Okay, I like the idea of bending rules, and, as the first post said,
many people associate magic with the middle ages but it doesn't have to be that way
Right now, everything except the "mid-magic" (was it that or high magic?) is still just in discussion phase.

What we need to do is figure out the *general* level of technology... the era... and any major exceptions to that, so that *everyone* can work on their own things, that still *fit* in the same world.


I think you'll find a lot of resistance to modern, realistic additions on a global scale.

I'm pretty sure that doesn't keep any pocket societies from advancing faster than others.

Even if we decide, collectively, that no, the world doesn't have guns/gunpowder, that won't keep the people in your land/game/story from discovering a mystical black powder, almost more dangerous than it is useful, and turning to a few elite soldiers (or peasant fodder) to try utilizing it as a weapon.

Of course that would have to make sense, in some way with whatever level of technology people in the world *already have* .... and that "already have" is, I think, what's being discussed.


Now, all that aside, I don't think guns/musket battles/etc are *necessary* to add the level of turbulence you want. And I'm not violently opposed to the world having guns/gunpowder (though others might be). I simply think we can find a more creative *unique* way to add that turbulence.


What *I* personally enjoy, is writing a battle scene where I (I mean my generals) have to use my (their) wits... using the lay of the land, placing my archers, calvary, etc, in just the right locations, beating away at them, and then pulling a wizard out of my back pocket to strike the forest behind their calvary with lightening, setting it on fire, scaring their horses, sowing disorder in the ranks.

Bunch of guys in a trench with guns kind of does detract from that.

But I'm one person and one opinion, and there's lots of people involved in a community project.

If everyone thinks someone should have invented guns/other modern/futuristic weaponry, I could live with it.

I would like to know how it benefits the world (or rather, our collective use of the world) before anything is decided one way or the other, though.