Technology in Anasta

Scavenging rather than developing technology during the post-apocalyptic Age of Darkness was the norm. As the world begins to stabilize into the Age of Rebirth, the millenia-long habit of scavenging has been maintained but is combined and refined with original creation. The wondrous and reality-warping technology both ancient and modern brings a glimmer of hope to an otherwise turbulent world. Think piecemeal fashion from earlier ages adapted to environment and taste, then artfully worked together with bits of high-tech wonders with accents of glowy circuits and runes. This technology is integrated into fantastic tools that focus and facilitate psi abilities, or is seemlessly infused directly into bioforms as a sort of magical cybernetic ability. The setting aschews realism and contains its own internal logic akin to that of fantasy and sci-fi animated series. Being interesting, fun, and delightful trumps any real-world logic or physics.

This is expressed in an anachronistic mix between pre-Industrial craftsmanship and magical future-tech (swords alongside energy bolt casters, hammers and wrenches next to fusion generators) common to science-fantasy. All artifacts are hand-crafted or psi-crafted and are therefore generally unique. Scavenging artifacts from the previous millenia is still a commonplace and fruitful line of work.

Though sometimes enormous amounts of energy can be generated, flight altitude and speed is limited by a unique atmospheric phenomenon, and there is no space travel.

Communication

Wireless communication devices exist using both Ethertech and Solartech, and short-range communication devices are not uncommon among Cohorts and factions. However, long-range communication is still largely by messenger. The exception to this is the Chantry’s Resonant Net, one of the faction’s most valuable assets. The Resonant Net is an Ethertech-powered holographic communication network that has access nodes scattered across Anasta. Each node can only be activated through an Enchanter’s Song, allowing access only with the Chantry’s blessing. In addition to being the leading researchers of Ethertech, this asset makes the Chantry among the most valuable source of messengers.

Transportation

Transportation is a special case in Anasta. By far the most common forms of travel are on foot and by domesticated animal, and may be enhanced by Ethertech or Solartech Biofunction Manipulation. Wheeled and treaded/tracked vehicles powered by Ethertech or Solartech are found in places that have the resources available. Hovering vehicles that create limited anti-gravity effects using Ethertech do exist, but are not especially common. The largest objects able to take advantage of this are Ethertech-powered Mules. No matter what the size, these objects hover just a foot or two above the ground and no higher. Solartech researchers are keen to crack these secrets.

Solartech

Beyond the spiritual precepts of the Order of the Sun, one of the reasons Solartech was developed was to go beyond the known capabilities of Ethertech energy generation. Mechanically, Ethertech energy generation has a cap of Rank 3, though destroying a Moonshard can temporarily increase the output using the Power Up trait. Solartech, however, can theoretically reach a stable cap of Rank 5, but so far no one has stabilized a Solartech reactor beyond Rank 4. Still, this generally outperforms Ethertech when factoring in that no Moonshards are used to reach that level of output. In-game, there is a technological transition to Solartech for anything energy-related, especially vehicles and weaponry.

Supersonic Transmutation

The Moonfall changed how speed and velocity are expressed on Anasta. Somewhere just beyond the speed of sound, objects are instaneously converted to Etheric energy. While vehicles on Anasta have not yet attained supersonic speeds, the peoples have developed explosives and firearms. On a practical (and somewhat violent) level, this means that what might be considered traditional firearms end up firing bundles of unstable Etheric energy. Explosives are similar—they transmute into localized, intense Etheric energy. While common knowledge, the phenomenon isn’t well understood. Indeed, it is one of the central areas of study for the Chantry and the strange link between sound and Ethertech. No one has been able to stablize or effectively convert the Etheric energy created this way into a power source, so the effect is generally only found in weaponry.