The following is a discussion of the legal principles involved in deciding a murder case, and how they might be applied to a roleplaying setting. All these principles are taken from English Law.

Murder is one of the oldest crimes in the world, perhaps the oldest. Whilst the rules and laws governing various communities and societies may differ, one thing is generally pretty consistent – you can't wander around randomly killing your fellow intelligent beings without some kind of official dispensation at least.

"Here’s my licence to kill." - James Bond

The definition of murder is quite simple. It is the unlawful killing of another person in which there was an intent to kill or cause serious harm.

Murder law has not actually changed a lot over the centuries. After all, whilst the methods of killing have changed, the basic offence is still the same as it was 800 years ago. The methods of dealing with it as a crime have altered though and grown far more sophisticated. This article focuses on present day murder law. I will focus on historical and medieval laws in later articles of this column.

Perhaps the first thing to consider when trying to introduce murder law into a roleplaying game is the serious nature of the potential consequences. Murder is generally considered to be the most "evil" crime possible, and hence carries the heftiest sentences. In the English legal system, there is only one sentence available for murder – life imprisonment (a variable and adjustable amount of time based upon many factors, but the average convicted murderer can expect to serve around 15 years per murder). In many US states and other countries, the standard penalty may well be death. Thus, in a roleplay game if your PC gets convicted of murder, it is likely to mean the end of that PC, unless your GM allows escape from high-security prison as a plotline.

But what if your PC ends up in the dock for murder? What will need to be shown in order to get a successful conviction?

At the simplest criminal law level, all crimes consist of two elements – a guilty act (called an actus reus) and a guilty mind (called a mens rea). In murder, the actus reus is the unlawful killing of another person and the mens rea is doing it with intention. Intention is not the same as motive. Intention simply refers to the state of mind at the time of the killing – i.e. at the moment the "killing blow" was struck, the killer intended the victim to die. To convince the jury to find the defendant guilty, the prosecution are going to have to show the following:

• That the defendant committed the act.
• That the act was deliberate and unlawful.
• That the act was the substantial cause of the victim's death.
• That the victim was a "person in being".
• That the requisite mens rea – the intent – was present.

Taking each of these in turn:

Showing that the defendant committed the act is in a way the simplest concept, and yet provides the bulk of the trial. Here is where all the police, medical, forensic, witness and so on evidence will be presented to try and prove to the jury that the defendant was the one who did the crime. Obviously the evidence will be very specific to the murder in question. However, it is up to the Prosecution to prove to the jury that the defendant did the act. In a roleplaying game, the evidence will need to be made up, perhaps using the system mechanics as a guideline. Did the player make a bad dice roll during the crime? As a result could they have left a fingerprint behind? Were there any witnesses – PC ones as well as NPCs? Could the other PCs be called upon to give evidence?

In a fantasy or sci-fi based setting, there may be other forensic techniques available to scene-of-crime investigators. Perhaps using magic or futuristic devices to reveal the past, or uncover detailed evidence. It would be completely up to you to decide how to present this in your game.

Showing that the act was deliberate would come into the evidence, and perhaps aided by some psychiatric analysis of the defendant's possible state of mind at the time of the crime. However, what constitutes an unlawful act would be very much dependent upon the laws of the society in question. In time of war, killing of an enemy combatant by a soldier during the conflict is not unlawful. Unless, of course, the death breaks the dictates of the Geneva Convention and current human rights laws. In a roleplaying game setting, different dictates may apply. For instance, is the hiring of mercenaries to clean out a nest of bandits lawful?

Showing that the act was the substantial cause of death can be harder than it sounds, thanks to a process called Causation. This refers to intervening incidents that contribute to the death of the victim. For instance, one guy beats another up. The victim is badly injured, taken to hospital, given medication he is allergic to and dies. Who is responsible? As a general guide, the initial perpetrator of the initial act will remain liable unless it can be shown that the subsequent acts were so severe as to render the initial act inconsequential.

In real world law, the dictate about proving whether the victim was a person "in being" is designed to exclude a foetus. You cannot be held for murder of an unborn child unless it can be shown that the child had developed enough to exist independently outside the mother. This is the basis for present abortion laws. However, in a roleplaying setting, in particular a fantasy one, the dictate could have interesting implications. Does an orc count as a "person in being?" What about a slave (historically considered to be property and not a person)? Or a golem?

Finally, there is the need to show that the intention to kill (the mens rea) was present. This is ultimately for the jury to decide, based upon the evidence and facts of the case. If the intention is not found, then the charge can be reduced to voluntary manslaughter.

Sentencing for manslaughter can be much more flexible and altered by the judge to suit the facts of the case. However, being convicted of manslaughter is still almost certainly going to result in a significant amount of jail time.

A murder charge can also be reduced to manslaughter through the use of various partial defences, such as provocation or diminished responsibility. As this is such a huge area to explore, I will devote a whole article to defences (both full and partial) in a future article of the column.

To summarise, the consequences for murder are very severe. In a realistic game setting, players should be aware of the consequences of their actions. In the real world, if there is enough evidence to convict a defendant according to the criteria stated above, then they will almost certainly get convicted. Mistakes can and do happen though, resulting in the innocent going to jail and the guilty going free. It is simply up to you as a GM to decide what works for your game.

Next time: "Medi-Evil" – The Law of the Dark and Middle Ages Part 1 – Anglo-Saxon Law