Redwizard007
Adventurer
There is an ongoing thread about alignment where I repeatedly saw comments along the lines of, "I can't recall any evil or chaotic cultures," and that frigging bugged me. Off the top of my head I can name several. So, I'd like to see what real world cultures, or subcultures, we can come up with that might be mined for ideas in fleshing out fantasy cultures. Id particularly love some examples of Chaotic without being Evil. Lets try to be careful around modern examples.
Chaotic (but not Evil)
Allegedly, the modern Kurdish territory(?) of Rojava is as close to anarchy as a state can be. That would certainly fall under the chaotic header. Unfortunately, there isn't a ton of information I can find at the moment to flesh out what society is actually like there.
Native American tribes could have easily been lumped into the chaotic pile. Yes, that is a huge generalization covering hundreds if not thousands of separate groups. Many tribes obviously don't fit that narrative, and my knowledge of specifics is no where near complete enough to say anything but "some of them, probably." I'm trying to filter out all the garbage pop culture stuff I absorbed as a child, but some apparently solid sources talk about how independent individuals and families could be. Leadership was fluid and could pass between individuals based on backing and popular sentiment. Even treaties the US government agreed to with native tribes were considered, in some cases, to be just an agreement between that specific guy and Washington DC. I would hazard a guess that most pre-bronze age societies were similar to this.
Evil (but not Chaotic)
Rome engaged in forceful expansion, widespread slavery, non-consensual gladiatorial combat. I shouldn't need to go past that.
Sparta actually subjugated their closest neighbors into slaves so that they could focus on martial pursuits. Then they systematically culled the population
The Mongol hordes. "Submit or be remembered only for how creative we made your death," is metal as hell, but it isn't exactly nice behavior from your neighbors.
The Aztecs were at war constantly. Expansion was the original reason, but once their empire reached a certain size, small scale local conflicts were used to keep subjugated territories from successfully rebelling. The captives were then used as human sacrifices.
Mafia/Yakuza families are known for their brutality and disregard for the law, but both also have the reputation as traditional. How much of that is reality and how much is Hollywood is another story.
Other Notes
I would even theorize that otherwise good and orderly societies have been turned to chaos and evil under the right, or rather wrong, circumstances. I didn't live through the McCarthy hearings in the US, or in Soviet era Poland, but neighbors and family turning on their own probably falls into the realm of CE even if it is done under the guise of the law. At best, those societies are Lawful Evil.
I didn't even scratch the surface. What other Evil or Chaotic societies can you think of?
Chaotic (but not Evil)
Allegedly, the modern Kurdish territory(?) of Rojava is as close to anarchy as a state can be. That would certainly fall under the chaotic header. Unfortunately, there isn't a ton of information I can find at the moment to flesh out what society is actually like there.
Native American tribes could have easily been lumped into the chaotic pile. Yes, that is a huge generalization covering hundreds if not thousands of separate groups. Many tribes obviously don't fit that narrative, and my knowledge of specifics is no where near complete enough to say anything but "some of them, probably." I'm trying to filter out all the garbage pop culture stuff I absorbed as a child, but some apparently solid sources talk about how independent individuals and families could be. Leadership was fluid and could pass between individuals based on backing and popular sentiment. Even treaties the US government agreed to with native tribes were considered, in some cases, to be just an agreement between that specific guy and Washington DC. I would hazard a guess that most pre-bronze age societies were similar to this.
Evil (but not Chaotic)
Rome engaged in forceful expansion, widespread slavery, non-consensual gladiatorial combat. I shouldn't need to go past that.
Sparta actually subjugated their closest neighbors into slaves so that they could focus on martial pursuits. Then they systematically culled the population
The Mongol hordes. "Submit or be remembered only for how creative we made your death," is metal as hell, but it isn't exactly nice behavior from your neighbors.
The Aztecs were at war constantly. Expansion was the original reason, but once their empire reached a certain size, small scale local conflicts were used to keep subjugated territories from successfully rebelling. The captives were then used as human sacrifices.
Mafia/Yakuza families are known for their brutality and disregard for the law, but both also have the reputation as traditional. How much of that is reality and how much is Hollywood is another story.
Other Notes
I would even theorize that otherwise good and orderly societies have been turned to chaos and evil under the right, or rather wrong, circumstances. I didn't live through the McCarthy hearings in the US, or in Soviet era Poland, but neighbors and family turning on their own probably falls into the realm of CE even if it is done under the guise of the law. At best, those societies are Lawful Evil.
I didn't even scratch the surface. What other Evil or Chaotic societies can you think of?
