All Monsters in "Official"
Source NPC Core pg. 108Larger 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
Medium Human Humanoid