Questions tagged [medieval]
For questions about the medieval era (500-1500AD o.e.) as a whole.
565
questions
1
vote
2answers
157 views
Conceptual differences between nations inspired by East-West dichotomy
I have decided to completely rewrite my question, since the original text led people to believe that I am asking about historical facts.
Let's imagine a world in ancient/medieval setting populated by ...
3
votes
1answer
131 views
Internment Camp for Magical Beings [closed]
TLDR: What would an internment camp look like, if it were designed for magical beings in a high medieval society (with no gunpowder, but fantastic metallurgy)?
Setting/Context
I am building a world ...
60
votes
17answers
11k views
Modern warfare theory in a medieval setting
Let's assume a medieval lord named Gary I of Flowers lives in a "Europe-ish" continent with no gun powder or magic. Somehow, he's aware about modern warfare theory. Maybe he found out a time-traveler ...
15
votes
3answers
547 views
Medieval Crop Yields
I'm the DM for a D&D campaign, set in a sort of "realistic-fantasy" setting. There's monsters and magic and stuff, but there's not enough of that for the average medieval community to see much ...
3
votes
2answers
168 views
How to calculate medieval urbanisation
Pretty simple question, or I think so, anyway. I want to know how to determine a realistic ratio of people in my fantasy medieval province living in supercities, cities, towns, villages and farming ...
6
votes
4answers
3k views
Plausibility and performance of a composite longbow
English Longbows were typically selfbows made of yew, and were pretty effective at what they did, however, I’ve heard before that while composite bows, like the Mongolian, could have less raw power, ...
3
votes
3answers
124 views
Armor for a pyrokinetic
What could a group of pyrokinetics wear.
They can't wear armor made from flammable material (obviously).
They can't wear iron/steel armor because it would get hot too quickly and it wouldn't be so ...
5
votes
5answers
987 views
Fight a biblical flood apart from building barriers [closed]
In a medieval setting, which methods of fighting a rising sea level exist apart from building barriers? The idea is that a civilization has to fight the flood just long enough to finish their ark.
...
25
votes
19answers
8k views
Defending Castle from Zombies
TL;DR: You're defending coastal medieval fortress with help of about 1000 people from attack of zombies.
Long version: In my fantasy world, I'm dealing with problem of how would you defend city ...
4
votes
3answers
202 views
Yet another low-tech device alert
After seeing this question, a similar but IMO harder question came into my mind: what if the magical alert is non-mechanical?
Let me explain:
Similar plot, low/mid-tech world, no industrial ...
2
votes
2answers
133 views
GMO Agriculture - Medieval farming with modern day seeds and advanced robots, how hard or how easy could it be to be rich using them?
Let's just say that you are stuck in a different world. You found a biological research and production starship wreck...
You decided to have GMO plants/seeds agriculture on your land that you bought ...
40
votes
16answers
14k views
What professions would a medieval village with a population of 100 need?
Let's say I have a small village with 100 people of which everyone is able to work, what kind of professions do these people need?
Background to the society: they are as smart as medieval people, ...
6
votes
3answers
241 views
How could a medevial kingdom of mainly exclaves function (Politically)?
In my setting their exists the Kingdom of Tor a kingdom nestled nearby a small mountain range. The capital city, Tor, is built along a tributary of the river Goro one of the largest rivers in the ...
3
votes
0answers
158 views
How much agricultural land per person in medieval society? [closed]
In medieval society corresponding to approximately year 1200 in Holy Roman Empire, how much agricultural land would there be on average per person? What would be typical composition of the land? (...
4
votes
1answer
186 views
How to care for your critically injured dragon: Medieval edition | Part 1: staying hydrated
After the Pucci Gang successfully reset D&D universe #405 into a physics compliant version of itself, things went south rather fast.
For instance, somewhere high up in the mountains a village of ...
43
votes
7answers
10k views
How to realistically deal with a shield user?
Fantastic universe, but not necessarily magic involved in the process. You face a guy who has a shield (tower shield of not). You do not have a shield, but you are a better swordsman. How do you win?
...
1
vote
5answers
213 views
Advance human society by time-transporting a book. Which to choose? [closed]
Humanity has done it - the first time-machine was built! However, the machine's capabilities are very limited as it is very costly and fragile, which means we only have one shot. Building another one ...
2
votes
2answers
231 views
In a stable medieval fantasy population, what should be the yearly birth rate per 1,000 people? [closed]
For a human or human-like stable, small settlement population, living in medieval fantasy, how many yearly births per 1,000 inhabitants are expected?
Assuming:
There is no major epidemic.
There are ...
11
votes
6answers
2k views
How could a medieval fortress manage large groups of migrants and travelers?
The Red Keep was built thousands of years ago to defend against the invading hordes. The Red Keep itself is a fortress, the main wall of which blocks off the main pass through the mountains.
Over the ...
5
votes
10answers
723 views
What's an appropriate title for a person who deals with conflicts of an Empire? [closed]
What would be a good title for someone who works closely with an emperor, is skilled in diplomacy, deals with different factions and individuals in the Empire's capital city to resolve issues, while ...
3
votes
8answers
489 views
Does this half-armor make sense in this context?
In a setting I was thinking of, most of humanity lives in complex tunnel and cave systems, in sprawling masses of underground cities. To the scope of this question, let's assume their technology is ...
21
votes
18answers
6k views
Are there any medieval light sources without fire? [closed]
In a world of my story, which is loosely based on medieval times, fire disappeared. Are there any sources of lighting without fire that would be possible in a medieval setting?
It is a fantasy book ...
2
votes
1answer
124 views
Could a large enough semi isolated population keep up with Eurasia in technology? [closed]
Could a semi-isolated country island about 3,000,000 square miles and 1000 miles south of India avoid becoming a colony and develop into a rich and strong modern state today?
They have about the ...
16
votes
9answers
3k views
What factors could lead to bishops establishing monastic armies?
In a fantasy world I have planned a historical event was the "Bishops War" in which the bishops of multiple large parishes waged war with one another with large armies of warrior monks. But I've run ...
27
votes
14answers
8k views
Is conquering your neighbors to fight a greater enemy a valid strategy?
So, I have a group of 6 small kingdoms (in a medieval low fantasy world) that share a lot of their culture, since they were just one country in the past. In my story, a powerful nation (let's call it ...
21
votes
8answers
6k views
What could a Medieval society do with excess animal blood?
In my fantasy project I have a vaguely medieval society (specifically the high period). However some of their religious practices are more along the lines of a iron age society. One of the biggest ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
What would Earth look like at night in medieval times?
Background: Aliens are debating whether to launch an invasion of Earth in medieval times, say the year 1000. They launch a satellite to orbit Earth and send pictures of Earth to see whether it is ...
4
votes
4answers
352 views
What weapons could an Iron Age society wield that would be effective against Medieval (High Period) knights?
In numerous fantasy worlds, including my own, I have seen knights battling what appear to be "barbarians" inspired by the Celts, Germanic groups, or possibly some Scythians. From what I've seen, the ...
3
votes
2answers
141 views
Would it be possible to make .45 LC or .45 Colt in medieval times? [duplicate]
Say a 1880 gunsmith traveled to a medieval time period. I just wanted to know if it would be logically possible for someone like him to be able to make additional ammunition for a colt model 1873 ...
4
votes
6answers
403 views
How could you make banking profitable during the middle ages?
I'm doing a medieval fantasy project and I wanted to include a banking faction. The main issues I've run into are: banks during the middle ages don't seem to be profitable.
What factors would allow ...
20
votes
17answers
9k views
How to hide rifle during medieval town entrance inspection?
Here is my fantasy medieval scenario:
There is pair of adventurers, a Supportive/Non-Offensive mage and a swordsman.
The swordsman is actually a disguised rifleman who carries a scoped rifle.
In ...
14
votes
8answers
3k views
Medieval flying castle propulsion
One day, on the faraway world of not-medieval-Europe, someone discovered that a type of stone could be made to float. A decade or two later, there are flying castles, built out of and/or on a ...
3
votes
6answers
446 views
Medieval weapons and Armor without gunpowder [Siege machines]
The firearm has thought to have been what had killed the age of knights and skilled swordsmen. While it could take years of hard work and practice for a warrior to master a blade or bow, he could pick ...
0
votes
4answers
245 views
What modern things that are cheap can be good to sell in a fantasy medieval world at high price [closed]
I have my protagonist go to a fantasy world that is locked in their medieval era like late 1300 early 1400. My protagonist need money to travel, so what kind of modern invention, a material that is ...
16
votes
10answers
7k views
Is a world with one country feeding everyone possible?
I imagine a world with the size of Europe and the Middle-East. In this world, with lands and seas that are comparable to Europe and the Middle East for its geography, farming is not developed. In fact,...
28
votes
7answers
3k views
What city and town structures are important in a low fantasy medieval world?
I've been working on a procedural map generator that draws cities and towns on continents and islands and I've gotten to the point where I'd like to add lists of structures to the settlements.
I know ...
4
votes
3answers
160 views
Usurper securing a throne while keeping allies of killed king [closed]
How to take over a throne at the same time keep the allies of the previous king despite cultural/religious differences
Like when Alexander the Great died, several regions were ruled by his generals. ...
4
votes
5answers
212 views
Living ice magic - what can I do with it?
I, the Grand Sorcerer Alazam of the Guild of Arcanists, have invented a remarkable new spell! Using unique magical artifacts, I can create what I call 'living ice' - chunks of ice that grow and ...
2
votes
3answers
563 views
Would a Glass “Rupert Drop” Weapon be Plausible?
Can a large glass Rupert Drop somehow be manufactured into a useful and effective weapon in medieval warfare, such as a club?
I've developed a society that primarily lives in the desert with sand in ...
3
votes
3answers
174 views
Fortification of an island kingdom? [closed]
In the story I'm working on, there's an island kingdom that has historically been attacked by invaders from the mainland. This island kingdom's culture is akin to that of ancient Djibouti or Eritrean ...
5
votes
4answers
634 views
Killing undead fish underwater
To kill zombies on land, you usually have to either chop their head off, burn them down or use purification magic (if it is a fantasy world).
But underwater you can't kill the zombies the same way as ...
28
votes
8answers
4k views
Any examples of headwear for races with animal ears?
So, considering the structure of the head and ears for creatures like cats, dogs, and bears, if one were to make a race with those types of ears (The stereotype cat person, essentially) I am curious ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
Creating a chemical industry from a medieval tech level without petroleum [closed]
You've been transported into a world with a medieval tech level. This world has coal deposits, but no petroleum deposits. You have no chemistry equipment with you, but you can use glassblowing or ...
2
votes
1answer
141 views
Last name earning system [closed]
I just had an idea for a story based on Islamic Spain and Barbary pirates. But after doing some research I found some kind of chaos and randomness in last names. The people's last names are either:
...
22
votes
17answers
3k views
Weaponising the Grasp-at-a-Distance spell
Wizards have developed a Grasp-at-a Distance spell. It has numerous uses in everyday life of course but the Emperor (may he live forever) wants it to be deployed as a weapon of war.
Spell operation
...
6
votes
3answers
285 views
Most effective melee weapons for arboreal combat? (pre-gunpowder technology)
The creatures I am working with are primate-like, hexapodal aliens with a terrestrial/ arboreal lifestyle. On flat land they are able to walk bipedally, freeing up their top 4 arms for manipulating ...
26
votes
19answers
6k views
The logistics of corpse disposal
A pair of fearless killers, thousands of years old, guard a path to what is believed to be heaven. Of course, all towns in the area have different ritual and traditions where either their criminals or ...
11
votes
7answers
1k views
In What Way Would Cryomancy Affect the Food Eaten by Medieval People?
Cryomancy is magic involving the removal of heat from an object by converting thermal energy into magical energy, thereby cooling the object. The conversion to magical energy is not perfect (some ...
4
votes
10answers
548 views
How could a medieval army only use unarmed combat and still be effective?
This medieval fighting force, we'll just call them the Bruiser Army, uses only unarmed combat, but how are they still effective? They have absolutely no range compared to the spears and swords of ...
7
votes
6answers
1k views
How could sorcerers who are able to produce/manipulate almost all forms of energy communicate over large distances?
Sorcerers possess the ability to sense, generate, and manipulate energy; however, their abilities are largely limited to controlling energy that they/other sorcerers have created, and not naturally ...
