Re: We're gonna have to rethink the TLs
Like much of GURPS, I see TLs as a tool - it's easy to say the Augrishtan Dwarves are TL4, with TL3 medicine and TL5 mining and explosives, but without military applications for explosives above TL3. I can then go on adding and removing specific techs to for a complete whole. This is far more efficient than taking all three tech books and making a speradsheet indicating what societies have what techs and tools individually.
Even historical societies will be described by comparison to known societies, so the system works great there as well.
I think the main issue comes from expectation that TLs should be a strict "build upon the previous TL" universal progression that every society should follow perfectly. It's just a benchmark using relevant but anecdotal examples, or reasonable hyotheses for TL9+.
|