How to interrogate?

[The-0-Endless]

My group has to get some information out of some hobgoblin half-dragon that is basically impervious to interrogation (wis, cha, int, and con all at least +6).
The guy is probably a 2nd level druid and 4th level barbarian and seems to be militaristic. The DM allows us to do anything we have the supplies and ability to do, so does anyone have any particularly effective interrogation methods we could borrow?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Offer him something he wants
Convince him your cause is righteous (no save against political rhetoric!)
Threaten his family/tribe
Probe his mind with divination spells or compel him with enchantments (he can't keep on making saves forever)

[imanidiot]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.

[Creyzi4j]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.

- Zone of truth just to be sure he isn't lying.

[Corran]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu6YFBQOB3c

[JackPhoenix]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.

Better: Kill him, then Speak with Dead

[90sMusic]

Offer him something he wants
Convince him your cause is righteous (no save against political rhetoric!)
Threaten his family/tribe
Probe his mind with divination spells or compel him with enchantments (he can't keep on making saves forever)

Basically this.

You either have to persuade him to tell you what you want to know by appealing to his greed, selfishness, his own goals and desires, etc...
Or deceive him into believing you're on his side, working toward his agenda and goals, or perhaps you work for HIS boss and have new orders, I mean when you're lying you can try anything. As long as it is conceivably possible, it should allow you a roll and the more convincing the lie the lower the DC should be...
Or you can intimidate him by threatening his life or something else he cares about like his honor, his family, maybe some object he treasures, etc. If he isn't scared of simply dying, you could always threaten what you'll do to him AFTER he is dead such as raising him as an undead to live out a tortured existence, or performing some ritual to ensure he never finds peace or happiness in the afterlife...

His half-dragon side is probably very vain and conceited with a bit of a superiority complex. His hobgoblin side might lend it's self towards duty, structure, and loyalty. Hobgoblins are also known to love to flaunt their physical superiority, a trait that overlaps with dragons somewhat.

If all else fails, you could challenge him to a duel with one of your own fighters and agree to release him if he wins or have him agree to tell you what he knows if he loses. He might go for that.

Alternatively, you could always threaten to capture a few more hobgobbos and beat him up and completely emasculate him in front of his fellows. Hobgoblins respect strength and get their ranks and positions based on that strength. He would lose the respect of his kin to be in such a position and that might drive him to betray them for his own sake. Alternatively, you could threaten him by saying you will just tell his people that he already told you the information and they'll believe he is a traitor and a coward. At least then he's faced with the possibility of them finding out vs getting blamed for it anyway with certainty.

But of course, yeah, magic solves most problems. Charm person, suggestion, zone of truth, detect thoughts, all of these spells are great for getting info out of people. Detect thoughts doesn't even give them a chance to save against it's effect unless you choose to probe deeper into their mind. Just by reading their current surface thoughts, you can talk about things to direct what they're thinking about without them even realizing you're getting info out of them.

[Tarvil]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.

This. Trying to guess what your DM wants makes boring sessions. Just kill him and move along (NPC, not DM:smallbiggrin:).

DM will have to guide you anyway.

[StoicLeaf]

Ok, no one is impervious to interrogation.
Mechanics-wise, at some point he'll fail his roll.
Human psychology wise .. you're likely to start saying whatever you think will make all the hurting stop. I suppose this depends on how much time you have to work the guy over.

Having seen torture being played out as both the dm and as a player .. I really hope that none of you are "into" this sorta ****.
It gets pretty stupid, pretty horrible and downright pathetic (let's face it, most people aren't talented voice actors that can fake, well, being tortured).

But ok, let's try breakdown the hobgoblin dragon mongrel. You haven't told us what you need from him, so some of these might not work. Also, assuming 5e racial traits.
ideas!
1) He will think highly of his warband. You can either threaten their slaughter or mock their inferiority.
2) He's a proud warrior. Chop off his middle finger on his sword arm. Tell him his sword hand is next. What good will he be to his clan/god/himself? (be warned, your DM sounds like a ****, if you cripple this dude and let him go chances are he'll turn up in ironman armor later on)
3) Say please! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S35c9igr32M)
4) Offer him a warrior's death. He'll be healed up (not by much, a few token hitpoints that you RP really well), given a weapon (his if not magical) and will fight against your best duellist (at 100%). He'll die the way he wants to, perhaps this will garner you some respect.
5) Meta game it. If you think your DM has this whole elaborate routine planned out to make you guys feel impotent then ram your sword in the guy's gullet as soon as he starts monologging. Then go fishing. The world can sort itself out. Bring ale and roasted lizard bits.

[Corran]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.


This. Trying to guess what your DM wants makes boring sessions. Just kill him and move along (NPC, not DM:smallbiggrin:).

DM will have to guide you anyway.
Advising against this.
I've seen campaigns end due to that kind of attitude from the players.
There will be a point where the DM will just stop trying to feed you all the answers, and then, after a few boring sessions where the players have nothing of importance to do, the campaign will end. Metagaming with story elements and with the campaign world and its characters (including your own), is the first step to ensure that a campaign will come to a rapid end.

That's not to advocate an always-follow-the-DM's-lead approach and never do something unexpected that will force the DM to improvise. But not talking seriously the game world (excluding edge cases that relate to specific styles, comic-relief the first that comes to mind), from an IC perspective of course, is a fun buster, at least in my humble opinion.

Best advice is to think what your character would have done, and do it. If it is to negotiate or blackmail, then do that. If it is to torture, then torture away (I am sure that you can find much better inspiration/ grotesque details in movies for this one, than in a public dnd forum).

Remember though, intimidation and torture doesn't have to be your first approach. As others pointed out, you can work fist on a persuassion attempt (backing it with whatever you think makes sense from the IC knowledge you have about this NPC and the situation at hand), and if that fails, you can fall back to some intimidation and/or torture approach. This way you just maximize your chances of getting the info you want.

ps: If time is not working against you, try to talk your DM into the idea that 'everyone talks after the 3rd day'.
ps2:
Rat, bucket, torch... :smallwink:
I hope you weren't expecting more details...

[bulbaquil]

Better: Kill him, then Speak with Dead

Speak with Dead doesn't compel truth in 5e, especially if the target recognizes the questioner as an enemy or hostile. No saving throw is necessary.

[Ninja_Prawn]

arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.

I think those of you who subscribe to this reading of the situation are jumping to conclusions. Firstly, the OP "has to get some information," but we don't know why. It might not be necessary to the plot at all. Even if it is, the information might be available elsewhere (whether or not the PCs are aware of that). And secondly, having good saving throws and not being afraid of pain/death doesn't make this NPC impossible to interrogate, you just have to be more creative about it.

tl;dr? I agree with Corran.

[hymer]

Basic interrogation:
Is the guy talking at all? Because the hardest thing for an interrogator to deal with is stonewalling. If the guy doesn't care that you catch him in obvious lies, or if he (even more smart and disciplined - and hard) says nothing at all, first you have to get him talking. Insult things dear to him, his manhood, his warband, anything to start him talking.
While someone is doing this (over a period of hours, or days, where every now and again he gets isolated with his thoughts with nothing to do), someone else is asking him questions. Like how does he see this whole thing ending? A quick, clean death? No such thing. He will spend decades locked in a prison, with no chance to get out. Unless he starts showing a little cooperation, something this interrogator can use to placate the others, to show the authorities... Who knows, maybe he can be swapped for another prisoner?
Now you've got him talking, hopefully. What you need to do now is sift lies from truth. This is done by asking, asking, asking. Keep asking for more details, and take good notes. If he keeps lying, the details are going to fail to match each other eventually. This is why you need him to start talking. And once he's been caught lying a few times, and it's clear he isn't getting away with it, he will lie less. He will also become more and more exhausted.
If the interrogator is a real hard case, add things like sleep deprivation. It's a lot harder to lie convincingly if you're really tired, so wake him up after he's been asleep about an hour, and start interrogating him. But simple patience and good notes will crack most people even without that sort of thing. And don't forget, you don't need to crack a hard case militant half-dragon super soldier. You just have to crack the nerd behind the screen. :smallwink:

[GPS]

Use the good ol' medieval triplicate. Thumb screws (a hammer works too, just less gradually, but he has plenty of fingers), high-stakes waterboarding, and intense poking with spiked things. He should be singing like a bird, and who cares if he's lying. He's a goblin, so odds are he fails his Zone of Truth save.

Scanning his surface thoughts also works if you have Detect Thoughts on you.

[Slipperychicken]

Either figure out what interrogation methods your GM believes works, or just don't bother.


For figuring out your GM's views on detention and interrogation, turning the subject to terror plots might do it, though a bit of drink may be helpful for loosening him up. Do your best to emulate in-game whatever his real-life views are on interrogation. My own GM is a strong believer in physical torture, so he gives us accurate and complete intelligence when our characters torture people. Your own GM might be different, so just try to be sure what he thinks is effective.

[GPS]

Either figure out what interrogation methods your GM believes works, or just don't bother.


For figuring out your GM's views on detention and interrogation, turning the subject to terror plots might do it, though a bit of drink may be helpful for loosening him up. Do your best to emulate in-game whatever his real-life views are on interrogation. My own GM is a strong believer in physical torture, so he gives us accurate and complete intelligence when our characters torture people. Your own GM might be different, so just try to be sure what he thinks is effective.
Oh, yeah, that's good advice. Like, if you try torture and yours isn't a fan, they're gonna try to resist it or feed you consistent lies and useless info. Maybe try a wide spectrum of stuff to bruteforce it. Flat out asking your DM what they're comfortable with in their game is probably a good idea too.
My DM, for example, doesn't believe in the merits of torture, but in-game his philosophy is that at the time there was no reason why people should believe it wouldn't work. The vast majority of people don't have access to detect thoughts, and information about torture garnered from detect thoughts was up to interpretation by people who would have believed that it worked anyway.

[solidork]

If you've got access to it, Suggestion is pretty much the most effective means of interrogation. They can just choose not to answer for Zone of Truth, but we've gotten pretty good mileage out of it by combining it with Command ("Answer!").

Personally, I am supremely uninterested in participating even indirectly in a torture situation.

[GPS]

If you've got access to it, Suggestion is pretty much the most effective means of interrogation. They can just choose not to answer for Zone of Truth, but we've gotten pretty good mileage out of it by combining it with Command ("Answer!").

Personally, I am supremely uninterested in participating even indirectly in a torture situation.
Man, I getcha. When the eye-gouging spoon comes out, I like to take a walk away from the table for a while. Once almost initiated PvP to stop the warlock from cutting a dude's fingers off, that wasn't great. I mean if you already got his eyes, cutting off his fingers is just a unnecessary. (I keep forgetting to call this guy "The Corinthian". I promised him I'd start calling him that, he totally earned it).

[Slipperychicken]

If you've got access to it, Suggestion is pretty much the most effective means of interrogation. They can just choose not to answer for Zone of Truth, but we've gotten pretty good mileage out of it by combining it with Command ("Answer!").

Personally, I am supremely uninterested in participating even indirectly in a torture situation.

It's worth noting that this kind of silver-bullet approach, while usually theoretically sound, is potentially subject to a GM's incredulity. That is to say, a GM who is sufficiently annoyed by it (or otherwise unwilling to give you what you want in this context) will find an excuse to not provide the desired information. So just be mindful of your GM's attitude toward whatever approach you take.

[NecroDancer]

I'd suggest detect thoughts, suggestion, dominate person, modify memory, zone of truth, phantasmal force (if you are reduced to needing gaslight), and geas.

[GPS]

I'd suggest detect thoughts, suggestion, dominate person, modify memory, zone of truth, phantasmal force (if you are reduced to needing gaslight), and geas.
Detect thoughts and geas are a little high level for where they're at if they're still considering interrogation techniques. ZoT and suggestion are good though

[NecroDancer]

Detect thoughts and geas are a little high level for where they're at if they're still considering interrogation techniques. ZoT and suggestion are good though

Detect thoughts is 2nd level

[NecroDancer]

You can also try major image to make him think that his comrades are rescuing him.

[Dr. Cliché]

I'd have thought that this would at least partially depend on the personality of your characters.

I mean, even if the DM is happy for you to use torture, it doesn't mean that your characters would be happy to torture someone. :smalltongue:

[solidork]

It's worth noting that this kind of silver-bullet approach, while usually theoretically sound, is potentially subject to a GM's incredulity. That is to say, a GM who is sufficiently annoyed by it (or otherwise unwilling to give you what you want in this context) will find an excuse to not provide the desired information. So just be mindful of your GM's attitude toward whatever approach you take.

Yeah totally. Magically inducing confessions (especially from Suggestion) are also pretty sketchy when it comes to dealing with the law.

[Spiderguy24]

Better: Kill him, then Speak with Dead

Problem with that is that the corpse is under no compulsion to give a truthful answer if they are hostile towards it, or it recognises them as an enemy. Not an awful plan though.

[Goggalor]

Spare the Dying and a single point from Lay on Hands (or any source of cheap healing if you do not have a paladin willing to help) can do wonders, as you continuously yo-yo the NPC into a dying and living state by slitting the throat slightly/puncturing the carotid artery. If the DM does not view that as extreme enough to get the target talking, start flaying the skin from the NPC; exposed nerve endings are a brutal and lasting form of pain. Interrogation in DnD is a game of chicken and, if you have a creative enough imagination, can get to the point where the DM will say that all future interrogations are successful in order to skip all the gory bits.

[GPS]

Spare the Dying and a single point from Lay on Hands (or any source of cheap healing if you do not have a paladin willing to help) can do wonders, as you continuously yo-yo the NPC into a dying and living state by slitting the throat slightly/puncturing the carotid artery. If the DM does not view that as extreme enough to get the target talking, start flaying the skin from the NPC; exposed nerve endings are a brutal and lasting form of pain. Interrogation in DnD is a game of chicken and, if you have a creative enough imagination, can get to the point where the DM will say that all future interrogations are successful in order to skip all the gory bits.
How to spot the CIA interrogator at your table.

[Kangodo]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.
So much this!

DM's should learn to not use cults in every adventure.
Or at least not fill every single cult with fanatics that are willing to die to keep a secret.

[Waterdeep Merch]

Spare the Dying and a single point from Lay on Hands (or any source of cheap healing if you do not have a paladin willing to help) can do wonders, as you continuously yo-yo the NPC into a dying and living state by slitting the throat slightly/puncturing the carotid artery. If the DM does not view that as extreme enough to get the target talking, start flaying the skin from the NPC; exposed nerve endings are a brutal and lasting form of pain. Interrogation in DnD is a game of chicken and, if you have a creative enough imagination, can get to the point where the DM will say that all future interrogations are successful in order to skip all the gory bits.

See, the real trick to a successful round of torture at your table is going so far that the DM wants to stop you by spilling the beans. The real torture victim is the DM.

[The_Jette]

To really answer this question, you should answer this: What are you planning on doing with the person you're interrogating after you have all the information you need?

If you're going to kill him anyways, he doesn't have a lot of reason to talk. If you're planning on putting him in jail, he has a reason to stay alive. Plus, if you're gonna let him live after getting what you want, you can threaten him with a dishonorable death. Like, you're going to bring one of the female commoners in there, give her a dagger, and let her work out whatever frustration she has from being a second class citizen on him until she's too tired to continue. If he's still alive, start bringing in the rest. Getting murdered, while bound and helpless, is gonna be pretty bad, especially by angry housewives.

[Vogonjeltz]

My group has to get some information out of some hobgoblin half-dragon that is basically impervious to interrogation (wis, cha, int, and con all at least +6).
The guy is probably a 2nd level druid and 4th level barbarian and seems to be militaristic. The DM allows us to do anything we have the supplies and ability to do, so does anyone have any particularly effective interrogation methods we could borrow?

Well, you could just speak to them and then weigh their statements based on what you know to be the truth.

You don't say that the subject in question is effectively under your power to grant death or a reprieve from the same, but that's typically the assumption when one uses the term interrogate, rather than saying you want to chat with them.

So, why not offer his parole in return for giving up the goods? (or even delayed parole if he concedes that you require a head start to ensure he won't warn comrades in arms).

If you're feeling particularly noble, grant him his freedom in return for the information and a promise to abandon his previous cause, refusing to take up arms in support of it any further. If he does, you won't spare his life in a future encounter.


Better: Kill him, then Speak with Dead

I'd only use this as a course of last resort as it's entirely possible you could persuade him to come around.


Spare the Dying and a single point from Lay on Hands (or any source of cheap healing if you do not have a paladin willing to help) can do wonders, as you continuously yo-yo the NPC into a dying and living state by slitting the throat slightly/puncturing the carotid artery. If the DM does not view that as extreme enough to get the target talking, start flaying the skin from the NPC; exposed nerve endings are a brutal and lasting form of pain. Interrogation in DnD is a game of chicken and, if you have a creative enough imagination, can get to the point where the DM will say that all future interrogations are successful in order to skip all the gory bits.

At which point they'll swear on their mother's grave that they don't even have a mother and for that matter they're actually a bunny rabbit, if they think that's what the torturer wants to hear to make it stop.

Alternatively, they'll pull a Giles "More Weight" Corey on you, effectively telling the party to **** off.
https://roadtrippers.com/stories/the-tragic-tale-of-giles-corey-accused-of-witchcraft-in-1692

Also, lay on hands would get them back on their feet entirely combat ready. So, not a great plan by any measure.

There's few more pernicious and vile lies than the claim that torture is effective.

[Pex]

Just kill him. The DM will be forced to either use deus ex machina to give you the information or derail the adventure. In the future he will learn not to give you arbitrarily unsolvable puzzles.

Cynical but an element of truth.

Some captured NPCs will not talk. Move on from it. If no captured NPCs will ever talk or at least never give you truthful and helpful information, then don't bother with capturing and kill them all and the DM has only himself to blame for your group going a step closer into murder hoboism.

Do keep in mind it should only be "some", if they exist, who won't talk. As long as there are captured NPCs who give truthful and helpful information then it's worth the roleplaying effort to use the capture and interrogate method and keep you away from murder hoboism.

[Sigreid]

Liberal application of alcohol has been known to get people to talk about things they shouldn't.

[Slipperychicken]

Liberal application of alcohol has been known to get people to talk about things they shouldn't.

For what it's worth, one of the main security officials in my home country is reported to have said "I've always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture."

[Sigreid]

For what it's worth, one of the main security officials in my home country is reported to have said "I've always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture."

Yep. The most effective interrogations are ones where the person being interrogated doesn't realize that's what's happening.

[Pex]

Yep. The most effective interrogations are ones where the person being interrogated doesn't realize that's what's happening.

There is the Black Widow method where the one you are interrogating thinks he is interrogating you.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Overall, the most reliable option is always going to be 'throw enchantment/divination magic at him until something sticks', assuming he's not immune, you have a capable caster, and you have the time.

[Gtdead]

It's mostly up to the DM. For example, in one session, the DM added an unplanned npc thinking that we will kill him, so when we tried to interrogate him, we couldn't get anything out of him because the DM didn't have anything to give us. We were supposed to find some message on him that we would use much latter.

The NPC said he was more afraid of his master than us. So I cut off his hands, healed the bleeding wound and threw him in the sea. He tried to suicide by drowning but I had lightning lure ^^. DM just wasn't ready for this.

[GPS]

Say, after this is all over, can you respond with what your DM expected you to do. I'm genuinely confused how he expected you to get information out of a guy with high saves in everything who wouldn't crack, or even whether he expected you to try to interrogate this guy in the first place.

[Sigreid]

Say, after this is all over, can you respond with what your DM expected you to do. I'm genuinely confused how he expected you to get information out of a guy with high saves in everything who wouldn't crack, or even whether he expected you to try to interrogate this guy in the first place.

Clearly the answer is to get the DM drunk and interrogate him.

[stollfy]

The many small cuts method worked wonders on a slave trader we caught once. You lock the perp in a room, securely tied up and walk up and just stare at him while slowly making small cuts. Keep a cleric or priest on standby but no talking. Do this for days on end and never falter in the no talking and don't let him sleep. The Dm will have to have him crack at some point if he uses exhaustion rules. Then make him your Theon Greyjoy, Ramsey.

[GPS]

The many small cuts method worked wonders on a slave trader we caught once. You lock the perp in a room, securely tied up and walk up and just stare at him while slowly making small cuts. Keep a cleric or priest on standby but no talking. Do this for days on end and never falter in the no talking and don't let him sleep. The Dm will have to have him crack at some point if he uses exhaustion rules. Then make him your Theon Greyjoy, Ramsey.
Wouldn't you be as exhausted as he was though?

[Vercingex]

If you want to go really deep on this question, there's always this as a primary source (most relevant information begins on page 139);

https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm2-22-3.pdf

If that's too much to go into (and I wouldn't blame you), a few things I remember-

1. Provide comfort after a stressful situation and build a rapport.
2. Assume a persona that the subject of the interrogation will respond to positively
3. Know the personal and cultural triggers of the subject
4. Provide reasons for the subject to rationalize their providing information and betraying their fellows.

And this from a field manual rewritten in 2006 to heavily emphasize humane treatment.

[TrinculoLives]

I've always hated torture in any games I play in or run.

Just point your DM towards the Resolving Interactions section of the DMG on page 244.

The steps for the PCs outlined therein are the following:

1. The DM determines a starting attitude for the NPC (friendly, indifferent, hostile).

2. The PCs have a conversation with said NPC during which they should learn what the NPCs attitude is. After long enough, a PC can attempt to make an Insight roll to identify one of the NPC's bonds, ideals, or flaws. A check that fails by 10 or more means that the PC has misidentified one of these characteristics.

3. At this point, the PCs can attempt to change the attitude of the NPC one step by playing on those ideals, bonds, or flaws. A hostile creature could be made to become indifferent, for example. If the PCs are mistaken about the NPCs characteristics, they may turn an indifferent creature hostile.

4. And finally, some kind of Charisma check should be made by one of the party. This can be done with advantage if others in the party have helped significantly in the conversation, or with disadvantage if they have said something counter-productive or offensive.

There are charts for Conversation Reactions with the three different attitudes. The hostile creature chart is the following:

DC 0 - the creature opposes the adventurers' actions and might take risks to do so

DC 10 - the creature offers no help but does not harm.

DC 20 - the creature does as asked as long as no risks or sacrifices are involved.


But, of course, notice the one thing that is missing from all of these rules: torture. The game gives the players everything they need to torture creatures, but no mention is made of it in the rules. New DMs have to stumble through awkward interrogations while the players come up with increasingly horrible torture methods until they get what they want.

Edit: see the following as to why you shouldn't torture anyway: http://blogofholding.com/?p=6601

Edit to the Edit: that blog post just reminded my of why I hate torture so much: it takes a fun game and forces it to be grim-dark.

[NecroDancer]

Hire some goblins to "free" your captive and gain his trust. Then after a week of this charade your hired goblins should be able to get the captive to spill his guts and report back to you with info.