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="Umbran" data-source="post: 8007918" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>Who gave them permission? Are there witnesses to the questioning other than the PCs? Are there advocates for those under investigation to protect them against predatory questioning?</p><p></p><p>Also, the spell notes that the <em>casterr</em> knows if the subject made of failed its save. Note that <em>nobody else</em> does. The situation becomes complicated if anyone has reason to doubt the PC, who is the only ones around with the spell....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes/no, without qualification, can be massively abusive. "Have you stopped beating your wife?" and the like. </p><p></p><p>Even Yes/No can be up to interpretation - "Did you see Joe last night?" Well, the subject and Joe talked in a back alleyway, and it was very dark. strictly speaking, the subject can say they didn't <em>see</em> Joe, in that they could not be sure, by visual identification, that it was Joe. Or, alternatively, the subject saw someone in the dim lighting that was Joe's general size, and sounded like Joe, so the subject honestly thinks they saw Joe, when they did not. Since "Maybe" is not an option, the party may get an inaccurate impression of events. </p><p></p><p>So, <em>mislead</em> them with those Yes and No, and make them weed through the complication. Make it so two people answer they saw Jae, and their answers are mutually exclusive.</p><p></p><p>Also, note that Zone of Truth has a duration of 10 minutes. Run a timer. </p><p></p><p>Alternatively - this is a thing I've learned running Ashen Stars (a game largely about mysteries) - make it so the tricky bit isn't getting information, but in figuring out what the information means. </p><p></p><p>Make it so the mystery they are investigating is not the only thing going on that people might want to hide, and the PCs have to weed through them. Yes, Joe was there that night... but he was visiting his mistress, and his presence has nothing at all to do with the crime under investigation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 8007918, member: 177"] Who gave them permission? Are there witnesses to the questioning other than the PCs? Are there advocates for those under investigation to protect them against predatory questioning? Also, the spell notes that the [I]casterr[/I] knows if the subject made of failed its save. Note that [I]nobody else[/I] does. The situation becomes complicated if anyone has reason to doubt the PC, who is the only ones around with the spell.... Yes/no, without qualification, can be massively abusive. "Have you stopped beating your wife?" and the like. Even Yes/No can be up to interpretation - "Did you see Joe last night?" Well, the subject and Joe talked in a back alleyway, and it was very dark. strictly speaking, the subject can say they didn't [I]see[/I] Joe, in that they could not be sure, by visual identification, that it was Joe. Or, alternatively, the subject saw someone in the dim lighting that was Joe's general size, and sounded like Joe, so the subject honestly thinks they saw Joe, when they did not. Since "Maybe" is not an option, the party may get an inaccurate impression of events. So, [I]mislead[/I] them with those Yes and No, and make them weed through the complication. Make it so two people answer they saw Jae, and their answers are mutually exclusive. Also, note that Zone of Truth has a duration of 10 minutes. Run a timer. Alternatively - this is a thing I've learned running Ashen Stars (a game largely about mysteries) - make it so the tricky bit isn't getting information, but in figuring out what the information means. Make it so the mystery they are investigating is not the only thing going on that people might want to hide, and the PCs have to weed through them. Yes, Joe was there that night... but he was visiting his mistress, and his presence has nothing at all to do with the crime under investigation. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Mysteries, Zone of Truth, and Savvy Players?
Top