Jail
What follows is OOC server guidelines regarding character incarceration. It does not exhaustively cover, nor will it, in-character crime & punishment, or systems of law. These are what should be followed in the case that someone is found to be in violation of IC laws as established by a player faction. Much of it is a compromise between realism and OOC fairness, and the bottom line is that communication between the captor and the prisoner is critical, and all attempts should be made to come to a common ground.
There are many reasons to incarcerate other characters, and not all of them are going to be seen as just to our modern sensibilities. However, doing so severely impairs the player's ability to RP with that character, and as such, certain OOC rules should be follows.
For Region Owners & Faction Leaders:
For Criminals, Ne'er-Do-Wells & Other Miscreants:
"They escaped with permission, now what?"
"This Sucks"
What follows is OOC server guidelines regarding character incarceration. It does not exhaustively cover, nor will it, in-character crime & punishment, or systems of law. These are what should be followed in the case that someone is found to be in violation of IC laws as established by a player faction. Much of it is a compromise between realism and OOC fairness, and the bottom line is that communication between the captor and the prisoner is critical, and all attempts should be made to come to a common ground.
There are many reasons to incarcerate other characters, and not all of them are going to be seen as just to our modern sensibilities. However, doing so severely impairs the player's ability to RP with that character, and as such, certain OOC rules should be follows.
For Region Owners & Faction Leaders:
- In order to be able to jail character in RP, the laws of the region must be posted in a forum thread that is easily accessible to the server population. This does not mean that the character must be aware of the laws, nor that the laws must be modernly considered "just," only that the player can find them available. This is only required so that the player can have a reasonable expectation of the consequences of their actions.
- If you imprison someone, you must let them know of their crime and either the date of their trial or the length of prison time (both OOC and IC time so they can plan the characters reaction to their release) within 24 hours. This can be done right away by the guards, or from a forum post or conversation, the punishment time cannot be lengthened after the jailed one has been informed. The only exceptions to this are with trials, which must be scheduled to occur within a week, but will have the final punishment or prison time established at the end of the trial.
- If the prison sentence is to exceed three weeks (or three weeks after a trial), the player can coordinate with staff regarding any escape attempts. This is the only situation that would not require the OOC consent of the captor to attempt escape, but it does require the approval of staff.
- If you want any attempts to escape to be very difficult, you must get the prison evaluated by one of the Council Members who have volunteered for this task and listed in the "Prison Registry" below. Unlisted prisons will have a default difficulty.
- If they are going to be executed, it must be for a legitimate RP reason and not for something petty like taunting a noble. Similarly prisoners should only be held for lengthy amounts of time exceeding a week for valid reasons. The murder of the local priest would be considered valid, for example, while your character not liking the odd look of their face would be invalid.
- Life imprisonment is acceptable if the character killed someone.
- Torture may only be used as is realistically applicable, unless consented by the prisoner. A man arrested for the crime of stealing a coin purse does not meet this criteria, for example, while a court official arrested for treason does. REMEMBER: All rules regarding appropriate RP apply. Don't get gory.
- Characters may not be maimed while imprisoned unless during an escape attempt, valid torture, or aftermath of a trial.
- To the best of their abilities, captors must provide some form of roleplay - be it the other prisoners in the cell block (should any exist at the time), or parchment and ink for creating in-character documents. There are some circumstances where this is not possible, but we ask that every attempt be made. Repeated complaints from prisoners will easily alert staff to the situation if you are not.
For Criminals, Ne'er-Do-Wells & Other Miscreants:
- You can always make a new character to RP, this character cannot be related to the current jailed one, they are not allowed to be aware of the jailed character or show any possible interest in them.
- If your character has done something wrong enough to be executed (attack someone, provoke guards/nobles) then you will have to wait until they are executed and put them into the revival queue: http://hollowworld.co.uk/threads/28620/
- Your character cannot be rescued/released early unless the town owners/guards OOCly agree to it. Escaping does make your character wanted and a danger to common folk, please keep in mind escaping is a legitimate reason for your character to be executed next time they are caught.
- Prisoners may not attempt to escape unless their intent is known OOCly to their captors. This means a character may not escape with aid from an ally while their captors are offline. Should they find a way to escape while roleplaying with a guard (a bribe or quick thinking), it would be considered valid.
- Prisoners may not abuse the rule requiring captors to provide roleplay opportunities - use common sense and be kind. If someone is providing you with a leniency in order to provide you with some form of in-character interaction, treat them fairly. Prisoners may not complain about a lack of roleplay if they do not seek it or if they are inactive during the period they are imprisoned.
"They escaped with permission, now what?"
- Contact other town owners and let them RPly know of the characters crime and that they might be in the area, you cannot force a town to hand over a criminal but you can make them aware that they genuinely did something wrong
- Place posters in your town (Would recommend signs, they're cheap) about the escaped criminal, this way anyone wandering through would be able to help if they chose to.
"This Sucks"
- Tough. This is an attempt to make the process fair for everyone, and not place an undue burden on people trying to keep their towns lawful. Next time, perhaps play a less nefarious character.
- The only time staff need to get involved is if the post-trial prison sentence has passed the three week mark. This does not mean that the character can actually escape, but is the only way they have a chance to without the OOC permission of the captor.
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