[Basic] Skill of the week: Law

johndallman · 01-08-2016, 03:08 AM

"Going to law is cheaper than going to war."
"Is it cheaper than a small band of desperadoes?"
"Um..."

Law is the IQ/H skill of knowing about codes of law and their application. The only default is IQ-6, and no skills default to Law. A successful roll will allow you to remember the applicable law for a question or problem, or deduce an answer from some combination of legal principles, precedent, and society's attitudes. However, legal answers are rarely cut and dried: the way a case comes out in court often depends on human factors. A trial may be a contest of Law skill between the sides, or Law may be used as an Influence skill on the judge(s) (or, presumably, a jury) to get a favourable ruling. The facts of a case may also be relevant!

Specialisation is required, and comes in several forms. The commonest is a combination of a region and a field of law, such as (British Criminal) or (French Commercial). Fields that aren't tied to a region, such as (International) or (Jewish) are also valid, if they're sufficiently specialised. Law enforcers normally have some Law (Criminal) or (Police), the latter being procedure, with less theory, for their region, so that they can make arrests, handle evidence, and so on, without causing problems for subsequent trials. There are defaults between specialisations: -4 for a different region and the same field, or for the same region and a different field, -6 or worse if both are different. Law skill dates from GURPS 1e, but was significantly changed at 4e to create the current structure of specialisations.

A professional lawyer needs Law skill, possibly several specialisations, and some other skills: Writing is important, as is Public Speaking for court appearances, and Administration for the associated paperwork. Some will have Research; others will use the default of Law-2 for research about Law (see B217). Current Affairs is important for high-profile cases. For more discussion, see this thread. Lawyers who specialise narrowly might have almost any IQ-based skill: ones who can handle complicated cases involving Finance or Engineering won't be short of work. Brief rules about laws, customs, trials and punishments are on B.506-8.

A GM who knew or was willing to research legal history could make a more realistic default system based on differences between traditions, such as a basis in Roman law vs. other starting points, the separation of the common law vs. civil law schools within the Roman tradition and so on. If anyone can estimate the penalty for the differences between different US states' legal systems, for example, and if they're specialisations, familiarities, or something in between, I'd be interested. The comparative study of different legal systems and their philosophies is probably Expert Skill (Comparative Law).

Law (Police) is universal on templates for professional law enforcers. Several GURPS books refer to Law without a specialisation, by which they seem to mean "pick one," or with just a field, by which they mean "fill in the appropriate region." Ones that just specify (Local) puzzle me slightly: is it common in the USA for a city to have enough strictly local law to justify a specialisation?

Banestorm is notable for outlining the legal systems of all the polities of Yrth. Bio-Tech adds (Bioethics), (Environmental), and (Medical). Boardroom and Curia notes some types of organisation that often use Law. Fantasy covers the swearing of oaths, and the way that Roman society was built round laws. It would be interesting to have some insight into the laws that Homeline applies to itself in Infinite Worlds to enforce The Secret. Locations: Hellsgate adds (Contract) and (Hellsgate), and the college at Worminghall includes a law school. Low-Tech Companion 1 has a valuable section on the evolution of law codes, and Martial Arts has material on the way they're applied to martial artists. Gladiators adds (Roman), Monster Hunters (Demonic) and (Liturgical) and Mysteries (Fire). PU3 and PU7 have examples for this skill, and PU7 adds (Contract and Corporate). Social Engineering has uses of Law to make an action seem legal, and as a complementary skill to Public Speaking when defending a criminal who has confessed.

With its many specialisations and fairly large default penalties, Law is a tempting target for Talents, Wildcard skills and house rules. If heroes need more than one Law specialisation, they may well need several, for activities like interstellar or international trade, or international law enforcement. The trick of applying optional specialisation in reverse, and creating Law (everything) as an IQ/VH skill is perhaps a bit too friendly, but Law*, as a mini-wildcard skill that costs twice a VH skill might well work.

01-08-2016, 03:08 AM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	[Basic] Skill of the week: Law "Going to law is cheaper than going to war." "Is it cheaper than a small band of desperadoes?" "Um..." Law is the IQ/H skill of knowing about codes of law and their application. The only default is IQ-6, and no skills default to Law. A successful roll will allow you to remember the applicable law for a question or problem, or deduce an answer from some combination of legal principles, precedent, and society's attitudes. However, legal answers are rarely cut and dried: the way a case comes out in court often depends on human factors. A trial may be a contest of Law skill between the sides, or Law may be used as an Influence skill on the judge(s) (or, presumably, a jury) to get a favourable ruling. The facts of a case may also be relevant! Specialisation is required, and comes in several forms. The commonest is a combination of a region and a field of law, such as (British Criminal) or (French Commercial). Fields that aren't tied to a region, such as (International) or (Jewish) are also valid, if they're sufficiently specialised. Law enforcers normally have some Law (Criminal) or (Police), the latter being procedure, with less theory, for their region, so that they can make arrests, handle evidence, and so on, without causing problems for subsequent trials. There are defaults between specialisations: -4 for a different region and the same field, or for the same region and a different field, -6 or worse if both are different. Law skill dates from GURPS 1e, but was significantly changed at 4e to create the current structure of specialisations. A professional lawyer needs Law skill, possibly several specialisations, and some other skills: Writing is important, as is Public Speaking for court appearances, and Administration for the associated paperwork. Some will have Research; others will use the default of Law-2 for research about Law (see B217). Current Affairs is important for high-profile cases. For more discussion, see this thread. Lawyers who specialise narrowly might have almost any IQ-based skill: ones who can handle complicated cases involving Finance or Engineering won't be short of work. Brief rules about laws, customs, trials and punishments are on B.506-8. A GM who knew or was willing to research legal history could make a more realistic default system based on differences between traditions, such as a basis in Roman law vs. other starting points, the separation of the common law vs. civil law schools within the Roman tradition and so on. If anyone can estimate the penalty for the differences between different US states' legal systems, for example, and if they're specialisations, familiarities, or something in between, I'd be interested. The comparative study of different legal systems and their philosophies is probably Expert Skill (Comparative Law). Law (Police) is universal on templates for professional law enforcers. Several GURPS books refer to Law without a specialisation, by which they seem to mean "pick one," or with just a field, by which they mean "fill in the appropriate region." Ones that just specify (Local) puzzle me slightly: is it common in the USA for a city to have enough strictly local law to justify a specialisation? *Banestorm* is notable for outlining the legal systems of all the polities of Yrth. *Bio-Tech* adds (Bioethics), (Environmental), and (Medical). *Boardroom and Curia* notes some types of organisation that often use Law. *Fantasy* covers the swearing of oaths, and the way that Roman society was built round laws. It would be interesting to have some insight into the laws that Homeline applies to itself in Infinite Worlds to enforce The Secret. *Locations: Hellsgate* adds (Contract) and (Hellsgate), and the college at *Worminghall* includes a law school. *Low-Tech Companion 1* has a valuable section on the evolution of law codes, and *Martial Arts* has material on the way they're applied to martial artists. *Gladiators* adds (Roman), *Monster Hunters* (Demonic) and (Liturgical) and *Mysteries* (Fire). *PU3* and *PU7* have examples for this skill, and *PU7* adds (Contract and Corporate). *Social Engineering* has uses of Law to make an action seem legal, and as a complementary skill to Public Speaking when defending a criminal who has confessed. With its many specialisations and fairly large default penalties, Law is a tempting target for Talents, Wildcard skills and house rules. If heroes need more than one Law specialisation, they may well need several, for activities like interstellar or international trade, or international law enforcement. The trick of applying optional specialisation in reverse, and creating Law (everything) as an IQ/VH skill is perhaps a bit too friendly, but Law*, as a mini-wildcard skill that costs twice a VH skill might well work.