Today I discuss establishing a setting's law enforcement and judicial system. Historical sources indicate examples of organized court systems - Aeschylus' Oristeia depicts the foundation of Athenian law and trials, with a jury of 12 citizens, and wise magistrates are a common feature of Chinese parables. A court will require some infrastructure,which will inform how one develops the rest of the justice system in the setting proper.
Are the courts religious and backed by a god of justice? Then perhaps clerics are trained also in litigation, and paladins serve as police officers. What is the bureaucracy like? Can the parties in a case settle with blood money or compensation? Or are judicial punishments rather more eye-for-an-eye?
How does one imprison a magic-user, anyway? Or a high-level rogue? A government may choose to exile such individuals instead of attempting to confine them, giving PCs a great reason to be out adventuring -or they may be marooned on an isolated island instead, which also gives a PC party a great reason to get together. After all, they have to work together since they’re each other’s best chances of getting out of their predicament.
The presence of a law enforcement system of course implies its opposite - that there is also organized crime, and thieves’guilds are a common feature in many fantasy settings. How the two coexist can inform an entire adventure arc of itself. If the PCs are all law-abiding types,then a GM could set up a campaign quite like the Untouchables, where they hunt down evidence required to try a powerful, shady individual in a court of law.
Thief and scoundrel PCs - well, they’d be experiencing the law enforcement system from the other end of it. Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series begins in a city where the nobles and the Right People (organized crime) have arranged a Secret Peace, where the city guards ignore the actions of the thieves as long as the thieves don’t steal from nobles. Violations of this Peace are punished by unpleasant death, and it’s a threat hanging over several characters’ heads that drives a good amount of the initial plot.
In a setting with a petty and venal government,the thieves’ guilds themselves may become the only source of law enforcement and protection on the streets. Protection money becomes a de-facto tax, since the guild would be upset if their merchant cash cows’ shops get destroyed by rivals in a convenient accident.
When discussing law enforcement we also have to consider what the people of the setting consider crimes - it was not illegal to expose unwanted infants in classical Rome, for example. The PCs’ expectations clashing with those of the local authorities is an excellent way to grab them by the plot hook.
The penalties for crimes can be similarly colorful and varied. A state could tattoo or brand criminals, covering larger sections for more severe crimes, with the criminal executed when they finally run out of space for more markings. Not feeling quite so bloodthirsty? Well,the pillory could be an option for petty crimes. Who wants to brave the rain of rotten turnips to talk to the NPC contact who just got pilloried for public drunkenness and nudity?
Last but not least: the existence of magic makes for interesting takes on the justice system. Divination spells could smooth trials and help in evidence gathering, and geas spells could help enforce restraining orders and anti-social behavioral orders. Magically enhanced interrogation could be more reliable than torture, in a coercive state, and a prison staffed with unbribable summoned jailers would prove an obstacle for rich inmates attempting to bribe their way out.
contributed by M.W. Simmes
Are the courts religious and backed by a god of justice? Then perhaps clerics are trained also in litigation, and paladins serve as police officers. What is the bureaucracy like? Can the parties in a case settle with blood money or compensation? Or are judicial punishments rather more eye-for-an-eye?
How does one imprison a magic-user, anyway? Or a high-level rogue? A government may choose to exile such individuals instead of attempting to confine them, giving PCs a great reason to be out adventuring -or they may be marooned on an isolated island instead, which also gives a PC party a great reason to get together. After all, they have to work together since they’re each other’s best chances of getting out of their predicament.
The presence of a law enforcement system of course implies its opposite - that there is also organized crime, and thieves’guilds are a common feature in many fantasy settings. How the two coexist can inform an entire adventure arc of itself. If the PCs are all law-abiding types,then a GM could set up a campaign quite like the Untouchables, where they hunt down evidence required to try a powerful, shady individual in a court of law.
Thief and scoundrel PCs - well, they’d be experiencing the law enforcement system from the other end of it. Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series begins in a city where the nobles and the Right People (organized crime) have arranged a Secret Peace, where the city guards ignore the actions of the thieves as long as the thieves don’t steal from nobles. Violations of this Peace are punished by unpleasant death, and it’s a threat hanging over several characters’ heads that drives a good amount of the initial plot.
In a setting with a petty and venal government,the thieves’ guilds themselves may become the only source of law enforcement and protection on the streets. Protection money becomes a de-facto tax, since the guild would be upset if their merchant cash cows’ shops get destroyed by rivals in a convenient accident.
When discussing law enforcement we also have to consider what the people of the setting consider crimes - it was not illegal to expose unwanted infants in classical Rome, for example. The PCs’ expectations clashing with those of the local authorities is an excellent way to grab them by the plot hook.
The penalties for crimes can be similarly colorful and varied. A state could tattoo or brand criminals, covering larger sections for more severe crimes, with the criminal executed when they finally run out of space for more markings. Not feeling quite so bloodthirsty? Well,the pillory could be an option for petty crimes. Who wants to brave the rain of rotten turnips to talk to the NPC contact who just got pilloried for public drunkenness and nudity?
Last but not least: the existence of magic makes for interesting takes on the justice system. Divination spells could smooth trials and help in evidence gathering, and geas spells could help enforce restraining orders and anti-social behavioral orders. Magically enhanced interrogation could be more reliable than torture, in a coercive state, and a prison staffed with unbribable summoned jailers would prove an obstacle for rich inmates attempting to bribe their way out.
contributed by M.W. Simmes
