DRAGON® issue #155 printed many thief-oriented articles which dealt with that class's functions in urban settings. In several of these articles, the focus was on the operation of a thieves' guild and the power that it wields in the average campaign city. Unfortunately, next to nothing has been written about this guilds nemesis and counterbalance: the law.
With the advent of the law-enforcement material presented herein, the scales of power will finally be reset. With this in mind, DMs should advise their players to remember one thing: "If you want to dance, you have to pay the piper."
First of all, the DM is required to do a small amount of preparation. Due to the varying types of governments, not every nation in a given campaign world will have the same laws or use the same methods to enforce their laws as its kindred nations. For this reason, the DM must determine the general alignment slant of each of the countries in his world.
To determine the alignment of a nation, the DM must examine its history, the general alignment of its people, its political stability, and its wealth. Detailed below are notes on how these factors relate to the four elements of law, chaos, good, and evil.
Law: A lawful society is characterized as having a history of steady advancement, obedient and relatively satisfied citizens, a competent ruler or government, and a stable economy.
Chaos: A chaotic nation is characterized as having a turbulent or bloody history, decadent or self-serving people, an incompetent or indifferent ruler, a frequently changing head of state, and a depressed or fluctuating economy.
Good: A good-aligned society is characterized as having a history of friendly cooperation in all governmental aspects, honest and fair people, and a benign and conscientious ruler.
Evil: An evil-oriented nation is characterized as having a history of aggression, exploitive and brutal citizens who prey on the weaker members of society, and a strong and domineering leader.
Upon determining the general alignment that best fits a country, the DM should make a permanent note of it. If the DM deems it necessary, he may start fleshing out the law procedures of the country in question at this point, using the guidelines presented in the rest of this article.
The procedure for capturing a lawbreaker varies only slightly from city to city. These differences are most noticeable in the varying procedures and discipline of the law enforcers.
In most campaign cities, the law enforcers are a hierarchy of government soldiers, often called the "watch" (derived from the Middle English term, wacchen, meaning to stay awake to keep guard). Each watchman is hired, paid, equipped, and trained by the city. These soldiers regularly patrol the city and man the city's watch posts, which are used to house both prisoners and the watchmen. The following is an example of a watch patrol:
Patrol leader (1): AC 4; MV 9"; F3; hp 13; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type; AL LN; chain mail, shield, long sword.
Patrol magic-user (1): AC 10; MV 12"; MU 2; hp 5; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type; AL LG; dagger; spells: charm person, sleep.
Patrol watchmen (6): AC 5; MV 9"; F1; hp 8, 7 (x 2), 6, 4 (x 2); #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type; AL LG-LN; chain mail, halberd or long sword, dagger, manacles.
Manacles are medieval versions of handcuffs, made out of iron. They are usually locked on the wrists of all criminal suspects. In most campaigns, manacles reduce the victim's dexterity by 4, and all attackers gain a +2 bonus to hit the victim. At the DM's option, manacles can be broken by a successful bend bars/lift gates roll (one chance only).
The procedure of the watch can be reduced to a simple, four-step list:
1. A watch patrol is sent to the scene of a reported crime or discovers the crime
while patrolling;
2. The patrol restores order;
3. The suspects are arrested and manacled; and,
4. The suspects are marched to a nearby watch post and processed.
In step one, the watch is alerted to a disturbance in the city. The watch can be called in several ways: the cry of a concerned citizen, the sight of a wrongful act, a special gong being rung, etc. A watch patrol is then sent from the nearest watch post to investigate, or hurries to the scene if already on patrol.
In step two, the patrol leader uses his discretion to determine the best course of action. This could be waiting for reinforcements, entering the crime scene, or any number of other possibilities. If the patrol enters the crime scene, order will be restored by either pummeling (if the opponents are unarmed) or fighting with weapons (if the opponents are armed). The patrol continues fighting until the opponents surrender, the opponents are killed, or the patrol withdraws (to return with reinforcements later).
In step three, the patrol manacles all suspects and prepares to march them to the nearest watch post. Each suspect is surrounded on all sides to prevent any escape.
In step four, the patrol marches the suspects to the watch post. Once there, each suspect is identified and the charges are drafted. Following this processing, the suspect is marched (under guard) to the city's main prison and kept in a large, common holding cell to await trial.
This procedure is, of course, only a model. Every city is unique, hence every city has its own methods for apprehending lawbreakers. These methods are usually determined by the alignment slant of the country, but some methods of enforcement may be determined by the ruler of the city. The DM should evaluate the influence of the city's ruler, based on his alignment, then determine the city's alignment standing and consider its law-chaos aspect, which will affect legal procedures as noted below.
Law: In the average lawful society, the city is strict in hunting down criminals. It also has a watch that is well equipped and finely disciplined. The hierarchy of the watch officials is clearly defined and adhered to. Finally, the city has written procedures regarding the duties, the patrols, and most other areas of concern of the watch.
Chaos: In a chaotic city, methods of law enforcement are more vague and disorganized. Many criminals are freed at the time of their arrests or before their trials (if they know someone in the watch hierarchy). Additionally, the watch officers may be lazy or incompetent, often wasting time and resources. In some cases, it is doubtful that the watch exists at all; instead the city relies on vigilante justice to punish criminals, which may prove as effective a deterrent as a watch.
As noted earlier, the newly captured suspect is placed in a holding cell with other suspects awaiting trial. The time the suspect waits depends on the severity of the crime. For minor crimes, the waiting period is 1-3 hours, and the suspect simply waits. For major crimes, the waiting period is 1-6 days. These time periods are, of course, ideal; delays can and do occur.
Suspects awaiting trial for major crimes have two options. First, the suspect can hire a barrister (lawyer) to defend him in court. The suspect can either bribe the cell guard to summon a barrister or have one of his friends hire one for him. Since the suspect is not allowed to have visitors with the exception of a barrister or city official, the latter option should be arranged in advance. If the suspect belongs to a guild, the guild may hire a barrister for him.
Second, the suspect can request a meeting with a city official. The official can be anyone up to the Lord Mayor or down to a lowly watchman. However, the granting of the meeting is left to the official who is summoned. This meeting (if granted) is sometimes used to bribe the official, although its official purpose is to allow confessions, discuss the charges, and clear up any other pretrial necessities. In all cases, after waiting the allotted time, the prisoner is moved under guard to the courtroom for his trial.
In most campaign cities, both the criminal and his accuser are allowed to hire a barrister to represent them in the courtroom. Barristers in the AD&DĘ game, however, function differently from the attorneys-at-law of the modern age. In order to explain how a barrister wins a case, certain aspects of the profession must be assumed and understood.
To begin with, every major city sports a barristers' guild. Since barristers are taken from the middle class, the guild retains more city-wide influence than, say, the lower-class farmers' guild. With this influence, the guild often gets laws passed that establish it as the only source of public defenders. When ineptitude is a serious problem in a barristers' guild, the guild usually bribes some of the city's judges to favor its members and buys exclusive access to the written laws for its members. In return, the members surrender roughly half their fees to the guild. Since the average man who defends himself thus does not know what the laws are, he almost always loses the case to the professional barrister. In this way, a corrupt barrister regularly earns his fee of 100-800 gp by defending wealthy clients.
At the time of the trial, the criminal's barrister (if he has one) arrives at the holding cell with his evidence and witnesses. From here, the prisoner is escorted under guard to the courtroom, where a judge presides over the case and renders a verdict. The trial processes described below are basically neutral on a good-evil scale. Logical adjustments should be made for cities leaning toward either good or evil. For example: One is innocent until proven guilty in good cities; the opposite is true in evil cities. Further differences based on alignment are given after the procedural section.
For a petty crime, the criminal is tried in petty court. Petty courts have a heavy caseload; consequently, they try cases in a rapid-fire manner whenever possible. The criminal is led into the courtroom, and the charges are read. Next, the criminal is given a chance to justify his actions. If he cannot, he is usually pronounced guilty and sentenced accordingly.
For a felony crime, the criminal is tried in a felony court. Here, the criminal is brought in and the charges against him are read. The prosecutor, usually called the Mayor's Counsel, presents the case against the suspect. Next, the suspect or his barrister presents the case for the defense. After each side has been heard, the judge determines the verdict.
To determine the verdict in a felony case, the DM should choose the winning side if the verdict is obvious. If it is not, the following system can be used (adapted from the LANKHMAR--: City of Adventure supplement, page 78). If the verdict is questionable, roll 2d6 for each side and add the modifiers shown on Table 1. Modifiers are cumulative in cases in which more than one apply. The side with the highest number wins. In the event of a tie, the government wins. If the suspect is found innocent, he is free to leave. If he is found guilty, he is sentenced by the judge.
To determine the sentence or fine, the DM should consult Tables 2 and 3. The sentence must be served immediately, but the fine can be paid at any time within the next month. The criminal is removed from the court and taken to a prisoner's cell block. Later, his family, is notified and the fine is collected from them. If the prisoner has no family, the fine is taken out of his belongings. If he cannot afford the fine, he may be charged with debt.
When determining how a city's general alignment affects the trial, the DM should only consider the good-evil component of the city, as per the appropriate paragraph:
Good: In the average good society, the judge is intent on finding the truth and administering justice. The court may hire barristers for the poor or allow every defendant access to the city's archives. Also, the government may pass civil-rights legislation that ensures a fair trial. Corruption and brutality during arrest are investigated by a special government section.
Evil: In an evil society, the trial process attempts to forcefully suppress the criminal element. The government may outlaw barristers, leaving the defendant to defend himself. Punishment may be brutal. The ruler may destroy his enemies through the law, but all allies (such as his judges, vassals, etc.) are above prosecution.
One final subject must be covered: pronouncing judgment on the defendant. The sentence of a guilty PC criminal must be short yet effective. Tables 2 and 3 reflect this in their design, as most of the sentences can be carried out within three months. By using this system, the rest of the players have to play for less than three game months before they can be reunited with their companion.
In the meantime, while the criminal waits in prison, the party may embark on a few adventures, gaining some treasure and magic. The deprivation of this money and magic is painful for the criminal, but it does not alienate him from the campaign. The jailed PC's player may run another character during this time.
For those PC criminals sentenced to death or life slavery, the DM should allow a chance or two for escape. The city may offer to suspend the sentence if the criminal performs a community service. Alternately, cell doors and shackles can be weak from rust and rot. In fact, the criminal's companions may solve the DM's problem by planning to rescue their comrade.
Thus, with the law as a more potent threat, the PC criminal element is held in check. Even in the AD&D game, evil PCs cannot run the world.