Re: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me

Part of thread: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me · 1 reply ↳ In reply to Re: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me — DEREK STANLEY Re: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me — Scott Nolan
TL15 anti tank missile = holy lance +5!

Derek Stanley
Sent from my iPhone...

> On May 9, 2014, at 16:40, "'Richard Perks' [Traveller_TNE]" <> wrote:
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> Don't see why not, its cuts down what the RCES has to supply. Okay the RCES will supply the light battledress etc. or whatever else is needed for the mission, but if you happen to have a TL15 light anti-tank missile, who is going to stop you taking it along.
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> The RCEs is a new service with few customs and a light touch chain of command, free lancers have even less formal control.
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> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Scott Nolan [Traveller_TNE]
> To:
> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 12:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Re: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me
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> That makes sense. But if the PC's are RCES personnel, and not just freelancers, do they get to bring their own equipment on missions?
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>> On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 5:44 PM, 'Richard Perks' [Traveller_TNE] <> wrote:
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>> Don't forget Aubaine is only 1 world and everyone will be asking for TL12 stuff. You could see a RCES team equipped with TL9 combat fatigues, boots and backpacks made on oriflamme, but their radios are TL11 stuff from Trybec. Missiles could have TL9 warheads and propellants but Tl12 guidance systems.
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>> Lots of the vehicles etc will be Tl9 oriflamme stuff, but the fire direction equipment may be TL12 imports. Given the shortage of TL 11/12 stuff, the question the RCES quatermaster will be asking is - will the TL9 oriflamme stuff do?
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>> Why should the RC spend some of its precious TL12 manufacturing capability on the PCs. the Navy is clamouring for TL12 sensors and meson guns, the army for TL12 attack speeders etc.The PCs will be way down the list.
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>> Large parts of a PCs high tech stuff could be high tech relics recovered on previous raids - equivalent to the D&D treasure:)
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>> Cheers
>> Richard
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Master Uxi [Traveller_TNE]
>> To:
>> Sent: Friday, May 09, 2014 10:30 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Re: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me
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>> It gives you ballpark what your players can expect to find where. It's a guideline, though, not written in blood as who injured what the Imperials or Solomani hid or what the Guild smuggled in, etc.
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>> - Sent from my SM-N900T
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>>> On May 9, 2014 2:28 PM, "Scott Nolan [Traveller_TNE]" <> wrote:
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>>> Thanks for the responses. But doesn't that effectively just make TL a worthless concept? If a character wants a piece of TL 12 gear and can easily obtain it, what point is there in saying that Oriflamme (or any world in the RC) is of a lower TL? Who cares if the locals all use TL 8 cars and telephones if my PC always has access to the good stuff. It's the TL of the PC's gear that is really going to set a tone, don't you think?
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>>> Scott
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>>>> On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 4:39 PM, 'D. Stanley' [Traveller_TNE] <> wrote:
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>>>> I’ve got to agree with Harold here, while TL8 stuff will be everywhere, they probably mfg a small amount of TL9 and maybe even TL10 gear. TL11 and 12 gear will be very available at any store, there might be a premium on some of the larger items simply because of the logistics in shipping them. TL13+ is going to require that you know a guy who knows a guy who found something that “fell off the back of a truck”.
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>>>> We have to keep in mind that these TL’s are a snapshot, a moment in time and unlike the Imperium where those TL’s might exist for decades or even centuries on a world the RC is “recovering” and they’re recovering fast so it’s quite likely that by the time NE3 rolls about Oriflamme might be TL10 or 11 and Aubaine might be TL13 or 14 simply due to the nature of the beast.
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>>>> Realistically Aubaine might have some TL13-15 manufacturing capabilities at NE1 but it’s so small it doesn’t count. IE. There might be a factory making TL14 tablet computers or blue tooth headsets. These would be way faster and more advanced than the rest of the world is capable of making but they’re so limited in production that they cost a fortune.
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>>>> I’ve been harboring a strong dislike of the Tech codes for ages, particularly in the TNE setting where things are changing so fast. In my own things I tend to divide up the planetary capacity in terms of broad categories, Medical Supplies, Weapons, Vehicles, Starships, Equipment. And I might break it down further and say things like, well these guys have a TL15 PRIS goggles factory that’s operational, just for flavor.
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>>>> From: []
>>>> Sent: Friday, May 09, 2014 1:23 PM
>>>> To:
>>>> Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Re: Tech Levels - 'Splain them to me
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>>>> I've always played it such that tech level was what was "commonly available and/or able to be manufactured", rather than it being a hard number where nothing higher tech was available. The Imperium is/was a start spanning empire where interstellar travel was very common. Sure there were backwater areas and worlds that were "off limits", but how else do you explain a world that has thousands of inhabitants is at TL6 with a very thin, tainted atmosphere? They import the goods necessary to survive.
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>>>> Thus, in the TNE setting, a world might be TL 8, but they may have everything from TL 8 to TL 15 available in terms of merchandise. The TL 12 stuff might come from a nearby TL 12 world (along with some TL 11 items manufactured as that world progressed--think old computers that people in the West treat as near junk, but to someone in Ethiopia they are super powerful PCs), TL 13-15 stuff would naturally be salvaged relic equipment that would be expensive and finding spare parts could be challenging. Local people would of course be making TL 8 stuff, and depending on what is was (say farm equipment or tools) it would be "good, sturdy gear". Not everything needs to be the latest and greatest technology--indeed locals may even have a preference for the lower tech stuff.
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>>>> So if I were on Oriflamme, I'd expect that most things would be TL 8, in some tech areas there was be a fair amount of TL 11-12 imported gear, especially electronics (light weight, easy to ship in bulk, ask the Japanese...). But if "you know a guy who knows a guy", maybe you can get hold of a precious TL 14 Solomani holo projector. The rest is up to your imagination and how you "make it work" for the game you are running.
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