Okay. I'm curious as to how other GMs would handle this situation. (I'm really curious what the Devs would do, but I very much doubt they ever come into the old forums so... alas!) My group has effectively Batmanned their way through the first book of Hell's Rebels. And by Batmanning, I mean they did not kill any of the human guards, redactors, or the like.
Of fatalities, the only deaths were of actual monsters (like the mites and dretches), Nox, and the ogrekin (the latter two were knocked out and then coup-de-graced, in Nox's case with a good-aligned attack). Part of this also lies with the fact that I keep track of hit points for baddies when they have gone into negatives rather than having them just be dead outright.
So, how should I award Notoriety? The Redactors know the Silver Ravens attacked them (though three of the Ravens were using masks to disguise who they are). Thus word will likely reach Barzillai Thrune about the attack and who was responsible. Should I handle this as-if Nox had escaped (ie, 2d6 increased Notoriety)? Or one point for each living Redactor?
(Notoriety is a combination of how likely antagonists are to identify the Ravens, but also the townsfolk. Thus I could see Thrune ordering everyone to remain quiet.)
Further, should I have arrest warrants served for the two Silver Ravens who went without masks? Yes, Barzillai Thrune is trying to avoid mentioning the Ravens in hopes that this will just die down, but there are two members of the Ravens, one of whom is quite colorful and known among the tiefling community for his... eccentricities. Thus seeking to arrest these two characters seems... like something that may have merit.
Anyway, I appreciate everyone's thoughts :)
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Decide on the theme you want for your game; It sounds like your group is being intentional in this, so I'd add some extra notoriety. One point for each survivor, but not the Nox bonus because these mooks don't have Thrune's attention and audience like Nox had.
1) Make this notoriety feel like a good thing (even if it is not), have citizens and guards sharing stories about the ravens where they can hear it. Emphasize the myth they are creating for themselves.
2) Since Thrune isn't willing to mention the Ravens, that means any arrest bounties have to list the two individually. And two more arrest warrants in these troubled times? Those could get lost in the pile. Do the redactors even have good IDs on these characters? An eccentric tiefling is going to stand out in their community, but they are all red skinned with horns to a guard... This lets the players recognize their own face on a poster, but allows you to run it that any given guard has a small chance of connecting their face to the poor one on the poster. (You can use this to foreshadow Thrune is spying in book 2 by having the posters increase in accuracy).
Down with mite cruelty! As inhabitants of the city, they deserve a voice on the council to determine the city's direction.
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I had Thrune sit on what info they had on the 4 PCs, then use that knowledge to set up my big twist in Dance of the Damned--they had devils dress as "The Silver Ravens" and attack Fake Barzillai and a daughter of the Sarinis on stage. The quality of the disguises corresponded to how well they knew the PCs. It was a great reveal: the false flag operation was very personal.
I agree--the notoriety should reflect the Thrune-allied views on them rather than, say, the overwhelming fear of the Punisher by all. I think it's adorable that your players going in this non-violent direction, rather than grim-dark. When they get the Lucky Bones, they can even use the prison for major humanoid villains while they await a street trial. (That's what I've done with my table.) Elsewhere on the boards you'll read historical justification for street trials, especially in book two, and I'd encourage you to facilitate your players rather than thwarting it. See The Flash and Arrow for both how imprisoning villains worked and how extra-legal imprisonment without trial gets sticky... especially if they escape and have a personal grudge as a result.
(My book four twist on the Team Thrune attacking the Lucky Bones encounter is that simultaneously they'll be trying to spring the lieutenants my table has imprisoned on the water level.)
And who knows? Maybe the dottari will try to frame them for a series of book two murders? Wouldn't that smear this group of pesky heroes--just another group of murder hobos...