1. Brosephus

    Brosephus Member

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    Fantasy Cyberpunk Setting

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Brosephus, Jul 10, 2022.

    Hello all, its been a while. I'm currently working on project involving a weird setting, mainly limited to one city for now. It's kind of the opposite of Shadowrun--instead of magic reappearing in our future world, advanced technology appears in a dnd-esque fantasy setting.

    The basic premise is that a feudal world discovers otherworldly artifacts that push their technology centuries forward. The city watch now patrol using hydrogen-fueled cars and wireless communication masts are being bolted onto ancient stone towers.

    I have some idea of how the history works so far. The manufacturing guilds building this new city are developing into full-fledged corporations. Their expansion now challenges the terms set by royal charters and trade regulations. Meanwhile, the Crown's inefficient bureaucracy is stretched razor-thin as it attempts to support and rule an ever-expanding population.

    Is having this medieval fantasy city-state develop culturally, economically, and even aesthetically along lines so close to our world too great a coincidence? Are there any logical snags this kind of rapid revolution could create in my writing? Lastly, what kind of leeway will my audience give me if I keep the tone on the sillier side of cyberpunk?
     
  2. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    How are they able to use this advanced tech? Are they using things that were already manufactured, or are they manufacturing it themselves? I don't see how a feudal-level society could manufacture anything like that unless they find factories with the right kind of tech that are still completely functional, and even then I doubt they'd understand how to use them.

    For just one example, a society can't advance beyond a certain level until they've learned tehniques for creating a mathematically flat surface with absolutely no surface irregularities, and that's incredibly difficult. Without the knowledge to do that, and all the right materials and working techniques, developed over a period of probably centuries, they won't be able to make milling machines and lathes, which are absolutely necessary for any kind of modern factories. You just can't get the same perfect results with hand hammering at a forge.

    So I'd say a feudal society that finds futuristic tech would be unable to reverse engineer it and start making their own versions.

    Of course it's your story world, maybe somehow all of that is out the window? Or maybe they just found some hydrogen-fueled cars with a power supply that lasts a long time without needing refueling, and they're able to use them because the drive mechanisms are pretty intuitive and they don't need repairs for a long time. I could see that working. Or maybe they discover fully functional factories that are mostly self-propagating, so you can just push a button and cars start coming off the robotic assembly line?

    But the point I was making is that a society's technology can't just suddenly advance several levels without them moving gradually through the in-between stages.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2022
    Oscar Leigh and Brosephus like this.
  3. evild4ve

    evild4ve Critique is stranger than fiction Supporter Contributor

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    Shadowrun pretty much was the opposite of cyberpunk anyway. By 1989, the anarchic sparks in William Gibson's neural jack had already been downloaded and corrupted into a mass-market product relying on familiar tropes and oppressive stereotypes.

    So for the OP, I'd suggest that the historical, cultural, economic and aesthetic coherency is the last stuff to think about. What matters is finding a punk perspective on DnD's infantilizing prison-of-the-senses (which should never have survived cyberpunk).

    This should be an easy hit. Maybe it doesn't need an involved description of technological revolution. Instead, what's the one invention that would make dungeon runs as pointless in the fantasy world as they are in the real world? Surely it's internet porn. Evil sorcerors would spend all their money on it, and the chainmail bikini crowd would have a much simpler income stream. Everybody wins (except farmboys destined to become dragonriders, halfling burglars, and secure installations architects).
     
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  4. Louanne Learning

    Louanne Learning Happy Wonderer Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    I would expect a feudal, non-scientific world to be superstitious and religion-based.

    The technologies fall into certain hands, but this doesn't change the mindset of the average person. They don't suddenly start to think rationally and scientifically.

    My guess is the average person would come to worship the technologies as gods.
     
    Brosephus likes this.

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