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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6364535" data-attributes="member: 177">Yes, but that's in a *completely* different cultural context than the typical D&D game.  The Qin dynasty, in which that sort of thing started in China, was an outright rejection of feudal systems, and was attempting to establish stability and conformity and direct governmental control on a scale not previously seen on Earth.In such a situation, "adventurers" would not be a thing.Yes, and that makes it all the more profitable, and therefore all the more certain that some will study it.  Remember - making something illegal creates a tidy profit for those willing to risk breaking the law!  Heck, right on my e-reader, I've got a fine novella by Brandon Sanderson, titled, "The Emperor's Soul", which is about exactly that - how forgery (mystical forgery, at that) becomes a major thing in such a culture.  The common man doesn't interact with the higher-ups of the ruling class.  He interacts with underlings, low-paid functionaries.  It isn't a high magistrate himself checking papers at the gates, you know.  Oh, hey, that brings up something else, in addition to forgery.  Bribery!  Oh, goodness, was the Qin dynasty loaded with *that*!  Woohoo!No, the barrier to forgery was the extreme cost of the equipment such a person was expected to have.  Anyone can paint a shield, sew up a banner.  I know a dozen people who do it on a regular basis, even today!  The armor, however, was another matter entirely.  That you couldn't get just anywhere.Which is to say, *poorly*, and in an ad hoc manner. Odysseus has to prove his is who he says he is by way of scars on his feet, and stringing a bow nobody else could draw, and remembering that one leg of his bed (that presumably nobody but his wife and loyal servants gets to see) is a living olive tree.  Clearly, no *SYSTEM*, or accepted general method, of positive identification exists if he has to resort to these sorts of contortions to prove who he is.  It required a pre-established relationship between the people in question.  It demonstrates that proving identity between strangers is nearly impossible in Odysseus' world.</blockquote>

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