Questions tagged [medieval]
For questions about the medieval era (500-1500AD o.e.) as a whole.
9
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8answers
4k views
Arrow proof medieval glass
In my world, I have ''classic'' knights but with helmets that have transparent visors which are strong enough to protect from arrows.
So which material available in medieval times could withstand an ...
1
vote
3answers
202 views
where can my protagonist get shot by arrows while in full plate and have them bounce off
my protagonist gets jumped in a cave by Goblins armed with Composite bows from about 30 feet away my protagonist has full plate and a kite shield, the goblins are decent archers but startled and ...
8
votes
1answer
127 views
How effective is a defensive wall without a wall walk?
I see a lot of historical and fictional illustrations of walls that do not have wall walks. My understanding of medieval tactics is largely based on cinema and some wikipedia, so as far as I know a ...
11
votes
2answers
512 views
How do I calculate the number of people who have ever lived in a place over a given span of time assuming a fixed population?
500 years ago, the mountain dwelling Carac clan was cursed with undeath: whenever they or any of their descendants die, their corpses rise as undead creatures, or if burned, as shadowy specters. The ...
8
votes
4answers
382 views
How to not let magic advance the technology too fast?
So lets say that the level of the non-magic wielding species i.e. humans technology is at around the level it was in the early medieval times.
I would then introduce magic to the rest of the world in ...
1
vote
4answers
194 views
How would a medieval army conquer a treetop city?
In my book series, an evil space conqueror named Tate is attacking the planet of Aztlan. However, in order to do so, he must subjugate the Avian tribe and their capital city of Palo Alto. However, ...
3
votes
3answers
242 views
Other metal alloys as armor/weapons
We know of the metal iron, and alloys bronze and steel, used as armor and weaponry in the Medieval ages.
Is there another metal alloy that could be used for armor or weapons in the Medieval era?
5
votes
3answers
306 views
How thick a stone castle wall needs to be to withstand a modern tank?
From In what war would one modern military vehicle make a difference? question I presume a tank could decimate something like an ordinary medieval castle as have survived to this day.
But at some ...
0
votes
0answers
66 views
How fast to become “most wanted” in medieval world? [duplicate]
This is the question every RPG player or D&D player had in mind: "What happens if I kill them all?" So, lets ask the question:
Imagine typical medieval fantasy kingdom. There is some magic and ...
4
votes
0answers
52 views
What are ways to destroy a country's government/monarchy by using the underground/black market/illegal doings? [closed]
I'm creating a story in which the main characters want nothing more than the complete and absolute downfall of an entire country, starting from the top and its royalty all the way to the corruption of ...
5
votes
5answers
159 views
Consequences to the region near single battle front
Scenario
Medieval technology and warfare.
There's a war between two sides of a continent.
Said Continent has a large mountain range crossing the whole land.
At the north, there's and opening to this ...
55
votes
41answers
22k views
Is there such thing as a “one-person” door?
Imagine an evil dictator. He imprisons his enemies in a labor camp, but they never do any work! He doesn't want to torture them, or force them to do that since he is using all of his soldiers to build ...
4
votes
1answer
118 views
How often did trading/traveling ships set sail between port cities in Medieval times?
Say there are two port cities (City A) and (City B). The distance between them is the same as the distance between Greece and England. The world takes place in a medieval setting with normal ...
-1
votes
5answers
267 views
How can medieval-like coalition defeat or force a modern army into submission? [closed]
In my story, there would eventually be a final battle between a modern/high tech army from Earth and a coalition from another world. What are ways that the coalition can gain victory? Given that they ...
23
votes
12answers
8k views
Is it possible to bind multiple ships together on open water?
In Renaissance period, would it be possible to safely bind ships together for extended periods of time?
Imagine if there was a fleet of large ships (say, two dozen) that have been traveling over a ...
6
votes
5answers
623 views
How can a medieval city built in the desert defend against sandworm attacks? [closed]
I'm writing this book series called the Weasel Sagas (link here for more on that) that has this planet called Aurea. Aurea is the planet in this universe most similar geographically to Earth, with ...
6
votes
4answers
221 views
How would an attacking army take a port city by surprise on land in medieval times?
Imagine a busy port city with hundreds of ships in a medieval setting without gun power. The city is not heavily walled, and is located on a remote corner of the world, away from the jurisdiction and ...
0
votes
4answers
215 views
How to slaughter the Pixies in medieval pixie war?
In my world there are pixies/fairy's, little humanoids no taller than a standing squirrel, with 4 bug like wings yet intelligent as a human. Unlike traditional lore they have no magic. They do however ...
11
votes
5answers
300 views
What would a medieval war against a subterranean race look like?
To round off the little series started by this and this, I figured that I should add this question.
The setting: there is a race of underground people living beneath a human kingdom.
To avoid the ...
11
votes
9answers
3k views
What would a medieval war against an air-borne race look like?
So I've been inspired by this question to ask what would a medieval war against an airborne hominid (let's call them harpies) be like? Basically most of the assumptions about the meerfolk of the ...
57
votes
13answers
7k views
What would a medieval war against an aquatic race look like?
The setting; there’s a large population of merfolk living in the ocean, and a developing seafaring human nation on the neighbouring coastline.
These merfolk are entirely aquatic. They have gills and ...
1
vote
0answers
55 views
Steam Locomotive without Industrial Revolution? [closed]
In the world I'm building, there is a steam-powered train, but it's a steam turbine locomotive, not a steam piston locomotive. Otherwise, the desired technological level of the world is (more or less) ...
13
votes
4answers
314 views
Can the Mongols conquer France?
Background
In the mid 13th century, France was without a doubt the richest land of the West. Inside its modern borders there were perhaps 18 million people, and maybe more, at that time perhaps 1/5 ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Why weren't medieval city gates backed with a system that would turn the gate into a rubble filled wall?
Before gunpowder, one of the common ways to break a city is to break the gates. Since they have to be opened and closed they are intrinsically weaker than the wall itself.
There were various ...
8
votes
12answers
1k views
How to realistically implement magic-users in medieval warfare?
So, I’ve seen other settings before where magic-users – mages, sorcerers, wizards and similar – are basically gods. There have been fantasy stories where a mage can singlehandedly wipe out an army, ...
24
votes
15answers
5k views
For how long can I hide the discovery of a new continent?
I've got a late middle-age like world, with a situation similar to Europe/America: one continent has a technological advance, and enough sailing skills to discover the other continent.
The incentive ...
62
votes
19answers
11k views
Making the 'Master Swordsman' fantasy realistic?
The idea of a truly masterful swordsman capable of taking on dozens of average swordsmen by himself (sometimes even above average!) is a pretty common depiction in fantasy media.
A recent example I ...
4
votes
5answers
356 views
Medieval gem values
I'm working on developing a realistic economy for my setting, but one thing my research has failed at is finding numbers that I can use to create a gem system that can be used to price gems of various ...
4
votes
3answers
121 views
Most useful multi tools for dwarves
I have spent some time designing a dwarven civilisation. They don’t live below ground all the time. In fact I heavily draw upon the actual culture of mountain tribes, such as The Lisu for inspiration....
9
votes
8answers
377 views
Pre-electrical fast long-distance communication using Acoustic Mirrors
It takes a lot of work, but it can be done. The Mongol Yam, a horse-based mail system, is probably the best example that has been done before. But after visiting the local science museum recently, I ...
4
votes
4answers
735 views
Can a medieval castle be made today? [closed]
Not sure if it fit well this website, history.SE, or if it's off-topic, but I have a simple question:
Can we build a medieval castle, with the same methods as they used at that time, in 21 century? ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
How early can transparent glass windows be easily available?
TL;DR: How early can windows made of transparent glass (can look through) be readily available (not a rare luxury) to "common" citizens (at least top 10% of population)?
Disclaimer: I know very ...
15
votes
9answers
5k views
Is there a plausible way to build a pipette with medieval technology?
I'd like for a character in a vaguely medieval fantasy to be able to dispense drops of a ink reliably from a pipette, but I'm not sure whether this is a plausible - the tech level is pre-1500, but it ...
61
votes
11answers
12k views
Is a pig-mounted cavalry possible?
Recently, my neighbour upset me. I have discovered that he plans to somehow improve his trebuchets to throw nasty things across the river. I told him that my pig-mounted cavalry will attack him.
I ...
5
votes
2answers
205 views
How could a medieval society catch a large number of birds in a short length of time?
I was lounging about in my throne room when a man came to speak to me. He had one leg cut off (recently, too) and claimed he was an alchemist. He says that he wants to get revenge on the king of the ...
34
votes
9answers
5k views
How long does it take to build a medieval city wall?
There is a medieval city that, for multiple reasons, doesn't have any kind of structural defense, but they decided to build a wall now as there is risk of a war in the bordering kingdom, which can ...
25
votes
11answers
8k views
What can I do to make my son's snowman survive, using medieval technology?
What my son likes the most with winter is making a snowman.
What my son hates the most with winter is melting of his snowman.
I really would like to make him happy and make the snowman survive for ...
3
votes
2answers
173 views
What would a recession look like in medieval times?
I'm working on a fantasy setting for a game, the gameplay of which includes trading and government in a fantasy world that is experiencing a negative trend in trade.
The setting is outwardly ...
7
votes
2answers
388 views
Is a medieval spoon satellite realistic?
I misread an answer to My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages?, thinking it was referring to a network of parabolic reflector dishes made of spoons orbiting the ...
9
votes
4answers
3k views
Is a network of spoon-launching trebuchets realistic?
On a comment to My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages? I joke about creating a network of trebuchets to launch spoons.
Is it realistic?
My concerns:
How far ...
115
votes
21answers
18k views
My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages? [closed]
Yup. All my pigeons are now spoons. I knew my court alchemist was a sore loser, but I still think it's inappropriate to do that for a chess game. He vanished and I no longer have any means to ...
4
votes
7answers
446 views
How could a medieval army defeat Sauron's army?
For context : I would like to know if it is plausible to build a realistic european medieval world where Sauron appears at some point
Sauron's army was one of the most powerful in Middle Earth in the ...
2
votes
5answers
222 views
What would the buildings in a city on a marsh be made of?
In my world there is a city built on a mighty river just as said river opens up into a marsh as it hits the sea. The river is quite wide and deep and when it reaches the city has already crossed a ...
7
votes
1answer
229 views
How many generations to lock in androgynous human characteristics?
My story happens in fictional medieval age. There are the usual suspects of peasants, clergy, craftsman, merchants & aristocracy. There is also a specific class of hereditary servants. They work ...
5
votes
9answers
343 views
What reasons would you have to reclaim your spot if the current rulers aren't evil?
Let's say a strict monarch who ruled a kingdom of "hunters" was overthrown by a race/group of "witches" in a way that wasn't proportionate to any crime the recent ruler may have committed, but instead ...
73
votes
20answers
13k views
Which professions warranted travel in Medieval times?
I'm trying to come up with characters whose backgrounds allow them to have homes, histories, and skills, but will still enable or encourage them to travel in a typical medieval setting. I've never ...
2
votes
3answers
206 views
Heavy, immutable steel: armour design
Imagine a metal that can be molded into (almost) any form using magic, but once the process is done the material becomes absolutely immutable. It is not possible to physically alter its form. It can ...
19
votes
13answers
7k views
Would children born in winter be weaker than the ones born in other seasons?
Setting is a dark ages medieval world. Equivalent to Earth circa century V AD.
Agriculture has no crop rotation, and most of the harvest is lost to plagues and pests (those damn wabbits).
Would ...
33
votes
21answers
15k views
Are “Midas” swords useless for warfare?
Are swords, spears, and arrows that turn slain enemies into pure gold useful, in medieval combat, or are they useless aside from free money?
Notes about the weapons:
flesh wounds don't turn people ...
8
votes
4answers
363 views
Is a mainly kicking combat style like Muay Thai, or Taekwondo realistic for a giant humanoid of around 15 feet?
I'm working on creating a realistic species of giant humans. I've changed the proportions, such as creating elephant like feet and muscular pillar-like legs to support the weight. They also possess a ...
