Technology Levels

General Use

Technology levels, or TLs, can be applied to worlds or nations to describe the technological infrastructure present. They can also be applied to items to define the tech level required to produce that item. The higher the TL, the more advanced the technology. The average space-faring society is considered TL4, provided they can manufacture their own inter-stellar flight systems. Uninhabited worlds have no TL, since there is no infrastructure.

TL	Era	Description
TL0	Neolithic	Simple tools, weapons, and clothing made of wood, stone, or woven textiles.
TL1	Pre-gunpowder	Early metal works and primitive machinery available.
TL2	Industrial	Steam and combustion engines, gunpowder, and telegraphy available.
TL3	21st century	Nuclear power and weapons, computers and internet, and inter-system flight available.
TL4	Post-tech	Inter-stellar flight, projection weapons, cybernetics, and inorganic intelligences available.
TL5	Pre-tech	Psi-tech, nanotech, True AI, and other means of manipulating the physical world available.
TLX	Pre-human alien	Tech remaining from pre-human aliens containing self-repair nanotech and neural-interface devices.

Terminology

Psi-tech

Advanced technology using psionics. Could amplify or mimic psionic techniques.

The Scream

An event that killed psions and destroyed psi-tech, isolating all human colonies. Read More

Pre-tech

Technology made prior to The Scream. Rare and highly advanced.

Jump Gates

A form of psi-tech that teleported people and goods between star systems.

The Silence

The time between the Scream and when humanity redeveloped spike drives.

Post-tech

Technology made after The Scream.

Primers are articles covering base concepts that help bring context to other articles. Read the others here:

Further Reading