This is something I'm simply putting up here temporarily to clear up a few things, both lore and OOC. I do fully expect this to be expanded on (or even completely contradicted) by cryptc and Mr. Otyugh.
Harmonium:
Hardheads are the guardians and "police force" of Sigil. As such, this gives them the authority to investigate crimes and arrest those they suspect of being guilty of committing said crimes. However, they do not have the authority to actually determine guilt, or apply penalties. A few things to note:
1. Harmonium characters are players too, not just mechanisms of the system. As such, getting them involved is a good idea if there's been a murder or some other major IC crime. It does not, however, mean that they need to drop what they're doing because someone isn't putting his sword away in the Bazaar. In the same vein, they should not force players to accept arrest on a whim; please try to find a good IC reason for this if you play one, and try to give the other player a chance to back down. Hardhead players especially should not be brought in to handle OOC problems.
2. Guvner characters are concerned with the implementation of the law. As such, they should not be arresting other characters. Should a hardhead arrest someone and a Guvner is present, however, they may feel free to perform an ad hoc trial. In most instances short of "capital" crimes, mostly likely a short incarceration followed by a fine would be warranted; any prison term should involve either the Guvner or hardhead keeping the prisoner company, as nobody wants to spend their playing time staring at walls; an alternative option would be for the guilty party to play an alt for the remainder of the night to simulate their incarceration. One note: players should not "collect" fines, taxes, or any sort of money from other players. Even though much of Sigil believes the hardheads to be corrupt, doing things like that smacks less of "keeping the lore" and more of personal gain.
3. Mercykillers are concerned with punishing the guilty. As such, they will not act until the hardheads and guvners have already done their part. However, should a Guvner pronouce sentence and somehow be "given the laugh" by the guilty party, at that point the Mercykiller would come into play. Anything beyond this is impractical until we've implemented the Prison into the server.
4. Lawbreaking/arrest activities can be construed as "conflict" RP, and should always be approached with caution. Try to work out OOC with the other party(ies) how such a conflict might be resolved, so as to not give the impression of "bullying" or "railroading".
5. If you feel that there is a problem with ongoing things, do not hesitate to contact a DM in-game or on the forums to discuss it. The major issue is not having "winners" or "losers", or some draconion interpretation of canon lore, but simply making sure that our characters are having fun.
Laws: Breaking And Enforcement (temporary)
