D&D Technology

[Dannyalcatraz]

The 2 inventions that surprised me the most (in terms of their early origins) were the battery and concrete.

I've seen a few ancient batteries (some of which dated back to the years when Egypt ruled the world) that some theorize were either used for "magic" or electroplating base metals with precious metals.

And until I actually went to Rome the first time, I didn't realize that the Romans (and possibly some of their predecessors) had concrete as a building material. Its used in their aqueducts (and other plumbing) and for reinforcing certain sections of the Catacombs.

As for the sliding doors-I remember first seeing that one in a book of "ancient magic" tricks. Alas, I don't own that one anymore, but I recall another one was a long metal half-cylinder that was submerged in a large pool. Underneath it, a small squad of soldiers awaited the signal to emerge from the water- their air refreshed by a tube and bellows. (AFAIK, it was only used for parties, not militarily.)

 

[Andor]

Perhaps not decimal points specifically, but fractions were certainly in use... You can still say that one tenth of a gold crown is equal to a silver penny without saying that 0.1 gp == 1.0 sp.

Yes but if your math is fraction based tenths are an annoying way of divinding things because 10 is only evenly divisable by 2 and 5, 12 on the other hand is divisible by 2,3,4 and 6. That's why a dozen and a gross are common units of measure. Doubloons were called pieces of 8 because they were commonly cut up into 8 pieces. Convience of working in fractions is why there were 20 pennys to a shilling and 12 shillings to a pound. So 240 cp per gp instead of neatly decimal 100 to 1.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Well the Chinese had an earthquake detector (dunno how accurate) among other things like the compass, gunpowder and noodles.

Concerning the Egyptian batteries, there is / was a theory that the Ark of the Covenant was actually a weapon that used electricity. I read it in one of those 'conspiracy magazines' but could've sworn it was a special on the Learning Channel, the Discovery Channel or the History Channel. Unfortunately its boxed up in some gov't warehouse so we'll never know tho top men are working on it. TOP men.

 

[Rogue765]

Now that I think of it ... it is not technology that gets my goat ... it's fashion.

Medieval bras ... BURN THOSE ABOMINATIONS!
The "Anti-bra" ... common on a number of minis. Can't suspend disbelief! They can't work!
The bicini ... a 20th century fashion statement ...
The chain mail bicini ... Fredricks of Hollywood perhaps, but not on any real adventurer.

Actually, both Roman mosaics from 300 AD and Minoan wall paintings from 1600 BC depict women wearing what are obviously bikinis.

Of course the chainmail bikini is another matter.

 

[sjmiller]

The decimal point was never used in the middle ages. It is an invention completely seperate from arabic numerals.

I believe most people here will agree that AD 1202 is during the middle ages. In that year Leonardo Fibonacci wrote Liger abaci which introduced Arabic numbers, and the decimal point, to Europe. This book spread throughout the scientific and investigative sectors of society. Within a very short time the information used in this book was being used and discussed throughout Europe. So, to say that the decimal point was never used in the Middle Ages is not correct.

Plus, being that the Middle Ages is a time period and not a location, this is even more inaccurate. During that time the decimal point was used throughout the Arabic areas of the world. Since they actually got it from the Chinese, who had been using it for centuries and who got it from the Hindus, the decimal point was used in a great many areas of the world during that time. Just because it was not used in some parts of Europe does not mean it was never used.

 

[Hussar]

Some things became mere novelties, but never got beyond that stage because there was no practical reason given other constraints. Wheels, for example can be found on Mayan pull toys, but since it was easier to run through the exceptionally hilly landscape, carts were not developed. Steam power is anothe example. It wasn't until someone did the math by observing how much heat water could absorb in the process of drilling canons that a major effort was made to really harness steam power. Until the 19th century most steam engines barely did the work of a horse or two.

Interesting point about the Mayans - the lack of horses probably did more to nix the development of carts than anything. When your strongest pulling animal is a llama, there's not much point in making stage coaches.

The Chinese also developed flying toys as well. The "Dark Ages" was nowhere near as dark as commonly held. I remember reading an article which discussed manpower before and after the dark ages. By the fall of the Roman empire, about 90% of work was done by hand. Afterwards, about 30% was. The horse collar makes a big difference.

Really, while I can understand the point about not liking the lack of political change, there isn't a huge differnce in politics until the Rennaissance. Feudal systems was pretty much it before that. (Yes, yes, a gross oversimplification, I KNOW. Sit down in the back. ) So, it's not all that out of line to think that you could have 5 or 10 thousand years of little political change. Heck, look at the Chinese.

 

[glass]

What is an anti-bra? Where hve you seen bras in DnD?

I was wondering those very things.


glass.

 

[glass]

FEAR THE ANTI-COW!!!!!!

I for one welcome our new anti-cow overlords!

EDIT: Sorry, I seem to have been on a bit of an 'overlords spree' recently.


glass.

 

[Umbran]

Plus, being that the Middle Ages is a time period and not a location, this is even more inaccurate.

Not really. When referring to the same temporal period in other areas of the world, one generally uses a different name. One almost never refers to "Middle Ages China", for example. Instead, one usually refers to the specific dynastic period. For the Americas, the ages are typically named by the dominant culture of the period (Mayan, Aztec, and so on), and you don't say "Middle Ages Meso-America". Generally speaking, if you say "Dark Ages", "Middle Ages" or "Medieval", it is usually safe to assume that Europe is the focus of discussion.

The same goes for "Stone Age", "Bronze Age" and so on. Iron Age Europe, for example, is not the same temporal period as Iron Age Arabia or Iron Age China. Different places got the technology at different times.

 

[Umbran]

True, but look at the geopolitical upheaval during those same two millenia.

Quite true, but the so far the thread was talking about technological change.

I think one usually finds that looking for an extended period of human history that has no major geopolitical change is pretty futile. Humans may not learn much for a while, but that doesn't mean they sit completely static.

On the other hand, in some senses the geopolitical changes are often pretty meaningless, in terms of life for most individuals. The farmers keep farming, wars keep happening, no matter who is king or godpriest, or what have you.

Unfortunately when elves live 1000 years you can't make an event from seven centuries ago be truly lost, so suddenly the event took place 4000 years ago instead.

Well, there's always the trick of the elves not beign in the place at the time. I mean, yes, if you've a world-spanning elvish empire at the time, things are tough. But they only remember what they heard about in the first place, right?

Now, the real question is did they have buttons in the setting four thousand years ago?

The real question is if they had buttonholes back then.