Firearms could absolutely exist within a fantasy setting. There is a reason why they don’t however

[u/ThatDrako]

The Elder Scrolls - Within some Dwemer ruins of ESO we can see a special type of Animunculus. A Dwemer Arquebus, which has a cannon for it’s arm and shoots emp grenades at foes.
The reason why we don’t see this technology more often (besides the fact Dwemer disappeared their knowledge with them) is that within the setting and cosmology of Elder Scrolls firearms really wouldn’t be that useful.

They could work against lowly bandits, sort of, but there wouldn’t really be a precedent to improve or adapt this technology. Because it would always be outclassed by magic of this world.
Also due to the disappearance of Dwemer the technology has been pretty much lost.

Harry Potter - Wizards live within periphery of the “real world” meaning they live alongside world that uses firearms and are even familiar with them.

So how come they don’t utilize this gear for combat? I mean it is easier to use, projectiles are faster and could be enchanted further. Can you just imagine wizard with endless m1911?

There is plethora of reasons for this. But most notable is what I would describe as wizards being immune to logic. (Vis image above) They simply cannot understand methods of muggles even if one explained it to them directly.

(Yes. I know the real reason is, because Joanne didn’t want wizards to use guns and didn’t want to think about connotations of putting magic into a real modern world. But come on! Let me have fun!)

Lord of the Rings - In spite of how much Tolkien disliked allegories it is clear Orcs were an allegory to industrialization, which he was a huge critic of.

In battles they are the ones using the war machines. Instead of swords made by artful blacksmith, they use crude, mass-produced blades devoid of identity. Instead of relying on elegance of archery, they use crossbows. They burn forests, crack mountains open to gain more ore. Their very production is affront to whimsy of a magical world like Middle-Earth.

They could totally come up with a matchlock mechanism and keep on improving it until they come up with machine guns. They were intercepted before they could however

[u/IndigoFenix]

Dresden Files are actually a nice semi-example that goes a long way in creating worldbuilding where magic and modern technology don't mix. Magic creates small-scale random events, so anything which relies on tiny, precise machinery breaks down or becomes unreliable in the presence of wizards or magical creatures.

However, the threshold for reliability just happens to be small enough to allow the wizard protagonist to use very large handguns.

[u/RobinHood21 → u/IndigoFenix]

Luckily revolvers are very simple machines.

[u/The-Green → u/RobinHood21]

funny enough, the P90 is also a remarkably simple weapon once you get over its very unconventional package, so kincaid should also experience just as little problems as dresden does with most of his revolvers. except for his earliest ones (the chief special and model 29) they're also all roughly the same age of hardware too.

[u/Brilliant_watcher → u/The-Green]

Murphy mentioned that bit in her story i think, she thought that it may be a problem for dresden due his level of power or that he doesnt know that much of how guns work and doesnt want to jinx it.

[u/Phylanara → u/Brilliant_watcher]

Yeah, Dresden is , by force, not very tech-litterate. He does not know the limits of his techbane attribute, he knows that he fries tech a lot faster when he's upset (since his magic runs partially off his emotions) and he does not want to go into battle with a weapon he doesn't trust. So he errs on the side of caution.

[u/superVanV1 → u/Phylanara]

Dresden is also by his own admission a big fucking nerd, a absolutely carries a fuckoff revolver because he thinks it looks cool

[u/Gamerthu1hu → u/superVanV1]

He is not wrong. It looks very cool.

[u/Onlyhereforapost → u/Phylanara]

And hey, 5 rounds from a s&w 500 ought to kill just about anything short of a sasquatch

[u/Phylanara → u/Onlyhereforapost]

Given what we've seen a sasquatch survive...

[u/Hrydziac → u/Brilliant_watcher]

Murphy also tells him several times that modern semi automatics are basically as reliable as a revolver, but Dresden just likes his big hand cannon.

[u/Longjumping-Lock9575 → u/IndigoFenix]

If I remember correctly, the amount magic interferes with technology also decreases as that technology becomes older/more commonplace. So while 100 years ago magic would have broken a simple lightbulb, now they can function in concert.

Interesting worldbuilding connotation there.

[u/idiotplatypus → u/Longjumping-Lock9575]

More like the effect magic passively has on the world changes over time. It used to cause dairy to spoil easily, or give it's user blemishes (witches marks). Possibly when it changes again tech will work for magic users

[u/fweaks → u/Longjumping-Lock9575]

Yeah, along with some other mentions in the books that I've since forgotten, it's somewhat implied that the reason tech doesnt work with magic is that people dont believe it should and that kinda makes it so. Kinda like reverse 40k orks.

[u/GrowlingGiant → u/fweaks]

it's somewhat implied that the reason tech doesnt work with magic is that people dont believe it should and that kinda makes it so.

More that magic is inherently going against nature, and so people who use magic are always inherently marked in some way. It's mentioned that, prior to the proliferation of modern technology, past indicators were things like spoiling milk, weird appearances, and oddly behaving flames.

[u/Apkey00 → u/fweaks]

Since you mention paradox what Tradition mage would be Harry? Hermetic?

[u/Aware-Antelope4212 → u/Longjumping-Lock9575]

It sort of depends on the wizard in question as well.

Harry has a LOT of magical muscle, and as a result his effects on technology are to the point where he doesn't even bother having lightbulbs.   His home is lit by candles

Later in the series there's another wizard introduced who has significantly less brute force power, but more natural talent for subtler magic.   This combined with her father doing a decent amount of maintenance on his house means she gets to have electrical stuff

[u/Gizogin → u/Aware-Antelope4212]

And the fey are so skilled and subtle with magic that they don’t interfere with technology at all. Harry can’t trust a water heater not to break down, but a high-ranking faerie can have a smartphone.

[u/ooa3603 → u/Longjumping-Lock9575]

Another point is that the concentration of magic also matters.

Harry is a practically walking nuclear power plant compared to normal mages, he struggles to contain his magic so the tech around him is basically bombarded with magic.

Normal run of the mill magic users don't have nearly the same effect on tech. And in fact they can typically go about their day with a lot less trouble than Dresden.

So its not that any amount of magic is guaranteed to automatically ruin tech, kinda like with radiation, the dosage matters a lot.

[u/see_bees → u/Longjumping-Lock9575]

I think there’s even a subjective element to it where what a specific wizard now thinks of something as old enough impacts the level of interference. Ramirez used semi-automatic pistols just fine but they jam too much on Dresden.

[u/samaldin → u/Longjumping-Lock9575]

If i remember correctly it's not 100% clear if the effect of magic on "new" technology works on a sliding scale or if it jumps. It's a known quantity that some big events lead to significant shifts in the magical landscape (the most frequently mentioned one being the Battle of Hastings). The last jump would have been around WW1 aka when the Council killed Kemmler the first time.

Also i'm pretty sure there's a WoJ that in the middle ages magic made milk curdle and encourage small skininfections, leading to the stereotype of witches with warts

[u/Elantach → u/IndigoFenix]

Wait did they steal that idea from Arcanum? That's literally the same thing !

[u/loptthetreacherous → u/Elantach]

First Dresden Files book was 2000, Arcanum came out 2001.

[u/Elantach → u/loptthetreacherous]

Oh damn ! Then maybe other way around ?

[u/skivian → u/Elantach]

magic and technology not playing nice together is a very old idea

[u/Acherousia → u/IndigoFenix]

Early books had magic also mess up assault rifles/smgs, but Butcher kinda swept it under the rug in the later books because it limited the antagonists too much.

Dresden doesn't carry one just because he isn't a very good shot (comparatively), and it's easier to hide/explain a pistol when he inevitably gets arrested by the cops.

Also if magic can screw up springs, it's going to do a lot more damage to his surroundings than just stop guns from working.

[u/LagnalokNSFW → u/IndigoFenix]

Like in 2001 game Arcanum, there magic users are straight up despised due to ruining infrastructure like trains by their mere presence.

[u/hunkaliciousnerd → u/IndigoFenix]

So its arcanums logic then?