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Old 04-08-2008, 04:28 PM   #1
combatmedic
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Default Yrth technology

The pump action crossbow thread has started me thinking about Yrth's technology. We know about Yrth's finger printing, germ/demonet Theory of Disease, etc. What other 'benign' things slipped through, or have been invented by clever Yrthians?
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Old 04-08-2008, 05:48 PM   #2
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I've had a few ideas about that. For one, I think eyeglasses, or at least spectacles, would be highly popular amongst scholars, including wizards. Sure, some truly luddite diehards might favor broaches enchanted with Keen Vision, but I think most elderly wizards would be content with spectacles to help correct their fading vision.

Basically, I think the key here is subtlety: any technological innovation which can fly "under the radar" and not greatly transform society could fit in.
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:06 PM   #3
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Spectacles? Sure, why not?
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:09 PM   #4
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Default Re: Yrth technology

Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k
Basically, I think the key here is subtlety: any technological innovation which can fly "under the radar" and not greatly transform society could fit in.
Huh. Wonder if this same conspiracy also accounts for why magic hasn't totally transformed society, when logically it should have done so?
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:29 PM   #5
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It has transformed society to some extent. Magic is accepted and even honored by many Christian and Muslim religious authorities, for starters. That's a pretty big divergence from history.
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:38 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by combatmedic
It has transformed society to some extent. Magic is accepted and even honored by many Christian and Muslim religious authorities, for starters. That's a pretty big divergence from history.
I think he means stuff like how "Create Earth" hasn't been used to dominate the metal ore market...
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:41 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k
I think he means stuff like how "Create Earth" hasn't been used to dominate the metal ore market...
Or 'Shape Stone' completely dominate the construction market. Or the fact that classical-style knights exist for no apparent reason.
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:45 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k
I think he means stuff like how "Create Earth" hasn't been used to dominate the metal ore market...
Maybe it's just that the miners guild has a strong marketing angle "Producing magically created metals increases accidental demon summoning incidents. Don't support activity that might get your childrens souls sucked by evil otherworldy entities - buy real mined metal "
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Old 04-08-2008, 07:25 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by combatmedic
The pump action crossbow thread has started me thinking about Yrth's technology. We know about Yrth's finger printing, germ/demonet Theory of Disease, etc. What other 'benign' things slipped through, or have been invented by clever Yrthians?
Yrth is intended to do classical "fantasy", which to a large extent means it is late TL4 but without gunpowder or the early edges of industrialization. Though sometimes it has their *effects* anyway. It should have all sorts of TL3 "anachronisms" ranging from articulated plate armor, to window glass, to cheap, brightly colored textiles.

That last by the way is an example of one the problem of thinking to hard about this. The target is essentially a visual and storytelling style, and trying to justify logically what is and is not present, is largely an exercise in futility. You have cheap polychrome textiles because fantasy nobles have lots of fancy clothing, and clean neat dress of even the goat girls in fairy tales needs cheap cloth too. But you will never, ever see the improved spinning technology this implies, nor the chemical industry that generates the affordable soap or the color fast dyes across the entire spectrum.

This sort of thing is true all around - fantasy cities are huge (though Banestorm did scale them back some) because fantasy cities always are, never mind where the food comes from. Every plot significant noble will have a castle, don't ask who built them, or why. Tobacco and coffee and whiskey are all over the place, regardless of their probable absence from the times and places of origin of Yrth's cultures. Pagan religions appear likewise because they are cool and in genre, as do ninjas, and samauri, and any number of other anachronistic details of religious practice and heraldry and.... I really, really wish that it could have just been admitted and the effort to fake up "reasons" abandoned.
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Old 04-09-2008, 06:20 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd
Yrth is intended to do classical "fantasy", which to a large extent means it is late TL4 but without gunpowder or the early edges of industrialization. Though sometimes it has their *effects* anyway. It should have all sorts of TL3 "anachronisms" ranging from articulated plate armor, to window glass, to cheap, brightly colored textiles.
But this can certainly be explained by magic. What I don't understand is why things like street lamps aren't handled by magic. Refrigerators replaced with boxes with the Preserve Food spell, bathrooms featuring magic toilets, etc. I know in some of the Forgotten Realms based video games you see the magic street lamps in large fantasy cities (I don't own any of the Forgotten Realms D&D books, so I don't know how accurately the setting is being represented).

Quote:
That last by the way is an example of one the problem of thinking to hard about this. The target is essentially a visual and storytelling style, and trying to justify logically what is and is not present, is largely an exercise in futility. You have cheap polychrome textiles because fantasy nobles have lots of fancy clothing, and clean neat dress of even the goat girls in fairy tales needs cheap cloth too. But you will never, ever see the improved spinning technology this implies, nor the chemical industry that generates the affordable soap or the color fast dyes across the entire spectrum.
Heh, it could be brownies making the inexpensive shoes and textiles with some form of magic. Mages helping out with coloring of fabrics. I'd think the vast majority of mages would be equivalent of craftsman and such.

Quote:
This sort of thing is true all around - fantasy cities are huge (though Banestorm did scale them back some) because fantasy cities always are, never mind where the food comes from. Every plot significant noble will have a castle, don't ask who built them, or why. Tobacco and coffee and whiskey are all over the place, regardless of their probable absence from the times and places of origin of Yrth's cultures. Pagan religions appear likewise because they are cool and in genre, as do ninjas, and samauri, and any number of other anachronistic details of religious practice and heraldry and.... I really, really wish that it could have just been admitted and the effort to fake up "reasons" abandoned.
I've always seen the statements about the effects of magic taking the place of mining of ore. I just think it wouldn't be an either or situation. Princes and Kings would tend to employ the mages who do this sort of thing. They'd use them to build their huge castles and important parts of the large city core. The food is easily explained with spells like Bless and agricultural spells improving the yield on food. Preserve Food helps keep food from going bad.

I'd think technology wouldn't progress much if there is sufficient magic to handle desires of the populace. "Necessity is the mother of invention", so if magic handles the things technology would normally handle how much innovation do you get. If the best and brightest minds are all mages wouldn't technological innovation be stiffled.
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