History, Mythology, Art and RPGs

[Wolf1066]

This makes me think of a documentary I saw about Machu Pichu. After listening to the confident explanations of some people that the stones in a particular wall were so strait they could only have been cut with lasers, a local archeologist walked the camera crew over to the nearby quarry where all the stone came from, then using traditional techniques took a half finished block, straightened it out with nothing other than another stone, and added it to an unfinished wall. It was every bit as flat as the others...

Love it!

I look at some of the preconceptions that people have about our "primitive" ancestors and think "no, people weren't that stupid or unobservant back then.

Bloody Victorians and their "historical progress" bollox!

I've got a friend who's into black powder shooting who laments that modern powder is not as good as earlier powders - according to descriptions of achievable burns in firearms, none of the modern powders measure up to what the powders back then were expected to do so it seems that making decent gunpowder is one of the skills that got lost along the way. While, on the face of it, it seems pretty straightforward, there's quite a bit of art to it and it relies on other industries that had quite a bit of art of their own - like charcoal-making. Charcoal, so far as my own research leads me to believe, is the key factor in the quality of your powder and different charcoals from different woods - or charcoal blends - give different results. It appears that somewhere along the way, the secret "recipe" for the right charcoal and processes for high quality BP got lost (probably with the increase in use of smokeless powders and the decrease in demand for black powder) and the modern stuff is a "reinvention" based on the old basic recipe but without the full understanding of the art.

Not even the top GOEX powders perform as the old powders were expected to - so much for "progress".

And that's just one of many "lost arts" I've heard of.

 

[Ugulu the Barbarian]

Umm ... So, I know this has nothing to do with the last post or anything, but has anybody here thought of how wonderfully well this works with E6 D&D? Especially if you were to actually set your D&D game in the real world

 

[Galloglaich]

I agree, I think it's a good fit. The only thing in the codex which doesn't mesh with E6 is that many of of the 'Advanced' Martial Feats don't come into play until sixth level. But for E6 all you really need to do is reduce that requirement to 4th level and no more problem.

G.

 

[Galloglaich]

Here is a good video about longbows. Very detailed and interesting.

The website is Swedish but the video is in English.

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]Companie of St Sebastian



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[Ugulu the Barbarian]

I agree, I think it's a good fit. The only thing in the codex which doesn't mesh with E6 is that many of of the 'Advanced' Martial Feats don't come into play until sixth level. But for E6 all you really need to do is reduce that requirement to 4th level and no more problem.

G.

Well, yes; BUT, as long as you keep playing you still gain new feats based on XP gain, so it should still work out reasonably ... Unless ... Wait, did you mean for NPCs or antagonists getting those feats? Then yes, that could be a problem. But you could dumb them down to 4th level like you suggested.

So, I was thinking about how to create a more historically accurate Alchemist class, and I've hit a snag. The potions that they can create, while useful, aren't really designed for something that our typical adventuring PC would do, or be able to do at the least. This is because the Alchemist would need a lab, new ingredients, etc. Im reluctant to make this an NPC class ... Anybody have any suggestions for this? Im also thinking because of this class, Alchemy wouldn't be a skill, in case anybody was wondering.

 

[Wolf1066]

That is the trouble with some real-life professions, they don't lend themselves easily to the "roving adventurer" dynamic typical of games - and few people want to play an RPG where your character gets up in the morning, goes to work in the store/lab/mill does his work and then heads home.

 

[Ugulu the Barbarian]

Tell me about it. The most beneficial (realistic) thing that I can come up with is the ability to come create Liquid/Greek Fire, and use them as Grenades at level 6 (because I'd like to try and run E6 as long as I can get my player to agree with it). The upside to having a not so battle related PC class is that it encourages more RPing, and my group says they want to do that, so it might work out,

 

[Matthew_]

Here is a good video about longbows. Very detailed and interesting.

The website is Swedish but the video is in English.

Companie of St Sebastian

Nice talk; not sure I would take everything he says at face value, such as the age a 120 lb long bow would be suitable for, or the shooting of knights out of their saddles, but I would guess that he is better positioned than me to guess at these things.

 

[El Mahdi]

That is the trouble with some real-life professions, they don't lend themselves easily to the "roving adventurer" dynamic typical of games - and few people want to play an RPG where your character gets up in the morning, goes to work in the store/lab/mill does his work and then heads home.

That's when you just skip ahead to the good parts!

 

[Galloglaich]

Nice talk; not sure I would take everything he says at face value, such as the age a 120 lb long bow would be suitable for, or the shooting of knights out of their saddles, but I would guess that he is better positioned than me to guess at these things.

Yeah I agree with you about both of those points, but he's a longbow enthusiast.... .

G.