D&D General Another idea for a perfect crime in Dnd, the defendant bribes the jury to ensure their found guilty

[Man in the Funny Hat]

People have an understandable, but unfortunate tendency to assume a legal system like our MODERN legal system, with associated professional policing and investigation, when they should be assuming a legal system that is the WORST examples of modern jurisprudence. That is, lords and judges who make spontaneous law and pronounce sentences on a whim and expedience - NOT on legal precedent. Not police departments but military troops simply being ordered to arrest, imprison, execute, as those in power happen to choose. People assume democracy and representative government and fail to focus on absolute dictatorship with MAYBE some hereditary socio-political caste system dividing some of that authoritarianism to others.

 

[Voadam]

People have an understandable, but unfortunate tendency to assume a legal system like our MODERN legal system, with associated professional policing and investigation, when they should be assuming a legal system that is the WORST examples of modern jurisprudence. That is, lords and judges who make spontaneous law and pronounce sentences on a whim and expedience - NOT on legal precedent. Not police departments but military troops simply being ordered to arrest, imprison, execute, as those in power happen to choose. People assume democracy and representative government and fail to focus on absolute dictatorship with MAYBE some hereditary socio-political caste system dividing some of that authoritarianism to others.

I disagree, I think there are a lot of valid different ways to approach a D&D justice system so I would not say any one is the way things should be done.

Assuming a modern criminal justice system base is fine, it is vaguely familiar to most, and it allows riffing on things like crime shows and trial dramas for scenes and scenarios.

Assuming modern but worst aspects is fine. It will be familiar so easy to implement and think about and give things a Shadowrun/Cyberpunk vibe of authority sucks with an incentive for the heroes to live outside the system.

Assuming absolute dictatorship is fine. It is only one model for a fantasy medievalish society, but it can work and feeds into popular ideas of all powerful monarchies.

Assuming fairly democratic representative government is fine, it is a familiar base and allows cities and kingdoms to be background for most PCs instead of oppressive enemies asking to be worked against.

Assuming historical criminal justice systems based on Rome or the Norse Thing or later English jury trials, or whatever is fine. It will be a mix of familiar and exotic which can give things a fantasy feel.

Assuming a magic heavy justice system with clerical zones of truth and such can be fine, they have world building implications for the prevalence of casters and their integration into society and government, but it can add to a feel of the world working with its magical implications.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe if the bad guy kills a simple peasant, there aren't so much efforts to catch the criminal, but if there are suspects of a serial killers. If you kill a big fish, then family could pay a lot of money to find the responsible. Even if you could escape the claws of the justice, the vengeance is also posible. Some times even the own victim herself could return as ghost.

 

[Longspeak]

First of all, while this might be an interesting (probably not) plot for PCs to get involved with, I take issue with considering this even remotely, and tongue-in-cheekily, a "perfect" crime. It is a hot mess of convoluted planning with so many ridiculous variables, any one of which will kill the plan if it fails. In the end, if it works the guy may "get off", but that's not even close to a 'perfect' crime. Half the town would still think he was guilty.

Second, in a D&D setting the law may work different. Get the GM to weigh in on this. If you pulled this on one land in my game there'd be no jury to bribe and good luck bribing the judicar who's using divine magic to determine your guilt. In another place, just offering the town guard some gold might avoid arrest entirely.

In summary, this is a ridiculous idea.

Regarding "Perfect Crime" I'm not sure it exists. But your best bet is to present those who investigate a narrative that answers all their questions without pointing at you. Ones the authorities start digging, the crime is already not perfect. IMO YMMV etc.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Ones the authorities start digging, the crime is already not perfect.

Pretty much this - the closest thing to a "perfect crime" is one that no one knows even happened at all.