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Origins of Gunpowder

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Eva Element

Eva Element

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gunpowder isn't all that difficult to create. You could create some home made gun powder.

It is literally only sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate.

All of which would be able to be found in large supplies by the mining Dwarfs.

Have you ever tried to mine anything? Using just pick axes it would take months to get feet. As it is now it would be then. Blasting large portions of rock fist then mining the rest around it is the most effective way to extract minerals from the ground. Lacking magic it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think Dwarfs would think as we do. And try and find ways to substitute non magical way to achieve what magic probably could have done before. A little bit of Alchemy and boom we have black powder. I'm a big entropy fan.

All subtlety and nuance of a napalm enema

24-Aug-2015 19:51:23

Rondstat

Rondstat

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BarryManilow said :
The theory about magic and gunpowder is interesting. What is the state of magic in the Eastern Lands? Humans in the west are able to cast magic because of our access to runes. Perhaps magic in the East is only wielded by those who are naturally gifted with it? And maybe that's why the humans have better gunpowder tech in the East?

I forget if this comes from Kami's dialogue or Zuzu's dialogue, but they don't use runestones in the Wushankos, so I'd assume magic is less widespread (and firearms are more attractive). The most common form of magic we do hear about (soothsaying/occultism) involves the use of rituals with entrails and small animals (for lesser forms), up to sacrifice of people and sea monsters (for stronger forms).

24-Aug-2015 20:00:52

Solanumtinkr

Solanumtinkr

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Rondstat said :
BarryManilow said :
The theory about magic and gunpowder is interesting. What is the state of magic in the Eastern Lands? Humans in the west are able to cast magic because of our access to runes. Perhaps magic in the East is only wielded by those who are naturally gifted with it? And maybe that's why the humans have better gunpowder tech in the East?

I forget if this comes from Kami's dialogue or Zuzu's dialogue, but they don't use runestones in the Wushankos, so I'd assume magic is less widespread (and firearms are more attractive). The most common form of magic we do hear about (soothsaying/occultism) involves the use of rituals with entrails and small animals (for lesser forms), up to sacrifice of people and sea monsters (for stronger forms). That would certainly explain the eastern lands using a lot of gunpowder, if that is the case that is. The purpose of adventure is to shine light into dark places,
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25-Aug-2015 19:34:38

Krayfishkarl
Jul Member 2014

Krayfishkarl

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I'd go with the fact that they were independently developed. Gunpowder consists of sulfur, charcoal (both of which can already be found in the game) and lastly, saltpeter, which in real life can be derived from vegetables. It's not unreasonable to assume that the dwarves and the Wushanko islanders to devlop them without much interaction with one another.

Oh also, wasn't there an Imcando pistol added to the game some time ago? That's a full-on flintlock weapon right there.

EDIT: Didn't see Eva Element's post pointing out the ingredients of gunpowder.

Another edit: I just recalled that you get to see goblins actually create gunpowder during Recipe for Disaster. And during the 2010 Easter Event, it is revealed that goblins know how to create fireworks. I suppose that the only reason why much of humanity still uses medieval weapons is because magic is capable of a greater variety of effects than gunpowder. In societies where magic is not readily available, firearms would definitely be more practical.

Also, as a historical thing, in the time period that RuneScape is based on (most likely 1400s - 1500s given the presence of grandfather clocks and telescopes), gunpowder weapons would have started to become more common as their design continued to become more refined and more practical to use. Indie Game Developer, Worldbuilder
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30-Aug-2015 02:55:23 - Last edited on 30-Aug-2015 04:45:22 by Krayfishkarl

halt wolf

halt wolf

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I like to think the dwarves improved upon some designs from the east. However humans have very practical weapons, that I would assume they got from trading with dwarves. Those human naval cannons could lay waste to towns. It would be nice to see a naval focused empire as a faction, one that you actually hear of using its power. Those ships to me, seem closer to the shops of the 1600s the the 1400s. Could be my limited knowledge of ship design of that era though.
On guns in runescape: considering a musket is easier to use then a bow,hoe would you tier them? A single musket ball can kill a man in plate armor.

30-Aug-2015 04:56:01

Aquamancer
May Member 2011

Aquamancer

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Rondstat said :
What I think a lot of folks tend to forget is that Gielinor is a world in decline. Society in general is less advanced, not more advanced, than it was in the past. During the god wars, craftsmanship and technological sophistication (at least in the human world) reached their peak, with common armaments of today unable to match the older standards. Each race was driven to greater heights by the necessities of war.

The thing is, Gielinor is not a world on decline, it a world on recovery from a decline. It is true that in comparison to the Second and Third Age, a lot has been lost, but in many ways, Gielinor has advanced beyond that. Gielinor's cultures have been on recovery ever since the banishment of the gods, the ensuing infighting and the Dragonkin attacks sent most of Gielinor's races back to bronze age during the Fourth Age, leading to the arts known during the Third Age being forgotten. Everything from that point on has been either reinvented, rediscovered or is completely new innovation. At this point, Gielinor is living its version of Reneissance: magic, science and new technology is widespread, and lost arts are being rediscovered. Gielinor is not at its dusk, it is at a new dawn.

In addition to that notice, I'd like to remind you people one thing you seem to be forgetting: cannons are not just used in ships, but they're also present in castles across human kingdoms. I remember that Lumbridge and Ardougne castles have cannons, and I think Varrock might have them as well. Interestingly enough, Falador doesn't have cannons, but given that the knights who rule the city appretiate honourable fighting it'd make sense for them not to incorporate cannons in Falador, even though just 5 years ago chaos dwarf mortars destroyed Falador's walls. This in my opinion suggests that gunpowder is more common that what we think.

30-Aug-2015 16:26:30

Aquamancer
May Member 2011

Aquamancer

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halt wolf said :
On guns in runescape: considering a musket is easier to use then a bow,hoe would you tier them? A single musket ball can kill a man in plate armor.

To be honest, early guns weren't much more powerful than bows. While guns were powerful, they were highly inaccurate: they were only useful when fired by multiple people at the same time. Not just that, but guns back then were unwieldy, unreliable, and generally inferior to a good bowman. On the other hand, while bows took longer to learn to use (a popular saying was that to train an archer, one would have to start at his grandfather), they were very powerful: a single arrow packs enough punch to kill a person immediately and pierce even plate armour with relative ease, and the only reason guns took over was presizely because they were easier to be used, and because there was only one country in Europe which had good bowmen: England. Even today, I'd say modern-day bow and arrows can be more lethal than guns.

In RuneScape, however, I'd say guns are about equal to other forms of ranged weaponry. After all, in real life thrown weapons were significantly weaker than crossbows, which were weaker than bows, but in RuneScape, they all seem to be as powerful depending on what material they were made out of. In my opinion, a rune musket would be as powerful as a magic shortbow or a rune two-handed crossbow.

30-Aug-2015 16:44:20

Eren Lapucet

Eren Lapucet

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Actually Ava, I'm not sure if you were referring to this, but we did use a chemical compound to destroy a pile of ricks ingame during The Dig Site quest. We made it by using charcoal, ammonium nitrate, nitroglycerin, and an arcenia root. So it's very similar to gunpowder's ingredients irl. There's a short book from the quest called "Book on chemicals" written by the person who made the recipe, if you want to read it. I'm too Unaligned to have a forum signature.

30-Aug-2015 16:49:59

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