What about making up technological patterns – those of wholly fictional cultures, or ones that might have arisen had the history of technology gone differently, as discussed on pp. B513-514? The resulting technologies are unlikely to match historical examples perfectly, and probably won’t precisely fit the stages that define TL0-4.
An imaginary society may advance unusually quickly in one technology, developing inventions that historical societies didn’t achieve until much later. Such societies can be described as “advanced in a science or art” (see Variant Paths, above). For example, if a society comparable to ancient Rome had set aside its prohibitions against dissection and discovered blood circulation, it would have been TL2 but advanced in medicine. A society may develop technologies that were never made workable in the real world, advancing along a different path. Such societies can be described as having a TL such as TL(0+1) or TL(3+1). The +1 means that they brought into regular use inventions that the real-world society that inspired them failed to perfect. For example, ancient Roman armorers experimented with compressed-air cylinders to store energy in catapults; if they had achieved a tight enough seal, the result might have been a TL(2+1) society.
This section gives relatively little attention to such imaginary past TLs, although it does provide possibilities for future technological development. It doesn’t consider magical technologies, different laws of nature, or the speculations of people in historical societies. It does discuss a few inventions that weren’t fully developed, asking what would have happened had they been brought into regular use; such inventions define TLs from TL(0+1) to TL(4+1). It also notes some inventions that speculative historians and archaeologists suppose might have been achievable by past societies, if they’ve been shown to be achievable with those societies’ resources. For example, Thor Heyerdahl’s raft boat that crossed the Atlantic could have been built with Egyptian materials and methods, although most Egyptologists don’t believe this really happened.
Another option is to assume that a society attained some level of technology without all of the usual key inventions. For example, many science-fiction writers describe societies that advance rapidly in biotechnology while the physical sciences stagnate. A civilization without access to useful ores might work with stone, ceramics, glass, and hardwoods in lieu of metals.
Pastoral nomads are an interesting variation on this theme. Historically, almost all forms of pastoralism were offshoots of agriculture (reindeer herding is the exception). Thus, pastoralists are TL1 to TL3, despite lacking agriculture, cities, and bureaucracy. Their military technology is often formidable – the Bedouin and the Mongols created huge empires by conquering their civilized neighbors.
Yet another way to have technology develop differently is to make its users members of a nonhuman species. Just being larger or smaller can require differently designed gear; see Adjusting for SM.
Alternative manipulators, such as an elephant’s trunk or a parrot’s beak and claws, could require unconventional tool designs. And what if the race relies on a primary sense other than sight, lacks a human sense, or possesses a sense that humans don’t, such as a bat’s sonar? What if it can affect its environment by means other than muscle contractions, such as an electric eel’s discharges?
A race’s native environment will also play a role in its technologies. Aquatic beings won’t have fire and will make little use of metals. Flying ones will probably avoid heavy equipment, but may be quick to develop navigation and optics.