PUNISHMENTS OF THE OLDE REALM

(Applied to Player Characters)

“The crime matters less than who committed it.”
—Imperial Legal Maxim

I. IMPERIAL PC PUNISHMENTS

(Failure at the Keystone)

Imperials are not punished to correct behavior.
They are punished to prevent collapse.

1. THE ELEMENTIUM CROWN

Crime: Questioning the Order, hesitation, mercy
Method:
A living crown of elementium filaments is fused to the skull.

The device:
- Amplifies duty-thoughts
- Burns away doubt
- Suppresses emotion
Pain is constant, dull, inescapable
Removal causes death

PC Effect:

Permanent −20 to Will-based emotional resistance
+20 to Order-based commands
Cannot disobey Imperial doctrine

You still rule.
You simply no longer want anything else.

2. SEQUESTRATION OF THE LIVING ANCHOR

Crime: Failure that risks destabilization
Method:
The PC is sealed inside a Skas-era stasis sarcophagus, conscious but immobile.

Time perception is distorted
Days feel like years
Speech impossible

PC Effect:

Character removed from play
Can be recovered centuries later
Gains forbidden Skas knowledge… and madness

II. ROYAL PC PUNISHMENTS

(The Fall Must Be Seen)

Royals are punished publicly, so the realm remembers gravity.

3. STRIPPING OF THE SIGIL

Crime: Disobedience, softness, unauthorized reform
Method:
Royal blood-sigils are carved out with heated brass tools.

Flesh is cauterized to prevent death
Nobles and crowds are invited to watch
The sigil is displayed afterward

PC Effect:

Loss of Royal Status
−30 to all social rolls with higher classes
Nobles may legally ignore commands

4. THE GILDED BLINDING

Crime: Seeing what should not be seen
Method:
Eyes removed and replaced with decorative, useless lenses.

Often made of gold or crystal
Symbolizes “vision without authority”

PC Effect:

Permanent blindness
+20 to perception involving sound, vibration, or magic
Must rely on attendants—who may betray them

5. EXECUTION BY PROXY

Crime: Repeated failure
Method:
A child, spouse, or heir is executed in the PC’s name.

The PC is forced to issue the command
Refusal escalates punishment

PC Effect:

Permanent Humanity or Sanity loss
The PC lives—but is politically dead

III. NOBLE PC PUNISHMENTS

(Broken, But Useful)

Nobles are punished to teach lessons, not erase them.

6. THE WHEEL OF INDUSTRY

Crime: Sympathy, inefficiency, disloyalty
Method:
The Noble is sentenced to Guild Labor.

Bound into an elementium-powered machine
Limbs used as living pistons or cranks
Worked until collapse, then revived

PC Effect:

Permanent −10 to physical SCORES
+10 to Lore or Craft (you learned)
Social humiliation persists forever

7. TITLE STRIPPING & IRON MARKING

Crime: Disobedience
Method:
Title revoked, flesh branded with the Guild or Crown mark.

Branding irons often arc with energy
Marks never fully heal

PC Effect:

Cannot legally own land
May be enslaved for future crimes
Nobles may hunt or harass the PC openly

8. THE ARENA REPRIEVE

Crime: Severe breach
Method:
The Noble is sent to the Arena—armed, but against impossible odds.

Survival restores partial honor
Death satisfies the crowd

PC Effect:

If survived: scarred celebrity
If escaped: outlaw of legend

IV. CHURCH-ADJACENT PC PUNISHMENTS

(Faith as a Weapon)

9. THE DOCTRINAL UNMAKING

Crime: Heresy, doubt
Method:
Weeks of forced confession under pain, deprivation, and chanting.

Memories rewritten through repetition
Identity fractured

PC Effect:

Randomized beliefs
Loss of personal convictions
+20 to resisting fear (nothing feels real anymore)

V. LOWER-CLASS PC PUNISHMENTS

(Efficient, Final)

10. INDUSTRIAL CRUCIFIXION

Crime: Rebellion, escape
Method:
The PC is bound to a factory frame.

Machinery runs through or around them
Body becomes part of production
Death takes days

PC Effect:

Usually fatal
Survivors are broken icons of terror

11. DISAPPEARANCE INTO BUREAUCRACY

Crime: Knowing too much
Method:
Arrested, renamed, reassigned.

Records erased
Family reassigned compensation
PC “never existed”

PC Effect:

New identity
New class
Old allies cannot legally acknowledge them

VI. GM GUIDANCE: USING THESE IN PLAY

These punishments are not random.

Use them when:

PCs challenge the Order openly
They protect those beneath them
They believe status will save them

Always offer choices:

Submit and live
Resist and be destroyed
Escape and become a threat

FINAL TRUTH OF THE OLDE REALM

The Olde Realm does not ask:

“Did you do wrong?”

It asks:

“Did you threaten the structure?”

And structures do not forgive.

THE ARENA OF THE OLDE REALM

A Complete Subsystem

The Arena is not sport.
It is a civic sacrament proving the Order still works.

The Arena exists to:

Dispose of excess population
Punish high-status offenders publicly
Reinforce hierarchy through spectacle
Convert suffering into obedience

Arena play should feel fast, unfair, and inevitable.

I. TYPES OF ARENAS

1. Civic Arenas (Most Common)

Public executions
Criminal punishment
Crowd-controlled violence
Low chance of survival

2. Noble Arenas

Punishment of disgraced Nobles
Heavily ritualized
Survival = partial restoration of honor

3. Imperial Demonstration Arenas (Rare)

Used to test Skas relics
Combatants are expendable
Spectators include Imperials only

II. STATUS OF ARENA COMBATANTS

When a PC enters the Arena, they are assigned a Condemnation Tier:

Tier	Name	Rights
I	Damnati	None
II	Branded	Armed, disposable
III	Exhibited	Named, expected to die
IV	Favored	Audience interest
V	Champion	Still a slave

No Arena combatant is legally alive.

III. ARENA ROUNDS (STRUCTURE)

Arena fights are run in Rounds of Spectacle, not standard combat time.

Each Round:

Crowd Reaction Roll
Environmental Escalation
Combat
Judgment

1. Crowd Reaction (1d100)

Roll each round or after dramatic acts.

Roll	Crowd Reaction
01–20	Bored (hazards increase)
21–50	Amused
51–70	Bloodthirsty
71–90	Ecstatic
91–00	Frenzied (Chaos Event)

Crowd Effects

Ecstatic/Frenzied crowds may:
- Open gates
- Release beasts
- Demand executions
- Grant temporary boons (weapons, healing)

2. Environmental Escalation

Every round, the Arena gets worse.

Roll or choose:

Rising fire pits
Rotating platforms
Steam vents
Elementium arcs
Collapsing floors
Beast releases

The Arena does not favor survival—it favors drama.

3. Combat (Simplified)

Arena combat ignores tactical fairness.

Rules:

No retreat
No negotiation
Healing is rare and visible
Injuries matter immediately

At 50% Stamina, fighters are visibly wounded.
At 25%, the crowd begins chanting for death.

4. Judgment Phase

After a kill or spectacle:

Arena Master may:
- End the fight
- Escalate punishment
- Spare a combatant (rare)
- Execute survivors anyway

Mercy requires crowd approval.

IV. ARENA WEAPONS & GIFTS

Weapons are:

Inconsistent
Flawed
Symbolic

Examples:

Chain-blades that overheat
Pistols with one shot
Shock-nets
Beast collars
Broken relic arms

Crowd Gifts:

Thrown weapons
Medical packs
Armor pieces
Poison (for “interest”)

V. SURVIVAL & FREEDOM

Survival does not equal freedom.

A PC may earn:

Temporary reprieve
Status upgrade
Champion branding
Noble sponsorship

Freedom occurs only if:

A Noble publicly claims the PC
The Crown decrees it
The PC escapes during chaos

Most Champions die after surviving.

VI. ESCAPE FROM THE ARENA

Escape requires:

Frenzied crowd
Structural failure
External interference
Skas tech malfunction

Escape marks the PC as:

Hunted
Legendary
Symbolically dangerous

VII. GM GUIDANCE

Use the Arena when:

PCs break Order visibly
Nobles need punishment
You want consequences that matter

Arena sessions should:

Be short
Be brutal
Change characters forever

Friday, May 15, 2026