A complex set of psychological inhibitions limit the aggression of a single individual.

However, put that same individual in a large group and many limitations go out the window -the safety and anonymity of being part of a crowd frees men to vent anger and aggression through destruction of property, rock throwing, and stick wielding.

The following table lists the base chance for Rioting and situation modifiers.

Base Chance Of Rioting Cause Base Chance % unavailability of standard goods and services 00 high taxes (citizens barely able to feed themselves) 20 high taxes (20% of citizens at starvation level) 60 repression of assembly, travel, or speech 30 repression as above with corporal or capital punishment 60 Situation Modifier Situation Modifier crowd number above 100 + 10 no guards + 20 crowd number above 500 + 30 one guard per 20 people 0 crowd number above 1000 + 50 one guard per 10 people -20 armed insurrection -50 one guard per 5 people -50 popular figure in custody + 20 mounted guards -20 Some discretion is required when using these rules.

If a mob expects harsh and violent reprisal, or cannot cause real damage to the source of frustration, reduce the chance ofa Riot by 30.

To see if a Riot starts, the Riot chance is rolled once each minute or whenever the situation changes.

If a Riot occurs, continue rolling each 10 minutes;

when the roll is failed the Riot stops and the crowd must be dispersed to prevent further trouble.

The Riot chance may be modified either by various magic spells or the influence of a popular figure such as a Bard or Artist (see Action/Reaction Abilities table of section 3.3).

09.10-mob_actions_and_riots.txt