Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mysteries, Zone of Truth, and Savvy Players?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Hawk Diesel" data-source="post: 8007748" data-attributes="member: 59848"><p>There's a really good episode of Burn Notice that demonstrates this technique. Luca the Watchmaker/Bombmaker gives Sam Axe a run for his money by providing too much information, but all of it vague and basically continuous misdirects.</p><p></p><p>Zone of Truth is an interesting spell that can have a lot of world-building consequences, especially if many people exist capable of casting 2nd level spells. One thing to consider is how effective the spell can be when paired with torture. While the spell certainly doesn't compel the target to speak, torture can be really effective in making them speak, with the spell ensuring everything that is said is true. It was something I hadn't considered until a fellow player/DM pointed it out. In his homebrew game world the Great Churches used the combination to weed out heretics.</p><p></p><p>One thing that could help is to throw in a changeling. Maybe a pair of them even. Their shapechange is mundane rather than magical, meaning it wouldn't show up with magic or normal illusion detection short of true sight. Then the changeling could be truthful in the interrogation, but not point out their disguise, escape after the interrogation, and then basically it's a misdirect because the players are sure it's someone but that person has essentially been framed.</p><p></p><p>Or it could be that the person who did it was compelled by someone with leverage over him. A kidnapped kid or wife, or something else, and now not only do the PCs need to find the real criminal, but also save the patsy's loved ones.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hawk Diesel, post: 8007748, member: 59848"] There's a really good episode of Burn Notice that demonstrates this technique. Luca the Watchmaker/Bombmaker gives Sam Axe a run for his money by providing too much information, but all of it vague and basically continuous misdirects. Zone of Truth is an interesting spell that can have a lot of world-building consequences, especially if many people exist capable of casting 2nd level spells. One thing to consider is how effective the spell can be when paired with torture. While the spell certainly doesn't compel the target to speak, torture can be really effective in making them speak, with the spell ensuring everything that is said is true. It was something I hadn't considered until a fellow player/DM pointed it out. In his homebrew game world the Great Churches used the combination to weed out heretics. One thing that could help is to throw in a changeling. Maybe a pair of them even. Their shapechange is mundane rather than magical, meaning it wouldn't show up with magic or normal illusion detection short of true sight. Then the changeling could be truthful in the interrogation, but not point out their disguise, escape after the interrogation, and then basically it's a misdirect because the players are sure it's someone but that person has essentially been framed. Or it could be that the person who did it was compelled by someone with leverage over him. A kidnapped kid or wife, or something else, and now not only do the PCs need to find the real criminal, but also save the patsy's loved ones. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mysteries, Zone of Truth, and Savvy Players?
Top