Tech Level for a Fantasy Setting

[TheOneTrueClockWorK]

Actually, you may very well likely want some of the society changes.

Absolute monarchies and anything resembling the modern concept of the state are largely absent in historical TL3, but are a staple of fantasy worlds. Across most of Europe during the medieval period, the king functioned as something like the chairman of the nobility, and land that was nominally in one "country" would often be held by the king of another. When a king held two different lands with different inheritance traditions, wars could start over who was the proper king of what. To say nothing of the patchwork of little semi-independent German duchies and archbishoprics that pretended to be Holy, Roman, and an Empire.

That's an interesting point, thank you for that. I suppose this all makes it pretty clear how it should be defined haha.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

It's not that simple. The official starting point of TL4 is 1450. People stopped building castles, as such, toward the end of the 1500s. And only because the threat became armies with increasingly heavy gunpowder artillery. Castles would be perfectly practical defenses against, say, zombie legions, or giant monsters,

For the matter of that there are historical occasions of castles putting up a good fight as late as World War II. Those would be where the artillery hadn't caught up with the forward elements of course.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

It's not that simple. The official starting point of TL4 is 1450. People stopped building castles, as such, toward the end of the 1500s. And only because the threat became armies with increasingly heavy gunpowder artillery. Castles would be perfectly practical defenses against, say, zombie legions, or giant monsters,

And it's not like fortresses went away, or stopped being built. The designs changed to better resist and utilize artillery, so they didn't look like what we think of as a castle anymore past a certain point...

The social changes also made it much less likely over time that a new fortress would be built as the seat of a land-holding lord, which often was the role of earlier castles.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Actually, you may very well likely want some of the society changes.

Absolute monarchies and anything resembling the modern concept of the state are largely absent in historical TL3, but are a staple of fantasy worlds. Across most of Europe during the medieval period, the king functioned as something like the chairman of the nobility, and land that was nominally in one "country" would often be held by the king of another. When a king held two different lands with different inheritance traditions, wars could start over who was the proper king of what. To say nothing of the patchwork of little semi-independent German duchies and archbishoprics that pretended to be Holy, Roman, and an Empire.

It was worse then that as not only the nobility but the whole system was a labyrinth of liberties and exemptions and privileges and peculiar duties and what not. A Medieval kingdom was more like a maze of contracts then a constitution.

Perhaps "worse" isn't the right word as those who are clever enough to leverage the system can thrive and that does not just include the bigger folk though they will of course thrive better(despite the common threat of assassination and fratricide). A neutral word like "more convoluted" is better.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Actually, you may very well likely want some of the society changes.

Absolute monarchies and anything resembling the modern concept of the state are largely absent in historical TL3, but are a staple of fantasy worlds. Across most of Europe during the medieval period, the king functioned as something like the chairman of the nobility, and land that was nominally in one "country" would often be held by the king of another. When a king held two different lands with different inheritance traditions, wars could start over who was the proper king of what. To say nothing of the patchwork of little semi-independent German duchies and archbishoprics that pretended to be Holy, Roman, and an Empire.

The patchwork of little German principalities continued all through TL 4.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The patchwork of little German principalities continued all through TL 4.

Right through to 1871.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The patchwork of little German principalities continued all through TL 4.

True, but if not for the Thirty Years War, Germany might have unified into one or a few centralized states in the 17th century like the rest of Europe.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by RyanW

True, but if not for the Thirty Years War, Germany might have unified into one or a few centralized states in the 17th century like the rest of Europe.

It would take the rise of an unusually skillful prince from within Germany. It was so conveniently placed by geography to be the battleground of the Great Powers, especially Austria and France that it would be hard to escape from that conundrum.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

It's not that simple. The official starting point of TL4 is 1450. People stopped building castles, as such, toward the end of the 1500s. And only because the threat became armies with increasingly heavy gunpowder artillery. Castles would be perfectly practical defenses against, say, zombie legions, or giant monsters,

I suppose a lot would depend on what magic is in use, though. Castles may be as vulnerable to a good Earth to Air spell as they ever were to heavy gunpowder artillery.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Anders

I suppose a lot would depend on what magic is in use, though. Castles may be as vulnerable to a good Earth to Air spell as they ever were to heavy gunpowder artillery.

Also, anyone using Flying Carpet, flying brooms, or any kind of aerial cavalry (pegasi, hippogriffs, dragons, etc) would have an easier time getting above a castle's outer battlements than a purely ground-based force.