Dominus Magisterium--Law and Order in The D&D Campaign

Greetings!

I have noticed that apparently, according to various posters on websites as well as years of Forum in Dragon, that it isn't uncommon for a band of player-characters to wander into whatever town or city that catches their fancy, and proceed to rape, plunder, intimidate, and swindle their way into posh quarters with everyone from the Captain of the Watch to the town's lord begging and scraping at their feet.

Now, it may be easy enough to laugh at such--and in truth, any skilled and experienced Dungeon Master should see such a situation as only possible in the most permissive of campaign world's. However, such a state of affairs brings into focus an important consideration for every campaign, and for every Dungeon Master--Law and Order. Law and Order are essential ingredients for a stable, prosperous society to develop. Merchants simply don't stick around to try and do business in an area where the local lord, and Law Enforcement either cannot, or will not, enforce the law, and establish order. Such an environment will soon deteriorate into abject poverty and despair, as no new goods arrives, and little of the town's produce is traded elsewhere.

The importance of law and order is crucial. A specific legal code allows for certain judgments, and a powerful law-enforcment service maintains order, and restrains chaos and anarchy. Still, often the local law-enforcement are seemingly pitiful 2nd-4th level Warriors.

What is the problem with this situation? Be realistic--players will exploit any avenue of weakness that they can. They are always more than willing to take advantage of any oversight that the Dungeon Master has made, and exploit it to their fullest extent. Faced with such weak force in which to establish Law and Order, why wouldn't a rough group of 8th-12th level characters not rush in to rape and plunder such a town?

How have you organized the long arm of the law in your campaigns? Is a well-developed legal system important? Has your campaign developed sophisticated law-enforcement codes, police forces, and legal systems? Have Law Guilds developed? If so, how do they remain autonomous and effective? What powers does the Dominus Magisterium have? At the base level, a particular person is important if he has the authority to have his guards remove the character's head at his command. That is a heavy dose of Dark Ages authority. However, even as such absolute authority gradually is concentrated further into the hands of various nobles and aristocrats, in other areas, such wealth and influence of the various trade guilds, as well as the ongoing wealth and prestige of Law Guilds will create new sources of authority and power.

Certainly, should the magisterium have sweeping powers to judge and punish criminals, such will impact the campaign very differently as opposed to a society which is more permissive. What kind of magistrates are in your campaign? Do you develop prisons? Have you developed detailed legal bueracracies? Are Lawyers powerful within civilized society? How serious do players take the legal system in your campaign world?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Hello SHARK

I´ve once encountered such a situation in WFRP, 2 trollslayers were a bit rude in the open, and so the watch searched them.
Knowing how dangerous Trollslayers are the watch cornered them in full force, trying to hack their way free they killed one watchmember.
The trollslayers had a short & fair trial with predertimend judgement.
And then they had an date with the axe.

Cities and towns.
Would this rabble of foreigners be allowed to bring their weapons and magic stuff in the walls?
Not necessarly, in the MA definitely not, not even the standard they could stay in town overnight.
If the thread is large enough the guard would be backed up by the guilds and temples.
And yes this means the guards of patricians, merchants and the magic users in town.
Attack of guards of a city or man at arms of an noble, Magistrate or noble would be acting against the authority of the king(maybe even the divine law).
This is rebellion and treason. If you killed the person, would only made the crime greater(nobele, magistrate‘) or the comrades more eager to catch you.
Self defense or defense of others would only be applicabele if the persons misused their power, thats treason in itself.

Evin if the PCs to powerful for the local force?
The reeinforcements of the guilds (city/towns), the local noble would call help from his fellows and liegelords.
Fighting orders of the churches, knights Paladins, Champions of the local High lord, the sword of the duke/count etc.
Sir Iwain would you please bring this bandits dowen
Bounty hunters, unlanded knights(hoping for an fief) .Avengers to hunt the murders of friends and relatives.
The next citie would welcome then with an hail of arrows, bolts, spells etc.

But remember law and order isn´t and wasn´t always in our societies, and the merchants came whatsoever.,
Look at the dark ages in europe.
But merchants IMC are no weaklings nor fools.
A travelling(adventuring) merchant who leads an caravan of waggons, must be able to lead his men and waggons, hold discipline.
Negotiate with cities and nobles.
And he and his retinue must also be able to defend themselves and their goods.
Foreign goods under such circumstances would be exoensive and scarce.
And the merchants would have their privileges.

Greetings!

Excellent Sworddancer! Indeed, an elaborate system could very well exist within the urban environment for law enforcement. The power of the state would be incomparably vast compared to a group of thugs, or even the player characters. I'm not sure where some groups of players have gotten the idea that they should be ablt to ride roughshod over entire towns, you know? I wonder why some players even argue that they should be far far superior to everyone in a town, or even a city! It just seems absolutely nuts to me. Players in my own campaigns would never dream of such arrogance. I find it a strange attitude to be sure.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Greetings!

Also, you would think that with all of these Thieve's Guilds running around through the cities, that the Law Enforcement with ramp it up, and step up the pressure. I can hardly see the law enforcement forces standing idlely by while the Thieves' Guilds run rampant!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Well as long as we're basing this on Dark Ages Europe...

Actually there was very little law and order. The law-enforcement capacity of a local lord was pretty limited, and as a consequence, like you said, there was almost no trade. Merchants did NOT travel between countries, and few would risk intra-kingdom commerce if it meant going through wild, undeveloped areas where highwaymen dwelt. For most people life WAS full of abject poverty and despair. Laws were pretty simple, hardly a Code of Hammurabi, and they weren't always written down. If you did something that the local lord deemed to be a crime, whether or not some code of law said it was illegal, he would punish you (if he could catch you). This only began to change in the later part of the 13th century (which is well out of the Dark Ages).

I'm not sure where some groups of players have gotten the idea that they should be ablt to ride roughshod over entire towns, you know? I wonder why some players even argue that they should be far far superior to everyone in a town, or even a city! It just seems absolutely nuts to me.

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I don't think they start the game with that idea, but once they realize that they were normal men-at-arms at 1st level and that now they're able to take on dozens of such 1st-level guards, well, it only follows that they can take on an entire village.

Conan routinely kills a few guards, including their captain, then runs when the assembled troops arrive. In D&D, he'd just hack them all down -- especially if he had a powerful wizard on his side.

Law and Order in your D&D Campaign

SHARK, as an aside, I think you'll get more responses (more people will check out the thread) if you rename it (or subtitle it) something not so...Latin. Perhaps: Law and Order in your D&D Campaign.

I use a two fold method of LE in my homebrew.

If a town has an organized guard, I usually make them 2-3 level on average with commanders in the 6-8th range. While still not a threat to a powerful party, it gives pause to the PCs.

Where there is not an organized standing watch, the rule of law is handled by a noble lord and his men at arms. The main prosocuter of justice (usually not the noble) will be 5-9 th level depending on the power and wealth of the noble. These hardy marshalls know when to cut and run for reinforcements. They usually have 1-4 levels of Woodsman/Armsman/Wanderer, allowing them great versitility.



The second teir of LE is a knighthood of 12 + 1 men. They stand outside the law (in a manner of speaking) and were formed to defend against the abuses of the crown and the nobility. An Authorian like king had the foresight to realize that not all of the nobility and royalty would respect the commoners. In a kingdom where the nobility had the right of challange, painful travesties of justice are frequently performed by challanging those who could not defend themselves. The king outlawed all champions - except for the Knights of Shiel. They could interviene on any persons behalf, accepting the challange for them. They keep their number at twelve but always reserve a spot for the king who is an honorary member. Not all of the knights are combat machines but 3-4 are widely feared throughout the realms. The men wear similar armor and mask - never letting those who might be more daring know who exactly they face.


The Knights are very thin, with only 12 members - but players know that they have a 6th sence for brutal tomfoolery. They also maintain a network of spies and friends who keep them informed.

If I need some codified law and order stuff, I look at Hollowfaust. Especially since THEY KNOW how to handle law breakers. "So you like to break heads huh? Oh Journeyman Animator! I think we got a final fortifiture here! *

If I need some codified law and order stuff, I look at Hollowfaust. Especially since THEY KNOW how to handle law breakers. "So you like to break heads huh? Oh Journeyman Animator! I think we got a final fortifiture here!

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Yep, I don't think many will try their hand at testing how far the system can be pushed in HF!!