You, my friend, are completely fucked up.

for some reason, i feel like a proud father

I'm a nice guy, so I prefer fairly stupid torture that might or might not work, but will at the very least amuse you and give you a funny story for the SR quotefile.

Cast levitate on the person, and float them up very high. Too high to be seen from the ground, but not so high that they die of exposure. Quicken it and promise to come back soon. Drop in astrally on occasion to see if they want to talk. Quicken a "Nutrition" variant on them as well if necessary.

Do the "Ginger Beer Trick"! Take a bottle of REALLY gassy drink, cork the bottle, shake it and stick it where the sun don't shine. They will be squealing like PIGS!

Or do that bit in Scarface involving a chainsaw. You need a closely related relative or colleague, and a chainsaw. If you've seen the film, you know what to do from there...

Feh. For a magical subject, we hooked him up to an IV with stim drugs.

Our GM ruled the character was getting enough drugs to warrant a magic loss check once an hour.

-Siege

Hmm.

simonw2000 reminded me of a trick that Joseph Wambaugh mentioned in one of his novels--THE DELTA STAR, I believe it was.

(Note: I'm not in a position to say whether or not the following information is actually true; I'm merely relating the story, as best as I can remember it, as it was told in the novel.)

Supposedly, whenever there was a major disturbance at a prison in Mexico, the Mexican authorities (federales) would show up in force, along with a truck containing a large quantity of bottled Coca-Cola products. For some reason, the inmates ALWAYS gave up when that happened.

American onlookers--usually reporters, but occasionally there would be an American cop there as an observer-- thought that the soda was there as a bribe.

Nope! Sorry!

Wambaugh claimed in the novel that the Mexican authorities had developed a novel form of punishment for such situations, and the Coca-Cola was the weapon of choice.

Supposedly, the federales would pick a few of the most troublesome inmates, and take them, individually, to private interrogation rooms. The guy would be strapped to a chair, and asked if he wanted a Coke. However he answered, he always got one, just not in the manner he expected.

A federale would take a 12- or 20-ounce bottle of Coke, uncap it, and shake it up, after blocking the top with his thumb (or maybe they leave the cap on; I'm not certain, as I went through a period about 20 years ago during which I read virtually everything that Mr. Wambaugh had published up until that time). After the soda was suitably agitated, he'd walk over to the captive prisoner, and offer him one last opportunity to tell everything he knew about the cause of the disturbance, and the leader(s) of the group(s) which caused it, if any.

If the poor sap STILL refused to talk, another federale would tilt his head backwards--usually by grabbing his hair--and the first fellow would move the soda bottle into position, and then move his thumb slightly.

The hapless inmate would immediately receive an ice-cold stream of agitated Coca-Cola in the face--or, rather, up one nostril. Wambaugh described the feeling as similar to having your sinuses scoured with molten lava or acid, or having a volcano erupt behind your eyeballs. (Although how he would know, I have no idea--unless he (a) interviewed several inmates at Mexican prisons who'd received the treatment; (b) went through it himself to see what it was like; or © both.

I'm not certain, but I think the same technique might work in SR--that is, if carbonated drinks are still around.

Of course, even if they aren't, I'm reasonably certain that similar results could be achieved with sparkling water (i.e., Perrier), beer or ale, sparkling wine, or even champagne (you never know what some of these folks might have in their refrigerators or wine cellars).

--Foreigner

Having snarfed a Coke once or twice, it's just not that painful.

It's not fun, but it hardly constitutes agonizing torture.

-Siege

Remember the the mucous that it normally in your nose and sinuses will give you some protection from this. So when you snese while drinking coke, you only get around a tablespoon or so or coke up your nose. This treatment typically used liter bottles. Also, this will get coke into your sinuses, which are much more sensitive. Also, note that the prisoner will have their head tilted back, to minimized the draining the the coke...

You guys are all sick.

panzer, that last one of yours doesn't hold too much power in sr. if the guy gets away he can just have a new one grown and attached, hell he could upgrade to a few more inches while he's at it too.

Nah, I'd just use the parts of the last guy who did that to me. Poetic justice is sweet and does wonders for your rep.

The Dream spell every time they go to sleep. 'Nuff said.

~J

But here's the big question...

...

...Whatcha gonna do if they have a pain editor?



Neener neener neeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeer!

That's easy, finds one of their friends/relatives/cats that dosen't.

Probably in the order: Child, significant other, sibling, parent, rest of family, friends. Cast Control Actions on Mr Painedited. Force Mr Painedited to torture Child/SO/sibling/etc to death. Remember to stop the procedure every now and then in case s/he wants to start talking.

And if they don't have any of the above, just Alter Memory so that they think they do.

Happyhappyjoyjoy Cultured Bioware! 1.4 Bio Index, 250,000 .

Might lead to an interesting situation. Torture Mr Happy's significant other in front of his eyes while he just keeps smiling and thinking happy thoughts.

A dedicated chipjack with a "happy fuzzy" chip or a "snuff me now" BTL.

The possibilities are endless...

-Siege

Hmmm...Very true.

Remind me never to get caught by any of your PCs, all of you.

Make sure that the chip gets rid of your friends/relatives/cats as well, you might have told them something we wanted to know .

Hah! They can get their own...and I never liked that bloody cat.

-Siege

Been a while since I last posted, but I have a few tortures that would work very well on those that don't have a pain editors.

Torture #1: Electrodes under the finger nails, if having something pushed under your finger nails hurts like hell. just imagine applying electric current to it.

Torture #2: Open wounds and worms, nothing is more sickening then feeling something moving around in a still warm wound.

Torture #3: Cut sections of said subjects muscle tissues off limbs and make him eat it, make sure to apply first aid to areas. Having the subject bleed out before information is extracted is counter productive.

Torture #4: Paper cuts inside the eye lids, because every body knows paper cuts hurt like all hell, picture the eye lids now and you get a nice picture.

Thats all for right now at the moment, I'll be adding more if I get the chance.

Why not just force the person to explain decker and maybe even vehicle combat rules to a new player? But seriously, it might be a bit expensive, but it would work and after they're released, they'd be a walking example. How about setting a series of kink bombs? like, one for each of the five senses, cut one at a time till they crack. Brings whole new meaning to, "If you ever want to see your wife again..." Each time you cut a sense, you're gonna have to screw with their minds too. "You didn't answer my question, and now ya can't see. Wouldn't it be a shame if ya could never feel the touch of a lover again? Why, you wont even be able to feel around in the dark to go to the bathroom. Keep this up and you wont be able to taste the poison I shove down your throat when I don't get the answers I want."

After a few years of playing rougher characters, I discovered I had personally developed an eery depth of knowledge and inventivess regarding torture methods. Fearing that I was developing a potency rating as a player, I have recently developed a taste for the beauty and simplicity of mindprobe. Especially in combination with lithium and other sedatives that reduce willpower. At the end of the day for a few targets, this has been required to get the necessary information.

My initial preference for interrogation is schlocky detective style. I had a dwarf investigator with a very large troll friend who preferred this style. The subject is strapped down to a bare metal chair wearing only underwear and placed in a dingy bare-brick room with a single shaded lamp swinging low and shining directly into his eyes. All the walls and most of the room are left in the shadow. Sitting opposite the subject, was the troll who smoked his cigar in the shadows and said nothing. My dwarf would walk in and out of the light, around the subject and ask his questions repeatedly. Repeated non-compliance was met with the command of "Fezzik, break his arm." At which point, the troll would stand up, pick up his golf club and break an arm. The dwarf would set it. The troll would sit down and continue smoking. Questioning would resume from the beginning. Repeat. I tended to like the whole 30s detective motiff that this carried with it. It was somewhat effective.

Later, this same dwarf achieved skills of Interrogation 7 and Chemistry 10. Interrogations were assisted by a variety of drug cocktails in series. Hallucinogens were administered carefully and the subject left in the room for hours on end. The hallucinogens were removed by a custom drug that chased the hallucinogens through the bloodstream, and decomposed them. The result would drop the subject out his high in about 30 seconds, and cause the sensation of fire burning through his veins. (This latter drug was loosely based off of a drug I was told of by a paramedic friend of mine he would use to knock patients out of drug-induced highs.) The subject was led to believe that he had revealed all pertinent information while high, and the shock of dropping out of the high assisted in this deception. Believing the cat was out of the bag, the subject would not be so protective. For more resilient characters, similiar methods were employed repeatedly. One of the toughest subjects was placed on a regime of hallucinogenic drugs, de-highed, subjected to a hydraulic vice (he had Ti bone lacing), and then shot with a taser. When he awoke, we would repeat. Only about every four or five sessions would any questions actually be asked. He had a pain editor, but after the tenth tasering, it wasn't working quite as well as expected. I believe we also removed most of his cyber implants using tools found in our vehicle shop. Once finished with the subjects, I administered a drug that completely eliminated their memory, and we shipped them off to Australia in a cargo ship.

In a much lower resource mob campaign, another character of mine would nab the subjects from their homes or right off the street. The interrogation would take place far out of the city (Thunder Bay in this case) where they would be dumped into the snow while naked. My character was obscenely charismatic and well skilled, and would simply talk down the target. The rest of the crew were large orks and trolls who would rough up the subjects in a straightforward manner. It was simple, but it worked. I also used mind-games to attempt to reduce the target's will in resisting and keep them off balance. One particular drug dealer was beaten until he would accept his name was now "Alice."

Another campaign involved open-brain surgery without any form of anesthetic. "Grab his legs; he might kick a little."

I seem to also recall several campaigns in which our group employed directed terrorism to simplify encounters in the future, both combat and social interactions such as interrogation. But that might be better discussed in another thread. Although I suppose decimation would apply as a group interrogation method.

I had a good run with all this, and enjoyed it at the time. Now, I try to go for more straight-forward magic like Mind Probe, will reducing magics, or completely avoid interrogation (beyond the legallly allowed sense.) I like applying social pressure these days.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go scrub myself with steel wool in the shower now.

Having a pain editor is fine and good, but when they can come up with bioware that can block out the psychological horror that one would go through having his genitals removed slowly with a potato peeler, Im out of a job.

Just because you cant feel it happening, knowing your going to have to wee sitting down is going to have a bit longer of an impact than just physical pain.
Anyone can hurt a guy. Its in properly horrifying your subject.

Heck, when your done with the peeler, you could make some very odd curly fries for your ghoul chummer with the shavings.

I think I had blocked this one, and I still can't even remember if we actually went through with it. But the subject was tied down with his bare stomach over the top of a steel basin with holes along the side. Inside the basin were several devil rats. The bottom of the basin was heated to encourage the devil rats to escape through the only means available to them: the subject's stomach.


I'm taking some Clorox into the shower with me this time... back in 50.

Psychotropic IC and BTL's! They both use Simsense, so why not?

Why not just whip out Grandma's classic collection of pop tunes. Britteny Spears and New Kids on the Block will get them talking momentarily.

How do you torture someone with a Pain Editor, no conscience, and is a cyber zombie? He could easily get lost in the details of the pain...

A untorturable subject.

Or a subject that can astrally project, he can just project and leave his body to die, "You'll kill me anyway."

Then there's always the modern art tortures that I believe Spain used in the 30s or so...

~J

Phaeton:

Are you saying that you--

(a) want to bear Daishi's child (physiologically impossible with today's medical techniques, as I understand it, unless modified in vitro techniques are used); or

(b) that you want his daughter for some as-yet-unmentioned (and possibly immoral) purpose?

Just asking.

--Foreigner

Anyone seen that Something Positive strip with the tree-violated munchkin? A dirty-minded shaman could call a forest spirit shaped like a tree for some adult ENT-ertainment!

Interesting spin: make a small, shallow cut on the victim's arm.

The wiz heals the cut.

Explain to the victim this could go on for hours.

Watch him do the math.

-Siege

Pain editor can't do anything when you strap him to a chair with only a looped showing of... Granny Porn. I believe we tried that once for something minor, and it worked only because the GM threw his hands in the air in disgust.

Matrix. What do you think it's full of?

If you're doing a torture with a welding-torch or flamethrower, light a cigar with it first! I got the idea for that after reading the Making Of for the Judge Dredd film where there is a clear picture of Stallone lighting one between takes!

Edit: Remember to do it in plain view, and watch 'em freak out!

I believe the CIA did quite a bit of research on the effectiveness of sensory deprivation on subjects.

So, just code a BTL of nothing. Strap down subject (who has a datajack or chipjack already, for full effectiveness, or electrodes) and slot the chip. Let them sit in complete sensory dep for a day or so until they start begging to even hear their own voice. Unslot the chip, ask your questions. If they balk, threaten to put them back in. (Most effective if you play with their sense of the passage of time.) They refuse, re-slot the chip. Repeat until they break.

No blood, no mess, and with the proper spells/BTLs, can convince them it never happened. Create a plausible cover (crashed vehicle, kidnapped by a biker gang and left for dead, whatever) and dump them.

An alternative is a BTL set to do sensory dep on all but one sense, and to overstimulate it. So that the slightest whisper sounds like having your head shoved into a jet engine, or the feel of a breeze is like having a belt sander run over your skin.

Final alternative, give them a pleasure BTL that simulates being brought to the edge of orgasm... and then denied... and then brought up again, and denied. Repeat as necessary until they're begging for it to end, then proceed as usual.

Depending on the subject, might be more effective if they're brought to the edge, and then left there for as long as necessary. Starts pleasant, becomes uncomfortable, turns into absolute frustration and finally a burning need that they can't fulfill. Keep offering to let them finish if they'll just cooperate... then leave the room for a while if they don't. Let 'em stay like that for increasing periods of time between questioning until they give in and start telling all just to have it stop.