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[The Vorpal Tribble]

Gone elsewhere

[Xefas]

A lawful good character should seek justice, not the fullfilment of a law for the mere purpose of it. In my games, if a paladin's code must make them follow blindly, especially if the outcome is worse than straying from it, they are fully within their rights to seek the path of justice, not law.

A lawful evil characters cares little for justice, but by law and order manipulates things to the way he wishes. He stands strictly by them, for it is the base upon which he builds his power.

A lawful neutral could go either way, but tends to follow the law simply because it is. There is no mercy, nor emotion to it. It is the law, so it must be upheld.

I like to think "Orderly Behavior" rather than "Following the Law" for Lawful characters, though in many situations "Following the Law" *is* "Orderly Behavior".

For instance,

A Lawful Neutral person might not stab you from behind when you aren't looking. Not because that's against the law, but because its unsportsmanlike. Not because he has any problem with being unsportsmanlike, but because if he starts doing it to other people, other people are going to start doing it to him. If no one stabs each other in the back, there's a social convention "If you stab somebody in the back, you're a prick and deserve it yourself". The Lawful Neutral person follows the social convention, both because it protects him, and also because he might be able to use it as a weapon later. "Who cares if that adventuring Rogue detects as Good? He stabbed me in the back, he's a prick, lets lynch him."