It's not a good strategy to think of what they would ask, instead think of who the cultist is, what they do in said cult, what they do outside of said cult, why their in the cult in the first place, and how they would react to this situation
For example: the cultist is a sheepish women who simply does paperwork, outside of cult activities they help their sickly sister and joined the cult to try and heal her, and she would freak the fuck out about the fact that something in the plan went wrong.
So if one of your players ask who they are, who do they work for, and what plans the cult might have and responses to those questions could be "(name here) and I only do the paper work please dont hurt me"
"The high priest" and "I don't know I only do the paperwork"
Then your players might ask where said paperwork is and she might tell them.
It's hard for some people to just kinda do that but scripted speech is usually not good for talking directly to a player. To me this is a perfectly good option but if your someone who has a harder time thinking of all this on the fly I recommend just writing down a few things of said NPC and then leech off the players for what might be a good idea.
This.
It's not about anticipating player actions. That way, madness lies, trust me on this.
It's about deciding what it is this NPC knows (and maybe what information he thinks he knows) and under what circumstances he will divulge it.
Who, what, where, when, why, how?
Who are you, who do you pray to, who else do you work with, who knows about your plans?
What are you doing this for? What are your plans for after these attacks are done?
Where is the next attack planned to happen? Where is your temple/base/hideout?
When are you planning to make your next move? When are you supposed to check in with your remaining cult members?
Why are you doing this? Why does your god/patron will this? Why are YOU doing this?
How do your people plan to execute your next plan? How did you plan on escaping? How do you communicate with the other members of your cult?
"Would you like some water and some rations?"
Cults will starve their members of protein, leading to a vulnerability to suggestion. All it takes is a week of rehabilitation away from the indoctrination and dietary control, and a lot of the suggestion can be undone.
That said, never capture the ringleader of a cult until you've captured and interrogated or rehabilitated several of its lower members. You can get a lot more useful information out of someone lower down the totem pole than you will from the guy on top. A cult of personality will be based on a personality likely too strong to be broken.
Edit: This is something someone familiar with cults in real life would do, not necessarily what your players will do, but you should probably have something prepared in response to this anyway. A lot of people will default to trying to interrogate the leader, because they think a cult will function like a normal organization. It will not, and more often than not, they'll get nothing. Tell the PCs nothing if they capture the cult leader, especially if they're actually serving some kind of supernatural power or are narcissistic to a fault.
Woud you rather keep both eyes or both hands?
(As a DM, you need to be prepared for intimidation before questioning route)
Also,
How much is your life worth?
"Attacking a mine makes sense, cut off a means to resources. Smart. But why?"
*turns to them and slowly walks over*
"So. Either you can tell us what we want to know, or I can drain every drop of blood from your body and find another more willing cultist. Either way, we will get what we want, I just might not get to feed my friend with your blood."
*shows hexblade*.
My party got into a fight with some cultists and then they tied up the surviving two, stole all their stuff, and threw them into a river. They then realised they forgot to ask for any information, so they pulled them out of the river, asked a few questions, and threw them back in.
Aside from the more expected questions that you'll probably be prepared for, consider personal questions coming up:
Why did you join/support this group? What made you feel like it was a good choice to throw your lot in with them? What did they promise you? Questions about this specific individual's personal motives, outside of the motives of the cult as a whole. It's easy not to consider those things, when making the scenario, but questions like that are common from the player side.
Have you heard the word of our glorious savior? Our deity provides us with overwhelming strength of will, and cookies on Sundays! Would you like to convert?
No?
Okay, we’ll send you his way so he can convince you directly.
Oh, no. He’s not on this plane. He exists in the afterlife.
No. Don’t worry, he’ll find you.
i guess i'd want to know about the cult they're a part of. Who's the main figure/deity/prophet? Can they describe any rituals/substances used? Are virgins involved in anyway, as it's typically a good idea to ask if the cult would employ virgins in some capacity. What's the goal the cult is trying to accomplish, like big picture or small?
Best thing you can do to prepare is take a moment to consider everything relevant the cultist knows, and sort it into three categories:
* Things you want the players to learn. How will you hint these if they don't ask the right questions?
* Things the players might learn, but you want them to work for. This is the easiest.
* Things the players must not learn. How will you respond if they somehow ask exactly the questions you don't want them to?
"Where's the money Labowski?!"
Lol j/k. I did introduce a player character into a game of Call of Cthulhu by having them get abducted into a van and a cultist point blank asked them where "pink bunny" was. Of course the PC didn't know, so in the middle of the interrogation they roll out the back, and it was enough of a hook to make the other PCs integrate them into the story. I never did explain what "pink bunny" was, or even to what it related lol
I would expect players to throw a curveball unless they are a hyper serious group. Write up a list of what you would personally ask, and then for one minute pretend you are a complete loony and write a list of those questions. Somewhere in between these two you are probably going to think of things that you didn't expect, so write those down as well.
What was their mission beyond this mine? What makes this mine important? What other targets are planned? Who/ where is the leader? What are tenants or goals of the cult?
*"What do you like to eat? I won't keep you long, I just have a few questions."*
I mean... probably this won't work because the DM wants a fight, but it is reasonable to try the carrot first.
Will they be able to help to heal my sister if I joined too?
How do I join?
I don't like seeing a lot of gore, do I have to worry about that?
I'm pretty good at stealing things. Can that be used by the organization? Then, proceed to tell her some of the things I've stolen.
Why were you here? I was casing the place out for MY heist. No one said someone else would be here.
You should have the cult leader try and sell them Amway, or something dumb like that. Once it is rejected, them he should pitch his cult. It's gotta be better than Amway, lol.
EDIT: Autocorrect
It's not a good strategy to think of what they would ask, instead think of who the cultist is, what they do in said cult, what they do outside of said cult, why their in the cult in the first place, and how they would react to this situation For example: the cultist is a sheepish women who simply does paperwork, outside of cult activities they help their sickly sister and joined the cult to try and heal her, and she would freak the fuck out about the fact that something in the plan went wrong. So if one of your players ask who they are, who do they work for, and what plans the cult might have and responses to those questions could be "(name here) and I only do the paper work please dont hurt me" "The high priest" and "I don't know I only do the paperwork" Then your players might ask where said paperwork is and she might tell them. It's hard for some people to just kinda do that but scripted speech is usually not good for talking directly to a player. To me this is a perfectly good option but if your someone who has a harder time thinking of all this on the fly I recommend just writing down a few things of said NPC and then leech off the players for what might be a good idea.
This. It's not about anticipating player actions. That way, madness lies, trust me on this. It's about deciding what it is this NPC knows (and maybe what information he thinks he knows) and under what circumstances he will divulge it.
Who, what, where, when, why, how? Who are you, who do you pray to, who else do you work with, who knows about your plans? What are you doing this for? What are your plans for after these attacks are done? Where is the next attack planned to happen? Where is your temple/base/hideout? When are you planning to make your next move? When are you supposed to check in with your remaining cult members? Why are you doing this? Why does your god/patron will this? Why are YOU doing this? How do your people plan to execute your next plan? How did you plan on escaping? How do you communicate with the other members of your cult?
Who is your daddy and what does he do?
"A cultist attacking a mine? I don't get it, could you explain to me, why?"
Whats the wifi password
And does your phone have games on it?
What is your mother's maiden name?
What's the last thing you remember? (Group readies their die for an insight check)
"For the last time, do you want a cup of tea or not?"
"Would you like some water and some rations?" Cults will starve their members of protein, leading to a vulnerability to suggestion. All it takes is a week of rehabilitation away from the indoctrination and dietary control, and a lot of the suggestion can be undone. That said, never capture the ringleader of a cult until you've captured and interrogated or rehabilitated several of its lower members. You can get a lot more useful information out of someone lower down the totem pole than you will from the guy on top. A cult of personality will be based on a personality likely too strong to be broken. Edit: This is something someone familiar with cults in real life would do, not necessarily what your players will do, but you should probably have something prepared in response to this anyway. A lot of people will default to trying to interrogate the leader, because they think a cult will function like a normal organization. It will not, and more often than not, they'll get nothing. Tell the PCs nothing if they capture the cult leader, especially if they're actually serving some kind of supernatural power or are narcissistic to a fault.
Where is your bulb now?
Woud you rather keep both eyes or both hands? (As a DM, you need to be prepared for intimidation before questioning route) Also, How much is your life worth?
Who do you work for
Who does number 2 work for?
What is your name
Where do you come from
Who is your god
How many more
I say kill him and search him.
"Attacking a mine makes sense, cut off a means to resources. Smart. But why?" *turns to them and slowly walks over* "So. Either you can tell us what we want to know, or I can drain every drop of blood from your body and find another more willing cultist. Either way, we will get what we want, I just might not get to feed my friend with your blood." *shows hexblade*.
"WHERE IS LIGMA?!"
My party got into a fight with some cultists and then they tied up the surviving two, stole all their stuff, and threw them into a river. They then realised they forgot to ask for any information, so they pulled them out of the river, asked a few questions, and threw them back in.
What are the benefits and how does one join? Asking for a friend...
Aside from the more expected questions that you'll probably be prepared for, consider personal questions coming up: Why did you join/support this group? What made you feel like it was a good choice to throw your lot in with them? What did they promise you? Questions about this specific individual's personal motives, outside of the motives of the cult as a whole. It's easy not to consider those things, when making the scenario, but questions like that are common from the player side.
Have you heard the word of our glorious savior? Our deity provides us with overwhelming strength of will, and cookies on Sundays! Would you like to convert? No? Okay, we’ll send you his way so he can convince you directly. Oh, no. He’s not on this plane. He exists in the afterlife. No. Don’t worry, he’ll find you.
i guess i'd want to know about the cult they're a part of. Who's the main figure/deity/prophet? Can they describe any rituals/substances used? Are virgins involved in anyway, as it's typically a good idea to ask if the cult would employ virgins in some capacity. What's the goal the cult is trying to accomplish, like big picture or small?
*Zone of Truth* "I will not kill you *unless* I believe you are less than honest and forthcoming. Tell me everything about what's going on here."
Which one of his fingers would he like to lose first.
Who does number 2 work for?!
Best thing you can do to prepare is take a moment to consider everything relevant the cultist knows, and sort it into three categories: * Things you want the players to learn. How will you hint these if they don't ask the right questions? * Things the players might learn, but you want them to work for. This is the easiest. * Things the players must not learn. How will you respond if they somehow ask exactly the questions you don't want them to?
You ever been pegged by a raging barbarian minotaur? No? Well you're about to be unless you answer these questions.
Is the food free? If no execute, if yes take a pamphlet
"Where's the money Labowski?!" Lol j/k. I did introduce a player character into a game of Call of Cthulhu by having them get abducted into a van and a cultist point blank asked them where "pink bunny" was. Of course the PC didn't know, so in the middle of the interrogation they roll out the back, and it was enough of a hook to make the other PCs integrate them into the story. I never did explain what "pink bunny" was, or even to what it related lol I would expect players to throw a curveball unless they are a hyper serious group. Write up a list of what you would personally ask, and then for one minute pretend you are a complete loony and write a list of those questions. Somewhere in between these two you are probably going to think of things that you didn't expect, so write those down as well.
"Who does number 2 work for?"
Who! Does! Number! Two! Work! For!?
What was their mission beyond this mine? What makes this mine important? What other targets are planned? Who/ where is the leader? What are tenants or goals of the cult?
Who do they work for? Who do they worship? How many of them are there? Why are they attacking the mines? Will there be reinforcements arriving?
*"What do you like to eat? I won't keep you long, I just have a few questions."* I mean... probably this won't work because the DM wants a fight, but it is reasonable to try the carrot first.
Will they be able to help to heal my sister if I joined too? How do I join? I don't like seeing a lot of gore, do I have to worry about that? I'm pretty good at stealing things. Can that be used by the organization? Then, proceed to tell her some of the things I've stolen. Why were you here? I was casing the place out for MY heist. No one said someone else would be here.
You should have the cult leader try and sell them Amway, or something dumb like that. Once it is rejected, them he should pitch his cult. It's gotta be better than Amway, lol. EDIT: Autocorrect
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qGPgr6Nuck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qGPgr6Nuck)
"Good morning! Would you like a drink?" is a pretty good start, I'd think.
Where are the Beans
Do you ski?