Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Let's start with some choice quotes from the Traveller Book, starting on page 82, under the Technology Level section.
The approach that I and others have been taking towards TL is that TL is the level of tech known on the planet and thus is the tech that the citizens of that world are most comfortable.
There is merit to this approach, but reading the above, it seems as if that is approach, while not 100% incorrect, should be modified.
It seems that the Traveller approach to TL is that most people, regardless of their world's TL, are sophisticated enough to operate without too much trouble in a modern Imperial environment.
The TL seems to be a gauge of the equipment that is available locally. It also refers to what can be manufactured locally.
This is akin to a person from the US going to live among tribesmen of a poor third world country. What is available locally may be of a lot lower TL, but that person is still be able to function in the higher tech US.
But, what of the tribesmen? They, too, will know how to use cell phones and be able to operate modern equipment with some training.
The notes above about TL seem to say that Engineering-1 learned on a TL 4 world is the exact same skill as Engineering-1 learned on a TL 15 world.
The notes seem to indicate that almost all citizens of the Imperium, regardless of homeworld TL, are viable candidates to use modern equipment up to TL 15.
This is the norm. And, as one of the notes above says, the Ref is certainly welcome to make certain distinctions on certain worlds as he sees fit.
In Sum, any character generated on any world, regardless of TL, can operate freely and knowingly with any type of Imperial tech for which he is trained. There is no minimum TL for learning the Pilot skill. If a character is on a low tech world, then he learned modern starship piloting by some method determined by the player and the referee.
The degree of technological expertise, and thus the capabilities of local industry, depends greatly on the basic characteristics of a world.
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World technological levels may vary from 0 to 20, more commonly ranging from 4 to 10. Higher numbers indicate greater capability.
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The technological level is used in conjunction with the technological level table to determine the general quality and capability of local industry. The tables indicate the general types or categories of goods in general
use on the world. In most cases, such goods are the best which may be produced locally, although better goods may be imported by local organizations or businesses when a specific need is felt.
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Local citizenry will usually not be armed with weapons of a type which cannot be produced locally, although police or military may be.
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Tech level also indicates the general ability of local technology to repair or maintain items which have failed or malfunctioned.
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The technological level tables have several spaces or holes, and such gaps should be filled in by the referee or the players when they discover items or devices of interest.
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The purpose of the world generation sequence is to prod the imagination. Even the most imaginative individual soon loses brilliance in the face of creating hundreds of individual worlds. The procedure substitutes die rolls for random imagination and then allows the referee to use that information to determine specific world data. Imagination may be required to explain a tech level 4 civilization in an asteroid belt, or a high population world with a participating democracy for a government.
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Characteristics for worlds should be construed as guidelines rather than strict limits. For example, a world with a hydrographic percentage of A is 100% ocean; nevertheless, the world would have small islands for a starport.
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The technological level of a world determines the quality and sophistication of the products of a world. It indicates what precise types of equipment are
available and common locally.
The approach that I and others have been taking towards TL is that TL is the level of tech known on the planet and thus is the tech that the citizens of that world are most comfortable.
There is merit to this approach, but reading the above, it seems as if that is approach, while not 100% incorrect, should be modified.
It seems that the Traveller approach to TL is that most people, regardless of their world's TL, are sophisticated enough to operate without too much trouble in a modern Imperial environment.
The TL seems to be a gauge of the equipment that is available locally. It also refers to what can be manufactured locally.
This is akin to a person from the US going to live among tribesmen of a poor third world country. What is available locally may be of a lot lower TL, but that person is still be able to function in the higher tech US.
But, what of the tribesmen? They, too, will know how to use cell phones and be able to operate modern equipment with some training.
The notes above about TL seem to say that Engineering-1 learned on a TL 4 world is the exact same skill as Engineering-1 learned on a TL 15 world.
The notes seem to indicate that almost all citizens of the Imperium, regardless of homeworld TL, are viable candidates to use modern equipment up to TL 15.
This is the norm. And, as one of the notes above says, the Ref is certainly welcome to make certain distinctions on certain worlds as he sees fit.
In Sum, any character generated on any world, regardless of TL, can operate freely and knowingly with any type of Imperial tech for which he is trained. There is no minimum TL for learning the Pilot skill. If a character is on a low tech world, then he learned modern starship piloting by some method determined by the player and the referee.