What happens to a player who gets into trouble with the law? In this session, we will discuss what should happen if a player gains enough notoriety to be considered a criminal, how crime should work in a city like Gesel, and how "Guard Summoning" should work.

GrinningFool has stated that he would simply place a PC in a "Jail" (a seperate area set aside) for a limited amount of time to burn off a sentance, if the PC commits a crime. This is presumably a temporary fix, as there could be more entertaining ways to address this. What about players who wish to gain notoriety? How does crime work in such a large city? How would guard summoning work?

Players that want their character(s) to be known in the underground must understandably do criminal things: Steal the impossible, Kill the untouchable, and generally humiliate the law with their alleged superior skills. The main problem is that gaining notoriety also brings down heat. If you always robbed the one store in the neighborhood the same way, the law (or hired thugs) will catch you and do terrible (and probably lethal) things to your poor character. Understandably, the character must now walk a fine line between doing illegal things and getting credit for it, and not getting caught by the group they are wronging. How would this be accomplished?

Criminals are criminals because it's what they can do best and sometimes it's the easiest option. One assumption is that when one steals long enough from the city one lives in, even simple farmers can figure out who does the stealing. How does a criminal keep from getting caught? When guards appear, can the player offer bribes? What if he wants to resist arrest? What happens when a PC kills a guard in such a large city?

Some NPCs will call the guard when they are in danger, so do they just appear out of nowhere? Are there throw away NPC guards that are summoned for just that instance, or will every single guard in the area be aware of what they have done instantly and kill on sight? I may understand that guards will naturally become suspicious more of some people than others, but with such a large city, if the PC was able to get away, would the PC be free to wander once more? What happens if the PC kills all the summoned guards? Do more come? What happens after something like that? Can PCs call on the guards for help, if they find themselves under attack?

I would propose that if a PC was to get into a situation where guards were summoned, that the PC be given three options: Surrender, attempt a bribe, or resist arrest. I realise this sounds like Oblivion, but what one must realise is that those options are logical options. Surrendering is for those who wish to either give up in obedience, or for those who are too weak to resist arrest and too poor to bribe. Bribing is part of business, and many different games use it (Scarface, in order to reduce heat; NWN2 Official Campaign had some guards accepting bribes; The Godfather game had you able to pay off the police). Resisting arrest is for those who can't afford to give up their goods and surrender, nor can afford to bribe their way out of the situation.

This of course, is simply my opinion. The ultimate question is "What do you do with a Character that is in trouble with the law?"