Divergent Tech Levels

In other cases, a society has a sin-
gle, consistent TL – but it got there
along an unusual path. The GM can
designate this “divergent TL” with the
notation “TL(x+y),” where x is the TL
at which the technology diverged, y is
the number of TLs since the diver-
gence, and the sum x+y is the effective
TL for most purposes.
Example: TL(5+1) is effectively TL6
– but a different TL6 that split off at
TL5. TL(5+1) devices produce similar
results to TL6 ones, but look little like
those devices and rely on different
operating principles. A TL(5+1)
“steampunk”
world
based
on
Victorian visions of the future might
have steam cars, steam dirigibles, and
high-speed telegraph lines instead of
the automobiles, airplanes, and tele-
phones of TL6.
Divergent TLs are not unique.
There could be any number of ver-
sions of (for instance) TL(5+1), each
different in its own way. The GM
should specify what caused the split
in each case, be it different thinking,
different prevailing physics, or some-
thing else.
Characters used to a “normal” or
“differently diverging” TL suffer an
additional -2 penalty for unfamiliarity,
over and above any penalties for TL
differences, when dealing with diver-
gent technology.