Law and Order

Everyone in Baldur’s Gate is expected to hew to common law. Murder, theft, assault, blackmail, and fraud all carry severe penalties. Patriars, the wealthy, and the well-connected are given much more leniency than commoners. A noble heir who steals from a shop might get away with a fine paid by a parent, whereas a commoner committing the same crime may be jailed or publicly flogged. Both the Watch and the Flaming Fist have the right to dispense immediate justice, should they witness a crime in progress. In unclear situations, or when a person of influence is involved, the accused is jailed until a trial can be set. Patriars and other powerful individuals are usually placed under house arrest, except in dire circumstances. Commoners await their trial in jail. On occasion, a vigilante or hired mercenary will break an accused commoner out of prison in order to ensure the accused’s safety until the trial date.
Minor crimes, such as creating a public disturbance, petty theft, or vandalism carry commensurate punishments. Time in the stocks, public humiliation, or a fine are the usual judgments. Some patriar families consider petty crimes to be worse than major ones — they are a sign that one can’t manage one’s baser instincts. Patriars have been known to pay huge bribes or promise outsized favors to protect a rebellious heir from being charged with a minor crime.
Lawyers must belong to the Barrister’s Guild to practice, and the associated fees means they prefer to represent wealthy clients. Poorer citizens often must throw themselves on the mercy of the courts, or scrape together what coin they can to hire an adventurer or mercenary to find evidence to support their plea.
NOTEWORTHY LAWS Of the city’s nuanced and unreliably enforced laws, the following tend to be the most surprising to newcomers.
Foreign Agents. While traders and visitors to Baldur’s Gate are always welcome, spies and saboteurs are not. Legitimate foreign agents, such as ambassadors, are required to report to the High Hall for an elaborate series of interviews and licenses. Visitors technically should do the same, but the law is rarely mentioned at the city’s gates and even more rarely enforced. What distinguishes a visitor and a foreign agent can be unclear, and if an individual doesn’t have a license marking them as one or the other, any duke or peer can unilaterally change a non-citizen’s status, effectively sentencing them to imprisonment or worse.
Livestock Restriction. By tradition, Baldur’s Gate bans animals larger than a peacock within the city walls. Visitors determined not to surrender their beloved pets (or valuable animals they intend to sell) sometimes arrive at the city with large peacocks in tow, to prove their furred companion meets the legal requirement. This has led to a burgeoning, noisy, and particularly cutthroat peacock-breeding industry in the Outer City.
Most travelers pay to stable oversize animals, either in Outer City liveries or at ranches outside the city. Some animals are simply surrendered at the gate, though, becoming property of the Watch (in the Upper City) or the Flaming Fist (in the Lower City), or sold during monthly auctions.