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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nittanytbone" data-source="post: 3346215" data-attributes="member: 35709">Think about speeding for a minute:  The government can't possibly watch all cars all the time, but people still slow down when they see a sign that says "Targeted Enforcement Area," "Speed Monitered by Aircraft," or other such warning.  By watching just a few cars, and making an example of even fewer, a large deterrent effect is created.The Secret Police example above works on this principle:  The government (via a Shape Changed bard) can't really be watching all the time, but you can't know when it is.I would tailor my operations around this principle.  Scry on people randomly.  Occasionally let the Secret Police bust someone, publicly, as an example.  Use Detect Magic or Detect Poison or Detect Good/Chaos to shake people down -- at random -- in the market for contraband (items... or ethics/morals!).  Use Message to target people in the crowd at random to eavesdrop (it sends and receives), or make it mandatory for people to whisper prayers to themselves at regular intervals (so you never know who is whispering to the Police).  Brand people with Arcane Marks.  Use Disguise Self to hide enforcers.Mundane measures like forcing people to have identification (even if its just a simple bronze token or something -- which can be Locate Object-ed...), forbidding the carrying of large amounts of foreign currency, controlling access to and from the city, charging exorbiant taxes, taking hostages, and so on are also effective at keeping the people down.I would just set a X% chance that the PCs get busted if they're in a public place and don't take extraordinary precautions, then figure out how it happened.  The point is that the gov't is unpredictable in its enforcement, thus ensuring a deterrent effect far stronger than the actual active force might indicate.</blockquote>

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