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<blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 1606948" data-attributes="member: 6271">A gun certainly works just as well for anyone who uses it. So do wings of flying. So does an everburning torch. A person able to use a gun is not necessarily a person able to create or implement an improved design. That requires specialized knowledge and skills. Likewise, a Fighter capable of using wings of flying does not know how to make them. That requires specialized knowledge and skills. If the Wizard decides to stop making everburning torches, you cannot hire just anyone off the street to replace him/her. Likewise, if a skilled munitions designer quits, you cannot expect to pull someone off the street to do that job, either. Magic, as far as Wizards go, is training-based. In the core rules, any character with sufficient Intelligence can learn the rudiments. Likewise, any person in the modern world can be educated to be able to operate and even fabricate technology. Divine magic is, indeed, a somewhat different &quot;kettle of fish&quot;. It does have more non-training related limitations. However, while an individual practicioner may &quot;fall from grace&quot;, it is fairly that doesn't stop healing potions from being the penicillin of the D&amp;D world. The social changes may begin with one person, but they become independent of that person fairly quickly. I am not saying they would be exactly the same. I am saying that the closer the parallel in the discovery, the more likely it is that the results would be same. Certainly, existing cultural situations, the order in which things are discovered, and the method of dissemination would all play a role. However, given that core D&amp;D is loosely modeled on &quot;medieval Europe&quot;, it is my contention that magic-as-technology would long-since have caused enough social changes that the core D&amp;D setting cannot plausibly still exist with magic as it is presented in the core rules. Even the 3.5 designers hint at this, when they admonish people that having peasants who do not readily recognize magic is &quot;a mistake.&quot; (DMG 3.5, Chapter 5: Campaigns, Heading: Magic In Your World)&nbsp; I happen to despise that particular part of the 3.5 DMG; I dislike being told I am making &quot;a mistake&quot; in wanting magic to be unfamiliar to the common folk.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Silveras, post: 1606948, member: 6271"] A gun certainly works just as well for anyone who uses it. So do [I]wings of flying[/I]. So does an [I]everburning torch[/I]. A person able to use a gun is not necessarily a person able to create or implement an improved design. That requires specialized knowledge and skills. Likewise, a Fighter capable of using [I]wings of flying[/I] does not know how to make them. That requires specialized knowledge and skills. If the Wizard decides to stop making [I]everburning torches[/I], you cannot hire just anyone off the street to replace him/her. Likewise, if a skilled munitions designer quits, you cannot expect to pull someone off the street to do that job, either. Magic, as far as Wizards go, is training-based. In the core rules, any character with sufficient Intelligence can learn the rudiments. Likewise, any person in the modern world can be educated to be able to operate and even fabricate technology. Divine magic is, indeed, a somewhat different "kettle of fish". It does have more non-training related limitations. However, while an individual practicioner may "fall from grace", it is fairly that doesn't stop healing potions from being the penicillin of the D&D world. The social changes may begin with one person, but they become independent of that person fairly quickly. I am not saying they would be exactly the same. I am saying that the closer the parallel in the discovery, the more likely it is that the results would be same. Certainly, existing cultural situations, the order in which things are discovered, and the method of dissemination would all play a role. However, given that core D&D is loosely modeled on "medieval Europe", it is my contention that magic-as-technology would long-since have caused enough social changes that the core D&D setting cannot plausibly still exist with magic as it is presented in the core rules. Even the 3.5 designers hint at this, when they admonish people that having peasants who do not readily recognize magic is "a mistake." (DMG 3.5, Chapter 5: Campaigns, Heading: Magic In Your World) I happen to despise that particular part of the 3.5 DMG; I dislike being told I am making "a mistake" in wanting magic to be unfamiliar to the common folk. [/QUOTE]

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