The Road to the Nine Hells is Paved with Good Intentions – How my Adventuring Party Ended up Behind Bars~5 min read

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a game played by millions across the world. It is a massively popular roleplaying game that utilizes interwoven stories to make it compelling. In some worlds, laws are violated, and those dwarves, elves, and various monsters need to know their legal rights in those circumstances. In last week’s D&D session, our “heroes” committed a number of crimes—so many, in fact, that they required a legal analysis of their rights.

The party had entered a dwarven city in order to “liberate” an artifact needed to save the world. The party decided to work with a group of thieves to try to steal this artifact.

While planning the heist with the thief leader, the party – sans the Rogue, who stayed back at the inn to forge a letter (a violation of RSA 638:1 – Forgery) – noticed that, throughout the discussion, the thieves’ leader kept looking at Minza, another thief and a friend of the Rogue. Our session began with the party’s Sorcerer deciding to stay behind to try to follow Minza somewhere private to discuss matters with her further. This seemingly innocuous decision was responsible for the chaos that unfolded over the rest of the night. It also led to another crime: Stalking.

Under RSA 633:3-a, Stalking can include knowingly engaging in a course of conduct targeted at someone which would cause a reasonable person to be afraid for her safety. A course of conduct consists of two or more acts over a period of time which show a continuity of purpose.  There is no doubt the Sorcerer was stalking Minza.

The Sorcerer led her to a deserted alleyway using his magic and tried to convince her to meet with the rest of the party alone at the inn. Minza was aware that this group included a towering, well-armed Barbarian. The Sorcerer claimed that he had knowledge of a credible threat to the city involving a dragon and time travel. Reasonably, Minza was unconvinced, and would not agree. She was rightfully suspicious of this dangerous magical elf!

Despite finally letting Minza go, the Sorcerer decided to continue following her, forming our second act and cementing this as an instance of stalking. If the Sorcerer was less magically adept, Minza would have been able to get a restraining order for stalking under the statute.

This led to a critical discovery, however: Minza was secretly an agent of the city guard. Having witnessed the party perform the crime of conspiracy to commit burglary and theft by unauthorized taking (RSAs 629:3, 635:1, and 637:3, respectively), she decided to gather the guard to capture the group.

The Sorcerer rushed back to the inn to warn his friends. After much discussion, the party’s Bard turned the Barbarian invisible to ambush the guards. Eventually, the guards surrounded the building and entered through the front door.

This led to our next crime of the session: Resisting Arrest.

Under RSA 642:2, someone resists arrest when he knowingly or purposely physically interferes with a law-enforcement official trying to effect an arrest. All four party members were guilty of this in unique ways, three of which involved further crimes.

The Rogue attempted to set the building on fire using magic, committing the crime of Arson (RSA 634:1). In this case, the arson would be viewed as a Class A felony because the Rogue did this in a building he knew to be occupied. He was tackled, disarmed, and restrained.

The Bard turned himself invisible and attempted to attack one of the guards with a dagger. This blatant act of First-Degree Assault (RSA 631:1-a) resulted in the Bard also being disarmed and knocked unconscious.

At this point, the Sorcerer attempted to use his magic to teleport out of a window, only to find himself surrounded by more guards. He then surrendered

Finally, the Barbarian attempted to climb over the guards surrounding the Bard and the Rogue by swinging across the ceiling. This reckless act of acrobatics resulted in him falling directly onto two of the guards, thereby committing the act of Simple Assault (RSA 631:2-A).

The Barbarian then grabbed the Rogue and Bard and attempted to throw them through a closed window. By smashing it, he performed an act of Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief (RSA 634:2). He then proceeded to leap through the window, only to be surrounded by more guards. Not wanting to go down without a fight, he used a bladed weapon to attack and incapacitate eight further guards (eight counts of First-Degree Assault, RSA 631:1-a) before eventually being brought down.

Finally, while in jail, the Sorcerer decided to use the last bit of his magic to teleport himself out of confinement, committing the crime of Obstructing Governmental Operations via Escape (RSA 642:6).

By my count, over twenty offenses were committed. Normally, this group is supposed to be saving the world, but it seems like they may be serving some prison time first—that is, unless they can find a lawyer well-versed in the nuances of dwarven criminal law.

The Guards, if they lived in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, would all have workers’ compensation claims for being injured on the job, and would have the ability to pursue civil claims for their injuries against the group that harmed them. While civil relief may not result in jail time, it will be a necessary pursuit for them to get their injuries and time missed from work covered.

If you were injured at work or otherwise in a warring Dungeons and Dragons party, the attorneys at PMMLaw can help.