Justin Alexander wrote a cool piece (and a follow up) about modeling a hacking system similar to the one found in Deus Ex: HR in a d20 game. This got me thinking: could the same mechanical structure be applied to a different purpose? In this case, interrogating/talking to the denizens of a dungeon?
One of the challenges faced in creating a living dungeon is information; who has it and who does not. Say we take a dungeon populated by a tribe of goblins who have displaced and enslaved a tribe of kobolds. If the PC’s capture one of the residents of the dungeon, how do we as GMs keep track of what information said resident has?
By applying the structure Justin came up with to dugeon dwellers instead of computers, we can create a simple structure to keep track of who knows what.
Basics:
First, we must come up with a list of information, similar to a Knowledge or Gather Information table.
The DCs represent Intimidation or Diplomacy checks needed to acquire the relevant information.
| DC 12 | This mine used to belong to the Daggerfang kobolds before goblins took over. |
| DC 12 | The goblins arrived two months ago and killed the Daggerfang Chief. |
| DC 12 | Many Daggerfang’s were killed or ran away; the remaining kobolds have been enslaved to work the mine. |
| DC 12 | Some of the goblins are bored and have been fighting amongst each other |
| DC 15 | The goblins are from the Ripear tribe, a bigger force in the surrounding region know for their riding skills. |
| DC 15 | Big Mama, the leader of this group of Ripears, killed Chief Daggerfang in single combat. |
| DC 18 | The goblins have been driving the kobolds really hard to mine whatever they can. The results are sent out every three days. |
| DC 18 | Big Mama is always guarded by her two handmaidens, a priestess and an insane alchemist. |
| DC 20 | There is an old vein that has been collapsed by the goblins, but still contains a gobln sized secret passage hidden in the rock. |
| DC 22 | When ore and gems are sent back to the Ripear tribe, the goblins only have a token force left in the mine; the kobolds would easily outnumber them. |
| DC 25 | Big Mama is Chief Ripear’s personal consort. | DC 28 | Chief Daggerfang was not killed; he was crippled and Big Mama keeps him around for entertainment. |
Next Steps
After you develop the information table, you need to apply the following things to the creatures that populate the dungeon.
Information Threshold: Each denizen has an Information Threshold. Any check over this number only reveals information of the Threshold and below.
Unique Information: certain creatures may know one or two pieces of information above their Threshold that can be revealed with a high enough check.
Networking: some dungeon denizens might not have information over their Information Threshold, but know who does. Diplomacy or Intimidate checks that get their attitudes to friendly or helpful cause them to reveal this information.
This can be done during prep or on the fly. I recommend applying Information Thresholds to large groups of dungeon residents ahead of time.
Example
A goblin guard has an Information Threshold of 18, knows about the secret passage (Unique Information), and knows that his boss Grablemouth can tell them more about Big Mama (Networking).
One of the kobold miners (a non-combatant) only has an Information Threshold of 12, but they DO know one of the surviving kobold warriors has more information (Networking).
Final Thoughts
By applying this to the NPCs in your dungeons, you can easily figure out who knows what if the PCs decide to talk to or take someone alive.
This also works well for townsfolk, castle residents, soldiers, etc.
COMMENTORS: Thoughts? Criticisms? Critiques?
Captain Jandor's Grimoire 