The Riddle of Steel

@dnd

I have an idea for a get-rich-quick scheme: using the Bessemer process to create massive amounts of high-quality steel. However, I’m sure my #DM has not given a single thought to this (because I know her) so I’m worried that this might give God fun #worldbuilding ideas to fuck with our party. How do I tell my group my plan, without having the industrialized slave company I know is on the other side of the map spontaneously develop a similar process?

#dnd #rpg #ttrpg

  • GrimSheeper@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You may know about the Bessemer process, but how would your character discover this process? Unless your character is an accomplished blacksmith or engineer, I’d call metagaming.

    … I know that’s a bit of a buzzkill, but that’s where my mind goes.

    • Xilabar the Dice Goblin@dice.campOP
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      1 year ago

      @GrimSheeper My backstory gives me an excuse. Essentially, my warlock has a pact with the embodiment of the big bang. This pact was made after he spent four years squatting in its library on the astral plane reading all the books it had. The whole point of this character is to inflict science on the setting and see what happens. The dm knows this.

      On a side note, I’m starting to think it wants to be incarnated in the mortal world. I’m not sure having the big bang happen again is a good thing.

      • GrimSheeper@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Fair enough! My compliments on your character’s backstory - that sounds fun!

        Also, I would think that a second big bang would be morally neutral on a universal scale, but that’s not much comfort for the people currently existing…

  • XM34@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    As a DM: Trying to sneak such an idea by me and trying to exploit the world with knowledge that doesn’t fit are two surefire ways for you to get that idea blocked completely with no chance to ever use it again.

    If you want to introduce that technology to the world, talk to the DM, tell her that you would hate for that idea to be used by the enemy company and work out a way that makes it fun, but not completely game breaking for this to appear.

    Seriously, how come people still don’t get the number one rule of playing a COOPERATIVE game?

    • Xilabar the Dice Goblin@dice.campOP
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      1 year ago

      @neptune depends on the campaign. But tbh most dms don’t want to reinvent the wheel.

      I’m fairly certain she hasn’t changed this because we’ve had conversations in-game about genetics and inbreeding, which implies DNA exists. We’ve also interacted with NPCs who have genetic disorders like Down Syndrome and hemophilia, which wouldn’t exist without DNA.

      • neptune@dmv.social
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        1 year ago

        I don’t necessarily think those things follow. You can’t build CRIPSR in game because half elves have a human and an elf parent, because half elves imply inheritability which implies DNA.

        The rules are the rules. So you might assume oxygen exists because your character needs to breathe, and you might assume metallurgy exists because the rules say you can mine, and forge.

        But you can’t just say “with this facet on industryy characters downtime will be more productive than the book says”. If the book says you can mine 10gp worth of ore a day, or turn 10gp of ore into twenty a day… Then that’s what the rules say.

        Obviously none of this would survive rigorous scientific method as dnd is not a science simulator. Once upon a time I wanted to use Minecraft as a science simulator… Alas…

  • H1jAcK@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Sounds like you just need to take over the slave company, then you’ve already got workers and took out your competition. Two birds, one steel stone.

    • Xilabar the Dice Goblin@dice.campOP
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      1 year ago

      @H1jAcK
      Oh, just attack the evil changeling slavers, that’s going to go so well for us. We won’t have any problems with random npcs turning out to be changeling assassins in disguise /s

      Just for reference, we are level 3 and the median person we come across seems to be level 1 or 2 in one class or other.

      • H1jAcK@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Whoa, who said attack? Start a competing business, become more successful, then go with the hostile takeover!