Marc, thanks for the info on the El-Op sight. I wasn't offering up the
penlight as a strap-on, just as a demonstration of how small people
are getting usable lasers these days.
On Bart's question re TLs, I believe the rules state that a planet gets
listed at a new TL when any one area hits that TL-- such high tech is
generally a planet's most marketable resource, and it tends to drag
other advances along with it. Personally, I was sitting in the TV
Lounge at my dorm in Oberlin in 1981, watching the Columbia touch down
after its maiden flight. As the wheels touched down and everyone assembled
began to cheer, I quietly remarked to anyone who was listening, "Hm. Well,
that's it-- we just hit Tech Level 8."
metlay
Horde to tears