KFS Refit

[gamerguy]

Originally Posted by RandyT0001

Gamerguy, basically you are saying that the highest technology level in limited use would max out at mid-19th century. Most areas would be stuck in mid-18th century to early 19th century, correct?

Do you think that there would be small, isolated communities (less than 20sq miles controlled area) with very little trade or do you think that there would be bigger city-states (few hundred sq miles of domain) with greater trade along rivers, maintained dirt/gravel roads and early railroads with early steam engines?

Good questions. I think the "background" tech level would be mid 19th C. Think of the steam engines which travelled around providing the mechanical muscle in the mid 19th to early 20th C. Smaller towns could have a steam driven power house providing electricity to the local few along with a basic water supply, for example.

As to trade I think that is based on law levels more than tech. As I see it "governments like KFS, Krell, Maxwell, etc. would allow freer trade within their borders. Transport using steam trains or steam road vehicles would be able to travel over areas. Slow though. Gypsy truckers? Steel road wheels, steam power plants and travel in convoys like the pioneers settling the west or convoys plying the north atlantic in WWI/II or the caravans of the silk road. Strength, and safety, in numbers with hired guns or better still military muscle as members of the gypsy tribe(s) themselves.

IIRC there are a number of city states based around universities. Also based around viable logical resource extraction and purification locations. Think the road warrior's gasoline clan. No pipelines for transport so tanker trucks, or lake freighters, gypsy sailors.

I think the small isolated communities could only exist with a resource to provide income for protection or in some kind of mutual support organization, a proto state perhaps? They would have to be pretty isolated with not much around them so few people would be willing to spend the resources to get to them. This assumes bands of roving thugs with no resources except extraction of resources from those they raid.

Then do those thugs provide a reason for the communities to band together into prototype mini states providing mutual self defense to form, or do the thugs themselves become the organ of the state and control these isolated communities building themselves into the next Krell, KFS, etc.? To me the first groups would be most likely to form something akin to democratic or feudal government over time. The later feudal or dictatorships.

Makes you think about how the larger groups started and allowed or were forced into some form of government.