"Technology"

Oerth is a game world which has elements of both the Middle Ages and the Dark Ages. It is important to under stand what this means for the equipment used by forces.

In From The Ashes and subsequent Greyhawk source books, plate mail is assumed to be the best armor available. Field and full plate do not exist yet, not having been invented. If the DM wishes to allow these superior armors in a Greyhawk campaign, then profiles for NPCs should be amended accordingly; high-level NPCs will have superior armor. This also affects armies—it is assumed that even elite knights only have plate mail.

Second, gunpowder weapons do not exist on Oerth. DMs are strongly advised not to allow such weaponry in Greyhawk campaigns. Thus, armies noted below don't have musketeers or cannons.

Third, spelljamming and psionics are rare. Psionics are strongly featured in the DARK SUN® game setting, but outside of this specific context they can be very problem atic for DMs and players. Thus, armies and forces do not have psionics support. Likewise, spelljamming vessels are not part of military units scripted below.

Finally, bowmen troops in Greyhawk don't really fit the historical pattern. The heavy crossbow (arbalest) is actually a mid-15th century development in terms of widespread use, and it was both slower and more appall ingly damaging than the AD&D game version, which can be assumed not to have the mechanical winch used for reloading the steel arbalest. Since field and full plate actually predate the arbalest, one should assume that the AD&D game heavy crossbow is not the arbalest of historical reality, although it has that name.

However, don't get bogged down in these rules. This section isn't concerned with every last detail of gorgets used by mounted knights. And Oerth does have superior technology in some departments (e.g., the galleon, and the development of astrolabe and caravel at sea). Rather, use this section to add color to encounters with troops; it focuses on their histories, regalia, and demeanor.