tech in fantasy settings

[TheGreatRings]

I'm wondering why there often seems to be technological stagnation in fantasy settings, and weather this is the case in Wesnoth. My personal explanation would be that magic eliminates the need for certain technologies, ie, mages in Wesnoth eliminate the need to develop guns and artilary, and healers would negate the need for modern medical technology, etc. So, is there much change in tech in the campaignes of one era to the next, and if so, is my explanation a plausible one?

[Blarumyrran]

the angry mob keeps lynching scientists before they invent anything. thats the real reason. pickforks and torches.

[turin]

Because Wesnoth, as a Typical Cliche Fantasy World (tm), isn't really prepared to branch into uncharted territory by introducing technological advancement.

I don't think it particularly makes sense.

[Mist]

Something like turin said. And in wider general fantasy universe (tm) there are such issues as mages not wanting to loose revenue from reasonably priced services (c)(r) to cheap fakes produced by technology, priests having better tools than stakes and inquisitions(tm) and so on... If you want to see what a world with both magic and technology would look like play Arcanum.

[Noy]

This is my boomstick?

[Federalist marshal]

I think Wesnoth is supposed to take place in a certain era of Wesnoth's history; there may very well be a distant future of Wesnoth that looks like a magically powered Victorian England. But if such an era exists, I don't think the mainline game would ever venture into it. That's probably up to the imaginations of all those UMCs out there.
And besides, think of what tanks and artillery would do to the balance of the game! An entire regiment of royal guards couldn't possibly beat even one M1A2 Abrams tank, unless somehow in that bulky armor one managed to crawl into the commander's cupola and assasinate the crew (very unlikely, especially if the hatch is locked). Adding technology would essentially mean changing the game entirely for the sake of balance.

[turin]

I considered that, but the Wesnoth timeline spans over 700 years and essentially no technological progress takes place, from what I can see... sure, the middle ages were over 700 years long, but much technological progress in, for example, armor took place between 600AD and 1300AD...

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Technology is superseded by magic like you said, in most fantasy. The existence of magic replaces the need for technology. The only exception being magic-less races such as the Dwarves, who develop boomsticks to replace a lack of magic ranged attacks.

But I think there probably are steampunk fantasy settings, which would feature technology alongside magic.

[irrevenant]

I suspect The Real Reason(tm) that there isn't advancement over Wesnoth's history is that the Faction system is too simple to properly handle gradual improvements over time. Presumably we don't want to have (eg.) fourteen different Loyalists factions, each covering the state of their technology for a particular 50 year period.

The existence of magic replaces the need for technology.

Such a rationale makes sense for something like D&D, but in Wesnoth, magic use is rare and comparatively low-powered.

But I think there probably are steampunk fantasy settings, which would feature technology alongside magic.

There are even settings like ShadowRun, which is a magical cyberpunk setting. Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series is set in a magical present day setting where, for example, cars compete with magic carpets for business.

[Trau]

The way I see it, technology is advancing at that snail's crawl medieval pace, but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter enough to warrant any changes to units' stats, graphical updates, or new units.

Let's say the orcs learn, at some point, to make swords out of steel instead of iron. So their grunts' attack values should go up, right? Well... no, at the same time, maybe the loyalists learned how to make better armor, or the drakes discovered weight training to make them tougher, or the elves developed a more defensive martial art. So in sum, the game would appropriately represent everything in the same way it did two hundred years ago, when grunts were using iron swords and loyalists were still wearing shoddy armor.

So in the grand scheme of things, because everyone is advancing technologically, there doesn't really work out to be a difference on the game board.

[joshudson]

Except the dwarves techlevel is approaching the point where they could unleash a weapon for which we would have to add true ranged attacks.

[db0]

Except the dwarves techlevel is approaching the point where they could unleash a weapon for which we would have to add true ranged attacks.

How many weapons do you know that can probably reach miles across? I don't think dwarves are going to discover missile propulsion any time soon

[Thrawn]

Except the dwarves techlevel is approaching the point where they could unleash a weapon for which we would have to add true ranged attacks.

How many weapons do you know that can probably reach miles across? I don't think dwarves are going to discover missile propulsion any time soon

Lol, you obviously aren't in with the dwarves then <_<

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Dwarvish Missiler? I can totally see that...XD

[Aethaeryn]

How many weapons do you know that can probably reach miles across? I don't think dwarves are going to discover missile propulsion any time soon

Lol, you obviously aren't in with the dwarves then <_<

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Dwarvish Missiler? I can totally see that...XD

Only if the missile's steam powered. That makes it totally canon.

[scienceguy8]

They've got gunpowder, just pack it in a hollow wooden tube and it will fly at least as far as an arrow.