Science in the Dungeon

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

If there's anything that the other editors and I butt heads about around here, it's the amount of science that should be present in our fantasy—or rather, the amount of science fiction. I make no bones about the fact that I'm a huge sci-fi fan, and if given my druthers I'll almost always err on the side of too much rather than too little. Which means that, given the overall traditional RPG fantasy feel of our campaign setting, it usually falls to Jacobs, Wes, or someone similar to rein me back. (For instance, no matter how much I lobbied, neither of them would budge and allow me to put a magical particle accelerator or space elevator in the Varisia backdrop... which is perhaps for the best.)

In D2: Seven Swords of Sin, the setting of a research facility abandoned by the mysterious Council of Truth allowed me ample opportunity to blend fantasy and science to my own peculiar tastes. The generator room (magic-powered and water-cooled!), the recycling unit (where corpses turn into valuable potions!), the incinerator (get rid of those undesirables!), and the turbines that supply the dungeon with air all scratched an itch that rarely gets addressed in a lot of fantasy settings. By far the most sci-fi element, however, was one of the new monsters: nanites (which were promptly renamed the construct swarm by the Powers That Be).

Few current trends in science capture my imagination more than nanotechnology. Just reading about all the advances in medicine and manufacturing that are coming about as we speak due to tiny, autonomous robots makes me giggle and start expounding loudly on how We Live In The Future (which, as Jacobs will tell you, happens on a regular basis). And while writing D2 I got to thinking: most of the reason we've taken so long to get where we are with nanotech is due to manufacturing limitations. But with magic, construct technology is already in place, and size is changeable at a whim. It seemed to me like a natural choice. And if it allowed me to put in a hermetically sealed "clean room" and a man transformed by a horrible, intelligent swarm that prefers to fight its battles in your bloodstream... well, more's the better. So, fully prepared to have to rewrite that room, I threw it in.

And, to my great surprise, it stayed. For that, I give many thanks to the GameMastery team. May they not regret their decision.

Now just wait until we start talking about Golarion's moon....

James Sutter
Assistant Editor, Pathfinder