Zone of Truth; A problem with a different version.


Advice


In my group, we have a house-rule that makes the use of Zone of Truth a bit more... useful, for lack of a better word.

The rule is as follows: Successfully making the save against Zone of Truth does not allow the person who made the save to ignore the effects; it only makes them aware of the effect, thus allowing them to refuse to answer or to phrase their sentences less directly to avoid deliberate false-hoods while still not speaking clearly. If the save is failed, then the person finds her/himself unable to prevent her/himself from speaking anything but the most direct truth possible.

My question is: For people that fail the save, what is a good way to depict them not realizing they're being forced to speak the truth? It would quickly become obvious after they begin speaking, of course, but the main issue is the first few sentences, when they've yet to become aware of it. Does anyone else use a similar rule, or have any experience with a similar situation?


As in NPCs? You can go a few routes. First is the evil genius monologue where the person starts going on about their brilliant plan or cunning trick or how they are so much smarter. Another way is the old "You can't get me to tell you that I bribed a guard, stole the thing, and hid it in that place... crap". Another is to have the guy start all sarcastic "Oh suuuuure, you want me to tell you all about the ambush coming up! Yeah right! And I will certainly not tell you a thing about the poisoned pastry we'll serve you for breakfast!"

All of these should end roughly the same way with "... crap" as they realize what they just said and shut up.

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