Duels between mortal Practitioners and the Law of Magic

[Mal_Luck]

I'm not sure I've ever seen this discussed. But what happens if two mortals duel to the death under the Accords using Magic as the weapon?

Would the winner get Lawbreaker (First) and have the Wardens wanting to serve his/her head on a platter?

This is probably a "Up to the GM" situation, but I was curious what the rest of you thought.

[Korwin]

Good question.

My interpretation:
The winner would get the Lawbreaker stunt.
The Wardens wouldnt get after him.

[paul_Harkonen]

There are several mentions in the Books (particularly Storm Front) about duels being a special exception to the Laws.  If memory serves (and I'm not sure it does) the biggest concern about Dresden

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killing DuMorne is because it wasn't a legal duel

.  In game terms you may get lawbreaker, but I don't think the Wardens meet you at the end with spells prepped, swords drawn, and a bag for your head.

[mroehler]

Yeah, IIRC, under the Accords and the Code Duello, one of the options was Energy, or just straight magic. And duels are always fought to the death. Therefore, it seems like there has to be some kind of provision with the Laws of Magic about the Code Duello.

[Sebastian]

It seems very questionable that a duel has to be to the death.

And wouldn't/shouldn't moderately intelligent practioners choose another option, to avoid the problem?

[Wyrdrune]

maybe under code duello the end of the duel is defined by what the duellants agree upon - death, first blood, unconsciousness...

[SaintAndSinner]

Accords are not the same as the Laws of Magic.

[Mal_Luck]

Accords are not the same as the Laws of Magic.

But members of the Accords when acting under them must abide by them. Which the White Council are members.

Again I still think this is probably an issue for the GM just interested what other GMs would do.

[Deadmanwalking]

Well, first off, aside from

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Marcone

and the White Council, almost nobody who's signed the Accords is human. Klling non-humans doesn't get you Lawbreaker anyway.

Second, I wouldn't be surprised if there are (extremely advanced and powerful) magical ways to avoid getting Lawbreaker. The Archive had a bit of enchanted Mordite to do a Duel of Wills. what makes you think there wouldn't also be something equally odd and powerful to mitigate this problem?

[Draamal]

Like a magic staff or something.  You could even make it black...   

[Deadmanwalking]

Like a magic staff or something.  You could even make it black...   

Probably a bit less powerful and more limited (it likely only applies in duels, and only to the First Law, for example), but yeah, something like that. 

[Knave]

I was under the impression that the Code Duello was for issues between arane nations, not between individuals in the same nation.  Those are expected to be taken care of in house.

So, if The White Council represents all Mortal Practitioners in the accords then it is due a lot of respect, but it has to do everything in its power to stop those criminals who might otherwise compromise its position.

Back to the original question - I don't believe members of the White Council would duel one another, and if they did they would go as far as they could to stop their opponents - not kill them.

[Deadmanwalking]

True, but while vanilla mortals aren't signatories, other groups do indeed have human members. I suspect Monoc Securities has more than a few employees who still count as human for First Law purposes, and I'm sure several other supernatural nations do as well (thge Summer and Winter Knights come immediately to mind), so while White Council members aren't going to duel each other under the Unseelie Accords, a human vs. human magical duel is still a possibility.

[Moriden]

Probably a bit less powerful and more limited (it likely only applies in duels, and only to the First Law, for example), but yeah, something like that.  Smiley

If it exists pc's will find a way to get it, and use it.

[Deadmanwalking]

If it exists pc's will find a way to get it, and use it.

Sure, once, as part of a formal duel. To get it permanently they need to mug the Archive or someone else in her league. Good luck with that.

They're about as likely to get the Blackstaff itself (which clearly does exist).