Originally Posted by Varyon (Post 2261906)

There's a certain simplicity to this concept that I like. Basically, you can take a number of cultures at fairly different GURPS TL's (due to divergence, superscience/magic, advancement/retardation in specific fields, etc), and just ignore all of the potentially-complicated mechanics of the TL system. You could optionally add in nuances if needed - a particularly complex tech paradigm might be used at -5 if you lack Tech Familiarity, while a particularly simple one might be at only -1 (it may be appropriate to charge more or less, respectively, for such familiarities).

Originally Posted by maximara (Post 2261864)

TL;DR - the house rule is a solution in search of a problem that for all practical purposes doesn't exist.

Originally Posted by Varyon (Post 2261906)

There's a certain simplicity to this concept that I like. Basically, you can take a number of cultures at fairly different GURPS TL's (due to divergence, superscience/magic, advancement/retardation in specific fields, etc), and just ignore all of the potentially-complicated mechanics of the TL system. You could optionally add in nuances if needed - a particularly complex tech paradigm might be used at -5 if you lack Tech Familiarity, while a particularly simple one might be at only -1 (it may be appropriate to charge more or less, respectively, for such familiarities).

Originally Posted by Apollonian (Post 2261375)

I've been noodling around with one of my perennial favorites, converting the Warhammer Fantasy setting, and hit upon the problem of tech levels in that setting.

For those unfamiliar with the setting, there are several major cultures with varying flavors of tech: Humans in the Empire and its satellite cultures are at TL 4, complete with pikes and puffy sleeves. Brettonians and possibly Kisleve are a medieval TL3 and the Nords are a chaos-tainted TL2. But the Dwarfs are at least TL4 and probably TL5 in some areas, while the High and Dark Elves look like TL3 but function somewhere higher thanks to magic and/or super high skill levels. Orcs, goblins, and wood elves are probably TL2, but again, have weird outliers due to magic or orcy weirdness. Skaven are a mess on their own. And then there are the Lizardmen, who are ostensibly TL1 but get a very large number of plusses from being masters of magic.

So instead of just slapping each culture with a TL and then the usual raft of modifiers, I'll adopt Tech Familiarity, much like the existing Cultural Familiarity. (This is part of my on-going effort to reduce the player-facing complexity in my games.) Thus, we'll have:

Imperial Technology: Functions in most ways as TL4, though medicine is riskier. A little bit of magical or divine intervention is expected. High tech stuff includes magically enhanced clockwork and black powder, and there are bleeding edge steam machines. (defaults to Dwarfish Technology at -2 unless magic is involved, in which case it is at -4)

Brettonian Technology: Very constrained to the TL3 high medieval paradigm. If you wouldn't see it in a story with shining, full-plate Knights and muddy, grotty peasants, you don't get it. Not innovative. Medicine and agriculture are surprisingly effective as long as everyone involved is chivalrous enough to please the Lady of the Lake.

Nordic Technology: Barbarians + Chaos taint. Pretty solidly TL2, with an edge in TL3 weapons and armor. Stupid "survival of the fittest" philosophies actually work, thanks to the influence of Chaos.

Skaven Technology: Allegedly TL3, but with clan-based exceptions fueled by Warpstone, mad "science" and magic.

And so on.

Still got to work out some details, of course. Any thoughts on unintended consequences of this house rule?

Originally Posted by jason taylor (Post 2261892)

I used to know a retired Hmong warrior that was transported to the states to take a course in air coordination. Presumably he was reasonably effective at that but I doubt he was ever therefore capable of designing a Phantom.

Originally Posted by David Johnston2 (Post 2261919)

First let's look at the intended consequences. With Cultural Familiarity you spend 1 point to eliminate -3 skill and reaction penalty. So basically it's a Perk that eliminates a -3 penalty to skills like armory and farmer. I don't see a problem. One thing to bear in mind however, is that the mental image of a knight in shining full plate armor actually probably is TL 4 even if they don't have book binding and telescopes.