If you're going to do this, do it right...
—-Sir Peter Fairgrave, prior to intimidating a cultist, his party, the DM, and an internet forum
Once upon 3.5e, a group of adventurers needed to get information out of a cultist whose group was trying to taint a kingdom's food supply. Most of the group wanted to torture the guy for information, but the paladin Sir Peter Fairgrave objected. After they tried anyway and failed miserably, Sir Fairgrave had his own go at intimidation, by politely explaining why paladins don't fear falling.
Tropes
- Beware the Nice Ones: Peter Fairgrave is a classic lawful good paladin who doesn't want to torture anyone and promises the cultist he'll be taken care of if he talks... and if he doesn't, then Peter might just decide that stopping his plan is worth breaking his oath, and after that all bets are off.
- The Fettered: Sir Fairgrave; as he puts it, "The path I walk is not about vengeance, or what's right, its about moderation in the face of power, restraint and compassion for scum like you." He then follows up by pointing out that there are situations worthy of breaking those fetters, and the cultist does not want to be on the wrong end of those.This is why paladins don't fear falling. We don't spend all day looking for ways to prevent ourselves from doing evil and giving in to the darkness. We actively seek it out. Every time we face evil, we ask ourselves, "Is this the threat that I'm going to give it all up for? Is this what I am going to give up my ability to help others in the future, in order to bring down now? Is this the evil that I am willing to forsake my God and my power to stop?!".
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: The rest of the party tried this on the cultist, much to Sir Fairgrave's discomfort- as he put it "We can't preserve freedom while denying it to others." Fairgrave's approach is less physical, but far scarier.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech: Borderline. Sir Fairgrave is giving the cultist one last chance to talk before he really unleashes hell.
- Smug Snake: The captured cultist is quite dismissive when Sir Fairgrave the paladin comes in to interrogate him after the others failed. The narrator later confirmed that Sir Fairgrave's speech did indeed cause him to break and spill all the beans, because he wasn't expecting a paladin to be quite that scary.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Sir Fairgrave's take on it is that paladins have to walk the line between the law (which forbids torture) and justice (anything goes as long as it ultimately saves lives).
- To the Pain: Sir Fairgrave's version of torture is explaining to the cultist in detail how, if he feels it necessary, he will make sure the guy suffers the absolute worst fate he could imagine, even if it means being dragged to hell with him.What you should be asking yourself now, what you really need to be thinking about, is: "Is what I'm doing something that will make this guy want to fall?" Because you should know that once I fall, all those rules which protect you from me are gone. No longer will I be able to be stopped by you, or by my order, or by my God. If I give everything, and I mean give everything, I will never stop. If you escape me today, I will hunt you down and grab you into the pits of hell myself. Even if that means that I have to invoke the wrath of every demon in creation, just so they throw open a pit and drag me down where I stand, because when they do drag me down, I will make sure that my fists are wrapped firmly around your ankles and you go down with me. I want you to listen to me now, and I mean really listen, because Hell truly hath no fury like a paladin scorned.So I ask you, one last time: tell me where the other rituals are being held, or I swear to all on high that I will fall, and fall hard, just do I can show you what it is that paladin truly keeps his code to hold back...
- I wish to roll Intimidate.
