Lawful - What ARE the laws?

[Grey Watcher]

Pretty much like the title says.

In order for one to be lawful there has to be laws to follow. But I've never yet seen the law actually spelled out within the D&D world(s).

So, what are the laws?

The short answer is: no one really knows.

To elaborate: the writing, even looking only at the official materials released by Wizards of the Coast, is wildly inconsistent and contradictory. Heck, to paraphrase something I read a long time ago, even in a single book (specifically, the 3.5 Player's Handbook) the same thing is described as being Lawful and not-Lawful in two different places. The sample Monk character is described as being intensely devoted to her martial arts forms, which is highlighted as a Lawful trait. The sample Wizard, on the other hand, is described as being intensely devoted to her arcane arts, which is highlighted as specifically non-Lawful.

So, the laws referred to by Lawful are whatever a particular player and their DM agree they are. Everything else is just varying opinions on what that agreement should look like.