Kingdom Laws

Kingdom laws represent the key decrees and institutions that make one realm different from another. All kingdoms are assumed to have some things in common: ordinary criminal laws against murder and theft, a ruler, an important social role for big landowners and aristocrats - but the specific laws will determine the balance of power. They often affect characters' influence, but can also affect income or a settlement's economic or military traits. Laws are generally divided into three categories depending on the three types of government envisioned by the ancients: monarchy, oligarchy, or democracy. Centralizing laws help the ruler keep the realm together but can result in tyranny, legalist laws allow the realm to settle disputes peacefully but can be exploited by the powerful to protect their position, and egalitarian laws increase the number of people participating in decisions but can sometimes lead to social disorder and mob rule. Laws can make an empire stronger but can also tear it apart, and a dispute over a particularly controversial decree risks escalating into civil war.