As far as the actual gaming experience goes at a live table, I am one of those unfortunate forever Dungeon Master sorts. When I do get to play, the other Dungeon Master either runs out of time to run their game or they "Get bored with it.", whatever that means. Fortunately my previous group was decently sized, five players in all, so when I assumed it again after the just prior game folded because of the previous example, I chose to do something different. Very different at that, which was to play a grim-dark d20 Modern urban supernatural setting... with a twist - they were to play themselves. They began as basic as one could be, no special classes or real exceptionalism lifted from Third Edition or d20 Modern, barring the obvious; their ability scores were all rated by themselves and their peers, averaged out, adjusted to all be an even total, so on and so forth. I put a tremendous amount of work into making this a totally different experience.
Then I let them out into a world where the stranger things lurk, hidden away but never far. This went about as well as you expect initially, they spent most their time dealing with regular people, albeit quite bad people - murderers, drug addicts and dealers, corrupt police, arms dealers, so on and so forth. But when they finally got a taste of the unusual, they became nervous, rightfully so. Even a bit compromised on their morals.
But we aren't here to talk about that, no, we are here to talk about interrogation techniques. Mind you some of these people, in reality, are how should we say... familiar, to some? They waterboarded a few cultists they captured, brainwashed college students who were beguiled by a vampire and began to dabble in darker things after being led into it by what amount to human traffickers for the cult. That seemed to work well, they got their information, but there was this one cultist who they could not break, even once the enchantment actually wore off; the person legitimately wanted to be part of this cult.
Now, previously the had just executed their captives if they proved too difficult, but our ranger had a better idea. He had heard of few various tactics, stripping them and throwing them bound in a cold room and spraying them with water from time to time to prevent them from sleeping, playing extremely loud and disturbing music - his choice being Soviet era Red Army choir music. But none of that worked, except for one off hand thing he had heard of.
He tells me as we sit there, the party still in heated debate about if any of this is even tolerable, as they are saving non-cultists and hurting the cult, thus the vampire as well, with the information they keep extracting, that he, "Goes to the store, looking for any grocery store that has live lobsters."
Confused, yet curious what this has to do with anything as the rest of his party still are in heated debate, I allow him to find one. He purchases three live lobsters and returns to their compound. He then notes that he takes the bands off the lobsters' claws and waits a bit, mind you the prisoner has been subject to their situation for several days and are utterly sleep deprived, barely eating, and barely hydrated. He then talks to said prisoner, warning them that if they do not comply they will face dire consequences. Delirious, crazed, rather insane as we had a sanity mechanic, prisoner isn't too convinced. So, blindfolded and bound, shivering in ankle deep water, the prisoner is left with three live, lobsters.
Three very angry lobsters.
Yes, I rolled to see where the lobsters would go and what they would do in their milling about, but eventually man and crustacean met. The prisoner panicked and the lobster defended itself, snapping at him. Again and again this happened, the more hysterical one was, the more said lobster would defend itself when harassed by the blind, futile flailing and screaming.
My players eventually broke a prisoner using lobsters. They had... issues, to say the least, apparently. I suppose that is what I get for a grim-dark setting though.
