@Ganymede said in Course Corrections:
@surreality said in Course Corrections:
I don't think it's necessary to, say, uncreate bats just so people won't make gunpowder from guano (though if someone wants to do that, that's their call and I support their right and choice to make it), or perhaps more accurately, I do not feel it should not be necessary to go that far in order to be able to say: we really don't want to go in that direction with this game/do not want to drastically change the game world in the ways that idea would inevitably change it.
My objection to taking such a stance is how horridly insipid it is relative to the development of modern firearms, which took almost 1,000 years. Plus, gunpowder existed, but was seldom used during the late medieval/renaissance period of European history, from which much of fantasy seems to be lifted from. (For example, full suits of plate armor did not exist until after cannons were used in the Battle of Crecy, 1346.)
Pretty much this, gunpowder developed a lot over time for that matter, not just how it was used. Your basic 'early' gunpowder was quite expensive to make and would tend to differentiate into it's component ingredients if left to sit around, which meant it started off not hugely powerful then rapidly degraded over time. Siege and even handheld weapons did use the stuff but it was relatively rare and for personal weapons less effective than a crossbow.
Handheld weapons started as novelties then evolved to being used because they were much cheaper than crossbows to make and very low on maintenance, if inaccurate and very slow to reload. Typically used as multi barreled weapons for siege defense or perhaps wall weapons for militia (again, for siege defense, where reload times do not matter nearly so much.).
14th century, wet grinding allowed production of gunpowder that was more of a paste and did not differentiate, this made it cheaper mostly because it could be stored for longer periods of time (also more infrastructure and better developed production methods). Cheaper powder and very simple ammunition meant that gunpowder was starting to get very cost effective, this is not down to the 'it takes less time to train somebody to use a gun' factor, it was the cost of the weapons and ammunition. Basically a handgonne might cost 1/3 as much as a crossbow due to lacking moving parts and you did not have to worry about replacing bits nearly as often, plus powder and lead shot was easier to make than quarrels, but the weapons were basically inferior to a good crossbow in action.
15th century, 'corned' powder, rolled into grains, which improved the lifespan of powder even more and when done properly, basically doubled the power of gunpowder due to allowing more air in the mix to allow rapid combustion. At this point, by the mid 15th century, you start getting handheld firearms that outperform crossbows in penetration, plus both longbows & crossbows in range and accuracy. Still slow firing and not hugely reliable but they had a genuine battlefield role. They were certainly not the objectively superior weapon though and a hundred years later in the mid 16th century, crossbows or longbows were very much competitive weapons used by professional troops of well funded militaries.
Mid or late 15th century is also what a lot of people think of when they think of fantasy, full plate armour, etc. It was also very much an age with field artillery and firearms, the armies of Burgundy for example, had one handgunner for every eight man 'lance', along with a knight or man at arms, a light cavalryman, three archers, a crossbowman and a pikeman. Keep in mind that this was over two hundred years after gunpowder's introduction to mainland Europe, with two centuries of development, eager development. It was not a case of kings and knights retarding development, kings in particular loved cannons, they were expensive (and thus only kings tended to have a siege train) but allowed the breaking down of castles relatively quickly, thus giving them far more power relative to rebelling lords.
Of course James II of Scotland loved cannons too much and died when one exploded on him.
So history ramblings aside, I can both see why people would 'fear' gunpowder in their games and also why it is silly to do so. Looked at 'realistically', introducing firearms into a medieval fantasy is not going to make Robin Hood expys or knights in shining armour with swords irrelevant, but in practice? Somebody is going to want to develop six shooters or expect their musket to act like a Garand, ignoring that those advancements took centuries of incremental advancement in metallurgy, powder manufacture, the development of springs, blast furnaces, etc.