Asking dangerous questions

[Stormborn]

The PCs have discovered the name of a chaotic evil demonic figure (Abhoth in Ptolus) but have no idea who or what it is, although they believe it to be the name of an evil god as they got it from an evil cleric. So, they go out to Gather Information about it. This pressumably has the side effect of saying "hey, we know about X and are looking into it." How would you determine the results of such a course of action and how would people respond? Cultists looking to silence/recruit them, good adventureres/authorities wanting to know their intent, etc?

 

[Crothian]

In the case I'd let them roll the Gather Info, but also role play the first encounter out. Let them see the reaction from someone who knows the name recoil in fear and maybe just walk away from the group or ask them to leave the establishment right now. Then have them figure out how they are going to approach the subject with others or maybe even look for someone specific that they can talk to.

But I do like the idea of cultists being interested in them as well as the police.

 

[Mark CMG]

Aside from the in-game consequences, have the player remove 100 experience points from his character for each time the player character (who is not a worshipper) says the name aloud (though the players should be able to discuss it in a meta-game way with no such consequence). Anytime an NPC not utterly cowed (hands over ears and running away) by just the name will discuss the demon, have them only refer to the demon using illustrious but evil titles, e.g. Lord of Death. The players will learn quickly that there's an inherent danger.

 

[Stormrunner]

Off the top of my head:

Have the cult leader (or a trusted lieutenant who has more ranks in the skill) make a Gather Info check of his own, with a DC equal to what the PCs rolled for their Gather Info check (or the lowest roll, if they made more than one).

DC -10 or better: "Some folks were here a while ago, asking a lotta questions."

DC -5 or better: "A couple adventurer-types were in here yesterday, asking questions about you-know-who."

DC or better: "A dwarf, an elf, and a couple humans came to the tavern yesterday, and spent an hour asking questions about the Dark One. They were trying to be discreet about it, but I spotted them."

DC +5 or better: "A male dwarf cleric, a female elf spellcaster, and a couple of male human warrior-types came to my tavern yesterday, trying to ask questions on the sly about the Dark One. They weren't very good at it. They knew his name - they even spoke it aloud! - but didn't seem to know much else about him."

DC +10 or better: as DC+5, but with complete description of the PCs (facial features, armor worn and weapons carried, etc.), and the cult leader knows all the places they asked questions in (and thus may have a vague idea of where they're located).

DC +15 or better: as DC+10, plus the PCs were tailed back to their inn room, so the cult knows exactly where they are staying. Plus, the leader has heard of any notable and/or recent deeds done by the party (slaying a dragon, looting a famous dungeon) and thus has a general idea of their power level and capabilities (They like to use cold spells, they took out a nest of mindflayers by themselves...)


Circumstance modifiers on the PCs roll depending on how discreet they are (If the players specifically say "We don't ever speak the actual name while talking to the NPCs we question", then maybe they get a +2 to +4 on their roll and the cult leader gets an equal penalty. Vice-versa if they "ask everyone we meet if they've heard of Abhoth".

 

[Justin Bacon]

The PCs have discovered the name of a chaotic evil demonic figure (Abhoth in Ptolus) but have no idea who or what it is, although they believe it to be the name of an evil god as they got it from an evil cleric. So, they go out to Gather Information about it. This pressumably has the side effect of saying "hey, we know about X and are looking into it." How would you determine the results of such a course of action and how would people respond? Cultists looking to silence/recruit them, good adventureres/authorities wanting to know their intent, etc?

I have houserules for this:

Avoid Suspicion: By accepting a –10 penalty on your Gather Information check, you can avoid any suspicions that might otherwise be aroused by someone pursuing sensitive information. If you suspect that someone may be specifically attempting to detect your efforts, you can be even more cautious in your efforts by voluntarily increasing this penalty (see below).

Counterintelligence: You can attempt to detect other characters gathering information about a particular subject in the area by making a Gather Information check opposed by the check they made to originally attempt to collect the information.
If a character is attempting to avoid suspicion (see above), it becomes more difficult to detect them. Although they suffer a -10 penalty on their Gather Information check for the purposes of collecting the information they seek, they gain a +10 bonus to the Gather Information check for the purposes of opposing your roll.
In addition, a cautious character can voluntarily increase the penalty on their original Gather Information check, granting an equal bonus for the purposes of opposing your roll. (For example, a character decides to be extra cautious and applies a -15 penalty to their Gather Information roll. Their unmodified check result is 30, which is modified to 15 (30 – 15) for the purposes of determining what information they actually glean. But when you attempt to detect their presence, you have to make a DC 45 (30 +15) check.)

 

[el-remmen]

I have houserules for this:

Avoid Suspicion: By accepting a –10 penalty on your Gather Information check, you can avoid any suspicions that might otherwise be aroused by someone pursuing sensitive information. If you suspect that someone may be specifically attempting to detect your efforts, you can be even more cautious in your efforts by voluntarily increasing this penalty (see below).

Yoinky!

 

[Crothian]

I have houserules for this:

Avoid Suspicion: By accepting a –10 penalty on your Gather Information check,

In the epic rules they have this but at -20.

 

[el-remmen]

In the epic rules they have this but at -20.

I split the difference and made it -15.

 

[Cadfan]

I'd let the players make opposed "gather info" checks with the cultists searching for them. Success means that the players were able to gather their info without revealing sufficient information about themselves to be tracked.

I might impose a -5 penalty on the players. It should be harder to gather info stealthily than it should be to find out someone is looking for your demon lord.