The Lifespan of a TED?

[JAFARR]

As for how long boneyard equipment might last - I was considering the same angle. Suppose you find a wheeled vehicle in good state of repair, would the rubber parts like tires and belts be dry rotted? If so where would you find replacements. I asked a tire store manager how long his tires would last in a locked wharehouse with no A/C and no heating and still be useable. He guessed 20 to 25 years. What about other assorted parts in engines? gas lines? Water hoses? Any ideas?

 

[spank]

Everyone seems to be getting hung up on the material aspects of the technology. Simply knowing certain things would give the TED an edge, the rule of the dictator --- or dynasty could be insured simple by a hidden library. A little knowledge of a system's astronomy and a day with a computer could ensure centuries or even millenia of rule.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Spank has a valid point. "Knowledge is Power". A TED with such a library, ven if t be a humble collection of tech manuals, can ensure his/her rulership quite a while.

the length of such tenure depends on said TED's regime and how well such knowledge is guarded. The 1248 TNE recvery govt. tables look promising in that regard. Some TEDs may simply become Charismatic dictatorships, or uncharismatic ones by political evolution once settled space encompasses them.

The amount of technology remaining is already covered in Path of Tears. its up to each GM to determine whether or not TED X, Y or Z uses it wisely..and determines if he-she's a xenophobe, technophobe, cruel to his population etc..

have a great game day!

 

[spank]

you wouldn't even need a full tech manual, just a crib sheet of idea, knowing that a thing is possible and which path to follow to get there, a very modest set of books, coded into the "language of the royal family" would do nicely

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by Aramis:
5) TEO - An oligarchy of tech savvy folks maintaining a tech base, with elite education and probably some form of loyalty assurance devices (Intercranial remote control bombs, etc). The vast majority are allowed to fall to squalor, while the TEO takes what they need of the labor of the commons, in exchange for providing order through harsh but fair security forces with really good stuff. Requires some intact tech base which can be rebuilt without virus.

This could also happen on some of the few surviving worlds without a fully habitablt environments; whoever controls the knowledge (and/or spare parts) to maintain the life-support equipment could easily rule the population.

Generally speaking, I think that most TEDs, by definition, have a very narrow powerbase - usually the possession of some high-tech military gear or of other crucial high-tech items or skills. Take away the powerbase, and the TED collapses; take over the powerbase, and you become the next dictator. The smaller the powerbase, the more tempting it is for coup attempts, and the more vulnerable it is to guerilla warfare (after all, that single Company of TL15 Grav Tanks can't be everywhere at once; plus, every tank you somehow manage to destroy or steal can't be replaced). So most TEDs will be more prone to have unstable polities than most other forms of government.

So, eventually, a TED is either replaced by another TED (same tech, different guy in power), collapses into barbarism or anarchy (Gov 0) when its tech dies away, diversifies its power base to become a more stable Feudal system (Gov 3 or 5), expands its powerbase to become a more stable dictatorship (Gov 3, A, B or C), is taken over by a Virus, or is overthrown by the people or another non-TED faction (and then it could become virtuallt any government type).