Putting Your Players on Trial

# Putting Your Players on Trial

## Running a Trial

Your party are brought before a magister (judge). To decide if they are innocent or guilty of the crime, the magister will hear evidence and then make their verdict.

The verdict is determined with an unmodified d20 roll, known as the judgement roll. The DC of this roll starts at 5, but is increased by the evidence of the prosecution and is reduced by the evidence of the defense.

The trial has 4 phases: 
1. Prosecution 
2. Defense 
3. Wildcard
4. Verdict

#### Representation
Before the trial begins the party may hire a lawyer to represent them. The lawyer follows the party's instructions on how to proceed throughout the trial, but offers the benefit of their Charisma modifier. The lawyer is considered proficient in all Charisma skills, which is included in their Charisma modifier.
* A bad lawyer costs 10gp per day and has a +2 modifier to all Charisma rolls.
* A good lawyer costs 25gp per day and has a +5 modifier to all Charisma rolls.
* An expert lawyer costs 50gp per day and has a +7 modifier to all Charisma rolls.

### Prosecution Phase
The prosecution goes first, submitting 3 pieces of evidence, which can be physical evidence, a witness to events, or a character witness. Each piece of evidence increases the DC of the judgement roll by 5, raising the total DC to 20.

If for any reason a piece of prosecution evidence can be discounted, it does not affect the DC.

The defense do not get to cross-examine witnesses, but can recall prosecution witnesses as their own witnesses.

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### Defense Phase
The party can provide any 3 pieces of evidence they wish to be entered in their defense. This can be anything, including physical evidence, witness testimony, or their own testimony. This can include recalling the prosecution's witnesses to ask their own questions.

For each piece of evidence the party submits in their defense, a party member must make a skill check. This is often a Charisma (Persuasion) check for addressing the court, but it can be anything depending on what the party want to do. If the party have a lawyer, they may use the lawyer's Charisma modifier instead of their own.

Determine the skill and DC required for what the party want to do and have a player roll the appropriate skill check.
* A succesful skill check means the evidence influences the magister. Lower the judgement roll DC by 5.
* An unsuccessful skill check means the magister is unmoved by the evidence. The judgement roll DC remains the same. 
* A catastrophic skill check (e.g. a natural 1, or a low roll on a high-risk gamble) means things have gone terribly wrong. Increase the judgement roll DC by 5.

### Wildcard Phase
The wildcard is an optional extra piece of evidence thrown in by the DM. This can be anything relevant to the case, such as a surprise witness, a newly discovered piece of last-minute evidence, or a well-respected figure who is willing to vouch for the party.

The wildcard evidence can help or hinder the party's case, depending on how the party responds to it. You may ask them to make a further skill check here if necessary.

The wildcard evidence increases or decreases the DC of the judgement roll by 5, depending on how events play out.

### Verdict Phase
Once all evidence has been entered, you now know the DC for the magister's judgement roll. This roll will determine if the magister declares the party innocent or guilty.

The players have a lot riding on this roll, so consider making it in full view of your players, or ask if one of them would like to roll it.

The judgement roll is a d20 roll with no modifiers, using the determined DC. A natural 20 is always a success and a natural 1 is always a failure.
* On a success, the party is declared innocent and cleared of all wrongdoing.
* On a failure, the party is declared guilty and the magister delivers an appropriate sentence based on their crime.

<div class='footnote'>Written by Callum Rae | @graphpaperwizard </div>

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## An Example Trial
My party fought a former ally of theirs who had been taken over by an intellect devourer. After defeating him, they were found by the city watch standing over the dead bodies of the man and his goons. The party were arrested and put on trial the next day. In preparation for the trial, they hired an expert lawyer, a Firbolg woman named Askey Veneer.

The trial began with the judgement roll DC of 5.

### Prosecution
The prosecution submitted 3 pieces of evidence:
* A senior member of the watch gave his report on the incident. 
* Witnesses to the battle testified to seeing the victim murdered by the party.
* Meloon Wardragon, a respected figure, acted as a character witness, saying that the party had acted bloodthirstily in the past.

Each of these pieces of evidence added a +5 to the DC of the judgement roll, bringing it to a total of 20.

### Defense
The party submitted their own 3 pieces of evidence:
* The body of the slain intellect devourer.
* The testimony of August Duskwhisker, a mage with expert knowledge of intellect devourers.
* They recalled Meloon Wardragon to ask their own questions.

For the first 2 pieces of evidence, the party made Charisma (Persuasion) rolls each time, using the Charisma of their expert lawyer to present their evidence. Both of these rolls were successes, each reducing the judgement roll DC by 5.

However, one party member chose to ruthlessly interrogate Meloon Wardragon himself, failing on a Charisma (Intimidation) check. This had no effect on the judgement roll DC.

At the end of the defense phase, the judgement roll DC stood at 10.

### Wildcard
As wildcard evidence, I decided that the party's friend, Volo, would demand to take the witness stand. This could go either way for the party, as Volo would doubtless speak in their defence but is prone to exaggeration.

Volo took the stand and was questioned by the party's expert lawyer. However, this time the lawyer's Charisma (Persuasion) roll was a failure. Volo's testimony was full of obvious lies and errors, as he tearfully tried to insist the party were with him the whole time.

This failure increased the judgement roll DC by 5, leading to a final judgement roll DC of 15.
	
### Verdict
The magister then had to make his verdict, making a judgement roll at DC 15. I rolled in full view of the party and got a result of 17 -  a success!

The magister declared the party innocent, as they had proved that they were not murderers but heroic adventurers protecting the city from a monstrous threat. However, he did caution them to stay on the right side of the law in future and that he did not wish to see them in his courtroom again.

## DM Tips for Trials

### Tempo
A trial can be a lot of fun, with many twists and turns, but it is important to control the tempo and not let any one scene drag on for too long. Some elements of the trial, like the Prosecution Phase, have low player involvement, so don't linger too long on them. Try playing these out as short cutscenes of the trial, rather than going into every detail.

By contrast, the Defense Phase is the player's time to shine, so give them the opportunity to make the most of it. Lean into their plans, let them ham it up on the witness stand, and reward creative approaches.

### Difficulty
How hard you want to make the trial for the players is up to you. You have control over this through the DC of the skill checks you set for their actions in the Defense Phase. However, make sure to be fair with this. If your players present some solid evidence, the DC should be relatively easy. However, if they try a risky strategy, such as questioning a hostile witness, remember that a poor roll can have catastrophic results!

The Wildcard Phase is another opportunity for you to steer the outcome of the trial. If the players have done really well on their Defense Phase, you can throw them a curveball with the wildcard. Conversely, if things have been going poorly, you might throw the players a lifeline with an unexpected piece of evidence.

You may decide that you want to make a trial more difficult for your players. It could be that the magister has a poor view of adventurers or perhaps they have been bribed by your campaign's villain. In this case you could set the initial judgement roll DC at a higher level of 10, or even 15!

### Enjoy the drama

Above all, have fun with it. Everyone's seen courtroom scenes on TV, now is your players' chance to experience the drama!

<div class='footnote'>Written by Callum Rae | @graphpaperwizard </div>