I had this idea the other day and I want to get some opinions to help me flesh it out a bit more than just the concept. The setting is post apocalypse. 90% of the population died off(I'll come up with how later). No one was around to keep factories going or mining so anything factory made had a finite supply. Bullets stopped being made and during the aftermath of the apocalypse they were mostly used up. Since metal used for guns is relatively high quality it was melted down and remade into other things(The hq metal being referred to as 'gunmetal'). During the 'present' when the story takes place humanity is beginning to bounce back but its reverted to a more medieval society. In it there's a training order called "The order of the Knife". It's called that because the knife is the first blade. In this order each person is trained in the use of the knife first. They must master it before they can move on to daggers and swords. High clerics of The order of the Knife are called "Blades" because they've mastered every blade the order offers training for. When they become a blade they leave the order with only a knife to go on a kind of pilgrimage to defend others. If they want more than just a knife to use they have to make it themselves or it can be a 'treasure sword', a sword found in ruins that was made before the apocalypse. The 'make or find' rule is in place because their lives depend on the quality of the blade. Blades also have a kind of apprentice called "Sheaths". They've mastered the Knife and the maintenance of edged weapons. Basically I thought up this after thinking up what kind of armor and weapons I'd have if the world ended. Obviously I'd go with blades but this is the 'design' I came up with. Leather jacket with the sleeves cut off at the elbow. Underneath long sleeve light weight chain mail shirt. Falconer's gloves with steel plating over the forearms(like gauntlets). Along the forearm a curved blade shaped like a kukri(making an elbow strike more lethal). For the legs heavy leather pants with metal greaves(shin guards) with a blade along the shin(like the forearms) and spiked steel toed boots. The idea is that they leave the order with only a knife and have to make their own tools, weapons, and armor out of what they find. Trying to make their body into a blade.
As a suggestion, make sure you kill off everyone in Japan and guys like me. Create some form of 'royal order' where everyone who knows 'the ways of the togishi' is put to the sword. Let's assume your world cannot replicate simple blackpowder. With a good coal/coke fire, a few strips of diverse metal, a bucket of water and a hammer, guys like me could fashion very dangerous samurai swords out of folded steel. Give me a waterstone and even a mundane knife can lop off some very important parts of your best soldiers. I had a mole removed from my forehead. Since I knew the doc for a long time, and he knew my job, I asked if we could do some 'cutting tests' with his scalpel before he cut me. My pocketknife out-cut his scalpel, it wasn't even close. Kill us off, we insurgents are going to spoil all of your fun.
A story concept means nothing. What matters is how you write it: the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it. There's absolutely no benefit in asking what other people think of the concept! They'll either say,"Sounds great," or, "it sounds like a ripoff of..." If the idea stirs you, write it. Then ask people what they think of the final story. After they tell you what they don't like about it, revise it, usually several times, until you're happy with it or until you throw up your hands and say the hell with it. Please read What is Plot Creation and Development?
That’s a pretty far step backwards in technology if no one can make simple black powder. That means that no one with that level of knowledge,( so chemists, history junkies, firearm buffs) survived and passed on their knowledge. Also why blades? I would think that the crossbow would be king with archery being very popular too. These guys sound like they would do slightly worse than European knights when they meet trained archers or crossbow men.
James, the one thing I've learned about fantasies here is that logic has nothing to do with the structure of a fictitious world. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. In my 'world,' there are no airplanes--they were outlawed. I've never said why. Oh, if pressed I'd make them so unknown my characters would refer to them in passing as "aeroplanes." We do have military vehicles bigger than a motor home that cruise at over 200 MPH. Now, if you can get a brick to go 200, you should be able to get a flimsy piece of aluminum airborne at 120. Not in my 'world.'
Part of the proliferation of airplanes and airports was the result of government funding. The same was true of cross-country roads such as interstates. The government funded them initially so that if the United States were invaded, we could move troop convoys from one side of the country to another quickly. It is no surprise that they started getting built after WWII, after the US had encountered HORRIFIC stalls and setbacks in the backcountry roads and ancient bridges (far too small or weak to let tanks cross) of Europe. Or the nonexistent roads througout the islands of the Pacific. All the original big airports were in or near major cities, so that in the event of invasion/tormoil military aircraft could land troops. Tourist's ban on airplanes is actually perfectly reasonable. With no government willing to back the construction of the basic infrastructure needed to support them, an airfleet will not stay functional long. Without government funding there would never have been as many airports in the US as we ended up with. And few individuals, especially in a low-tech setting, will be rich enough to have their own let alone keep it a secret for long. A ban on technology is the most sound reasoning for a lack of various technologies. Guns in particular. Example: Many people flaunt the fact that Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate lacked firearms technology. It in fact did not, and Japan was only united as a nation by Oda Nobunaga's use of matchlocks. There were simply very strict rules governing who could make and store firearms. Only those sanctioned by the shogun could do so. The shogunate, a military government, did not want every Tom Dick and Harry in Japan to have access to those weapons. Firearms technology was stunted specifically to keep it out of the hands of potential rebels, not because it was "dishonorable" or foreign. In a post-apocalyptic setting where SOMEHOW the governments of the world (most of which have bunkers and other stashes of technology sitting around specifically to address this issue) have not recovered, then one would certainly expect crossbow and compound bows to replace firearms. Your best bet is to have some explicitly magical solution, such as gunpowder and electricity simply not working anymore. You know, like in the Dies the Fire series. It doesn't matter that people still know how to make stuff. The stuff simply doesn't work anymore. It's all just an excuse to have the world regress into feudal kingdoms. I don't like the books myself but it is an interesting concept. Frankly I would expect any organized army to start matching those of ancient China. Vast numbers of lightly-armored infantry backed by equally large numbers of crossbowmen firing in rows to keep a constant barrage of arrows and darts falling on the enemy. Most soldiers would be spearmen trained to work in teams and surround the enemy, not charge at him head-on. Full armor and quality swords would be reserved for officers. At least until Mel Gibson shows up...
