Role Playing Tips - By Johnn Four
LAW, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAMES
Written by Brennan O'Brien
veilheim@yahoo.com
Law exists to maintain a social structure. Without law,
there is anarchy. Anarchy tends to lead to social failure,
because a society cannot successfully marshal its
capability against threats.
Law Is Based On Custom & Religion
---------------------------------
In general, Law is based on Custom and Religion. Custom and
Religion define for each society what is "right" and what is
"wrong". Obviously, these factors vary tremendously between
various cultures, and the crimes of your society should
reflect the normative behavior based on what you view the
customs and religious beliefs are that dominate your
society. At the core, however, most societies have between
3-10 significant "thou shalt not" rules governing social
behavior.
The Basic Rules Of Law
----------------------
In general, these rules resemble the following:
* Do not kill people.
* Do not speak a lie about your neighbors.
* Do not steal or destroy the possessions of others.
* Do not have sex with some society defined group (varies by
society and custom).
* Do not challenge the rule of law/authority (typically seen
in older societies).
* Do not commit heresy against the predominant religion of
the society (varies by religion).
These tend to form the basis of criminal law for a society.
Most of the laws that we have on the books today can, in
some way, trace their origins back to one of these six key
laws. These, then, can be considered "felonies" for most
societies.
Punishment for committing a felony in most early medieval
societies tends to focus around retributive action. For
example, killing someone tends to result in the offender
being killed. Stealing tends to result in some sort of
physical deformation.
How Social Status & Circumstance Affect Punishment
--------------------------------------------------
Two elements strongly influence the application of
punishment to the crime. The first element is the level of
relative social stratification between the "criminal" and
the "victim". A noble killing a slave, from a society
perspective, is a lot less "bad" than a slave killing a
noble. Secondly, the number of factors which aggravate or
mitigate the commission of the crime itself influences the
punishment of the crime. This second class of factors,
though, does not supersede the first set -- that is, even
if you're defending your own life (a mitigating factor),
killing a noble if you're a slave probably won't save your
life.
The 4 Steps For Creating Your Own Crime & Punishment System
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. Determine the society's crime categories and assign
Punishment Levels
2. Assign effects of social class as modifiers to
Punishment Levels
3. Assign effects of circumstance as modifiers to
Punishment Levels
4. Determine punishments for Punishment Level
A Sample Crime & Punishment System
----------------------------------
The following generic mechanics can be used to address crime
and punishment in your own campaigns. Obviously, change
whatever necessary to adapt to your own environment. Each
of the major crimes has a generic "punishment" level.
Remember these are just examples, and can serve in a pinch -
but you'll probably want something a bit more tailored to
your campaign world.
| Crimes of Example Society X |
| Killing People is Outlawed |
Punishment Level 11 |
| Stealing/Vandalism is Outlawed |
Punishment Level 9 |
| Treason, Sedition and speaking against the Government is Outlawed |
Punishment Level 7 |
| Assaulting A Guard or Soldier is Outlawed |
Punishment Level 5 |
|
| Effects of Social Class and Reputation on Crimes of Society X |
| Slave/Outcast commits crime against Commoner |
+1 Punishment Level |
| Slave/Outcast commits crime against Noble |
+3 Punishment Level |
| Slave/Outcast commits crime against Society |
+5 Punishment Level |
| Commoner commits crime against Slave |
-1 Punishment Level |
| Commoner commits crime against Noble |
+2 Punishment Level |
| Commoner commits crime against Society |
+3 Punishment Level |
| Noble commits crime against Slave |
-3 Punishment Level |
| Noble commits crime against Commoner |
-2 Punishment Level |
| Noble commits crime against Society |
+1 Punishment Level |
| Criminal has an awful reputation |
+2 Punishment Level |
| Criminal has a poor reputation |
+1 Punishment Level |
| Criminal has a neutral reputation |
+0 Punishment Level |
| Criminal has a positive reputation |
-2 Punishment Level |
| Criminal has an exemplary reputation |
-4 Punishment Level |
| Victim has an awful reputation |
-2 Punishment Level |
| Victim has a poor reputation |
-1 Punishment Level |
| Victim has a neutral reputation |
+0 Punishment Level |
| Victim has a positive reputation |
+1 Punishment Level |
| Victim has an exemplary reputation |
+3 Punishment Level |
|
| Effects of Circumstance on Crimes of Society X |
| For each aggravation making the crime worse |
+2 Punishment Level |
| For each mitigation which lessens the crime |
-1 Punishment Level |
|
| Generic Punishments |
| Execution of Criminal, their Family and their Associates and Friends |
Level 13 |
| Execution of Criminal and their Family |
Level 12 |
| Execution of Criminal |
Level 11 |
| Massive Deformation (Leg, Arm, Tongue, Eyes removed) |
Level 10 |
| Major Deformation (Hand, Foot, Sex organs, Single eye removed) |
Level 9 |
| Minor Deformation (finger, teeth removed) |
Level 8 |
| Extended Imprisonment (Tens of Years) |
Level 7 |
| Imprisonment (Several Years) |
Level 6 |
| Short Imprisonment (Number of Months) |
Level 5 |
| Significant Fine (Several Decades of Average Earnings) |
Level 4 |
| Fine (Several Years of Average Earnings) |
Level 3 |
| Minor Fine (Several Months of Average Earnings) |
Level 2 |
| Crime Overlooked |
Level 1 |
|
Applying the Example
--------------------
Let's say Frederick, a Nobleman with an exemplary reputation
in Society X, kills a social outcast with a poor reputation.
He can demonstrate that it was self defense (a mitigating
factor).
In Society X, killing is a punishment level 11. The act,
though, was committed by a Noble against an Outcast,
reducing the level by 3. The victim had a poor reputation,
reducing the punishment by another 1 level, and the Noble
has an exemplary reputation reducing the punishment by
another 4 levels. The mitigating factor further reduces
the punishment by one level.
The final punishment, then, is (11-3-1-4-1 =) 2. Frederick
must pay a fine to the society/government amounting to
several months of funds.
Expanding This System
---------------------
Other elements can easily be added to this system, such as
the effect of magical spells, reaction modifiers,
representation by counsel, or whatever catches your fancy.
The key element to defining crime and punishment in your
fantasy world is understanding what major activities
constitute crimes. Identifying and differentiating these
elements from each of the various cultures in your game
world can add tremendous depth to your campaigns because
the laws can be sketched out based on what you already know
about your various cultures. In other words, a great bang-
for-the-buck in terms of increasing the depth of your
campaign without costing you a lot of time.
Copyleft © Brennan O'Brien veilheim@yahoo.com
Details on copyleft can be found at:
http://www.xania.demon.co.uk/copyleft.html
Have more fun at every game!
Johnn Four
