Rolgan's Trial - NWN Side Quest (Chapter 3)
Rolgan's Trial is a side quest that begins by speaking with Neurik inside of the Temple of Tyr in Beorunna's Well. In order to accept this quest from Neurik your character will need an intelligence score higher than 10 - otherwise Neurik will tell you that he doesn't think you're capable of fairly representing Rolgan.
At the start of this quest you will be given a book that lists all of the Jurors and all of the Witnesses; you'll be instructed to talk with all of them but that isn't really neccessary. There are only 5 people that you really need to talk to for this quest and they are listed below.
(Juror) Averik: Averik can be found inside the Drinking House and can be bribed to give a Not Guilty verdict. You will get 3 Evil Alignment points for bribing him.
(Juror) Jevon: Jevon can be found in the Mercenary Enclave and can be bribed to give a Not Guilty verdict. Much like with Averik you'll get 3 Evil Alignment points for bribing him.
(Witness) Lodar: Lodar is one of the 2 witnesses that you will have to speak with to complete this quest with a Not Guilty verdict. Buy him a few rounds at the bar and have him spill the beans about Griff drugging people to win at cards and Griff's hatred for the Uthgardt. Have him testify to the same in the court room.
(Witness) Zeb: Zeb is the 2nd witness that you can have testify in your favor. To get Zeb talking you'll want to give him a Healing Potion or use a Healing Kit on him then he'll open up about what happen that night. After healing him and learning the truth from him he'll testify to the same in court.
(Accused) Rolgan: This is the man that we're going to be defending in court - I don't think it's required but you should talk to him to learn his side of the story before starting the trial.
Lodar is a witness and found inside of the Drinking House.
In order to win this trial without bribing anyone you'll need to speak with Lodar and Zeb to convince them to tell the truth during the trial. Lodar you'll find in the Drinking House building and you'll have to buy him numerous rounds of alcohol to learn about Griff and the racket that Griff runs as well as Griff's hatred of the Uthgardt.
The other person you'll need to speak with is Zeb who you'll find inside of the Mercenary Enclave. In order to get Zeb to talk to you what you will need to do is use a Healing Potion or a Healing Kit on him to fix his leg. Once healed Zeb will tell you pretty much all of the same stuff that Lodar does, Griff hates the Uthgardt and purposefully drugs people to win at cards.
With these 2 testifying on your behalf it'll be enough to convince the jurors that Rolgan is innocent. If you'd like to guarantee your victory then you could also bribe Averik and Jevon but it won't be neccessary. So long as you don't ask incriminating questions during the trial you'll be fine.
Zeb is a witness and found inside of the Mercenary Enclave.
After getting all of your ducks in a row so to speak it'll be time to talk with Neurik and start the trial. This trial will play out similarly to how trials play out in the real world. You will have the opportunity to ask the people who witnesses what happened questions and you'll have to pay close attention to how the jury reacts to their answers.
During this trial I would avoid asking Vanda (Rolgan's wife) any questions because most of them will make Rolgan look more guilty. The other questions you can ask her don't seem to sway the Jury at all. As for calling Rolgan himself, this is a giant no-no. Much like in real life you almost never want to put your client on the stand because there is so much that can go wrong and it opens them up to cross examination. If you put Rolgan on the stand it typically will always result in at least one Jury member taking out a sword.
Below you'll find a quick list of questions I recommend you ask and questions I recommend you avoid. Typically what you'll want to do is expose Griff's racism and the fact that he drugged people to win at cards. Make sure that the Jury knows that no one actually saw who started the fight as well.
The #1 question you typically want to avoid is anything about Rolgan being impaired from alcohol. Being drunk does not absolve you of your responsibilities and the Jury will look negatively upon this line of questioning. Also avoid any line of questioning that gives Rolgan motive for wanting to kill Griff. The value of the jewels, how important the jewels were or anything of that nature. Also try not to accuse the Jury of being racist.
Questions to ask witnesses:
- Did you see who started the fight?
- Is it true that Griff spiked Rolgan's drink?
- How did Griff feel about the Uthgardt?
Questions to avoid:
- Did the Uthgardt seem intoxicated to you? // Do you think the Uthgardt's judgment was impaired?
- Did Rolgan lose a lot of money to Griff?
- (Vanda) I'd recommend avoiding any questions you can ask her; none of them help you and most hurt your case
- (Rolgan) Avoid calling him to the stand at all
Closing Arguments:
- "We know Griff was a violent man who hated the Uthgardt"
- "Griff spiked Rolgan's drink making him more prone to act irrationally"
If you avoid asking incriminating questions and focus on the ones I suggest you ask then you'll walk away with everyone voting Not Guilty for Rolgan. This will get you the best reward for the quest in terms of gold and experience. Once the Jury Trial is finished speak with Neurik to complete the quest.