level of technology in a low-magic world

[GlassJaw]

I'm currently working on a low-magic campaign using Grim Tales. It's sort of a mix of Conan, Dune, Mad Max, and Cthulhu. The environment is fairly harsh and there isn't really any centralized government. There are various tribes in the region as well as some large city-states, one of which is ruled by the BBEG.

I've been reading Chaositech (Malhavoc) and Steam & Steel (EN Publishing) and I want to add in some technology, especially in the cities and in the hands of the bad guys.

I've pretty much only run "standard" magic campaigns in the past so I would like some comments/advice/ideas on adding tech to the world. What types of things might exist? How much would exist? What group of people would use what?

Thanks!

 

[der_kluge]

IMC, I intend to leave such things in the hands of the gnomes, who invent such devices, and work them with a passion. As such, they are rare outside gnomish lands.

It could be that gnomes are like the DaVinci's of their times. DaVinci created lots of war things that could be considered tinkered devices (See Aurora's Whole Realm's Catalogue) but without a country to purchase the things, they remained theoretical, and most were never built.

IMC, I intend to have the gnomes create gunpowder (I'll have to think of a different name for it) only a few decades back, and they have since developed a simple arquebus. Both are relatively unreliable, yet extremely powerful.

For a price, and a trip into gnome lands, the PCs would be able to purchase a keg of powder, which I will probably treat as a double-powered fireball.

 

[Desdichado]

Wow, that setting sounds eerily familiar. Wonder where I've heard some of those ideas before?

 

[GlassJaw]

Wow, that setting sounds eerily familiar. Wonder where I've heard some of those ideas before?

I assume you're referring to me. I know, I've been talking about it for a while now. It's my first foray into low-magic so I need all the help I can get! I also got Chaositech and Steam & Steel recently and the ideas just started flowing again.

So now I have a Mongolia/Tibet-like setting, a bunch of tribes, orc gypsies and nomads, strict politcal structures, purple worm-infested wastelands, insane self-proclaimed prophets, gladiator pits, and to top it all off, really nasty steamworks and chaositech.

My only question now is how much technology and what kind. I know I don't want firearms, that's for sure. I'm thinking something more along the lines of the mechanists dudes in Thief but with a necromantic/insane BBEG vibe.

 

[Caspian Marqine]

hmm

Technically the four things you mentioned as source material are somewhat disparate, and also of highly varying technological levels. Dune is supposed to be set in the far far future, etc.

But as pertaining to your concept, why don't you not introduce much technology? With the way your setting works, having something technological that you rely on, which breaks while you're far away form civilization would be a rather nasty deal. The only thing that you might want to consider is transport between the oaisises of civilization there, and depending on how harsh your terrain is going to be, that could just as easily be some kind of desert adapted animal like a camel or more amusingly a giant lizard of some sort.

The question is where do you want to go with your idea?



Jonathan

 

[Desdichado]

I assume you're referring to me. I know, I've been talking about it for a while now. It's my first foray into low-magic so I need all the help I can get! I also got Chaositech and Steam & Steel recently and the ideas just started flowing again

No, that was a bit of a joke. My own setting is very similar to this.

Although I embrace "olde fashioned" firearms in my setting...

 

[GlassJaw]

Dune is supposed to be set in the far far future

Well it's similar to Dune with respect to its politcal/house system. It's also a very harsh environment and water is scarce. Actually, in the surrounding region, there are no bodies of water. Survival is the primary focus.

The question is where do you want to go with your idea?

Well I think most of the tech will be in the hands of the bad guys, one in particular. Overall, the tech will be very alien and in limited supply. Some of the more advanced tribes may have some things but not to the level of the baddies (and not as disturbing).

The major villains in the campaign will be very Cthulhu-esque. The concept of Chaos (from Chaositech) will be prevalent as well, although I'll probably call it something else. I want the tech to be a mix of metal and flesh and have an "otherworldly" feel to it. Things that "normal" people can't (and shouldn't) understand or fathom: experiments on live subjects, mutations, etc, that sort of thing. Fun stuff.

Just some campaign background while I think of it: The world itself is very fragmented. The region the players start in is relatively small (I haven't determined size yet). The overall population in the region is small as well and there hasn't been much exploration beyond the region (or at least none that anyone has returned from). No one really knows (or is concerned with) what or who lives elsewhere. Also, orcs and humans are the major races and they essentially live side-by-side without racial prejudice.

 

[Caspian Marqine]

Interesting

Hmm, well just remember natural resources = technology. You'll notice the Fremen don't actually have much in the way of technology aside from the stuff they steal or buy. Without something to burn (wood/coal) and something to forge (metal) you can't really do much except with animal skins. Water is another important concern, again because most technological processes need water, like, steam engines.

This all depends on how "realistic" you're doing your setting.

If you're coming from a post-apocalyptic angle, then technology is more plausible to have around, but in the same way artifacts/magic items are. They're likely to be rare, and rarer still the more complex/large they are, and unlike magic items they can break so there's another concern on top of it. Though again that's on a conventional technology scale. Unconventional tech (crystals, biotech, nano-tech) you can draw up parameters for.



Jonathan

 

[Tonguez]

The Shou dynasty (China) had an interesting Urban - Rural split.

The rural areas were (essentially) neolithic with tools crafted from wood and stone.
However the urban centers (were the nobles lived) had access to iron and a decidedly higher level of technology which was kept out of the peasants hands.

That could easily be used in your setting - only the BBEG (and his urbanised allies) have access to metal and high tech, whereas everyone else is stoneage. The PCs might decide that they want to steal tech from the BBEG or find some ancient cache of tech in the ruins of the 'lost city'.

I have no problem with limited supply of arquebus type guns (magic Crossbow really), and any other tech you want (as long as access is restricted)

 

[Caspian Marqine]

The Shou dynasty (China) had an interesting Urban - Rural split.

The rural areas were (essentially) neolithic with tools crafted from wood and stone.
However the urban centers (were the nobles lived) had access to iron and a decidedly higher level of technology which was kept out of the peasants hands.

Well this is almost always the case in every society, medieval or what have you. It was kept out of the hands of peasants simply because they didn't actually possess the means to produce it. The issue really is whether Anyone can produce anything in this world.



Jonathan