[Space/Thaumatology] Stargate: Fantasy - Worldbuilding thread

[ericthered]

[QUOTE=Prince Charon;2501827]

How do they make 100 guns? ('Guns' in the generic sense, presumably, so staff weapons or equivalent for most Goa'Uld.)

sources of magically potent ore are found, mined mostly by hand, melted down, and shaped by Jaffa smiths into fairly simple shapes that work as weapons.

How do they make 10,000 meals?

Peasants farming the dirt and tending stew pots. A giant enchanted crystal in the center of the field can go a long way to increasing the crop yield, but that is relatively uncommon.

How do they make their most unique technology? (What is the most unique technology for each of them, for that matter?)

They really love that magical ore.

What's the starting wealth?

$1,000 --- effective TL4, at least for the peasants. Soldiers tend to live closer to $5,000.
EDIT: effective TL3 for the peasants. which is fine.

[Varyon]

Apologies for the radio silence, this is a part of the worldbuilding I'm not terribly interested in, and thus don't have much of an opinion on it all.

Originally Posted by ericthered

$1,000 --- effective TL4, at least for the peasants. Soldiers tend to live closer to $5,000.

I'll note that $1,000 is Average for TL 3; for TL 4, $1,000 is Struggling (and I'd be inclined to have the peasants/slaves under the Goa'uld as typically being Poor). $5,000 is Wealthy for TL 3, or just a bit above Comfortable (2.5x rather than 2x, but if following SSR it matches fine) for TL 4.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by ericthered

sources of magically potent ore are found, mined mostly by hand, melted down, and shaped by Jaffa smiths into fairly simple shapes that work as weapons.

OK, I'm awake enough to feel that I need to stop procrastinating about this. The rest of the post is mostly fine, apart from the bit that Varyon pointed out, but this part bothers me a lot. It feels like there are steps missing, or that this is more 'magical smithing,' rather than 'magical engineering.' It doesn't feel like a Hard or Very Hard skill is being described.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I'll note that $1,000 is Average for TL 3; for TL 4, $1,000 is Struggling (and I'd be inclined to have the peasants/slaves under the Goa'uld as typically being Poor). $5,000 is Wealthy for TL 3, or just a bit above Comfortable (2.5x rather than 2x, but if following SSR it matches fine) for TL 4.

Noted, and edited, and thanks. $5,000 doesn't feel terrible for Jaffa: they live so much higher than the peasants, but so much lower than the Gould.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

OK, I'm awake enough to feel that I need to stop procrastinating about this. The rest of the post is mostly fine, apart from the bit that Varyon pointed out, but this part bothers me a lot. It feels like there are steps missing, or that this is more 'magical smithing,' rather than 'magical engineering.' It doesn't feel like a Hard or Very Hard skill is being described.

The part where you copy an already existing design? no, its not terribly hard. If we want to we can increase the precision or talk about how this magical ore tends to have adverse health effects on forgers or has the top milimeter of its surface explode if you don't treat it just right.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by ericthered

The part where you copy an already existing design? no, its not terribly hard. If we want to we can increase the precision or talk about how this magical ore tends to have adverse health effects on forgers or has the top milimeter of its surface explode if you don't treat it just right.

OK, from this comment, I'm thinking that the problem was 'the phrasing of that section,' rather than 'what you seem to have intended.'

[Prince Charon]

Real Life is being kind of inconvenient right now, but barring significant distractions, I should have a Question based on ericthered's post this weekend, or on Monday, and depending on what and how quick the response is, possibly another on Wednesday or late Tuesday. (I don't have access to my usual computer, but neither of the questions that I'm thinking of really require it.)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

How do they make 100 guns?

A dozen craftsmen make each individual part of the staff weapon. The assembly of each staff is completed by unskilled corvée labour. The overall process is overseen by a small number of expert engineers, who quality check components and manage production problems. A typical system lord can produce sufficient components for a hundred staff weapons every eight workdays. One day of corvée labour can usually produce about 83 staff weapons an hour.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

How do they make 10,000 meals?

All at once? Well I suppose a system lord could hire every cook in the sector and hold the grandest banquet in recent memory, but who'd do that?

[Prince Charon]

Goa'Uld Tech System Question VIIIa

Trying to integrate the existing answers, with some of my own thoughts:

Wealth Level
How do they make 100 guns? ('Guns' in the generic sense, presumably, so staff weapons or equivalent for most Goa'Uld.)

A dozen craftsmen make each individual part of the staff weapon. The assembly of each staff is often completed by semi-skilled or even unskilled corvée labour. The overall process is overseen by a small number of expert engineers, who quality check components and manage production problems. A typical system lord can produce sufficient components for a hundred staff weapons every eight workdays. One day of corvée labour can usually produce about 83 staff weapons an hour, though more practiced workers can occasionally halve this time.

How do they make 10,000 meals?

Peasants farming the dirt and tending stew pots. A giant enchanted crystal in the center of the field can go a long way to increasing the crop yield, but that is relatively uncommon. All at once? Well I suppose a system lord could hire every cook in the sector and hold the grandest banquet in recent memory, but who'd do that?

How do they make their most unique technology? (What is the most unique technology for each of them, for that matter?)

In like manner to the construction of staff weapons (they really love that magical ore), though bespoke items and such may be constructed by Goa'Uld magical engineers, or their senior priests and other important servants.

What's the starting wealth?

For most peasants, $1,000, with an effective TL3 lifestyle. For soldiers and other important Jaffa, $5,000 is the average, with comforts closer to TL4.

Is this acceptable? Please answer with YES in all caps or NO in all caps. If your answer is 'NO,' please suggest any changes you feel are needed.

*******

Answer: YES is the answer, be default.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Is this acceptable? Please answer with YES in all caps or NO in all caps. If your answer is 'NO,' please suggest any changes you feel are needed.

Its fine. Yes, this is a post pointing out that I'm abstaining here.

[Prince Charon]

General Tech System Question

OK, we've just done a series of Tech System questions on the local Goa'Uld, and I'm wondering if we should do this again for other groups (if not, we could do other things). Should we, and of so, what group should we focus on next?

Please answer with YES in all caps or NO in all caps. If your answer is 'YES,' which group should we run this series on next? If your answer is 'NO,' please suggest something else to have questions on.

*******

Answer: NO wins, two votes to zero.