Mor's End Laws

Just a quick thread to throw out for ideas and feel free to kill it.
Some are silly.

For killing the one of town guard while he is performing his duty, the sentence is hanging.

All new permanent buildings first floor must be made out of brick.

All people living in the city for more than a year must use coin of realm for all business transactions. The bigger merchant houses and moneyer are excluded.

Short weighting of any sort is sentence to flogging and a fine.

It is illegal to summon fire elementals, cast fire spells, and casts dispel spells on Silk merchant lane, Gold Strike road (metal smith’s road) and near the town gates.

The coin of the (insert weekly/month enemy) city-state will be discounted twenty percent.

All citizens must stop and give aid to all grandmothers when asked.

You must bring a light crossbow and twenty bolts or the equivalent to church in case of Kobold attack.

It is illegal to park your dragon on high street.

The flinging of chamber pots at neighbors is illegal on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

All citizens must give aid to watch. (Mostly ignored).

The serving of silk fish with out an approved chief is subject to flogging and lost of fish to the Lord’s Table.

Tangle foot bags cannot be sold to kids under the age of 16.

The killing of any of city-states ruler family is sentence to hanging, drawn and quartering, the walk of the thousand catrops. And it is forbidden for any person to raise the guilty party.

Thieving:

The penalty for the first time you are caught commiting any thievery is inprisonment.
The penalty for the second time you are caught commiting any thievery is to have the thieving hand struck off, and inprisonment.
The penalty for the third time you are caught is hanging.

Any merchant caught selling bogus magic items will either be fined the cost to create the actual magic item, or inprisoned.

No bar, inn, or tavern shall serve beer of any sort with a head greater than 2 human fingers thick.

Creating illusionary pink elephants outside any tavern will result in a fine.

These laws look good but we need to find a way to make them less universal and more variable based on people's status and affiliations. I'd recommend we discuss who can make laws and whom those laws effect before we delve too much farther into what the laws are.

ok lets take a note from Judges Guild and use a social level.

Aristocrats level = SL

maybe add some specials like town guard, priest of Thor, royal family etc.

Most everyone else divide level by 2 except when being tried in one's own guild.
Adventurers level /2 = Sl ex 8th fighter has 4 sl

Have one two or three courts. Plus guild court.
One for misdeamors NOTE all aristocrats can just pay the fine at time of capture or next morning and not be counted against his record.

one for felony for social level below 8
One for felony for social level 8+
Add in some bribes to move the sentence to lesser amount.

Ex Spitting in street in is 10 day and 100 gp fine.

(Accused Sl - Judge SL) 4 Sl for our fighter - Judge Royal bean 8
-4 on roll

For every 10 gp for misdeamors , 100 gp on bribes for felonies add +1 to roll
For every 50 gp for misdeamors, 500 gp for lawyers add 1 to roll
D20
So Freddy the fighter is at -4 he gifts the judge with 200 gp so now he rolls and subtract two. Check the result chart

Judgement chart
1 roll on hanging judge chart.
3-4 full punishment
5-9 half time and full fine
10-14 half punishment
15-18 1/4 time and 1/4 fine
19 no time and 1/4
20 not guilty.
Hanging Judge chart
1 5 times the full punishment
2-6 4 times the full punishment
7-11 3 times the full punishment
12-16 2 times the full punishment
17 + full punishment.

Just a note: We're beheading instead of hanging.

Somewhere around here is a very good submission on the (optional) rules of Slavery. There was also some stuff at the end of the government thread on who has what power when it comes to making laws, maybe that can help figure out some of the "who does what?"

Law Making Bodies

0 Common Law
The Common Law is those Laws which have a customary basis these include Law of Contracts (based upon Honesty and Truth of a Bond), Law of Property Ownership and Rights of Citizenship.

1 The Council
The Council has power to pass laws for maintenace and good goverment of the City including issues of Trade, Property, City Planning and Public Safety. It may impose tariffs and other charges upon any issue of Trade or Property within the City including taxation of Trade earnings and the the Chartering of Guilds and may impose fines and other sentences for any breach of its laws (including Unlawful Assembly, Disturbing the Peace, Theft and other crimes of dishonesty). Any issues relating to relationships between Guilds is handled by the Council

2 Lady Kelvin
Lady Kelvin has jurisdiction of Enheim being the lands and surroundings Outside the Walls of Mors End. Her Household may impose taxation on property and earnings of all persons residing in Enheim, determine and grant titles to land and lake and pass laws and edicts to maintain the peace of the Enheim (this includes the Edict that all Goblins that surrender to the City have the right to become citizens). Her Household enforces all Capital Punishment as it applies to Murder, Rape, Enslavement of Citizens, Treachery, Disrespect of Authority and similar. It also has the right to make Treaties, declare war and has jurisdiction over the Conduct of the Nobility

Issues of Common Law when in dispute are also referred on to Lady Kelvin for her decision.

Finally the Lady Kelvin has the right to Veto any Law imposed by the Council.

3 The Nobles
The Nobility have the right to enforce law and govern and manage their estates as they see fit provided that they do not breach the Laws of Enheim. Members of the Household, Tenants, Slaves may be punished as the Noble sees fit provided that such punishment is not cruel and unjust. Such Tenants, Householders and Slaves may complain to Lady Kelvin who has authority to investigate the Conduct of the Nobility.

4 The Guilds
The Chartered Guilds have full authority to impose regulations for the good conduct and management of its Trade including the registraton and licencing (implied in membership) of Tradesmen. All commercial misconduct and dishonesty in Contracts is punished first by the Guild and only if referred on by the Council

The Mages, Temples and Scholars are all considered to be Guilsmen for the purposes of Law enforcement

* The Squats being outside the Walls of Mors End do not technically come under the Authority of the Council and thus a number of illegal activities are conducted in this area.
Of course the Watch does make the occasional raid on the Squats and Capital Crimes are still covered by the Laws of Enheim.

An Example
Keifer the Gnome is a GemCutter and owner of a Sapphire mine

- His Mine claim is registered through Lady Kelvin (including a Mining Rate of 10% on annual income)
- He is Licenced as a Member of the Glittering Brotherhood Guild to trade in Sapphires (with an annual fee of 5% of his Mining Income and another 5% for his Jewellery income)
- His Jewellers Store is registered by the City Council as a place of Trade (the Council also imposes a 12% Property Rate)

= 32% of his Income is Taxed with payments to three different groups

Now if his Mine is robbed he has to decide who to go to

- The Council (and thus the Watch) has no jurisdiction outside the city and refer him to the Guild whom he pays for protection of his trade
- The Guild has no jurisdiction beyond its Charter (which does not include punishing theives) so refer him to Lady Kelvin
- Lady Kelvin sees this as a matter for the City and not within her Jursidiction so refers him to the City Watch
- and so on and so forth

Keifer instead decides to go and hire the PCs...