Bribes

[Anonymous]

many Zalanthans would make it a point to set a small amount of coin aside to give to templars they run into often, just so they're in their good books.

I'd like to know where you get this from. Did your PCs ever do this? Have you seen NPCs do it? Is it written in the docs somewhere?

Run up to templars and just hand them coins? Even Ranna, who would make PCs sell their weapons and armor to raise her 50 coin toll, would get angry when people did that without her asking.

Nor have I ever heard of a templar having to be afraid of "influential commoners". It's an oxymoron. Sure, they might be wise to go easy on House servants and the like, but only because an attack on a servant is tantamount to an attack on that House. And that's pretty recent thinking, actually.

I've never heard of a templar being "reassigned" out of trampling on commoners either. It waters down the whole notion of being a templar. What does happen if a templar is overaggressive? The city environment becomes so toxic that people leave, or the templar becomes hated enough that someone kills him.

[Folker]

Or the Templar ends up being seen as  a crude brute and end up being  involved in zero compaigns that involves subtlety, and that probably estimated to 90% of all political/nobility related actions.

[LauraMars]

Not to mention that public violence is a big no-no for Northern templars.  If one of them is seen "trampling" over a bunch of commoners, yes, they'll probably get a talking to.  Thiers is a stern and subtle approach, glossed over with love, as one might love an affectionate cat or loyal dog.

Actually, I like to think grease-the-wheel bribes (more like Gaare's killer examples) and smooth talking would be prevelant in the North.  Their whole society is largely based on partisan/patron relationships and the exchange of favors, after all.  Get-me-outa-here bribes seem a southern cousin, where everyone is desperate and dusty.

But of course there must a place and a time for all kinds of bribes, north and south and east and west! And in the depths of despair and the heights of ecstacy!  Yes!  Yes!  Let bribings happen always!  Let the dark alleys, dubious exchanges and glow of cigarettes prevail!

[jstorrie]

I'd like to know where you get this from. Did your PCs ever do this? Have you seen NPCs do it? Is it written in the docs somewhere?

Several of my PCs would, whenever they had dealings with templars, discretely offer up a token amount at the end of the conversation. Sometimes when my PCs would get unexpected windfalls, they would earmark some of it and offer it to the templar they saw most often. Generally speaking, though, most of my PCs have enjoyed a low enough profile that they just tried to keep out of templars' notice. Those PCs that had to be publicly notorious for whatever reason did, however, suck up whenever possible.

I agree that you wouldn't want to pester templars every day with pouches of 25 'sid, but if you have any sort of dealings with any templars at all it makes sense to grease the wheels in advance. When you buy a merchant's license, you can 'tip.' When you stop by to deliver Joe Borsail's urgent message, you can slip a pouch of coins, too. It's not just saying, 'like me because I pay up,' because the average commoner's token bribes are going to be drops in the Silt Sea to most templars. It's saying 'I know how to play ball, I know my place, and I am respectful of your/the god-king's authority.'

That being said, not every PC will or should do this. It's kind of like Allanaki commoners going to daily devotions at the dragon statue - some will feel a duty to, others won't.

[marko]

The Art of Bribery

This is how I view bribery in the game.  Basically, bribery is handled differently in every geographical location.  How bribery is done in the South is a lot different than how it is done in the North.

We need to remember and keep in mind that the Northern Templarate is significantly different than the Southern Templarate.  The cultures of the two cities are quite different already and continue to diverge when it comes to overt acts of corruption.

Therefore, to discuss bribery, we need to split it up into three sections.  Allanak, Outposts, and Tuluk.  We also need to have a baseline of who is being bribed - therefore I will  focus solely on the law of each of these cities that will make it a lot easier to discuss.  

Starting with Allanak:

Allanak is a brutal and repressive culture.  The law is kept by overt acts of violence, corruption, and brutality.  A templar that cuts down a citizen in the middle of the street (aka, public execution) is making a point:

The law is inviolate.  
The law is the templar.  
Don't fuck with the templarate.  

Therefore, when dealing with bribery, you do it openly and without any attempt at concealing what is being done.  For a good rule of thumb I tend to guess what my character's life is worth and offer just over that amount to the templar.  Soldiers get an amount that is significantly lower.

A templar that is well played and knows the social system of Allanak will accept all bribes and let the criminal go - unless, of course, a favor was called in or a greater amount was offered by a more influential individual At that time, the templar has the option of flat out saying that this isn't enough (with the view that more will be offered) or just doing whatever they were going to do originally.

When I played Allanaki templars I found it simply astounding how rare a bribe was.  I had to put it bluntly and without any tact that my character would accept bribes.  In fact, on two occasions my templar held out his hand to someone he was shaking down - and the person looked at the hand and didn't understand.  So my templar had to state, explicitly, that now was the time to bribe.  

Personally, I found that rather amusing, but the reality is that a little 'sid greases the wheels of the law.  In Allanak, the law is very malleable and 'exceptions' are made all the time.

Bribes should be common in Allanak and gifts that build up good will would be commonplace.  Nobles that have any sort of political inclination would be wise to be gifting the templars regularly.  On numerous occasions a noble who regularly gifted a templar has managed to do some things that they couldn't have otherwise done.  Do not discount what regular gifts (aka bribes) do for social and political clout.

To put it all into perspective - when I played a street rat who kept getting into trouble with the law he ended up paying thousands of 'sid for the privilege of staying free.  On one occasion he paid a PC militia type a hundred and fifty coin to 'look the other way' when a PC started claiming my rat was a thief.  This other PC got all upset but... didn't offer up a counter-offer so my rat was left alone (and promptly got out of there).  

In another situation, the same rat got picked up by a templar.  With a five hundred bribe, some groveling, and some fast, respectful talking - my rat was let go.  Five hundred was probably two times the worth the life of my rat at that time.  In other words, the bribe was huge from the character it was coming from.  A templar must always keep that in mind.  A commoner who offers up two hundred coins is like a baby noble who offers up twenty thousand.

Summary: Bribery is a common and accepted aspect of law enforcement.

The Outposts

Each outpost is unique and has its own law system.  That being said, a bribe is always worth attempting although the results are not as predictable as they are in Allanak.  Sometimes a bribe will spare the life and prove the character with an escort to the gates where they will be barred from entering ever again - or it may just be scoffed at.  

Always attempt the bribe - after all, by the time the offer is going up it's usually the last moments of life anyway.

Tuluk

The system of law enforcement in Tuluk is different than that in Allanak.  Bribery needs to be handled in a much more delicate manner.  

To understand what bribery is in Tuluk we need to understand the law system and criminal system.  Tuluk licenses its criminals and, for all intents and purposes, this licensing system is actually a legalized bribery system.  A criminal who buys their license is paying a bribe up front that says - I will be pursuing criminal activities and by paying my share to the templarate prior to doing these activities and I am ensuring that if there is an investigation of a successful act that it will go nowhere.

Basically, in Tuluk, you want to be preempting investigations and accusations by smoothing the way well in advance.  As a licensed criminal, it is in the best interest of the criminal to properly keep their license in order and _not_ to bungle a job.  A messed up job that implicates the criminal means the criminal will get taken down.  License or not.  All the license does is allows the criminal to pursue their activities with the knowledge that so long as they don't blow it then they won't get caught.  

In other words, by the time a character is confronted by a templar, the chance to bribe is long past.  You may still make the attempt but the chance of success is minimal - an attempt made in the final moments may appear to be childish, it may offend, and your character should have done it a long time ago.

Getting caught in the act and surviving the ensuing interaction with a templar will be entirely dependant on how smooth the criminal was prior to getting caught (or during the interogation).  At this time, a well timed and well handled bribe might just offer an escape from the punishment (which is often death.)  Whether or not one survives is at the discretion of the templar involved.

Note, one does not have to be licensed in Tuluk to be a criminal.  The licensed criminal element is merely those that operate within the radar of the templarate and are allowed to operate somewhat openly.  Their acts are even admired if they are completed in an artistic and creative way.  To operate as an unlicensed criminal means that should the criminal get investigated and enters into an interrogation situation the deck is stacked against them.  The vast majority of criminals in Tuluk are licensed because of this.  

Attempting to negotiate in an interrogation is something anyone with any sense, brains, or fear would wish to avoid.  Being interrogated by the templarate is probably the most frightening event any citizen in Tuluk can go through or imagine.  The citizens of Tuluk fear being taken away by the templarate - you never know if you will ever come back.  

Summary: In Tuluk, bribery is partially legalized through the licensing system.  Buying a license is the start of the bribing process.  Bribes should be handled well in advance of any event that may necessitate their use (ie, if a character is planning something dicey and needs templar support bribe well in advance of that situation).  Bribes should be done _discretely_ and handled with care.  Bribes are not so much as bribes but gifts for the continued well being of a particular templar.  Be artful in the approach, discrete in the transaction, and careful of appearances.

[Anonymous]

Nor have I ever heard of a templar having to be afraid of "influential commoners". It's an oxymoron. Sure, they might be wise to go easy on House servants and the like, but only because an attack on a servant is tantamount to an attack on that House. And that's pretty recent thinking, actually.

They exist.  Most are NPCs and NONE work for a noble or merchant house.  If you haven't heard of any then you simply need to listen better.

Basically, if a templar fucks up a commoner, and it turns out that commoner was giving coins to a templar with more authority, than that templar has committed political suicide and possibly simply suicide.

[bloodfromstone]

NONE work for a noble or merchant house

Without going into IC information, I'd just like to say that that is a false statement.