Historical mining has a lot of fascinating complexities which are mostly ignored in fantasy #ttrpg (definitely including #dnd ) - which I think is a shame, since there's so much cool stuff out there.
Take water - you need to get it out of the mines, but on the other hand you also need lots of water to power the pumps that accomplish this feat - as I've learned during my recent vacations to the Harz mountains.
Oh, and if you really want to make your players hate you, read up on the invention of the Man Engine... 😁














