Bards are my best frame of reference since I rarely played anything else. I imagine maybe being a justiciar would be a little more fun and able to get to the bottom of things, but the general trib is too limited, and let's be honest, how many of them are really inclined to investigate for potential crimes that all of CF knows can not really be proven.
But, real investigation requires there to be a justiciar named and online, which I'm not sure is all that common. And I'm not sure what extra powers they get that helps. Maybe the Imms have actual tools to know, not sure.
The law says no offensive area spells or harmful powers. Songs are not spells, so should not be flaggable unless they are considered harmful powers. But harmful powers is subjective, which makes the law impermissibly vague and therefore unenforceable. The population has a right to know definitively what acts are criminal and which are not. The law by nature is not meant to be open to interpretation or discretion by the very people tasked with enforcing it, especially when the cop and the judge are one and the same. Every single thing in CF can be deemed to be a harmful power, by a creative mind at least. And CF's laws do not have a system for gauging intent, so anytime any character does any thing besides walk, speak or engage in commerce in a protected city, that act is basically flaggable. But then, commerce may be to buy something to give to a criminal, so flag that too. And walking into cities, well I think you are spying for a known criminal, so that's flaggable.
Tribs are basically cops, and shitty ones at that, and there is no judicial system to speak of really, since the cop is also the judge.
So arguing with them about laws is sort of pointless. And giving them discretion just makes it prone to being able to be abused when the police and the judge are the same person. I get that some people might find that fun, but honestly, trib seems so utterly tedious that I can not see how anyone finds it fun to play. If I want to act like a lawyer, I have other avenues besides CF.
Trib is a shitty cabal. I mean, I get the concept, but it's a shitty cabal. Give cities to empire and some to fort. Empire has a vested interest in keeping their cities orderly and protected (such is the glory and might of the empire). Fort has a vested interest in keeping their cities safe for all those who want to live in their utopian paradise filled with hugs sunshine and cake. Hell, Outlander could have cities/villages in the non-traditional sense. Llaneyha or whatever, where the jade elves live. Even ragers could have one, a haven where all magic is forbidden, to show how much better life is without magic. Cities could be an example to others of how their views and ways of life work in the real world. They are basically propaganda for the cabal dogma. Then there is trib. Murder is bad. But only in these four places. The jurisdictional limitations and the implications of them make no sense. Why is a blood tribunal warrant a sign to be attacked by guards in Udgaard, but murder in Udgaard is not a criminal act?
It would make Thera a much more interesting and dynamic place. Of course, building that system is an impossibility, but fun to imagine cabals having spheres of influence over cities.
