Laws in Waterdeep

For the discussion of general topics about the game.
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Balek
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Laws in Waterdeep

Post by Balek » Tue May 03, 2005 7:06 am

I've been curious for a while now...what exactly are the laws in Waterdeep? I ask because I've been in situations before where I've been told that I could be jailed for something, and also in situations where I told someone they could be jailed for something, but I'm not clear on what the rules actually are. Some specific questions to address might be:

Is public drunkeness illegal?

Is walking around with a weapon drawn illegal? Is there a distinction based on whether it's a blade or something like a smith's hammer?

How much authority do members of the Watch have? Can they jail people without reason? If not, how much of a reason do they need to jail someone?

How much authority do paladins and members of lawful faiths have if they are not members of the Watch?

Are there protections in place for people accused of crimes? If there are, what might they be?

Are laws generally enforced as to the letter of the law, or the intent of the law (in other words, do people get off on technicalities?)


To this point I've based my opinion of Waterdeep law on American law, but I'm not sure if that's a good comparison. Obviously there are some parallels that are not drawn, seeing as people in FK routinely beat on each other in the Fields of Triumph. In a medieval style society I can easily see much more power for the Watch and much less in the way of rights for the accused, but then again, Waterdeep is probably more advanced than most medieval cities would have been.
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