Firstly, I'm absolutely loving this mod so far - new goodies to wear, excellent gothy atmosphere, lots of other sweet new content, and Qarl went to all the extra work to make the companions male AND female, so it's not something a lady player has to be bicurious to play. I already have a walkthrough by Qarl for the mod itself which hasn't been able to help my current issue.
SPOILERS FOLLOW.
Specifically, I'm at the point where my female character and Johnny are in Ghostgate with the magic helm and I can see and speak to the goblin beside the Shrine of Pride. Johnny has suggested I beat some info out of him, which is also what the walkthrough says I should do. The problem is that nothing I do - weapon, spell, hand-to-hand - has any slightest effect on the goblin's behavior or hit points. He just ignores me. Is there some specific thing I have to use on him, or is this part of the quest just not possible to do without a very high H2H skill?