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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jared A. Sorensen" data-source="post: 36624" data-attributes="member: 1661">Missing the point of torture.You guys have some good ideas, but I think the fundementals of this skill are flawed.Distasteful, yes. But if you want to develop it as a skill, check out the facts. Nobody can withstand torture forever. Even Navy SEALS and other special units of the armed forces and government are taught to resist as long as possible, but be aware of your breaking point...because you will be broken. No matter how much of a badass you are...everyone has a breaking point.The trick for the torturer is not to extract information. That just requires the 3 P's: Patience, Persistance and Pressure. The trick is to keep the guy alive long enough for the torture to produce something valuable.So the way I'd do it would be thusly:Knowledge (Torture) gets a +2 Synergy bonus if the torturer has X ranks of Heal (and/or some kind of anatomical knowledge skill). Penalize the torturer (-2) if the subject is not human or demihuman. -4 for a non-humanoid. Possibly more for extraplanar/elemental creatures (?).The immediate benefit is that the torturer can inflict subdual damage with any weapon if he makes a DC check of...say, 15 (he knows to avoid major organs and arteries). The long-term benefit is that the torturer's victim will "break" (whatever that means in terms of the situation) if the victim fails a Will save with the target number being, oh heck...you can do a lot with this...let's just say you need to roll a Will save every round at a DC equal to the number of hitpoints you've lost during the torture.**I'd also allow the torturer to break down an opponent by verbally torturing him. 1d2+torturer's Cha modifer subdual damage, but only when the victim is restrained. This could work well as a way to handle verbal interrogation during an adventure.</blockquote>

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