They should really fix that in Cabaret Chicks on Ice!

[Jovus]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Phosphorus bronze is a real thing (copper, some tin, and a tiny quantity of phosphorus), but IIRC it was invented in the late 19th century. Since phosphorus itself wasn't isolated until the very end of TL4, I think the idea is safely out of scope.

If you're stretching things, but want a thin story for the sake of first-glance plausibility, you can point out how they did historically quench things in urine, which has phosphorous in it (along with a bunch of other things, but we can ignore them).

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Jovus

If you're stretching things, but want a thin story for the sake of first-glance plausibility, you can point out how they did historically quench things in urine, which has phosphorous in it (along with a bunch of other things, but we can ignore them).

No. Just no. The TL of a device is the TL at which the device was first brought into common use.

We do have a few passages that talk about TL(N+1) devices, but they're devices where somebody was at least experimenting with the idea at TLN.

Bill Stoddard

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by OldSam

Recently in a Roma Arcana Game we had a (funny) situation in which one of the players wanted to throw a big hammer...
I searched the Basic and the forums but didn't find an exact answer which skill/penalty is needed for throwing hammers? Maybe it fits to the "Thrown Weapons: Mace"-Skill...?

If this is something that isn't covered anywhere yet, maybe it could be worth a few sentences in Low Tech? ;-)
(at least Hammer Throwing is a classical 'low-tech' Olympic-Discipline :p)

Throwing hammers uses the Axe/Mace skill. Hammers which aren't specifically balanced to to be thrown will be suffer an extra -4 penalty. See Martial Arts.

[Ulzgoroth]

It is said that Basic Set bows have accuracy set for heroic fantasy. Will realistic numbers be available?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

It is said that Basic Set bows have accuracy set for heroic fantasy. Will realistic numbers be available?

I would dearly like them to be, but that depends on The Powers That Be.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I don't know specifically what this phosphor treatment is, but I suspect that the game effect would be that it's possible to make Fine and Very Fine bronze things. Which wouldn't bother me at all.

Fine and VF bronze weapons yes, and if there are rules for giving Very Fine armour improved DR if made of advanced steel, then phosphor-treated bronze armour should also be able to have improved DR.

But how difficult is it to first of all make this kind of bronze, and secondly to work it into weapons or armor?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

But how difficult is it to first of all make this kind of bronze, and secondly to work it into weapons or armor?

As noted above, historically it was solidly TL5 technology and therefore outside the scope of Low-Tech.

[Peter Knutsen]

One more thing:

Buildings.

I'd very much like to know how many man-hours it takes to produce the materials to make a 16x8 feet log hut, and secondly how many man-hours it takes to build said log hut, and likewise with a 30 foot diameter stone tower 60 feet fall, and something like two dozen other typical examples. Preferably with the man-hours divided into unskilled labour (ST 12), semi-skilled labour (skill 9) and skilled labour (skill 12).

I know GURPS Architecture is available online, but it's rather a lot of work, and I also don't recall that it deals with materials procurement, as in quarrying out the stone blocks, or cutting down the required number of trees and de-branching them.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Icelander

As noted above, historically it was solidly TL5 technology and therefore outside the scope of Low-Tech.

I don't personally need it. Phosphor-treated bronze was one of the things I got rid of, when I transferred my Ärth setting from Quest FRP v2.1 to Sagatafl.

One could argue, though, that phosphor-treated bronze pertains to the fantasy genre, because spellcasters might want it in settings where ferrous armour interferes with spellcasting[1], and Low-Tech is more directly relevant to the fantasy genre than High-Tech is, and anyway High-Tech didn't include it. Then again, everything else I've suggested in this thread is directly useful not only to myself but also to a lot of other GMs and players interested in realistic low-tech settings, while phosphor-treated bronze is quite obscure, and relies upon the setting's laws of metaphysics to make it useful.

[1] Is there a Limitation to Magery to reflect this, in GURPS Thaumatology? Wouldn't surprise me greatly if there is.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Fine and VF bronze weapons yes, and if there are rules for giving Very Fine armour improved DR if made of advanced steel, then phosphor-treated bronze armour should also be able to have improved DR.

But how difficult is it to first of all make this kind of bronze, and secondly to work it into weapons or armor?

Phophor bronzes have been used for a long time but the only alloy that would produce superior weapons and armour is the one developed by Olin (TL7 or TL8). Before that time phosphorus was used largely to make bronze easier to cast and to make very hard bronzes that did not have to be worked - it isn't suitable for armour or blades.