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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Lloyd1" data-source="post: 8598039" data-attributes="member: 6941211">I find this conversation unnecessarily binary. They are either pure 'good' or 'evil'.1. As others have pointed out this is a game of magic and dragons. It does not have to be historically accurate. We could be playing King Arthur and the Round Table or some gritty roman noir.2. Even so, I don't think 'good' governments started with New Zealand in 1893 when they allowed women to vote. It was certainly an improvement, a good thing and an important milestone in the journey. It didn't lead immediately to equal rights or representation. It didn't do it for South Australia in 1894 or Western Australia in 1899. It didn't dramatically improve the lives of indigenous people in those places.In these cases, there was not a binary line where on one side is evil and on the other is good. It is a continuum that is moved along. Sometimes getting closer to one ideal or another.Also, there are innumerable factors about which come into consideration. Many of which are more about their actions rather than their processes (ie treatment of minorities, workers rights, women's rights, indigenous rights, etc). It is a many factored score card.As DMs or players we can view focus on a different aspect depending on the context. This week the rulers are protecting the lives of their people from slaughter with good grace, and next week suppressing a worker's strike and demanding taxes.3. Before you were talking about making evil governments visible to players. Even an authoritarian government doesn't need to appear as obviously evil, if it is stable and rules well enough. Outwardly everything looks similar to those countries that are fully enfranchised, democratic and having the rule of law with no more extra police visible. While, out of site, a small section of society is being stood over, tortured or killed on some 'publicly' acceptable pretext. Of course the players will find out eventually.</blockquote>

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