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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nyaricus" data-source="post: 3111309" data-attributes="member: 35678">While I can't really make any specific statements about technology moving forward in Faerun, here is an observation of real life, which may help you and your players dispute.You player is likely attuned to modern life, in which huge leaps of technology have made it seem like that is how life is. It's been awhile, but I reember seeing ~6 or 7 years ago in schoola  video talking about how 80-90% of all inventions have been made in the last 10 or 15 years, which likely isn't far off from the truth. The english vocabulary has boomed from 400,000 to 600,000 words in the 50s, 60s and 70s to now just over a million (if a prediction in the Globe and Mail from the spring of this year is true). They didn't have nanoseconds in the 50s, after all; sure as heck Shakespear wasn't counting those down either - although he is the man who made the english people proud of their own language.So, given that, previous the Renaissance period (of which, with the advent of Smokepowder, Faerun is just entering into), technology really didn't see many leaps and/or bounds. Essentually, it came down to the arms and armour race, as well as a few jumps in architecture and the like.For example, the stirrup was introduced into Europe proper in the 900s. Before that, one would have to have considerable skill in the saddle to stay upright whilst swinging a sword - and you would not have seen a lance weilder on a horse, since you'd be knocked off at the slightest inpact. So, the stirrup was pretty darn useful.The arms and armour race was never even. As soon as a smith found out how to temper his steel better than anyone else and make a few fine blades and other weapons which ate right through armour, did the guy in the kingdom over figure out the weaknesses in the armour the soldiers were using and make it even more formidable. There were many dead ends and experimentations with styles of armour and weapons; many were unweildy or, perhaps worse, flawed in a way which would be at a grave disadvantage to it's owner.Pre-middle ages (and a bit into it as well; using 1066 AD as the beginning of the middle ages) it was a set of cloth which was the basis of defense. On top of that, a chain shirt or a full set of chainmail armour. Slowly, plates were added in parts of the armour which the smiths felt needed that extra bit of attention. Breatplate covered your mid-section and chest with a number of plates. Eventually, this gave us plate armour, such as you see jousting knights wearing, or even the 17th century Maximillian armour, which was perhaps the best set of armour ever invented in the entire world.The secret to make leather armours was never lost with the Romans, it was simply too expensive until the Renaissance. Sometimes it would be studded, sometimes not. Cloth armour was usually just alyer for the rich men who had chainmail or plate, but was oftent the only armour a peasent fighter would have.Mostly, smiths kept to what they knew and technology advanced slowly. It wasn't until gunpowder that heavy plate fell out of vogue; the fact was that whether you were hit wearing plate armour or hit wearing leather armour, the gunpowder would penetrate, so lighter armours came into promience, and with lighter weapons (such as the rapier, bodkin, dirk, et al) which could pierce them with deadly ease. A general admiration of greece and rome contributer to more elegant, gentle-men like weapons; the people of the age wished to appear more noble and proper whilst eviscerating their foes.Back to gametalk, FR seriously appears to be on the edge of its' Renaissance. Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Lantan and other places are contributing to this, the elves are coming back, the dwarves are birthing more frequently, the gnomes are likely becoming more prominent, and at the same time, there are many backwaters and untamed areas which are yet to be so enlightened. It will be interesting to see what develops.In any case, apply some nominal common sense to FR and read some history books, and you should get a good idea of where technology is at, and where it's going. FR is about to ascend to the next tech level, IM(NS)HO.cheers,--N (a future history prof, by the way; just very tired right now <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />)</blockquote>

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