Multi-TL Imperial society - How does it work ?

[Timerover51]

None, he had left the company.
He does get a credit for original game concept in the TNE core rulebook.
Which is why he doesn't know what the Empress Wave was or what the atrocity committed by the Star Vikings that would end the threat of the Black Imperium.

The explains why T4 is called Marc Miller's Traveller.

 

[Enoki]

The way I've always seen this is that the TL of a world is the average not the highest, on that world.

For example, on most worlds the richest people living there have a life style and access to technology well above the average for the world. The world might be say, TL 6 or 7 but the rich (top 1 to 2%) are living with TL 10 to 13 items mixed with some TL 6 / 7 + stuff.

They might have a grav vehicle when the average person is driving an internal combustion one. Think of it as the rich guy has a Ferrari or Lamborghini while the average guy has a Trabant or Chevy.

The government might have access to TL 9 or 10 weapons for some of their elite units while the average is the world's TL or so.

Worlds could also exceed the TL significantly in certain niches of industry even as the overall average is the cited TL. Look at Cuba for example. Their medical research is well above the average level of technology on the island. Same thing with Traveller. You can have a a world like that. It's TL 14 in one or another industry and the rest of the world is TL 7.

So, if players want stuff that exceeds the world's TL, it could be available but the price will go up on an exponential curve as the TL of what they want exceeds what the average local TL is.

 

[mike wightman]

If you are a billionaire living on a TL5 world it costs you very little to ship whatever high TL toys you want from the nearest TL15 world...

In a similar way a the government of a TL7 world with a population of a few billion will have the tax revenue to equip its police force and armed services with high TL imports.

It's a setting thing - if a world is part of a polity that encourages free trade then goods will flow...

 

[Timerover51]

If you are a billionaire living on a TL5 world it costs you very little to ship whatever high TL toys you want from the nearest TL15 world...

In a similar way a the government of a TL7 world with a population of a few billion will have the tax revenue to equip its police force and armed services with high TL imports.

It's a setting thing - if a world is part of a polity that encourages free trade then goods will flow...

Good summation.

 

[Gray Lensman]

Just a couple of excerpts from DGP's World Builder's Handbook

High Common Tech Level = "The World's UWP Tech level is the High Common Tech Level"

Low Common Tech Level = "Upper limit = High Common Tech level. Lower Limit = High Common Tech level/2"

Then it gives different formulas for different Tech areas, (eg. Energy, Communications, ect.

If you go by the formulas you CAN get some funky results. You could have a barely self sufficient Society that gets by because they make the BEST Communications gear in the Sector ;-)

*Yeah I know - it's not canon and some of the formulas are wonky and need fixing up a bit. BUT!! Part of the fun in describing worlds has always been making them fit out of whack UWPs ;-D)))))

 

[Enoki]

If you are a billionaire living on a TL5 world it costs you very little to ship whatever high TL toys you want from the nearest TL15 world...

In a similar way a the government of a TL7 world with a population of a few billion will have the tax revenue to equip its police force and armed services with high TL imports.

It's a setting thing - if a world is part of a polity that encourages free trade then goods will flow...

I've had worlds where the government (based on on type and law level) has "officially" banned technology beyond a certain level--or off-world technology entirely--while allowing a small amount to be imported secretly (think Area 51 kind of thing) to allow the planet's manufacturers to "invent" these things for eventual sale to the population.
There is some degree of smuggling going on so there's that angle as well. That means the rich have some of this high technology for their personal use and as long as they don't publicize it the government turns a blind eye to the whole thing.

 

[Enoki]

Just a couple of excerpts from DGP's World Builder's Handbook

High Common Tech Level = "The World's UWP Tech level is the High Common Tech Level"

Low Common Tech Level = "Upper limit = High Common Tech level. Lower Limit = High Common Tech level/2"

Then it gives different formulas for different Tech areas, (eg. Energy, Communications, ect.

If you go by the formulas you CAN get some funky results. You could have a barely self sufficient Society that gets by because they make the BEST Communications gear in the Sector ;-)

I've long done that as part of world building. I usually start by asking myself how the sector is set up economically and why some world would have the combination of government, law level, technology, and population it does. That in turn drives coming up with some reasonable / plausible explanation for its existence. That can make for lots of fun on its own.

 

[Condottiere]

Balkanization is sort of self explanatory, and would explain the lack of attempts at homogenization.

 

[Proneutron]

The way I've always seen this is that the TL of a world is the average not the highest, on that world.

I see it as the highest TL products can be produced at. THEN, if balkanized, most likely there are other polities that are of lower TL. All else goes without saying if the world has communication with higher TL worlds.

 

[Dagrill]

There is a reference somewhere in one of the CT adventures that there is a TL limit on imports to low-tech worlds.

We know canonically that the Imperial forces include even low tech member worlds' troops... and are equipped only a TL or two above, if above TL.

I was looking at T4 Pocket Empires and comparing it with the traveller map in Spinward Marches and Trojan Reach economic extensions and quite a few low pop and non industrial worlds lack the infrastructure to support their TL.

Regards

David