D&D 5E Advice Sought: Running an NPC prisoner interrogation

[aco175]

If you want to have the pc's roll a Persuasion or Intimidation check if you want to add some chance to the interrogation. Have a DC 15 for a few items of information and 20 for a few good pieces of info. You still need a list of items that lead to the excitement, but you may need to give only some of it.

 

[bedir than]

We ran it. The group tried going tough guy first and there was little give. When the nice guy went at the dwarf things were going well for a bit, but eventually he clammed back up due to some failed roles and reminder of why he tried to kill some members of the group in the past.

The group then used a custom magic item, a crown of forgetfulness, to take the conflict out of his memory. Then they used deception to convince his absent minded state that they rescued him. Through that fake friendliness they nabbed a few more details.

Eventually someone used minor illusion to create the sound of his mount nearby (a wyvern). He wanted to leave and they let him go, still wearing the crown. Since all were surrounded in fog they again cast minor illusion off in the distance and he headed that way.

A little mage hand took the crown of forgetfulness off, another screech of the wyvern and he disappeared giving them 80% of the possible intel with very little torture and every PC doing something.

 

[Quickleaf]

The PCs captured a 2nd tier dwarven mage at the end of the last session. They have every reason to believe he is hostile. In our next session they will be interrogating him.

What mechanics should I be aware of? What tricks can they use? What tricks should the dwarf use?

I ran a very satisfying interrogation scene with a lot of pathos.

I've attached a 1-page PDF of how I set it up. To adapt it to your own scenario, you'll want to come up with a bullet point list of Basic Info and a bullet point list of Deep Info. Then you can use the table basically unaltered as a guideline for how the PCs can gain successes. It's very loosely inspired by a skill challenge format.

In my particular scenario there were 3 cultists the PCs were interrogating, so each cultist was like a mini skill-challenge. Also, I had an idea built in limit explaining why the PCs couldn't just keep working over a cultist until they got what they needed (they were brainwashed by illithids to enter a catatonic state if pushedpast their limit). Nicely, this brainwashing prevented charm magic as well.

However, in most scenarios you'd need to account for...

• just 1 NPC being interrogated
• NPC being vulnerable to charm, which could shorten the process significantly unless the DM and players are on born with establishing clearer limits about what charmed entails
• Incorporating some limit about why the PCs can't go on forever (e.g. a ticking clock scenario, a supervisor pulling the plug on the interrogation, etc).

Good luck!

EDIT: Ack! You beat my post, and I saw you already ran it. Awesome.

 

[Imaculata]

In my campaign I just let an npc do the 'interrogation', but the party was aware that she was evil. So rather than outright playing out a torture scene, I had the players make a choice regarding a moral dilemma. Do they allow her to do what ever is needed to get all the information they want? Or do they place restrictions on her methods?

I think the moral aspect of it is far more interesting than the actual interrogation. As a DM, I know what information the npc has. So no dice rolls are really needed. All they need to do is choose how far they are willing to go.

 

[delericho]

For the most part, I'd agree with the advice to keep the scene short and to err in favour of over-sharing information with the PCs.

One thing you might want to consider doing, though, is allowing the players to determine how they want to approach the interrogation and tailoring the consequences accordingly.

So maybe they could choose to go softly-softly, in which case they might gain less information but end up with an ally they can perhaps use later. Or they could choose to employ torture and get more information but come one step closer to an alignment change (or gain a bad reputation, or whatever). Or they could try passing some false information of their own to their target and then 'accidentally' let him escape to see what he does. Or similar.

But I'd be inclined to ultimately handle things with a single roll (with the basic information at DC 0 and more advanced info at higher levels) and instead focus on the link between the PC choice and the wider consequences. Playing out a long, drawn-out interrogation/torture scene is rarely fun - indeed, it's worth noting that TV shows featuring such things actually tend to skip over the actual event and instead skip a passage of time and jump straight to what the suspect spills.

 

[Iain_Coleman]

I'd be inclined to let the PCs torture a captive NPC if they so wish, and to let them play it out in as much detail as they want. And then have this torture be as ineffective as it is in real life. Have the NPC tell them whatever he thinks they want to hear, however false, inaccurate, exaggerated or fantastical. It could take the PCs quite some time to realise the information they obtained was worthless.

 

[Eltab]

I botched an interrogation session in Rise of Tiamat (not prepared) that resulted in the PCs killing a plot-important NPC in frustration.

Set up a 4e-style skill challenge, not too long, that lets the CHR-heavy PCs get a chance to "do something" while their DPR-heavy friends lurk menacingly in the background.
As noted above, decide what the target knows and how willing he is to tell it.
DO include a few misdirections. If the PCs just pound the stuffing out of him as Plan A, include lots; he's saying whatever comes to mind and doesn't care if it's right.
Otoh, if the PCs go heavy on Insight and Investigate, let them have almost 100% accurate results.
Give each PCs a chance to roll a die or two, so they all feel like they contributed.
STR 20 Barb w/ 2-handed Maul "Can I take a whack at him, Boss?" - but never landing a blow - will help pressure the subject.
Think like when Bond got interrogated in the older movies (Dr. No is especially effective): show the first few blows, then cut scene to when he wakes up afterwards, looks like 20 miles of bad road, and is sore all over.

Summary: narrate interrogation scenes, let the PCs' skills carry the day plus dice for extra bonuses. Don't play the scene out minute-by-minute.

 

[DeanP]

Put the dwarf in the Iron Maiden!

 

[Quajek]

Important to remember: TORTURE ALMOST ALWAYS YIELDS FALSE INFORMATION.

Yes, if you start breaking his bones and pulling out his fingernails, he WILL tell you that he works for The Bandit King whose base is under Castle Blackthorn in the Deathgloom Mountains beyond the Forest of Suffering. But he'd also tell you that he's The Bandit King. Or The Bandit King is Dead. Or there is no Bandit King. Or there never was. Or that he's a Silver Dragon in Human form. Or the Bandit King is secretly the actual King, who moonlights as a Bandit.

In truth, this fool doesn't work for The Bandit King. He's never seen The Bandit King. He works for Jerry, his brother-in-law. They rounded up a bunch of guys and decided that dressing up like The Bandit King's men and robbing caravans along this stretch of road would be an easy way to get some beer money, and the authorities would blame someone else. But, he'd say anything to get you to stop.

Even if he IS an agent of the Big Bad, torture won't get you reliable intelligence: "Where is The Bandit King?!" "I... don't know!" "Where is The Bandit King?" *breaks finger* "AAAAAH! He's in the Castle Blackthorn, surrounded by fifty men! Killers! You'll never get to him! Just please, please stop. I know a secret way in! Yes! Through the sewers! A thousand paces from the southern wall, there's an iron grating built into the rock. Some alchemical fire, and you can burn through. Release me!"

He was telling the truth the first time. He doesn't know where The Bandit King is. No one does, because he moves all the time.

The way to get someone to talk is to show them a way out.

"Hey. You really screwed up here. We've got you. And we're miles from any town, and we don't have the time to take you there to drop you with the Sheriff, and we don't have enough supplies to keep you fed the whole journey there even if we wanted to. So, the way I see it, we have two choices: One. We slit your throat and let you bleed out, alone in the mud. Or two: Pledge to start a new life that doesn't include robbing caravans, tell us some useful information about your now ex-boss, and we will let you go, free and clear. Your choice."

 

[LoreMaps]

If your party has access to detect thought spell you might also want to prepare some lines about the prisoner thoughts and mental state.