OCP - Killing in broad dayl

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Mon, 9 Mar 1998, James Ruhland wrote:

> Just replying to this part: having been in campaings like this, and being
> the person in "charge" of Law/Government, IMO we should work out a "Zero
> Tolerance" for this kind of thing. No one will "get away with it" if I can
> help it. I may have to borrow an idea from the CSWE* (Black Adders) to work
> it, but murder & mayhem in broad daylight with impunity will not be
> allowed.

I don't know that we want to make such things TOTALLY impossible.
Assassination, at least as a DM's tool, should still be possible. I, for
example, have conceived of a possible story where William Moergen is a
student at a University in the City of Anuire when he discovers that
Jaison Raenech has killed his parents and usurped his throne, and the PC's
(as William's friends from university) must somehow get him out of the
city and to Osoerde while avoiding assassins sent by Raenech to kill him.

> *Oh, that's the City State of the World Emperor, the old Judges Guild
> product. There were two teams of VERY potent NPC characters, charged by the
> Emperor with removing this kind of pestilance. IMO, we'll have, say, 1-2
> members of the COS Council "on call", a tough Priest or two, and some
> kick-ass fighters, thieves, members of the Heralds, etc. charged with going
> out and butchering anyone caught doing this. Plus, citizens will not be of
> the "I didn't see anything" variety when it comes to this kind of mayhem:
> they will give VERRRRY accurate descriptions of the perpetrators, and no
> one will hesitate to use Divination & other magics to locate, identify, and
> punish them.

I like this idea, sort of teams of "Special Investigators" as part of the
City Watch. A diviner magician, a couple of investigator theives, some
guild informers, perhaps a priestess of Sarimie on retainer, and you have
the makings of a Cerillian detective thriller. :)

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

[James Ruhland]

>
> I don't know that we want to make such things TOTALLY impossible.
> Assassination, at least as a DM's tool, should still be possible.
>
Oh, my intention, our intention, isn't to make things such as you describe
impossible; just the stuff I.E. as depicted in the 1st Edition DMG artwork
on p.193 of that tome, "Emirikol the Chaotic"*, with dudes slaughtering
people in the streets, or stuff that used to typically happen in campaigns
when I was in Middle School, bar fights that result in the PCs engaging in
mass murder with their swords, then walking out of the bar & going home. Or
Traveller campaigns I've been in where the PCs were bloody pirates but the
Imperial Fleet never seemed to pursue them from system to system, leading
to a trail of slaughter and mayhem that spanned half the Imperium.
But well planned assassination & intrigue? Murder and robbery in the night
even (so long as you're careful about leaving evidence behind you)? No
problem. We want a city that includes a lot of oportunities for adventure.
But it will *not* be an open air dongeon.

*A fine example of TSR encouraging good behavior, again. . .

> I like this idea, sort of teams of "Special Investigators" as part of the
> City Watch. A diviner magician, a couple of investigator theives, some
> guild informers, perhaps a priestess of Sarimie on retainer, and you have
> the makings of a Cerillian detective thriller. :)
>
Hmmmn. . .we've even talked about the potential for PC campaigns like that,
where the players work for the good of the city (in whatever capacity the
DM chooses; I.E. could be as agents of the C., part of the police/city
defence forces, or independant investigators, a kind of "Birthright P.I."
or something. Just no helicopters, please. Perhaps "T.C." can have a
gondola or something instead. . .)

Or, for a real strange campaign, a Birthright "A-Team" (Anuire Team?) or
something.
I get to be Hannibal (I love it when a plan comes together. . .)

[Neil Barnes]

On Mon, 9 Mar 1998, James Ruhland wrote:
> No one will "get away with it" if I can
> help it. I may have to borrow an idea from the CSWE* (Black Adders) to work
> it, but murder & mayhem in broad daylight with impunity will not be
> allowed.

Edmund Blackadder: "So young man, what's your name?"

Kate: "Kate, Milord"

EB: "Kate? That's an unusual name for a boy?"

K: "It's short for Bob."

Another one to add to the list of source material for Birthright?

> *Oh, that's the City State of the World Emperor, the old Judges Guild
> product. There were two teams of VERY potent NPC characters, charged by the
> Emperor with removing this kind of pestilance. IMO, we'll have, say, 1-2
> members of the COS Council "on call", a tough Priest or two, and some
> kick-ass fighters, thieves, members of the Heralds, etc. charged with going
> out and butchering anyone caught doing this.

I'd suggest dividing the OCP (and indeed any city) up into different
regions - knifings and fights should be par for the course in dirty
dockside backalleys, but very rare in the more propserous parts of town
[1].

neil

[1] Where most of the knifings happen inside people's houses rather than
outside. A suitable helping of violence keeps politics fresh and
exciting...