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The Art of Eberron: AWESOME new WOTC Update!
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<blockquote data-quote="s/LaSH" data-source="post: 1387002" data-attributes="member: 6929"><p>Art is good. I'm quite impressed with the flavour in all the little snippets they're putting out.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes, about a thousand years after gunpowder was invented.</p><p></p><p>We're used to progress today, but for almost all of human history it was not the norm. I see no reason not to simply assume that nobody really cared about this technology, especially since so many alternatives were available. If Eberron was a big peaceful magic kingdom in the not-too-distant past, there would be no need for powder - if you want to blast a rockface, you drop a fireball in there, or Stone To Mud it, whatever. And realistically, you don't blast a rockface all that often per day.</p><p></p><p>In addition, there's a very real force called competition which affects all technological development. I bet most of you are still using cathode ray tubes to read this post, despite the fact that liquid crystal displays and plasma screens have been around quite a while - the development of these competing technologies drove CRT manufacturers to make their products better, cheaper than the competition at roughly the same performance.</p><p></p><p>Or consider the car - the exterior has changed incredibly since the horseless carriage was first invented, yet the internal combustion engine is almost exactly the same as it was a hundred years ago. (I know there have been advances in various aspects of the tech, but nothing revolutionary like turboprop and jet engines in aircraft design.) Everyone knows there are alternatives - electric hybrids, fuel cells, that type that runs on water - but nobody uses them. Why not? Do we not live in an age of progress?</p><p></p><p>(Back to the point.) There are advantages to muskets, and gunpowder would certainly be easy to make in a D&D setting. However, the barrel of a musket or cannon is another matter entirely. Does anyone know how long it took to discover that bores were better than cast barrels? That's why the first cannons were bombards, huge cauldron-like affairs - they could survive firing. Only when barrel technology was refined over the centuries could hand-cannons be realistically and safely constructed.</p><p></p><p>Then again, why not use adamantite or something to make the barrels? Heh. That's not helping my argument, is it?</p><p></p><p>To round out my comments, ever read The Guardians Of The Flame, by Joel Rosenberg? I will now SPOIL. They have magical firearms in there. They just, um, boil down water into a fine powder - it expands into steam when exposed to moisture. Same principle as gunpowder - explosive expansion. But what does this change in society? Nothing, really. The principle users of the technology are the Slaver's Guild. The only reason they're using them is that the heroes have gunpowder, and they want to be able to equal them on the field of battle...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="s/LaSH, post: 1387002, member: 6929"] Art is good. I'm quite impressed with the flavour in all the little snippets they're putting out. Yes, about a thousand years after gunpowder was invented. We're used to progress today, but for almost all of human history it was not the norm. I see no reason not to simply assume that nobody really cared about this technology, especially since so many alternatives were available. If Eberron was a big peaceful magic kingdom in the not-too-distant past, there would be no need for powder - if you want to blast a rockface, you drop a fireball in there, or Stone To Mud it, whatever. And realistically, you don't blast a rockface all that often per day. In addition, there's a very real force called competition which affects all technological development. I bet most of you are still using cathode ray tubes to read this post, despite the fact that liquid crystal displays and plasma screens have been around quite a while - the development of these competing technologies drove CRT manufacturers to make their products better, cheaper than the competition at roughly the same performance. Or consider the car - the exterior has changed incredibly since the horseless carriage was first invented, yet the internal combustion engine is almost exactly the same as it was a hundred years ago. (I know there have been advances in various aspects of the tech, but nothing revolutionary like turboprop and jet engines in aircraft design.) Everyone knows there are alternatives - electric hybrids, fuel cells, that type that runs on water - but nobody uses them. Why not? Do we not live in an age of progress? (Back to the point.) There are advantages to muskets, and gunpowder would certainly be easy to make in a D&D setting. However, the barrel of a musket or cannon is another matter entirely. Does anyone know how long it took to discover that bores were better than cast barrels? That's why the first cannons were bombards, huge cauldron-like affairs - they could survive firing. Only when barrel technology was refined over the centuries could hand-cannons be realistically and safely constructed. Then again, why not use adamantite or something to make the barrels? Heh. That's not helping my argument, is it? To round out my comments, ever read The Guardians Of The Flame, by Joel Rosenberg? I will now SPOIL. They have magical firearms in there. They just, um, boil down water into a fine powder - it expands into steam when exposed to moisture. Same principle as gunpowder - explosive expansion. But what does this change in society? Nothing, really. The principle users of the technology are the Slaver's Guild. The only reason they're using them is that the heroes have gunpowder, and they want to be able to equal them on the field of battle... [/QUOTE]
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