How else do you expect them to act?
I had an encounter recently that turned out rather boring in the end. One of the things that I ended up being frustrated about was the way the players got frustrated at the NPC's actions.
A quick recap: The group found a doppelganger that had attempted to replace one of their party members. The first thing they did was stab it in both knees with a sword. Then they told it they would kill it. THEN they started to ask questions - and apparently they thought that this would encourage it to give answers. When the doppelganger responded "if you going to kill me anyway then I won't answer" the group complained that the NPC was not acting realistically. That there should be a morale check or something.
I never understand this attitude. Here is a group of heavily armed people, obviously powerful and intentionally intimidating. It seems to me that the NPC being questioned has two options. Lie about everything just to stay alive for a few brief moments or to die a martyrs death.
--to be continued--
