The Low Tech You want

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

When Sean and I discussed the rules we included in MA, he specifically made a deeper, fuller version of them a requirement for Low-Tech. Low-Tech was just a discussion item at that point, but he felt (and I agreed) that MA needed some bare-bones rules but that Low-Tech was the place to really explore the topic. So that's why you've got some of it in Martial Arts - enough for combo weapons, etc. and enough to save us a lot of space elsewhere in Chapter 6. But the rest will come later, based on our previous discussions.

Thanks for the insight!

Another reason to keep going *g*

[Figleaf23]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Isn't there a weapon design system way out on the pipeline for e23? I know that they avoided that section from vehicles for the new VDS still in production.

They what!?! Well that's just f%$ing s^%&*. What kind of vehicles do they think people mainly want to design for gaming???

[Akicita]

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

What kind of vehicles do they think people mainly want to design for gaming???

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I tend to design vehicles for two things.

Primarily, I want them as locations. I want to set an adventure ON a Mississippi riverboat, or a Titanic-style ocean liner.

And secondarily, when worldbuilding, I want to know what sort of transport and communications systems there are so that I can maintain plausability.

Back to Low-Tech. I want everything in the 3e version. I want TL4, with no more attention to gunpowder than necessary. I want the TL0-4 parts of GURPS Economies. Informed discussion of Fantasy tech would be nice - especially if Bill Stoddard has an urge to expand upon that aspect of his work in GURPS Fantasy. And then I want more of it all.

[tshiggins]

As part of the discussion on economies, I'd like side-bars that provide information about the impact of magic on crop yields, infant mortality, and disease rates, with a round-up of how that likely would affect general patterns of production, trade and settlement.

Actually, I'd like to see a 256-page book devoted to that, with some campaign ideas tossed in. But that'll never happen, so I'm trying to be realistic.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Molokh

TL4. They took TL4 away from HT!

Because we added TL8. In 3e, "high-tech" was TL4-7 (four TLs); in 4e, it's TL5-8 (still four TLs). With apologies to those who like ancient cultures, all their tech would fit in a thimble next to what exists at the high-tech end of things, so when the TL advanced by one, we stretched out the low-tech end, because it was more likely to fit in a book still.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by griffin

To start with I want it to keep the Low-Tech name (or something similar) not Fantasy Tech. I wouldn't mind to seeing a chapter on enhancing weapons using magical enchantment but that's not the primary need in this book. However, folks at Steve Jackson Games maintain that if the book even has fantasy in the title it will sell much better.

Huh? There was a brief period where we considered merging TL0-4 with magical "tech," but we decided against that some time ago.

[rosignol]

Originally Posted by Dangerious P. Cats

Of the 3ed Tech books my favourite was Low Tech. I even when so far as to use if for a history assignment at uni. I'm quite enthusiastic about a 4e version. What do you want to see in the updated low tech?

Realistic armor.

Armor customization rules. Specifically, what to do to give extra protection to the vitals, neck and groin.

Some details on what would be considered Fine/Very Fine armor.

A jobs table (a few pages' worth) so that GM's have some guidance on how much money PCs can make in the downtime between 'adventures'.

Notes on what modern people take for granted that do not apply to the bad old days.

Some guidance on how long it takes for craftsmen types to create goods.

Details on what weapons are appropriate to what TLs (of course).

A nod given to the fact that most of the people playing in low-tech settings play in low-tech fantasy settings.

edit: ...and please don't focus on Europe.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by rosignol

A nod given to the fact that most of the people playing in low-tech settings play in low-tech fantasy settings.

Or at least low-tech adventure settings. I would say that High-Tech's content balance is about right: lots of weapons, a fair bit of armor, and the rest dedicated to expedition gear, spy-tech, medical kit for patching up after the fight, a few vehicles for adventurers, and tools that enable skill use. The day-to-day life of John Q. Public will get a nod in boxes and the occasional non-adventuring item (High-Tech has this feature as well), but it won't be a focus.

[nanoboy]

Something I'd like to see is a section on how life really was different for people living in these TLs. I'd love to see something that would tell players how they need to think of this aspect of their characters. People come into a game with a lot of assumptions, and sometimes, player characters come off as Yankee Salesmen in King Arthur's Court. If there was something that I could give to my players ahead of time to let them know what some of the social expectations will be and what sorts of limits that the technology impose, I'd be happy with that.

[Polydamas]

I want something like the first Low Tech, only longer ;). We already have Martial Arts for a big-book-o-swords, for example, so we don't need very much space for weapons rules ... except for the guns.

Agreed about the need for good armouring and smithing rules which make Fine and Very Fine swords easier to make at high TLs with full equipment. You might even be able to fit in a sidebar about skill modifiers for making low-tech stuff at high TLs (lots of amateurs can do serviceable TL 2-3 cobbling, armouring, or whatever today because they have good tools, reference books, pre-made materials, etc.)