Have you ever run a trial in an RPG? Have your PCs ever stood before a magistrate, a judge, or a jury?
Despite how often PCs commit crimes, end up on the run, even imprisoned, I cannot say that I ever have. Nevertheless, these tables from the original version of Blacksand! for Advanced Fighting Fantasy had an outsized influence over what I understood to be the scope of a fantasy adventure game.
As someone who's first RPG was AFF, I thought it was normal to include brushes with the law. I like how the court session is a single dice roll as the creators probably knew that most people come for the slaying and the looting, but not the lawyering. However, you can't just have players stealing from people with impunity. Someone is going to notice eventually.
ReplyDeleteMust’ve been common in 80s British games. Dragon Warriors also has a chapter on legal proceedings.
ReplyDeleteI love the vaguely Pratchett feel to this. All seized property goes to Lord Azzur. Piracy is"mysteriously" absent as a criminal charge in Blacksand.
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