Probing questions

[Mikeavelli]

I'm running an introductory adventure soon, new players, new characters style.

Plotwise, the players will be investigating a famous illusionist who went bonkers, eventually come into conflict with the wizard, be defeated while taking subdual damage the entire time, and sent off to a new and terrible world. The plotline is weird, the illusionist in question had developed a spell to create more "realistic, long-term illusions" that actually had a spark of life in them.

They turned out to be "alive" enough to have something like a soul, and when they "died" something lived on, but it didn't quite belong anywhere else in the cosmos, so they've ended up here. I'll be running them through a variety of encounters designed to make them think they're illusions just like this, who got killed, and they're in their own afterllife!

The capstone of the adventure is going to be an encounter with an Inevitable, whose job it is to send these pseudo-souls into oblivion, not by beating them senseless, but by opening their eyes to how they're not real, and allowing them to accept their nonexistence, to just fade away.

It does this by asking specific, probing questions:

"Can you remember anything of your childhood? Even one thing your parents taught you?"

"What do you value in life? What specific experience imparted that value to you?"

Etc.

Background questions. Trouble is, I don't have enough of these; I want to ask every individual player about 4 questions before the Inevitable in convinced that these are, in fact, real people, and need to be taken out of here.

So, what kind of questions would you ask someone to show that all their memories are vague, cloudy, and lies to make them think they were real?

For every question the player can't answer, just saying "I don't know" - they get to make progressively harder will saves, or just fade away... Something about the Plane they're in makes it so that if they stop believing they exist, they really do cease to exist.

[Tacoma]

This is pretty cool. I just watched a movie called "Dark City" which is kind of about this. I recommend it for that reason; otherwise it was just a so-so sci-fi.

1: What do you love? Why?
2:

you know what? Run a Google search for "character creation 20 questions" and I'm sure you'll find a LOT of these.

[Kurald Galain]

+1 for Dark City, which I found very awesome.

Also recommended, the movie Blade Runner (which is almost exactly about figuring out whether respondents are human or fake) and of course Planescape: Torment (which is heavily about belief, and also completely wrecks the awesome-o-meter).

[Tacoma]

+1 for Torment. If you can find it.

Certain books are Very Important. Every human being needs to read these books at some point in his life. When your mind expands with certain thoughts it cannot thereafter be contained in the same box as before. And so it is with Planescape: Torment. I'd put it high on my list of best games ever. It's a strong contender for best.

That said, a good question would be "what can change your nature?"

[Mikeavelli]

Already played, and loved, Torment..

This was actually borne out of me always wanting to create a Planescapy adventure, glad it know this immediately makes people thinking of it. :smallsmile:

Loved Dark City too, though I have to admit I wasn't thinking about that movie when I was thinking this one up. I see how it fits though.

[Grail]

Try Blade Runner for an idea. Look for the Replicant test that Leon gets at the beginning and that later Deckard gives to Rachael. This test is to determine whether a Replicant is human or not. Based on gaining emotive responses etc. Perfect for what you're after IMO.

[sonofzeal]

Babylon 5 had a question for each "Old One"...

Vorlons: "Who are you?"
Shadows: "What do you want?"
First One: "Why are you here?"/"Do you have anything worth living for?"

[Tacoma]

What, is your name?
What, is your quest?
;)

[Inyssius Tor]

"What is your least favorite smell? Can you name two specific times when you encountered this smell?"

"How old, in years, would your mother be today? Round down."

"Before you came here, what was the last question you (you specifically, not all of you) were asked?"

"When did you first touch a weapon of the type you are now holding?"

"Can you name one person you have actively disliked? Why did you dislike that person?"

"Have you ever killed a mammal? What emotions did you feel after the first time you had done so?" (Or reptile, or dragonkin, depending on the character's taxonomic class.)

[Tacoma]

Biological.

"When's the last time you were drunk?"

"Do I arouse you?" (As the creature leans forward in her cheesecake chainmail)

"Describe what happened the last time you healed an injury without using magic?"

"Are you hungry right now? Have you ever been hungry?"

[Paramour Pink]

I don't understand what would stop the PCs from just attacking it and outright ignoring its questions. Not even saying "I don't know," to answer you, but just deciding that they're not playing your Russian-roulette style game of twenty questions anymore. Even being good-spirited about it, I doubt I'd go along with any of that seemingly pointless inquiry. Especially if one of my friends just disappeared/died by answering.

That, and the biological questions seem silly to me.

Have I ever been hungry? Sure I have. Next question.

What kind of safeguard do you have to stop that? Just the Inevitable being really strong/not able of being ignored?

[Tacoma]

As for the easy questions, that's kind of the point. Some of these will be throw-aways. The Inevitable doesn't want you to answer them all wrong. It wants the truth. And the truth in this case is good for the players too. It's less a conflict encounter than a collaborative encounter.

I imagine the Inevitable could just phase out and do its work to the fabric of the plane since it's all an illusion. Right? After all, some things are just more powerful than a D&D character. Might be hard to swallow, but not every Jim Barbarian is the best thing since sliced bread.

[Paramour Pink]

As for the easy questions, that's kind of the point. Some of these will be throw-aways. The Inevitable doesn't want you to answer them all wrong. It wants the truth. And the truth in this case is good for the players too. It's less a conflict encounter than a collaborative encounter.

Truthfully, I never considered this. But now that I do, I realize that I didn't because it seems silly. Yes, this Inevitable does crave truth. It's like a Lumi (some angel-like being that hates liars from Monster Manual 3, I think). But an easy question that just any being - even one that potentially doesn't exist at all - can answer does not get it to that truth faster. I suppose we both agree that those really are throw-away questions, but not on if they're worth asking.


I imagine the Inevitable could just phase out and do its work to the fabric of the plane since it's all an illusion. Right? After all, some things are just more powerful than a D&D character.

That was why I asked if the only thing that kept the PCs answering was the Inevitable being stronger than them. I'm curious to know if there was a better reason. I like this idea a lot. But I don't think that, given the nature of this final "battle", that it's crazy to imagine there might be some better reason than that.


Might be hard to swallow

Not really...

[Mikeavelli]

safeguards: Since this is the Planes, there isn't a physical "door" or "gate" or anything that the Players can step through if only they could defeat the Inevitable, it's just wandering the area they're in, convincing dead-illusion-things that they're not real. It can let them out if it chooses to, and at least one NPC is going to tell them as much, but if they kill it, or just never interact with it, they'll be trapped there until they do.

When they fade away, it's not because the Inevitable is doing anything to them, they just stop believing in themselves, and fade away.

Also, it's stronger than they are. :P

Thanks, everyone, for the questions! Some of them ("What did you eat last?") - I probably won't be using, but most of them are great.

[Llama231]

What is so important about the number 23?

[Asheram]

deleted by poster

[Pie Guy]

For bonus points:

Why? (answer in book: because)

Why anything? (Because everything)


Now these are so specific, that they could be final questions, where saying I don't know won't kill you.

[Prometheus]

Do you squiggle like I squiggle?
Where is your shadow?
What do I remind you of?
Name something that rhymes with 'light'?

[TheCountAlucard]

For bonus points:

Why?

Why not? :smalltongue:

[Inyssius Tor]

Oooh, that bit about the last question is a good idea. I could see all such Inevitables being instructed to ask some final question, just in case someone actually knows.

"Do you know where Primus is?"

[Kurald Galain]

For bonus points:

Why? (answer in book: because)

Why anything? (Because everything)

Melon melon melon! Divide by cucumber error!

[FoE]

And here I thought this thread was going to be about alien abductions. :smalltongue:

[kamikasei]

So are these questions supposed to reveal that your memories are false ("describe the taste of your first apple"), or that you are in some way not really real ("how do you feel?")?

[Tsotha-lanti]

Name
Job
Bye

[Narmoth]

Question triads:

what is your favorite color
where is your favorite color
why is your favorite color

what is death
what is sacrifice
what is truth

do you love anyone
would you sacrifice your life for that person
why

where are your parents
who of them do you love more
who of them love / loved you more

[Telonius]

You might have to be a little bit careful with this, or some sneaky/obnoxious character might try to use it against you.

"What's your job?"
"Oh, I'm a King."

Would that lie make it real?