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<blockquote data-quote="Urbannen" data-source="post: 403380" data-attributes="member: 7643">Really, the big question here is &quot;What do Lawful and Chaotic actually mean, anyway?&quot;&nbsp; These concepts are very badly defined.&nbsp; They aren't even opposites:&nbsp; The opposite of Law would be Crime, the opposite of Chaos would be Order.&nbsp; And since you can have Organized (i.e. Orderly) Crime, where does that leave you?&nbsp; But I guess that's another thread.&nbsp; Currently in the world, First World nations would be Lawful.&nbsp; Second world nations, such as the Latin American countries, India, Indonesia, and some Arabic countries would be Neutral.&nbsp; Third world nations, such as sub-Saharan Africa, would be Chaotic.&nbsp; First world nations have codified, enforced laws.&nbsp; Non-lawful members of the society try to get around them, but everyone enjoys the benefits of living in a society in which people are help accountable for their actions (if caught).&nbsp; Very importantly, people are treated as impartially as possible.&nbsp; Second world nations have codified laws that are not necessarily enforced.&nbsp; Usually they are, sometimes they aren't, and who you know or how much money you have is often more important than what the law says your rights are.&nbsp; Third world nations have codified laws that are not enforced.&nbsp; The few lawful people try to get outside support to get things running smoothly, while chaotic individuals end up seizing power and fighting amongst themselves.&nbsp; &nbsp; Does this sound like a legitimate way to describe of governments of these alignments?In the example of the original poster, you each had a different conception of what &quot;Lawful&quot; meant.&nbsp; This is easy to understand, because there are lots of possible interpretations to choose from.&nbsp; The only way around it would be to establish in the beginning non-subjective definitions of Law and Chaos for your campaign.&nbsp; Probably the dwarven society would be Lawful, unless YOU define Lawful as meaning Much Central Authority, or Subscribes to Nation State.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Urbannen, post: 403380, member: 7643"] Really, the big question here is "What do Lawful and Chaotic actually mean, anyway?" These concepts are very badly defined. They aren't even opposites: The opposite of Law would be Crime, the opposite of Chaos would be Order. And since you can have Organized (i.e. Orderly) Crime, where does that leave you? But I guess that's another thread. Currently in the world, First World nations would be Lawful. Second world nations, such as the Latin American countries, India, Indonesia, and some Arabic countries would be Neutral. Third world nations, such as sub-Saharan Africa, would be Chaotic. First world nations have codified, enforced laws. Non-lawful members of the society try to get around them, but everyone enjoys the benefits of living in a society in which people are help accountable for their actions (if caught). Very importantly, people are treated as impartially as possible. Second world nations have codified laws that are not necessarily enforced. Usually they are, sometimes they aren't, and who you know or how much money you have is often more important than what the law says your rights are. Third world nations have codified laws that are not enforced. The few lawful people try to get outside support to get things running smoothly, while chaotic individuals end up seizing power and fighting amongst themselves. Does this sound like a legitimate way to describe of governments of these alignments? In the example of the original poster, you each had a different conception of what "Lawful" meant. This is easy to understand, because there are lots of possible interpretations to choose from. The only way around it would be to establish in the beginning non-subjective definitions of Law and Chaos for your campaign. Probably the dwarven society would be Lawful, unless YOU define Lawful as meaning Much Central Authority, or Subscribes to Nation State. [/QUOTE]

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