Factors Affecting Trials
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shadow: offBefore you can conduct a trial there are a few important factors to address:
- Type of trial: civil vs. criminal
- Lawyer’s skill (refer to Lawyers in Haven)
- Judge/lawyer relationship (refer to Lawyers in Haven)
- Judge’s attitudes (refer to Judges in Haven)
- Bribery
- Social Standing
Bribing Judges
Bribery is usually a possibility but judges have different views of bribery - some expect it and will be insulted if it is not offered, others will be insulted if it is, and some may succumb to the amount offered.
| Greed 01-10 | Greed 11-35 | Greed 36-65 | Greed 66-80 | Greed 81-95 | Greed 96-00 | Decision Roll Modifier | Minimum Bribe | Max Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-35 | 01-10 | - | - | - | - | +5% per 100gp | 100gp | +50% |
| 36-65 | 11-30 | 01-10 | - | - | - | +10% flat | 200gp | +20% |
| 66-90 | 31-50 | 11-30 | 01-10 | - | - | +5% per 250gp | 250gp | +30% |
| 91-00 | 51-75 | 31-45 | 11-30 | 01-10 | - | +10% flat | 500gp | +10% |
| - | 76-95 | 46-70 | 31-55 | 11-35 | 01-10 | +5% per 500gp | 500gp | +30% |
| - | 96-00 | 71-85 | 56-75 | 36-60 | 11-25 | +10% | 1,000gp | +10% |
| - | - | 85-95 | 76-90 | 61-80 | 26-50 | +25% | 2,000gp | +25% |
| - | - | - | - | 81-85 | 51-70 | +25% | 5,000gp | +25% |
| - | - | 96-00 | 91-00 | 86-95 | 71-85 | assured acquittal | 2,000gp | — |
| - | - | - | - | 96-00 | 86-00 | assured acquittal | 5,000gp | — |
If a judge is bribed but the amount falls below the minimum, roll d100 to see their reaction.
- 01-30 : bribe ignored
- 31-60 : bribe taken but -5% due to the insult
- 61-85 : bribe taken but -10% due to the insult
- 86-00 : bribe taken but -15% due to the insult
The more established lawyers will have some idea of who is bribable and who is definitely not. However, there is only a 10% chance that a person will know the name of his judge before he selects a lawyer. If one waits to learn the judge’s name (normally announced only days before the trial date), any lawyer selected will suffer a -15% penalty to his ability rating, since the time to prepare is inadequate.
Refer to the summary table under Judges in Haven for their bribability.
For example
- Lucius Cardallo has a greed rating of 43.
- For any given matter before him, roll a d100; suppose the result is 63.
- Looking down the Greed column 36-45, we see that 63 falls into the 5th row (46-70).
- Looking across we see that for every 500gp offered the decision roll receives +5%.
- Assuming that a bribe of 1,200gp is offered, the total adjustment is +10%.
- Also note that even if the bribe is over 3,000gp, the best one can expect from Lucius is +30% adjustment.
- And if Lucius isn’t offered a bribe it’s an automatic -25% (see above) on the decision roll.
Of course the players know none of this.
Remember that the players and their characters have little or no knowledge of what the judge is going to do, after he has accepted the bribe, until the trial actually begins. The only exception is the rumors that may have been garnered at various spots concerning the judge’s bribe rating. The players might get a vague idea of the result in a range of numbers, which somewhere includes the actual result.
| Social Status | Haven | Non-Havenite |
|---|---|---|
| High Nobility | +60 | +75 |
| Wealthy Guild | +55 | +40 |
| Wealthy Merchant | +50 | +35 |
| Aristocracy | +40 | +60 |
| Guildmaster | +30 | +30 |
| Landowner | +25 | +25 |
| Merchant | +20 | +15 |
| Shopkeeper | +15 | +15 |
| Peasant | +10 | +5 |
| Freedman | +10 | +0 |
| Indentured | -5 | -15 |
| Serf | -5 | -25 |
| Wandering Folk | -10 | -10 |
| Slave | XX | -50 |
Social Standing
A difference in social status between plaintiff and defendant will almost always have an effect on the verdict, as will racial differences between judge and lawyer, and judge and defendant. The judge may have a positive or negative relationship with the client’s lawyer or possibly even the client (percentage adjustments for these relationships should be determined by the GM - for instance, being the judge’s nephew might be worth a +30%, while being the son of the judge’s worst enemy could penalize -50%).
To determine the trial modifier for social differences, subtract the plaintiff’s social rating from the defendant’s social rating drawing the rating figures from the chart below. It is quite possible that this will produce a negative modifier.
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