S̶w̶o̶r̶d̶&̶S̶o̶r̶c̶e̶r̶y̶ Guns

[AnonUnlimited]

So? I have more Rizz than you. Even an otaku has more Rizz.

I mean, you obviously need it for survival because you don’t have enough money. Same with otakus.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Yeah, I play around with this quite a bit, but not just firearms.

Ryan let out a mild 'ugh' as he heaved a large box with a circle on one side, a smaller circle on the other, a switch, a knob, and a button. He put it on the table and took out its twin, "No. I've been experimenting with photons. Light is acting strangely." He lined up the two boxes, flipped the switches, and pressed the button on one box, "Testing Testing-'' The other box started to repeat, "Testing Testing-" but then a feedback squeal started to climb in volume. It almost immediately made everyone in the lunch area cover their ears. Fortunately, Ryan took his finger over the send button, "Sorry! Sorry!"



It is somewhat telling that everyone just took it in stride when Ryan did something bizarre. Everyone in the room just went back to eating, with only a few muttering mild complaints.



The headmaster picked up one box so he could examine it closer, "What is it?"

Ryan tapped the other one, "Two-way radio. Proof of concept. I'm finding it difficult to make complex electronics so I've fallen back on vacuum tubes and more robust tech." Ryan flipped the off switches on both, "I'm running into the same problem as gunpowder. It's just not functioning as expected. This thing should work out to the horizon, and I'm lucky to get a mile. It makes no sense."

The headmaster gingerly put the box back down, "A mile? We have magic speaking stones already that can reach the other end of the kingdom. Not very useful, I'm afraid."

Ryan tapped the box, "No magic."

The headmaster blinked, "Excuse me?" Ryan nodded, "Not even magic stones. I finally figured out how to make functional batteries. You wanna hear something funny? I had run out of ideas so I tried a potato battery."

The headmaster slowly tilted his head to the side as Ryan continued, “Yeah. It runs off of potatoes. It SHOULDN'T, but apparently potatoes have a great deal of voltage here." He flipped open the top of one of the boxes to expose a large potato with wires sticking out of it, "The potato can run for several hours of continuous use, or you need to replace it after a week on idle."



The headmaster stared at Ryan, "Potatoes."



Ryan nodded, "Potatoes."



The headmaster pointed at the boxes, "You made a non-magical speaking stone that is powered by... potatoes."



Ryan shrugged, "Hey! Ya got me! I never expected to portal two this mother, but there you go."

Skip a bit.

Ryan looked at Monique and sighed, "Look. Even if the demon lord never shows up, a nation has to be able to defend its borders. How do you defend your borders? When you boil it down, it comes down to energy." Ryan started talking with his hands, "It started with one guy hitting another guy, then we upgraded to rocks and sharp sticks, then you put sharp rocks ON sticks, then metal on sticks, then just metal."



"But that's just energy when you boil it down to the basics. Kinetic energy. There is also heat energy with fire. But we got other forms of energy." Ryan hit the table with the palm of his hand, "Wham! Sonic energy! But what is sonic energy? It's kinetic energy. What is heat? It's Photonic energy. Heat is just a form of light. But what about electromagnetism? That's also energy. And of course... the most powerful form of energy, Not the creation or destruction of chemical bonds, but turning matter DIRECTLY into energy."



Ryan looked at the ceiling, "I suppose you could convert the fundamental underpinning of reality itself into energy, but I have no idea how to burn space-time itself, so that's right out. Plus, tapping directly into zero point energy could turn this entire planet into a cinder hurtling through space as a giant gravestone to mark where we all once loved and laughed and played." Everyone just stared at Ryan as he continued his little rant, "My point is, energy, and the ability to convert it into different forms of energy, and more importantly CONTROLLING energy to apply it to the world in ways you want is what any nation needs to defend its borders."



"Take this, for example.." He pointed upwards and a gout of steam shot out of his finger for a few inches, "Steam. Water when it goes from a liquid state to a gas increases in pressure by a factor of over 200. That's a whole lot of force. If I can figure out a way to harness this then flight isn't just for air mages anymore."



The headmaster struggled not to look shocked, ~Did... he just become the first steam elementalist?~



"And yes, I'd love to do tests on piezonuclear fusion and see if I can actually get the palladium experiments to work... but since the fundamental laws of reality are... I dunno... just... WRONG. And I mean, in the margins. In general, the laws of reality are working right but when I test the far end of the bell curve I keep running into... unexpected results."



He leaned back, then picked up a fork to stab his salad, "Until I can figure out why reality isn't working the way my math says it should, I have to make sure I don't accidentally set off a chain reaction that causes everything to go boom." He eyed the carrot on the end of his fork, "It's almost like the very curve of space-time itself is... pixilated. Or... maybe time doesn't exist? I find that strange since it seems to be passing, but-" He ate his carrot.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I mean, you obviously need it for survival because you don’t have enough money. Same with otakus.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

-_-

 

[Ellieporter]

Yeah, I play around with this quite a bit, but not just firearms.

?

 

[Nahrenne]

What are your thoughts on Fantasy stories that have guns instead of being largely focused on medieval melee weapons?

Do you think guns can be as cool as swords in fantasy?

What do you think is the best period of firearms for a fantasy story?

Personally I find like anything after 1900 to be a little boring. I feel beyond that point it becomes hard to create a believable environment where the two weapons are balanced, and I just don’t think hand held automatic weapons are very interesting in a fantasy story.

I think it can work to some degree as long as there is a limit to the guns that makes it so it doesn't break the setting.
An example would be if the components needed to craft guns is difficult to gather and construct so only those with a lot of money and status can actually have access to them.
Another rule could be that only those who are part of militaristic organisations are allowed to handle them due to how dangerous they can be - like how you would need to do a number of very thorough and vigorous tests to check your mentality and ability to use guns without disrupting the peace or causing problems.

Or you could go down the route of them not being developed as much yet so take a while to effectively use during combat, etc...or require magic to use, etc...


I think a really good example of having the two together was in the game [Greedfall]. It was set in a kind of Renaissance-y time where exploration and colonising was very much the in thing. With magic as an element in the setting, along with guns and swords, as well as potions, bombs and traps, it felt like a good balance.

[The Irregular at Magic School] (or whatever the title is called), has people who can use magic through technology, or they can use technology to enhance their use of magic, but only a select few can actually use magic so hot weapons are still very much needed. Of course, cold weapons don't really feature as much since it's set in a modern/slightly futuristic version of our world.

X

 

[georgelee5786]

They're interesting, but the appeal of swords in fantasy is greater for me.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

@Paul_Tromba

I can't tell if you tagged me because I do this poorly or because I do this well

 

[AnonUnlimited]

I can't tell if you tagged me because I do this poorly or because I do this well

It’s because @ElliePorter believes what you write is insane.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

It’s because @ElliePorter believes what you write is insane.

Fair. It kind of is.

 

[IanWhite2105]

What are your thoughts on Fantasy stories that have guns instead of being largely focused on medieval melee weapons?

Do you think guns can be as cool as swords in fantasy?

What do you think is the best period of firearms for a fantasy story?

Personally I find like anything after 1900 to be a little boring. I feel beyond that point it becomes hard to create a believable environment where the two weapons are balanced, and I just don’t think hand held automatic weapons are very interesting in a fantasy story.

I think that any Magic Fantasy focused stories shouldn’t have anything better than world war era technology. Conveniences like A/C, refrigerator, radio, running water, motor-carriages etc… would all be available. If you are doing a Modern Fantasy or Sci-Fi Fantasy then higher level technology is definitely doable.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

I think a really good example of having the two together was in the game [Greedfall]. It was set in a kind of Renaissance-y time where exploration and colonising was very much the in thing. With magic as an element in the setting, along with guns and swords, as well as potions, bombs and traps, it felt like a good balance.

I've been following this game for quite a while on Steam, would you recommend it? It intrigues me.
Also, I agree with what you said in your post.

They are definetely more static on average. You still can incorporate a lot of movements, since there are grenades, flanking, the cover can be destroyed, and so on. It can't quite compare to melee combat, and you still have to focus on a different thing, but mobility is not non-existent.

Another thing with guns I forgot to mention, is that guns allow for more uneven fights. If it's not some kind of super high fantasy, but a low fantasy, it's really hard to make a reader feel the difference in strength. Because not everyone watch Skallagrim or Shadiversity, or some similar channel. Not everyone can picture in their head why, for example, a simple plate armor is such a huge boost to combat abilities, and why it's so hard to win against a fully armored knight. But everyone can picture why a small pistol is weaker than a rifle, especially if the fight is not inside of a small room. A person with a pistol has to close the distance, because they can't aim, pistol is accurate, but not as accurate. And you don't have enough time to aim. At the same time, while you try to close the distance, you are vulnerable.

The difference in ammunition is also important. If author pays attention to ammo, it also can change the way the battle is written. Example, you have two squads. Both with some kind of submachine guns. One group has grenades and 4-5 mags. The other group has 1-2 mags. Both groups can't retreat. Are they going to be stationary? One group probably will be stationary. But the other one is constantly moving.

I will end this with saying that melee combat is less static. No questions here, no denial. But as I said, it's not like all gunfights are sniper duels. Yes, you sacrifice some mobility, but you gain more tension. And obviously all of it is only my opinion.

You've given me a lot to think about, and I definitely need to improve as a writer. To write an interesting gunfight, one definitely needs to be skilled in writing.

 

[Goodmann]

Check out Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, by H.Beam Piper.Great SF novel, classic. 1960s American drops into an alternate North America & a kingdom about to lose a war; the priests of Styphon the God of Gunpowder won't sell them any. Points out how difficult making enough gunpowder for a war is, potassium nitrate is a finite resource, & sulfur isn't all that common either! Unfortunately not on gutenberg.org but like to be found in your local used bookstore. 'Little Fuzzy' is on gutenberg.org!

 

[Nahrenne]

I've been following this game for quite a while on Steam, would you recommend it? It intrigues me.
Also, I agree with what you said in your post.

Well, I absolutely loved the game.
It has multiple endings, and the companions are all romanceable with some of them being bi.
The customisation of how you build your character can be fun, and you can get different outcomes for quests depending on how you do them - as well as for major events depending on if you did companion quests or not.


If you do decide to pick up the game, know that resting for 3 days in-game will refresh enemies and resources in an area you've cleaned up, since I don't think the game outright tells you that.


X

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

What are your thoughts on Fantasy stories that have guns instead of being largely focused on medieval melee weapons?

Do you think guns can be as cool as swords in fantasy?

What do you think is the best period of firearms for a fantasy story?

Personally I find like anything after 1900 to be a little boring. I feel beyond that point it becomes hard to create a believable environment where the two weapons are balanced, and I just don’t think hand held automatic weapons are very interesting in a fantasy story.

If every bullet hit, there would be no soldiers, a wise man once said. The same holds true for the post 1900s ...

 

[Kenjona]

Check Project Gutenberg.org for Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, by H.Beam Piper.Great SF novel, classic. 1960s American drops into an alternate North America & a kingdom about to lose a war; the priests of Styphon the God of Gunpowder won't sell them any. Points out how difficult making enough gunpowder for a war is, potassium nitrate is a finite resource, & sulfur isn't all that common either!

Ahh yes the start of period where the raiding islands for Bird poop and digging centuries worth of it up was a business. Oh as an aside the US still has the Guano Act on the books.

 

[Plantorsomething]

What are your thoughts on Fantasy stories that have guns instead of being largely focused on medieval melee weapons?

Do you think guns can be as cool as swords in fantasy?

What do you think is the best period of firearms for a fantasy story?

Personally I find like anything after 1900 to be a little boring. I feel beyond that point it becomes hard to create a believable environment where the two weapons are balanced, and I just don’t think hand held automatic weapons are very interesting in a fantasy story.

Ok but magic guns, like that one cowboy wizard game recently. Projectiles with wacky rules and effects, etc.

 

[Bartun]

Late again to the discussion.

But my story Nowhere to Run touches on this aspect. One of the main themes is people not understanding the world around them, including

Spoiler: Spoiler

lost technology

being interpreted as magic.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I'm not a fan of weapons in general, so I'm just going to say that I prefer tentacles in a fantasy setting.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I'm not a fan of weapons in general, so I'm just going to say that I prefer tentacles in a fantasy setting.

Your main character just weaponized her mommy milkers.