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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8553762" data-attributes="member: 6801845">While it's been said that any sufficiently advanced technology would look like magic, I don't think it follows that sufficiently advanced magic would look like technology.&nbsp; In fact, magic could easily hold back technological advancement.&nbsp; See the <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/technology-in-d-d-the-irl-timeline-and-pausing-it.686204/" target="_blank">other thread</a> for thoughts on that.In my home campaign I assume there's a lot of low level magic and items.&nbsp; There are things like continual flame lamps, even a +1 weapon is not that unusual because once a magic item is created it's difficult to destroy.&nbsp; Cast continual flame on a rock and bury it?&nbsp; A century later you can dig it up and it will still provide light.Why invent the light bulb if you get light from that lamp that your great grandfather bought?&nbsp; Perhaps magic just hits a usability ceiling beyond which it can't easily advance, it can only go so far to mimic technology while simultaneously stifling competing advances.It's an interesting thought experiment and you can go a lot of directions with it.&nbsp; Steampunk is inherently supernatural, it just has different presentation than &quot;magic&quot;.&nbsp; Heck there are entire systems like Esper Genesis that combine magic and space fantasy.&nbsp; Look at Star Wars as another example.&nbsp; We assume all the droids are just technology based, but do we really know?&nbsp; There's obvious space magic in the force, but hyperspace is (probably) not real either.So if you want a magi-tech world, the skies pretty much the limit.&nbsp; For better or worse, D&amp;D is based on the visuals of authors like Tolkien and others which in turn is based on an idealized vision of a western European society such as the stories of King Arthur that never really existed.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 8553762, member: 6801845"] While it's been said that any sufficiently advanced technology would look like magic, I don't think it follows that sufficiently advanced magic would look like technology. In fact, magic could easily hold back technological advancement. See the [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/technology-in-d-d-the-irl-timeline-and-pausing-it.686204/']other thread[/URL] for thoughts on that. In my home campaign I assume there's a lot of low level magic and items. There are things like continual flame lamps, even a +1 weapon is not that unusual because once a magic item is created it's difficult to destroy. Cast continual flame on a rock and bury it? A century later you can dig it up and it will still provide light. Why invent the light bulb if you get light from that lamp that your great grandfather bought? Perhaps magic just hits a usability ceiling beyond which it can't easily advance, it can only go so far to mimic technology while simultaneously stifling competing advances. It's an interesting thought experiment and you can go a lot of directions with it. Steampunk is inherently supernatural, it just has different presentation than "magic". Heck there are entire systems like Esper Genesis that combine magic and space fantasy. Look at Star Wars as another example. We assume all the droids are just technology based, but do we really know? There's obvious space magic in the force, but hyperspace is (probably) not real either. So if you want a magi-tech world, the skies pretty much the limit. For better or worse, D&D is based on the visuals of authors like Tolkien and others which in turn is based on an idealized vision of a western European society such as the stories of King Arthur that never really existed. [/QUOTE]

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