How advanced are the technology of the Zeitgeist setting suppossed to be? I don't mean magically enhanced technology, but more basic stuff like firearms and steam engines. Do they have steam driven cars? Revolvers and rifles? How about printing press and manufacturing lines? Does electricity exists (apart from the magical and natural kind)?
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ZEITGEIST Technology in Zeitgeist
- Thread starter Mortagon
- Start date
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Actually, it would be quite useful to have had a think about this, particularly from adventure 2 onwards, in order to be able to describe what the players see as they move around Flint.
It might be nice to have word coming from Danor about new things they've invented.
Maybe Risur makes a general point of trying to solve most mundane problems magically. (Gas street lamps in Danor leading to the magical equivalent in Flint.)
They way I see it, you won't see all that much technology applied other than for military purposes: It is a huge strategic disadvantage for Risur that they simply cannot take the fight to their opponents: a magically fuelled army would grind to a halt at the borders of the dead magic zone. Hence King Aodhan's wise decision to embrace a certain amount of technology. But culturally, the Risuri aren't happy with industrialisation and - in contrast to real world nations - they do have an alternative.
I'm not sure I'd want to go as far as cars, but I think I'd like to create a list of simple things like umbrellas, typewriters and bicycles that may or may not be available, but if they were would very much influence the atmosphere of the setting. What do people think about those three things? Available? And what other simple items could be added to the list?
@RangerWickett What was your original vision of this, Ryan?
It might be nice to have word coming from Danor about new things they've invented.
Maybe Risur makes a general point of trying to solve most mundane problems magically. (Gas street lamps in Danor leading to the magical equivalent in Flint.)
They way I see it, you won't see all that much technology applied other than for military purposes: It is a huge strategic disadvantage for Risur that they simply cannot take the fight to their opponents: a magically fuelled army would grind to a halt at the borders of the dead magic zone. Hence King Aodhan's wise decision to embrace a certain amount of technology. But culturally, the Risuri aren't happy with industrialisation and - in contrast to real world nations - they do have an alternative.
I'm not sure I'd want to go as far as cars, but I think I'd like to create a list of simple things like umbrellas, typewriters and bicycles that may or may not be available, but if they were would very much influence the atmosphere of the setting. What do people think about those three things? Available? And what other simple items could be added to the list?
@RangerWickett What was your original vision of this, Ryan?
It's pretty low tech. Guns and steamships are the biggest examples of industry, and even those aren't common. There are no cars, printing presses, or electricity, though there might be various smaller mechanical oddities (I don't see a typewriter as being out of place, but it would be a curiosity).
While I agree about cars and electricity, I disagree about the Printing Press.
If the tech level of Risur is equivalent to the Renaissance, printing would be somewhat new but gaining popularity. Furthermore, I could see it being embraced by a number of groups (Martial Scholar, Dockers, the Clergy) who want to spread their messages to larger population.
If the tech level of Risur is equivalent to the Renaissance, printing would be somewhat new but gaining popularity. Furthermore, I could see it being embraced by a number of groups (Martial Scholar, Dockers, the Clergy) who want to spread their messages to larger population.
RangerWickett
Legend
1. Magic items brought into the dead magic zone around Danor continues to work for a while; it just slowly loses power over the course of a few months. So you could attack Danor with the Coaltongue's magically-enhanced steam engine and brand, but holding territory isn't ideal.
2. Gutenberg-esque printing presses, yes. New York Times style printing presses, no.
3. Revolvers are only in the hands of the gunsmiths who hand craft them. Even rifles are rare (folks have muskets; much shorter range). Barrel size is not standardized. Basically firearms are at a 17th century level, while vehicles are at a 19th century level.
4. No electricity. Except in the rare cases of mad scientists who want to animate the dead with lightning bolts. But certainly no electrical utilities.
5. Gaslight is cheaper than magic light. Just because Risur can use magic doesn't mean they do it all the time.
6. Factories are more like old fashioned mills, huge forges, stuff like that. They use either steam power or water wheel power to move heavy stuff, but most of the work is done by hand, with hundreds of poor sods crammed into buildings with very poor ventilation.
2. Gutenberg-esque printing presses, yes. New York Times style printing presses, no.
3. Revolvers are only in the hands of the gunsmiths who hand craft them. Even rifles are rare (folks have muskets; much shorter range). Barrel size is not standardized. Basically firearms are at a 17th century level, while vehicles are at a 19th century level.
4. No electricity. Except in the rare cases of mad scientists who want to animate the dead with lightning bolts. But certainly no electrical utilities.
5. Gaslight is cheaper than magic light. Just because Risur can use magic doesn't mean they do it all the time.
6. Factories are more like old fashioned mills, huge forges, stuff like that. They use either steam power or water wheel power to move heavy stuff, but most of the work is done by hand, with hundreds of poor sods crammed into buildings with very poor ventilation.
I was planning on having the technology a bit more advanced and fantastic than what you said here. I was planning on having the Danoran armed forces have access more advanced and powerful guns including Gatling guns and also some more fantastical and ridiculous weapons as a counteract to magic and to give technology a bigger influence in the Campaign. How much will this affect the Campaign as a whole? How much adjustments needs to be made to increase the technology level a notch?
My personal thought is that gatlings might be a bit much, but that's just my opinion. Obviously whatever works for you and your players can be made to work for the campaign too. As for typewriters and bicycles, I can certainly see those in there, though they might be rare as I doubt that there would be factories making the things. Same thing with umbrellas though they might be a little more common. I could actually see those as being almost a status symbol with the wealthy having fancier and better umbrellas than Joe Docker. Perhaps the cheap umbrellas don't collapse but are still nice on a rainy day frex.
Eric Tolle
First Post
If you have black powder weapons, then fireworks and rockets should be feasible as weaponry. A Huo Che or Hwacha should be easy enough to make at the indicated technology level, and quite awesome in use.
RangerWickett
Legend
Indeed, the Danorans will have more impressive technological weapons. For the sake of providing clear background flavor, I figure Danorans have primitive rockets, and are working on rifling their cannons and small arms. Some of those hand-crank-style gatling guns probably exist, and hell, we might even let the PCs buy one when a Technology Fair arrives in Flint in adventure 3.
But we just finished a huge war-themed adventure path, so don't think that ZEITGEIST is going to turn into WW1-esque Trenches & Tanks. And even if war were to happen, magic items do work in Danor; you just can't make them there, and they degrade quickly. So Danor would want to stay nice and friendly with Drakr in case they end up in another war with Risur.
Rockets are fun. Rockets that deploy animated flaming spheres to rampage around the battlefield are even more fun.
But we just finished a huge war-themed adventure path, so don't think that ZEITGEIST is going to turn into WW1-esque Trenches & Tanks. And even if war were to happen, magic items do work in Danor; you just can't make them there, and they degrade quickly. So Danor would want to stay nice and friendly with Drakr in case they end up in another war with Risur.
Rockets are fun. Rockets that deploy animated flaming spheres to rampage around the battlefield are even more fun.
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