Advice about Technology!

[Koujow]

Despite the fact that I was elected to start up and GM a second group because our main RPG group was too large and now the local PFS venture captain wants me to start GMing too, my main group's GM rotation is coming back to me and I have to start designing a new campaign soon. I will be rather busy for the next few months to say the least. (Its ok, because I am apparently a masochist) One of the ideas rolling around in my brains is basically rather Victorian in nature, but I'm not so sure I would venture into the territory of calling it Steampunk. Maybe even just past Victorian and a little bit of the early pulp era? Of course, this time period was full of all kinds of fancy technologies, like those horseless carriages and moving pictures and guns...

So the questions are:
-Whats the most advance technology you unleashed to your players?
-How have advanced technologies changed the game?
-In your opinion, what becomes completely obsolete with the introduction of technology? (Classes, feats, etc.)

Maybe some responses will help me gauge my interest in running such a campaign.

And for completion sake, my own answers to the above are:
-Whats the most advance technology you unleashed to your players?

Spoiler:

In one campaign, we had a player who wanted to be a cowboy and I gave him a revolver as reward for some quest. The player had almost no understanding of the rules and refused to take rapid reload because... reasons? So really, it let him have an extra couple of attacks before he had to spend his turn reloading the gun.

-How have advanced technologies changed your game?

Spoiler:

As I said, the player with the advanced piece of technology didn't understand the rules and refused to learn them, so any game breaking potential of introducing a revolver into medieval society was avoided. That said, I am fully aware that a competent player could have wrecked house with such a thing.

-In your opinion, what becomes completely obsolete with the introduction of technology? (Classes, feats, etc.)

Spoiler:

Obviously, armor basically disappears with the exception of the armor that specifically has bonuses against gunfire. (I thought there was a type of armor or a magical enhancement that did this, but I can't seem to find it). Characters will probably focus more on using firearms over other weapons.

As for other things, because I don't want to focus entirely on guns, is that many aspects of the game become incredibly simplified. Depending on how advanced I went, automobiles could reduce or even negate most travel rules (since half the time, most locations are only a few days WALK from where you are. It almost always happens that way), which means fewer random encounters. I guess players could still see a (insert random monster here) and go hunting it? IDK

For the most part, I think classes wouldn't be so much obsolete as have to change their focus.
-Fighters would probably focus more on firearms and archetypes that increase AC in different ways (...mind is blank, but I am almost certain there are archetypes that do that).
-Barbarians might have a difficult time, since they would still have to melee to be awesome at raging and if most characters are focused on range, then...
-Cavaliers would probably suffer. Like Barbarians, they are awesome at melee stuff, but now they are charging into fields of gunfire to lance someone.
-Rogue? Most people are probably focusing on shooting? Well, sneak attack just became EVEN HARDER! *rogue flips table*
-I could venture to say that Spellcasters would benefit, actually. If more people were focused on firearms, that means less people trying to force concentration checks on them. At least, when humanoid NPCs are involved. Monsters and animals might still just charge in.

I know I am focusing a lot on Firearms (dabnabit), but things like cover and dodge bonuses would become even more important because it would be the better defense against taking hits than armor.

[williamoak]

Hm. I have yet to throw any significant technology at any of my players, but I am planning a one-shot about Androids escaping the Technic League, so technology is a concern...

I guess in this context, I've always seen technology as very similar to magic, with a few exceptions:

1) It is more costly;
2) It is more reliable (most of the time)
3) It cant reproduce it's higher-powered effects (IE level 7-9 spells FOR THE MOST PART)

I've never really thought about guns, since I have yet to allow them. I guess I find guns boring? I'm more interested in building robot armies, spaceships, techno-liches & other oddities...

I generally go straight from medieval to sci-fi... the stuff in between is just too close to our own existence, so I tend to find it less interesting...

It's why I love the "distant worlds" splatbook. Outside golarion, there are a bunch of planets ranging from primitive, to super high tech, which I find fun.

[Gargs454]

My answers in brief:

1) Assuming you are not counting Shadowrun, the most I've done is one-shots of flying "vehicles", cannons, and a time machine. The first and third were sort of a hybrid magical/mechanical. All three were introduced in an adventure and while the party was not excluded from seeking to further use them, or explore how to expand on them, they never did.

2) In actual practice, they didn't change the game much at all. The time machine had obvious story implications but that was it. Ironically, I seeded the possibility for the time machine to have even greater story implications (including possibly saving a kingdom of dwarves that disappeared) but the players chose not to pursue those particular hooks (at least so far anyway, the campaign is still ongoing).

3) Really depends on how much technology you introduce. Certainly a lot of armors are rendered obsolete with guns. Many spells (like Light for instance) will be obsolete with electricity. Riding horses, carriages, etc. with advanced transportation technologies. Really it all depends on how far you go with it. If you look at a world like Eberron, the impact is relatively minor and much more of a flavor issue because the "technology" there is really just magic. Some things are certainly different though since the world opens up quite a bit when you introduce rail lines and air ships. Naturally, the greater the technology, the greater the impact.

[Kolokotroni]

You might want to check out the rogue genius products Anachronistic Adventures

They are a whole line of products designed for more modern characters. Including an alternate set of rules for fire arms (which I vastly prefer). In the enforcer for instance theres a line of feats called 'avoidance' which allows you to create unarmored characters that arent monks.

And honestly, I wouldnt worry too much about melee going obsolete, it wont happen with the rules as they are. You are no more vulnerable to a gun then you are to a bow (if you use the above mentioned avoidance feats) so you could still be a melee character and function in a world where most people use guns.

[Koujow]

See, I this is what I don't like about 3rd party stuff. It is basically 3.99 for a new class and a handful of feats? (Side rant: I rarely look at 3rd party stuff, not because it isn't good (some 3rd party stuff is actually awesome), but because of their pricing model and because there is a much larger discrepancy if you can use it. It might be ok at one table, not the other. PFS is right out. Etc. I guess some tables disallow the gunslinger (THOSE FOOLS!))

...slightly back on topic... Warforged need a Pathfinder update...

[Imbicatus]

Way back in time in 1st edition, our game had a few lightsabers (wands of force) and lightning crossbows (blaster rifes) that were found in mangled building made of metal that looks like it had been dragged for a mile. (Crashed Starship). It was a tie-in to our WEG Star Wars game where our characters lost a dogfight in the Kessel Run and got sucked into a black hole. We hit hyperspace inside the event horizon and were lost. Apparently the ship made it all the way to Oerth although our old characters were long dead.