This week, I’ve had to block over 35 spam comments on my blog posts. I’ve also had several phishing attacks on my e-mail, had a fake Netflix takedown e-mail, and apparently there was an issue with my Bank of America account, despite the fact that I don’t have one. Some of these are crimes. Some facilitate crimes. But, they weren’t always crimes.

This experience got me thinking about how living in a fantasy world would change how a society defines a crime and how these may change over time. I’ve discussed this in the context of history and magic, but not as an evolving concept. Society changes, and just as we learn over the course of our lives, societies have to change as they learn what works and what doesn’t.

The first thing to remember is to have the courage to embrace the change. Just because it was legal to do before, doesn’t make it OK now. If your group was allowed to mete justice without consequence before doesn’t mean they can do so forever. Eventually, the actual authorities might decide that a bunch of strangers can’t really be the right way do quell the bandit problem long term. If your protagonist went rogue and got the bad guy, perhaps the powers that be didn’t think the string of destruction they left behind was worth it.

Second, think about how people generally react or overreact to things. We happily gave up 9 of the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights after 9/11. Imagine what people would be willing to do in the face of the undead hordes following the Lich King. There have also been rebellions against tyrannies both real and imagined. What will the populace do if the Lich King actually takes over? Once he’s overthrown, what sort of government will the people implement? If the plot reveals a conspiracy in the army, what will the ruling agency do to prevent such plots in the future?

Finally, societal norms changes over time. Slavery and marijuana were once legal. Companies buying their own stock and alcohol were once illegal. Even interpretations of existing laws change over time. Gun control laws in Tombstone, AZ were much stricter during the days of Wyatt Earp than they are now without controversy. If your plots are taking place over longer periods of time, these changing norms should affect what is considered to be legal and illegal.

Let me know what you think in the comments. See you next week!