Order gone overboard

[pauljathome]

How would a fantasy town look and feel to the players if the balance between order and chaos in that town suddenly has shifted all the way towards order? I can imagine every detail having to be registered and people being very rigid in their actions.

- The players being stopped at the town gate until the town guard has informed the mayor that a party of x will enter the town and this has been registered. Then the players will each be handed a note that shows they have been registered.

- Everyone walks in the same direction on each side of the roads in the town, and would be appalled at the players walking in the wrong side. Perhaps it is even a crime?

- All the roads and buildings are being rebuilt to make them perfectly straight and even.

- Entering the inn, the players again have to wait for the innkeeper to register that a party of x will be staying the night. The sign outside is updated with the number of rooms available.


What else would the players experience?

It depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for something vaguely plausible that still makes the players creeped out then I think that you're going WAY too far.

To achieve that level of player distaste I'd definitely go with real life examples. Definitely one requires a license to carry a weapon, one needs government approval to be an "adventurer" (or to carry out any profession), all entries and exits from the city require permits, there are groups actively upholding "community standards" in terms of dress, lawn care, painting, etc.

Now, if you're going for a "The town has been taken over by Modrons" theme then your ideas have merit. Then have everybody talk alike and dress alike. And have everybody called Sheila and Bruce in order to avoid confusion .

 

[Neubert]

My idea was a sudden change (as mentioned in the first post) where the people just felt compelled to be orderly. In my mind this change was not odd for the townspeople, everyone simply woke up one day and accepted the long list of new rules from the mayor as something good and wise. So if questioned about it, the town would not see it as a sudden change.

pauljathome, I know GMs that already use some of the examples you gave in ordinary towns. My vision was for the latter, and really like your ideas about having everyone called the same name. I suppose the townsfolk will also call the players by those names - and if the players correct them, I can see the townspeople being confused by this fact.

Ranes, having an entity of "Law" attempt to create order in a chaotic world (but having gone overboard) sounds like a really neat concept.

 

[Starfox]

A lawful society does not necessarily depend on exact laws or rules. In fact, one of the main reason laws were first written down was to protect individuals' rights - with laws clearly spelled out and everything not expressively forbidden being permitted a large degree of individual freedom becomes possible.

A truly lawful society needs no such written laws. People have been schooled to think of the community first, themselves second. Making a fuss, taking up too much room, or using too much resources are grounds for punishment and ostracism with no need for precise rules or allotments. Magistrates or tribunals will spontaneously strike down on aberrant behavior, either to correct and teach or to eliminate. The idea of punishment and prison as we think of it is wasteful in a completely utilitarian society. Think of a self-correcting computer code - nonfunctional bits of society are debugged if possible, discarded if necessary.

Such a society is even more scary than the one with the seemingly arbitrary rules - and a lot harder to adjust to. In some cases, members of the society might simply ignore the adventurers as irrelevant - think Borg in Star Trek. In other cases, they might be fiercely fought from first contact - like white blood cells fight an infection.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

It strikes me that a town that has suddenly experienced a shift toward cosmic order would not really be more bureaucratic. That would be the case where players in the town are trying to coerce the town to order. If the town has suddenly come under some influnce that just made it more ordered then I would go with the hive like scenario.
Everyone plays a certain role and completes tasks in the same way. No variation between individuals. The behaviours may not be optimal but all responses to stimuli are repeated across the community.
So every one eats the same breakfast which is prepared in the same way by everyone. Same for other meals.
Adventurers might be totally ignored as chaotic elements unless they attack the towns folk or otherwise attempt to disrupt the order, if the town shifted to lawful good. Or they might try to assimilate the adventurers (a la the Borg) if the shift was to lawful evil.
At the extreme it could very well end in stasis, though other outcomes are imaginable.

 

[howandwhy99]

Given that ultimate chaos is embracing the abyss, the annihilation of all things and returning to in the beginning, no there no thing...

then ultimate order is calcification of thought and action into a diamond-like precision. Embracing a rhythm, the continuation of all theres and things into one harmony, and ultimately one mind.

 

[Starfox]

Given that ultimate chaos is embracing the abyss, the annihilation of all things and returning to in the beginning, no there no thing...

then ultimate order is calcification of thought and action into a diamond-like precision. Embracing a rhythm, the continuation of all theres and things into one harmony, and ultimately one mind.

From a human perspective, this works out to the same thing - the loss of all meaning.

 

[frankthedm]

Bureaucracy comes from trying to enforce order. With order influencing folks, they won't need to be told what to do, they'll just be doing it.

From a human perspective, this works out to the same thing - the loss of all meaning.

Cosmically though it is probably worse since something will emerge out of the Primordial Chaos by its nature. Once Order wins however, Existence would be crystallized forever.

Related video: Shame the Developers got cheap and didn't SHOW the worlds fate.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGEu4vhbrGo]YouTube - ‪Soul Calibur IV Siegfried Ending‬‏[/ame]

 

[Horatio]

One word: Equilibrium

 

[jefgorbach]

How would a fantasy town look and feel to the players if the balance between order and chaos in that town suddenly has shifted all the way towards order? I can imagine every detail having to be registered and people being very rigid in their actions.

Beaucraticy and its accompanying forms/laws are attempts to force order upon an individualistic society to prevent chaotic anarchy and thus are simply unnecessary for a society truly infected with Order. Therefore there would be visual evidence of such conventions having once been used, none would be currently utilized – having become unnecessary – resulting in a township feeling slightly “off” to outsiders unaccustomed to unguarded defensive positions, empty administrative buildings, and everyone just casually working towards the Township’s best interests, possibly without implicit instructions regarding exactly what is needed.

Likewise, the trade of one’s goods and services for an equal amount occurs naturally without resorting to the cumbersome use of currency, with individuals naturally using only those resources needed for their current project.

Doorways/etc remain open without fear (or understanding) of undesirables entering. Likewise livestock remain within their assigned zones without needing restraining fences/locks, although such remain (unused) as evidence the township wasn’t always so Orderly.

Changes to landscaping, community layout, etc along more structured conformity would occur according to an unspecified plan over time as existing structures need maintenance/replacement; providing an implication asto WHEN the infection occurred.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Paperwork and forms for everything, even having the paperwork.
Things would be sorted. All tall building in one area or row, green eyed people in their group, short people in theirs (small humans would be seen as dwarves IF they had a beard).
Lots of police/monitors.
Law would be dracoian...failure to conform = death. Free thinking = Death.
Rather boring.
Oh, lots of test...placement test, promotion test, breeding test, etc. Everyone will be sorted and re-sorted.