In most fantasy settings, the lore is that it was zapped into

I don't think so. Without massive amounts of coal or coke, you'll never mass-produce steel. That means no steam engines or the heavy industry that goes with, like trains or steel ship hulls. Wood just doesn't burn hot enough.

>>48678605
What about some deranged volcanic/geothermal type setup for steel production? Only reliant on wood for fueling moving engines (which I know was a thing, from having seen enough steam tractors).

>>48678846
You still need a source of carbon to make the steel.

>>48678877
charcoal.

File: Simon_Stevins_zeilwagen_voor_Prins_Maurits_1649.jpg (3MB, 5500x4396px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 5500x4396px

>>48678202

Wind power? Assuming steam engines never become powerful enough to pull vessels, they'd still help for smaller things like steam donkeys.

>>48678202
the gods made a clusterfuck world full of totally complex and incompatible stuff (that maintains stability), but can't make coal or oil

OP, did you know that the Earth is only about six thousand years old?

>>48678202
Wouldn't batteries still be able to function? Volta did his original with lemons, didn't he?

I guess we'd be able to get to about the 17th century + low key electricity. We'd somehow need to get to high level electricity without oil or coal, which'd be impossible. Coal and nuclear energy require coal and uranium/thorium respectively, and wind/water/solar energy aren't viable even today.

>>48678605
pure steel asteroids

>>48678202
>This would help explain why they are always at a pre-industrial level of technology, a world that lacks the long biological history of earth would also lack fossil fuels.
>a world that lacks the long biological history of earth would also lack fossil fuels.

You're assuming an awful lot there.

>>48678605
Charcoal was only replaced by coke due to cost-efficiency. If you have a lot of forests and an economy that can shoulder the strain you can run a steel industry just fine. In fact, if you know how to make use of biodiesel and ethanol, you can get pretty far without having access to fossil fuels.

Dearth of general petrochemical nusproducts is going to be a huge issue, though. You'll want for all sorts of plastics, you can forget about developing airplanes, and you'll wait for quite a while before someone figure out how to make a diesel ic engine.

>>48678202
Well, the lower planes have eternal fire. The demons will be more than happy to provide you with fuel, in exchange for a few souls.
It might also explain why fantasy societies never advance past the high middle ages. Gunpowder comes from the devil and all alchemists are publicaly iced.