And so the player has the character collect saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal and put them together in the right amounts... or start collecting food molds to find penicillium... or start purifying acetone and bleach... or start cultivating Clostridium botulinum... or experimenting with different shaped wings and the air flow speed over and above the wings in just the right ways... or experiment with magnets and wires and spinning in just the right way... etc...
Sure. And like any other task a character undertakes, the DM determines if the outcome is uncertain (or not) and if there's a meaningful consequence for failure (or not) and narrates the result of the adventurer's actions. The character might well be wrong about what those tasks will achieve in the world of swords and sorcery in which the character lives. Or the character might be right. It's up to the DM.
Presumably at least some parts of physics, chemistry, and biology still work the same. But skip that, does basic mathematics no longer work in your world or can the character decides to invent trigonometry and differential and integral calculus by deciding to write down the formulas that are actually correct? What roll is there even there for them to make?
Even simpler, maybe they just invent slide rules, printing presses with movable type, door knobs, bicycles, and efficient interior plumbing. Presumably putting ink on blocks, sticking a piece of metal in another, gears, and water pressure still function. Is there even anything requiring a roll on the players part if they have the entire idea correct and the thing the craftsmen would need to contribute are an easy DC. I guess the typewriter might require a more skilled craftsmen for the manufacturing part. Where this goes is played out in books 10 and on in Cook's Garrett PI books iirc.
It feels like there's a line somewhere, and at some point the player is obviously just being an <expletive> with no interest in actually playing the game as a character from that world - and I find it bizarre to expect the DM and other players to just have to go along with it. As always, YMMV.
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