[RPG] How to make crime meaningful for rich players

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For the D&D 5e campaign I'm DMing, the party has been caught for a murder of a government official and put on trial. Out of character, a player pointed out that his character can just pay for a Resurrection to be cast, absolving them of the crime. I pointed out that the trauma would still be criminal, and he responded that he can just cast Modify Memory, so the person will have no memory of the incident (which could be beneficial to both parties; the option to not even remember a traumatic experience seems pretty tempting to me).

How do I handle the consequences of a murder as a DM? If the person is restored to life and no one remembers the murder, it seems like no crime has been committed.

More broadly, most crimes I can think of can simply be fixed with magic. Assault (and even some more heinous crimes I won't mention) can be "fixed" with healing/modify memory. Rejuvenate / reincarnate will even restore body parts.

A mending spell applied repeatedly can fix some types of property damage.

If you could find a wizard/sorcerer willing to do it, a Wish spell could "fix" pretty much anything.

The important players here are a cleric and wizard (the wizard started the discussion with me). All level 13 (so they have access to 7th level regenerate). The cleric chose the noble backstory and has a good bit of gold to burn.

Ultimately, my broadest question would be: how do I make laws apply to (rich) players who seem to be able to use magic to "undo" crimes committed? While I have D&D 5e in mind, any sufficiently powerful magic system would appear to have this problem as far as I'm concerned.

Best Answer

Resurrection doesn't absolve anyone of a murder already committed

I may be getting a little close to real world religion here, but absolution comes from without, from the agency of another, not from one's self.

absolution noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment.

While the spell undoes the effects of the crime, the act of harming was not undone. The situation you describe could be handled similarly to 'tort' law (in the Enlightenment / Western sense) rather than criminal law: one goes to court with the objective being that the crime victim be "made whole."

Beyond that, there are the issues of things like triple damages, right? evil grin

As you point out, the trauma of having been killed, even if the victim is subsequently resurrected, is not undone. Putting on our Feudal / Medieval / Renaissance era hat1, since that is what a lot of games like this try to assume as a setting, you still have the problem of "you did me wrong, I want to be made whole." You could apply something like a 'weregild' or even have the killer be declared 'outlaw' by the government as a consequence of the murder.

  1. Weregild

    (Old English: “man payment”): in ancient Germanic law, the amount of compensation paid by a person committing an offense to the injured party or, in case of death, to his family.

  2. To be declared outlaw ...

    ... was to suffer a form of civil or social death. The outlaw was debarred from all civilized society. No one was allowed to give him food, shelter, or any other sort of support—to do so was to commit the crime of aiding and abetting, and to be in danger of the ban oneself.

  3. Consequences: as Grandma said, you shouldn't have done that in the first place!

    'Tis well that the court should acquit thee
    'Twere best hadst thou never been tried
    (From an old poem called "The Laws of the Navy")

Short answer? Treat it as a civil case, not a criminal case.

Cleric and wizard at level 13. They have access to 7th level regenerate. The cleric chose the noble backstory, and has a good bit of gold to burn.

Well, if he has money to burn, hit 'em with triple damages. The cost of the spell, times three, as a fine. Or, think through this like a "wrongful death" case and levy a huge judgment / fine that hits the cleric for about how much gold they have ... OK, they have to go and adventure some more, as they are now broke.

Money can't buy back a soiled reputation, nor buy absolution

Consequences? This (cleric) noble's reputation is tarnished. The party associating with that cleric is also held in a dim view per the old "you hang around with that crook?" vein of public shaming or rep harming. I suggest that you take a look in the DMG on the "Honor" optional ability score for ideas on how applying reputation or honor in game might be useful here.

You'll never work in this town again! (Exile)

They can still be exiled for having committed the murder, unless the weregild, or other suitable damages, are paid and they do a whole big public atonement deal. There is a nice Game of Thrones example: Cersei Lannister's walk of shame was such a public atonement, but did that really restore her rep? Maybe in the eyes of some.

An old school example

While not a 5e example, we had a party of 7-9th level characters who got into massive trouble with The King (AD&D 1e). Why? We killed the heir (we didn't know he was the heir; he was running a side scam with a Thieves Guild). We were able to afford a raise dead spell, and we paid for it, but the King was not amused with our assault on his bloodline.

We were declared outlaws. As a result, we fled the kingdom and undertook adventures elsewhere. And, we did have to contend with bounty hunters for the rest of that campaign.

1 @pboss3010 raises the valid point that there's no reason to apply "modern" legal thinking. Your typical medieval fantasy has no reason to have a Bill of Rights. Double jeopardy, cruel and unusual punishment, no speedy trial, all of these are in play

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