Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
An obvious answer is "Testimony from a person of equal rank to the suspect is required before a warrant can be issued."
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And possibly doubling or tripling for each rank below:
3 serfs (of good character, of course) can testify against a freeman and cause a warrant to be issued.
3 freeman or 10 serfs can testify against a gentry.
3 gentry or 10 freemen (or in theory, 30 serfs) against a lesser lord.
Alternately or additionally, both witnesses might be subject to magical compulsion: if you levy a claim against someone of equal rank, both you and the other person have speak under Truthsayer.
Truthsayer is kind of limited; you only need to tell one polite, white lie every few minutes to make it nearly useless (or tell a polite lie every time you think a mage is about to cast the sell). Compel Truth is more powerful, but technically true statements and indirect statements that give the impression of a more definite than was actually given are certainly possible. Megalos laws might be very specific about what kind of questions can be asked, and what kind of answers can be given, to help work around the limitations of these spells.
Another potential complication might be secret spells that let you lie under either spell, but make it seem as if you failed to resist. Being able to lie while everyone is convinced you're telling the truth is a nasty complication for investigators.