Generally, these
Progress Levels are beyond reach or comprehension, although isolated worlds or undiscovered species may exist that have access to them. In many cases, the signature technologies of an earlier age are abandoned in favor of more elegant and more powerful technologies.
Practical control of matter at the subatomic level, the ability to travel through time, or the power to "fold space" to shorten travel distances may be possible at this stage of technological development.
Purchasing Items of Lower or Higher Progress Level
Progress Levels are relative, and depending on the economics of a campaign, a GM may choose to make certain items of a higher or lower
Progress Level unavailable, cheaper, or more expensive to purchase. For the sake of game
balance, GMs who want to make lower-PL and higher-PL items available to characters should adjust the purchase DCs of items as follows.
• +5 to Purchase DC for equipment from the next highest
Progress Level (the limit for purchasing cutting-edge technology).
Low Progress Levels in the Future
Most modern campaigns are set at
Progress Level 5. Consequently, campaigns set in Earth's future typically feature societies with access to
Progress Level 6 technology or higher. However, characters in a futuristic setting may still encounter technologically backward societies, possibly through the exploration of
time travel, a journey to another world, or some other plot device. For this reason, the lower
Progress Levels are included here.
Control of
gravity is one of the key features of
Progress Level 7. The development of gravitonic science and gravitonic engineering leads to a host of miraculous devices: levitating cars, interplanetary drives that require no reaction mass, and a wide range of
military tools. Just as the application of
electricity was spurred by the discovery of the induction principle, the creation of devices that induce gravitational energy leads to an effective control over weight.
Gravity induction relies on the phenomenon first set forth in Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity: An object's mass approaches infinity as the object's velocity approaches the
speed of light. By using a cyclotron to accelerate a tiny particle to near-light
speed, the gravity generator creates gravitons between the particle and the surrounding mass. These gravitons can be siphoned off, redirected, or stored by use of the induction coil.
At PL 7,
gravity inducers can be miniaturized to the size of hockey pucks for special applications. An inducer powerful enough to negate a human's gravitational attraction to the Earth is about the size of a discus, while the induction motor in a flying car requires a
gravity generator about the size of a spare tire.