Civilization Comparisons

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The Household of Suburban Senshi is the host of an incredible variety of people. A number of them are not from the planet Earth, and thus may not have grown up with the same series of prejudices, technology, or outlooks that an Earth human might have. In order that such a wide variety of people might have some sort of handle on what the others in their presence might be able to accomplish, this is a somewhat arbitrary set of scales designed to make some sort of categorization possible. It is important to remember that these scales are merely general measures, and are not a replacement for in depth study of the cultures involved.

Civilization Scales

There will be two scales used for the organization of cultures in this work. It is possible that future updates may add additional scalar methods, but they should be used as additional descriptors, rather than rebuilding the organization of the overall work.

Kardashev Scale

The Kardashev Scale is a measure of the Energy Usage of a civilization. There are three standard types, but within the Suburban Senshi context an extension in both directions is in order, allowing for a Type 0 and Type IV.

  • Type 0 -- A civilization that hasn't yet achieved the requirements for Type I status.
  • Type I -- A civilization is able to harness all of the power available on a single planet (around 1016Watts).
  • Type II -- Able to harness all of the power of a single star (around 1026Watts).
  • Type III -- Able to harness all of the power of a single galaxy (around 1036Watts).
  • Type IV -- Able to harness at least the power of a Galactic Cluster (minimum 1046Watts). This is the current estimate of the Time Lord civilization. If you aren't a Time Lord, claiming such a level of culture is likely to get you laughed at.

Technology Level

The use of Technology Levels (TL) is an imprecise method of comparison to Earth technological development. It is intended as a way of comparing societies within a Type. This scale runs from 0 to 12, with special symbology for divergent pathways. An entry of the form TLn+x, indicates a culture capable of everything that the total would indicate on Earth, but using a divergent path based from the n. A carat (^) following the level, as in TLn^, indicates that they are capable of feats that contradict the laws of physics as they are understood on Earth currently, this is often due to either a much deeper understanding of physics, the ability to harness magic, or sometimes both. Dates in parenthesis list the rough starting dates for the TLs, these are not meant to be absolute numbers, but rather evocative of the proper period.

  • TL0 -- Stone Age (Prehistory)
  • TL1 -- Bronze Age (ca. 3500 B.C.)
  • TL2 -- Iron Age (ca. 1200 B.C.)
  • TL3 -- Medieval (ca. 600 A.D.)
  • TL4 -- Renaissance (ca. 1450 A.D.)
  • TL5 -- Industrial Revolution (ca. 1730 A.D.)
  • TL6 -- Mechanized Age (ca. 1880 A.D.)
  • TL7 -- Nuclear Age (ca. 1940 A.D.)
  • TL8 -- Digital Age (ca. 1980 A.D.)
  • TL9 -- Microtech Age (ca. 2025??)
  • TL10 -- Robotic Age (ca. 2070??)
  • TL11 -- The Age of Exotic Matter (??)
  • TL12 -- Fundamental Forces (??)

Civilizations

Type 0 Civilizations

  • Expel (TL4+3^) -- Expel appears to be a primeval planet, the people living in a primarily medieval style. They seem to make up for their lack of machine based tech with a powerful tradition of magic. The question of just how much they do understand of machine technology is open to question, as they seem to have made a deliberate societal choice to live the way they do.
  • Modern Earth (TL8) -- Despite pockets of advanced understanding, the Earth currently rates a mere .73 or so on the Kardashev Scale, and the primary technology is TL8. Some organizations have access to more advanced equipment, but they tend to be poorly understood, barely replicable examples or one off finds of alien technology. See UNIT, AEGIS and Torchwood.
  • xcheamo (TL4) -- xcheamo is a planet peopled by a species for the most part uninterested in gaining technological achievement that harnesses power. They are perfectly capable of building and making any technology that uses common sense and physics without electrical power. Like Expel, there is a deliberate societal choice in their way of life.

Type I Civilizations

  • United Federation of Planets (TL9^) -- The Federation is coming close to being Type II, but it doesn't quite harness enough power to qualify as Type II.

Type II Civilizations

  • Mageworlds (TL10^) -- Occupying numerous systems of their home galaxy, the Mageworlds and the Adeptworlds together constitute an early type II civilization.
  • Thanagar (TL10^) -- This race of warriors are past the height of their empire, but they are still a formidable foe.
  • Galactic Republic (TL10^) -- The famous galaxy far, far away controls millions of worlds. But it certainly doesn't harness the power of the entire galaxy. This makes it an advanced Type II, well on it's way towards Type III (in fact, based on some theories of transition between Types, the Galactic Civil War may represent a conflict that might be predicted on the way towards the next Type).

Type III Civilizations

  • Lensmen (TL6+5^) -- Having successfully colonized two galaxies and reached deep into the fundamental powers of the human mind, the Lensmen after the defeat of Eddore are the premier civilization of their universe.

Type IV Civilizations

  • Time Lords (TL12^) -- The Time Lords are the premier race of this universe. Ancient beyond knowing, powerful beyond reckoning. Of late, they seem to have withdrawn from affairs, but whether this is due to some defeat at the hands of a terrible enemy or merely a natural period of isolation is unknown at this time. As the Time Lord Marnal once claimed, "The Time Lords were the Type IV civilization. We had no equals. We controlled the fundamental forces of the entire universe. Nothing could communicate with us on our level. Most races pray to lesser beings than the Time Lords."
  • Guardians of the Universe (TL12^) -- The Guardians who maintain the Green Lanterns, they are one of the few civilizations that can actually claim similar status with the Time Lords.
  • Ultramen (TL12^) -- Ultramen are species of highly evolved life forms that dedicate themselves to protecting other lesser species. Ultramen have evolved to the point that they are now living light. They can alter and create matter to their whims, bring themselves and others back to life with ease and survive almost anything. Their technology level is so great that they can create stars easily.