Tech Levels

“Tech level” (TL) is a general rating
of a society’s highest achievement in
technology (or a certain type of tech-
nology). Tech levels run from zero on
up. Each TL describes a set of tech-
nologies that become available after a
certain point in time. The standard
TLs, and associated eras on Earth, are:
TL0 – Stone Age (Prehistory and
later). Counting; oral tradition.
TL1 – Bronze Age (3500 B.C.+).
Arithmetic; writing.
TL2 – Iron Age (1200 B.C.+).
Geometry; scrolls.
TL3 – Medieval (600 A.D.+). Algebra;
books.
TL4 – Age of Sail (1450+). Calculus;
movable type.
TL5 – Industrial Revolution (1730+).
Mechanical calculators; telegraph.
TL6 – Mechanized Age (1880+).
Electrical calculators; telephone
and radio.
TL7
–
Nuclear
Age
(1940+).
Mainframe computers; television.
TL8 – Digital Age (1980+). Personal
computers; global networks.
TL9 – Microtech Age (2025+?).
Artificial intelligence; real-time
virtuality.
TL10 – Robotic Age (2070+?).
Nanotechnology or other advances
start to blur distinctions between
technologies . . .
TL11 – Age of Exotic Matter.
TL12 – Whatever the GM likes!
Note that TLs have start dates but
not end dates. The innovations of a
given TL fade as those of higher TLs
displace them, but they rarely vanish
completely. A blacksmith in 1850s
England uses TL3 techniques to shoe
the horses that pull the carriage the
gentleman rides to catch his TL5 train
to London – and those techniques
might still exist in TL8, albeit as a
quaint hobby. The GM should decide
which “dated” technologies remain in
use in his game world, and which
items from earlier TLs are still com-
monly available for purchase.
Differences in tech level become
very important when adventurers
travel between societies. Technology is
likely to seem like magic to anyone
more than three or four TLs less
advanced. If a WWII soldier (TL6) gets
dropped back into the days of King
Arthur (TL3) . . . things get interesting.
Of course, time travel isn’t necessary –
even today, you can drop back three or
four TLs if you visit the right part of
the world.
A party always attracts attention if
it displays technology from a higher
TL than that of the locals. This atten-
tion might take the form of worship,
awe, curiosity, envy, fear, or hatred –
the greater the disparity in TL, the
stronger the reaction.
The GM should set a “baseline TL,”
which describes most societies in the
game world, most of the time.
However, exceptions may exist.