Page 1 of 1

Dragon Technology

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:45 am
by alondor
If dragons were to return to earth tomorrow, assuming as much time has passed for them as for us, what technologies would they bring with them, and would we have anything that they hadn't though of?

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:20 pm
by Falconer
Context.

Is this the space dragons theory, the ascendant dragons theory, the extinct dragon theory? Shapeshifting dragons non-shapeshifting dragons, big dragons, human-sized dragons?

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:05 pm
by alondor
Shadowrun, that should answer everything I think..

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:12 am
by Falconer
Actually had to Google that. ^-^

My initial guess would be "not much more than they left with". That kind of social and geographical displacement tends (I think) towards technological stagnation.

Although, necessity IS the mother of invention; if there was a serious issue at wherever they left, they may have adapted or generated new technology to deal with it.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 2:28 pm
by Corva
I've only perused the wiki, but didn't the dragons sleep through the 5th world, so they didn't make anything new?

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 10:57 pm
by alondor
Remove the world specification; we've had more entertaining and enlightening discussions with much less information to go on

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:19 am
by Sivert3
They would bring jetpacks that actually works.

Lazy dragons are lazy after all.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:49 pm
by Corva
They already have jetpacks. The fire comes out of, uh, the other end.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:45 am
by Falconer
There was a book where dragons fly backwards by spewing fire jets from their mouths. I have it somewhere, don't remember the title. Unsure how the steering works without wings.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 2:03 pm
by Sivert3
That's crazy talk for the both of you. Basic physics dictates that the external combustion of whatever chemical that dragons use to make the fire, can't make any tangible thrust. Internal combustion could, but with the amount of fire involved it would leave a very sore mouth, or worse as in DragonRider's case.

On another note, they probably wouldn't call them jetpacks. Perhaps something like infiniglider or flightmobile. And you'd most certainly need wings to use one.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:19 pm
by Corva
It was a Discworld reference...

Most depictions I've seen or heard of Dragons don't suggest opposable thumbs, so it's hard to see what sort of technology they could make. I guess if their tails are prehensile...

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:50 pm
by Falconer
One word: psionics.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 7:40 am
by Corva
But if they had psionics, what would they need technology for? It would, I suppose, lend itself to Magitek...

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 1:38 am
by Falconer
Well because while the ability to move things with your mind is useful, what if it turns out there's a weight cap? Or that it's really draining if you move bigger things? For example in the Inheritance series, Most magic users can perform telekinesis, but they still all use mounts and boats of various types, because it's far more expedient and less taxing.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:05 am
by Sivert3
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
~Author C. Clark

Maybe these technologically advance dragons aren't really dragons, but rather alien brains in vats, controlling dragon robots.

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:45 am
by Corva

Re: Dragon Technology

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 12:48 pm
by Falconer
Sivert3 wrote:
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
~Author C. Clark

Maybe these technologically advance dragons aren't really dragons, but rather alien brains in vats, controlling dragon robots.
Occam's Razor would suggest they're actually dragons. Though the latter would make a really great sci-fi plot twist.