How to handle jail times or fines in an adventure path? (RotRL)

[UncleGeorge]

Hello, first of all, my apologies for grammatical or syntax errors, English being my third language I am bound to make a couples of mistakes here and there. So, my group is going through Rise of the Runelord at the moment and the gunslinger had the brilliant idea of stealing a potion of remove disease from a merchant in Sandpoint after being bit by a ghast, motivated by the fear of becoming a ghoul himself (even though he didn't even caught the damn disease, all hail fail heal check)...

Now he got caught, more like he didn't even try to hide it, he literally grabbed the damn thing from the hands of the merchant and gulped it in front of him and sat his ass down on a chair to wait for the town guard to arrest him, which they pretty much had to of course. So now he's in a cell with a very disappointed Sheriff Hemlock yelling at him for his indecent behavior unfits for one of the "hero of Sandpoint" and that's where thankfully I had to end the session because it was getting late... Now, what the hell am I supposed to do? Normally I would encourage the rest of the party to break him out of there somehow but... this is Rise of the Runelord and this is Sandpoint, I can't exactly make them fugitive from Sandpoint now can I! They're supposed to grow to love the darn place so that the story may progress and that they care about protecting the city in the future chapters, they even bought a house here, they're already thinking of retro fitting it into a shop for their retirement for Aroden's sake!

So how can I deal with this? There are no rules about "fines" or "jail time" that I found, and this isn't a crime foul enough to justify an execution or a lifelong sentence or anything like this so... I have a couples of ideas on how to resolve this but I'd like to have the input of more experienced GM than I on the subject.

First, Remove disease being a level 3 cleric/druid/range spell means a potion for it should cost 750g, not cheap but not completely impossible to pay off for a team of level 5-6 PC. So making them promise to pay off the merchant once they have enough gold stashed up with whatever extra charge on their "good words as the heroes of Sandpoint" is a possibility, albeit I find it a bit boorish myself, I also wouldn't want them to think they can get off easy after stealing from merchants when they can't afford to pay right away for that enchant and stuff like that.

Second would be to make the gunslinger pay for it with time spent in jail, the amount of time I am not sure, I would like to have opinions on that. There is the issue of time though, they just survived burning down half the farmland while running away from a horde of ghoul after finding out who the "Lordship" was and I expected them to start gathering infos about the whereabouts of the Foxglove Manor and whatnot after a night of rest, that was of course before our adventurous gunslinger decided to break the law of course. So I can't really make them sit around Sandpoint for weeks while the ghoul infestation grow out of control nor do I think it would be a good idea to break up the party and let the gunslinger rot in jail and then ask the player to stay out of the next couples of sessions while the rest go through the manor, so again, that path would bring me back to a sort of "honor based" deal where the gunslinger would be left out of the jail time for the duration of the crisis and would voluntarily submit to jail time after said crisis was solved once this chapter end...

A third option would be to somehow use the “Night of the Ghouls” optional event to sort of solve the issue where the jail get damaged somehow and the gunslinger can break out while the guards are busy with the invading ghouls, making him the only fugitive which is a bit easier to handle than a full party I guess… Or have the merchant get killed by the ghoul invasion and make it so the Sheriff has to release him because the plaintiff is no longer able to make his claim and Hemlocks liking the PC and knowing how important they currently are for the protection of the city would be ready to let him go with basically a slap on the wrist or something similar.

My last option is a bit more cruel, I don’t want to kill the PC for this, it’s theft after all and not murder, however, he is a Pistolero gunslinger, and he has been doing ridiculously high amount of damage (like I’ve seen some 40-50 damage in a single round if he use 2 grit for a Up Close And Deadly on his two pistols, at level 5 that is) soooo… I guess I could go medieval on him and make him lose the fingers of the offending hand, or straight up maim him out of one of his hand for the crime of thievery, it makes senses wouldn’t it? It would solve my fear of seeing him one shot every challenge in the future I guess…
What do you guys think? How did you handle minor crimes in your games?

[Redneckdevil]

If its a first offence and he waited and didnt resist and is a hero, have the sheriff give him one hell of a tonguelashing and make him pay double for the potion and a fine on top of it. If he pleas that he was scared and thought he was in danger, have the sheriff a bit sympathatic and only pay double with a warning.
U dont want to cut fingers or whatnot, all u have to do is have people in range so that he has to use grit points for touch outside his range and/or disarm him every once in awhile.
UNLESS hes ok with one hand missing fingers but still able to shoot with no penalty (which i would think is pretty badass if i was a player but not if it actually served major penalties).

Also ur writing is great and is better than most of my posts and english is my only language.

[darkwarriorkarg]

1) last option: No. That's a GM penalizing a player (not a character) for making a selection the GM allowed.

2) Are you looking to punish the player or the character? Seems like the player can RP. So ask the player how he thinks his character can repay not only the theft, but everyone's good name

3) sandpoint is like Mayberry: jail is to give the town drunk a chance to sober up. Don't bother. Unless thenplayer is absent for the next session

4) whatever you do, advance the story with it.

[Douglas Muir 406]

Whatever you do, advance the story with it. Or at least, don't *retard* the story. If it were my campaign, I'd consider something like the following:

1) Have him apologize and then promise to repay the merchant -- double! 1500 gp should be enough to make him think twice about doing this again.

2) Have him spend one, single night in jail as a token punishment. (And have everyone be clear that it WOULD be a month or more, except that he's a hero and they understand he was desperate, blah blah blah).

Now, as to advancing the story: you can either use this as an adventure hook or as a RP hook. "Adventure hook" means this leads the PC into combat, like the Night of the Ghouls mentioned above. I don't think that's a perfect fit, myself, but you know what suits your campaign.

RP hook means a chance for roleplaying. Have a couple of townspeople be sympathetic, while others condemn the PC. You can even stage an argument between two of them -- "They're heroes! They're protecting us!" "Oh, so HEROES don't have to obey the law like us mere mortals?" "He really needed it!" "Well, he could have asked!" etc. etc. This can establish that certain personalities are lawful (and/or like the PCs a lot) while others are more neutral or chaotic (and/or don't like the PCs).

Similarly, if the PC spends a night in jail, you could have ghouls attack... or you could just have him meet Otis, the town drunk. Maybe Otis will eventually have significance (he wanders around outside the town and knows about the mysterious ruins). Or maybe he can tell some rumors (wild alcoholic ravings about pink elephants mixed in with an absolutely true story of seeing the Sandpoint Devil or Nualia). Or maybe Otis is just comic relief, and now every time the PC is in town good old Otis will show up, staggering and slurring his speech, wanting "my good buddy, my man, my man" to come and drink with him. Because "We went through Hell together, man... prison... living hell... brings out the steel in a man... brings real men together... a bond that lasts a lifetime... you can't understand if you weren't there, maaaaan."

Doug M.

[Thymus Vulgaris]

Well, if the PC can't pay for what he took, maybe the merchant has something that he needs taken care of and will be willing to look through fingers with it if the PC(s) can do it for him. This could be a side quest, or maybe you can tie it in with the rest of the plot.

[Christopher Dudley]

Thymus Vulgaris wrote:

Well, if the PC can't pay for what he took, maybe the merchant has something that he needs taken care of and will be willing to look through fingers with it if the PC(s) can do it for him. This could be a side quest, or maybe you can tie it in with the rest of the plot.

That was going to be my suggestion. And I'd like to point out that at 750gp value, he just stole more money than most residents of Sandpoint are going to see in their lifetime. Assuming a penalty to fit the crime, look at the profession skill. Unskilled labor pays 1sp/day. Using that guideline to determine a sentence, he's looking at over 20 years of hard labor.

He could be released on parole on the condition that he signs a legal document stating that he owes the merchant 750gp plus damages, and ensure that he is reminded of that every time he returns to town, and his belongings inspected for hidden loot.

If parole is out of the question, then sounds like a side quest is in order. I'm not familiar with everything that goes on in RotRL. If there is a quest that someone is proposing to the PCs and offers a reward, reduce the reward by a bit more than the value of the potion. Otherwise, you'll have to do a bit of homework to come up with something appropriate.

Good luck with it!

[Westphalian_Musketeer]

How the flying hell does a team of Level 5-6 Player characters not have the gold for a potion of remove disease on them?

Personally, I'm for having the ghouls invade, and the sheriff going to the Gunslinger's cell, tossing him a badge as he unlocks the cell, and says "The dead are coming, you're deputized."

Throw in an boss encounter that's carrying 1500 gold (plus a little extra so it's an odd number), and have that happen to be his fine to pay off his sentence.

[Weirdo]

Having ghouls attack and the sheriff release the gunslinger to help defend the town is a good idea.

At the same time, I wouldn't wrap it up as neatly as Westphalian_Musketeer suggests. It feels convenient and obvious. As a player I like to feel like there are real consequences to my actions and having the GM give me extra gold to pay a fine doesn't fit that.

From the sheriff's POV, I'd also want to humble the gunslinger a bit. While it's good that he's accepting punishment, he also appears to think that his status as a local hero will blunt the edge of that punishment. Requiring him to give a public apology and perform some menial service (for the community or the merchant in particular) in addition to playing back at least the value of the potion would be a good idea - particularly if it won't take him long to gather the repayment.

Also remind him IC that as a local hero he should be able to find someone willing and able to provide basic medical help like confirming he's infected with ghoul fever, before he does something rash. I think Father Zantus should be capable?

[Branden Voss]

Just cut off his hand it is cheaper to replace than paying back double the potion cost anyway plus it will have a larger impact and be more memorable.

[KestrelZ]

I have two suggestions, one nice and one a bit harsh, yet interesting.

1) Nice way - The merchant and/or sheriff agrees that the Gunslinger could regain his freedom if the group can capture a fugitive that stole from the same merchant earlier. The group has a month to accomplish this, else the offer is invalidated.

2) The hard way - A mysterious stranger agrees to pay the 1500 gold fine in exchange for certain favors. The stranger is clearly untrustworthy, and would likely have the resources to make the Gunslinger's life difficult if the bargain is broken. This stranger can be anything from a thief guild face / PR person, to some sort of polymorphed devil looking for a Faustian contract.

[Dave Justus]

No finger cutting. Entirely inappropriate.

It was theft, but there were some good reasons for it, not wanting to be a ghoul and also become a danger to innocents (yes, he wasn't actually in danger, but he didn't know that...)

Basically I agree that 2x the price of the potion is an appropriate penalty. If the gunslinger can't pay...well, a gun would be good collateral. I expect between himself and his friends they can come up with that amount pretty quickly though.

A quest for the shopkeeper could also provide some or all of the funds. Another interesting twist would be if that potion had been special ordered for someone, who was now dying. Having to travel somewhere else to replace the potion could be a fitting punishment.

Obviously the more involved you get the more time it will take away from the main plot, so if you want to get on with the game, keep it simple and just demand the gold or something of value until the restitution can be paid.

[UncleGeorge]

Hey thanks for your suggestion guys, really appreciate it! And of course, the party have enough to buy the potion, even repay it twice, the gunslinger personal finances do not though and he decided not to ask money from anyone (call it misdirected pride) and steal it instead...! I'll be thinking about my options, I have a week to figure out if I want to make it simple or go the more complex route!