Law

#skill #rules_analogue #character_option
IQ/Hard; Default: IQ-6.

This skill represents knowledge of law codes and jurisprudence. A successful roll lets you remember, deduce, or figure out the answer to a question about the law. Few legal questions have clear-cut answers, however – even an expert will hedge his advice!

You must specialize. There are two general classes of specialty:

• The laws of a particular political region (e.g., Canada or France) within a specific field (constitutional, contract, criminal, police, etc.).
  • Examples: Law (British Criminal), Law (Canadian Constitutional), and Law (U.S. Contract).
• A specialized body of law not associated with a political region.
  • Examples: Law (Catholic Canon), Law (International), and Law (Space).

Specialties within the same region, such as Law (British Criminal) and Law (British Police), or field, such as Law (British Criminal) and Law (French Criminal), default to one another at -4. If both region and field differ, the default is -6 or worse.

In some times and places, a Quick Contest of Law (Criminal) between the defense and prosecution will determine the outcome of a trial. In others, Law functions as an Influence skill (see Influence Rolls, p. 359) used to sway the rulings of the judge.

Law enforcers nearly always have a point or two in Law (Police) for their region. This represents knowledge of “proper procedure” when it comes to arrests, evidence handling, interrogation, etc.