TL 0 (The Stone Age) is the longest of the TLs in GURPS, as it encompasses a period of thousands of years—from the paleolithic age of chipped stone to the neolithic age of ground-stone and weaving.
The next higher TL is TL 1 (The Bronze Age).
Ages of the Stone Age[]
Paleolithic (2,400,000 BCE+)[]
- Signature Technology: Chipped stone
- Other Technologies: Wood, bone, and leather; domesticated dogs; rafts, canoes, and sleds; string; fire; herbs and crude surgery
- Social Organization: Nomadic bands and tribes; rules for marriage, inheritance, and kinship; oral traditions; shamanism
- War: Tribal war bands with hunting weapons; shields
Mesolithic (8500 BCE+)[]
- Signature Technology: Multiple small stone chips mounted on a frame or handle
- Other Technologies: Fishing; food storage; basketry; houses
- Social Organization: Chiefdoms and gift-exchange systems; settled communities
- War: Slings; bows and arrows.
Neolithic (8000 BCE+)[]
- Signature Technology: Ground stone
- Other Technologies: Gardening; food-animal domestication; ceramics; weaving; nets
- Social Organization: Barter; local shrines, priests, and cults
- War: Ditches and other improvised defenses
Worlds of TL 0[]
There are few worlds with only TL 0 civilizations, although many recently-post-apocalyptic worlds are at a mix of TL 0-4 technologies.
TL 0 Subdivisions[]
GURPS Lands Out of Time breaks TL 0 down into Early, Mid, High which is effectively all in the Paleolithic. The Mesolithic is firmly Late TL 0.
- Early TL 0: Just slightly above the tools used by modern apes.
- Mid TL 0: Effectively any technology used by Neanderthals
- Late TL 0: Cro-Magnon technology
TLR[]
TLR or Tech Level Rabbit is from Classic: Bunnies & Burrows. At a practical level it has no real equivalent in 4e and is below even TL 0
Magic in the TL (Before Metal)[]
Magic items are made from rocks, plants, animals, and people. Spell casting is along the lines are more along the lines of Ritual Magic and primitive alchemy then the core system in GURPS Magic.
Related Material[]
Additional Information[]
References[]
- GURPS Low-Tech, p.6
- GURPS Magic Items 3, p.6