Toilet Cobra
2015-02-07, 07:25 PM
I'm running the finale of a multi-session battle (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?394264-How-would-you-assault-this-city) tomorrow. One of the PC's, a hardy dwarf cavalier, has been captured by the enemy. After he refused to help them take the city, the enemy commander has decided to make an example of him. :smallamused:
The plan is to wheel him out just beyond an arrow's flight of the walls and lower an enormous bell over him. As the bell is struck, the vibrations of each ring will grow more and more powerful, deafening him, rupturing his blood vessels, and eventually killing him. I heard this was a real thing they did in some Asian cultures; I haven't been able to google up any proof of that but it sounds awesome and so it's real in my world.
My question is, how should I handle this in game, mechanically and story-wise? I've read up on torture in the BoVD, but the rules focus mostly on interrogation, and this is more of just an execution. I want it to take long enough that the players could conceivably mount a rescue (if they actually want to, they're kind of cowards) but also pose a real danger of death from bad rolls or just being left to die. I was thinking that for several rounds it is just uncomfortable for the dwarf, then he becomes deafened, and after that he has to Fort save with each toll of the bell or start to suffer mounting Con damage. But I'm worried that that will get out of hand too quickly. Any help statting out this thing would be much appreciated.
I'm also interested in hearing any advice on how to run this properly, as I've never really dealt with torture in a game before. My player is actually a really good sport (and a little morbid himself) so I plan to play it to the hilt, but I also don't want to go too far with it for the rest of the group. How do I avoid underselling it while not just grossing people out? How has torture cropped up in your games and how was/wasn't it handled right?
The plan is to wheel him out just beyond an arrow's flight of the walls and lower an enormous bell over him. As the bell is struck, the vibrations of each ring will grow more and more powerful, deafening him, rupturing his blood vessels, and eventually killing him. I heard this was a real thing they did in some Asian cultures; I haven't been able to google up any proof of that but it sounds awesome and so it's real in my world.
My question is, how should I handle this in game, mechanically and story-wise? I've read up on torture in the BoVD, but the rules focus mostly on interrogation, and this is more of just an execution. I want it to take long enough that the players could conceivably mount a rescue (if they actually want to, they're kind of cowards) but also pose a real danger of death from bad rolls or just being left to die. I was thinking that for several rounds it is just uncomfortable for the dwarf, then he becomes deafened, and after that he has to Fort save with each toll of the bell or start to suffer mounting Con damage. But I'm worried that that will get out of hand too quickly. Any help statting out this thing would be much appreciated.
I'm also interested in hearing any advice on how to run this properly, as I've never really dealt with torture in a game before. My player is actually a really good sport (and a little morbid himself) so I plan to play it to the hilt, but I also don't want to go too far with it for the rest of the group. How do I avoid underselling it while not just grossing people out? How has torture cropped up in your games and how was/wasn't it handled right?