Interrogation covers questioning willing sources, pressuring reluctant
ones, breaking scared captives and trained subjects, extracting intel
under time pressure, and turning captives into long-term informants.
The corpsec interrogator, the union enforcer who breaks a scab with
patience and a chair, the Station cop who cracks a case without raising
a bruise, the case officer who turns a captive into an asset over six
careful weeks. Where Intimidation is the muscle and Insight is the read,
Interrogation is the room -- the door, the light, the offer, the silence.
Opposed by the target's Will save or Deception. Failure by 5+ on a
trained subject lets them feed false intel.
Rules Reference
Field
Value
Armor Check Penalty
false
Key Ability
CHA
Opposed Skills
Deception
Trained Only
true
Untrained Use
Cannot use untrained; may ask willing sources a few questions but no mechanical pressure or break.
Key Ability
CHA
Notes
Special: Opposed by target's Will save (pressure) or Deception (trained
subjects). Failure by 5+ on trained subject allows false-intel feed;
Insight check to catch. Time pressure adds +5 to DCs.
Special: Interrogation is opposed by the target's Will save (for pressure) or
Deception (for trained subjects feeding a line). Failure by 5+ on a
trained subject grants the captive the option to feed false intel;
the interrogator must make an Insight check to catch the lie. Long
extractions take hours; under time pressure, DCs rise by 5.
Untrained: Interrogation is trained-only. An untrained character can ask a few
questions of a willing source but lacks the read and the pressure to
break a reluctant or trained subject. The GM should not allow it to
substitute for trained Interrogation.