Hello forum members!
I plan on running hells vengeance soonish and one of my players is playing a asmodeus advocate/devilbane priest and he's planing on writing contracts and things to get people to break the law and that sort or thing.
Anyways he's looking for information on how the law of the land works, is their a court system? Does a magister living in town or does one only come once a month? Or what normally I'd tell the player not to worry about it, but he's made it clear that it's important he knows how it works for his character and that it will change how he RPs his character
So basically just looking for some additional information
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I have a similar player in my campaign and regardless of his desires, I'm keeping it abstract. My impression, and how I'm playing it, is that the laws of Cheliax are complex, lengthy, and perhaps sometimes contradictory. Most common citizens can be reasonably assured that they are maintaining lawful behavior if they use common sense. However, the powers-that-be have a copious amount of leeway to leverage different sections of the law to prosecute if they need to and still feel justified.
Keep in mind that in many respects the current set of laws reflect the Queen's current whims and attitudes, and may change at the drop of a hat. It is perhaps best summed up by the following paragraph from "Cheliax, The Infernal Empire":
In its current form, the Chelish government is best described as a bureaucratic autocracy. Her Infernal Majestrix, Queen Abrogail II of the Twice-Damned House of Thrune, rules with unchecked authority—her word is as binding as any devil’s contract. That she often changes her mind, using her power to erase any trace of her former decrees, further secures her sovereignty, as even her most trusted servants and advisors are only a whim away from potential treason. Abrogail’s will is carried out by an intricate bureaucracy composed largely of titled nobles—holdovers from Cheliax’s prior oligarchical form of government—and sycophants hoping to win the
queen’s favor or afraid of raising her ire.
Okay but besides keeping it abstract what should I tell my player, the town has a sherif that helps keep order but besides that their isn't really a court system, the laws of the land change wildly and often contradict itself and it changes on the queens wim. That might work for an rp reason but metagame whys how do I tell my player he can't manipulate the law to his advantage in at least in any crazy way
I also have a few VERY lawful people in my group. We've finished the first book and I handled it like this:
- There are different sets of Law in a top down manner: National, federal, local.
- National Laws are decreed by the Queen and are mostly about militaristic, historical and religious matters (like declaring martial law in all major cities)
- Federal Laws concern the different Archduchies and are declared by the Archdukes. They decide on economic matters, like imports/exports, salary of clerks and the clergy and so on. They also decide what crimes are punishable, so they are legislative body.
- Local authorities have to execute these federal laws, but punishements and convictions are handled by local authorities (in the case of Lonacre that would be Archbaron Fex).
If your player wants to play a law-savy guy, then I'd suggest him having good knowledge about the bureaucratic system and the different jurisdictions. He knows how to use them to their advantage for example by telling people that they can't appeal to a punishement unless they fill out form XYZ and then sending the form around to delay any response, or he could deflect by pointing out that something is out of his jurisdiction, etc.