0-21 Tech Axiom
Jasyn Jones
This is the development document for a revised Torg Tech axiom. It includes the current text of the revised axiom, as well as notes on anticipated/proposed changes, lines of research that need to be pursued, and advances overlooked (and which need to be added).
Once downloaded, comments and edits can be made directly to this document, and emailed back to the author. Any substantial revisions or suggestions should be sent to:
Thanks in advance to anyone who makes a substantive contribution to the project.
“Torg” / “21” / Time Period / Culture / Torg Cosms / Straight / Better1 / 0 / Before 2 MYA / Prehistoric
2, 3 / 1 / 2 MYA / Stone Age / Living Land
5 / 2 / 12,000 BC / Neolithic
7 / 3 / 3500 BC / Bronze Age / Living Land / Living Land
8-10 / 4 / 1200 BC / Iron Age / Land Below / Land Below
11 / 5 / 400 AD / Middle Ages
12 / 6 / 800 AD / High Middle Ages / Tz’Ravok / Tz’Ravok
13 / 7 / 1400 AD / Renaissance
15 / 8 / 1600 AD / Age of Sail / Aysle / Aysle
16 / 9 / 1750 AD / Industrial Revolution
17 / 10 / 1820 AD / Civil War
19 / 11 / 1870 AD / Old West/Victorian / Orrorsh / Orrorsh
20 / 12 / 1910 AD / WW I
21 / 13 / 1935 AD / WW II / Nile Empire / Nile Empire
22 / 14 / 1960 AD / Cold War
23 / 15 / 1980 AD / Modern Day / Core Earth / Core Earth
24 / 16 / Day After Tomorrow / Nippon Tech / Nippon Tech
26 / 17 / Near Future / Tharkold
Cyberpapacy / Tharkold
Cyberpapacy
28 / 18 / Far Future
29-30* / 19 / Ultratech / Space Gods / Space Gods
31* / 20 / Super Science
33* / 21 / Pinnacle of
Technology
*No exact conversion possible.
Orange: Unconfirmed
Green: Confirmed
Blue: Provisional
Purple: Rewrite (copied from Torg)
Red: Unconfirmed and rewrite
Lines[1] of development to research
Petroleum use and distillation
Candles
Glue
Paper (vellum, ink, etc.)
A Note on Dates
The dates listed are general time periods corresponding to the development of technology by historical civilizations. Any given cosm or species may have reached the given axiom level earlier, or later, than the timeline indicates.
0 [Prehistoric, before 2 Million Years Ago]
Natural objects (such as stones or deadfall) can be used as simple tools.Such tools cannot be refined or modified, but must be used “as-is”. Natural caves can be used as shelters. Fire is unavailable, so most meat is eaten raw (meaning that parasites and diseases are a significant problem). Food production is limited to subsistence gathering (or grazing) and crude hunting techniques (such as stampeding a herd off a cliff).
1[2][3] [Stone Age, 2 MYA-12,000 B.C.]
Fire can be tended, but not created. Stoneworking allows the improvement of natural caves, including inlaid stone floors, walled entrances, and fire pits. Painting using natural dyes (fruit juice, animal blood, etc.) is possible.
Stone, wood, bone, or other naturally-occurring materials can be refined into tools through processes like knapping, whittling, or hardening with fire. Vines or other cord-like plant fibers can be twined into rope.
Later, lashing and knot-tying are possible, lean-tos made from lashed wood (or other natural materials) can be constructed. Rafts[4], made from lashed logs, appear.
Advanced toolmaking methods develop later, including the use of rope and tendons to attach two components together. Examples of such composite tools include a wooden spear with a stone head, wood-hafted stone axes, and bolas (two or three rocks attached with a thong). Spear throwers (or atlatls) are also possible.
Specialized tools, such as needles and harpoons, can be constructed. Bone tools can also develop. With the development of tools, hunting and spear-fishing become possible.
The use of natural containers develops, including seashells, coconuts, or thick-shelled eggs (from ostriches, for example). These containers allow vegetables to be gathered and stored (but not cultivated). These two give rise to the classic “hunter-gatherer” nomad lifestyle. Lamps are possible, consisting of natural containers that are filled with moss soaked in animal-fats.
Hides can be collected from animal carcasses. After being scraped with stone tools (to remove blood vessels, fat, and bits of flesh) these can be worn for clothing. As these hides are uncured, they quickly begin to rot (how fast depends on climate and other factors). Smaller pieces of fur can be placed around the feet and secured with thin strips of hide or vines.
Folk medicine gradually develops as various plants are identified as poisonous, edible, or medically useful. Herbal lore isn’t distinct from religious or superstitious beliefs (in in cosms where such beliefs exist), and is usually practiced by spiritual leaders or hedge mages. Surviving a disease or an infection is largely a matter of chance. Treatment of wounds and broken bones is possible, but the techniques are primitive. Surgery, including trepanning (removing portions of the skull) is possible.
The discovery of methods to cure and tan hides allows the production of leather. Leather is pliant, flexible, and soft, meaning it can be put to a number of uses, such as in clothing and huts or tents. Most importantly, leather is resistant to rotting. Slings are made from leather, and shields can be made from wooden frames covered in leather. New types of containers, including pouches, sacks, or water-bags, are also possible.
2[5][6][7] [Neolithic, 12,000-3500 B.C.] Reliable fire-making tools become available. Agriculture (the deliberate cultivation and harvesting of plants) is invented. At first, these foodstuffs are supplemental to hunting and gathering, but as agricultural methods and tools develop, they come to supplant subsistence gathering. Granaries are developed. Agricultural implements, such as grinding stones, mortar-and-pestles, hoes, and sickles are invented and refined.
Grains, fruits, rices, and other plants (as well as honey) can be fermented, allowing the production of alcoholic liquids such as mead or beer. Oil can be extracted from plants (e.g. olives). Adhesives made from plant resins (sap) are possible (to fix cracked pottery, for example).
Sun[8]-dried mud brick-and-mortar, plastering, and “wattle-and-daub” construction techniques develop. Refined stone-knapping allows the production of biface projectile points. Ground stone tool-making (forming stone tools by grinding harder stones with softer stones and water) develop.
Basketry, the craft of interweaving vegetable fibers to form tools, develops, allowing the production of baskets, furniture, sacks, and other tools. Later[9], the application of clay to baskets (using the basket as a skeleton) begins the development of pottery.
Primitive “pit” kilns are possible, allowing clay pots to be fired (hardened by heating the clay to boil out the water). The first pots use baskets as molds, but later techniques allow clay to be hand formed. Such pots are porous and fragile but can be used to store foodstuffs or in cooking (allowing for the steaming of vegetables).
New substances, such as oils derived from vegetables and animal fats, replace fat-soaked plant matter as the fuel for lamps. The first oil lamps still use natural containers but artificial containers, including ground stone containers and clay dishes, are now possible.
Spindles are invented that can spin yarn from plant fibers. Nålebinding (or needle-binding), the creation of fabric from short pieces of yarn through the use of a needle, is invented. Hand-woven cloth is also possible (and the discovery of the warp-weighted loom follows). Linen (and similar fabrics) are possible.
Animals[10] may be bred, assuming sufficient Social axiom for domestication of a given species. If domesticated, animals can be used to tow far heavier loads (on sledges or sleds) than a human.
Armor made from hides and furs is possible. Short bows made from single lengths of wood are possible, but are limited in range and “punch” (the force of the arrow), as such they are only suitable for hunting small game.
Tallying systems develop. Such systems use a collection of objects to represent other objects on a one-for-one basis (for example, using five stones to represents a herd of five sheep). From this, the abstract notion of a “number” is developed, and thence addition and subtraction.
Methods to create dugout canoes (hollowed logs that float) are discovered. Coracles, boats made of animal hides or tree bark affixed to wooden or reed frames, eventually appear. Maps may be created.
3[11] [Bronze Age, 3500-1200 B.C.]Metal[12] is first smelted, tools may be made from first copper and then later from alloys like bronze. Metal hand axes and daggers are state of the art weapons. Metal armors appear.
Composite bows, made of multiple layers of animal tendons and horn that are glued together, are developed. Such bows are more powerful, more accurate, and have a longer range than simple short bows. Archery in warfare develops.
High-temperature kilns (e.g. beehive kilns) develop, allowing the production of vitreous (glassified and hence waterproof) pottery. Ceramic glazes are discovered. The[13] potters wheel is invented. Roofing tile is developed.
Kiln-fired bricks used in buildings. Mortars other than simple muds (such as bitumen[14] slime or lime-and-sand) are possible. The[15] use of lime-and-sand mortar marks the first appearance of concrete.
People learn to melt sand in kilns, producing glass. Hollow-core glassmaking techniques are devised, allowing the production of vases.
The production of tapa, writing materials derived from plants (the precursor to paper), is possible. Papyrus is one tapa made from the flower stems of the reed plant.
Oil lamps utilizing wicks (usually made of tapa) are possible. Petroleum (in places where oil seeps exist, and it can be gathered from natural pools) can be refined into fuel for lamps. Ghee, highly purified anhydrous milk fat (also called “clarified butter”), can be used as a fuel or foodstuff.
Candles made from natural waxes (such as beeswax or wax extracted from insects and nuts) are also possible. Such candles typically use some form of tapa as a wick. Beeswax can also be used as a sealent or adhesive (as can bitumen).
Incense can be made from oils, resins, and and other substances (that are chosen for the pleasant aromas they produce when burnt). The practice of burning incense is adopted. Specialized[16] containers designed to hold smoldering incense are devised.
Perfumes can be made from the same or similar substances, perfumes being worn instead of burnt (operating by evaporation instead of combustion). Perfumes[17] are kept in containers made of glass, abalone, gold, and other substances.
The[18] wheel or axled rollers first used for transportation. Wagons and chariots are possible.
The first seaworthy ships are built. These are originally powered by rowers, but the sail is eventually invented. Transoceanic vessels develop soon after.
Observation[19] of obscure astronomical phenomena– such as the annual periodicity of stars or the phenomenon of “moving stars” (planets, which look like stars, but which move relative to the fixed constellations)– is possible, as is the organized study of same (though such studies are usually inspired by, and intwined with, religious or magical beliefs). More accurate calendars based on these observations are possible, as is star-guided navigation.
Mundane sources and cures of diseases and ailments can be recognized, allowing medical knowledge to become distinct from religion or magic, though the influence of both are still strong. Practitioners of medicine (physicians or doctors) can be distinguished from mages and spiritual leaders. Wine is possible, and both beer and wine are used for medicinal purposes.
The[20] development of the plow speeds agriculture. The use of salt as a preservative is discovered. Silk may be harvested for fabrics.
4[21][22][23][24][25] [Iron Age, 1200 B.C.-400 A.D.]Hard metals such as iron are smelted. Use of hard metals is common, metal coins may become common (given a sufficient Social axiom for currency.)
Knowledge of anatomy greatly expands.
Civil engineering possible; pulleys, block and tackle are available machines. Bridges, dams, aqueducts, tunnels, road technology extensive.
Timekeeping devices such as sundials and water clocks appear. Astronomy fully developed. Wide-scale irrigation systems possible.
Plumbing is possible, serving to supply buildings with hot and cold water and carry away waste. Large buildings appear for first time. Locks and keys become practical.
Pharmacy and surgery organized sciences; healing herbs and simple drugs may be cataloged and produced. Lathes, paper, candles may be invented. Dying of fabric is possible. Place-based numbering systems (such as the decimal system) may be invented.
5[26] [Middle Ages 400 A.D.-800 A.D.] Specialized surgery, such as cataract surgery, possible. Basic anatomy of living beings, with all vital subsystems, understood enough to diagnose and treat many ailments.
Gears and screws possible, allowing exploitation of water power. Sugar can be refined, milling expands greatly. Magnetic compasses are possible but crude.
6[27][28] [High Middle Ages/Crusades, 800 A.D.-1400 A.D.]Hard metal alloys such as steel become possible. Wind power exploitable with windmills. Rudders make boats more maneuverable. Clay and ceramic techniques refined to the point that porcelain is possible.
7[29][Renaissance, 1400 A.D.-1600 A.D.]Rifling is possible, but fouling and slow reload times limit its use to hunting and sharpshooting.Inks refined, making book printing (block printing) possible. Acids, mechanical clocks, magnetic compasses possible. Gunpowder may be invented; cannon are possible as are crude firearms (matchlocks and wheellocks), including muskets. Small hot-air balloons may fly.
Alcohol denatured for use as a disinfectant. Primitive analgesics may be refined from plants. Biology develops categorization of animals by function rather than appearance. Glass mirrors are invented. Corrective spectacles possible, but not terribly effective.
8 [Age of Sail, 1600 A.D.-1750 A.D.]Cut-glass process invented. Telescope, microscope may be invented. Steam power possible but very crude and inefficient. Metal plates used for printing; printing press possible. Barometers invented; crude weather prediction begins.
Principles of ballistics understood and exploitable. Basic mechanics of physics understood. Probability theory and calculus invented. Magnetism and electricity connected.
9 [Industrial Revolution, 1750-1820 A.D.]Metallurgical advances allow precision machined parts; Industrial Revolution may begin. Efficient steam engines possible if energy source better than wood available. Pocket watches, bifocals possible. Large hot-air balloons can be built.
Velocity of light recognized as finite. Gravitation and tides understood. Plant extracts and essences possible; inoculation invented. Anesthesia introduced into surgery.
10[30] [Civil War, 1820-1870 A.D.] First electric batteries possible. Steamboats, telegraph, crude calculating machines, somewhat portable electric generators appear. Railroads are possible. Easy to ignite matches, sewing machines, reaping machines, vulcanized rubber invented. Photography on metal plates possible.
Thermodynamic laws established. Bacteria recognized as transmitters of disease. Cell structure explained. Evolutionary theories first developed.
Flintlock firearms possible, the development of skirted bullets allows rifles (“rifled muskets”) to become practical battlefield weapons. Artillery pieces now very reliable; as explosive shells are refined, they replace rifles as prime killer on the battlefield.
11 [Old West/Victorian, 1870-1910 A.D.] "Reliable breech-loading rifles possible."
Single-action revolvers, repeating rifles, hand-cranked machine guns, recoil-operated machine guns are possible. Tungsten steel invented. Internal combustion engines possible.
Bicycles, telephones, hydrogen airships, gliders, submarines practical. Syringes first used for injections. Antiseptic surgery developed. Photosynthesis understood.
Advances in center-fire metallic cartridges make reliable breech-loading rifles possible.
12[31][32] [WWI, 1910-1935 A.D.]Radio voice transmission possible. Crude, flimsy airplanes can fly. Automobiles reliable enough to replace animal-drawn transport. Sonar invented. Brain surgery successful. Automatic pistols and submachine guns possible. Movies, including "talking pictures."
Radioactivity understood. Discovery of relativity possible.
13[33] [WWII, 1935-1960 A.D.]Tanks become an effective tool of war, metal-skinned aircraft with jet propulsion, radar possible. Electron microscope, vaccinations against viral diseases, antibiotics, television, polymers and artificial fabrics, large mainframe computers, helicopters, ball-point pens appear. Nuclear power and bombs possible. Antimatter discovered.
14 [Cold War, 1960-1980 A.D.]Orbital spacecraft, lightweight automatic weapons, wire-guided munitions, integrated circuits, transistor radios, organ transplants, crude artificial hearts and other organs, gene synthesis, "test-tube" babies, 400,000 ton oil tanker, primitive space stations, first home computers, global computer networks, space shuttle, neutron bomb, robot probes to other planets.
15[34] [Modern [JJ35]Day, 1980 A.D. +]Doppler radar, genetic engineering, cloning proven possible, solar power, compact disks, computer-controlled aircraft, fire-control helmets, laser-guided munitions, large skirted hovercraft vehicles, permanent space station, limited fusion power, primitive “bionic” prosthetics. Mapping human genome possible.
16 [Day After Tomorrow] Small skirted hovercraft practical, clone-organ replacement, "intelligent" self-maintaining houses, holographic television, high-energy laser weapons, fusion commercially attractive, hyperplanes capable of Mach 20, superconducting technology common, supercomputers achieve limited awareness, efficient solar cells, retina scanners, "bionic" prosthetics that function almost as well as natural limbs, practical virtual reality (VR) technology, energized melee weapons.
17 [Near Future] Personal energy weapons common, portable fusion generators possible, "memory" metals and plastics, artificial intelligence in computers, cybernetic prosthetics as good as or better than the natural components, advanced gene therapy, extensive genetic engineering of physical traits possible, nanotechnology practical for microscopic-scale uses, electromag weapons. Sublight interstellar travel practical though relativistic effects must still be dealt with. It is possible to reconstruct extinct species, given enough DNA.