Blackmoor in the Stone Age!

[Havard]

This is an interesting question, especially since Blackmoor is THE setting where this is simply not true. Blackmoor is about a fantasy world that actually does discover and develop technology, right?

True, or, well, our accepted consensus here, for the humans. But is it also true for the other races?

Depends on the time frame.

My take is that with elves, magic does factor into things. Since almost all elves are able to use magic (at least by OD&D/BECMI standards), they are less likely to develop significant technology.

By 1030, Dwarves are already experimenting with steam tech, but they are very few in numbers due to their constant wars with the Orcs, so this might keep them somewhat limited in what they are able to accomplish.

The Romans knew about steam power, but did not explore it much because they saw no benefit from it in their slave based economy for instance.

That's not a bad comparison, but then again, what about basic infrastructural needs?

Like, Tolkien's immortal Elves would have to be kick-ass plumbers, for example. - I am not joking. Think about it.

Perhaps you can explain this further? The Roman Empire did develop quite sophisticated infrastructure, like roads, aqueducts and plumbing. This is a result of a large urban based civilization. The more rural oriented feudal kingdoms would have had less need for such things.

Do these questions link back to the idea of a Stone Age campaign?

-Havard