Subdual & Hypnosis

[MarauderX]

Say we got this evil guy that we want to pry information from. Say we have him in 'custody' for some heavy questioning. He is probably a few levels above us and has some really good saves.

Would incurring subdual damage so he is down to 0 HP make him more susceptible to the spell 'Hypnotize'? And can Hypnotize be treated as a kind of truth serum?

Thanks again

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

I'm not sure if Hypnotism is useful in your scenario, since a threat to the affected person breaks the enchantment...

If it did work, well, the spell states that the affected person reacts to your suggestions as if his attitude was 2 steps friendlier. Since he's probably hostile to begin with, that would bring his attitude to, what, neutral?

Detect thoughts might be a better option...

I'm surprised i couldnt find the equivalent of Detect Lies"...

Apart from that, being staggered (ie subdual damage = HP) does not provoke penalties to saves...

Maitre D

 

[AuraSeer]

Would incurring subdual damage so he is down to 0 HP make him more susceptible to the spell 'Hypnotize'?

Nope.
Hypnotism affects creatures based on HD, and HD does not change as you get damaged. The only way for a character to gain or lose HD is to gain or lose levels. If the bad guy is 10th level, for instance, you can't possibly affect him with sleep or hypnotism.

(Nitpick: subdual damage doesn't actually reduce your hit points, it just adds onto your subdual points. They're tracked separately. But that doesn't change the answer to your question.)

And can Hypnotize be treated as a kind of truth serum?

Sort of, assuming the target has few enough HD to be affected, and fails his saving throw. The spell allows you to give a subject one reasonable suggestion or request; I'd say that truthfully answering questions would be reasonable. However, the subject's attitude is treated as only two steps better for purposes of that suggestion. If the BBEG was Hostile to begin with, he'll still be Indifferent to your questions, so he probably wouldn't tell you anything important.

You'd be better off using charm person, which makes the target think you're his friend. Maybe zone of truth would be a good idea as well, since evil guys lie to their friends too.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

You could even combine Charm Person and Zone of Truth, because the BBEG will detect that he is in a Zone of Truth...

Maitre D

 

[AuraSeer]

You could even combine Charm Person and Zone of Truth, because the BBEG will detect that he is in a Zone of Truth...

Yeah, that's what I meant. ZoT on its own is almost useless for interrogations, because it doesn't force a character to answer.

 

[MarauderX]

Thanks for the help.

Here's a little more background on the situation:

We are 3-4th level, and we are thinking of capturing a BBE ambassador guy to conduct an interrogation, old school style. So I got to work finding the equivalent of forcing someone to talk using magic and subdual/real damage. Is there are place where rules on this could be found, such as the victim should

Although that doesn't look to be the best means compared to having the bard befriend him then cast hypnotize. BTW, we are all out of charms as the 3rd level bard is the only arcane caster.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

You could also try indimidating the ambassador, and (house) rule that multiple attempts can be made when the conditions change, ie when you beat the crap out of him, hang him upside down over a fire, shoot appels off his head, etc.

Maitre D