Questions tagged [crime]

For questions dealing with acts that violate the laws of a given legislation.

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How would you prosecute crimes in a world where everyone regenerates from injuries?

The world is filled with trolls. Trolls regenerate from any damage other than fire or acid at a rate of about 10% per second, and so any injuries or torture you inflict will very quickly be removed. ...
Nepene Nep's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
344 views

How long could a sealed room/building smolder and still be capable of a backdraft/flashover when reopened?

As a hypothetical, say a bad dude decides he needs to burn a home for some reason, but doesn't want the fire to be immediately spotted and responded to. He gets the house sealed up to the point where ...
Brennen Messer's user avatar
3 votes
9 answers
4k views

Would the use of sulfuric acid "piranha" weapons be considered chemical weapons, and thus, War Crimes?

In an alternative reality, people where capable of taking information from the future, and thus, they decided to not only to replicate future technology for the betterment of manking, but also future ...
Fulano's user avatar
  • 189
5 votes
3 answers
2k views

Rip van Winkle crime spree

Let's say a rogue physicist wanted to make a fortune allowing criminals to use time tech to avoid the time when statute of limitations would allow them to be arrested. But how could someone prove to ...
Joe Smith's user avatar
  • 3,124
1 vote
5 answers
372 views

Murder is Legal, now what? [closed]

Background: I'm toying with a short story that deals with the concepts of: The limits of Policing, The (legitimate) use of force and the right to defend oneself. In the scenario - a society faces ever ...
TheDemonLord's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
191 views

Why wouldn't a crime czar control drugs, but a pet cartel? [closed]

The year is 2058 of the Gregorian Calendar. The villain of my story is a crime czar. He does not want to control drugs: he prefers to rule a pet cartel. The pets that are on the list of this cartel ...
mammifereviolet4694's user avatar
18 votes
27 answers
6k views

Could a society ever exist that considers indiscriminate killing socially acceptable? [closed]

This isn't for anything that I'm working on, but the idea just came to me. By completely unjustified I mean the random killing of other people, though my question pertains mostly to a society tolerant ...
INPU's user avatar
  • 1,309
17 votes
14 answers
5k views

If every action a human does is tracked, would serious crimes be greatly reduced?

Background Humans originate from the Skytree, a tower operated by an impartial AI. On birth, they are sent to their assigned communities, or Communes, where they live out the rest of their lives. ...
Enthu5ed's user avatar
  • 3,662
15 votes
8 answers
4k views

Can a "criminal" country exist in the modern world without getting blockaded and invaded?

In my world, there is a remote island country (unofficially named Banditland or Sin Island) started by cartel/mafia kingpins and unethical businessmen from across the world. In this country, very few ...
user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
89 views

Gyrojet pistol vs forensics? [closed]

How would ballistic evidence be gathered against against a gryojet pistol in which there would not be the clear marks left on the bullet due to the barrel? I'm thinking of this in a science fiction ...
Adam Reynolds's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
448 views

Where would pirates go to operate?

In my world, there are pirates who steal and raid. They are not just the stereotypical kind with parrots, but also other kinds like the ones in Somalia or Barbary pirates. When trying to implement ...
Crafter's user avatar
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18 votes
14 answers
4k views

Why would someone design criminal classes in their LitRPG System?

Post-Apocalyptic scenario, the government is gone. A scientist finished his greatest creation ever. A self-replicating nanobot swarm that, when dispersed in the upper atmosphere, will settle in every ...
Mindwin Remember Monica's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
141 views

Would the loss of the ability to become intoxicated deplete cartels of their income?

This is the third follow up of my question here. To review some context, here is what happens : a handwavium virus kill off humanity's ability to get intoxicated or high. many people experience drug ...
faddllz's user avatar
  • 1,782
-2 votes
1 answer
99 views

What is the worst crimes/misdeeds to be called a villainess? [closed]

I’m trying to make my character be perceived as a villainess, but I don’t really know what kind of atrocities she would do to be called one. I thought about it a lot, she has a line that she can’t ...
ReyFlower's user avatar
38 votes
27 answers
9k views

How to stop soldiers from selling their equipment?

Assume there is a resource that allows for rapid regeneration of body parts and termination (magical deletion) of foreign objects in the body upon usage. Let's say it is scarce enough that you can't ...
Thaspin's user avatar
  • 551
17 votes
12 answers
4k views

Cyberpunk Loan Shark

A central component of the cyberpunk genre is the idea of corporations rising to be the dominant power in the world. I'm working with a setting where urban centers are safe because the corps police ...
codeMonkey's user avatar
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14 votes
20 answers
4k views

If magic can manipulate memories for inmates on death row, why hasn't capital punishment been abolished?

This is set in the modern day but in a parallel universe. As usual we have a food crisis and climate changes, etc. Imagine a serial killer was finally arrested and sentenced to death, as the country ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 46.4k
4 votes
3 answers
324 views

Is use of virtual reality to explore taboo activities a good idea? [closed]

Let us suppose that virtual reality affecting all senses in a way virtually indistinguishable from reality exists. Using this virtual reality, it would be possible for people with extreme, taboo ...
Monty Wild's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
74 views

how do traffic move when there's roadblock by police [closed]

Imagine there is a gun shooting incident so police will obviously control traffic but then how do people react when road is blocked? do they wait on block to know what is happening or do they just go ...
ice man's user avatar
  • 119
0 votes
3 answers
144 views

What would this character potentially be charged with in this situation? [closed]

In my sci fi short story I'm working on, a company called Generation sometime in the future, develops a viral based treatment for a new kind of cancer that has arisen in young children. Around fifteen ...
WasatchWind's user avatar
  • 3,157
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

Despite having serrated fangs, why doesn't the vampire make a mess during a feast?

The vampire loves fresh blood and often sneaks into houses at night to feast. It would wait for nightfall when the occupants were asleep and then force their fangs into the neck of it's victims. ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 46.4k
19 votes
9 answers
5k views

How could my fruit cartel become a national problem?

In a dramedy science-fantasy children's videogame I want to create (by children's, I mean for 8 to 15 years old), Salade de Fruits (which means Fruit Salad) (my first language is French), there is a ...
mammifereviolet4694's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
307 views

Can the use of lightning weapons be considered a war-crime? [closed]

Note: Just assume that there is also a Geneva convetion in this scenario because it is basically our earth in a few years in the future. So, I just found of this news that the US had developed an ...
Fulano's user avatar
  • 189
0 votes
4 answers
174 views

Everyday life in a country/society where intentional homicide is not a crime [closed]

In this hypothetical society, intentional Homicide (murder) is not a crime but society can develop normally and people carry out normal lives. I believe this could be possible because I read that ...
Sabrine Crystal's user avatar
8 votes
6 answers
842 views

How many rival criminal gangs can this fairly small fantasy city support?

The following is the map I am using for a D&D city I've named "Braedon". (It's just a map I found on google image search that I colored in.) I have established that this is a city with ...
Richard Winters's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
213 views

How can a Middle-Age spy traveller hide as many ropes and gags as possible on themselves?

As I recalled about some Mermaids being tied up, I remembered some stealth game moments where the heroes, in order to have free moments wandering around without those annoying guards and honest ...
Tortliena's user avatar
  • 7,298
21 votes
22 answers
3k views

What magic system would empower peace? (Retaining free will) [closed]

Imagine you're an all powerful god and you want to reduce the likelihood for unsavory behavior like crime, war, and disaster capitalism. Without taking away free will, or micro managing all actions - ...
Thomas F. Webber's user avatar
11 votes
15 answers
4k views

Why would a government sanction crime within a city?

Assume this city is relatively large by late medieval standards, around 200,000 people. The city is mainly a site for trade due to its geographically central position and being on a river. Also, ...
Unhappymarshmellow's user avatar
13 votes
16 answers
4k views

How could criminals make getaways in a world where public transportation is most common?

In my world, trains are the most prevalent form of transportation. Immense subway systems are used to transport people, livestock, and other goods throughout the world. Street level, trams, bicycles, ...
forgotenm's user avatar
  • 974
17 votes
19 answers
6k views

How would the punishment of murder change if people could just respawn?

In this world, since there has been writing, when someone dies unless they are pregnant, they kill themselves on purpose, or they die while asleep, they will respawn where they last slept, just like ...
user avatar
18 votes
12 answers
5k views

How could publicly accessible information proving that a public figure is corrupt go undetected for at least a year?

How could publicly accessible information proving that a public figure is corrupt go undetected for at least a year? Assume that the public figure is a moderately noteworthy politician (equivalent to ...
Galactic's user avatar
  • 4,292
29 votes
22 answers
8k views

How would criminals be punished in a world where everyone can teleport?

Everyone in this world from the age of 5 can teleport to anywhere they have been before even if they forgot how to go there. This started about 4,000 B.C.E where a bright green star landed on earth ...
user avatar
55 votes
13 answers
10k views

What would an immortal-run American bank have to do to secretly maintain bank accounts for immortal customers?

A common concern with immortal fictional characters like vampires and the like is the frequency with which they'd have to change their identities and move around in order to avoid people noticing how ...
Cyrus Drake's user avatar
  • 7,927
6 votes
7 answers
601 views

Post zombie outbreak world. People who die turn into zombies. Can the government detect murders from natural death + transformation?

The zombie outbreak is contained and people survived in fortified cities and on islands and so on. Humans who die in any way that does not destroy the brain will turn into zombies. Rules of that is ...
Seallussus's user avatar
  • 8,252
9 votes
6 answers
607 views

How can I have a corrupt meritocratic government without it being perceived as such?

I like to play with superlatives. I want a government that pretends to be rightly-guided by the most sacred morals and ideals, but in reality is filled with fat cats who only care for themselves. ...
KeizerHarm's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
240 views

What circumstances would lead art and artisan works to be considered 'worthless' or detrimental in society?

Context: I'm looking for justification of the above in my story so I can have clandestine artists. But I'm having a little dificulty finding a situation in which art becomes to inherenty detrimental ...
Sony-Shock's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
161 views

How would this prediction/assassination market fail?

A large, multinational cooperation wants to enable it's executives to get more creative in pursuing the companies goals. So an internal prediction market is established: starting at lower management, ...
mart's user avatar
  • 3,487
2 votes
4 answers
1k views

How Much Gold to Pay Off Death Sentence? [closed]

So, you've got a fantasy kingdom that has had the better part of its treasury stolen by a dragon. They tracked the dragon back to its lair and trapped it permanently inside... but the dragon refuses ...
FlyingLemmingSoup's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
182 views

Keeping a large-scale kidnapping operation a secret

The Villain in my story kidnaps people and transfers their souls into robot bodies, wiping their memories in the process. This process has been going for a while, around thirty years. The current ...
D. Daniels's user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
3k views

What would a corpse of a person who drowned in mercury look like?

I want to use a mercury based golem as a enemy in a murder mystery P&P story. The golem flows through cracks and under doors and envelops its victims until they are dead. Let's assume that the ...
TheDyingOfLight's user avatar
8 votes
11 answers
908 views

How would criminals escape detection in a society with ubiquitous surveillance?

Consider a heavily urbanized society with modern or near future technology with hybrid visual/infrared security cameras in all public areas and most stores, restaurants, office buildings, etc. These ...
Richard Smith's user avatar
16 votes
13 answers
13k views

Is stealing the moon actually possible?

I'm writing a heist story set in the near future. The goal of my main protagonists is to actually steal the Moon. The budget of their escapade is not a variable; they will get this done however ...
Gideon Ebeling's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
352 views

Why would a human bomb not be blown apart by rune magic?

I am a homicide detective on the magical police force. Runes are magical symbols fused into objects that imbue those items with magical power. These spells are stored in these runes for long term use ...
Incognito's user avatar
  • 38.4k
6 votes
3 answers
364 views

How many gangs (criminal and non-criminal) can fit in a fictional crime-ridden New York City?

So, I'm writing a fictional story about gangs and the city I'm using as the setting is loosely based on New York. More specifically, the size of New York City, and the population. I checked on Google ...
Nass King's user avatar
  • 1,051
3 votes
6 answers
169 views

Early stages of a police / surveillance state, experiment leading to totaliarian government [closed]

A democratic government starts tightening its grip on the citizens by tiny steps, slowly but surely they advance towards a state that resembles China today. In their first step, they start a ...
TemporaryName's user avatar
-5 votes
3 answers
224 views

How would I kill every one on earth with only $1000 [closed]

Well, this is a wacky one. I only have $1000 dollars how would I get rid of everyone on the planet. (this is all hypothetical)
Liam Parent's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
263 views

How to prevent theft in a world where dreams are shared?

Say we can influence our dreams to a certain extend and are able to participate involuntarily in somebody else dream, I am wondering is there a way to prevent leaking important information such as my ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 46.4k
5 votes
4 answers
188 views

How would a Disappearer make himself known as reliable?

A "Disappearer" sells the service of taking people and giving them new lives and identities. The Disappearer doesn't want to reveal identity to avoid being interrogated by the police or worse, ...
Bebs's user avatar
  • 643
4 votes
4 answers
328 views

How to uncover a suspicious person's hidden identity discreetly?

Its modern time 2010s to 2019. It's a normal world like ours. Takes place in a 1st world country like either USA or Korea. (Or if need be then a nameless civilized country) Q. You find a person ...
ArtTriad's user avatar
13 votes
19 answers
6k views

How to prevent criminal gangs from making/buying guns?

TLDR: What can modern governments do to force criminal gangs to use melee weapons instead of guns. So I am writing a novel where the main character is pushed out of society, and is forced to join a ...
Sam Joseph's user avatar