This guide seeks to explain the making and reasons of laws to Monarchs.
Remember! Laws are broadcast to everyone, so ensure they are well written before you broadcast them. You can also revoke and then rewrite them if necessary. (It's a good idea to write the laws down beforehand)
By Headmin Ruling, it is against the Rules to make openly Heretical laws at the beginning of a Round, as it breaks RP standards.
Read more here
Nobody wants a lawless kingdom. There are some inherent vices set by the Church that are the realm of the Inhumen gods, like Thievery, Murder, Necromancy and other abhorrent things, as well as a Code Of Law for the guards to punish people with, but it is your job as King to set the day to day expectations for the subjects of your kingdom.
And in case you think you can just stick with the default lawsets, don't. Most of them are quite poorly made.
Since ancient times, laws have existed as a way to set about the expectations for society. You should generally set laws that explain the punishments of criminals and how your subjects should act around you.
Laws regarding heresy are not the domain of the King, but the domain of the Priest and the Inquisitor, ensure you liaise with them on what laws should be put into place regarding this.
It would be a bad idea to make openly heretical laws, as this would be broadcasting your heresy live to the kingdom, who would have full justification to enter an open rebellion against you (it is also against rule 1, and the roleplay standards to do so at the start of the round)
Laws set about what your subjects should be doing, and allow your Guardsmen to punish people for breaking these laws. You can have fun with it, just remember that these laws will be executed. You could, for example, make a law that requires all people to register their weapons, to ensure you know who is armed and who can be called up to a militia. This would be giving your Archivist something to do.
Your law should therefore be directly enforceable and reasonable, and should probably not punish law-abiding citizens, as they have reasonably lived in the city for years. Laws should include within them the punishment for the crime committed, this should be easily understandable, so that people are clearly dissuaded from breaking them.
Laws that overly restrict players are not fun for anyone, for example, laws that forbid the wearing of hoods are in fact directly heretical, as the Church of the Ten have clergy who are required by the Ten to keep themselves concealed. Remember to exclude the church if you make a no masks law. Make sure that your laws are fun for other people, and use them to create roleplay opportunities. You are not here to win, you are here to roleplay.
Well, prospective king, this section seeks to provide some good examples of Medieval laws and historic law codes, which were successful at keeping peace and order in their day.
The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest law codes we have in history, and has some pretty good suggestions for a prospective king, here are some examples.
If a man accuses another man and charges him with homicide, but cannot bring proof against him, his accuser shall be killed.
If a man breaks into a house, they shall kill him and hang him in front of that very breach
If a builder constructs a house for a man but does not make it conform to specifications so that a wall then buckles, that builder shall make that wall sound using his silver.
As you can see, this one is somewhat overspecific with its laws, and a lot of them aren't very useful.
Hwyel Dda, or Hywel the Good was a Welsh 'King' who presented one of the earliest welsh codes of laws, here are some of his laws.
Murder was regarded as an offense against the family rather than against society or the state. It was normally dealt with by the payment of blood money, which would be paid out to the relatives of the deceased. The cost would be set by the social status and class of the individual killed. This sum might then be modified in certain situations (for example, an attack from ambush doubled the base fine)
Aiding and abetting – including witnessing a killing and failing to protect the victim or receiving stolen property – was also punished with fines.
Generally, Hwyel Dda's laws are all based around money and FINES. Each body part would be given a certain cost and the debt would be repaid for each part damaged.
A Law must abide to three criteria to be fair and reasonably applicable:
If a law is intended to keep order, the Law should be general and impersonal, as well as easy to read. Alternatively, you can specify a specific group should you wish.
Example: "Every subject of the Crown..."
Example 2: "All Tieflings..."
Example 3: "All within the town of Vanderlin..."
It's in the title, a law should be mandatory otherwise what's the point behind it unless you wish to do exception then you should mention it.
The law should specify exactly what it forbids or enforces. If you wish to make exeptions to the law, this is where you should mention them.
Example: "Every subject of the Crown shall and must abide to the Crown's orders unless the Crown has been usurped..."
Example 2: "All Tieflings are banned from entering the keep, unless they already work within it..."
Example 3: "All within the town of Vanderlin are forbidden to wear masks, the Chuch, Nobles, and Physickers are excempt"
In order for everyone to obey the law, it must have consequences if it is crossed otherwise none will take it seriously.
Example: "Every subject of the Crown shall and must abide to the Crown's orders unless the Crown has been usurped, failure to comply to orders from the Crown shall be punished through a session in the pillories."
Example 2: "All Tieflings are banned from entering the keep, unless they already work within it. If a Tiefling is found trespassing within the keep, they will have their legs broken and will be thrown into the river"
Example 3: "All within the town of Vanderlin are forbidden to wear masks, the Chuch, Nobles, and Physickers are excempt. If one is found wearing a mask and does not remove it after being warned, all weapons and face coverings on them are to be confiscated"
Go, be creative with your laws, just ensure they are enforceable and reasonable. You should seek at all times to clearly state your intent with laws and how you seek for them to be punished. You are the ruler of Vanderlin, and your word is absolute.
If you ever need guidance, don't hesitate to ask the community, your court, or the Admins, somebody will have an idea how to handle it.