I assume that wanted level sort of assumes the worst crime they can currently pin on you right? Like if they go to jail for murder that’s going to be longer than a couple of months right?
What crimes do you associate with each wanted level? I assume wanted level might be 4? Or is it actually that ironhook is really big on rehabilitation? Or if you aren’t notorious its easy to slip out?
I interpret Wanted Level as the degree to which the powers that be want you out of the picture. Remember, justice in Doskvol doesn’t operate on the principal of “guilty get punished; innocent go free”. It’s based on the wealth and power of the accused and the give-a-fuck capacity of the bluecoats, inspectors and magistrates.
So if you’re at Wanted Level 1 and commit murder, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going away for life. You’re just not important or dangerous enough to warrant the paperwork. By Wanted Level 4, enough people are pissed off enough that the paperwork is going to go through.
So maybe its like…
level 1 is the Bluecoats giving you a hard time
level 2 is the Bluecoats making your life a living hell
level 3 is the inspectors getting involved but can’t put you away forever because of corruption
level 4 is a miracle where the corruption gets out of the way of the Inspectors and you go away for life.
Since mechanically Wanted accumulates over time, I would look at it as a longer and longer list of crimes, rather than one great one. So if you’re Wanted 2, the Bluecoats are upset about “5 counts of robbery, 4 of aggravated assault, 2 assault and battery, 2 interfering with an officer in the performance of his duty, and 1 littering.” Sentences to be served consecutively, of course. 🙂
That makes a lot of sense Arne Jamtgaard for a group of thieves. I’m playing with some cultist who decided their first sacred site was going to be sacrifice.
So their rap sheet would be something like… a dozen counts of murder, conspiracy, treason, destruction of government property, impersonating a government officer, and 3 kidnappings.
The group is at wanted level 2, partly because they got away clean with some of these deeds, or had well suited fall guy. I think with their rap sheet I’m going to lean heavily on the corruption means lighter sentences sometimes. Or I can always ask the kool question of “How did you escape after 3 months?”
Aaron Berger ‘Or I can always ask the kool question of “How did you escape after 3 months?”‘
This is so Blades…
Also consider Al Capone, a notoriously public criminal who was finally taken down on tax evasion charges. Criminal justice is weird.
Also his FBI criminal record would make a great Blades handout: upload.wikimedia.org
I also think about the Wire, where the police knowing someone is a crook is incidental to the long, slow process of gathering enough hard proof and political will to actually put a high-level player away.
Remember too that you van use clever f**kery via consequences for actions and Devil’s Bargains that can carry into the Wanted / Incarceration realm.
So if the cultist is trying to summon daemons via ritual sacrifice of a naughty noble, the DB might be that someone in the inspector’s office gets a crumb trail or clue about your clandestine blooding. Or the 1-3 result on a desperate action during the ritual leads to any future incarceration results on the entanglements table related to the store being treated as one level higher.