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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 16, 2009 12:44:29 GMT -5
Do we have any reference as to how advanced the RA universe is as far as explosives and gunpowder go? Do armies use cannons indicating at least basic knowledge of it or are we not that far yet?
(I may have already blown up a boat. Asking before I do it again)
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 12:46:09 GMT -5
Brandwyn told me it was similar to somewhere around the medieval era and they had that knowledge then so that's what I'm going on
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 16, 2009 12:47:14 GMT -5
HUZZAH!
I'm considering creating a woman who dabbles in um... "Boom-ery" as a profession and travels around showing off
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 12:59:08 GMT -5
Boom-ery? O.o?
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 16, 2009 12:59:50 GMT -5
Fine...
Explode-ery
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 13:06:40 GMT -5
gotcha. but with what? nothing like nuke bombs right?
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 16, 2009 13:07:55 GMT -5
No... Like, gunpowder, matches, maybe primitive experiments with firearms
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 13:09:47 GMT -5
oh, gotcha.
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 16, 2009 13:13:35 GMT -5
They didn't have cannons, though, not like what you would think of today when you say 'cannon'.
They did have gun powder and Dougal already covered a lot of that. Go read his character profile to get an idea.
Any explosive type things are going to have to be described in detail and approved by the staff (usually after we discuss them...)
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 16, 2009 13:14:48 GMT -5
I'm just saying, it wouldn't be too hard to figure out powder + pellet + tube = BOOMSTICK!
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 13:15:56 GMT -5
Righto. I believe they did have gunpowder back then. Actually, in the mideast I believe they even had guns around that time, though they sucked but they were still there.
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Dougal
Apprentice Messenger
Posts: 597
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Post by Dougal on Jun 16, 2009 16:22:02 GMT -5
Okay, just to clear up a misconception. There is only one person in RA who knows how to make gunpowder, and that's Malcolm the Sorcerer. However, in Book 6 we find out that he is not willing to share the recipe with anyone and so the world of RA doesn't really have gunpowder. I managed to get around this using calcium phosphide, which the ancient Greeks may or may not have had, but it's hard to make and probably more dangerous that nitro-glycerine in the sense that it releases a toxic gas that can spontaneously combust on contact with air (if' there's enough of it).
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 19:23:55 GMT -5
What about the usage of tar and fire? I mean it doesn't exactly go boom, but it catches fire quickly.
Or what about using water weeds to get pure oxygen and then setting a single spark to it. That'll catch fire real [emphasis on the 'real'] quick. Can we do that?
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Post by Brandwyn on Jun 16, 2009 21:17:45 GMT -5
Tar and fire was used in this time period. Generally buckets of tar were dumped on the heads of attackers scaling castle walls and then set aflame with arrows. Also on battering rams.
Tar is sticky. It would need some sort of delivery system to be able to shoot it anywhere and it doesn't go boom. It just burns and sticks to anything it touches.
I have never heard anything about water reeds haveing pure oxygen.
Oxygen won't actually burn by itself. You need three things for fire: Oxygen, a fuel, and an ignition source. What would be the fuel source in water reeds?
Or perhaps you were thinking methane gas that is found in swamps and manure?
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Post by ivory on Jun 16, 2009 21:23:43 GMT -5
Nope. All you do is stick a container over the plant (it's immersed in water and gives off oxygen). Thus you get pure oxygen. Then you ignite a spark and it goes up in flames. Of course, you'd have to feed it, so get the spark on a piece of wood or something. But if you could seal the container with the pure oxygen and wrap it with grass and rocks so when you throw it and it breaks, the rocks will create that spark and the grass is the feul. Viola, a fire bomb.
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