One of the things that I love about Eberron is the airships (I've always had a fondess for airships and dirigibles, magical or mundane) and I was wondering if they existed in Golarion too. Would it be contrary to the intended flavor of the world to have airships? Are they already in the works?
Doesn't sound too much of a stretch for the setting, considering the quasi-gothic stuff I've seen so far (especially considering the tech levels of previous ages).
I don't think they should be too common though.
I'm not sure where I heard it, and I may be wrong, but i think the official answer was a "no" with post script "maybe" on the sibling planets of the Golarion system.
Hmmm. Or maybe it's just my imagination. So many threads. So many tiny leaks.
The occasional rare Airship, ala Setzer's Airship from FFVI (FFIII in the US) was one thing. The small proliferation of a single nation having a little fleet of Airships, ala the Kingdom of Baron from FFIV (FFII in the US) still wasn't too bad. The Dwarven tanks was something else...The Tower of Babil and the Giant of Babil being controlled by a giant Computer...okay, there are some problems.
Anything beyond this sort of proliferation starts detracting from the 'fantasy' feel of a game, going a bit more Steampunk or MagiTech crazy. Each of those games, or FFVII and its motorcycles took things too far in at least some regards.
A suggestion for those who want lots of Steampunk and MagiTech stuff, check out Privateer Press' Iron Kingdom's setting. It also has great rules for firearms too. The Gunmage class is rather awesome. I really liked the setting, but when I was involved there were no books but the main Campaign Guide out. I think there are all kinds of things out for it now.
All that said, my games really go for more Fantasy than the other feel. I am going with the grittiness of Golarion for mine. I personally don't want to see Airships in Golarion...it'd be like seeing Firearms in Conan...I just don't want to see it. Some occasional ancient MagiTech or something left over from Azlant is one thing...Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is something else entirely.
Meh....where there's gnomes, there's airships. I learned that from the Icewind Dale video game.
It's a physical law of physics or something.
Heathy does make a good point...
The Gnomes of Golarion are of a fey mein, they are not the mad artificing Gnomes of Faerun or Dragonlance. I prefer the change myself.
The occasional rare Airship, ala Setzer's Airship from FFVI (FFIII in the US) was one thing. The small proliferation of a single nation having a little fleet of Airships, ala the Kingdom of Baron from FFIV (FFII in the US) still wasn't too bad. The Dwarven tanks was something else...The Tower of Babil and the Giant of Babil being controlled by a giant Computer...okay, there are some problems.
Anything beyond this sort of proliferation starts detracting from the 'fantasy' feel of a game, going a bit more Steampunk or MagiTech crazy. Each of those games, or FFVII and its motorcycles took things too far in at least some regards.
A suggestion for those who want lots of Steampunk and MagiTech stuff, check out Privateer Press' Iron Kingdom's setting. It also has great rules for firearms too. The Gunmage class is rather awesome. I really liked the setting, but when I was involved there were no books but the main Campaign Guide out. I think there are all kinds of things out for it now.
All that said, my games really go for more Fantasy than the other feel. I am going with the grittiness of Golarion for mine. I personally don't want to see Airships in Golarion...it'd be like seeing Firearms in Conan...I just don't want to see it. Some occasional ancient MagiTech or something left over from Azlant is one thing...Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is something else entirely.
That's exactly why I couldn't stand FFVII and FFVIII. Too much technology. The others were okay for me, but those were really modern-feeling to me. I was happy with the others after those, though.
Eberron's airships are fine, because if you're playing in Eberron, you are supposed to accept that you are going to be in a world where magic is simulating some modern technology.
Pathfinder on the other hand seems to be more of a traditional fantasy setting. I'd be fine with airships, but I'd rather see like dirigibles or whatever. And even then I would vote for few of them.
Medieval technology for the win!
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That's exactly why I couldn't stand FFVII and FFVIII. Too much technology. The others were okay for me, but those were really modern-feeling to me. I was happy with the others after those, though.The occasional rare Airship, ala Setzer's Airship from FFVI (FFIII in the US) was one thing. The small proliferation of a single nation having a little fleet of Airships, ala the Kingdom of Baron from FFIV (FFII in the US) still wasn't too bad. The Dwarven tanks was something else...The Tower of Babil and the Giant of Babil being controlled by a giant Computer...okay, there are some problems.
Anything beyond this sort of proliferation starts detracting from the 'fantasy' feel of a game, going a bit more Steampunk or MagiTech crazy. Each of those games, or FFVII and its motorcycles took things too far in at least some regards.
A suggestion for those who want lots of Steampunk and MagiTech stuff, check out Privateer Press' Iron Kingdom's setting. It also has great rules for firearms too. The Gunmage class is rather awesome. I really liked the setting, but when I was involved there were no books but the main Campaign Guide out. I think there are all kinds of things out for it now.
All that said, my games really go for more Fantasy than the other feel. I am going with the grittiness of Golarion for mine. I personally don't want to see Airships in Golarion...it'd be like seeing Firearms in Conan...I just don't want to see it. Some occasional ancient MagiTech or something left over from Azlant is one thing...Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is something else entirely.
To be fair, though, VII and VIII were suppossed to be more... oh, let's say "Shadowrun"... than D&D (like the first five) or Steampunk (like VI). It's not so much that VII and VIII stepped away from fantasy, it's just they went into a differnt style of fantasy to see how it went.
And, you gotta admit, at least they STAYED in genre, not like X or XII, where Steampunk got into their traditional Fantasy, along with everything else.
Count me in in the "against" crowd. Too Eberronny for me. Or Realmsian.
Anyway, what I could say yes to, for the sheer madness of the idea, is air carriages.
Get a big hot air balloon, or zeppelin, but none of the propeller nonsense: They're being pulled by something big and flying. Giant eagles, griffins, hippogriffs, pegasi, dragons (which makes your sky carriage the Golarian equivalent of a Mercedes) or winged humanoid slaves (if you want to go the extra mile for cruelty - and you always should!).
Don't make them a regular occurance. Maybe the thing's unique done by some mad tinker/conjurer/zookeeper.
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Okay, here's my question:
I had a game I was thinking up, possibly a lot of intercourt turmoil, plotting and scheming, think the Amber family; a....powerful central authority figure passes away, and his former realm is being squabbled over by numerous somewhat powerful scions.
One of the hooks/central themes I wanted to use was a gnomish experimental airship. Each of the power factions WANTS this thing to add to their arsenal, to give them the edge in a pretty much D&D medieval/bolstered with magic war effort. That is a central driving factor in this game: everybody wants the airship.
My question is: is this a decent angle for a game, or does the sheer fact that gnomish airships are sooooo cheesy and overdone veto the idea by default?
I've been thinking about a mega weapon type deal since I read about and saw some stuff about the English vs. the French when the longbow gave the English a devastating edge in battle.
Creative Director
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The gnomes of Golarion aren't tinkers/inventors. They wouldn't invent an airship, when flying around on giant moths or huge owls is much easier.
To cross over into another controversy... I suspect that airships in Golarion will be less common than guns. They'll be about as common as robots.
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Interesting . . . especially considering many of the pitches for the first open call contest contained airships in them (mine included).
Stepping back and looking at the setting as a whole, I can see now that it might be a good thing that airships aren't in Golarion. Such technology radically changes the landscape IMO, and I like where Golarion is at now.
Also, the more I think about it, the better it feels to have Golarion distinguished from Eberron. Inclusion of airships would just make the setting feel like "Diet Eberron" or "Eberron-lite."
About as common as robots, eh? So, how does that rate compared to the frequency of, say... turbines? =)
Contributor
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About as common as robots, eh? So, how does that rate compared to the frequency of, say... turbines? =)
Like this (order of approximate commonness in Golarion):
Ninja
.
.
Guns
.
.
.
.
.
Delvers
.
.
.
.
.
Steam Power
.
.
.
.
.
Robots/airships
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Good-aligned drow rangers
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Turbines
You ain't gettin me in no jive zombie bird, fool!!!! B.A. don't fly!
No problem, B.A. Just drink this drugged milk. It's good for the bones. Good for the kids.
The semi-Clash of the Titan's reference above was wonderful...the vulture-thing and the cage.
Since Golarion does seem to be based more strongly on Roman/Greek (For Cheliax and Andoran) and other Classical settings...Greek Mythological comparisons are not unwarranted, and in my case, I love it. My wife and and I are both ecstatic about Golarion so far. My wife has been bugging me to run something Romanesque for a few years, now I finally have incentive to do it. I can do it in the campaign world I want to use. So again, kudos to James, Mike, Erik, Nick and all the others who had/have a hand in crafting Varisia and Golarion for us.
Classical Period FTW!
So....robots.....Bubo the magic owl, anybody?
Hey, Hephaestus made Bubo...not some mortal spellslinger.
Come to think of it...a clockwork Owl being a masterful creation by a deity? Then again in like 1500BC a clockwork Owl would be beyond amazing.
About as common as robots, eh? So, how does that rate compared to the frequency of, say... turbines? =)Like this (order of approximate commonness in Golarion):
Ninja
.
.
Guns
.
.
.
.
.
Delvers
.
.
.
.
.
Steam Power
And, there's my number one hot button, pressed again. :)
It's one thing to say that there's currently no steam power in Golarion. That's fine. I have no problem with that.
But show me a universe in which heated gases expand, and I will show you a universe in which steam engines work. And if you show me a universe where said heated gases don't expand, I'll show you a universe so totally alien to anything we can understand that not even Far Realm creatures could function there.
...And you guys have already shown us a magical nuclear reactor under Kaer Maga!
...
All I'm asking, I guess, is a sane and rational explanation for the lack. Like, maybe, one or more gods selectively altering physics in the vicinity of any attempt to make one.
Fantasy universes in which zero technological progress is possible piss me off. It's stupid, unreasonable, stupid, impossible, stupid, wrongheaded, and stupid. Did I mention stupid? ^.^
I don't think that is what they were implying. I think its more a matter of allowing the world to take its own course.
Some of the freaky technoMagic thats slipped out thus far is ancient stuff (think Atlantean or Azlanti, in this case or maybe Thassilonian). Things once discovered, now lost.
Rather like Plato's description of Atlantis for Earth. Supposedly they had technology and secrets of the gods that no one else came anywhere near.
Its then a matter of discovering/rediscovering the methods and means for such things. Then again, any DM who has ever had someone try and combine Charcoal, sulfur and Saltpeter in game...especially when their character has no Alchemy skill...would understand their trepidation.
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Creative Director
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But show me a universe in which heated gases expand, and I will show you a universe in which steam engines work. And if you show me a universe where said heated gases don't expand, I'll show you a universe so totally alien to anything we can understand that not even Far Realm creatures could function there.
Steam power certainly COULD function in Golarion, as could gunpowder and fission/fusion and all sorts of other modern day tech. The primary reason things like this are rare in Golarion is mostly because they don't fit the themes of the world. There's no magical ban or deific blockade against technology like this; physics works the same way in Golarion as it does on Earth.
But the inclusion of things like steam power and guns and turbines is something that disrupts the feel and theme of Golarion. In the same way a stripper would disrupt the feel and theme of Seseme Street, or Godzilla would disrupt the feel and theme of a serial killer movie, or New York Style taxi cabs would disrupt Lord of the Rings. They're out of place.
That said, sure, some magi-tech or actual tech inspired things have crept in to Golarion here and there. The reactor under Kaer Maga is one example, as is the wand rifle from "Entombed with the Pharaohs." (Personally, I feel that even these examples went too far in pushing the boundary of themes and tech in Golarion, ESPECIALLY this early in the development of the world.) But those'll be exceptions in the long run.
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Okay, here's my question:
I had a game I was thinking up, possibly a lot of intercourt turmoil, plotting and scheming, think the Amber family; a....powerful central authority figure passes away, and his former realm is being squabbled over by numerous somewhat powerful scions.
One of the hooks/central themes I wanted to use was a gnomish experimental airship. Each of the power factions WANTS this thing to add to their arsenal, to give them the edge in a pretty much D&D medieval/bolstered with magic war effort. That is a central driving factor in this game: everybody wants the airship.
My question is: is this a decent angle for a game, or does the sheer fact that gnomish airships are sooooo cheesy and overdone veto the idea by default?
I've been thinking about a mega weapon type deal since I read about and saw some stuff about the English vs. the French when the longbow gave the English a devastating edge in battle.
Have you seen AC11 The Book of Wondrous Inventions for Basic D&D?
Most of the stuff in there lends itself to a more humorous campaign, but among the items in the "Weapons and Warfare" section you can find:
Rumblebotty's Flying Nightmare
Definition: A huge, airborne assault platform held aloft by hot air balloons and staffed by a horde of orcs.
as well as Volospin's Dragonfly of Doom
Definition: A flying machine made from a giant dragonfly construct, often used as a dragon-buster.
Basically an attack helicopter (or more accurately, an attack ornithopter).
In any case, the point is that there is lot more than the old gnomish airship for this kind of thing.
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Count me in the Lo-tech crowd as well... The most technological devices I want to see in Golarion are things like waterwheels and aquaducts. I like the tone and feel of Golarian rustic.
I think the Pharaoh module was a little too techy too... wandrifles and Doctors and all... Even the word professor seems too modern.
I always assumed things like steam engines, non-magic airships, and gunpowder didn't develop in most fantasy campaigns, because everyone who would be designing them is busy learning magiuc.
Gunpowder isn't needed when you can hire a wizard to make fireworks (it wasn't used for guns at first anyway, and no king is going to pay for the early gunne things when that gold could be spent on more +1 corssbows).
riging griffons makes airships a long stretch in terms of money spent developing them.
Steam power makes much less sense than a few extra unseen servants, or even golems (which never need refueling).
I kinda like muskets in my fantasy, so my sailing ships look more like Pirates of the carribean than The 13th Warrior, but I tend to have both kinds anyway. Other than that, a steampunk/wandpunk setting can be fun, but needs to be separate and deisgned that way from the get-go.
So please, ninja yes, robots no.
I always assumed things like steam engines, non-magic airships, and gunpowder didn't develop in most fantasy campaigns, because everyone who would be designing them is busy learning magiuc.Gunpowder isn't needed when you can hire a wizard to make fireworks (it wasn't used for guns at first anyway, and no king is going to pay for the early gunne things when that gold could be spent on more +1 corssbows).
riging griffons makes airships a long stretch in terms of money spent developing them.
Steam power makes much less sense than a few extra unseen servants, or even golems (which never need refueling).
I kinda like muskets in my fantasy, so my sailing ships look more like Pirates of the carribean than The 13th Warrior, but I tend to have both kinds anyway. Other than that, a steampunk/wandpunk setting can be fun, but needs to be separate and deisgned that way from the get-go.
So please, ninja yes, robots no.
Dungeon Grrrl states my case nearly point for point. I'll admit I especially like having powder weapons for my Piratey stuff. Having ship combat without Cannon is fine, but I prefer all the firepower not being restricted to Wizards and Sorcerers which I don't think are everywhere in my games anyhow. Arcana is supposed to be a rare talent, so not every ship has a Ships Mage. In my games, its rather rare for one to have a wizard aboard at all. Especially since I like playing my seafarers as superstitious, much as they were historically.
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Dungeon Grrrl states my case nearly point for point. I'll admit I especially like having powder weapons for my Piratey stuff. Having ship combat without Cannon is fine, but I prefer all the firepower not being restricted to Wizards and Sorcerers which I don't think are everywhere in my games anyhow. Arcana is supposed to be a rare talent, so not every ship has a Ships Mage. In my games, its rather rare for one to have a wizard aboard at all. Especially since I like playing my seafarers as superstitious, much as they were historically.
Being able to cast spells in Golarion isn't actually all that rare, and I suspect that most of the well-supported and successful shipping concerns DO have a spellcaster on board for just such purposes. And that doesn't mean having a wizard or sorcerer on board. A bard or rogue with Use Magic Device and a wand works, as does a druid with call lightning.
A game in which spellcasting is rarer than cannons certainly sounds interesting... but that's not what we're going for with Golarion.
Count in for the crowd that likes a small level of technology in the world. I really liked everything from Entombed with the Pharaohs, including the Wand Rifle. But I don't really want to see it get pushed any farther than that - too much technology and it ceases to be "fantasy" any more.
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And, there's my number one hot button, pressed again. :)
It's one thing to say that there's currently no steam power in Golarion. That's fine. I have no problem with that.
But show me a universe in which heated gases expand, and I will show you a universe in which steam engines work.
Wow dude, relax. Seriously. Nobody once EVER said anything about the lack of steam power in Golarion. Ever. Not once. It doesn't currently exist because who needs it? We've got the spell mount.
Yes, steam engines work on Golarion, just like they do on Earth. But unless I missed an entire chapter in my history books (which I doubt, since I was a history major in college), Imperial Rome, Hellenistic Greece, Medieval Europe, and Warring States Japan (for numerous random examples) were woefully lacking in steam-powered technology.
CLEARLY, steam power worked in the world that all of those cultures existed in, but just as clearly, none of them had developed it yet.
So chill out. Don't equate me saying something is rare with me saying it can't exist. Putting weight behind my words that I don't intend makes me very cranky (obviously).
While I'm for keeping Golarian low-tech, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Hero of Alexandria who in the first century invented steam engines, robots, and vending machines.
While I'm for keeping Golarian low-tech, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Hero of Alexandria who in the first century invented steam engines, robots, and vending machines.
I actually saw a documentary about this guy and much of the 'magic' involved in the great temples of yore. Fascinating stuff.
Being able to cast spells in Golarion isn't actually all that rare, and I suspect that most of the well-supported and successful shipping concerns DO have a spellcaster on board for just such purposes. And that doesn't mean having a wizard or sorcerer on board. A bard or rogue with Use Magic Device and a wand works, as does a druid with call lightning.
A game in which spellcasting is rarer than cannons certainly sounds interesting... but that's not what we're going for with Golarion.
Any feel for how common spellcasters are? In a city of 5,000 how many wizards/adepts/sorcerers/druids et al do I expect to find? And of what level?
The point I asserted before was a simple observation, not specifically what I was doing. I prefer that cannon and powder be relatively difficult to come by and expensive. Can't have the characters being to fast and loose and deciding to start making Black Powder Bombs or something.
Alright, so a spellcaster on important ships and some more thrown around is perfectly fine. I'm sure we can expect a lot of Adepts as well as the Bards or other folks making the 'UMD' checks. As long as ships like the Sea Sprite from FR aren't sailing everywhere, I can handle it.
The gnomes of Golarion aren't tinkers/inventors. They wouldn't invent an airship, when flying around on giant moths or huge owls is much easier.
To cross over into another controversy... I suspect that airships in Golarion will be less common than guns. They'll be about as common as robots.
So, you're saying there's a chance... given the presence of the "not-really-nano-robots-but-you-know-they-are" in D2 exist in the millions within that swarm... man the planet must be crawling with airships... I'm surprised my PCs haven't already gotten smothered in airships ;)
Not that I care one way or the other about airships, just yanking your chain.
Signed "Your friendly neighborhood robotics researcher" (my IRL job gives me excellent toys to play with)
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Contributor
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Okay. My previous post came off a lot more harsh than it needed to be. I blame a raging headache and being tired of the tendency of messageboards to overreact to misinterpretations.
So yeah, take the basic message of my previous post but assume the hostility is less than half of what it looks like. ;)
Okay, I just wanted hear some other people's thoughts on this since I'm still trying to get a feel for the world.
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Creative Director
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Any feel for how common spellcasters are? In a city of 5,000 how many wizards/adepts/sorcerers/druids et al do I expect to find? And of what level?
The tables on page 139 of the DMG are pretty close, actually. So in a city of 5,000, there'd probably be several dozen spellcasters at least.
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While I'm for keeping Golarian low-tech, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Hero of Alexandria who in the first century invented steam engines, robots, and vending machines.
Dang beaten to the punch! I was pretty surprised when I saw this myself.
About as common as robots, eh? So, how does that rate compared to the frequency of, say... turbines? =)Like this (order of approximate commonness in Golarion):
Ninja
.
.
Guns
.
.
.
.
.
Delvers
.
.
.
.
.
Steam PowerAnd, there's my number one hot button, pressed again. :)
It's one thing to say that there's currently no steam power in Golarion. That's fine. I have no problem with that.
But show me a universe in which heated gases expand, and I will show you a universe in which steam engines work. And if you show me a universe where said heated gases don't expand, I'll show you a universe so totally alien to anything we can understand that not even Far Realm creatures could function there.
...And you guys have already shown us a magical nuclear reactor under Kaer Maga!
...
All I'm asking, I guess, is a sane and rational explanation for the lack. Like, maybe, one or more gods selectively altering physics in the vicinity of any attempt to make one.
Fantasy universes in which zero technological progress is possible piss me off. It's stupid, unreasonable, stupid, impossible, stupid, wrongheaded, and stupid. Did I mention stupid? ^.^
I disagree. Often technology comes about to accomplish something that needs to be accomplished and no other obvious solution exists to do it. So the Romans invented a kind of steam engine - they just never did anything with the technology in part because they had no clear need that steam power would fulfill.
The British invented functional steam power over the course of a couple of hundred years becuase they desperately needed to get coal and the easy to access coal had already been dug up. To get at the deep coal deposits they had to invent something that could pump the water out of their flooding mines. They desperately needed coal becuase a population explosion and the demands of a maritime empire had resulted in them embarking on wood cutting at a clearly unsustainable rate.
The British had gotten to the point where human feces was a valuable commodity becuase you could dry and burn it. When your at the point where your paying people to run around collecting s&%! for fuel, well then your also in a place where there is likely to be technological progress on this front.
This also ignores the fact that Britain was the centre of a massive demographic explosion that helped push this sort of inventiveness. Demographics meant that if you invented something like a steam pump for getting the water out of a coal mine there would soon be some one along who thought that the idea could be used to do something like move goods and people around.
Britain was part and parcel of the renascence culture of Europe and this helped influence this. Geography made it impossible for any of the stunning number of tiny states to conquer all the others and hold them (everything in Europe is down a peninsula with a mountain range in between - no one was able to take and hold the whole place for any length of time). So the Europeans existed in a perpetual arms race with each other and this was pushing technology forward at a breakneck pace.
In a fantasy world magic is generally your go to solution for a major problem and thats putting a damper on technological development. Magic is tried and true and generally cheaper at least initially. Why invent trains when you can make a teleporting gate? So long as magic exists there is never a situation that can be described as 'necessity is the mother of invention' because the answer to the current problem is already known - its magic. Thus there is no need to reinvent the wheel - there is a perfectly servicable 'wheel' already in common use.
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Okay, here's my question:
I had a game I was thinking up, possibly a lot of intercourt turmoil, plotting and scheming, think the Amber family; a....powerful central authority figure passes away, and his former realm is being squabbled over by numerous somewhat powerful scions.
One of the hooks/central themes I wanted to use was a gnomish experimental airship. Each of the power factions WANTS this thing to add to their arsenal, to give them the edge in a pretty much D&D medieval/bolstered with magic war effort. That is a central driving factor in this game: everybody wants the airship.
My question is: is this a decent angle for a game, or does the sheer fact that gnomish airships are sooooo cheesy and overdone veto the idea by default?
I've been thinking about a mega weapon type deal since I read about and saw some stuff about the English vs. the French when the longbow gave the English a devastating edge in battle.
Reference Material:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2 - Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill (late victorian setting, but perfect for use of airship to dominate skies free from other air-traffic and generally send everyone into a tizz).
The Trolltooth Wars - Steve Jackson (good use of flying ship as general's command centre in a fantasy war).
That said, sure, some magi-tech or actual tech inspired things have crept in to Golarion here and there. The reactor under Kaer Maga is one example, as is the wand rifle from "Entombed with the Pharaohs." (Personally, I feel that even these examples went too far in pushing the boundary of themes and tech in Golarion, ESPECIALLY this early in the development of the world.) But those'll be exceptions in the long run.
Interesting - the wand rifle in J1 jarred be too - especially since I only glimpsed the artwork at first, leafing through it in the car, and read the actual description a few minutes later - although it is not all that far removed from a crossbow.
And I love both the magical reactor of "Seven Swords" and the "Pit Fiend Accumulators" in Pathfinder #3, especially since these are not flashy "straight to the face" applications of ancient golarian magi-tech.
As for airships and the gnomes - I don't see them bolting together a classic steampower-airship either, but how about breeding something like the floating whales of the "Black Company" series and world.... pretty handy, if a bit hard on the upkeep. Or organic "grown" golems/constructs, possibly aided through alchemical enhancement and selective cross-breeding which they employ for heavy labour. I mean, even gnomes have need for that at times ?
Anyway, as a personal wish for the holidays.... "Tell us more about the gnomes of Golarion"
Count me in the Lo-tech crowd as well... The most technological devices I want to see in Golarion are things like waterwheels and aquaducts. I like the tone and feel of Golarian rustic.
I think the Pharaoh module was a little too techy too... wandrifles and Doctors and all... Even the word professor seems too modern.
well, define "low-tech"....
Looking at human history, development and application of technology was pretty uneven. The chinese had gunpowder, printing, advanced mathmatics and navigational technology (compass) way before the Europeans... and did nothing with them, since they didn't have the needs. The Romans were excelling at architecture - but were behind in other departments. And then almost all of that knowledge got lost due to barbarian invasions and an end of roman society, plus massive religious prejudices.
The Arabs had superior medical sciences, astronomy, clockworks, precison crafting of lenses and glasswork, advanced metallurgy etc... but never really went into engineering and then hit a point of inexplicable stagnation.
Its a mixed bag. Looking at France in the late 18th century, they are not all that far advanced as for modern engineering (definitely behind the english, who were making leaps in mechanical applications) but they developed "lighter-than-air" balloons... and did little with them.
As long as "technology" stays exotic, sufficiently advanced enough to basically be just another kind of magic (to paraphrase "Illuminati"), I can well live with it.