Results 391 to 420 of 1479
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2012-08-12, 01:52 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
This is mentioned a lot, but depends upon if you can afford it. Still the same questions apply -- which breeds are better for long-distance, or more specifically what is difference between breeds?
Found this website pretty quickly on google:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2121701AAk0LEM
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2012-08-12, 01:54 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2008
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
This is mentioned a lot, but depends upon if you can afford it. Still the same questions apply -- which breeds are better for long-distance, or more specifically what is difference between breeds?
Found this website pretty quickly on google:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2121701AAk0LEM
EDIT--
and this one, which mentions "gaited" horses
http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question...4160833AAV81GkLast edited by fusilier; 2012-08-12 at 01:55 AM.
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2012-08-12, 04:45 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Location
- Germany
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
given that the one horse is bred for show and had a lazy life, and the pursuers have specialized horses that have years of stamina and endurance training, the outcome should be very clear.
no clue how long the fancy horse will be able to keep going, but given the scenario, the prince willl probably not have thought about this and simploy ride on for how long his horse can. I say have them catch up in the late evening and his horse is no longer able to put up a final chase.
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2012-08-12, 11:51 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Given the scenario, I was thinking I'd probably give the kid a 2-3 day head start before anyone realized he was missing. If I set the goal area close by...the best idea may be to have him turn the horse loose at some point for the party to find, and continue on foot. Will have to think it through - I don't actually want them to find him outside of the cave they're going to, but I also don't want to make the cave so obvious that you wonder why no one else found it.
Hmmm...maybe give him a bit better horse and add in some mysterious friends to give him special knowledge.Hail to the Lord of Death and Destruction!
CATNIP FOR THE CAT GOD! YARN FOR THE YARN THRONE! MILK FOR THE MILK BOWL!
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2012-08-12, 04:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Assuming you have an air supply, how would fighting under water work?
Daggers and wrestling? Choking, breaking joints, etc.? Or, perhaps spears/harpoons would be useful? Swinging seems like it wouldn't work out to me, but maybe I'm just assuming wrong.My Happy Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRj9lQDVGY
Credit goes to Lord_Herman for the fantastic Joseph avatar (and the also fantastic Kremle avatar which I can't use because I'm already using the Joseph one).
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2012-08-12, 06:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2012
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Crossbows and spears (so harpoons too).
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2012-08-12, 06:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Location
- 127.0.0.1
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Slashing and bludgeoning weapons wont work at all, so you're stuck with piercing weapons. Even then, there are some that work better than others…
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2012-08-12, 06:42 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Would crossbows work under the water? I figured the strings would get messed up pretty fast (would they still shoot the bolts with desirable force?).
My Happy Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRj9lQDVGY
Credit goes to Lord_Herman for the fantastic Joseph avatar (and the also fantastic Kremle avatar which I can't use because I'm already using the Joseph one).
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2012-08-12, 06:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Location
- 127.0.0.1
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
You could make crossbows that would work, but they wouldn't use sinew for it's string. Probably replace it with wire. As for if it would still provide desirable force… dunno. Depends on exactly how it's made. It would probably have a MUCH shorter max range, but on short range could still pack a punch.
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2012-08-12, 09:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Reposting a cleaned up climate map for my campaign world. I would really appreciate comments on if it looks accurate regarding rain shadow, latitude and so forth. I tried comparing it to the climates of Earth but I'm not sure about how well that translates.
Spoiler
Brown: Big mountain ranges
White: Ice
Blue-grey: tundra
Dark green: Temperate and sub-Arctic wet areas (forests)
Light green: Sub-tropical and tropical wet areas (monsoon, rainforests)
Gold: Prairies and Savannahs
Pale yellow: Deserts
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2012-08-13, 02:30 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2012
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
depends :
which time of map is it ? :D
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2012-08-13, 02:34 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Equirectangular projection (Plate carrée). The horizontal lines are at 15° of latitude intervals. Two spaces approximating a singe cell of atmosphere circulation.
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2012-08-13, 03:44 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
My question: Would it be possibile to use sails to propel and manouver a dirigible-like machine without using any sort of magic or advanced tech? Also, how many sails and placed in which locations would be appropriate for such a machine?
I only need to make such a machine plausibile, not overly detailed, so I can handwave some of the more subtle design flaws...Last edited by Kalmageddon; 2012-08-13 at 03:44 AM.
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2012-08-13, 04:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Dirigibles are lighter-than-air craft, and therefore, in the absence of some sort of propulsion engine, already drift with the wind quite effectively. It's therefore highly impractical to attempt to use sails, because there is (next to) no relative airspeed. Balloons generally steer only by ascending and descending to catch differing wind vectors at different layers, which is obviously chancy at best, but without propulsion, or at least something to push against, there's no way to use wind power to travel against or across the wind.
Projects: Homebrew, Gentlemen's Agreement, DMPCs, Forbidden Knowledge safety, and Top Ten Worst. Also, Quotes and RACSD are good.
Anyone knows blue is for sarcas'ing in · "Take 10 SAN damage from Dark Orchid" · Use of gray may indicate nitpicking · Green is sincerity
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2012-08-13, 09:32 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Next question: Let's assume a world where there are no fossil fuels, meaning no coal, no petroleum, no methane gas deposits. How would this impact the developement of technology and society?
Last edited by Kalmageddon; 2012-08-13 at 09:33 AM.
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2012-08-13, 10:27 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Aldain
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Wood burning, water wheels, hydro power in general, wind power, and so on would likely be used frequently. It basically turns hydro into the highest amount of energy able to be generated. It would certainly slow us down at the industrial age, but only a bit. We'd be able to use water turbines and steam to power machines, and from there develop more efficient ways to use these systems. Steam would likely only be used in winter when water would freeze, or when floods cause turbines to stop functioning.
We certainly would not have the power network we currently have. It would be more sectionalized and self sufficent per area. Also wood doesn't emit as much as say coal wood, as it has a shorter burning time. Harder slower burning woods would be cultivated to counter act that. Cultures would likey live on hills, or near water or both.Scientific Name: Wombous apocolypticus | Diet: Apocolypse Pie | Cuddly: Yes
World Building Projects:
Magic: The Stuff of Sentience | Fate: The Fabric of Physics | Luck: The Basis of Biology
Order of the Stick Projects:
Annotation of the Comic | Magic Compendium of the Comic | Transcription of the Comic
Dad-a-chum? Dum-a-chum? Ded-a-chek? Did-a-chick?
Extended Signature | My DeviantArt | Majora's Mask Point Race
(you can't take the sky from me)
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2012-08-13, 10:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
What about the impact on the developement of electricity? Would it be developed sooner or later?
Also I'm guessing electric cars and similar machines would be developed sooner and the technology would advance more quickly, make sense?
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2012-08-13, 10:58 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Aldain
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Electricity would likely be fine to discover. Powered vehicles it's best guess. It might take longer to go from stationarry machines to mobile ones. Or cars might not even be powered. They might think up things for travel we wouldn't have, like mass transit rails running on solar, since I'd say the steam engine would be still on course.
Scientific Name: Wombous apocolypticus | Diet: Apocolypse Pie | Cuddly: Yes
World Building Projects:
Magic: The Stuff of Sentience | Fate: The Fabric of Physics | Luck: The Basis of Biology
Order of the Stick Projects:
Annotation of the Comic | Magic Compendium of the Comic | Transcription of the Comic
Dad-a-chum? Dum-a-chum? Ded-a-chek? Did-a-chick?
Extended Signature | My DeviantArt | Majora's Mask Point Race
(you can't take the sky from me)
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2012-08-13, 01:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
It would definitely delay the industrial revolution, wood was running scarce even before then in Britain and coal mining was both a requirement for and a driver of industrialization. Steam engines to pump water out of deep shafts, rails to transport the coal, a mobile source of power etc.
I don't know if it would speed up or delay the invention of electricity generation but in that world that would probably mark the real start of industrialization. On one hand the dynamo isn't exceedingly complex, it could probably be invented by a scientifically sophisticated pre-industrial society and, if the market conditions are right for industrialization, see much use. On the other hand it wasn't invented in the real world until a century after the beginning of industrialization when science and engineering had become systematically applied to economic development.
Hydropower would for a long time be the only real power source, meaning that instead of industrialization beginning in coal rich areas, it would begin in mountainous areas with plenty of water. Wood is not that plentiful when you're talking about any real power generation, it would only be viable in sparsely populated areas, like in taigas or in rainforests and I suspect the logistics are quite difficult.
Supposing this is even enough to sustain a take-off of the economy so that growth becomes self-sustaining wind power, wave power and even nuclear power would probably be developed once hydropower reached it's limits. For land transport anything but electric trains would be harder to develop, I guess battery technology would advance faster but oil is just so easy use in comparison that I doubt automobiles as we know them would arise until much later. People would overwhelmingly use mass transit. Perhaps ships are an even more important hurdle, you'd have to depend on sails until nuclear power or batteries could replace them. Airplanes, boy I'm not sure that's possible without fossil fuels or synthetic fuels. Battery powered or even nuclear airships?
In the long run the world would probably be better off, no global warming or urban sprawl, but everything would take longer and technological development would be completely different. Fossil fuels represent a very easily accessible wealth of energy that's hard to replace just as we're finding out now that we need to.Last edited by Ormur; 2012-08-14 at 04:58 AM.
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2012-08-13, 03:28 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Don't forget that dung is a viable fuel source. It's not as good as other fuels (and has to be dried first), but in a larger-scale economy it might obtain better consideration as a fuel source. A developing economy that was running short of wood might well start collecting and drying feces to burn. And methane can be developed from there.
Hail to the Lord of Death and Destruction!
CATNIP FOR THE CAT GOD! YARN FOR THE YARN THRONE! MILK FOR THE MILK BOWL!
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2012-08-14, 02:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
How important were knights, generally speaking? Essentially, they were the lowest tier of nobility?
More specifically, how many men did knights command, in comparison to other nobles?My Happy Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRj9lQDVGY
Credit goes to Lord_Herman for the fantastic Joseph avatar (and the also fantastic Kremle avatar which I can't use because I'm already using the Joseph one).
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2012-08-14, 05:41 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
That's some very good insight, thank you!
Now, would this affect the developement of firearms in any way?
One thing I was thinking about was that a world where the "easy" technologies are unavailable and the industrial revolution is proceeding to a slower pace firearms would have seen more limited use, while the technology of crossbows would have improved as they stuck around for longer, competing with firearms.
The reasoining for this is that, if I'm not mistaken, the main reason firearms replaced crossbows early on was that they were more easily mass produced thanks to industries and fewer moving parts. Even then coutries with better crossbow technology continued to use them until very late, I'm thinking china with the repeating crossbow, which saw use until the late 1800's.
What do you guys think, plausible? I wanted to use this as a premise for giving more weapon varieties and more battle tactics to the armies of this setting.
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2012-08-14, 06:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2006
- Location
- Poland
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
It may need specifying time and place, but generally knights were nobles, and not "lowest tier" of any kind....
Throughout the Medieval and early Renaissance period the meaning of 'knight' would be rather broad thing, but generally all kind of higher nobles, barons, dukes, and so on would be knights as well -knighted, battle trained horseman, with specific ethos, education, culture.
Kings and other monarchs would by knights as well, 'squiring', acquiring military prowess etc. under some noble be it their father himself, some important lord or someone else. Competing in tourneys, jousts, melees and fighting in real battles...
William the Conqueror 'climbed' the ladder becoming being Duke, liege of King of France, and then the King himself, for simplest example.Avatar by KwarkpuddingThe subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king.
Whoever makes shoddy beer, shall be thrown into manure - town law from Gdańsk, XIth century.
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2012-08-14, 06:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Hmm, I must be confused with something else. Isn't there a lowest tier of nobility which was rather prevalent, and made up a lot of the knights?
My Happy Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRj9lQDVGY
Credit goes to Lord_Herman for the fantastic Joseph avatar (and the also fantastic Kremle avatar which I can't use because I'm already using the Joseph one).
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2012-08-14, 06:52 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2006
- Location
- Poland
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
With feudal system being pretty much ladder of lieges and their seniors, one could form some rough "tiers" but the point is that higher situated magnates and landlord were usually knights as well, in pretty much every sense - from battlefield (heavy cavalry etc.) to social ones.
Avatar by KwarkpuddingThe subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king.
Whoever makes shoddy beer, shall be thrown into manure - town law from Gdańsk, XIth century.
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2012-08-14, 06:53 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Location
- Germany
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
Well, it may be different depending on cultural region. But I am quite certain that Ritter and Knight were actual noble titles in Germany and England.
The Roman equestrians and the Japanese samurai where a social rank.
However, knights and Ritter do not have to be landed nobles, so they might have land given by their liege, but a considerable number would not.
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2012-08-14, 01:02 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
I doubt it would matter much if you're focusing on industrialization and coal power. Haven't firearms long taken over from crossbows in the 18th century anyway. I don't think industrialization had much effect on weapons manufacture until the mid 19th century really with railways, ironclads and possibly artillery and machine guns. And that I think that has mostly to do with more availability of iron. Industrialization begins in coal mining and textile manufacture but it takes the whole 19th century to really revolutionize all industries, a lot of stuff continued to be made in workshops just like it had been for centuries. I don't think you need fossil fuels to fight a Napolionic-era war.
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2012-08-14, 04:09 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Location
- 127.0.0.1
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
No coal would make it more difficult to make steel in appreciable quantities, however. You may be able to make it with charcoal, but that would require a LOT of wood. If you were stuck with lower-quality irons, that would also make guns less reliable and less powerful, which may lead to countries sticking with crossbows for much longer.
That leads to an interesting question: could you make a rifled gun with iron, or is steel or some other stronger alloy required for it to hold it's shape?
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2012-08-14, 04:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
This, and also I know that one of the reasons firearms took over crossbows was that they were more easily mass produced thanks to the industry, being basically a metal tube, a wood stock and some other components easily assembled when compared to the fine work needed to make a crossbow...
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2012-08-14, 06:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2012
- Location
- Aldain
- Gender
Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)
However crossbows were the mass produced versions of bows. Relatively cheap and easy to make compared to the year or years it might take to make a good bow, and could hold up in rain fine. It also took less skill to use.
Scientific Name: Wombous apocolypticus | Diet: Apocolypse Pie | Cuddly: Yes
World Building Projects:
Magic: The Stuff of Sentience | Fate: The Fabric of Physics | Luck: The Basis of Biology
Order of the Stick Projects:
Annotation of the Comic | Magic Compendium of the Comic | Transcription of the Comic
Dad-a-chum? Dum-a-chum? Ded-a-chek? Did-a-chick?
Extended Signature | My DeviantArt | Majora's Mask Point Race
(you can't take the sky from me)