Law & Order: The City Watch

“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups; the city watch who investigates crimes and the magistrates who determine innocence or guilt.  These are their stories.” 

A campaign like this would work best if based in a large fantasy city like Waterdeep, Greyhawk, or Palanthas.  The player characters, all serving as members of the City Watch, investigate robberies, burglaries, murders, and so on.  In the days before forensic testing, most of the scientific aspects would be handled by wizards or priests using divination magic or psions using psychometry (object reading).  Most of the actual “on the street” legwork would be handled by Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, and even Bards using a combination of skills like Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Search, and Sense Motive.

Early adventures would revolve around walking a beat, breaking up fights, catching pickpockets, or rousting drunks and vagrants.  Eventually, these watchmen would move on to investigating more serious crimes as noted above.  After achieving a certain degree of success, they are promoted into a position as the head of a precinct or ward where they oversee junior watch members.  They begin planning and coordinating investigations into thieves’ guilds, large gangs, or smuggling rings – possibly befriending a bat-themed vigilante along the way.

Finally, after having proven themselves and earning the political support of the right nobles or wealthy merchants, they finally become watch commander for the entire city and face off against vampire kidnapping the scions of noble families, doppelganger assassins, and beholder crime lords.