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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elderbrain" data-source="post: 6737040"><p>Not to derail the current conversation, but I did want to mention one peculiarity of the "Lawful" alignment that sometimes throws people for a loop. If you recall, Thieves in previous editions (i.e. 2nd) could be Lawful Neutral or Lawful Evil. This no doubt left some people scratching their heads, thinking, "Hey! Thieves steal stuff, which is illegal. How can they qualify for a "Lawful" alignment?!?" The answer is that being "Lawful" doesn't mean a character obeys every law, rule, or regulation there is - that would be impossible, since some laws flatly contradict others (i.e the laws of the Lawful Good kindom forbid its subjects to worship Evil deities, whereas the laws of the Lawful Evil kingdom require it! If a Paladin from the first kingdom has to visit the second for some reason, is he going to obey their laws and start worshiping Evil deities? Hell, no! He's going to continue to abide by the rules of his original kingdom and faith.) Likewise, a "Lawful Neutral" or "Lawful Evil" member of the local thieves' guild is "Lawful" because he follows the rules of the organization of which he is a member - the thieves' guild - notwithstanding that said rules violate the laws of the land. "Lawful" characters don't (and can't) obey all rules everywhere; instead, "Lawful" simply means that the character obeys the rules of whatever society or subsection of society they are a member of. Generally speaking, if the character is a member of a hierarchal group with rules and regulations, and obeys said rules, then for game purposes he or she is considered "Lawful". (Demons are not "Lawful" because they have no respect for rules and laws, and obey stronger demons only out of fear of punishment, not a desire to support a organization. The only rule they follow is that the strong lord it over the weak. It's every demon for him or herself. Devils, on the other hand, voluntarily work together for the benefit of the devilish society as a whole. Yes, they each want to be the top dog, and will backstab and betray each other in order to rise, but no devil seeks to eliminate the hierarchy itself or make drastic changes to devil society. If Dispater somehow overthrew Asmodeus as leader of the Nine Hells, the change in leadership would not alter the basic working of the group... other than the deaths of Asmodeus' supporters, few devils would experience a change in their daily lives and routines.)</p></blockquote><p></p>

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