D&D General Technology in D&D, the IRL Timeline, and Pausing It.

[MGibster]

Wasn't it used for lubrication until pretty recently? (Until outlawed).

I mean, yeah. To a historian, the whole industrial revolution was pretty recent.

 

[Cadence]

I mean, yeah. To a historian, the whole industrial revolution was pretty recent.

Only outlawed in 1972 as a lubricant.

Transmission Problems in Cars Linked to Ban on Whale Killing (Published 1975)

5,500 GM cars owners have had transmission problems because of difficulties resulting from law banning killing of some whales; GM has used whale oil in its automatic transmission fluid, but sperm whale was put on endangered species list in '71, forcing co to change its transmission oil; whale...

www.nytimes.com

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I heard that gunpowder was invented in China by alchemists trying to obtain eternal life. There's no point doing that sort of alchemy if you have magic that can extend your lifespan (or even become a lich).

 

[Ixal]

The step pyramids of Saqqara were built around 2630 BCE, probably on a Tuesday, and the first use of a firearm to around 1364. And in the 14th century we're talking crude and rudimentary firearms predating the matchlock. I know we're not talking about one contiguous civilization here, but there's about 4,000 years of history after the first pyramids were constructed that humans were still using bows, spears, and swords. It's absolutely believable that firearms might not be developed for even longer. But the real reason why I don't want firearms in my fantasy games is because it takes away from the fantasy aspect.


Yes. The industrial revolution was not a good time to be a whale.

The bows and spears used by ancient egyptians looked very different from the ones used by imperial rome which in turn were very different from the ones used in medieval europe.
Even though people kept using bows, sword and spear the technology continously developed as the knowledge of metallurgy advanced.

And with the constant threat of monster in D&D worlds there would also be constant pressure to innovate.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Re: magic as a deterrent to technology: it's worth noting that if magic supplies a good solution only available to the rich... that's enough to prevent any real push for the technology. If rich people have magical ways to keep the kitchen form getting too smoky, there's no need for stoves for the common folk. They can live with the soot.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I heard that gunpowder was invented in China by alchemists trying to obtain eternal life. There's no point doing that sort of alchemy if you have magic that can extend your lifespan (or even become a lich).

In a DnD setting, drinking potions made from mercury/cinnabar to become immortal would actually work. (And make you crazy)

 

[CrashFiend82]

Just adding to a few of the earlier posts it would be near impossible to accurately model how culture would change by magic. Not to derail but a few points from anthropological studies. First, humans are very resistant to change, often unwilling unless forced through warfare or becoming dominated by a foreign or outside power. Also our "modern" perspective creates bias, most people assume agriculture was a great advancement to gathering-hunting societies but evidence suggests health and life expectancy declined significantly when we became more sedentary, as gathering in closer communities increases disease and death. Also once you settle an area and put in effort to grow food you need to protect the land from "others" leading to conflict, which against popular belief most societies avoided at all cost since even successful conflict leads to death, often of those you love. As pointed out above access to "clean" water has led to a number of conflicts since humans need water along with the animals we eat. If we had access even to low level magic like Create Water let alone high level magic that increases food production and mobile access to food it would not be impossible to believe that small nomadic tribes would exist for far more extended periods. Add to this monsters which are easier to avoid if you can simply move away from them instead of defending the land from attack. Not to mention how even low-level healing would dramatically alter human invention and cultural change, since people would likely live longer if not healthier and conflict would probably be more prolonged and likely even more avoided.

 

[prabe]

In a DnD setting, drinking potions made from mercury/cinnabar to become immortal would actually work. (And make you crazy)

You just believe you're immortal?

 

[tetrasodium]

Re: magic as a deterrent to technology: it's worth noting that if magic supplies a good solution only available to the rich... that's enough to prevent any real push for the technology. If rich people have magical ways to keep the kitchen form getting too smoky, there's no need for stoves for the common folk. They can live with the soot.

It goes both ways though. With the message spell you have a standin for the telegram centuries or millennia sooner & from there it's almost a guarantee that something akin to wire transfers & what we consider our modern banking system would be in place before the roman empire gets rolling.

 

[jmartkdr2]

It goes both ways though. With the message spell you have a standin for the telegram centuries or millennia sooner & from there it's almost a guarantee that something akin to wire transfers & what we consider our modern banking system would be in place before the roman empire gets rolling.

Yes, these options would exist - but because magic (as presented) doesn't really benefit from economies of scale, it would only be available to the very wealthy.

Which is pretty much how medieval banking worked anyways.