There are several examples of techniques, and technologies that have been lost to time. Techniques kept so secret by their creators, that even with modern technology we cannot quite figure out exactly how the ancient world did what they did. From Roman concrete, and Greek Fire, to Damascus Steel. Even the construction methods and preciseness of the Great Pyramids is still debated. This idea of “secret technologies” As I’ve decided to call them, (not the technical term but for our use it will work.) has recently been a source of inspiration for me when it comes to fantasy worldbuilding for DnD. When creating a society I often find myself thinking, ‘What is this city/nation famous for?’ The answer to that question could be as complex as a political conflict spanning generations. As simple as they own the largest deposit of any given resource. Keep in mind not all of your towns, cities, and nations need to be famous but when they do I find that having a specific nation known for ‘Forging the strongest steel in all the land’ to be a pretty good lead for your players. They will eventually want to follow these leads later in game. “Well I want the strongest steel possible…” they’ll think to themselves. Cause we all want to min/max when we can!
So then, how do you as a Dungeon Master go about creating these little plot hooks and secret technologies to liven up your world a bit? Well we’ve already mentioned a few historical examples, so let’s dig in!
Greek Fire
Greek Fire came about it’s prime in 672. It was a propelled liquid which when set on fire continued to burn atop the water during sea battles, and was difficult to put out for this very reason. Much of Greek warfare was conducted on the water as a simple fact of geography given that the Greek civilizations were positioned along and near several bodies of water. The mixture helped to win many battles as history progressed but the exact mixture was a closely guarded secret before ultimately being lost. Many have recreated mixtures which act in the same way as Greek Fire but the original mix will forever be lost due to how closely guarded the recipe was in Greek circles.
In a fantasy setting something akin to Greek Fire could be a secret alchemy mixture just like Greek Fire. some examples include; a stronger health potion, a particularly strong poison, a new kind of acid, liquid luck, anything really! This nation could be the sole supplier of a particular resource for making these items or perhaps only they know how to process a certain type of material. Maybe your players find a rare ingot of Mithril but it can only be forged into something by one family of elves. These can be great ways to guide your players into the next section of plot or maybe you just want to take them on a tour of your world! Another option besides alchemy is of course the magic! Your nation could be the sole practitioners of an old and forgotten form of magic, or a completely new and world shattering school of magic. Think of the Dunamancy magic practiced by the Krin Dynasty in Critical Role or take inspiration from the Dungeon Master’s Guide itself on page 283 where it discusses creating spells. Think of how creating access to an entire school of magic might shift the power balance of your world or what other powerful NPCs would be willing to do to get that information. The idea of a long standing kingdom which was incapable of being conquered due to it’s sole use of powerful secret magic feels like a very good place to start your typical Party vs the Empire storyline.
Roman Concrete
Roman Concrete has baffled modern science for quiet sometime now, as no one was sure what exact mixture and process the Romans used in their concrete in order for it to last so long. You see the Romans used this concrete to build and create monuments like the stone dome of the Pantheon, the aqueducts, and over-water bridges, which is difficult due to the amount of erosion structures face when submerged in water. These Roman structures however, managed to last incredible amounts of time and have amazed historians. Thus leading to the years long investigations and research, which until recently offered no real results. Recently however, several pieces of research have shed some light onto just why Roman concrete was so good. Roman concrete had in it a specific type of volcanic ash plucked from the local area which when combined into certain structures, was reacting with the salt water to form a type of crystalline structure within the concrete making it stronger than before.
You’ll notice that the other two items on this list are weapons of one type or another but Roman Concrete is decidedly not. I did this to showcase that secret technologies which give a nation power can be either a secret style of magic, weapons, or spells. But also simply a piece of well made or new infrastructure.
So, what kind of infrastructure could a fantasy nation have that others don’t ? The first thing that came to mind were Dwarven kingdoms. Dwarves are often depicted in most settings as great masons, and excellent miners. This allows them a better understanding of metallurgy and jewel crafting, which in turn over the years has led almost every fantasy setting I know of to make Dwarves the master blacksmiths of their world. Another possibility are flying ships. A staple in many fantasy worlds, a flying wooden ship would definitely be a closely guarded secret for several reasons. A nation with a vast shipping network that crosses over air is safe from the easy pickings of pirates or gangs of thieves lining the roads of your world. This gives that nation a distinct advantage and would be an incredibly powerful technological secret, or a service rented out to other nations. Alternatively where do they get the ability to make ships fly? Is it a type of spell craft? or is it perhaps a specific resource they control? The possibilities are endless for these infrastructure type Secret Technologies.
Damascus Steel
I can’t imagine someone who ends up on a fantasy/DnD/History/Worldbuilding Blog hasn’t already heard of Damascus Steel BUT if you haven’t here you go. Damascus Steel was being made well before it’s first mentions in the historical record by Arabic scholars circa 860. The steel was known for being a hard, durable, and also flexible steel that was good at holding it’s edge. These qualities made it excellent for sword-smiths and used a specific metal produced in the Indian continent. This created a staple of trade routes between Ancient Indian civilizations and Ancient Arabic civilizations. Not only is the metal known for it’s strength and other qualities. But it is almost immediately recognized for it’s beautiful water-like ripple pattern produced by the forging process, a process, which was lost around the turn of the century with the last supposed production in 1903 observed by an Indian Historian.
In my personal world I wasn’t super creative and essentially just made Damascus steel…but red. I called it Blüd Steel and it had a special property which siphoned health from the victim into the user. Only my world’s Elves knew how to make it and it was a highly sought after invention. You could be as creative as I was and just make a basic copy of Damascus, or you could take from earlier examples. Maybe a specific group of nomads make the best armor in all the land, and their location is hard to pinpoint thus making the armor even harder to acquire. This doesn’t necessarily have to be metal either, perhaps the wood grown in the Fey Wild (or your world equivalent) Is much, much harder than any on the Material Plane making a wooden set of armor just as strong as steel without magic penalties of other plate?
Perhaps you have a nation of particularly gifted enchanters that have the secret spell for making levitating boots, or permanent mage armor enchantments, the list could go on forever but you get the idea here. A nation with access to the best weapons and armor has a power within your world that should be pretty obvious.
Lost but not Gone
In a lot of these examples the method by which these technologies were produced was lost, forgotten or in some cases kept so secret that they never left their original creators until they were all gone. In our fantasy worlds this can be remedied with scrying, wish spells, and a myriad of other options available to your players. You can make recovering or discovering this secret technology as easy or as hard as you wish but the quest todo that could be an adventure all it’s own with a final boss who can only be damaged by a sword made from one of these specific methods but that method was lost eons ago. Perhaps only one specific sword can damage your BBEG but the shards were scattered after an ancient duel a-la The Shards of Narsil in The Lord of the Rings or Valyrian Steel in Game of Thrones.
Conclusion
I like the idea of moving these Technologies out of their stricter Historical contexts and getting a little creative for our own purposes. Not only does adding these secret technologies help to add layers to your world and build realism; but with a little inspiration you can help differentiate your fantasy setting from the traditional roles set by early works of fantasy. Not all dwarves have to be the end-all-be-all for black-smithing.
If you read any of this and think “But what about the player balance Mr. Blog writer? What if my players get this tech and suddenly are overpowered?” Well for one, balance doesn’t matter unless your players care. We like to be overpowered and I think that is the design choice for 5e anyway. It is fun to win after all. BUT if you are concerned about this, or your players express any issues about combat, or other encounters being too easy then remember that whether or not your form of magic, or new weapon enchantment is new or old, your players are just now learning about it, they are novices! Therefore it could have dire consequences if not controlled properly. Don’t just hand them a spell card that they can read and then expertly utilize with good planning. They’ll have to learn what that spell does. I mean imagine a world where we didn’t realize that Fireball was a 60ft ball of team-killing madness and your players just tried it out? Now be careful not to let the DM God complex go to your head and explain to them (via NPC or just directly) that they should try casting this first OUTSIDE OF COMBAT. Maybe they don’t know what exactly this spell is capable of, they just found it in a cave. I can’t imagine the wizards of our world put all of the DnD 5e specific rules into their grimoires. So keep this in mind whenever you’re giving out new items and tech to your players.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you enjoyed this please feel free to look at my other posts for further inspiration for your Fantastical World, in our Historical World.
Peace, Love, and Salutations
-JM