Extrapolating from the rules...

[Tsyr]

I think the key flaw here is the assumption that in a LG society they would execute people simply for having a different way of thinking.

Said society is not Lawful Good.

 

[Umbran]

Nondetection doesn't allow you to detect as whatever alignment you want.

But Misdirection does, if you choose reasonably.

When in doubt, don't base your system of justice upon a 1st level spell. There are too many people out there with 2nd level spells out there who will be able to foil it.

There's another problem with the scenario. Detect X spells only give the information to the caster. If the caster is trusted, he can lie through his teeth about the restults. The potential for abuse is large.

 

[the Jester]

While I doubt society would evolve into the one-alignment, rigid system proposed by Alcamtar, I do think that divination magic would have a key effect on developement. Crimes would not go unsolved as they do today; a combination of divination, augury, contact other plane, discern lies, and detect thoughts would lead to the rapid capture of most dangerous criminals.

They could also easily lead to a police state. How can you be subversive when your thoughts might be scanned by every passing police officer?

But there's a caveat: the big cities are where things tend to be more controlled. When you're in New York (or Waterdeep or Greyhawk or...) the authorities are always watching; but when you go to Hicksville, Nebraska, pop. 1000, there isn't the infrastructure to keep a close watch on everyone.

Which is why the resistance is based in rural areas, of course. Much as many anti-government groups in our world tend to center themselves in thinly populated areas where they're harder to observe, so too would the inhabitants of a world with dnd magic and rules.

Another important difference: with the ability to detect it making for clear, objective notions of good and evil, law and chaos, moral philosophy will be vastly changed from what we know. On this world there would never be any debates about alignments and what they mean; you'd know good from evil, and if you didn't agree you could get someone to find out by casting a spell.

The possibility of returning from death would also change our philosophical outlook tremendously. People might be more willing to die for what they believed in, both because they might just make it back and also because they know what waits for them after they do die. If you know for a fact that you're going to go to Heaven and live in eternal bliss, you don't really lose much by dying. In fact, the abilty to know would really affect our religions and sciences dramatically. Think of the scientist who wants to know for sure whether the research he's following is a waste of time and give him the ability to cast a high-level divination spell; he can find out. In fact, with something like a commune or contact other plane spell, he might be able to jump years ahead of his peers with his investigations- except that they'll all be doing it too.

Also, murder is not as serious as we think of it as; you can be raised (maybe at your killer's expense, once he's caught). Things like rape and torture suddenly become more serious though, since the psychological harm can't be undone as simply as death.

Hm, good thread! I'll ramble on some more once I cogitate...

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

I believe "eugenics" is the word you're looking for .

I can see it now, an army of nazi paladins, ready to supress any unLawful behavior. Evil gets put to the sword without any questions. Neutral either gets thrown out in exile (after forfeiting all their posessions of course) or put under severe magical compulsions and divinations.

Why would neutrals forfeit their possessions to a good society?

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

The widespread prevalence of healing magic would mean that athletes would beable to train their bodies to much higher levels of achievement, since any damage done in training could be repaired on the spot. No more promising quarterbacks doing their knees in at college - all the good ones go pro.

Also, torture and pain become less of a threat. After you've been hacked up and duct taped a hundred times the threat of someone slitting your throat or hacking at you with a battleaxe might lose some of its impact. People would be more willing to endure damage if they believe that the damage won't be permanent. (Actually, this is what I think the current hit point system simulates).

Stupidity might also be more widespread, since the Darwin award winners might be resurrected by well meaning friends and relatives.

 

[hong]

What would the 3E world look like if you took the rules at face value and extrapolated their effects on society.

Here we go again....

From: Peter Newman (pnewman@gci.net)
Subject: Seven billion Chickens!
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Date: 2001-08-22 01:35:28 PST


According to the DMG a community with 30,000 adults will
have 7,500,000,000 chickens. [DMG p 137]

0.5 x the GP limit [100,000] x 0.1 x the population [30,000]
is the total value available. Thus at any given time the
metropolis will have 150,000,000 GP's worth of chickens
available. At 2 CP/chicken this will be 7.5 billion chickens.

Similarly this community will have 15 million cows, 15 billion
candles, 15 billion pounds of wheat (7.5 million tons),
7.5 billion pounds of flour, 15 billion torches, 300 million
pounds of soap, 7.5 billion loaves of bread, 1.5 billion flasks
of oil, 1.5 billion peasants outfits, 750 million pounds of
cheese, and much much more

It will also have 3 billion arrows, 10 million longswords,
10,000 suits of full plate armor, 1,000 keeps, 1,500 longships,
3,000 grand houses, 15,000 simple houses, and 100 grand castles
available.

Extrapolating is dumb.

 

[rounser]

Forget alignment; D&D doesn't model what a psychological mess an adventurer would be after the routine severe injury sustained in a typical D&D adventure. It's ignored because it's not fun, and it doesn't fit the genre...

 

[jasper]

lg = no money
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don't see the connection


Broke the question marks into several lines so they don't mess up the thread any longer.
- Darkness

 

[Tsyr]

Edit that darned post, Jasper... It's messing up board formating.

 

[el-remmen]

The old lady down the road, who chides youngsters for being too rambunctious and threatens to call their parents if she sees young Sam Gamgee bringing home anymore cute women, is Lawful Good.

Sam Gamgee, who likes entertaining the ladies but who would never think of harming anyone, is also Lawful Good.

The father who spanks his son to teach him to behave is Lawful Good. If his child is very hard to deal with, he might use a little too much force, but he does it for a good cause.

The police officer who arrests that man for child abuse is Lawful Good. If the man grows angry at being called a child-beater, the cop might have to use physical force, but he does it for a good cause.

The rich philanthropist who donates to charities is Lawful Good, but he still thinks that, because he works harder than other, lazier people, he deserves a more comfortable life than them.

The bum on the street who takes care of stray cats and lives on welfare is Lawful Good, even though he complains that the government doesn't provide enough help for the homeless.

Alignments are pretty broad. Even a lawful good society would not necessarily mean a totally altruistic society. People can be good while still thinking they themselves know better than others, or are more worthy than others. The only way to ensure a totally altruistic world is to turn everyone into zombies with no drive for themselves. Why create art when you could be be making homes for people or cleaning the already-clean streets?

This is the best description of alignment I have ever read. Instead of giving examples of EACH alignment, give a variety of examples of the same alignment that are still different.

Great work!

Mind if I steal this to post over on the Rat Bastard DM boards?