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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yora" data-source="post: 6017167" data-attributes="member: 6670763">There weregild system is actually quite complex and sophisticated. Unless the offending party offered a compensation that was regarded sufficient by the offended party, the whole thing would have to go before an assembly. In the assembly the accusations would be heard and the gathered people would hear any evidence and testimonies to support the claim. Then guilt or innocence would be decided and a compensation be calculated based on how much damage was done to the offended party.There were no written laws as in a civil law system, but there were still rules what constitutes guilt, what evidence is regarded as proof, and how much compansation was appropriate in a given case. These rules were part of an oral tradition and common knowlege, and also took into account how such situations had been handled in the past, making it a common law system.The main purpose was not to enforce obedience to the laws or enact justice or revenge, but rather to reestablish harmony within the community, especially by preventing blood feuds. Once a trial had been made, the offended party had to accept the judgement of the assembly and take any compensation that had been decided, if they liked it or not. They could not commit any further acts of revenge, which all would be treated as new and separate crime.Another distinction I would make is to not to base laws on morals, but on the safety and survival of the community. In a world where each community is on its own and can not rely on support from a higher authority in times of trouble, the idea of justice often has to take a backseat when survival is at stake. You need friends, you need allies, and you need other communities to trade with you, so you want other people to like you and come to your community. So guests need to be treated well, unless you're a cult of lunatics who secretly worships a tentacle monster in the basement under the chiefs house. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />But when in doubt, the long-term survival of the community always comes first. When the amount of water or game in an area is scarce, neighbouring communities become enemies. It's a bit like turf wars. As long as you're a foreigner and stay neutral, nothing bad will happen to you. But when you pick sides, you're neck deep in the whole mess. A stranger is found on the beach? Bring him to the chiefs home and call the shaman! A ship from an enemy village ran on a reef and is surrounded by sharks? Tough luck, that's not our problem.<a href="http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/modern/smack/allegiances.html" target="_blank">Allegience from the d20 modern game</a> is a great system for such games, and since it has basically no mechanical impact, it can be used in virtually any game. Have the players pledge themselves to certain groups and write it down on the character sheet. When it comes to picking sides in a conflict, don't think so much about which side is right and wrong, and which one serves help, but consider where your characters loyalties are. You can still plea for mercy to an enemy or call for punishment of an ally, but you would have to consider if you can afford it. You can't exile your evil shaman when he's the one who keeps convincing the river spirit to supply the village with clean water. And you can't kill an evil warlord when your own clan depends on an alliance with his clan.Having the players write their Allegiances down is just a small thing that doesn't take much time or requires learning new rules. But it makes the player spend five minutes thinking on something that usually is left undefined and develops as the game progresses. But when in a bind, players will always return to their character sheet: "Do I have a spell that might help?", "Is there anything useful in my backpack?", "What is my alignment?", "Would my race give any clue on what the character would do?". And when you read "Allegiances: 1. Shaman Queen of Nur; 2. Brotherhood of the Ember Flame; 3. Blue Falcon Tribe", then it can give you a very good hint what your character would do when the chieftain of the Blue Falcon tribe wants to steal the Ember Flame to murder the Shaman Queens nephew.A great thing about RPGs, and especially in Heroic Fantasy games, is to play people who are different and live in a world where your own standards do not apply. Allegince is a great way to override your gut feeling with the way the character sees the world.</blockquote>

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