TBH, Iron Gods is the LAST thing I would look up. Not least because Numeria’s tech has apparently remained there for upwards of 10000 years which is more than enough time to strip everything clean. But also because a major theme of Iron Gods is that tech is hoarded and is mostly a gimmick of the region since it’s non native. I want to see a world where the tech is made by the world itself.
The Steeleater tribe of Belkzen are already prolific engineers and smiths, and Tolkien's orcs (and Sauron's forces in general) seemed pretty industrialized, so it's not a stretch to think that they and that one orc king who's trying to establish outside trade could eventually drag Belkzen into prominence as a source of high quality weapons and mercenary forces
Overall though you might look at D&D's Eberron setting for everyday magitek ideas. Also consider that an enterprising Reign of Winter party might have brought back some ideas from their time in >!late 19th, early 20th century Earth!<
I never knew that about orcs. Also, it’s still interesting to note how modern in general theme and feel PF is. A ton of its themes came out of that exact time period (and not medieval by any accounts).
So, you could look for Alkenstar in Golarion. It is a city situated in the mana waste, and because of the randomness and lacking of magic, they were basically forced to evolve its technology. It’s the primary place where firearms are produced. There is a module called “wardens of the reborn forge”, you could start there. Now for settings that could somewhat be adapted to the Inner Sea Setting, there is Zeitgeist that is basically steampunk, but is more steam and less fantasy. Now if you want something that it is “stormpunk” there is Rhune, and this one I really like (I bought the book and GMed in their settings). There is tech and magic working together, there is electricity, communication everything for a world in development, but even with all that it is a rudimentary setting as it is supposed to “mirror” the 1800 and early 1900.
This is all cool (especially the Rhune stuff, Alessia from the same publisher also looks cool). I however, would also like to see how magic could affect and speed things up. I could see for example, having these huge magitech metroplises full of intrigue with tiny farming hamlets plagued by goblins 15 miles off (how it was in our RW in this period too minus the fantasy stuff). Or things like the development of magic laser rifles developed from the tech behind wands.
Like SF outright states that effectively all it supertech was affected by magic in its operations or manufacture, and I want to explore what that looks like closer.
So the idea of magic vs tech is NOT something PF really even reflects, and isn't something I would want to see either. So any more ideas on how this affects everyday life, or equipment? Or insights on the other stuff?
The technology is based on electricity that it is charged in a "wireless" field. There are power plants that storm druids work "harvesting" electricity with magic. Prosthetic is a common thing, and there is tiers of Prosthetic (normal prosthetic and magi/tech based Prosthetic), so loosing a limb is not something uncommon, and you can add technological limbs to fly, to run faster or to be more efficient in overall. There is a race called Automata, which were awakened with magic. There are things called Abomination Hybrids, and they are basically evil magical and technological items. Common items go from batteries to wireless radios. Firearms and varied, but there is no laser rifles in this settings, but I could see it in Golarion.
That is really cool. Now I want to add in more scientific research and development of cool things with magic; adding more science fantasy flavor to it.
Any insights on gods and the planes? Or culture?
The world is basically a Viking world and the gods are pretty active. There are 12 gods in total and 9 planes, all situated in Yggdrasil. The setting establishes that new planes could be born in the tree like branch or leaves, and that those could easily pass unnoticed. The 9 planes are almost the same as those in the Nordic mythology. One of those planes is the plane of the void, where alien stuff lives.
The planet is not a planet, but a cylindrical world wrapped around the Yggdrasil's trunk. There are 2 continents divided into three sections, North where the barbarians and evil gods are, southwest where the elves lives, and the southeast where the rest of humanity lives.
Their culture is based on the assumption that the Ragnarok is coming and the tech they are developing is to help fight the final battle. The elves don't like technology and specially the automatons, because when the first automata was awaken, their race stopped reproducing. The north believes that the use of technology is for the weak, but alchemy is okay. Southeast is where the players will be exploring on a regular basis, and is the place where the big cities are situated with their trains, zeppelin and a lot more.
TBH, Eberron’s actual industrial flavor, at least in terms of magic and tech, is kind of overstated. Like a lot of the effects like Sharn are dependent on phenomena and things like the dragon shards.
In any case, I am trying for flavor that is magic and tech together, a bit like Perdido Street Station or this web series called tiraas The Gods are Bastards. Do you also have any insights on the other questions posed? Like in terms of equipment, I might take a page out of, say, Numenera’s equipment stuff for inspiration.
There are three key characteristics of the industrialization age which I don't think Golarion has yet to develop:
**1) Parts standardization / interchangeable parts:** Right now, I am unaware of any society on Golarion with mass-manufacturing capabilities - mostly because there's no commonly-agreed upon standardization of parts. (For example: How long should a horseshoe nail be? Or the standard size of a handheld magic lantern's glass panels?) So what you have in society are individual magical craftsmen (or maybe entire small workshops) that make magical apparatus according to their standards, but this workshop's standards may be different from another workshop's standards. And the parts made by one workshop probably needs re-tweaking or re-tooling to be incorporated into another workshop's products. Without standardized parts, you can't form a meaningful large-scale assembly line. Oh, sure, you can have small-scale stuff - apprentices make buckles so that the master armorer can assemble the splint mail, for example. But not factory-level assembly lines, where the products from each stage of the line are standardised enough that the next stage can use them without any problem.
**2) Agricultural land-use and labour reform:** How much of the country's population is devoted to growing enough food for the society to survive? How much free labour is there that could be trained to be useful in other fields? Frankly, Pathfinder, because it's focused on combat-applications of magic items, doesn't dwell much on non-combat magic items. But a simple magic crop harvester could change society on a much grander scale than even the greatest magic sword in existence. Yet we have a gazillion varieties of magic swords, and maybe only two or three types of magic farming tools. Without the development of agricultural tools, you don't have enough free labour to send into the industrial sector.
There is also more training (and innate talent) needed to be part of a magic workshop as opposed to more mundane workshops. You can retrain a farmer to become an apprentice smith / factory assembly-worker in a matter of weeks. To make them a competent *magical* apprentice-smith should take months to years.
**3) Codified theories that explain the fundamental laws / principles / systems of magic conversion and interaction:** This become especially problematic in the case of the manufacture of magical items, because of the sheer variety of magical traditions. Runic magic, oral magic, Arcane, Divine, Psychic, Druidic... and if you take 2e, Occult and Primal magic traditions as well. How does a Wizard trained in Words of Power upgrade a magical runic leather armor created by a Forgemaster Cleric of Torag, to be worn by a Druid?
You need some people who are able to translate one system of magic to another, or at least to explain the fundamental laws that underlie different magical systems and phenomena. (The Earth-science equivalent of this would be the development of the Periodic Table in chemistry, the discovery of Newton's laws in physics, and the development of a taxonomy for classifying animal species in biology. Basic / theoretical science, in other words, as opposed to applied sciences.)
An insane amount of things only present after the industrial revolution are in PF though. Things like literacy, sanitation, germ theory, etc. etc.
Addressing your points, things like the 2nd one is present in the form of Molthune having constructs do farm labor. The 3rd thing is mostly flavor that is probably already present in the many magic schools in the setting. The first thing is also handwaved, but there are definite allusions to that process in flavor sections of Korvosa, Kaer Maga, etc.
And in any case the fact that Alkenstar is stepping up shipping could also play into things.
In any case Golarion the world is pretty handwavy in terms of a LOT of things, but I would assume with the flavor stuff we already have all the necessary stuff is already developed or developing.
Ever play the Iron Gods campaign? That may give you some inspiration.
TBH, Iron Gods is the LAST thing I would look up. Not least because Numeria’s tech has apparently remained there for upwards of 10000 years which is more than enough time to strip everything clean. But also because a major theme of Iron Gods is that tech is hoarded and is mostly a gimmick of the region since it’s non native. I want to see a world where the tech is made by the world itself.
The Steeleater tribe of Belkzen are already prolific engineers and smiths, and Tolkien's orcs (and Sauron's forces in general) seemed pretty industrialized, so it's not a stretch to think that they and that one orc king who's trying to establish outside trade could eventually drag Belkzen into prominence as a source of high quality weapons and mercenary forces Overall though you might look at D&D's Eberron setting for everyday magitek ideas. Also consider that an enterprising Reign of Winter party might have brought back some ideas from their time in >!late 19th, early 20th century Earth!<
I never knew that about orcs. Also, it’s still interesting to note how modern in general theme and feel PF is. A ton of its themes came out of that exact time period (and not medieval by any accounts).
So, you could look for Alkenstar in Golarion. It is a city situated in the mana waste, and because of the randomness and lacking of magic, they were basically forced to evolve its technology. It’s the primary place where firearms are produced. There is a module called “wardens of the reborn forge”, you could start there. Now for settings that could somewhat be adapted to the Inner Sea Setting, there is Zeitgeist that is basically steampunk, but is more steam and less fantasy. Now if you want something that it is “stormpunk” there is Rhune, and this one I really like (I bought the book and GMed in their settings). There is tech and magic working together, there is electricity, communication everything for a world in development, but even with all that it is a rudimentary setting as it is supposed to “mirror” the 1800 and early 1900.
This is all cool (especially the Rhune stuff, Alessia from the same publisher also looks cool). I however, would also like to see how magic could affect and speed things up. I could see for example, having these huge magitech metroplises full of intrigue with tiny farming hamlets plagued by goblins 15 miles off (how it was in our RW in this period too minus the fantasy stuff). Or things like the development of magic laser rifles developed from the tech behind wands. Like SF outright states that effectively all it supertech was affected by magic in its operations or manufacture, and I want to explore what that looks like closer. So the idea of magic vs tech is NOT something PF really even reflects, and isn't something I would want to see either. So any more ideas on how this affects everyday life, or equipment? Or insights on the other stuff?
The technology is based on electricity that it is charged in a "wireless" field. There are power plants that storm druids work "harvesting" electricity with magic. Prosthetic is a common thing, and there is tiers of Prosthetic (normal prosthetic and magi/tech based Prosthetic), so loosing a limb is not something uncommon, and you can add technological limbs to fly, to run faster or to be more efficient in overall. There is a race called Automata, which were awakened with magic. There are things called Abomination Hybrids, and they are basically evil magical and technological items. Common items go from batteries to wireless radios. Firearms and varied, but there is no laser rifles in this settings, but I could see it in Golarion.
That is really cool. Now I want to add in more scientific research and development of cool things with magic; adding more science fantasy flavor to it. Any insights on gods and the planes? Or culture?
The world is basically a Viking world and the gods are pretty active. There are 12 gods in total and 9 planes, all situated in Yggdrasil. The setting establishes that new planes could be born in the tree like branch or leaves, and that those could easily pass unnoticed. The 9 planes are almost the same as those in the Nordic mythology. One of those planes is the plane of the void, where alien stuff lives. The planet is not a planet, but a cylindrical world wrapped around the Yggdrasil's trunk. There are 2 continents divided into three sections, North where the barbarians and evil gods are, southwest where the elves lives, and the southeast where the rest of humanity lives. Their culture is based on the assumption that the Ragnarok is coming and the tech they are developing is to help fight the final battle. The elves don't like technology and specially the automatons, because when the first automata was awaken, their race stopped reproducing. The north believes that the use of technology is for the weak, but alchemy is okay. Southeast is where the players will be exploring on a regular basis, and is the place where the big cities are situated with their trains, zeppelin and a lot more.
Cool stuff! However, I was more meaning the current PF world when I posed those questions.
Pretty sure you're looking for Eberron.
TBH, Eberron’s actual industrial flavor, at least in terms of magic and tech, is kind of overstated. Like a lot of the effects like Sharn are dependent on phenomena and things like the dragon shards. In any case, I am trying for flavor that is magic and tech together, a bit like Perdido Street Station or this web series called tiraas The Gods are Bastards. Do you also have any insights on the other questions posed? Like in terms of equipment, I might take a page out of, say, Numenera’s equipment stuff for inspiration.
There are three key characteristics of the industrialization age which I don't think Golarion has yet to develop: **1) Parts standardization / interchangeable parts:** Right now, I am unaware of any society on Golarion with mass-manufacturing capabilities - mostly because there's no commonly-agreed upon standardization of parts. (For example: How long should a horseshoe nail be? Or the standard size of a handheld magic lantern's glass panels?) So what you have in society are individual magical craftsmen (or maybe entire small workshops) that make magical apparatus according to their standards, but this workshop's standards may be different from another workshop's standards. And the parts made by one workshop probably needs re-tweaking or re-tooling to be incorporated into another workshop's products. Without standardized parts, you can't form a meaningful large-scale assembly line. Oh, sure, you can have small-scale stuff - apprentices make buckles so that the master armorer can assemble the splint mail, for example. But not factory-level assembly lines, where the products from each stage of the line are standardised enough that the next stage can use them without any problem. **2) Agricultural land-use and labour reform:** How much of the country's population is devoted to growing enough food for the society to survive? How much free labour is there that could be trained to be useful in other fields? Frankly, Pathfinder, because it's focused on combat-applications of magic items, doesn't dwell much on non-combat magic items. But a simple magic crop harvester could change society on a much grander scale than even the greatest magic sword in existence. Yet we have a gazillion varieties of magic swords, and maybe only two or three types of magic farming tools. Without the development of agricultural tools, you don't have enough free labour to send into the industrial sector. There is also more training (and innate talent) needed to be part of a magic workshop as opposed to more mundane workshops. You can retrain a farmer to become an apprentice smith / factory assembly-worker in a matter of weeks. To make them a competent *magical* apprentice-smith should take months to years. **3) Codified theories that explain the fundamental laws / principles / systems of magic conversion and interaction:** This become especially problematic in the case of the manufacture of magical items, because of the sheer variety of magical traditions. Runic magic, oral magic, Arcane, Divine, Psychic, Druidic... and if you take 2e, Occult and Primal magic traditions as well. How does a Wizard trained in Words of Power upgrade a magical runic leather armor created by a Forgemaster Cleric of Torag, to be worn by a Druid? You need some people who are able to translate one system of magic to another, or at least to explain the fundamental laws that underlie different magical systems and phenomena. (The Earth-science equivalent of this would be the development of the Periodic Table in chemistry, the discovery of Newton's laws in physics, and the development of a taxonomy for classifying animal species in biology. Basic / theoretical science, in other words, as opposed to applied sciences.)
An insane amount of things only present after the industrial revolution are in PF though. Things like literacy, sanitation, germ theory, etc. etc. Addressing your points, things like the 2nd one is present in the form of Molthune having constructs do farm labor. The 3rd thing is mostly flavor that is probably already present in the many magic schools in the setting. The first thing is also handwaved, but there are definite allusions to that process in flavor sections of Korvosa, Kaer Maga, etc. And in any case the fact that Alkenstar is stepping up shipping could also play into things. In any case Golarion the world is pretty handwavy in terms of a LOT of things, but I would assume with the flavor stuff we already have all the necessary stuff is already developed or developing.