Cross posted from my blog-

Metal Earth contains several elements that might be considered anachronistic.

Rock Bands: Several 20th- 21st century style rock bands continuously tour Satan's Spine.  Often they engage in blood feud with one another.

Cigarettes: Mass market pre-rolled cigarettes are commonly available throughout Satan's spine. Tobacco is produced primarily at S'zan, although a small amount is exported from  Rax-Ur as well.

Movies:  Accompanying caravans or moving about on their own, independent projectionists travel from settlement to settlement with old style movie projectors and their precious collections of films, mostly westerns, mostly sub-titled in half a dozen forgotten languages, which they display for the edification and entertainment of the latter day masses. Usually projectionists, or their assistants, will stand beside the screen and recite a narrative poem which explains the events in the film. Most of these poems are thousands of years old and passed down through time by the Projectionists Guild.

I'll add to this list as time goes on.

What kind of anachronisms do you have in your game?

I have plenty of seeming anachronisms, mostly monsters and spells that are based on, or refer to, 20th/21st century stuff.

I say 'seeming' because my players aren't quite sure whether the game is actually some sort of post-apocalyptic deal in some way.

A lot of my games feature pipes and tobacco as backdrops of the culture; including Dark Albion even though tobacco shouldn't exist in the "old world" yet (what with it still being a few years before the "new world" is even discovered).

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;589957A lot of my games feature pipes and tobacco as backdrops of the culture; including Dark Albion even though tobacco shouldn't exist in the "old world" yet (what with it still being a few years before the "new world" is even discovered).

There must have been some habits people had at the time that were the result of some form of addiction or craving - other than alcohol - just can't think of any. I guess nobody went out of their way to get ergot poisoning.

Some of the architecture and social structures in High Valor are intentionally anachronistic (thanks to Dwarves and Elves.)

I try very hard to avoid anachronisms as much as possible in most games.

My anachronisms are relatively tame, e.g. plate armor and greatswords in an Arthurian fantasy game, or flintlock guns in a 1500s game.

Quote from: Lynn;590143There must have been some habits people had at the time that were the result of some form of addiction or craving - other than alcohol - just can't think of any. I guess nobody went out of their way to get ergot poisoning.

There's actually quite a bit of evidence that europeans were using pipes to smoke things since WAY before the discovery of Tobacco.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;590624There's actually quite a bit of evidence that europeans were using pipes to smoke things since WAY before the discovery of Tobacco.

Smoking in the Old World definitely predates tobacco - any idea what was commonly smoked in Europe before it?

Quote from: Lynn;590740Smoking in the Old World definitely predates tobacco - any idea what was commonly smoked in Europe before it?

Herodotus had the Scythians using cannabis. I don't believe they used pipes though.
Also, according to the South African Journal of Science (by way of Wikipedia) "pipes dug up from the garden of Shakespeare's home in Stratford-upon-Avon contain traces up cannabis." I am shocked to hear Shakespeare smoked that stuff.
I'm not sure when people started smoking opium, but that might be another one to look into.

Quote from: gib;589828movies:  Accompanying caravans or moving about on their own, independent projectionists travel from settlement to settlement with old style movie projectors and their precious collections of films, mostly westerns, mostly sub-titled in half a dozen forgotten languages, which they display for the edification and entertainment of the latter day masses. Usually projectionists, or their assistants, will stand beside the screen and recite a narrative poem which explains the events in the film. Most of these poems are thousands of years old and passed down through time by the projectionists guild.

Awesome!

As for tobacco, I would be disapointed if the people in a place called "Satan's Spine" didn't smoke.

In my Birthright campaign my governor PC is an accounting genius with eidetic memory -- and I rolled insanely high on a % chance of him to invent a new accounting tool. He's introducing double-entry bookkeeping to a "pre-Italian Renaissance" Brecht realm.

With my AD&D 2e Dessert Wars game (time: early Middle Ages, just after Battle of Hastings or so) I'm inventing mimes and a few desserts far before their actual invention date. Considering crème anglaise is the base for most puddings, custards, and dessert sauces, and I'm relabeling the Norman Conquest of England into "The Pudding Wars," the evolutionary development of desserts is extremely compressed.

(Basically the English invent the dessert mother sauce as we know it today and give the honor to France naming it Crème Français. As news traveled back to France, the French loved the sauce -- but in attempts to recreate the recipe altered it by miscommunication. The French said that this "lost in translation" version was the definitive form of the recipe and gave the honor back to the English calling it Crème Anglaise.

The English insisted the recipe was wrong and that, no, the French really deserve the honor for improving upon its production, therefore they should keep the name. This was an insult to the French honor bestowed upon the English and thus war was inevitable. Basically each feels slighted by their rejected gift and carnage must ensue to settle it. The meringue flambée catapults are truly a marvel of war in these Pudding Wars.)

Quote from: Dan Vincze;590741Herodotus had the Scythians using cannabis. I don't believe they used pipes though.
Also, according to the South African Journal of Science (by way of Wikipedia) "pipes dug up from the garden of Shakespeare's home in Stratford-upon-Avon contain traces up cannabis." I am shocked to hear Shakespeare smoked that stuff.
I'm not sure when people started smoking opium, but that might be another one to look into.

According to wikipedia, opium didnt travel very far west until the 16th century.

That was probably Christopher Marlowe's stash

The romans were known to smoke pipes, with a variety of herbal recipes of everything from apple leaves to oregano, if I recall correctly.

RPGPundit

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