Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnLynch" data-source="post: 6759525" data-attributes="member: 6749563">Different techniques for steel have been discovered and thanks to the effort of Gond have passed throughout the Realms and been taken up by a significant portion of Faerun. Historically it was blacksmiths that discovered the fact that iron could be magnetised which allowed for compasses to be invented which also passed throughout the Realms. New dyes have been invented that can allow a wider range of colours (including much brighter colours) to be used when working various types of cloth. Several cloth workers are trying to replicate silk that doesn't rely on trade with the Far East while blacksmiths are trying to rediscover the process of creating crucible steel that is said to have been known by the dwarves of Delzoun. Several churches have funded expeditions to search for ruins that could hold the secrets of crucible steel.In civilisations that embrace Gond (such as Lantan) significant advancements made with the Gondar army being outfitted with firearms and Gondsmen being a common sight to see on the streets. Gondsmen were an invention that did extend beyond Lantan however the process wasn't well understood and all sorts of inventors sponsored by the Church of Gond were trying to unlock the secrets when the Spellplague caused most (if not all) of them to deactivate. Recently though, those Gondsmen have begun turning back on with rumours circulating that those temples who have been visited by Lantanna priests of Gond now know how to reliably create Gondsmen. The current debate is how to best use this knowledge in the larger framework of society (as Gondar priests do have some morals and don't simply disseminate all inventions to the wider community without thinking about at least the most obvious impacts). The printing press has also spread a bit wider. Again, created before the Spellplague it was most common in places like Tethyr and Calimshan but has since started spreading to some of the communities around the Sea of Fallen Stars.There are ethical dilemmas about Gondsmen. Printing presses are quite expensive and laborious to use so this has so far had limited up take until now. However printing presses have also been opposed by monks who see them as a threat to their traditions and governments who are concerned about mass produced works of this nature and the power such works could have. That said they have become pretty ubiquitous throughout the major cities of the Sword Coast and have started to see use in the Sea of Fallen Stars (notably the region that was once called The Vast). They have yet to be introduced successfully to Cormyr (as to why that is the case can be speculated upon by any who wish to). Firearms as a whole have (until now) been unreliable and dangerous to use. Lantan seems to have developed reliable firearms although the government doesn't seem to be rushing to sell this technology to other realms and are actively opposing the Gond priests attempts to do so (the first time in almost a century that the government and Gond have been at odds). Were Lantan to successfully use this technology in a military maneuver it is likely that, assuming the firearms were effective, many governments in the Realms would make overt attempts to secure this technology for themselves. However Lantan has not yet been involved in any major conflicts since resurfacing after the Spellplague.Ultimately the primary reason though is because people tend to like traditionally medieval settings for their fantasy games and typically play settings that are designed not to replicate the faux-medieval feel when they don't want that medieval feeling. Technology can also go years without any significant advancements. In my realms I'm clearly positioning things so that the Forgotten Realms can make that leap to an industrial civilisation. Given these are major changes to the setting though I will want them to occur on screen rather than in the background. So the players can be involved in seeing such major changes happen to the setting. Of course, there's no guarantee it will. Firearms could be suppressed. Gondsmen could be enslaved and so priests of Gond will have to ask themselves if that is why their God gave them the miracle that are Gondsmen and whether or not they want to bury that knowledge so that it can't be used to create a slave army.The church of Gond benefits from major advancements being made in technology. Current powers that be may not see such advancements to be in their best interest (people tend to be afraid of change). If it turns out my players absolutely hate the introduction of non-medieval influences into the Forgotten Realms then I've got built in ways to remove them. If the players try to spread the advancement of technology but completely screw it up, then there'll be in setting consequences as a result. You could argue that I should have the technology advance without regard to what the players do, and it will to a degree. But some great stories can be told about the introduction of certain technologies so I'm likely to want to find reasons as to why it hasn't yet and then wait until the players are in a position to explore that story before pulling the trigger. And if my players actively dislike something and it impacts their enjoyment of the setting, I'm going to look for ways to remove that aspect and enhance their enjoyment for the setting.</blockquote>

Verification