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I have integrated much of Curse of the Crimson Throne into my own campaign and the party are at the Blood Veil plague stage. A PC just asked me if dueling was legal in Korvosa. The PC is Tour Kegbelly, a CG dwarf fighter level 7 of some fame (he routed Barvasi and was awarded the Drake's Mark medal) from Janderhoff, and he has an ongoing dispute with Jukk the Juicemeister, an influential LE dwarf rogue/merchant from the same dwarven citadel who is in charge of the trading between the two cities and has very tough bodyguards. Both dwarves now live in Korvosa. I was doubting dueling would be allowed as arbiters/magistrates exist to settle disputes. In extremely lawful and supposedly more advanced cities dueling would unlikely be allowed, replaced by trials or rulings by said arbiters. When the dwarves clashed in Janderhoff earlier I had a trial by jury and Kegbelly was jailed for one week on trumped-up charges of impersonating Jukk (casually in a bar) and thus interfering with dwarven trade. Kegbelly now seeks revenge or to put an end to the feuding once and for all. Can someone tell me if anything has been published on dueling? Or give me their own ideas.
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There is at least one sword school/fighting academy that sounds like a duelist's dream, the Orsini Academy. Its headmaster is a famous local swordsman, Vencarlo Orsini.
And if kung-fu movies have taught me anything, its that where there is one fighting school, there will be others, and the students will duel to prove superiority of style.
But as a very lawful community, it is probably illegal, unless maybe a contract detailing terms was written up by both parties and then authorized (for a fee).
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There is at least one sword school/fighting academy that sounds like a duelist's dream, the Orsini Academy. Its headmaster is a famous local swordsman, Vencarlo Orsini.
And if kung-fu movies have taught me anything, its that where there is one fighting school, there will be others, and the students will duel to prove superiority of style.
But as a very lawful community, it is probably illegal, unless maybe a contract detailing terms was written up by both parties and then authorized (for a fee).
Yes, if I make my own decision on it ... I was thinking of the parties must be noble or held in high esteem and that if they go to an arbiter it can be authorized. I didn't think of a fee but that's cool, because if it's expensive then it kind of favours nobles or rich people anyway and the so-called "riff-raff" won't be killing eachother left, right and centre. Cheers
I am aware of Orsini and possibly other like him, but that does not necessarily allow dueling in streets and possible deaths.
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Dueling already favours nobles, because they can afford to pay people to teach them how to fight.
Most people don't want to die.
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The Guide to Korvosa does not list dueling as illegal. It mentions duels as becoming more frequent within the Acadamae, without saying duels are against or within the law. It does make a difference between formal and informal challenges (the latter of which are called 'trouble' for the Acadamae tiefling guards). Finally headmasdter Toff Ornelos has defeated 17 wizards in secret mages' duels. (Does secret imply they are not allowed?)
The Fencing Master short story (somewhere on this site) also mentions dueling as something that happens in Korvosa, but again it doesn't really state whether or not it is illegal.
So dueling is certainly a thing in Korvosa. There are no sources to confirm its legality, so, like so many things, it's a GM's call.
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The Guide to Korvosa does not list dueling as illegal. It mentions duels as becoming more frequent within the Acadamae, without saying duels are against or within the law. It does make a difference between formal and informal challenges (the latter of which are called 'trouble' for the Acadamae tiefling guards). Finally headmasdter Toff Ornelos has defeated 17 wizards in secret mages' duels. (Does secret imply they are not allowed?)
The Fencing Master short story (somewhere on this site) also mentions dueling as something that happens in Korvosa, but again it doesn't really state whether or not it is illegal.
So dueling is certainly a thing in Korvosa. There are no sources to confirm its legality, so, like so many things, it's a GM's call.
Thanks. You seem to be pretty sure on the sources and clearly have access to those books.
* I did speed read two short stories including The Fencing Master during my research.* I like printed matter and the Guide to Korvosa is out of print and too expensive online. I've garnered a lot of info and formulated my own Guide to Korvosa, but dueling is not yet in it. Thanks for that information. I will add that info to my own Korvosan Guide.
Right now I think I will have it banned. I am tempted to go with my original plan of seeking permission from arbiters. I am also very happy if people would tell me what they think would be a good idea.