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Blackbird

The Blackbird, also called the Black Stone Violin, is a full-size playable violin made of black diabase after drawings by Antonio Stradivari (Stradivarius), but with technical modifications to allow it to be played.

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There is a Legacy version here.

City Guard Squadron

Garrisons of professional guards are given the duties of patrolling the streets, assisting citizenry, and acting as a quick military response in times of crisis.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 20
Unspecific Lore: DC 18
Specific Lore: DC 15

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

City Guard SquadronCreature 5

Gargantuan Human Humanoid Troop
Source NPC Core pg. 114
Perception +12
Languages Common
Skills Athletics +14, Intimidation +11, Settlement Lore +9
Str +5, Dex +0, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +2
Seek Quarry City guards can spend 1 minute to designate a single creature for whom they have a physical description as their quarry. They gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks against their quarry.

AC 22; Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +11
HP 75 (4 segments); Thresholds 50 (12 squares), 25 (8 squares); Weaknesses area damage 5, splash damage 5
Troop Defenses

Speed 25 feet; city passage, troop movement
City Passage City guards ignore difficult terrain caused by crowds or from movement through narrow spaces such as alleyways.Lower Halberds! [one-action] to [three-actions] Frequency once per round; Effect The city guards engage in a coordinated melee attack against each enemy in a 10-foot emanation, with a DC 19 basic Reflex save. The damage depends on the number of actions.
[one-action] 1d10 piercing or slashing damage
[two-actions] 1d10+7 piercing or slashing damage
[three-actions] 1d10+10 piercing or slashing damageShoot Crossbows! [two-actions] The city guards draw or reload their crossbows, then launch a ranged attack in the form of a volley. This volley is a 10-foot burst within 120 feet that deals 2d8 piercing damage with a DC 19 basic Reflex save. When the city guards are reduced to 2 or fewer segments, this area decreases to a 5-foot burst.

Local Guards

The city guard squadron depicted here consists of humans armed with halberds and crossbows. You can alter these details to match the settlements in your game, adding ancestry traits, regional languages, and other abilities as necessary, and swapping out their weaponry for ones appropriate to the local culture. Some of the ancestry entries in chapter 2 also include troops even more suited to settlements inhabited by different ancestries!

All Monsters in "Official"

Name	Level
Accuser Agent	9
Archer Sentry	2
Arrester Squadron	8
Barrister	-1
Captain of the Guard	6
City Guard Squadron	5
Equestrian Constable	4
Executioner	6
Gendarme	8
Grand Inquisitor	15
Guard	1
Harbormaster	3
Infernal Registrar	10
Inspector	3
Jailer	3
Judge	-1
Mayor	0
Prime Minister	0
Tax Collector	-1
Warden	6
Watch Officer	3
Watchmage	5
Watchmage Squadron	10

Official

Source NPC Core pg. 108
Larger societies rely on those with the authority and the ability to interpret and enforce laws. Some carry out these duties fairly, but others are harsh and cruel, imposing severe punishments on anyone unable to pay for clemency.

At Your Service

Many officials can conscript others into service in a variety of positions. These are usually other officials like guards or jailers, but some NPCs from other sections who might be conscripted include drover, guide, messenger, and tracker. On rare occasions officials are given some amount of authority over NPCs in the military. The harbormaster also can conscript the services of a bosun, dockhand, navigator, or ship captain.

Crossover Ancestry NPCs

Several of the NPCs elsewhere in NPC Core can fit well in this group: Big boss goblin (level 6), elven court guard (level 13), kobold egg guardian (level 3), swarm voice (level 3), tidewater guard (level 4)

Delaying Tactics

An official can weaponize bureaucracy. A judge might enforce an archaic law generally ignored yet still on the books. A tax collector could ask for the seal of a lord who is out of the region. The harbormaster could require all fees in local coin, fully aware that money changers won't be open for days.

Deploying The Watch

If no guard is present, it takes at least 1–2 rounds for a civilian to find a guard to sound an alarm whistle. If a guard was on the scene, they would sound the alarm immediately. Reinforcements typically arrive 2–3 rounds later.

Deputized Adventuring

Watch officers often need specialized help solving difficult criminal cases or tracking down fugitives who have evaded capture. Adventurers who are hired in as consultants are typically deputized, granting them temporary legal authority comparable to constables. They can humanely arrest suspects, perform reasonable searches and questioning, and confiscate and return stolen goods. Corrupt officers might deputize in exchange for an ample bribe if their actions are plausibly defensible.

Guard Patrols

High-security areas, city walls, and main streets tend to have regular guard patrols, both hourly and nightly. These patrols usually take regular breaks at gates, castles, guardhouses, jails, ports, or watchtowers. Other areas within watch jurisdiction tend to get visits sporadically, sometimes only when an alarm is raised.

Intelligence Networks

Complex governments rely on bureaucracies and trusted messenger systems to monitor their expansive territories, send orders, and enact large-scale decrees. Most governments formally use conventional officers to carry out their policies, but secretive or unofficial networks of more trusted agents handle more sensitive matters. They also ferret out corruption and dissent among the regular officers.

Jailbreak!

If a PC or ally gets imprisoned, the group might plot a jailbreak. For a complex jail or penitentiary, this might require the use of the infiltration subsystem. With a smaller town or city jail with a simple structure and small staff, it could require just a bit of force. The jailbreak might just be the beginning, leading to additional adventure!

Making Bureaucracy Fun

Waiting in lines and filling out forms is rarely fun in real life, so how can it be fun in your game? Keep scenes moving and allow everyone to participate. Describe how long PCs wait, but never actually force your players to wait as their characters do. The frustration of filling out forms or talking to dozens of clerks in different departments can be summarized or delivered as background. Further, if a roll isn't needed or roleplay isn't happening, the scene can simply be part of that background, meaning that even while their characters are at their wits' ends, your players are just as involved as they would be in any other social challenge. Finally, make sure every PC has some way to contribute.

Off With A Warning

Officers can often be convinced to drop a minor or tenuous investigation.

Request with a sympathetic story (standard DC for civil infraction, hard DC for misdemeanor, very hard DC for lesser felony unlikely to go to trial)
Explain away suspicious circumstances
Give a bribe of about one-quarter to half the fine
Invoke a jurisdiction conflict (Society with a hard DC of the officer's level)
Invoke an associate powerful enough to make life difficult for the officer (Coerce, potentially Lie)

Officer Ranks

Some ranks within the hierarchy of security forces, from highest to lowest, include grand inquisitor, lord constable, chief inspector, royal accuser/inquisitor, sheriff, captain, inspector, reeve/ bailiff, lieutenant, gendarme, sergeant, corporal, constable, and deputy/ watchman. These titles and structures can very greatly between different settlements and cultures.

Unusual Misdemeanors

Altering the weather without a permit
Failing to clean up after animal companions
Flying within city limits
Selling potions without a license

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Absalom

Blackbird

Boneyard

Book of the Dead

Dark

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Howl of the Wild