Good party needs to "extract" information

[Anubis the Doomseer]

We tended to go the Diplomacy route. With the cleric casting detect lies/detect thoughts and the paladin (me) using the big +22 diplomacy roll to question people.

Since the majority of these cases involved people who were breaking the law - heresy, thieves, murderers - I used my social status and (limited) law enforcement authority as leverage. With lower-rung hirelings I'd actually let them go with a stern warning (and a reminder that the official Church Inquisition is far less benevolent than I am). With mid-rung people I'd tell them that I'd still be turning them over to the authorities (civil in the case of thieves and bandits, religious in the case of heretics and demon-worshippers), but if they cooperated I would do what I can to mitigate their sentence... and then if they gave me information I would do so (the PC has earned a rather unfavourable reputation with the Inquisition for this, but since he is of purest virtue they can do nothing about it). The hard cases I'd be frank with them since they were unlikely to be of much help anyway - they can give me what information they could, it wouldn't matter - I or the authorities would kill them anyway - but this sort of assistance may be of some help in the judgement of their soul and its destination in the afterlife. I've only needed to kill one being this way - he was a champion of a demon lord, and we only had a tenuous hold on him anyway since his allies were coming and we were in their territory and it was obvious he was stalling for time until his allies showed up.

High charisma, lots of Diplomacy, they go a long way to allowing LG types to get information. No lying, no dishonesty, no threats of force.

- Ma'at

 

[Quasqueton]

and yet you won't let the subject drop no matter how many times I offer to... odd that.

How many times? Once, in a response to someone else?

Yeah, odd that I continue to respond after you twist my words and misrepresent my exactly stated actions. I was seriously interested in what you would say is a proper solution to the situation, but all you did was continue to say my solution was terribly wrong. Fine, but what would be right?

If you are so convinced of your own rightness, why do you need me to agree with you?

Ha. You think too highly of your importance. I was not trying to convince you of anything. I was pointing out your twisting of my posts, and asking what you would do in the situation. I merely was interested in hearing another solution.

why does it matter? I don't have to put forth my "solution" to have allignment issues with yours. And I don't care what your opinion of my solution would be.

If you don't care, then why did you inject your opinion of my solution? Can't put up or shut up?

But then we finally see what your solution would be:

I'd lay in a supply of scroll of such at as high a caster level as reasonable and possibly some of the poisons that do wisdom damage.

High-level spells and poison? We aren't even in the same book, much less on the same page.

Now that I've finally seen your concept of a proper LG solution to the situation, I'm rather let down. Oh well.

We can let it drop now. Can you let me have the last word?

Quasqueton

 

[allenw]

What level spellcasters are available? Best bet is probably to spend a day to prepare a slew of spells designed to lower saves and magically secure cooperation.

To lower that Will Save:
Bestow Curse (Clr3, Sor/Wiz4): -4 to saves.
Doom (Clr1): -2 to saves.
Enervation (Sor/Wiz4): each negative level adds a -1 to saves. Need to be careful with this one. To much enervation can kill. But the negative levels stack and there's no save, meaning you can really hurt the target's Will Save for other effects.
Mind Fog (Sor/Wiz5): a whopping -10 to Will saves.

If you're in 3.5, don't forget Touch of Idiocy! Sor/Wiz 2, 1d6 penalty to INT, WIS *and* CHA, touch attack, no save, 10 minutes/level. It doesn't stack with itself, but if your Sorcerer has it, he can probably cast it 4 or more times in a row to get the best rolls, which should get your prisoner at least a -4 penalty to all three stats.

 

[James Heard]

Feh, I'd just polymorph them into unpleasant things. Then unpolymorph them. Then polymorph them again. Of course if I were playing I most likely wouldn't be LG in the first place, and if I could be assured that the LG folks could be distracted I'd get the business done one way or the other and light a candle afterwards.

"Hey! We think we know what to do with the prisoner. He..."
"I've got all the information we needed."
"WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM!!!"
"He tried to escape. Then banged his head. And ran into my shaving supplies. And fell in salt."
"You're a beast!"
"Probably. Now do want to know how to save the kingdom or should I start shopping for someone else that has sense instead of morals? If it's that big a problem we can send some pies to his widow."