Well, there's a lot more to a steam engine than making water boil. You need to have the knowledge of physics and mechanics to design a machine to convert the steam into useful mechanical energy, as well as the materials and manufacturing technology to construct it. I can easily imagine that a magic-using culture may have poor physical sciences, since they probably rely on magic rather than machines.
But I agree that it's silly to have a character be the first to discover a basic application like boiling water, if the magic involved is not itself new. This trope is especially common in depicting "unexpected" military tactics.
Yeah... I remember a single episode in the Star Trek franchise where they knocked shields down and teleported in a bomb on the enemy ship to blow it up.
Why they don't do that more often?
Too many writers does not a consistent story make.... not usually.
It's like the old kindergarten group game where the teacher has the class sit in a group and whisper whatever the teacher told them. By the time it gets to the last kid the message not what the original was.
What's even worse, at least for my personal tastes, is if the technology or a concept is not firmly rooted into the world-building setting. Normally, any advanced technology cannot be implanted into an underdeveloped milieu by a simple finger snap. You'd need the necessary infrastructure to provide fuels, spare parts, other consumables, and most importantly, have the educated personnel to operate it.
Otherwise, any gizmo would turn into a magical black-box, unobtanium goes in, plot device comes out. Those are of course sometimes intentional, most of WH40 universe works like that, but if it is done consistently and with a reason behind it, then it's fine.
Now that I think about it, this imbalance is also often plaguing fantasy works. Like, how does the Dark Lord feed his orc hordes? His realm is naught but ruined lands, shrouded in edgy, grim twilight, nothing useful can grow there. So what do his minions eat, then? Pickled hobbit feet?
In addition to the question of the nutritional source for orcs, there is the question of how they reproduce, since they all appear to be male. The movies imply that they are somehow artificially created, but this isn't even hinted at in the books.
One also wonders what all these subterranean creatures in a dungeon typical crawl are eating to stay alive, and how that dragon got into this cavern when the only exits are much too small for it to fit through. Designing a plausible ecosystem is not just good writing, I think it's lots of fun. And it doesn't matter how outlandish the technologies or magics are, as long as they are internally consistent.
I think consistency in theme across an ecosystem is important too. It's a trope in many game fantasy worlds that despite having magic and a medieval-looking society, there are surprisingly high-tech mechanical devices (designers seem to feel that as long as something looks steam-powered, it's not high-tech, even if it's a helicopter or a spacecraft). For games this is done for fun factor and variety, but I think it takes away from the immersion of the game world.
Robert Jordan did that a lot in the Wheel of Time series (apropos right now because the series is being broadcast). People kept rediscovering long lost magical techniques in the heat of battle right when it was most convenient for them.
I remember a fantasy RPG in which I tried to have my character 'accidentally' introduce the concept of electrolysis so that he could gold-plate some copper coins and pass them off as the King's Gold. The DM ruled that it could not work (!) because, in his game, electricity did not work (!!).
Pointing out that if there was no electricity in his game, then electrically-based spells would not work either, nor would there be any electrochemical activity and no life would exist.
"It's all magic" was his way of justifying his ruling. So I asked why there is no 'magical' electrolysis ... which is when I learned that arguing with the DM will always get results, but not always the results you want (or like).
I did not bother rolling up a new character.
“Qua is the sine qua non of sine qua non qua sine qua non.” -- Attributed to many
One also wonders what all these subterranean creatures in a dungeon typical crawl are eating to stay alive, and how that dragon got into this cavern when the only exits are much too small for it to fit through. Designing a plausible ecosystem is not just good writing, I think it's lots of fun. And it doesn't matter how outlandish the technologies or magics are, as long as they are internally consistent.
Way back, when I DM-ed D&D games, my favorite were sustainable, ecologically responsible and recycling dungeons for this very reason. Which means, they were filled with undead.
How are they stocked with treasures? Unlucky adventures. Where do the new skeletons come from? Again, unlucky adventurers. Why is that half-orc barbarian zombie wielding a +2 battleaxe, and not a rusty iron spear? But that's your char from two sessions ago!
Nah, explosions are way cooler. Once, I built a "device" to explode small copper coins by running a 240V current through them. On second thought, how the hell did I survive childhood...
If the coating wears off, then he'd be forced to roll a persuasion check, and since few wizards put any points in that, it's right to jail.
Well, not exactly explode, but if they are the center-point of a short-circuit, then parts of them will be blown off with a bang. Kids under the age of 45, please don't repeat that at home. Or anywhere.
• Yes, the DM could have granted the 'discovery', and then exploited it later -- "The Dungeon Master giveth, and the Dungeon Master taketh away".
• I always hated having to discharge the caps on a radar set, and lose a big chunk of the tip of the discharge tool. One "smart guy" thought he would just short the charge to the case through a screwdriver, and ended up having to explain how he managed to blow a hole through the case. ("Changed his rate to a Bosun's Mate, doo-dah, doo-dah...")
“Qua is the sine qua non of sine qua non qua sine qua non.” -- Attributed to many
I remember a fantasy RPG in which I tried to have my character 'accidentally' introduce the concept of electrolysis so that he could gold-plate some copper coins and pass them off as the King's Gold. The DM ruled that it could not work (!) because, in his game, electricity did not work (!!).
Those old days of D&D were wild times. But I think if I'd been a DM, I would have said that electrolysis works. Still wouldn't have succeeded as a means of counterfeit though, since the weight would be totally wrong, and people using bullion currency were serious about weight.
There are some IRL stories about people trying to counterfeit coinage in their tribute by alloying in non-precious metals, and getting caught immediately, leading to a war.
The test for me is not so much whether a gizmo is realistically possible, but whether the author has thought through how the technology will affect society... even magic can seem plausible if the system is internally consistent.
Its that last bit thats most important to me (my emphasis). I can willingly forgive a lot of really quite unlikely stuff as long as the whole is internally consistent.
Of course, what you consider internally consistent is largely a matter of taste. Its also a big problem for any long running series with multiple writers.
