IV. Standard Interrogation Techniques
Standard Interrogation techniques are best utilized against prisoners from races with more advanced cognitive and reasoning abilities. They are not very effective against the savage races who respond more reliably to brutality and force such as Orcs and Trolls.
Standard Interrogation Techniques are typically practiced within an extended captivity situation such as a brig or detention center. They are not suitable for battlefield conditions where lives are in immediate danger.
In order to extract information in this manner, establish the Three C’s: Control, Communication, Co-dependence
1. Control
You must establish that you are in control of every aspect of the situation, and that you can either make the situation improve for the prisoner, or make it get much worse - depending on the decisions they make and the information they provide. The prisoner must feel that they are both dependent on you for any relief to their plight, and at your mercy.
2. Communcation
Keep the Prisoner Talking. Even if you have to start off the interrogation with talking about something unrelated what you’re interrogating them about. Getting the prisoner to start talking is important to establish that the more they talk, the less bad things will happen to them. Control the subject matter of the conversation and direct it towards the subject of the interrogation - like navigating a ship through a storm at night. Listen for any clues that might link the conversation to the real subject, and adjust the course of the exchange in that direction.
3. Co-dependence
Make the prisoner completely reliant on you for every aspect of their lives. The only contact they get, the only food they get, their only hope for an relief in their plight and discomfort should be you, their captor. Be their greatest fear, and their only hope, the only voice they ever hear. Completely and utterly dominate them physically and emotionally.
Just as even the strongest sea-wall can eventually break from a single hairline fracture, so can the will of a captor be shattered. Always know that you are in control, and sooner or later - they will accept it and relent.