On Tue, 19 Nov 2013, Onno Meyer wrote:
But I'm still sceptical about those low-tech tanks.
I started the design by trying to eliminate the most obvious problem with
it. I am not confident, that this eliminates all problems either. And it
was prompted by "What difference does the draft animal make", so i tried
to come up with a design that does not work with RL draft animals. I
definitly don't consider it to be out of the brainstorming phase.
Propably a better startingpoint is not a tank but a mobile fort. I guess
that's more how low tech people would have thought. It definitly would be
limited to suitable geography, where you easily can use big carts.
Or they don't want their technology fall into the hands of other system
lords or other rivals, and keeping the mining world save from intrustions
from them costs more, then the profits of extra ore.
Peasants are plentiful, technology is scarce. What would that do
to the setting?
* Are artifacts and artificers off limits or important targets?
A more or less stable society of Evil Overlords could agree
to protect technology and technical experts. Warrior castes
fight, technician castes keep the infrastructure running. If
conflicts start to escalate, Evil Overlords start to destroy
the source of their powers. The first to violate the rules
goes down in history as a barbarian, the last as a fool.
There is a middle ground between attacking artifacts and artificers and
keeping them off limits. It's a normal thing to try to steal them, but if
you do it so reckless, that they are destroyed you are a barbarian. IMO
that fits well with the general image of Goa'ulds.
* The general assumption is that technology is more efficient
than manual labor, and that free workers are more efficient
than slaves. So why would the Evil Overlords embrace
inefficient industries? They don't care about the total
industrial output, just that they stay on top and that no
power arises to challenge them. Ignorant peasants don't
lead interstellar invasions.
They also might look for primitive people to enslave, because that is
easy, and consider a coherent plan to educate them too much of a bother.
And arguably after a certain amount of industrialisation, tribal divide et
impera strategies don't work so well any more. It would be just enough if
the overlords believe that.
* The people who build and understand technology will want
their share of the real goodies (apartments with hot and
cold running water, bright light at the push of a button,
soft beds), not just 24-hour service by illiterate servants.
Will they get it? How do they stand against the warriors?
I suppose some will have cozy positions on central worlds, enjoying the
fruits of technology, only somewhat less so then the overlords. The
overlords pet engeneer plus assistants would be a template. If you want to
go really cliche, they also research terrible weapons of mass destruction.
* If the Evil Overlords deliberately retard the development
of the peasants, how do they suppress intangibles like the
scientific method?
Class and caste borders would be good start. If fraternisation between
classes is discouraged, who will tell a peasant about the scientific
method?
A reason why barely any technology is used on mining and similiar worlds,
could be that the overlords intentionally keep technicans away from
peasants, lest they spoil the serfs.
The extreme version would be, that the only thing the peasants ever see is
low level fighters, unless there is a real emergency.
Or the mining operation itself requires caravaning stuff. Like if the
mines, the fields for food and the gate are all in different places.
I'm assuming that the gate can be built/bebuilt at the right
location. So maybe the mine is in an inhospitable place. The
gate should be at the mine to minimize total transport,
except that most of the population will be at the farms.
There also could be multiple mines on one planet.
You can have at least 4 types of primitives on the planet at the same
time. Enslaved natives, imported slaves, free natives and escaped slaves.
the overlord might not consider erradicating the last 2 worth the effort,
propably because if you run out of some resource, you can always steal
from them as quick fix. Even if there is some baditry happening.
The serfs of the overlord likely have better equipment, then the free
primitives, but that might be something like steel vs bronze.
Higher technology means more surplus to "tax" away. So the
Evil Overlords will make the peasants as advanced as they
can be without risk to themselves. Plowshares, irrigation,
crop rotation, aqueducts -- all completely harmless, but
peasant leaders who can manage a district-wide irrigation
system have some idea about administration and leadership.
Are the overlords gods who bless the peasants with aqueducts and such, and
attempting to get thoose without them is blasphemy?
Or do the overlords rule with a divide and impera scheme, where an
efficient puppet king would be considered an asset, as long as he is happy
with being rewarded with luxuries and does not challange the overlord. If
he is really good at what he does, he gets promoted to somewhere on a core
world.
I suppose either scheme can be used, depending on the personality of the
overlord.
What are the vehicles like? Wood, very little metal, no steam or
internal combustion ...
I suppose "Western" would be a good equivalent. I don't think many
vehicles there are actually gun powder dependent and it is otherwise a
similiar setting.
TL5 had plenty of metal. Wheel rims, chains, bolts, plus
wood and canvas worked with metal tools. Can hordes of
workers replace cotton gins and mechanical looms?
I was mainly thinking about who is there and what resources do they have.
Settlers who come from a distant more developed place, bring some
equipment, that they can't all produce themselfs yet. They form comparably
small communities. There are natives and outlaws as opponents and propably
rivaling colonial powers as well.
I guess at least some of the higher technology would not frighten the
overlords much. Give them chains and bolts as divine gifts. They just
would not get all that much, to keep the value of them up. So propably the
local chieftain/mayor/capo gives his clan some wagons that are up to Old
West standards. The less fortunate clans will have to do without all that
metal.
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