Magic and the Law: Nerfing TRUTHSAYER (but not too much)

[Michael Cule]

I'm starting a new game set in the post-Demon Emperor Megalos. The players will be working as investigators for an Imperial Magistrate and it has become necessary to decide at what point the Magistrate (or any other judge) can insist that testimony be given under Truthsayer or even Compel Truth spells.

I want to establish the sort of law that would give the PCs things to investigate without allowing them just to invoke the full majesty of the law and of the Communication and Empathy Colleg.

Now, the law in Megalos isn't fair. I think we can take that as read. And it definitely isn't egalitarian.

So there will be no 'one law alike for rich and poor'.

What I am thinking of is that the courts should need increasing levels of proof/suspicion to be able to issue a warrant to require a person to testify under Truthsayer.

Slaves and Serfs can be interrogated under Truthsayer at any time and Compel Truth can be used if they resist that interrogation.

What for free persons of no rank?

What for the gentry? Knights and burgesses, that sort of thing.

What for lesser nobles?

What for higher nobles?

Please don't bother suggesting that I get rid of the spell entirely. It's not only part of the setting but part of the backstory of my campaigns. I don't want to rejig the history of the universe: the paint hasn't finished drying from the last time I did that.