D&D General No Resurrections in the Bronze Age

[Zardnaar]

That said, the Silk Road got its start around 130 BC. So it's conceivable that a similar "diamond road" could come into existence, given the desirability of resurrections.

Ancient Egypt got Lapis Lazuli. somehow. It's mined in Afghanistan iirc.

 

[cbwjm]

Ancient Egypt got Lapis Lazuli. somehow. It's mined in Afghanistan iirc.

There were extensive trade routes between ancient Egypt and the Middle East, they collected goods from all over the place.

 

[Zardnaar]

There were extensive trade routes between ancient Egypt and the Middle East, they collected goods from all over the place.

Yeah I know that it's the time frame involved I find amazing.

 

[nevin]

Okay. I literally said they weren't truly omnipotent nor omniscient, but that they were crazy powerful and generally portrayed as knowing a ton of things, so....not really sure who you're arguing with.

Edit: And, I mean, it's worth noting that it is ANOTHER GOD that tricked Zeus at Mecone...not a mortal. Which was what was being discussed here.

Edit 2 electric boogaloo: In fact, Hesiod's version of the tale doesn't even have Zeus being tricked. In that version, possibly an intentional change out of a desire to be, or seem, more pious--Zeus isn't tricked, and knows exactly what he's getting. He chooses the worse option, in Hesiod's telling, so that he has a reason to vent his anger at humanity.

So, yeah. It depends on source, time period, and region. SOME versions of Zeus are practically omniscient. SOME versions of Zeus are frankly less knowledgeable than well-informed mortals. And it can vary to almost every point between.

sorry about that you are right. One thing in all versions of Zeus is when it comes to anyone but him he always chooses the worst option. You can see it in historical records. People prayed to Zeus for two things, to be left alone by the other gods and to destory thier enemies. They really expected nothing but destruction when Zeus finally engaged.

 

[nevin]

They've found cocoa beans in some of the older pyramids. There are indications that there was at least minimal interaction completely around the world.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

That said, the Silk Road got its start around 130 BC. So it's conceivable that a similar "diamond road" could come into existence, given the desirability of resurrections.

Very true, though I'll note that's significantly after the Bronze Age. But one has to assume that a "Diamond Road" of sorts is likely to arise in whatever part of the world had sufficient protection of and freedom of trade as soon as possible.

Also since diamonds don't go bad, such that a load of diamonds stolen from a dead emperor's five hundred year old tomb are just as good as freshly found ones, diffusion of diamonds by one means or another would be particularly wide even in a world with limited trade.

And I do think (in a D&D rules following world) they would probably be very common in many societies as a burial good, given their association with escaping death. They likely would have been an integral part of marriage ceremonies from ancient times as well, as they are the thing most likely to preserve the prospective marriage from an abrupt end.

 

[Zardnaar]

They've found cocoa beans in some of the older pyramids. There are indications that there was at least minimal interaction completely around the world.

AFAIK they found chemical marker for cocaine or nicotine iirc in Egyptian Tomb. Odds are it was cross contamination or another plant Rgypt had access to with low levels of nicotine in it.

Pre Columbus contact atm is Vikings and Polynesia looking more likely with DNA and Kumara evidence around 1200AD.

AKAIK.

I don't think there was bronze age diamonds in Europe. Bigger problem than trade routes was currency hadn't been invented either so gp didn't exist.

Human sacrifice was a thing though so there's an option for a spell variant (life for life) or they just subbed in something else that was valuable/appealing to the deity/force.

Dont think I would use 5E for bronze age game but 2E.

 

[codo]

ALAIK they found chemical marker for cochise or nicotine iirc in Egyptian Tomb. Odds are it was cross contamination or another plant Rgypt had access to with low levels of nicotine in it.

Pre Columbus contact atm is Vikings and Polynesia looking more likely with DNA and Kumara evidence around 1200AD.

AKAIK.

I don't think there was bronze age diamonds in Europe. Bigger problem than trade routes was currency hadn't been invented either so gp didn't exist.

Human sacrifice was a thing though so there's an option for a spell variant (life for life) or they just subbed in something else that was valuable/appealing to the deity/force.

Dont think I would use 5E for bronze age game but 2E.

The nicotine was from Victorian bug spray. Once you get a mummy out of the desert the bugs love to eat them. Museum curator used to have to douse them in insecticides to stop the bugs from eating.

 

[Zardnaar]

The nicotine was from Victorian bug spray. Once you get a mummy out of the desert the bugs love to eat them. Museum curator used to have to douse them in insecticides to stop the bugs from eating.

Ah I remember reading something like that but couldn't remember the details it's been around 13 years iirc.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I don't think there was bronze age diamonds in Europe. Bigger problem than trade routes was currency hadn't been invented either so gp didn't exist.

"Currency" existed, it just wasn't in the form of coin yet. While all sorts of things were used as currency, the direct predecessors to coin were ingots of various metals produced in standardized sizes and shapes, which are believed to have been used by many bronze age societies as units of exchange. Really the main thing making them "not coin" was simply that they were large sizes more appropriate for practical use than convenient for carrying around. Allegedly the weird, reactionary Spartans continued to use heavy iron bars instead of coin well into the Classical era and through the height of their power, and although modern scholarship has cast doubt on this, the fact that other Classical era people believed the Spartans did this and considered it old fashioned is at least evidence that there was cultural memory of metal ingots being the predecessor to coins.

In a D&D bronze age society diamonds and weights of diamond dust seem like a form of currency that would probably see some use. And given that some early Chinese coins were in the shapes of the shells they had previously used, it would be a good detail for a later D&D setting to have the heroes find an ancient trove of electrum coins in the shape of diamonds.