Technology in your game.

[Arduin]

Up to what tech level do you allow in your campaign?

I disallow electricity, firearms/explosives, internal combustion, steam power and the like. The latest tech item is probably the oil lantern (what people commonly know as a lantern) which was invented in the late 18th century. As my world has been post bronze age for countless millennia you can find tech just short of the industrial revolution in some of the large empires.

[Omote]

It depends upon the campaign, and the civilization that exists in the campaign. I would say that I have generally pushed into a mid 1400s of European, Earth-equivalent technology level. I still do not have firearms or the like in my games.

~O

[mbeacom]

In general, on a global scale, my level of tech is similar to yours.

However on a limited basis, I'll allow quite a bit of different things. For example:
I've had a distinct branch of dwarves that have invented limited clockwork style machinery. Some of it is magically enhanced, but generally, it's just clockwork versions of something slightly more modern than what the era would naturally produce. Like a clockwork crossbow that can load a little faster, or a clockwork animal that is magically enhanced to follow simple instructions, or a clockwork lift mechanism that serves as an elevator.

I've also had certain rare elven societies harness magic in a way that functions like technological advancement (think Eberron) that is not widespread, allowing more rapid transit (think gummi bears from the old cartoon), something like small scale high speed rail but through the trees.

For this reason, I"m quite excited about the Steam Gnomes that are presented throughout the new Bluffside book. They would fit perfectly into my world.

In most cases, I make the existence of such things a very closely guarded cultural/family/tribal secret so as to explain why it hasn't experienced a wider adoption. Generally I also only allow peaceful cultures to have such things, in order to explain why they've not pursued an imperial agenda with it.

[Arduin]

In general, on a global scale, my level of tech is similar to yours.

However on a limited basis, I'll allow quite a bit of different things. For example:
I've had a distinct branch of dwarves that have invented limited clockwork style machinery. Some of it is magically enhanced, but generally, it's just clockwork versions of something slightly more modern than what the era would naturally produce. Like a clockwork crossbow that can load a little faster, or a clockwork animal that is magically enhanced to follow simple instructions, or a clockwork lift mechanism that serves as an elevator.

I have similar items as that doesn't require industrial revolution tech.

[Buttmonkey]

Generally, I run a low-tech fantasy world with gonzo droppings. PCs may encounter extremely high tech devices or equipment, but it is not generally available or even known to exist.

[Dracyian]

In general, on a global scale, my level of tech is similar to yours.

However on a limited basis, I'll allow quite a bit of different things. For example:
I've had a distinct branch of dwarves that have invented limited clockwork style machinery. Some of it is magically enhanced, but generally, it's just clockwork versions of something slightly more modern than what the era would naturally produce. Like a clockwork crossbow that can load a little faster, or a clockwork animal that is magically enhanced to follow simple instructions, or a clockwork lift mechanism that serves as an elevator.

I've also had certain rare elven societies harness magic in a way that functions like technological advancement (think Eberron) that is not widespread, allowing more rapid transit (think gummi bears from the old cartoon), something like small scale high speed rail but through the trees.

For this reason, I"m quite excited about the Steam Gnomes that are presented throughout the new Bluffside book. They would fit perfectly into my world.

In most cases, I make the existence of such things a very closely guarded cultural/family/tribal secret so as to explain why it hasn't experienced a wider adoption. Generally I also only allow peaceful cultures to have such things, in order to explain why they've not pursued an imperial agenda with it.

First things first evil steam gnomes, the sound of steam releasing at night sends shivers down your spine after growing up hearing stories of steam gnomes coming and stealing naughty kids from their beds at night to work in the mines chipping away for gems.

Also the tree monorail totally reminds me of tree surfing from Tarzan

[Arduin]

Generally, I run a low-tech fantasy world with gonzo droppings. PCs may encounter extremely high tech devices or equipment, but it is not generally available or even known to exist.

But what age to you go to? Low tech could be pre bronze, bronze, iron, etc.

[Dracyian]

In our greyhawk campaign we were probably just entering the steel age, with the age of gunpowder to follow shortly, like the time when china had gunpowder and the rest of the world was without it sort of thing.

We had also found inter planatary travel and laser weapons and lightsabers with power crystals or diodes or batteries of some sort. Really didn't know how to use them we lucked out in pressing buttons and the such.

In the games I run I generalistically stick with the steel age and nothing past that. In my upcoming age I may incorporate gun powder much like the place it had in china, just without the firearms having been discovered yet.

[NJPDX]

My home brew world is an alternate Earth with an indeterminate timeline (it could be 10,000 BC or 100,000 AD for all the players know). It mostly works out to an Iron Age tech level approximating Northern Europe in 800-1000 AD in terms of arms and armor, etc. but "artefacts" occasionally pop up that seem to be very, very advanced and/or alien.

So no gunpowder or full-plate knights or late medieval culture, but plenty of "weirdness" inspired by Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock and Ashton Clark Smith to go along with the dirt and the grime of my (pseudo) Celto-Scandinavian witches, sorcerers and warriors in chain mail byrnies.

[Buttmonkey]

Generally, I run a low-tech fantasy world with gonzo droppings. PCs may encounter extremely high tech devices or equipment, but it is not generally available or even known to exist.

But what age to you go to? Low tech could be pre bronze, bronze, iron, etc.

I don't worry about it. I just go generic fantasy for the baseline technology.

[Treebore]

Depends on what I let my players find. Like right now, I use the Wilderlands in my setting, so if I wanted to I could let them find a long buried Space Ship. So far all they have found is a chemical light stick that they thought was something I brought over from a 3E item.

[DeadReborn]

I have been toying with the idea of a portion of society with simple machines (simple by our standards) that are powered by Shadow magic. Unfortunately, dealing with this type of magic is slowly corrupting them and they are becoming Shadows themselves.

[Arduin]

Depends on what I let my players find. Like right now,

The question was about the tech capability of the general society rather than artifacts that adventurers could possibly dig up...

[Traveller]

The tech level of my world is the high middle ages, c. 1200-1300. It's late enough to not be too primitive, but early enough that gunpowder has not been introduced. Books and coins are both very advanced. The printing press exists but is still somewhat impractical for everyday use and thus is rare. Coin presses however have proven to be very popular and can be found in virtually every city, totally replacing the older method of having a man driving a die into a blank with a hammer. On Earth, the printing press as we know it was a 15th-Century invention, although the first printing press was developed in Asia in the 10th Century. The coin press is a 16th-Century invention and eliminated the bulk of the issues with hand striking.

[Treebore]

Depends on what I let my players find. Like right now,

The question was about the tech capability of the general society rather than artifacts that adventurers could possibly dig up...

Again, depends. Because in the Wilderlands there is a variety of tech levels from City State to City State, etc... and if a buried Space Ship was ever found, the Tech Level could take a HUGE jump, depending on what they do. After all, that ship could teach them how to do a lot of things. I forget what the average Tech Level of the Wilderlands setting is.

[Lurker]

My home brew world is an alternate Earth with an indeterminate timeline (it could be 10,000 BC or 100,000 AD for all the players know). It mostly works out to an Iron Age tech level approximating Northern Europe in 800-1000 AD in terms of arms and armor, etc. but "artefacts" occasionally pop up that seem to be very, very advanced and/or alien.

So no gunpowder or full-plate knights or late medieval culture, but plenty of "weirdness" inspired by Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock and Ashton Clark Smith to go along with the dirt and the grime of my (pseudo) Celto-Scandinavian witches, sorcerers and warriors in chain mail byrnies.

I'm dialed into the 800 -1100 time frame like yours, ... but not so much on the 'weirdness'. No plate (unless you are a dwarf that is worthy of it or you are a fried to the dwarves and doubly worthy) the best armor is chain reinforced with a coat of plates. weapons are also lower tech than the normal - no heavy lance etc,

However, my other home brew (like I have time to work through 1 home brew much less 2 ) is higher tech & higher magic. It is very inspired by 'star fall' with black powder weapons & yes flying ships, lightning throwers etc etc etc.