Technological Skills

Certain skills are different at each tech level. These “technological skills” are designated by “/TL.” This means that when you learn the skill, you must learn it at a specific tech level (TL). Always note the TL when you write down such a skill; e.g., “Surgery/TL4” for the TL4 version of Surgery skill. Surgery/TL4 (cut his arm off with an axe) is nothing like Surgery/TL9 (graft on a replacement arm from his clone)!

You learn technological skills at your personal TL. You may also choose skills from a lower TL. You can only learn skills from a higher TL in play – and only if you have a teacher and the skill is not based on IQ. To learn IQ-based technological skills from a higher TL, you must first raise your personal TL.

Technological skills rely on language, tool use, or both. This means that only sapient characters – those with IQ 6 or higher – may learn them.

Exception: Robots and the like can have IQ 5 or less and perform such skills by running programs . . . but of course programming isn’t learning.

Tech-Level Modifiers

Technological skills work best with the specific artifacts and techniques of their own TL. When you work with equipment or concepts of a TL different from that of your skill, you suffer a penalty to your skill roll.

IQ-Based Technological Skills

IQ-based technological skills represent a studied technical understanding of the specific methods and tools common at a particular TL. There is a penalty to your skill roll when you use these skills with the equipment of a higher TL (which relies on scientific and engineering principles unknown to you) or a lower TL (which depends on principles that were, at best, a “historical footnote” during your training).