Before dipping in to how I see tech levels in the RC, I'll start a little with what I see tech levels in the Imperium/Charted Space.
The way I see it is that, for high tech, there are producers, pop7 to pop A worlds, and consumers - which are those worlds, and everyone else.
If a world is TL-15, then that tech is readily available.
If a world is Rich, then it can easily access the highest tech in its area. Think Saudi Arabia and other rich states.
Others worlds have access, but the highest tech is less easily got.
Poor and other disadvantaged worlds will only have the very rich, or governments having access to the highest tech - and even then it will be rare.
In the RC, there seems to be agreement on using each system's tech level to best effect. So Oriflamme produces a lot of stuff at Tech 9, the other higher tech worlds chipping in with stuff that can be done better, or only, at higher levels. Plasma Bazookas and Battledress being examples of this. There's a committee on equipment standarisation, CSAARC(?), which facilitates this.
As for what you can buy, I would guess you would pay a premium for higher tech if you wanted to buy an Aubani communicator on Oriflamme. It could even be hard to get, as the Oriflammen govt. might want such tech for its own uses. Ordering it from Aubaine might take a lot of time, and even in the RC I would think there would be bottlenecks in the freight process that would lead to delays. That said, I would guess an Oriflammen communicator would do the job, just be heavier or bulkier than the Aubani equivalent.
If you are RCES, then within reason, you are going to be equipped with the best that the RC produces in equipment. That means your battledress will be TL-12, your ACR TL-10, your Range Truck TL-8, etc.
However, with the focus on starfaring/military equipment and bootstrapping, civilians on the higher tech worlds might not have as much access to the max their planets can produce. If you're familiar with the DGP system, they would have a high common tech which was their planet's rated level, but the low common tech level would be more dominant.
Another point is that the RC govts will all have access to their respective techs, though there may be some horse-trading over this. An example of this working in an easy way is the Clippers being built at Aurora and Oriflamme. The Tech beyond those world's capabilities must be provided from outside. A harder tech exchange to arrange might be if Oriflamme wants to build better assault landers, and Aubaine suspects they'd be used against Teldora, for example. One thing that comes away from this is that the TL-9 and 10 penalties against Space Navies generally* doesn't apply in the RC, as that tech can be sourced if needed.
Eamon
* unless pressure is being exerted, as in my imagined example of the assault landers.
Sent from my iPad
On 10 May 2014, at 04:43, "Scott Nolan [Traveller_TNE]" <> wrote:
> I'm trying to wrap my head around Tech Levels, specifically Tech Levels in the Reformation Coalition.
>
> Take, for example, Aubaine (Tech 12) and Oriflamme (Tech 8).
>
> First, consider that I'm on Oriflamme and want to contact a business. I presume that my communications device will probably be Tech Level 8, or possibly less. Now assume that I want to purchase a higher-tech communications device for communication between me and my crew. Can I do so on Oriflamme? Can I order it from Aubaine by the RC version of Amazon.com? If not, why not? And if so, why isn't every world in the RC rapidly rising towards Tech Level 12?
>
> Second, consider that I am a member of an RCES Recovery Team (i.e., I'm a Star Viking about to go on a Smash and Grab raid). Is my gear always going to be Tech Level 12? Will any of it be?I
>
> I'm thinking of limiting what can be bought on the open market to the worse of Tech Level 10 or the world's Tech Level, reasoning that in the early years, the RC is focusing the manufacture of Tech Level 11 and 12 gear to the military and RCES.
>
> Scott
>
The way I see it is that, for high tech, there are producers, pop7 to pop A worlds, and consumers - which are those worlds, and everyone else.
If a world is TL-15, then that tech is readily available.
If a world is Rich, then it can easily access the highest tech in its area. Think Saudi Arabia and other rich states.
Others worlds have access, but the highest tech is less easily got.
Poor and other disadvantaged worlds will only have the very rich, or governments having access to the highest tech - and even then it will be rare.
In the RC, there seems to be agreement on using each system's tech level to best effect. So Oriflamme produces a lot of stuff at Tech 9, the other higher tech worlds chipping in with stuff that can be done better, or only, at higher levels. Plasma Bazookas and Battledress being examples of this. There's a committee on equipment standarisation, CSAARC(?), which facilitates this.
As for what you can buy, I would guess you would pay a premium for higher tech if you wanted to buy an Aubani communicator on Oriflamme. It could even be hard to get, as the Oriflammen govt. might want such tech for its own uses. Ordering it from Aubaine might take a lot of time, and even in the RC I would think there would be bottlenecks in the freight process that would lead to delays. That said, I would guess an Oriflammen communicator would do the job, just be heavier or bulkier than the Aubani equivalent.
If you are RCES, then within reason, you are going to be equipped with the best that the RC produces in equipment. That means your battledress will be TL-12, your ACR TL-10, your Range Truck TL-8, etc.
However, with the focus on starfaring/military equipment and bootstrapping, civilians on the higher tech worlds might not have as much access to the max their planets can produce. If you're familiar with the DGP system, they would have a high common tech which was their planet's rated level, but the low common tech level would be more dominant.
Another point is that the RC govts will all have access to their respective techs, though there may be some horse-trading over this. An example of this working in an easy way is the Clippers being built at Aurora and Oriflamme. The Tech beyond those world's capabilities must be provided from outside. A harder tech exchange to arrange might be if Oriflamme wants to build better assault landers, and Aubaine suspects they'd be used against Teldora, for example. One thing that comes away from this is that the TL-9 and 10 penalties against Space Navies generally* doesn't apply in the RC, as that tech can be sourced if needed.
Eamon
* unless pressure is being exerted, as in my imagined example of the assault landers.
Sent from my iPad
On 10 May 2014, at 04:43, "Scott Nolan [Traveller_TNE]" <> wrote:
> I'm trying to wrap my head around Tech Levels, specifically Tech Levels in the Reformation Coalition.
>
> Take, for example, Aubaine (Tech 12) and Oriflamme (Tech 8).
>
> First, consider that I'm on Oriflamme and want to contact a business. I presume that my communications device will probably be Tech Level 8, or possibly less. Now assume that I want to purchase a higher-tech communications device for communication between me and my crew. Can I do so on Oriflamme? Can I order it from Aubaine by the RC version of Amazon.com? If not, why not? And if so, why isn't every world in the RC rapidly rising towards Tech Level 12?
>
> Second, consider that I am a member of an RCES Recovery Team (i.e., I'm a Star Viking about to go on a Smash and Grab raid). Is my gear always going to be Tech Level 12? Will any of it be?I
>
> I'm thinking of limiting what can be bought on the open market to the worse of Tech Level 10 or the world's Tech Level, reasoning that in the early years, the RC is focusing the manufacture of Tech Level 11 and 12 gear to the military and RCES.
>
> Scott
>