Torturing a PC (a bit)

[carborundum]

It looks like I'll have a PC captured by the end of tomorrow's session, and captured by an angry pirate and a Bullywug cleric of Dagon.

They'll want information out of him and won't be friendly about it. I was thinking of having him lose a pinkie or something, just for effect but not too nasty.

I was thinking of something along the lines of 1d6 damage, but a permanent something would be interesting for motivational purposes. My first idea was a special Crit. Fumble rule just for him. If he rolls a one, and a confirm is a miss, then have him drop his weapon - something like that.

Has anyone any other ideas for slightly mutilating a 4th level fighter?

 

[C.W.Richeson]

I'd find a long term fumble penalty to be less than fun, were I playing the fighter.

Why not just have a cool scene where he shows his grit in the face of torture? Instead of permanently cutting parts off you could go for beatings and such.

 

[prospero63]

I'd find a long term fumble penalty to be less than fun, were I playing the fighter.

Why not just have a cool scene where he shows his grit in the face of torture? Instead of permanently cutting parts off you could go for beatings and such.

I agree, to a degree. I have a barbarian in my group that got a particularly vicious critical (custom house rule) that imposed a limp. That said, I saw no need to inflict a tangible game result. Rather, it was used to provide more depth to the character description, etc.

Personally, that is how I would handle it. Cut off the pinkie, maybe impose some rare in game impact for a time, then as the character has learned to adapt accordingly, leave it as something for the "character traits and description" box on the character sheet...

 

[Rabelais]

I agree with Prospero. I'd say that a temporary penalty, something lasting a couple of game sessions, makes the wound memorable, but not crippling, to the character.

 

[LostSoul]

Has anyone any other ideas for slightly mutilating a 4th level fighter?

Cut out his tongue. That won't cause any mechanical problems for him, but he'll have to role-play its effects (communicating without speaking), and that will make it memorable. Don't let it go on for too long, though, because that sort of gimmick gets old pretty fast.

How are you resolving whether or not the NPCs get the information?

 

[MonkeyDragon]

Getting information via torture is in the BOVD, and involves intimidate checks. There are circumstance bonuses for using torture equipment.

As for losing the pinkie, "lose a finger" was on the critical fumble chart that we used for awhile. IT imposed a -1 penalty on attack rolls. Cured with a regenerate spell. Everyone was afraid of losing fingers, and it's not something I like having on the fumble chart, but I think for this it wouldn't be too bad, especially if he has a way to get that regenerate after not too long a time.

 

[carborundum]

Yeah, intimidate checks vs. PCs is a whole other can of worms. (BoVD is great though)

I don't need to worry about the info as the npc in question already believes something that is not true. The character will be confused and if he tells the truth, the NPC will scream "Liar!" and get angry.

Good point about the permanent penalties, it could have further effects than I want - I just wanted drama and to shock him. I'll have him cut the point off one of his ears or something, before clubbing him unconscious.

Thanks folks!

 

[Wik]

I always loved that scene in Payback where they're smashing Mel Gibson's toes with a hammer. The beauty of the scene was that it showed him being tough (he was holding out, not withholding information, but stalling for time for a plan of his to take effect), yet, at the end of the movie, he was still able to do the "cool walk" off screen without being visibly altered in any way.

Take out a PC's eye or pinky, and it could change how the player views his character - and not always in a good way. But take off his toes, and odds are it'll be nothing more than just info on a PC sheet after a few sessions. But he'll still get the feeling of being cool and ultra-tough when he says nothing during hte interrogation.

IN one of my own games, the group's defiler (It was Dark Sun) took a really bad critical against him with a scythe. We were using the old Skills and Powers rules, and it determined a bad crit against his back. That player LOVED having a defiler whose back had a huge vicious scar running across the middle - he built his character around it. Another player, though, might have scratched the player altogether in the face of a PC mutilation like that.

With D&D, I find that the GM altering a player's character in a permanent way is always touch and go. So, yeah, tread carefully.

 

[Switchblade]

Problem with torture when the player decides if the PC breaks or not is unless the penalties inflicted are going to be pretty long term, either permenant or difficult to shift there is little out of character motivation to stop the pain and give in. Probably because I've played in game systems where picking up detrimental effects as the game goes in is the rule rather than the exception I see penalties and flaws as no bad thing but I feel you are on the right track with the loss of the finger. Torture is horrific and terrible and should have some long term effects.

Just don't start big. Bit of pain, non permenant hp damage. Work up to purely cosmetic damage such as scarring, branding and burns from fire and acid. Build up to the maiming slowly so they have time to think things through, worry a bit and decide to give in or not before you start lobbing bits off. Also forshadow each part with the torturer telling them what is going to happen. Adds to the fear/tension and means nothing happens to the PC that the player didn't accept as they can give in before it gets to a point where they feel the damage makes the character unplayable for them. Go into it too quickly and if the player thinks you wouldn't dare and tries to call your "bluff" they might end up with larger penalties than they are willing to play. :\

As for penalties, scaring that puts a penalty on charisma based skill checks (can soften this with a bonus to intimidation?)
Extensive scarring that leaves them a little bit less limber from all the scar tissue (pen to tumble and some dex checks using whole body)
Turn them into a eunuch (no real game stats penalty and allows them to get a job as a harem guard but still very unpleasant until regenerated)
One eye, increase range break penalties from -2 to -3, -1 spot.
One ear, -1 listen (outer ear only, doesn't affect ballence)
Leg injuries that reduce speed by 5 ft, (can ignore this penalty for a round with a will check to ignore the pain?)

 

[roguerouge]

Make it a skill drawback and benefit, something on the order of a +2 to Intimidate and a -2 to Diplomacy forever after. A great character hook, an in-game effect, and something that doesn't strike at the core of the character.