D&D General The Transition of a D&D World into the Industrial Era

[Eltab]

"What spells or magical abilities, be specific, would affect an IR and/or a Revolution?"

When he thought they had been busted, Major Andre (Benedict Arnold's contact with the British Army) could have used an application of Pass Without Trace, instead of the civilian "farmer clothes" he actually wore.

 

[Eltab]

Message is more like walkie-talkie (due to limited range) than like a telegraph. Sending is more like a telegraph or a cell phone.

 

[Bohandas]

I should clarify, I meant steam and coal-based combustion engines which drive pistons using water tanks, and other such rudimentary engines, not the classical internal combustion engine.

Thank you for your input!

Coal may not be strictly necessary in a magical setting. If a firm has the capital for a Decanter of Endless Water they can set up a water based mill anywhere.

In particular, if they had a cliff face to use as a foundation they could run a massive number of waterwheels off of one decanter

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

About metagame effect the firearms could cause the end of melee fighters, and players creating their own homebred magic tricks to help spellcasters against gunslingers.

About lore nations could start genocide against evil races as gnolls. (and I wouldn't blame it when these are too evil beyond redemtion or reinsertion). Some races to survive would accept lycantropy curses to be bulletproof, for example werehyenas gnolls, gobling wererats, orc wereboards or drow werespiders. Or infernal cults could be gun-runners selling firearms to evil tribes to cause troubles in a neighbour country.

Other matter some factions wouldn't like the firearms because these are a menace against their own power: undead lords, faes, dragons, giants. Even the own gods could order some limits to avoid pollution...or climate change.

Have you thought about games where PCs are "jungle heroes", tribemen or living in Hirborian civilitation and they have to face invaders with unkwnown technology? Let's imagine the D&D version of "War of the Worlds".

Usually magic is more expensive than technology.

What if anybody want in their setting alchemy to create modern materials as graphene or artificial spidersilk?

 

[Bohandas]

Cryptography is essentially useless, so alternatives would have to be devised

It might be achievable by writing in abstruse idioms that nonetheless fall short of being an actual code, like the aliens in the Star Trek episode "Darmok"

 

[Fenris-77]

You could always rule that magic like comp lang or whatnot can't crack polyalphaberic cyphers, but that seems odd to me. Using magic as is I'd probably just come up with alternatives, mostly steganographic since theres already good options for that in the spell list.. Alternatively, a new magic based around cryptography would also be very cool.

 

[Coroc]

A new topic:

"What spells or magical abilities, be specific, would affect an IR and/or a Revolution?"

Dunno if i get you right there, but here is the thing: if there were IRL people with supernatural capabilities like a D&D mage or cleric guess what would happen?
If they are smart they would try to let nobody know.
Depending on culture, people would eventually look at them as saints or demons.
Depending on government, they would try to get hold of them as quick as possible to assess any threat or utilness of them, that might be commode if they are willing to corporate or less comode like e.g. inquisition.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

You could always rule that magic like comp lang or whatnot can't crack polyalphaberic cyphers, but that seems odd to me. Using magic as is I'd probably just come up with alternatives, mostly steganographic since theres already good options for that in the spell list.. Alternatively, a new magic based around cryptography would also be very cool.

Why on earth would comprehend language let you automatically crack a cypher?

All it would do is give you the words in a language you understand. It wouldn’t rearrange them. The spell doesn’t help you understand gibberish, or make sense of some weirdo’s idiosyncratic diction. It just makes you temporarily fluent in all languages.(obv one way fluency)

 

[Fenris-77]

The text of the spell says understand any language you see. That could easily cover whatever cipher you want. Or not, but it's not obviously not the case.

 

[Anoth]

Call of Cthulhu gaslight. Tweak the magic system by using spells from runequest or stormbringer if
It helps. Those systems are very compatible.