The Long Arm of the Law
A monthly roll is made on Table 24 to determine whether there has been a confrontation with the law.
Table 24:
CONFRONTATIONS WITH
THE LAW I
|
d20 |
|
|
Roll |
Result |
|
1-16 |
No confrontation |
|
17-20 |
Confrontation |
Modifiers to Dice Roll
+4 if attitude of law is persecutory
+2 if attitude of law is hassling
-2 if attitude of law is tolerant
-4 if attitude of law is corrupt
-3 if activity of guild is easygoing
-1 if activity of guild is routine
+2 if activity of guild is pushy
+5 if activity of guild is aggressive
+1 for each group of 10 thieves (round up) past the first 10 (maximum modifier +5)
Note that when rolling on the table above, a roll of natural 20 means a confrontation with the law, no matter what the modifiers may be.
If a confrontation arises, roll on Table 25 to determine the nature of the confrontation. Apply the same modifiers to the dice roll as for Table 24, except for the last one (the number of thieves modifier). Also, natural rolls of 1 and 20 are not subjected to modifiers on Table 25.
CONFRONTATIONS WITH
THE LAW II
|
d20 |
|
|
Roll |
Result |
|
1 |
Arrest of 1 thief (1st-level apprentice) |
|
2-5 |
Arrest of 1 thief (level 1d2) |
|
6-9 |
Arrest of 1d2 thieves (1st-level apprentices) |
|
10-15 |
Arrest of 1d2 thieves (level 1d2) |
|
16-18 |
Arrest of 1d2+1 thieves (levels 1d3) |
|
19 |
Arrest of 1d3+1 thieves (levels 1d3) |
|
20 |
Reroll, but thieves are killed |
|
21-23 |
Arrest of 1d2+3 thieves, rolled at random from the
active guildmember list |
|
24+ |
As above, but there is a 50% chance for each thief of
being killed |
Any arrest of three or more thieves will reduce the morale of guildmembers by -1.
Clearly, it is useful if a guild can manage to corrupt the law somewhere along the line. It is up to the player of a PC guildmaster to set about corrupting the law, if it isn't corrupt already, and up to the DM to determine at what point the corruption has gone far enough to apply dice modifiers in the tables above.
Arrested Thieves: Different campaign worlds, and countries within the same campaign world, have very different legal systems and degrees of punishment. If the guildmaster wants to try and get his followers back by paying their fine, this is acceptable unless the DM rules otherwise (e.g., the country is Lawful Neutral and very punitive, the attitude of the law is persecutory or hassling, etc.). The fine payable is variable. The base fine is 30 gp, but modifiers can readily be applied. If the thief is of 3rd or higher level, double the fine (he probably has a record). If the guild's activity level was pushy, double the fine. If the guild's activity level was aggressive, multiply the fine by five. Finally, roll 1d4 and multiply the fine by this figure to get a final sum.
This is a fair shorthand rule which many DMs will want to detail further for themselves, but for an averagely active guild in an average sort of game milieu (if there is such a thing) an average fine of 75 gp, or 150 gp for a seasoned criminal, is not so much to pay. The guild can afford to pay half the fine (part of running expenses) up to 250gp, but the guildmaster has to fork out the rest from his personal wealth. A guildmaster who gets a thief out of jail by paying the fine, or by busting him out, gains the confidence of his followers, who add +1 to their morale for the next month. On the other hand, if the guild suffers a loss of several (3 or more) members there may be a morale drop of -1 or more (but the DM may waive this for large guilds).