Dealing with TLs in Japanese RPGs

[warellis]

Often one finds in Japanese RPGs, and even anime, diverging tech levels. You'll see medieval peasants and laser rifles in the same game on the same planet or area. Kinda like 40K except more Japanified.

So how do you guys deal with that kind of thing, especially when you can't explain it away as from a spacefaring faction or something or space people interfering with some medieval level world?

I ask this because I've seen some anime were pocket dimensions seem to have tech or clothes that look distinctly anachronistic compared to the wider normal plane. As in most people are wearing clothes that look like something out of medieval times and a character is wearing a frilly French maid costume.

[Gedrin]

There are places on RL Earth, obviously outside Japan, where the local TL is very low, but they have lots of AK-47's. So, I suspect you're running into an economics issue, rather than a technology one.

FREX: A large army outfits it's soldiers with a TL7 rifle. Later, that army's need for the rifle decreases (number of riflemen shrinks, new model, whatever). The surplus rifles are sold off to other nations.
When it's a VERY large army, with a VERY successful weapon, that is VERY cheap to manufacture...you could find them selling for $5 in areas that don't have indoor plumbing.

As for clothing or stylistic choices...TL10 people's clothes look like whatever style is in vogue and can be reprogrammed day to day. People who have pocket dimensions have transcended the axiom "form follows function", at least in the traditional meaning of "form". They can look like whatever they want.

That said, I don't expect this level of internal consistency with regards to the world building and style choices of anime.

[David Johnston2]

So the setting has medieval peasants, french maid costumes, and laser rifles does it? So what? Just go with it. The important thing is that laser rifles not be so good that they render other weapons you want used pointless. The "laser rifles" in those games tend to have lousy range, rate of fire and damage while the swords are capable of things no real sword could do...and that's just fine. Tech levels are a short cut, a simple way to quickly categorize entire cultures and compare their capabilities. But they aren't really necessary if you are prepared to put the work into creating and balancing your own equipment lists from whole cloth

[warellis]

I see. Thanks for the advice.

Have you ever had to deal with such anachronistic stuff for settings?

[Prince Charon]

The medieval peasants, knights, et cetra could be described as 'TL3/10': They are TL3 themselves, but are aware of and have some access to items from TL10.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

The medieval peasants, knights, et cetra could be described as 'TL3/10': They are TL3 themselves, but are aware of and have some access to items from TL10.

Often a lot of the "low TL" is actually set dressing, or role playing if you prefer, rather than actual limited TL.

Ask yourself is everybody a little hungry come springtime because the food is running short? If there's a major storm in September, are some of the villagers going to starve to death? If the answers are no, your "peasant farmers" actually have TL5 or so agriculture no matter what it looks like.

If a message has to get to the capital immediately or the evil invaders will kill us all, do we all die? If there is a workaround that gets the message there in time, we have TL5+ communications.

Has essentially everybody seen one or more siblings die of disease while they were growing up? If not, medical technology is TL6 or better.

Does anybody own more than 2 changes of clothing? The industrial revolution has apparently come to textile production even if you can't see it.

It's actually fairly rare for a low tech setting to be worse off than late TL4 or early TL5 in much of anything.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by warellis

...
I ask this because I've seen some anime were pocket dimensions seem to have tech or clothes that look distinctly anachronistic compared to the wider normal plane. As in most people are wearing clothes that look like something out of medieval times and a character is wearing a frilly French maid costume.

On a meta level, that's a combination of Rule of Cool and Fan Service (warning: Tropes links).

On an in-universe level ... well, that depends on the universe in question. It might be a society that's advanced in a particular technology, it might be legacy tech in an after-the-end setting, it might be trade with the outside world(s).

[warellis]

I see.

Any good examples of what we're discussing that you've seen in anime or games? Like blatantly different clothing or weapons compared to the wider world?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by warellis

I see. Thanks for the advice.

Have you ever had to deal with such anachronistic stuff for settings?

I have created energy rifles and pistols that were fundamentally muskets and flintlocks, except that instead of needing to be reloaded (ever) they required eight seconds to recharge between shots. Devastating on the battlefield, not so useful in tight quarters.

[warellis]

I wonder how much scarier it would've been if they required 20 seconds to recharge, since supposedly that's the amount of time a really well trained musketeer would need to reload.