From: Scott Haney, AFDS770 Functional Test X2069 (SYS_RSH%PV0A@hobbes.cca.rockwell.com)
Date: Fri 22 Apr 1994 - 09:34:00 EEST
> Seriously, though, having the fuzz arrive is an anachronism,
> and anachronisms really irk me in RPGs and fantasy fiction.
I agree, but only partly, Martin. It would irk me to find that every city or town had an organized (and possibly full-time) policing force of some sort. But I think the original point was that the PCs can't run about killing people, sometimes even if there is a reason. If someone hears a village/town resident crying for help when the PCs are laying waste to him, the villagers are going to gang up on the PCs. Should the PCs escape, the villagers may well hunt them down. (Of course, the hapless 'victim' was an ogre who was munching on some child's body, but who ya gonna believe?) Essentially: if you knock someone off, somebody's likely to be pissed.
I certainly wouldn't include a police force or a regular watch in any but the largest communities (one wherein the lord resides). (I admit, I like the idea of having them run out of a pastry shop. :) In those larger communities, the 'police' would basically be the lord's men-at-arms, keeping the peace in the interests of the lord's naptime or such. This would require a fairly large, organized community (it could happen this way in Sun County, frex).
Scott
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