Technology Levels (Classic)

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The Classic edition GURPS books and the early editions of GURPS Prime Directive use an older version of the Tech Level system.
For the most part Tech Levels are the same until about TL8 at which point they diverge.
Divergent Technology (TL(Historical+Divergent)) was introduced in GURPS Steampunk as a way to emulate worlds where the technology diverged from the normal Tech Level. Example: TL(5+1) is a TL6, with historical Earth-like TL5, but somewhat different TL6 (same effects, different form). For alternate worlds which "look" different. Characters not used to truly divergent technology suffer a -2 penalty. Divergent Technology was also used to signify superscience tech in Classic. Steampunk and Steamtech broadened the TL5 and TL(5+1)
Things in the regular Tech Level chart that were made Superscience in 4e are in bold
Transhuman Space revised the general classic Tech levels in the TL7-9 range slightly. Those revisions are in italics.
==General Classic Tech Level Overview==
TL 	Era 	Start-end date 	Signature technologies
0 	Stone Age 	up to 4000 BC 	fire, lever, language
1 	Bronze Age 	(Athens) 
4000 BC-1200 BC	wheel, writing, agriculture
2 	Iron Age 	1200 BCE-500 CE) 	Geometry; scrolls.
3 	Medieval 	500-1450 	steel weapons, mathematics with zero
4 	Renaissance/Colonial 	1450-1700 	gunpowder, printing
5 	Industrial Revolution 	1701-1900 	mass production, steam power, telegraph
6 	World War I/World War II	1901-1950 	cars, airplanes, radio
7 	Modern 	1951-2000 	nuclear energy, computer, laser, rockets; miniaturization
8 	SpacefaringMicroscience 	2001-2050?2001-2050	slower than-light space travel, fusion power, implants;AI, gengineering, longevity, micromachines, early fusion technology, mobile robots, vehicle-mounted laser weapons
9 	StarfaringNanoscience 	2050?+2051-2100 	faster-than-light star travel, sentient computers, longevity, deteronic frombotzer;Environmental engineering, nanomachines, sapient AI, mature fusion technology, early antimatter technology, personal laser weapons, spacecraft particle beams
10 	Antimatter 	-- 	antimatter power, artificial gravity, slow FTL radio
11 	Force 	-- 	force screens, tractor beams, fast FTL radio
12 	Gravitic 	-- 	contragravity, grav compensators, personal force screens
13 	Worldbuilding 	-- 	full terraforming of planets
14 	Dysonian 	-- 	construction of worlds, ringworlds and so on
15 	MT 	-- 	matter transmission, cosmic power
16+	As you wish . . . 	As you wish . . . 	As you wish . . .
==Classic Tech Level by Field==
TL 	Transportation 	Weapons and Armor 	Power 	Biotechnology
Medicine
0 	Feet; canoes; sledges; Dogsled 	Fists and stone weapon; smittens, sandals, fur clothing, wicker shield, wooden helm, sling, atlatl, boomerang, hatchet, throwing axe, blowpipe, bolas, longbow, short bow, wood harpoon, quarterstaff, great axe, maul, two-handed mace, stick noose, knotted club 	Slaves 	None
1 	Horseback; horse-drawn carts; sailing rafts and small galleys; ships built from planks, chariots 	Metal-tipped spears and arrows; bronze swords; leather armor; composite bow; early siege weapons (rams and picks) 	Horses and mules; water wheels 	Supportive treatment; herbs
2 	Horseback with bridle and bit, saddle, and spurs, (heavy cavalry); oceangoing galleys 	Iron swords; shields; scale armor; pike, trident, mace, broadsword, shortsword, scythe, crossbow, metal harpoon, lasso, ballista 	Windmills 	Bleeding the sick; chemical remedies
3 	Horseback with a saddle and stirrups; sailing ships 	Steel weapons; lances, flails, crossbows; plate and chainmail; castles 	Horses with horse-collars 	Amputations and crude prosthetics
4 	Fully-rigged ships; hot-air balloons 	Black-powder muskets; cannon; sailing warships; Dress smallsword, fencing saber, rapier, cavalry saber, buff coatlong leather coat worn by musketeers; basket hilt 	"No significant improvement" 	Experiments that killed the patients; amputations, bonesetting, cauterizing wounds, opium as a medical painkiller
5 	Steamships; railroads; zeppelins 	Ironclad warships; dynamite; repeating handguns 	Steam engines; earliest internal-combustion engine; direct current 	Germ theory of disease; anesthetics; vaccines
6 	Automobiles; aircraft; ocean liners; submarines 	Battleships; tanks; machine-guns; fighter aircraft; fission bombs; flak jackets; liquid fuel rocket, helium airships and manned balloons, weapon bays (in aircraft), radar, sonar, bombsight 	Hydroelectric power; alternating current; steam turbine, diesel engine 	Major surgery; antibiotics
7 	Jet aircraft; space shuttles; mag-lev monorails; hovercraft; lightsails 	Nuclear missiles; atomic submarines; jet fighters; Kevlar; ablative armor, composite armor, laminate armor 	Fission and hot fusion; solar 	Organ transplants
8 	Spaceships; orbital towers; ballistic airliners; orion engine; 	Cybertanks; orbital lasers; bioweapons; BPC combat armor and battlesuit; reflec; Gauss needlers 	Fission/electric; orbital-collected solar power 	Cloning; simple implants; bionics; plastiskin
9 	Faster-than-light star travel; 
space yachts 	Starships; genius bombs; flamers; particle-beam blasters; stunners; Blaster pistol, blaster rifle, electrolaser, electrolaser rifle, hand flamer, plasma rifle, tripod flamer, holdout laser, survival laser, monowire blade, monowire whip, dinosaur laser, gatling laser, gauss SMG, gauss battle rifle, sonic stinger, stunner (beam weapon), stun rifle, screamer (beam weapon), M-LAW (missile launcher), splat gun	Cold fusion/electric 	Longevity; panimmunity; braintapes; complex implants; suspended animation; automedic
10 	Faster-than-light star travel (hyperdrive, jump drive, warp drive); 	Nerve pistols; superheavy combat armor; disruption beams, fusion air-ram (jet engine), gatling x-laser vehicle gun, x-ray lasercannon, 	Antimatter; bioconvertor power plantsherbivore, carnivore, omnivore, vampire	Genericillin; Torpine
11 	 	Force screens; personal force shields; tractor beams; antimatter missiles; Gravgun, paralysis pistol, 	 	Sensa-skin
12 	Contragravity vessels; personal flying belts 	Grav tanks; personal force screens; Force beamer, force rifle 	 	Full panimmunity; regeneration
13 	 	Planetary missiles; Assault pulsar, heavy pulsar 	“Pocket” antimatter 	
14 	 	Mindripper gun (neural disruptor); smartgun, heavy graser pistol (gamma-ray laser), military graser rifle, gatling graser; POOF. You’re dead 	Total conversion 	
15 	Matter transmission 	Disintegrator pistol, disintegrator rifle, tachyonic pistol, tachyonic rifle, AMR (needler gun) 	 	
16+	Teleportation drive, teleport projector, displacer beamtachyon shotgun or vortex beam POOF. You’re there.	Tachyon shotgun 	cosmic power plant 	POOF. You’re healed
==Additional Technology==
===Tech Level 0===
Sewing needle, drum, rope, fish-hook, saw, spindle
===Tech Level 1===
The plow, papyrus, early forms of non-pictogram writing, mathematics, sundials, the month (lunar cycle defined mathematically), brewing alcoholic beverages, potter's wheel, kilns, tanned hides (boiled or dried leather), woodcutting for fires, sickle with curved handle, file, plane (wood-working), abacus, balance for weighing and measuring, ladder, trumpet (from animal horns), Wheelblades, bulldozer blades and plows for vehicles
===Tech Level 2===
Crop rotation, iron plowshare, heated rooms (heat pumped under tile floor), large-scale glassblowing, irrigation, water clocks, codex, scrolls, rotary locks, wheelbarrow, bellows, soap.
=== Tech Level 5 ===
Bicycle, Steam Carriage, Steam Locomotive, Clipper Ship, H.M.S. Devastation (1871), Turbinia (1894), Observation Balloon (1794), Prototype Glider (1000 and 1010/1879)Classic: Steampunk p 72-84
===Tech Level 6===
Helicopter drivetrain, tracked drivetrain, airlock
*As TL(5+1): H.M.S. Dreadnought, Cargo DirigibleClassic: Steampunk p 72-84
===Tech Level 7===
Improved suspension for ground vehicles, variable sweep wings for aircraft, aircraft with controlled instability designs, improved brakes, all-wheel steering, roll stabilizers for water vehicles, leg drivetrain, magnetic levitation vehicles, ornithopter drivetrain (aircraft with mechanical flapping wings), ducted propellers for water vehicles, ducted fans for aircraft, tilt rotors, turbofans, ramjets, turbo-ramjets, afterburners
===Tech Level 10===
Bioplas sails for water vehicles, neutrino communicator, sentient computer, neural interface vehicle control: socket interface and neural induction field, artificial gravity unit,
===Tech Level 11===
cannibal nanokits, translation program for robots, bioplastic nanomorphs, disassemblernanobot cloud that breaks down matter
===Tech Level 14===
Living-metal nanomorphs
===Tech Level 16===
Matter transmuter, reality stabilizer
==Converting GURPS Classic TL to 4e TL==
David L. Pulver stated several things about the Classic version of Ultra-Tech ("gadgets were pushed forward a TL or so just to give me something useful to prevent the TL11-16 chapters from being too empty!") and how its TL's convert to 4e.
"Theoretically and very roughly:
upper half ClassicTL7 = TL8
ClassicTL8 = 4eTL9
ClassicTL9 = 4eTL10 and some TL9-10^
ClassicTL10 = 4eTL11 and some TL10-11^
ClassicTL11 = 4eTL11 and some TL10-11^
ClassicTL12 = 4eTL11 and TL10-11^
ClassicTL13 = 4eTL11 and TL11^
ClassicTL14 = 4eTL12 and some TL11-12^
ClassicTL15 = 4eTL12^
ClassicTL16 = 4eTL12^
A few individual items drop or gain in TL."
==Additional Information==
*Tech Level 8 - Then and Now (09/15/2000)
*Like Unto Gods (7/5/2002): Classic TL16+
==Notes==
==References==
* Classic Basic Set
* Classic Robots
* Classic Vehicles
* Classic Low Tech
* Classic High Tech
* Classic Ultra-Tech
* Classic Ultra-Tech 2
* GURPS Compendium 2
* Technology Levels (Internet Archive)
Category:Classic
Category:Technology