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Thursday, October 20, 2011

What if dungeoneering was illegal?

Throughout history, grave-robbing has been illegal. Yet many adventures feature the party going into some crypt to search for treasure. Why wouldn't this be illegal?

It would be interesting if an adventuring party went back to town, loaded with loot, and were then confronted by the local constabulary. They might be arrested, heavily fined, or just have all their possessions confiscated.In very religious countries, it's likely that they would be executed.

Just something I thought might be an interesting twist for a campaign.

8 comments:

Bree Yark! said...

This could also apply to any dungeon found in ruins. Exploring and excavating the sites of ancient cities are highly regulated (at least in some parts of the world).

Simon Forster said...

That would give adventuring an interesting twist.

Unknown said...

I was thinking that, like Piracy, it could be regulated with Letters of Marque. Adventuring parties would operate like Privateers... or if they didn't have a letter / authorization, like Pirates! :)

Anonymous said...

@Stuart: He, I like that. "Pirates of the Fungi Forests!"

Unknown said...

I think it goes well with the idea of hiring retainers (aka "The Crew") and the importance of Morale. It also explains where the "training" money is going and ties level advancement to social standing.

JDJarvis said...

It works well with the right group to have illegal dungeoneering. Some good guy tropes are lost with bad-boy dungeoneering however.

Some things buried best remain buried.

Keith Sloan said...

I use a similar idea for my megadungeon. The local fort that controls to the road leading there requires licenses and taxes on anything recovered. It works pretty good, though the players hate it. One reward they got for a sideplot was a pass on taxes for a year, a simple reward that made them very, very happy.

Dan said...

Some pretty cool ideas. I like the idea of a charter, which I've used in campaigns for allowing characters to be armed and hire mercenaries, but I've never required them just to explore dungeons.

I could see this causing issues between the government and the local temples. Maybe the government would be ok with the dungeoneering, but the local priests would refuse all aid to the party.