A suspect who answers a few questions, then clams up for a while
Questioning a witness over and over until they crack is too easy, and a witness who simply answers everything is dull. Here is how patience runs down faster on a topic you keep pressing, what happens when it is gone and how the conversation reopens.
Why this works
People tire of being pressed on one point faster than of being asked something new. Letting the price rise on a repeated topic rewards a questioner who explores, and shutting the person down for a set time, instead of locking the story, forces a pause without ending the scene.
When not to use it
Do not use it when the suspect should be wrung out by pressure and a hard push is the whole fantasy, or when players need every answer to continue. Then give clear alternatives to reach the facts, such as papers or other witnesses.
In the full entry
- What to build, step by step
- Starting values and the reason for each
- 3 common mistakes and the fix
- A diagram of every state
- 24 lines of example code with 3 checks that pass
- How your AI shows you that it works
Say this to your AI
Use the Spielerando entry "A suspect who answers a few questions, then clams up for a while" (read_entry narr-interrogation-patience-shutdown) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP