Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I am working up the descriptions of the historic Tech Levels for the Piper Out Rim sector, and while I will be using the Cepheus Engine as the basis, the ideas may be of use to the Traveller community at large, so I will be posting them here. The will differ a bit from the historic Tech Levels given in T5.0.9. By "Historic Tech Levels", I mean those Tech Levels covering early technology up to the present time. I am assuming that currently, the Earth is at Tech Level 8 for the purpose of the Cepheus Engine.
One other factor should be mentioned. There will be worlds in the Piper Sector that have a "?" for the space port, population exponent, and Tech Level. Government type and Law Level will be listed as "0". to be determined later by the Game Master, once it is decided as to what the world will be. The basic size, atmosphere, and hydrographic percentage will be given, and the GM can then decide what he wants the world to be.
Tech Level Zero:
If the population exponent is "0" and the Tech Level is "0". then no known intelligent life exists on the planet. I use the term "no known" advisedly, as to allow for things like Little Fuzzies or intelligent Sea Otters, which would not be readily ascertained by a brief survey. A population exponent of "0" and a Tech Level in parenthesis indicates the presents of ruins of a prior civilization, which may or may not be readily visible. Think of the hidden conservatory and zoo of Andre Norton's Arzor, or the ruins and alien race of Janus, or the planet Limbo, along with several other of her stories. Alternatively, there could be a population exponent of "0" and a Tech Level with a "?". I expect that that the GM can start getting creative.
Early Zero: For this level, the population exponent should be less than 6, with the population widely dispersed in a hunter-gatherer culture. There may be a few population concentrations in areas of high natural food production from vegetation or from water resources. Those areas may have village size grouping of being. Stone-based weaponry will be the norm, but include bows or the equivalent, along with spear-throwers. There will be the start of animal domestication, and permanent housing using wood will be present, along with early brick and stone construction.
Late Zero: This period will have agriculture fully in vogue, along with irrigation and domesticated animals. Probably the wheel will be in use, although the Inca, Aztec, and Maya civilizations did well without it, but they did lack domesticated animals on par with the ox, donkey, and horse. Fairly large towns and small cities will be present, say up to 20,000 or so beings. Brick and stone construction will be well advanced and quite durable for the stone, while the presence of villages and towns built out on lakes using wood is another option. Weaponry will still be using stone, but be very well made and deadly. Fishing will be an organized activity, using nets and fish traps. Rafts will be used for river transportation, along with boats capable of limited sea travel. Writing will have been developed, and record keeping will be one of the responsibilities of the priestly class. Kings will exist, controlling from a single city to a small empire of several cities. The number of professional soldiers will be limited however, by the labor needs of agriculture along with mining of clay and stone. Some use may be made of naturally occurring native copper deposits, but smelting is not around as yet.
One other factor should be mentioned. There will be worlds in the Piper Sector that have a "?" for the space port, population exponent, and Tech Level. Government type and Law Level will be listed as "0". to be determined later by the Game Master, once it is decided as to what the world will be. The basic size, atmosphere, and hydrographic percentage will be given, and the GM can then decide what he wants the world to be.
Tech Level Zero:
If the population exponent is "0" and the Tech Level is "0". then no known intelligent life exists on the planet. I use the term "no known" advisedly, as to allow for things like Little Fuzzies or intelligent Sea Otters, which would not be readily ascertained by a brief survey. A population exponent of "0" and a Tech Level in parenthesis indicates the presents of ruins of a prior civilization, which may or may not be readily visible. Think of the hidden conservatory and zoo of Andre Norton's Arzor, or the ruins and alien race of Janus, or the planet Limbo, along with several other of her stories. Alternatively, there could be a population exponent of "0" and a Tech Level with a "?". I expect that that the GM can start getting creative.
Early Zero: For this level, the population exponent should be less than 6, with the population widely dispersed in a hunter-gatherer culture. There may be a few population concentrations in areas of high natural food production from vegetation or from water resources. Those areas may have village size grouping of being. Stone-based weaponry will be the norm, but include bows or the equivalent, along with spear-throwers. There will be the start of animal domestication, and permanent housing using wood will be present, along with early brick and stone construction.
Late Zero: This period will have agriculture fully in vogue, along with irrigation and domesticated animals. Probably the wheel will be in use, although the Inca, Aztec, and Maya civilizations did well without it, but they did lack domesticated animals on par with the ox, donkey, and horse. Fairly large towns and small cities will be present, say up to 20,000 or so beings. Brick and stone construction will be well advanced and quite durable for the stone, while the presence of villages and towns built out on lakes using wood is another option. Weaponry will still be using stone, but be very well made and deadly. Fishing will be an organized activity, using nets and fish traps. Rafts will be used for river transportation, along with boats capable of limited sea travel. Writing will have been developed, and record keeping will be one of the responsibilities of the priestly class. Kings will exist, controlling from a single city to a small empire of several cities. The number of professional soldiers will be limited however, by the labor needs of agriculture along with mining of clay and stone. Some use may be made of naturally occurring native copper deposits, but smelting is not around as yet.
