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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HeavenShallBurn" data-source="post: 3630521" data-attributes="member: 39593">I'd be willing to incorporate many things that are usually considered steampunk into non-steampunk fantasy.  Partly it's because used well they can be cool and exciting and a campaign should be cool and exciting.  But it's also because at various points these things or a very close relative were actually designed if not produced during antiquity.Firearms-at several points during antiquity various groups came close to developing firearms.  Byzantine's had infantry flamethrowers.  There have been various detractors but the steam cannon purported originally developed and tested by Archimedes was within the realm of their technology.  See this link <a href="http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/steamCannon/ArchimedesSteamCannon.html" target="_blank">http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/steamCannon/ArchimedesSteamCannon.html</a>Remember these are the same people who invented what was effectively a semi-automatic ballista and napalm.Railroads-I don't use railroads but that's for setting reasons, in a setting that didn't emphasize the impenetrable howling wilderness bashing at civilizations' gates I'd be happy to use something like them, whether as a magical lightning rail type thing or say trains pulled by teams of dinosaurs or elephants or other big animals.Printing-This I use as I think with clerics of gods of Knowledge and Wizards working so dilegently they would eventually come up with it, even if they never let go of a monopoly of its use.Airships- I use airships quite a lot, they're the only semi-safe way to travel between cities over the previously mentioned howling wildernesses full of dangerous beasts and barbarian hordes.  Basic rules are from Bastion press Airships with minor modifications.  There is a trio of cities well known for their steam-powered non-magical zepplins(though nobody else will believe them when they say no magic is involved).  Many smaller communities use what are essentially hot air ballons with underslung cargo platforms and sails.  The seldom seen and intensely militaristic human cities are renowned (and feared) for their skyborne ironclads lifted with great blocks of "floatstone."  The Sky islands use airships similar to Eberron with bound elementals(since floatstone mining is a capital crime as it's what keeps their islands aloft).  And the serpent peoples use airships built using "liftwood" which is has a negative weight and only grows in dense jungles.Ornithopters- not yet and probably won't due to the feel that imparts but under the right circumstances I'd use one or two sparingly.Mechanical Computers- yes but only very simple ones and only produced by the sky island trade cities who have a generally higher tech level.  Even then only devices similar to the antikythera mechanism that are basically celestial navigation tools and simple mechanical adding devices.Large Scale Machinery- Yes in fact very large scale machinery in the larger city-states.  The key is aside from certain city-states and regions I limit the power source to that which is naturally available ie wind, water, and muscle(humanoid or beast of burden).  Long Distance Communication- Unconditionally no fast communication is something that I specifically want to limit to preserve the atmosphere of the setting.  Keep fast communication for wizards as one of the things that only emphasizes their inscutable and odd nature.Small Devices- some small devices but they all come from particular places well known for producing that sort of thing and there isn't really a market for it.</blockquote>

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