Law level

Law Level (Government) Synopsis

Law Level is an indication of the relative oppressiveness of the world or whom the law serves more: the inhabitants (...and visitors) or the government and politcians of a planet (...or polity).

The more centralized a government (polity) is, the more likely the laws codes are to be more oppressive.

Law Level (Description) UWP Data

The (Law Level) code of the UWP is categorized on the (UWP Law Level Code Table) to show prohibitions against weapons. It also influences the difficulty to avoid being harassed or arrested by local authorities.

The Law Level is only a guideline on local restrictions on possession and use of weapons by individuals. Police, Security and Military forces are usually not bound by these law levels, although they may be influcenced by them.

Law Level (Description) UWP Code Table

UWP Law Level Codes

Code	Description	Prohibited Weapons/Controls (including those of earlier codes)
0	No Law	No Prohibitions (Nuclear Weapons)
1	Low Law	Body Pistols, Explosives, poision gas
2	Low Law	Portable Energy Weapons
3	Low Law	Machine Guns, Automatic Weapons
4	Moderate Law	Light Assault Weapons
5	Moderate Law	Personal Concealable Firearms
6	Moderate Law	All firearms except Shotguns
7	Moderate Law	Shotguns
8	High Law	Blade Weapons Controlled
9	High Law	No weapons outside home
A	Extreme Law	Weapon possession
B	Extreme Law	Rigid control of civilian movement
C	Extreme law	Unrestricted invasion of privacy
D	Extreme law	Paramilitary law enforcement
E	Extreme law	Full-fledged police state
F	Extreme law	All facets of daily life rigidly controlled
G	Extreme law	Severe punishment for petty infractions
H	Extreme law	Legalized oppressive practices
J	Extreme law	Routinely oppressive and restrictive
K	Extreme law	Excessively oppressive and restrictive
L	Extreme law	Totally oppressive and restrictive

Law Level (Government) History & Background (Dossier)

Law is an important component of developing civilizations and helps society to control or direct population behavior and focus on groups goals. Almost all technological and sophontic civilizations develop the concept law within TL-1 through TL-3.

Law is also a very handy tool for autocrats or dictators to establish and control power. Most societies have extensive experience with dictatorships (oppressive rule) and carefully monitor their laws in an effort to minimize or prevent inefficient governance.

Law Level (Government) References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• MegaTraveller Referee's Manual