Continuing our discussion from past fora, I'm starting a thread here in the hopes of finalising the concepts that have been thrown around, agreeing on them and hopefully integrating them in future work.
I don't think that there have been any real problems, except with the confusion between "TTL" and "GTL," which is primarily a product of use of the
Traveller system for world generation and the
GURPS Traveller version, which is itself a product of originally using the
Guide. This is one of the reasons that I originally posted the conversion between the two systems, but in the end we've ended up using the GTL (
GURPS) version more often than not.
Caveat, though: things have changed slightly in the
GURPS world since 3e, so some variations in the assumptions may creep in. It's not catastrophic in terms of what CELS has written, or what we've been working on from the get-go, but just thought that I would mention it for honesty.
In other words, the technology levels should not be seen as a ladder, but rather as a tree. And like the Eldar have climbed some very different branches within that tree compared to Necrons, there are also different branches within the Imperium of man.
This has been a given since the start of the project, but perhaps one that needs to be stated once more. For those familiar with the
Heaven & Earth program, this should also have become rapidly apparent with the division of the standard TL system into 'robotics,' 'communications,' etc. (With the obvious caveat that this is the TTL system rather than the GTL one that we're using more and more often.)
Classification Tech Level (GURPS)
Sub-Imperial 1-7
Low Imperial 8
Common Imperial 9
High Imperial 10
This seems increasingly consistent with the "new" version of
GURPS, i.e. fourth edition, and which in simple terms (and assuming that military functions are what most people are interested in) puts the production of "lasguns" into the High Imperial realm. This is where they were with the original system as well, so again all is good.
Classification Tech Level (GURPS)
Low Martian 9
Common Martian 10
High Martian 11
I would suggest a 10/11/12 range, rather than what is presented, with the idea that High Martian technology is still in its infancy (i.e. "novelty technology" as it would be termed with
Heaven & Earth).
Classification Tech Level (GURPS)
Low Aurus [Golden Men] 9
Common Aurus [Golden Men] / Low Canus [Stone Men] 10
High Aurus [Golden Men] / Common Canus [Stone Men] 11
High Canus [Stone Men] 12
Again, I would bump this up a single level each, i.e. 10/11/12/13.
The Imperium produces technology which is advanced and primitive at the same time.
The one thing that you have to do here is disassociate yourself with the Imagery of the 40k universe, which has a fishy smell of a red herring more than not. GW do not concern themselves with any form of consistency, merely what is illustrated by the Rule of Cool. This doesn't mean that it cannot be made coherent (and even consistent), but it illustrates merely that one cannot merely bandy around the retrotech imagery and say that something doesn't work (or does).
The UWP TL statistic... If it isn't clear already, this is
meant to be misleading -- to give a very rough average by which you can guestimate just what you might find on a given world. If you see a TL of 5 on one world, and a TL of 7/8 on another, all that it is meant to represent is that with all things being even if you went to the former you would reasonably expect to see something similar to the 18th/19th century, while in the latter it would be more akin to the modern world.
But... Technological progress is not even across all technologies. Thus a world might be elevated in terms of, say, light military technology, while being depressed in other areas. For example, the TL5 world ("Industrial Revolution") might reasonably have more advanced computational technology, thereby representing something similar to Gibson and ?Sterling's
The Difference Engine. On the other hand, the Imperium is commonly represented as being retarded with regards to "Computer" TL, such that while High Imperial might be TL 10, in terms of "Computers" there might be a stock TL modifier of -2 (i.e. bringing it down to the realms of our more advanced computers).
Even with that said... One cannot forget the cultural imperatives. A scroll in the Imperium could just be a piece of rolled papyrus or paper, or it could be digital paper attached to a fairly powerful computer. The thing that makes it look like a scroll, however, are the cultural preferences. A scroll is not a scroll unless it just happens to be a scroll.
And also... Remember that these are broad guidelines, not inflexible rules.
containing a Machine Spirit (AI which has an artificial soul)...
Remember that this is your personal interpretation. There are many other possibilities as to what the "machine spirit" is, let alone its applications to specific artefacts/weapon systems in the 40k universe.
However the design of the tank is quite outdated and quite primitive.
Cultural imperative/aesthetics, for one, but also remember that the game designers seem to be going with the WWI design aesthetic.
So while there are branched each faction climbs into (to stick to the "tree" metaphor), even those branches vary in height. Military technology is very advanced, high tech weapons and engines but primitive armour and designs.
As above, though, this has been the same since the start of the project, even if it is good to air it out once again.
Your concept remains, just with different nametags, perhaps Greek letters or some Latin terms for various levels (might even look into mythology for that one)
While this is not inappropriate, one should also not get too caught up in the idea that naming something differently actually changes the essence. It always strikes me as strange when people claim the uniqueness of the 40k universe because of, say, servitors and the absence (more or less) of robots, when servitors are just robots with squidgey bits.
In short, though, other than the increase of +1, that looks good.
Kage
