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Horik
2011-11-12, 09:22 AM
Let me lay out the situation. An evil entity was being summoned underneath a theater, with the hopes that on opening night, all the patrons would be devoured by said entity.

The PCs slowly figured out the whole situation, but hadn't stopped the show from going on.

So during the opening night introductions, one of the PCs stood up, started shooting at the ceiling, and ordered everyone to flee.

On the bright side, they actually did save a few hundred lives.

The bad news though, one of the pcs was trampled by fleeing crowds, and the gun-toting pc was shot by security. They made their investigations into the theater quite clear (they spent the last few days hounding the volunteers and theater management with questions), and at this point, there are tons of witnesses to throw the whole book at them.

I currently have the two injured pcs under police watch at the local hospital.

1) How do you suggest this scenario play out?

2) How do you deal with law enforcement arresting the good guys?

Tiki Snakes
2011-11-12, 09:37 AM
You have two options that immediately occur to me.

Firstly, you need an idea of the kind of charges that would get him in the location your running. (Armed security at a theatre? Certainly isn't my neighborhood!) My sense of tv law (As I know nothing at all about real world legal proceedures beyond the TV) suggests two charges, relating to causing a panic and discharging a gun in a public place, from your summary.

Now, if you want the character to still be involved, then you have the eventual trial be a background concern. I'd imagine that after a day or two in the police cells, a date should be set and bail should be posted. The long process of getting to the trial begins, and the campaign can continue in the meantime with the added complications of having to meet with lawyers and not do anything else to make the trial worse. Most campaigns I play in take place over very short in-game periods, so this might effectively negate any problems without even letting them off.

Conversely, this is a setting wherein there can be monsters underneath a theatre. I can only assume the world has not changed dramatically in the last few months in-game to make it so. If that is the case, there is plenty of room for authority figures of some kind to be aware of such possibilities.

Given that they didn't actually hurt anyone, and actually saved a good few lives, I'd say that they should be arrested, charged, interrogated then suddenly and without further explanation the charges are all dropped. Shadowy goverment agencies need not get directly involved, but they likely both appreciate what the PC's actually did and don't want any kind of press attention on the case due to the PC likelyhood of shouting their reasons in their defence.

Horik
2011-11-12, 09:50 AM
To give a bit more background on the situation.

This wasn't just a movie-theater. It was the big opening night of the restoration of a historic theatre. It was filled with rich smucks and well-to-do folk (hence the armed guards).

The world isn't aware of the monsters that lurk beneath the surface, but obviously the investigators are not alone. Besides cultists and bad-guys, they've met at least 1 npc on the side of good aware of the situation.

They did save a few lives, but nobody knows that this happened (the fate of the unsung hero). But it's true that noone got hurt

I'm going to look into what the typical penalties for inciting a riot are, and what they can expect in civil-court for disrupting a huge fundraiser

BSW
2011-11-12, 08:01 PM
My goodness, my real life job as a criminal prosecutor can actually be of some use here.

Now, the names of charges and the possible punishments are going to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so I'm just going to use my own jurisdiction (Miami-Dade, Florida). Here are the the offenses that I can potentially see charging in a situation like this:

Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon: This is a second degree felony and is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. If I were the prosecutor on the case, I may or may not decide to charge aggravated assault depending on the specific facts involved. If the PC pointed that gun at anyone, I almost certainly would. An argument can be made that he can be charged with multiple counts of this, however, I think a reasonable prosecutor would choose to only charge him with one count for each individual person who he actually pointed the gun at.

Inciting a Riot: This is a third degree felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison. Under the facts that you've described (namely, that this kook started firing his gun in the air and demanding that people leave), I would definitely charge this were it my case.

Criminal Mischief: This is the charge for causing property damage to the theater by... you know... shooting the ceiling. There are three degrees of criminal mischief, so the severity will actually depend on how much damage was caused. I'd wager that the stampede probably caused property damage as well for which the PC can be held culpable. I could probably get away with charging him with a third degree felony here (again, possible 5 year prison sentence). It's more likely that it'd be charged as a first degree misdemeanor though.

Improper Exhibition of a Firearm: This is self explanatory. It's a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail.

Discharging a Firearm in Public: This is self explanatory. It's a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail.

Concealed Carrying of a Firearm: My bet is that the PC doesn't actually have a carry permit for that gun. That's a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail.

Now... for the really big charge that I can see being filed:

Armed Burglary: Did the gun-toting PC buy a ticket to the event or did he just sneak onto the premises? PCs being PCs, I'm guessing that he did NOT have a ticket. Given the surrounding facts and actions, as the prosecutor I would argue that the PC entered the premises unlawfully with the intent to commit an offense therein (inciting the riot) while armed. This is a first degree felony and in punishable by a possible life sentence in prison.

Now, there are also possible minimum mandatory sentences that must be imposed for some of these offenses because of the firearm, but I'm not really going to get into that.

So yeah, it's entirely possible that the PCs could be facing some mighty serious charges. Now, in the States, people are entitled to a reasonable bond (meaning that they get to pay a certain amount of money as in order to not have to await trial in custody). However, an offense like armed burglary is what's called a non-bondable offense. In other words, there is no bond amount that could sufficiently protect the safety of the community, therefore the defendant gets to await trial in custody. In this circumstance, the prosecutor would certainly ask that the defendant be held without bond, and the judge would almost certainly grant that request.

Realistically, the PC who was the gunman would probably become unplayable as a practical matter unless you want to do like... a fugitive thing. Which might be kind of fun. If you don't want the group to be fugitives, you should probably have the prosecutor be a softy and NOT charge the armed burglary.

some guy
2011-11-13, 09:35 AM
Is this the "The End of Paradise"-scenario of CoC d20? It sounds like it.


1) How do you suggest this scenario play out?

2) How do you deal with law enforcement arresting the good guys?

1. Let the injured pc's deal with the charges BSW suggested.

2. If my pc's are arrested, they probably weren't careful enough. In a recent CoC-campaign one pc had left enough traces to be suspected with murder, but was found to be innocent. Another pc was suspected of grave-robbery (guilty) and murder (innocent), however he fled for the law. Both could avoid being prosecuted, but just weren't careful.
In the end of the campaign they were recruted by a government bureau, so didn't have to deal with the troubles of their past actions. This was mainly because I was growing tired of constantly having to look up the legal consequences for their actions. In retrospect, this was bad move. I shouldn't have the second player get scot-free (after a few sessions of him dodging the law).
This is also why I like one session games of CoC more, you just can let it end with the pc's in jail.

Toofey
2011-11-15, 01:46 AM
It is a role playing game so throw out realistic punishments and think plots. I think someone with an agenda can get them let off if only they...

fusilier
2011-11-15, 03:39 AM
Depends upon how cinematic your campaign is, but you might just be able to Deus ex machina this one:

"I'll take the case!" -- meet highly successful defense attorney Arnie So-and-so, you know . . . from that one big case! He's also a secret ghostbuster . . . or monster hunter . . . whatever it is your PCs were doing, you were kinda vague. (For that matter, he may be his own crazy person, who believes in ghosts and merely *thinks* that's what the party believes too) He's been following the case in the papers, did some follow up investigations on his own, and has decided to take the case pro bono.

He'll get half the charges dropped or lowered (he knows some powerful people who owe him favors), give a sob story to the jury and get your characters off scot free! You can fast forward through the legal wrangling if you want.

If you actually want your players to learn a lesson, then maybe there will be plea bargains or something, and one of them may find it very difficult to purchase/own a firearm. ;-) There may be an injunction preventing them from performing certain actions or going to certain places, with cops or detectives occasionally checking in on them (probation?).

I just saw Toofey's post -- this is kind of a variant on that.

Also, sometimes wealthy, high-profile people, don't want this kind of attention --> it's embarrassing and distracting. They may just want the whole thing to "go away" with little fuss or media attention. That might be an easier out for the characters too. A slap on the wrist, fines, probation (really not sure if I'm using that term correctly), all handled discreetly. This would be a bit more grittier or subtle -- not really sure if it's more realistic, but probably looks that way.

jpreem
2011-11-15, 04:29 AM
They are probably going to serve some time, but with a good lawyering it might not be that long. (They can avoid the robbery and maybe even the asssault when it is really clear cut that they only shot at the ceiling and made some general fuss). In these case they can maybe get away with 6 years and be able to get a parole in 2-3 years.
You can do a timeskip until they are realeased = maybe add a level or some skills contacts etc. learned in prison on theyr cahrsheet. Or you can start roleplaying in the prison = lots of opportunities and maybe even some sinister mythos stuff happening (Its kind of a well used trope already, in TV shows dealing with supernatural, that the heroes must do an investigation in Jail or Mental hospital, commiting a crime or faking mental illness to get in there).
After they have solved a mystery or roleplayed a little of jail life then you can again to a time-skip to the release if they hadn't escaped,died, released by shadow agency/illuminati etc. already.

Ravens_cry
2011-11-15, 04:32 AM
It is a role playing game so throw out realistic punishments and think plots. I think someone with an agenda can get them let off if only they...
Depends on the kind of game. A game about logical consequences of weird events, some realistic punishments make sense.
A more action orientated game, where cars are launched at helicopters without so much as a "Yippee ki yay Mother <expletive redacted/>!", guns never run out of bullets until its Dramatic™, and mooks are mown down mercilessly by the metric mega buttload, arrests should only be done when the BigBad frames the Hero or some other Point of Plot™.

hewhosaysfish
2011-11-15, 07:55 AM
Or you can start roleplaying in the prison = lots of opportunities and maybe even some sinister mythos stuff happening (Its kind of a well used trope already, in TV shows dealing with supernatural, that the heroes must do an investigation in Jail or Mental hospital, commiting a crime or faking mental illness to get in there).

You would have to split the party but it could work: half the party in jail being witness to weird and unearthly goings-on; the other half on the outside visiting libraries and interviewing experts/lunatics. Exchanging information during regulated visitng times and trying to figure out ways to smuggle in supplies and/or weapons.
And when some terrible tentacled monstrosity starts rampaging around the prsion killing everyone it provides a perfect diversion for your jailbreak! :smallbiggrin:

The Reverend
2011-11-15, 09:52 AM
Whats really funny my first thought after the situation layout was why didn't they his breakin the night before make sure nobody was home and just burn the place down.


I lied My initial thought was actually, crash fuel truck into building and drive it into the theater, open the valves and light it up. I figure why not go big.

Edit --have a priest bless the fuel on the truck first.