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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5693106" data-attributes="member: 54877">In the 13th century, William of Okham (Occam, of Occam's Razor fame) predicted something very much like Newtonian mechanics, but said that he lacked the mathematics to prove (i.e. "test") it. He then predicted something very much like calculus as the mathematics he was missing. So do an alternative history where Okham is genius enough to invent calculus. Then Okhamian mechanics are well developed and understood by the time the mini-Enlightenment is ready to spring on Europe, circa 1300. This leads to a greater understanding of the scientific method, and perhaps the printing press sooner. Perhaps it even leads to medical advances that help Europe mitigate the worst of the Black Death. In this happier timeline, the pressures aren't there that allow the religious wars to run rampant. Now, that's a lot of ifs. But it isn't completely implausible. You can start with one change--Okham being a genius--and plausibly sketch out a late 14th century industrial revolution. But there is a flipside to this, too. Nothing about the 18th century industrial revolution was set in stone, either. You can go back to the 15th century and find all kinds of ways to short circuit it. Because that kind of advancement takes both key individuals and discoveries, as well as a critical mass of people and institutions. So while I find the idea of, say, 5,000 years of roughly medieval technology stagnation unlikely in a fantasy game, you also have to take into account the ways that magic can really mess up a world. It can make the Black Death look tame. So it is not hard to get myself into the mindset where humans (and elves, dwarves, haflings, etc.) have been screwing things up at inopportune times, and thus so short circuiting any sizable advancement. I figure that for the guy who invents magical gunpowder, you've got several hundred that manage to blow themselves up before it gets recorded. The same goes for other magical effects. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing    :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" /></blockquote>

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