tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post2876580104233972529..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: CompassAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-25503991030163232962009-12-18T16:46:29.022-07:002009-12-18T16:46:29.022-07:00In terms of Gunpowder, I wouldn't be too aver...In terms of Gunpowder, I wouldn't be too averse to it, its actually pretty old technology and not terribly useful until its more advanced stages and lots of testing has been done on it to determine how to turn it into more than a slow burning match.Zzarchovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714805545939725730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-61362833069352631922009-12-17T22:20:25.757-07:002009-12-17T22:20:25.757-07:00Carl,
I wouldn't usually feel I had to condem...Carl,<br /><br />I wouldn't usually feel I had to condemn such cleverness, nor employ the sort of cheating, ad hoc solutions Zzarchov is suggesting (hell, why don't we just say phlebotium prevents it?), for one simple reason - new inventions are <i>dangerous</i>.<br /><br />Roads were built to drain water and were intentionally cobbled (and thus uneven), rendering bicycles of limited use. A clipper ship would be fairly useless, as no port on earth would be deep enough to allow its approach (dredging occurred before the ship did). Rifling requires precision that doesn't exist by means of magic (imagining a perfect bore fails - the mind isn't capable of 'seeing' such a thing)- and thus leads to exploding guns. Gunpowder is enormously tricky stuff, and killed many people through even careful use - which was why guncotton and nitroglycerine, and ultimately dynamite, were seen as Godsends. And a hot air balloon? Sounds good on paper, but air currents are awfully undependable. Many early balloonists died.<br /><br />I guess I would say, let such things exist. Run accurately, there will be a lot of newly run characters about.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-78067674917857703092009-12-17T17:01:13.435-07:002009-12-17T17:01:13.435-07:00I always go with "because science doesn't...I always go with "because science doesn't work that way"<br /><br />When you bring in magic, I also bring in "magic" science.<br /><br />"Huh, I guess gunpowder doesn't have the same ingredients when there are only 4 common elements in any given compound"<br /><br />As for Catamarans...Why not? Those are ancient tech.Zzarchovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714805545939725730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-63779316068321420172009-12-17T16:35:44.497-07:002009-12-17T16:35:44.497-07:00Ooo! Good topic today, Alexis.
Here's my sho...Ooo! Good topic today, Alexis.<br /><br />Here's my short list of shit my parties have tried to "invent":<br /><br />1. Hot Air Balloon<br />2. Bicycle<br />3. Printing Press<br />4. Steel-reinforced concrete<br />5. Clipper-style ships -- hull shape<br />6. Hollow-ground blades<br />7. Gunpowder<br />8. Catamaran<br />9. Rifled gun barrel<br />10. Plastique<br /><br />I usually fall back on the Jungian principle that something cannot be "invented" until all the conditions are present to bring that thing about. The moveable type printing press by Gutenberg, for example, couldn't have been invented before it was in Europe because until that moment, the concept of it didn't exist. That's a gross oversimplification of the concept that Dr. Jung proposed, but the essence is that humanity has to become accustomed to what it already has in order for the need for the next step to occur.<br /><br />This is where magic has heavily fucked up my games. Magic in D&D is a highly-evolved technology. Spells can do a lot of things that didn't even become possible in the real world until the late 20th century and there's still a lot of stuff you can do with magic that can only be seen in Star Trek episodes. Once you start applying those things to a medieval society and then factoring in things like, "they've also been able to teleport for hundreds and possibly thousands of years" the whole rationale for why a party can't have a hot air balloon starts to quickly devolve into variations on, "because I'm the DM and I say so," which suck because the players, in my mind, have as much ownership of the game as you do.<br /><br />That may be giving the players too much say in how the campaign is going to work, but there must be a contract between the DM and the players in order for the game to function.<br /><br />Sticky, sticky subject that magic-versus-technology thing. That's why I play a Sci-Fi game now. I can rationally explain everything because there's no "magic" fucking up the science.Original_Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03521777462227997158noreply@blogger.com