Tech levels reflect the general technologies of a setting. Some settings will have different cultures at different tech levels. Some skills and powers are also divided by tech level in a very general sense. Some powers and skills don't exist in lower tech levels.
The dates given are generalizations. Not every culture came into these ages at these exact times. Some came in earlier or later or even skipped an Age. The dates for the Ages in the Future are even more of a guess. Change them based on your setting.
Some technologies will reflect a certain tech level but will work in a different way. If the TL has a B in front of it then the technology is Biological but covers the same level of technologies. If it has a M in front then it is Magic based. If the TL has a T in front of it then it is based on Trade with another culture.
If the TL has a P in front of it then that culture previously had a higher tech level but due to some circumstances it has lost it. This means that they understand the technologies of a higher tech level but they no longer have the industrial base to produce it. This could be from a Post-Apocalyptic setting or moving into a new area and they haven't had a chance to build back up yet. It could also be a cultural decision
So you could have a TL that was TL4/M7/T10. This means that the culture is based at the Early Middle Ages but has magic that allows for more advanced sailing technologies and is in trade with a culture that is Steam Age.
You can use sticks and stones to break people's bones. A lack of harder farming implements limits stone age cultures to hunter gather sustenance living. The best defense is either caves or mobility.
This can also be used for Stone Age tribes such as Native Americans, African tribes, or other Aboriginal cultures.
TL 1.2: Neolithic Age (9,000 to ~ 3,300 BCE)
This
is the beginning of forming larger communities. This includes stone
and mud brick buildings. This is the beginning of agriculture and
domestication. Once you have the ability to form farming tools there
is a surplus and a boom of specialized people in the culture. There
is a large focus on domestication and the beginnings of economics.
Cities are built as large forts. This includes the Babylonians and
the Egyptians.
Once you have the ability to form farming tools
there is a surplus and a boom of specialized people in the culture.
There is a large focus on domestication and the beginnings of
economics.
TL 1.3 Bronze Age (3300 – 1200 BCE)
Bronze versions of stone weapons were made but only the wealthy would have access to them. Everyone else was still using stone weapons. Once you have the ability to form farming tools there is a surplus and a boom of specialized people in the culture. There is a large focus on domestication and the beginnings of economics. Most people lived in one of thousands of tribes. Only a few cities existed. Cities are built as large forts. Mostly there were villages that had around 20 houses. Buildings were mostly round with straw thatched roofs.
Use of written language is developed.
Major cultures of the Age of Ancients include Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Minoan, Canaanite, Hittite, and Elamite.
TL 1.4: Iron Age (1200-800 BCE)
Iron smelting opens up the use of iron for more than jewelry. It is usually work hardened at this point and is only a bit stronger than bronze weapons. Most soldiers would be carrying a steel headed spear and a shield. Slings were extremely common at this point. There were a lot more cities and nations had expanded to the point of frequent warfare.
This includes the Iron Age II cultures including the Assyrians, Persians, Carthaginians, Greeks and the Roman Republic. Various kinds of steel were developed during this time. There was a change in the warfare with the invention of carburization of iron into steel. This opened up the use of personal armor and the development of heavy infantry.
This is the time of the Roman Empire and a series of civil wars within the Empire as well as nearly constant attacks by various German tribes. Larger scale constructions are now possible with concrete.
This was a time period of population decline, a shift away from urban centers, a loss of cultural development, and increased immigration. The two major cultural powers at the time were the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphates. Around 800 there was the expansion of the Carolingian Empire with a shift towards feudalism.
The stirrup was adopted slowly across Europe during the latter half of this era.
The Age of Crusades saw developments in agriculture, windmills, and armored warfare as well as printing. This was a time of rapidly increasing population and urbanization. Horseshoes become common during this age. At first they were bronze but then they switched to iron.
This includes what is normally classified as the Late Middle Ages. This is when gunpowder was first introduced to Europe. Gunpowder weapons, swords, and armor coexisted during this time period.
This was a particularly bad time in the history of Europe. Climate change and weather disasters destroyed much of the farm land. The Black Plague began killing people in the millions. The economy took a huge plunge. The population of Europe was cut in half by all these disasters. During this time there are several wars, especially between the English and the French during the Hundred Years’ War. The peasants eventually revolt but are put down.
This was also the time of the Great Schism which split the Catholic Church.
In 1453, the Ottoman Empire took over Constantinople, cutting off the Silk Road. With the fall of Constantinople, there was a search for an alternate trade route with China. This led to the discovery of several lands new to Europe, including the Americas. The Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Dutch all led major expeditions to explore the world.
The Ottoman Empire became a super power at this time but it was focused on ground trade.
The Age of Enlightenment was a cultural movement of intellectuals that emphasized reason and individualism over tradition. It was sparked by philosophers Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), John Locke (1632–1704), Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), Voltaire (1694–1778) and physicist Isaac Newton (1643–1727). Much of the basis of the formation of the United States and the French Revolution come from the writings of this age. This was also the beginning of the scientific method and the industrial revolutions.
Gunpowder supplants Steel as the weapon of the day. After the 1650’s, the accuracy of firearms increases. This leads to a drop in the use of armor. Armor becomes mostly ceremonial. This is the time of a series of scientific discoveries made during this time that shifted our understanding of the world.
This was an Age of great changes including the Industrial Revolution, the Seven Years War, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, American Civil War and the early Old West.
There was a population explosion during this time. Machines allowed farmers to grow much more food. New medicines allowed people to survive more illnesses and more children to survive.
Screw propellers replace paddle wheels on ocean going steam boats. Ironclad replace wooden ships. This was the time of the Old West.
This is the time of the second industrial revolution in America. Electricity became a major technology and factories and huge cities sprang up. Population levels increased from growth and from huge immigration after the Civil War. Technology was seen as a positive force. This era includes World War 1 and a major shift in warfare. Sonar invented.
This includes the Great Depression and World War 2. Technology seemed much darker to people after this. However air power changes the world at this point. Early computers were huge devices that filled up a room. They required either punch cards or physically rewiring them to change a program. Radar invented
This includes the space race, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and the Civil Rights Movement. America came out of the previous era richer and a global superpower. Geiger counter invented.
This is the beginning of the age of the Internet. It is a focus on computers and shared information. Computers open up the world to many.
Starting with smart phones, everyone is connected all the time. 3D Printing starts to develop.
Cyberware becomes a major part of people's lives. We explore the solar system.
Humanity fully explores the solar system. Space is no longer just the realm of megacorps and nations. The asteroid belts are filled with people in a population explosion.
Interstellar Era
Humanity sends manned missions to other solar systems using cryosleep. Large rotator motherships are developed. The various colonies develop into different cultures.
Asteroid cities hold most of the people in the Sol System now. Terraforming is being carried out on several planets. Huge O'Neil type space stations and arcologies are being built using new materials. Things have an enormous scale to them now.
Contra-gravity and artificial gravity open up space to the world. Basic tractor fields and force-fields are common tools now. Ships are like huge buildings at this point. They don't use rotating sections any more but the rest of the ship is similar.
New types of vehicles become available. This includes new vehicles like contragrav vehicles called Congos (Contra-gravity Operations). There are also Congo Boosted vehicles. These are wheeled vehicles that have a congo booster in them that prevents them from being destroyed by impacts and helps them jump longer and farther.
Early Hyperdrives open up space. Travel takes months from system to system at this point. Ships are discovering the dangers and wonders of Hyperspace. There is a huge focus on exploration at this point in time. Huge colony ships are used to carry colonization out into the nearby systems. FTL communications by hyperspace relays allow rapid communications.
Congo vehicles have replaced most ground vehicles at this point. Mechs are one of the only types left and they use it for leverage.
Ships use a combination of huge reaction engines and contragravity drives. This gives them great maneuverability and speed. Ships are more streamlined and less bulky then they were before. Due to their contragravity drives they can land on a planet or float above it a few feet.
Repulsorlift and contragrav vehicles have replaced ground vehicles entirely by this point. Controls on ships usually have a holographic element to them.
Humanity identifies more with the colonial world that they live on then with humanity as a whole. If there are aliens they will usually try to merge with or dominate them on the same planet. New forms of humanity and aliens develop.
Ships don't require large thrusters anymore. They can push a ship very quickly with their contragravity drive and only use thrusters for low powered maneuvers. Repulsorlift and contragrav vehicles have replaced ground vehicles entirely by this point. Zero point energy generators are the norm.
Multidimensional Hyperdrives allow for even faster space travel.
Full FTL in this dimension is available. Ships are extremely powerful. They can land on the ground barely touching the actual ground. They can move in any direct they want. They can stand on their end on a planet without problems. They don't need to be in orbit. Huge Ships are the new cities. They roam around at FTL. Ring Worlds are achievable.
Technology has progressed to the point of manipulation of stars and black holes, phased technologies, planetary scale shielding and weapons, etc. Exploration of other galaxies has spread humanity incredibly far out. Wormhole generation allows a network that stretches across the galaxy and into other galaxies.
Holographic force field armor is used to provide impressive protection from the elements and during combat.
Technology allows for force projections which can do almost anything. Entire ships can be projected and move at FTL speeds.
TL 4.9: Temporal Age
Time control and dimensional control allow for structures that defy space-time. Anything can be created, including other dimensions.