Criminal Charges (D&D 3.5)

[Boci]

For one of my games I plan on having my PCs arrive at an abandoned prison that is clearly made for the worst of the worst. There will be 3 prisoners left in inside, and I was planning on having the following messages inscribed on their respective cell doors:

The following is a list of the most heinous crimes suspect S11472 was convicted of.
3 count of conspiracy to destabilize a lawful government.
4 counts of high treason.
2 counts of attempted high treason.
21 counts of treason.
6 counts of attempted treason.
67 counts of murder in the first degree with aggravating circumstances.

The following is a list of the most heinous crimes suspect S11638 was convicted of.
1 count of conspiring with a 1sr rank malicious entity.
1 count of attempted genocide via pathogenic weapon.
1 count of mass murder via pathogenic weapon.
4 counts of mass murder via use of illegal magic.
23 counts of the creation and distribution of an illegal substance.
46 counts of the creation and distribution of an illegal magical item.
11 counts of the casting of an illegal spell.
18 counts of murder in the first degree.
4 counts of murder in the first degree with aggravating circumstances.

The following is a list of the most heinous crimes suspect S1156375 was convicted of.
1 count of conspiracy to destabilize a lawful government.
1 count of the creation of an unsanctioned military force.
165 counts of the unlawful use of mind affecting magic.
158 counts of the use of a pathogenic weapon.
12 counts of war crimes.
23 counts of murder in the first degree with aggravating circumstances.

So, just a couple of questions:

1. How is my wording of the crimes?

2. Is it conceivable that they are all considered equally dangerous, or does one stand out from the others?

3. What do you think is revealed about each NPC by their rap sheet?

Edit: Well unfortunatly I can't bump this without double posting, so here the suggested alternative version:

Suspect S11472, convicted of:

Conspiracy to Destabilize a Lawful Government
High Treason
Attempted High Treason
Treason
Attempted Treason
Murder in the First Degree with Aggravating Circumstances

How does this compare? I'm also thinking of adding more information such as race, DOB ect, but I'm worried that might shatter the mystery.

[Starbuck_II]

#1 seems just an unlawful unpatriotic dude. Who may or may not have killed with a rationale reason.
#2 genecide and murder: bad dude. I have no clue what illegal magic items/spells are.
#3 is a spellcaster with enchantment magic? Not sure what "unlawful use of mind affecting magic" means. Likely also a bad dude.

[golentan]

Some of the counts are extreme, even for high powered DnD characters. Count up the number of sentient beings PCs can kill in any session, for example. Or calculate out magic item creation time. As for the number of counts of treason, that's ludicrous on the grounds of how treason is usually measured. I don't approve of "Over 100" as a wording either. If you're going to list counts, you should specify, and if not it makes more sense to list them in a way that can be more easily summed. I.E.:
S11472 Convicted of Conspiracy, High Treason, Treason, Murder in the First Degree.

More useful to guards, and more punchy.

Anyway, your rap sheet reveals the most common means the villains put to ends. #1 is clearly not afraid to get his hands personally dirty, but is moving for clear motives opposed to the government. #2 seems to be a pretty solid Diabolist, without motives and more "hands off" with his use of plague and magic distribution. #3 is somewhere between, and thus probably the most dangerous with the combination of magic (with mind control) and his private military.

[KillianHawkeye]

1) The wording seems excessively modern for the typical D&D setting. Words like "pathogen" for example. I suggest changing "via pathogenic weapon" to "via an infectious disease" and changing "genocide" to "eradication of a sentient species". Furthermore, I'm not sure that they'd bother to make any distinction between murder in the 1st degree and murder in the 2nd or manslaughter, nor with murder "with aggravating circumstances". I'm not even sure what that last one means. The idea of "war crimes" also seems too modern, or at least the things that we consider to be war crimes today was just war in olden times.

Of course, this is all highly dependant on setting. If your setting has a much more modern criminal and legal system (or if the setting is more modern in general), then the wording could be left as is.

2) Well, I think the one convicted of attempted genocide and mass murder using illegal magic sounds by far the worst, although the mind control/war crimes guy sounds pretty bad, too. The first guy just sounds like an enemy of the government, what with all the treason.

3) Well, it seems like the first guy hates the government. Not necessarily government in general, but specifically this government. High Treason means treason against the king or ruler directly, right? So maybe his goal is just to assassinate the king. It seems he's gotten quite the incedental body count.

The second guy seems like your typical Dark Lord evil magic user, spreading magical diseases and using curses and hexes to kill people. Probably did some magical experimentation on his helpless victims, too. And he maybe tried to summon Cthulhu. Traditional pure evil.

The third guy seems more chaotic, or else he's just a mastermind type who's true goal isn't really revealed by his crimes. He used a lot of mind control, formed his own army and sent it against the government or was involved in some kind of coup. He also used biological warfare, and did some other horrible things depending on the exact definition of "war crimes". He's more or less entirely despicable.

[Boci]

Thank you all for your responses. Just to clarify:

#2 genecide and murder: bad dude. I have no clue what illegal magic items/spells are.

Certain spells with the evil descriptor and all vile spells are illegal, so any item whose creation requires one of those spells would also be illegal.

#3 is a spellcaster with enchantment magic? Not sure what "unlawful use of mind affecting magic" means. Likely also a bad dude.

Lawful use of mind affecting magic could be anything from casting ray of dizziness on an ogre, using modify memory to treat someone suffering from a traumatic experience (provided you are a qualified physician) or charm/dominate to interrogate an enemy combatant.

Some of the counts are extreme, even for high powered DnD characters. Count up the number of sentient beings PCs can kill in any session, for example.

If you spread it out over levels and consider that some of the victims could have been first level guards or even commoners who got in their way it seems plausible. I could lower the number and add the “with aggravating circumstances” clause to show that the murders were more serious than the above examples.

Or calculate out magic item creation time.

Fair point, but a scroll of “Seething Eye Bane” is an illegal magical item, so it would be possible.

I don't approve of "Over 100" as a wording either.

It was actually due to the fact that the exact numbers were unknown. I could swap it for “multiple” or “numerous”, or do you think whoever imprisoned them would have just made up a sufficiently large number?

I.E.: S11472 Convicted of Conspiracy, High Treason, Treason, Murder in the First Degree.

This is a good idea. I kinda like the whole listing a number, but I can see an argument for dropping it.

Of course, this is all highly dependant on setting. If your setting has a much more modern criminal and legal system (or if the setting is more modern in general), then the wording could be left as is.

The setting is no more modern than the average D&D one, but it is quite civilized. I will consider renaming the charges however. To clarify, I took “aggravating circumstances” from Wikipedia’s murder article, and “war crimes” covers both the criminal’s simple use of his army (since it was unofficial) and various military tactics. Finally, high treason would be any violent crime committed against the nation’s royal family (and possibly a few of the most important nobles).

[golentan]

Well, the problem with "Over 100" for "don't know" is they can't have been convicted on counts that are unknown, so either the counts are known and are included in the conviction count or they shouldn't be totaled unless proven. It's not an allegation count.

Only a handful of people in the world have acquired murder rap sheets like those you're tossing around, and I'm assuming these guys are killing on an individual basis to prevent it being upgraded to mass murder, since you listed that as a separate count. That's multiple deaths per week, or spread out undiscovered over years, within the civilization's alleged sphere of control without getting caught. Having three of them running around stretches suspension of disbelief, at least for me.

[Dimers]

If you do end up numbering the crimes, the word to use is "counts", not "accounts". The latter makes it sound like people told that number of different stories about the crimes.

[Godless_Paladin]

1. How is my wording of the crimes?

Conspicuous. Over 100? Unlawful use? Accounts? Do you mean counts? And the rap sheets seem kinda trumped up on the numbers. Remember, you can't convict someone on a count of "don't know how much they really did." Or if you can, that's a pretty far cry from familiar legal systems. Anyways, the wording seems too "casual." Not really giving off the legalese flair, but not giving off the stark "these are the scoreboards" feel either.

Try googling examples.

2. Is it conceivable that they are all considered equally dangerous, or does one stand out from the others?

Considered equally dangerous by who and in what sense? Perspective is important.

Also, if you want to make someone sound dangerous, pure numbers doesn't cut it. It's the standoffish details that give a rap sheet character and makes it memorable.

[WinWin]

Sometimes less is more.

2 prisoners with extensive lists. One with no details at all...Perhaps their crimes are too horrible to even be recorded.

[Godless_Paladin]

Sometimes less is more.

Oh, absolutely. You can go a long way to make players paranoid with what they don't know.

[Boci]

Well, the problem with "Over 100" for "don't know" is they can't have been convicted on counts that are unknown, so either the counts are known and are included in the conviction count or they shouldn't be totaled unless proven. It's not an allegation count.

Okay, each number is now set.

Only a handful of people in the world have acquired murder rap sheets like those you're tossing around, and I'm assuming these guys are killing on an individual basis to prevent it being upgraded to mass murder, since you listed that as a separate count. That's multiple deaths per week, or spread out undiscovered over years, within the civilization's alleged sphere of control without getting caught. Having three of them running around stretches suspension of disbelief, at least for me.

I've cut down the numbers slightly. Also, the prisoners do not age (to prevent their spirits from being released), so they could be from different times.

If you do end up numbering the crimes, the word to use is "counts", not "accounts". The latter makes it sound like people told that number of different stories about the crimes.

Oops, thanks for that. Fixed.

Considered equally dangerous by who and in what sense? Perspective is important.

All I’m really looking for is does any of the three jump out as “Why is this one with the other 2?” which no one said, but there is a pretty clear opinion on the hierarchy of the trio's evilness.

Also, if you want to make someone sound dangerous, pure numbers doesn't cut it. It's the standoffish details that give a rap sheet character and makes it memorable.

I think this is a case where I will use less is more and let my players figure out the details. I may give them hints in the form of a list of items confiscated from them on their capture.

2 prisoners with extensive lists. One with no details at all...Perhaps their crimes are too horrible to even be recorded.

I’m guessing the first one if the “no details” one. That was actually due to the fact that the types of magical crimes are very detailed and specific, where as others tend to be more broad.

Oh, absolutely. You can go a long way to make players paranoid with what they don't know.

That would go against the idea that these three criminals were viewed as an equal threat to the stability of the nations. I could make all three of their rap sheet blank with the whole "too horrible to record on page" thing, but that would loose it power and desprive my players the chance to know something about these criminal's abilities.