Technology in the worlds is deliberately behind the times, and that is a creative choice as much as a rule. These places are poor, so advanced tech is rare, expensive, and quickly stolen or broken. The guidelines below keep gadgets from quietly overpowering the human drama, and most of them come down to one principle: technology should further roleplay, never shortcut it.
Surveillance needs consent
Official security cameras, like the ones covering a police station or a business, capture no audio, and they record only what was actually emoted; if your character is masked, you still have to write the mask, or the camera never saw it. Any surveillance from a distance, binoculars, hidden microphones, tapped phones, requires the consent of the people being watched. Without consent, you can only observe what your character could genuinely see or hear while in range and posting in the scene. Secret recordings should still be posted clearly enough that people have a chance to notice them.
What technology simply doesn’t work here
Some tools are off the table because the setting is poor and low-tech. GPS tracking is generally not allowed, barring a specific storyline an admin approves. Drones of any kind are not permitted. Panic buttons and any automated use of location services are disallowed. Cloud services fail or crawl; the technology is behind the times by design. And every call for help, whether backup or an emergency line, requires two posts before it goes through, giving the scene room to breathe before rescue arrives.
Prosthetics and artificial parts
These are contemporary urban worlds, not cyberpunk ones, so keep any prosthesis, artificial limb, or robotic part grounded rather than futuristic. High-tech body parts are enormously expensive, and these are poor places. The rule of thumb: an artificial part should not give your character a combat advantage, and if it does, it should carry a matching flaw for balance. A believable limitation makes for better stories than an unearned edge.
Don’t let intel wreck a story
Information gathered through technology can reshape another player’s story, so handle it with care. If something your character learns could badly disrupt or ruin someone’s planned storyline, reach out and communicate before you wield it. And always double-check that the knowledge was earned in the scene rather than picked up out of character; play only what your character could actually have seen or overheard.
Keep the tech grounded and the human stories stay center stage, which is the whole reason these worlds are set where they are. That completes the rules of play; from here, the guide turns to putting down roots.