Updated January 21, 2001

Important points;

• Outlawed player characters cannot ransom if they are held by a player character of the same nationality.
• Inactive characters (and their families) must be released if captured. It's up to the sysop to devise punishments for those to violate this rule. 
• Royals cannot be executed. If you do so, the sysop will revive the royal and punish the executioner.
• An outlawed player character can be held four full seasons, during which time he must be put on trial and/or executed. After the four full seasons, the player character must be allowed to ransom and leave captivity unless the trial (by king, emperor or pope) locks him up for a period of time.

If you capture a noble as a result of combat or siege, don't expect to keep him long; they will usually ransom themselves as quickly as they can. A captured player can free themselves the next time they log on by paying an amount equal to ten percent of their current GDP plus cash in their purse, or the their GDP at the beginning of the game, whichever is higher. Until the captive comes up with the money, they remain a captive. NPCs, and especially family members, are not subject to this "auto-ransom", but can only be liberated via a negotiated ransom.

When you capture a character, you may execute them. However, executing family members costs you stature points. Executing a PC will take all of your stature points. In some cases, however, it may be worth the hit. The only time you don't take this stature hit is when the noble captive is outlawed. In that case, you can execute without any penalty.

EXECUTION of royals is forbidden, unless the game enters the Joan of Arc phase and the People`s Prince is outlawed and subsequently executed after capture. This ends the game, as per the rules. Sysops usually handle this by bringing the royal back to life and punishing the executioner. The reason for this is that, at least in this period, it was simply not done. Royals could be killed, often in battle, but just taking them out back and whacking them was not yet acceptable behavior.

Outlaws may be held for one game year without ransom. If a trial does not take place within that time (a member of the game staff must attend the trial), the outlaw may ransom unless the trial (by king, emperor or pope) locks him up for a period of time.