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The next few sections discuss your society's level of technological development, cultures, and languages. It is an advantage to be technologically advanced, culturally literate, or linguistically talented. Inadequacy in these areas can be a crippling disadvantage.

'Technology level' (or 'tech level') is a number that rates technological development. The more advanced the society, the higher its TL; see Tech Level and Starting Wealth for examples from Earth's history. The GM will tell you the TL of his world. Be sure to note this, as it affects your access to certain traits - notably skills - and equipment.

Characters also have a TL, equal to that of the technology with which they are most familiar. Unless you are especially primitive or advanced, you should record the TL of your game world as your personal TL and move on.

In some game worlds, your personal TL may differ from the campaign average. A world might be TL8 on average, but the citizens of one advanced nation might be TL9 while those from an underdeveloped region might be TL7. And the TL of a space, time, or dimension traveler might differ radically from that of his current surroundings.

Being from a higher TL than the campaign norm is an advantage; being from a lower TL is a disadvantage.

Your personal TL is below that of the campaign world. You start with no knowledge (or default skill) relating to equipment above your personal TL. You will be able to learn DX-based technological skills (pertaining to vehicles, weapons, etc.) in play, if you can find a teacher, but fundamental differences in thinking prevent you from learning IQ-based technological skills. To overcome this limitation, you must buy off this trait, increasing your personal TL. This usually requires a lengthy period of re-education.

Your personal TL is above that of the campaign world. You may enter play with skills relating to equipment up to your personal TL. This is most useful if you also have access to high-TL equipment (see Tech Level and Equipment), but the knowledge of a high-tech doctor or scientist can be very useful in a low-tech setting, even without specialized equipment!

You are automatically familiar with the social peculiarities of one major culture of your choice. You suffer no skill penalties when interacting with people from that culture. The GM will provide a list of cultures to choose from (or let you invent your own - many GMs appreciate players' contributions to the game world!)

When dealing with an unfamiliar culture, you have -3 to use any skill with a significant cultural component, including Carousing, Connoisseur, Criminology, Dancing, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Games, Gesture, Heraldry, Intimidation, Leadership, Merchant, Poetry, Politics, Psychology, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, Sociology, Streetwise, and Teaching. To get rid of this penalty, buy the following advantage:

You are familiar with cultures other than your own and do not suffer the -3 penalty for unfamiliarity. This costs 1 point per culture of the same (or very similar) race, or 2 points per alien culture.

To prevent point-cost inflation, the GM should use broad definitions of culture: East Asian, Muslim, Western, etc. A single nation would have to be very different to merit its own Cultural Familiarity. In fantasy worlds, the GM might wish to have one culture per race; in a futuristic setting, an entire planet or even a galactic empire might have a single, monolithic culture.

See Cultural Adaptability for additional options.

The details of Cultural Familiarity in a campaign with multiple parahuman species and uplifted animals depends on just how alien the species seem to each other. In many cases, genetic upgrades and parahumans will be fully integrated into global society; if so, buy Cultural Familiarity for social cultures, not races.

Example: Cultural Familiarity (Western) [1] gives familiarity with baselines, upgrades, and parahumans raised in the western culture.

It may be possible that some parahuman species are stigmatized to the extent that they withdraw from or cannot participate in mainstream cultures and establish a culture of their own. Such a culture qualifies for its own familiarity, with a cost of 1 point because the species is close to human.

Example: Cultural Familiarity (Ariadne) [1] gives familiarity with an insular culture of Ariadne parahumans.

Uplifted animals are different enough from humans that they may qualify as having alien cultures, costing 2 points for a cross-species familiarity. This depends on how the GM interprets uplifts in the campaign. Uplifts who are essentially “talking animals” and integrate easily into human cultures are not alien, and may be included in a human culture like parahumans. Uplifts who have a distinct nonhuman psychology and find humans baffling do count as alien; such an uplift would need 2 points in Cultural Familiarity to understand a human culture – even if he was raised in one!

GURPS assumes that most characters can read and write their 'native' language. This ability costs no points, but you should note your native language on your character sheet; e.g., 'English (Native) [0].'

The rest of this section is only important if you can communicate in more than one language (an advantage) or have difficulty with your native tongue (a disadvantage.)

The Language rules are for sapient characters. You must have at least IQ 6 to receive a native tongue for free and be able to learn new languages. Sapience does not guarantee the physical capacity for speech, though - you might need to rely on sign language.

Those with IQ 5 or less do not get a native tongue for free and cannot learn languages. They can only communicate basic concepts. They can be taught a few commands, however.

The point cost to learn an additional language depends on your 'comprehension level': a measure of how well you function in that language overall. There are four comprehension levels:

None: You are completely incapable of functioning in the language. If you do not spend points on a non-native language, this comprehension level is assumed - there is no need to note it for every language you don't know! 0 points/language.

Broken: You can recognize important words and understand simple sentences if they are spoken slowly. You have -3 when using skills that depend on language, such as Fast-Talk, Public Speaking, Research, Speed-Reading, Teaching, and Writing. This doubles to -6 for artistic skills that rely on the beauty of the language (Poetry, Singing, etc.) In stressful situations - e.g., encounters involving combat or reaction rolls - you must roll against IQ to understand or make yourself understood in the language. On a failure, you convey no information, but you may try again. Critical failure means you convey the wrong information! For hurried speech, bad phone connections, etc., this roll is at -2 to -8! Native speakers who already dislike foreigners (see Intolerance) react to you at an extra -1. 2 points/language.

Accented: You can communicate clearly, even under stress. However, your speech and writing are idiosyncratic, and it is obvious that this is not your native language. You have -1 when using skills that depend on language, doubled to -2 for artistic skills. You receive no reaction penalty from native speakers, but you will be unable to pass for a native (this can be a major problem for would-be spies!) 4 points/language.

Native: You have full mastery of the language, including idioms. You can think in the language. You have no penalty to use skills that depend on language. You start with one language at this level for free. If you buy Native comprehension in a foreign tongue, you can pass for a native speaker. 6 points/language.

If your spoken comprehension is Broken or better, you can attempt to fake a regional accent. To fool someone, you must win a Quick Contest of Acting or Mimicry (Speech) vs. his IQ. You are at -6 for Broken comprehension, or -2 for Accented… but a non-Native listener has similar penaltties to his IQ roll!

Each accent is a separate familiarity for Acting or Mimicry. To memorize a new accent, you must listen to that accent used in conversation for at least one hour and make a successful roll against the higher of IQ or Linguistics, at +5 for Eidetic Memory or +10 for Photographic Memory (see Eidetic Memory.)

If you and the person with whom you are speaking both have a comprehension level of Broken, conversation will be difficult. This is definitely a 'stressful situation'! Each of you must roll against IQ once per piece of information; all the usual modifiers apply. If you both succeed, you get the point across. If one of you fails, you just fail to communicate. But if both of you fail, the listener gets the wrong idea. This could be embarrassing or dangerous - possibly for both of you. The GM should be creative!

Great orators, writers, and other masters of the language should start with Native-level comprehension, then learn skills such as Public Speaking and Writing at very high levels.

Poorly educated individuals who can barely get by in their native tongue should take the point difference between their actual level and Native level as a disadvantage. For instance, someone who has his native tongue at Broken level has a -4-point disadvantage.

The point costs above assume that you read/write and speak the language equally well. If your written and spoken ability differ, select separate spoken and written comprehension levels and pay half cost for each. For instance, if you learned to write French from a book, you might have 'French: Spoken (None)/Written (Native) [3].'

Your written comprehension level determines your degree of literacy in that language:

Literacy is a written comprehension of Accented or better. You can read and write competently and at full speed.

Semi-literacy is a written comprehension of Broken. A semi-literate person would require three minutes to read this sentence, and would have to make an IQ roll to understand the full meaning! Many words are always unintelligible to a semi-literate person, including some in this paragraph.

Illiteracy is a written comprehension of None. If this is the case, you really can't read! Signs, scrolls, books, and names on maps (though not the maps themselves) are completely incomprehensible to you. The player may pass secret notes to the GM (and vice versa), but the character cannot read anything.

At TL4 and below, it is quite possible to go all your life without needing to read. In settings like this, illiteracy or semi-literacy is the norm. Most people have a spoken comprehension level of Native, but their written comprehension is Broken or None.

Illiteracy in your native tongue - Spoken (Native)/Written (None) - is a disadvantage worth -3 points. Semi-literacy - Spoken (Native) / Written (Broken) - is worth -2 points. The GM should not count these points against the disadvantage limit if illiteracy is the norm in the game world.

A true sign language – e.g., American Sign Language - is complex, stylized, and can communicate almost any concept. Treat it as any other language, with one important difference: a sign language has one form (signed) instead of two (spoken and written). As a result, sign languages cost half as much: 1 point for Broken, 2 points for Accented, and 3 points for Native comprehension.

Characters with the Deafness or Mute disadvantages start with one sign language and written ability in one regular language - both at Native level - instead of spoken and written ability in one language. Those who are illiterate, or incompetent at sign language, can buy down their language abilities using the usual rules.

To learn a new language, use the rules for learning skills: 200 hours of learning gives you one point to spend. Note that language study is four times as hard without a teacher!

If you live in another country and speak its language at all times, that is the automatic equivalent of 4 hours/day of training; there is no need to allocate specific study time unless you want to get more than this default. Thus, every 50 days, you get a character point to spend in that language.