tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post8039963694490214192..comments2024-03-28T15:32:19.036-04:00Comments on Dungeon Fantastic: DF Felltower: AnachronismsPeter Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-52438329723290868522015-04-08T16:55:52.149-04:002015-04-08T16:55:52.149-04:00Basically because the assumption isn't early f...Basically because the assumption isn't early faceting or primitive distillation, but rather high-end easy faceting of all stones and distillation of a wide variety of modern alcohols and other distilled substances. It's the level of it - I call out advanced distillation and diamond cutting for a reason!Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-92030619567882201102015-04-08T15:39:28.008-04:002015-04-08T15:39:28.008-04:00Why do you consider distillation and gemstone face...Why do you consider distillation and gemstone faceting to be anachronistic? Quick search of Encyclopedia Britannica and a few other non-Wikipedia authorities show that faceting for worn jewelry began in Europe in the late 1300s and was easily reproducible in the late 1400s with the invention of the lateral cutting wheel. For distillation of course everything seems to be about distilled spirits, but that mentions (primitive) distillation was practiced by the Romans, Persians, Chinese, and Greeks. Perhaps you mean to imply a particular competency of distillation requiring understanding of science that was not recognized as existing until a later period. I do find your discussion thought provoking as I recognize certain common anachronisms as conceits to enable easy and fun play by people of our era where such things are considered too slap-my-forehead obvious to not allow.<br /><br />My gaming typically has seafaring in galleys and longships (more appropriate for 11th-14th centuries) and banking consists of "I'll keep your wealth safe and I'll even give it back later...for a price." Although I've never researched gem cutting before so I've had a slightly anachronistic common ease of getting gems cut more in line with 1500 AD. But dwarves do make the perfect excuse to justify it.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02295722892051701176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-9085905273719536712014-12-22T21:23:27.224-05:002014-12-22T21:23:27.224-05:00Id go with China Mieville's definition of Feud...Id go with China Mieville's definition of Feudalism Lite, though I understand that our own respective definitions might be narrower or wider.<br /><br />'...feudalism lite: the idea, for example, that if there's a problem with the ruler of the kingdom it's because he's a bad king, as opposed to a king. If the peasants are visible, they're likely to be good simple folk rather than downtrodden wretches (except if it's a bad kingdom...). Strong men protect curvaceous women. Superheroic protagonists stamp their will on history like characters in Nietzschean wet dreams, but at the same time things are determined by fate rather than social agency. Social threats are pathological, invading from outside rather than being born from within. Morality is absolute, with characters--and often whole races--lining up to fall into pigeonholes with 'good' and 'evil' written on them.'<br /><br />I suppose to some extent that is DF, perhaps if your pcs went around righting wrongs instead of looting I would hate it. As it is the scope is so narrow (looting a Dungeon) I can imagine or ignore anything else. Perhaps your kingdom is a small 'boring' anomoly of a more interesting world that exports its pcs to the rest of the world where the really interesting stuff is happeningUnachimbahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04873952842828774048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-66666965321546975452014-12-22T09:19:24.477-05:002014-12-22T09:19:24.477-05:00I am basically using feudalism light, though. A ki...I am basically using feudalism light, though. A king, poorly policed borderlands held in fief, an autonomous town with a militia sponsored by individuals, guilds, and churches, etc. I tend to make the world a little more politically nuanced and socially modern with a bigger game, but for a dungeon-centered game, this will do.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-44769813634259022452014-12-22T09:16:36.327-05:002014-12-22T09:16:36.327-05:00Yes, very much so - world navigation should be muc...Yes, very much so - world navigation should be much easier with scrying, accurate time keeping, magical mapping, etc. I figure the only things that hold that back are interest and cost. So it's not like you can casually buy an accurate map of the world, but they are out there for the major power players and rich (who are one and the same.)Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-37600572542144607122014-12-22T00:12:35.214-05:002014-12-22T00:12:35.214-05:00A neat list, with several things on it I haven'...A neat list, with several things on it I haven't seen come up in similar discussions. Something I thought of that might arise as a consequence - my understanding is that the development of longitude (or possibly latitude, I get them mixed up) was hampered by the lack of accurate timekeeping - so if you have that, you have much more accurate mapping - on the continental rather than the dungeon-scale, of course. Simon J. Hogwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07709835550452996449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-46258537576039511002014-12-21T23:29:31.450-05:002014-12-21T23:29:31.450-05:00I was going to write that the only anachronism tha...I was going to write that the only anachronism that would make me upset in DF is if TL7 is if groups of modern day NPCs started showing up, but even that in the right campaign could work for me.<br /><br />I hate feudalism lite (which many fantasy setting use) though. I find a world where there is ubiquitious magic, healing and killing machine PCs (or NPCs) yet the world chooses to organise itself as 13th century europe less coherent than one with magic item factories, adventurer guilds, pirate republics, clockwork golem armies etcUnachimbahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04873952842828774048noreply@blogger.com