Questions tagged [medieval]
For questions about the medieval era (500-1500AD o.e.) as a whole, regardless of the location.
856
questions
2
votes
1
answer
130
views
Is a decade-long battle in medieval times with magic possible?
Question:
Is it possible to have one or multiple battles to continue for a decade or more in a fantasy medieval setting? The primary outcome required from the war is to have a constant stream of ...
- 29
4
votes
7
answers
228
views
How to balance a conflict between animal people when one of them has the advantage of flight?
Setup:
Avians are a humanoid species with bird characteristics, they all posses the ability to fly. Just as other species they can learn to use bows, swords and magic. Their main fighting tactic is ...
- 305
1
vote
1
answer
105
views
How much food surplus would medieval peasants have? [closed]
So, I am working on a setting. It is medieval fantasy with a focus on realism, and in my pursuits of realism, I am trying to figure out many things. One of them is the rough approximation of how much ...
- 21
0
votes
1
answer
63
views
Litmus test for discerning worthy counterparty of medieval trade
Medieval Europe tends to be regarded as an example of significant fragmented sovereignty. That is to say multiple entities would stake claim to the same land and/or inhabitants. Of course there were ...
- 7,921
5
votes
7
answers
176
views
Is it possible for another European-style medieval society to be on a separate continent?
In my world there are multiple continents with many cultures. In a far away continent, there are kingdoms that exist there. I was wondering how could they be medieval style like the mainland, and if ...
- 911
12
votes
16
answers
4k
views
Why would the devil give someone immortality in exchange for them maintaining a diary? [closed]
So bear with me on this
So I'm working on constructing a world for a DnD game that I am going to be running. I have a general idea of the world that I would like to develop, but am getting stuck on ...
- 491
2
votes
2
answers
211
views
How would a medieval society clear a jungle?
How would a late medieval to early renaissance society clear a 200,000mi² jungle?
This country is also a version of the Mexico-sized country referenced here, but much younger, and without the moving ...
- 3,352
-1
votes
1
answer
55
views
What would the government of a medieval city be like if it were transported through time and space? [closed]
I'm working on a story where an advanced civilisation show up near a medieval city (probably the capital) but there's an issue with their ship and through tech-wizard shenanigans the warp system ...
- 1,984
3
votes
2
answers
191
views
How could armour be designed to improve unarmed martial arts?
How could armour be designed to improve hand-to-hand martial arts? Reinforced, angular greaves with pads underneath to improve sweeps and kicks? Full plate is always good, but I feel like it could ...
- 31
18
votes
14
answers
5k
views
Medieval visual torture method
In my medieval fantasy world, there is the concept of the Five Pains for interrogation and punishment. Each pain correlated to a specific sense of the human body. Burning is used for touch, and a ...
- 2,276
10
votes
3
answers
261
views
Aircraft Carrier or ship with similar functionality for Dragon Riders?
My World has Dragoons, these are Dragon Riders and the riders are expert marksmen. They use magic arrows like explosive/fire/wind/homing arrows for offensive (basically magic archers) along with ...
- 101
6
votes
11
answers
2k
views
How to prevent adventurers from ganging up on dragon?
In the 13th century A.D., the king put up a hefty bounty for anyone who can help defeat the dragon and rescue his daughter. Actually, this was all according to the king's devious plan. The dragon was ...
- 46k
7
votes
4
answers
142
views
Controlling Air Temperature on a Futuristic Spacestation with Iron Age Technology
The Setting
World consists of humans with primitive technology living within an asteroid space station built by their technologically advanced ancestors. A lot of knowledge has been lost, obviously.
...
- 3,215
-2
votes
4
answers
257
views
Why does the "combat triangle" work? [closed]
In the medieval MMORPG Runescape, the combat is balanced by a concept called the combat trinagle.
Basically it's like rock-paper-scissors: melee is effective against range, range is effective against ...
- 603
5
votes
5
answers
894
views
What could be the reasoning behind why Elves go into metamorphosis?
For my setting, I really want to push the non-human aspect of the other typical fantasy races. For Elves, I've been throwing the idea around that they go through a metamorphosis of sorts. I was ...
- 51
6
votes
2
answers
509
views
How to know you are facing a hive-mind creature?
Setting
We are in a European medieval society.
Magic exists, but to answer this question you cannot use it.
About the creature
This creature could be an "Edge of Tomorrow" kind of monster,...
- 537
11
votes
10
answers
3k
views
How can a massive walled city be viable?
I'm working on a small story, and in it I'm wanting to include a city surrounded by multiple layers of walls. The walls themselves are colossal, but were created/held up by sorcery. I would go into ...
- 353
1
vote
1
answer
64
views
How many minis would it take to kill a unarmed/lightly armed giant, given the minis have roughly medieval tech? [closed]
Let us say medieval tech level mini people/humanoids trained for combat need to kill an unarmed/lightly armed(stick/rocks), average, untrained human/giant for some reason, maybe it is attacking the ...
- 669
8
votes
4
answers
847
views
What is the most advanced form of torch?
In a pre-electrical age, anyone who needs a mobile source of illumination must rely on a lantern, lamp, candle or torch. Torches seem to be the cheapest, most primitive option, yet surely they have ...
- 295
3
votes
1
answer
124
views
Just How Omnipresent Would Cheap Cross Laminated Spider Silk Be?
In this timeline's equivalent of medieval level development, spider silk is dirt cheap, and cross-laminated sheets of spider silk are quite affordable.
Portia jumping spiders were domesticated ...
- 1,916
-2
votes
1
answer
110
views
How far can a human see a human sized object in detail [closed]
I have a hero looking at a city under siege from a distance. He has some slight height advantage, say standing on a small mound or hill side, so I can ignore Earth curvature at the distances involved, ...
- 2,201
0
votes
1
answer
117
views
How would a "computer" be useful in a medieval world? [duplicate]
I am working on a story idea where a character in a medieval world develops a rudimentary computer. It is made of simple building blocks similar to the flip-flop and and/nor gates of digital logic. ...
- 269
10
votes
6
answers
1k
views
How many workers are required for a medieval civilization to have metals?
The setting of my story is a medieval refugee community that has found a protected place to settle. They end up remaining in isolation for a few hundred years. The protection is a boost for life, in ...
- 121
10
votes
11
answers
3k
views
In a supercontinent would ships still be the primary way of transportation before the invention of engines?
introduction
My world is made of a super-continent with very little isles, it has 100 countries, 97 of which are on land. 3 of those are underwater for folk who are able to live confortably in the ...
- 374
4
votes
3
answers
167
views
How can the Vikings go up against a thunder wyvern?
During the dark ages (early middle ages), the Vikings visited an isle surrounded by strong waves and giant whirlpools that seemingly appears sporadically. The island is populated with many walrus and ...
- 46k
-1
votes
3
answers
154
views
How would an industrial revolution affect the Catholic Church's theology in a 1400s setting [closed]
How would the Catholic Church be affected by the industrialization of Europe.
How would this affect the Church's theology?
The start of industrialization starts in the late 1300s also in Western ...
- 159
0
votes
1
answer
88
views
How could force fields be stopped? [closed]
My fantasy world has magic. Magic you are born with, and magic that can be learned. The mechanics of the force field the main characters are trapped in is that when you go in you can't leave. You are ...
8
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How could people hundreds of years ago have protected themselves from radiation?
In my world, there is a civilization with about 1800's-level technology. There is a nuclear accident in part of the world that they need to access. Is there a way for a civilization with this level of ...
- 91
16
votes
11
answers
4k
views
Medieval airship nomads
In a medieval society, an ethnic group lives most of their lives aboard airships. These airships are rudimentary, perhaps holding only enough room for a single family. They consist of slender wooden ...
- 2,276
15
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Would medieval people be able to build a wall to keep the rising sea levels from engulfing their continent?
Long story short the earth-like planet is being bombarded by ice comets crashing into the oceans and the sea levels are rising. I want there to be a huge wall(probably around 20 meters or so) that ...
- 4,417
6
votes
4
answers
148
views
Can a nonhuman species maintain an empire in a mostly human world? [closed]
In my fantasy world based on late antiquity/the early medieval era orcs have a large, powerful empire and seek to expand its borders to invade more land. Since most of the world's population is human ...
- 995
0
votes
2
answers
158
views
Why would medieval sleeper agents gather in one place? [closed]
I am making a system of sleeper agents that work to support an invasion. This all takes place in a late-medieval Chinese-inspired setting, on a large island nation (let's say "Keiza") that ...
- 13.1k
3
votes
2
answers
236
views
Raid-efficient feline species
Let's say that there is a warlike tribe that focuses on raiding small villages. They are kind of like the Vikings, but they don't arrive by riverboats; they strike the oblivious villages, arriving ...
- 787
2
votes
2
answers
159
views
How would an underwater city be structured? [closed]
Let's say there is an underwater civilization of merpeople. They were able to develop medieval technology (approximately, since an underwater civilization would develop differently than an above water ...
- 787
24
votes
31
answers
7k
views
Why would civilizations have no major technological development even after ten thousand years?
Basic Introduction (story background for anyone interested)
I have a character whose punishment for causing massive genocide was immortality for ten thousand years. To be more specific, after his ...
- 787
3
votes
7
answers
2k
views
Can a group of assassins help win a war? [closed]
The Icratic empire and the Noctan Empire, both powerful empires, are fighting a war. The Noctan Empire has physically well-built soldiers that are well suited to the terrain they are fighting in, but ...
- 787
3
votes
4
answers
244
views
Controlling the late-medieval world with just a network of agents and instant communication
The World Controlling Agency
I have long had a concept about a world-spanning NGO; an organisation with the power to start and end wars, and whose CEO any monarch would kneel to rather than risk their ...
- 13.1k
21
votes
25
answers
5k
views
How hard magic could make bows, swords and other early/mid- medieval weapons relevant alongside fairly advanced gunpowder weapons?
Introduction
In a quite a lot of games swords, bows and so forth exist on a regular basis alongside guns, and often are as powerful, if not more so, than firearms. In a realistic, non-magical setting, ...
- 387
6
votes
16
answers
2k
views
What could be some limitations to magic to make it less overpowered? [closed]
In many movies and animations, magic is overpowered. Most of the time, magicians could only be countered by other magicians.
I'm building a medieval fantasy world where magic exists. In this world, ...
- 787
10
votes
17
answers
1k
views
How does one hide a floating island in the sky from anyone below looking up?
So, floating islands are a pretty common trope at least in the media I've consumed, and one thing that sort of stands out - oftentimes, they're meant to be a reveal to a larger world (Either as part ...
- 1,000
3
votes
5
answers
421
views
Reality Check: Medieval economics - could peasants ban rent?
Question:
Is there any economic reason they would be unable to do this / some unforeseen way it would ultimately come back to bite them? Ultimately they want to let their peasants live rent-free in ...
- 1,339
4
votes
1
answer
79
views
Lions and their natural habitat, and biomes
First time here in a few years. I remember that the last time the questions had to be specific to what I was looking for but I don't wanna swamp anyone with too much info, so I'll endeavour to be lean ...
- 43
15
votes
15
answers
5k
views
How Do You Get Wood in a World Where Monsters Defend The Forests?
PROJEKT ' IRON SONG '
In the Empire of Tyvertsia, there are many strange and often hostile beasts—bears, mountain lions, sirin, bauk and the like—living among the wildlife of the thick Western forests,...
- 820
16
votes
10
answers
5k
views
Taking the bayonet to its logical conclusion. Or, the pike-rifle
Due to some copious amount of handwavium, projectile weapons are not as effective as their melee counterparts. They are still very useful, but not to the point of replacing close combat. Historically, ...
- 496
5
votes
2
answers
362
views
Could medieval people build an airtight spaceship or space ark using their common resources?
This is set on a fictional alien world with medieval people. However, this world has alien livestock that are capable of flying into outer space and traveling to other worlds. These medieval-age ...
- 189
4
votes
2
answers
862
views
Feasibility of an amateur setting their own broken nose
I am working on a fantasy set in a medieval age (the exact time period is loose due to magic progressing science differently to the real world), and an experienced fistfighter gets their nose broken ...
- 43
4
votes
4
answers
430
views
How could a medieval person drug someone to sleep?
My story takes place in a fantasy world with roughly medieval level technology (as is to be expected in that genre). One of my characters intends to spike someone's drink in order to make them fall ...
- 882
31
votes
13
answers
5k
views
How long will it take for a medieval human to adapt to our current world?
Meet Henry, he is a sharp and quick-witted rich young adult from the High Medieval Ages(1000-1347). He can be described as someone with decent adaptability skills, though not much
He found a time-...
4
votes
3
answers
136
views
Vegetation on medieval farmland abandoned for 40-80 years
What kind of vegetation may I expect to encounter on a farmland that was abandoned partially about 80 and completely some 40-50 years prior?
This is medieval-style farmland, so it is not wheat for ...
- 2,201
3
votes
2
answers
109
views
How would a planet's (human) life adapt to inconsistent night duration?
I realise this question is rather broad, so I'll do my best to narrow down what I'm looking for as much as possible.
The big idea
The full daylight cycle on this hypothetical planet is consistent in ...
- 31