Crime in the known.

[Cutthroat]

I think there are more important distinctions for your PC than whether or not he/she is a criminal.

- Location: where is your PC from? Where do they do their work? In Tuluk certain criminals are tolerated to an extent, so long as they are licensed citizens and they're good at what they do. Allanak can have a certain leniency to it as well, if you're smart about it. Crime is commonplace in certain parts of both cities, but criminals that don't get caught generally don't "shit where they eat". On the flipside, a criminal that burglarizes houses or picks pockets in their own neighborhood is more likely to be easily identified.
- Type of crime: Theft and assault/murder immediately come to mind, because they give you a "You are now wanted!" as soon as you mess up. Raiding is an obvious one too. Often forgotten are lower-key criminals and their misdeeds. Spice dealing (in Allanak), contraband dealing (everywhere), protection rackets, general smuggling, and such are all technically possible. Shady characters could even do something immoral, but not necessarily criminal, that still victimizes others - fixed gambling on certain things, scamming, etc.
- The crew: Like in many things IG or IRL, you are more likely to succeed in a group of like-minded individuals.

Successful crime is often heavily organized, a group that does its best to ensure it is run more like a business than a band of thugs. Bribes are business expenditures and they profit off of people handing over their money willingly as often as possible. See: the Mafia.

[FantasyWriter]

Don't forget the good old fashioned Con Artist.
Though 90% of the PCs I have tried to con before pick up on the con immediately instead of running with it.
Half of the remaining 5% were half giants.

One of my favorite NPCs is the elf that sells treasure maps in Nak.

[X-D]

On the point of templars and petty crimes.

Feel free to file a player complaint on the matter. I would/have.

And that is something I rarely recommend. But Templars, Yes, I know the player wants some kind of enjoyment/interaction. But I find that often the players put that WELL above realistic play of the role and am perfectly willing to call them on it with staff. In fact, If I have a PC who has performed a petty crime against somebody unclanned, be it PC or NPC and that templar rolls into the jail, You can bet I will file a complaint If they don't turn around and leave after finding out it is a crime BELOW their Status...and yes, that is the point of realism I find them usually forgetting. I mean really, You are a NOBLE chosen by the highlord/sunking to be his personal Priest/enforcer, you lead ARMIES and have access to AWESOME powers and abilities no other beings have, maybe channeled directly from such highlord/sunking  and you are bothering with some pick pocket?

Secondly, Be willing to stop the scene.

OOC Hey, This Scene is to be Delayed till another time, I need time to deal with staff on the matter...feel free to perm crime this PC so he/she stays in the cell till such a time as this can be finished.

This is something much easier to deal with then to try and get a res after the fact...because frankly, you will not get that res...even if you did grovel, bribe and do whatever and the templar killed your PC anyway.

Usually in the beginning of such a scene I will also wish up and ask that somebody oversee the scene.

And Hey, that way, once it is all over, if you die anyway, you can ask staff for feedback:)

Maybe the answer will be "Dude, You spit on him, and he was gonna let you go, You called him a breed loving gortok...and he was gonna let you go....then you refused to pay the 50 coin fine...I mean come on."

Or, "There are factors in this that you are not aware of...sorry."

[Fathi]

There is a lot of great advice in this thread. I only have a tiny addition:

Bribing works a lot better when you do it beforehand. A small to the powers that be here and there, over time, a few nice gifts, and they'll be much more likely to ignore you if you do get caught. It's a much more effective strategy than standing there over a body, covered in blood, and offering to give them 'sid to just walk away.

[FantasyWriter]

There is a lot of great advice in this thread. I only have a tiny addition:

Bribing works a lot better when you do it beforehand. A small to the powers that be here and there, over time, a few nice gifts, and they'll be much more likely to ignore you if you do get caught. It's a much more effective strategy than standing there over a body, covered in blood, and offering to give them 'sid to just walk away.

Wonderful advice. This also allows you to contact said power-that-is  once you do get caught committing a crime and having someone in your corner, so to speak.
Offering a percentage of your monthly take is also a good alternative to a flat, one time or occasional bribe.  That way the power actually has a reason to -want- you around and to -want- you to be successful.
Also, also wik.... This is a good way to GET contracts from the afore mentioned power.

[Cind]

I felt bad about wanting to complain about my unlawful pc getting spam-jumped into a life of impossibly thick survelliance for having one suspicious think in their RL week-long life, and she thought and felt with relative frequency, but then I read some of these posts, and I feel better.

I bet you anything that the number of pc criminals will spike (for the game's current standards) if crimcode were eased, especially for supposedly more common crimes. Make pickpockets easier to play and survive as than muggers, who are easier to survive as than serial killers, or something. Maybe just have pickpockets tossed in the slammer and release them after a while without coded intervention. Automatic lengths of time in the slammer for everyone! That way pickpockets and lower-end criminals don't have to pay money in bribes they don't have, and templar pcs won't feel the need to go visit every feck in the jail, just the important ones. Actually, I think they need to visit them and release them of crimes. I don't know, because while its the only way I remember being relieved of crimes, it also doesn't make any sense to me for most crimes.

And make it so humans spend less time in jail and elves a little more or something. They should still be hard to play; most criminals have difficult lives.

That's why you play an elf. If you steal shit, nobody judges you for it.

Being an elf definitely has this advantage. Its a beautiful truth. In fact, the annoying pc I had that got tailed for a think, which seemed unusual until I read this thread, was my only criminal human.

[FantasyWriter]

It's not a crime if you don't get caught!

[palomar]

You already spend automated time in jail when arrested. Law enforcers with jail access are encouraged to visit the cells because it provides interaction to templars/militia and the criminals. Sitting alone in a cell for a RL hour (or whatever the automated jail sentence is) is no fun.

Crimcode was adjusted not so long ago with the nighttime changes.

Bribing is under-utilized, especially the kind that is done in advance. In Tuluk it's even partially built into the system through the tradition/law of licenses. On the other hand, trying to bribe an official is not a granted auto-success. Behavior and interaction goes a long way.

[Cind]

ooh i didn't know that. i want automatic jail time.

i imagine, not being able to way homies with elaborate plans and just sitting there would be pretty boring.

one question, is it legal to buy, sell and carry poisons in city-states and villages? i know its not for lockpicks.

[FantasyWriter]

ooh i didn't know that. i want automatic jail time.

i imagine, not being able to way homies with elaborate plans and just sitting there would be pretty boring.

one question, is it legal to buy, sell and carry poisons in city-states and villages? i know its not for lockpicks.

On the IG message board of each civilization, laws are posted in the first few posts.
Note: The laws are as fluid as you would expect in a world known for murder, corruption and betrayal, but there there are, nonetheless.

[FantasyWriter]

PS: Anything beyond the find out IG information I pointed you to, qualifies as find out IC information.