Interrogation

Interrogation is the battle of wits between somebody who wants to know and somebody they have under their power. The main goal is for the interrogator to find something out from the subject, but the body of the scene often strays into an outright faceoff between the characters... or a clever ruse perpetrated by one of them. Questioning also provides a great opportunity to show the differences (and similarities) between our heroes and their enemies.

[comment author="Russell"]This is a pretty early draft. I'm not settled on the format, among other things.[/comment]

How to get here

Capture a suspect after a gunfight; persuade a witness to "come downtown"; get kidnapped by the enemy.

Where to do it

Back at the office; in a dark room under a bare lightbulb; dangling the subject off of a rooftop; one of our heroes caught in a deathtrap.

What's at stake

No time to lose finding the bomb; subject is the only connection to the [i]real[/i] villain; the interrogator's pet hellhounds are about to tear our heroes apart.

Roles

Interrogator

The interrogator (or interrogators) are there to wheedle the truth- or an affirmation for what they've already decided is the truth- out of the subject.

Tactics

Good Cop: The good cop offers deals, incentives, wants to [i]help[/i]. His message is that, just because he obviously represents interests that conflict with the subject's, that doesn't mean he doesn't care. Maybe they could work something out.
Bad Cop: Screw deals. The subject is the enemy. The subject is lying. The bad cop's message is that she doesn't have to care, that she's going to get what she wants, and that breaking down resistance is just going to make it more fun.
Dumb Cop: He'd like to work this case out, but he needs the subject to explain just one more thing. This is a complicated case, and he just wants to get the facts right. The dumb cop's message is that the subject is smarter than he is... right up to the moment where he turns the tables.

Subject

The subject (and there's rarely more than one), is there to avoid giving his captors what they want.

Tactics

Play Dumb: This almost never works, but subjects try it a lot, especially when they're innocent. And innocence is the message here.
Stonewall, Garden Path: By staying quiet or weaving elaborate lies, the subject attempts to divert his interrogators.
You Need Me: The subject thinks they have some kind of bargaining power. Maybe they know the location of the last bomb, or the access code the interrogators need to defuse it.
Get Into Your Head: A smart subject can manipulate his interrogators, attacking their own emotional weaknesses. This is a favorite of evil masterminds, but it works equally well for punk villains who believe in their own righteousness.

Variations

False Pretenses
Facing Your Fear