Presumably, the maximum EL threat response a community can bring to bear serves as the marker for how powerful the party needs to be before they're called upon to save the city from destruction. If the party is below this level, urban campaigns are closer to Shadowrun in structure. If they're above this level, there's probably little stopping them from stabbing Adam Smith for overcharging them for the next magic sword.
One thing I notice as rarely, if ever, focused on is the awareness of the authorities. The town guard ride in on pure fiat; no real guidelines on response time, how big of a hammer they bring, what it takes to even get their attention. It's usually assumed they work like television cops with a British pastiche, as far as legal authority and behavior; if they see something illegal, they blow their whistle and drag the perp to jail before a judge in a powdered wig.
Judiciary guidelines are another vague area, and are necessary in any urban environment. We have written law for as long as we have had the ability to write, so mob rule is very unlikely to be the case except for the peasants with pitchfork scenario. This vagueness is probably intentional avoidance of broaching the subject at all, because gamers almost can't conceive of punishment not including jail time, which has been justifiably hashed out here as a terrible thing for campaigns.
Urban Campaign Needs
- Guard stat blocks, separate by tier
- Legal authority & threat response
- Panopticon guidelines
- Judicial procedure