Tell Me Now is a rules supplement on torture from LPJ Design. The zipped file is almost 0.7 megabytes in size, containing one PDF file which is a bit larger. The PDF file is eleven pages long, with the cover taking up almost a page itself, and another page set aside for the OGL.

Tell Me Now revisits the idea of d20 game mechanics for torture, and it paints a deliciously grim picture. It opens by presenting the idea that eventually, with enough time to ply their trade, a torturer will break their victim; it?s just a question of how long it takes. This is represented by a character?s Break Counter, a threshold at which they break. The torture itself is essentially an Intimidate check on the part of the torturer versus the victim?s Fort save, with the difference being added to the total opposed to the Break Counter. Once that opposed total equals or exceeds the break counter, the victim breaks and tells the torturer something that he wants to know. Moreover, each of the twenty different types of torture listed in this book have various bonuses to the Intimidate check.

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of these rules is that, once your Break Counter is exceeded, it permanently goes down. Once you break under torture once, you?re more likely to do so in the future. But if that?s the most insidious part of the rules, then the grimmest part is that most of the methods of torture have permanent effects on a character. While not all do, and many offer a saving throw, it?s entirely possible that being tortured will leave physical or mental scars that never fade, such as permanent hit point loss or ability drain. All tortures also have phobic triggers, where encountering something that reminds you of when you were tortured can trigger a flashback.

The product closes out by presenting ten new torture-related feats, ranging from things that let you further torture your victims, to having received special training on how to resist torture.

Altogether, Tell Me Now is hands-down the best set of d20 mechanics on torture that I've ever seen. This book pulls no punches in the material that it delivers, and the results are solid mechanics that put the fear back into torture. Using these rules at the game table will actually make your players afraid for their characters. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: These new rules put the fear back into torture, as characters can suffer wounds from which they never recover. This book will make being captured and tortures into a real threat that characters won't want to experience.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: While there wasn't anything here I overtly disliked, it's worth mentioning (and the book does cover this) that these mechanics are exceptionally grim and gritty, and won't be for all players.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>