:
When torture is used, the PC makes a WIS save with a DC based on the method and severity of the torture (decide what sounds reasonable for your individual situation). On a fail, the interrogator has Advantage on its next interrogation check, and the PC has Disadvantage on deception and persuasion checks to trick the interrogator, end the interrogation or beg for mercy. The torture might also deal damage on a failed save, or regardless of whether the save succeeded or failed. Use an amount of damage and type of damage that makes sense. For example, a whip would deal 2d4 slashing damage, while acid would deal anywhere from 1d6 to 5d6 depending on the amount and potency.
Begging for mercy If the PC is about to be tortured, it can make a CHA (persuasion) check with a DC of 15 plus the number of times it has been tortured to beg for mercy. On a success, the interrogator does not torture the PC.
Ending the interrogation If all the information the PC knows has been divulged, the PC can attempt a CHA (persuasion) check (DC 15+the number of times it has been caught lying or tortured) to end the interrogation. Alternately, if not all of it has been divulged, the PC can attempt a CHA (deception) check against the DC to lie to the interrogator, tricking the interrogator into thinking that the PC knows no more information. After 3 persuasion successes, the interrogation ends. After 3 consecutive deception successes, the PC can attempt a single DC 15 CHA (persuasion) check to end the interrogation. Finally, if the interrogator is satisfied with the information it has received, it ends the interrogation. Obviously, the interrogation also ends in the PC is tortured to death or somehow escapes.
I hope this helps you run your interrogation session a little more smoothly and that you and your player(s) have a good time using my mechanics. Now I want to interrogate a PC just so I can use these mechanics myself. Happy torturing!
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
Thank you all for the input. I see what some of you are saying about why run it at all...but I do want to create the right atmosphere when the BBEG enters and I think playing this out will bring about just the right idea for them to bring back to the rest of the party when they are reunited.
What I have in mind so far is this, please give me any feedback or ideas...
Open the session with them tied up waking up from their last encounter being that they both went unconscious and were abducted. The big bad makes their entrance and then they are both separated and put into different cells (this way I can run two individual sessions, because the players have no idea about each others future plans with me.)
With one player, the hunter, I will bring him in and give him a choice, to either become the eyes for the BBEG to spy on the party or torture (I will do this in a subtle way that will sound 100% legitimately enticing so as to get a real response. ) undoubtedly the hunter will agree because I know what he wants, so he will undergo a painful process of fighting a powerful vampire, getting bit, dying, and transforming into a vamp. When he awakes he will have his new character sheet (which is already made) then with his new found powers he will see and hear his friend getting tortured and there will be a moment for the hunter to start a breakout.
The other player will immediately be blinded permanently from his eyes being taken in front of his friend. They will be separated and he will be given a choice to become the hands of the BBEG or to suffer torture, (I know my fighter and player well enough to know that he will give me a big f*** you. ) be that as it is I will put him into encounters where he will be faced off, unarmed and unarmored against different creatures who will kill him slowly all the while the BBEG will be aborbing his life force as it is lost. After so many there will be one in which right before the encounter, during the transition from cell to arena, where his friend will see him go into a certain room and then soon after screams... it is right at the point where his friend breaks him out that I will stop his session.
Then after that I will get them together simultaneously to find a way to escape and get back to the rest of the party. Once they pass through the portal, only then will they realize that only a few seconds have past in real time, and at least a week has past according to them.
That's different from what I was visualizing when I made my mechanics. This sounds like something you can run thematically without any sort of mechanics.
The original post suggested that you wanted to interrogate the PC for information, but now it sounds like you're trying to torture the PC and then present them with a dilemma. Can you clarify whether there will actually be any sort of interrogation at all?
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
The interrogation will involve the henchmen, who have already battled and nearly lost to the party, interrogating my players fighter. They will be looking for information and weaknesses on the party and for information on strong allies of the party, (which there are some, one in particular which if he gives up will accelerate the time frame of the BBEGs plan.) This homebrew fighter has been nicknamed the meat sack because of his ability to take damage and keep going (e.g. his hit die is a d20 and he is lvl 13.) So I highly doubt he will ever give up his friends, but hey shit happens so you never know. But being that his character was built to never give up I doubt he will give in to the torture; my bet is that he will just endure it. But I want to give the big bad ample opportunity to get as much information as possible from their first encounter as to best prepare him for their next encounter with the party.
But I couldn't find any game mechanics for interrogating and torturing a PC so I figured I'd open it up to everyone.
Why would the BBEG offer a deal like, "join me or I torture you"? If the PC says no, any sensible villain will just kill them, not torture them. The only reason to keep them alive would be to get information. But, if the BEG was already in a place where his minions are fighting the PCs, and managed to capture two of them, that says that BBEG probably already knows a lot. What more do the PCs know that the BBEG doesn't? Why would BBEG go to all this trouble and not just scry them? And why ever let them go. They are already outside of time. BBEG could spend months or more prying information out of them, and the rest of the party won't have time, literally, to do anything about it. BBEG would be slow and methodical, no rush. Or, as I said above, would just kill them outright.
And if I were one of the other party members I would be suspicious (an understatement) of these transformed former allies. To the point I'd be asking to make an insight check pretty much anytime either of them do anything. Seems like you're setting up for a PvP situation, which almost always goes bad. Doubly so if the players (all the players, not the characters) didn't buy in beforehand.
Still, though, mechanics-wise, I'd go with a con or wis save to resist the torture. The better their roll, the less information they give up.
We found a much faster way.
Charm person works to fool them for a bit.
Kill the subject then just cast speak with the dead or something like that.
And if your still all gunge ho about torturing the character. I do not care how big or bad they are. When they start to lose limbs they get talkative. A character left with just a leg is not going into combat anytime soon.
Your not so far off. Great analysis. Im very impressed. But it's like this.
My big bad is a God or Goddess rather. And since she came into power she has been harvesting souls to fuel her own divine power. The more powerful the soul, the more powerful she becomes when she absorbs their life-force. She keeps all her "collections" alive and perpetually in a state between life and death. She tortures them, slowly collecting their essence and just as they would die, heals them and repeats the process...forever....
As I mentioned before, my BBEG is a Goddess, but not one who normally gets involved in the affairs of humans. Shes has only just come into the knowledge of their existence in the last session. Nonetheless, to fuel her thirst for power, she collects things, trinkets and objects with with powerful memories interwoven within them. As such, her head henchman go out into the world, as she cannot yet step foot in the mortal world being that she is not powerful enough to manifest completely, to collect these "things" and in many cases, they abduct people who are strong, or that have strong memories, or strong life forces and brings them to her as a token of faith.
You asked why would they make a deal?
My big bad gives a boon of power in return for their most powerful memory upon their destined death. If the person who is offered the deal accepts it, they become her eyes, ears, hands, and feet in the mortal world, knowingly or unknowingly feeding her information that might help her to gain more power in the long run rather than just simply killing them. If they refuse, then they spend eternity becoming fuel for her power source anyways.
I was worried about the suspicion of the transformed being a factor too. I had to delve deep into my sinister bag of f***ery to come up with a solution. Tell me what you think. As of this next session only one character will be transformed, the other will be deformed. But the one who becomes the vamp (the transformed hunter) has a best friend and pet companion that goes everywhere with him. The party knows him and loves him. After he gets transformed into a vamp, he will then be starved and after a while let into a room with his pet inside. It will be a massacre. Now, imagine your the other players who are meeting up with him and who now see a suspicious vampire. INSIGHT CHECK (i would too) you make a role of insight and succeed. but then he tells you how he was fed to a vampire. Turned. Starved. And then let loose on his best friend who he massacred. All is true. Suspicion gone....at least in my eyes. (Now, out of game, the player has already agreed to the death of his pet being part of the ideas he wanted, but nobody else does)
I wonder how you deduced that a pvp match was coming, that's impressive. It is coming but won't be happening for a while. The set up will actually be more like an all vs 1 who gets supercharged in a bad way. But, the 1 knows it and has agreed to the challenge. He seems excited. Spoiler: it's the blind meatsack.
I have never liked it when a DM brings a god or god like creature in as a direct adversary of the players.
There is a reason they are gods. They can never lose. They can reshape space and time around themselves with a simple wish spell. And even if you got close enough to killing them they just blip back home and they are safe. Safe to come back after the characters at any time.
Gods get bored with normal's. They are not a real challenge to them.
As for your "new" goddess.
How do the old gods like her taking their followers?
And as for PVP I never liked that either unless it was purely instigated by the players. Then it stands a great chance of adding to the overall story.
Never, ever torture a PC in-game. If the PC put in their background they were tortured, fine. But in game as RP? No. Just never.
It's not fun for anybody. There are no mechanics that can make it work, or make it fun.
In my game, all torture is banned, including by the PCs on monsters. There's nothing fun about playing through torture scenarios.
I take it you didn't see my perfectly good set of mechanics for torturing a PC earlier in the thread. I suggest looking at them before claiming that there is "no way" to make interrogating a PC fun.
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair