Technology Ratings

The Seventh Circle Initiative uses a standard 10 point scale to rate the amount and power of technology present on a plane, primarily for determining how potentially worrying interplanar trade is. (They have similar scales for magic and magitech, for similar reasons.) Tech ratings are defined by what technology is widespread on the plane; local concentrations of more advanced technology warrant a note rather than an increased rating.

Tech –
Tech – denotes a plane with no technology whatsoever, usually because it has no permanent sapient inhabitants. Agahia is currently rated as tech – due to its lack of surviving residents.

Tech 0
Tech 0 planes have access to roughly Stone Age technology. Hunting and gathering may or may not have been superseded by agriculture. Novea is on the high end of tech 0 as of Novea (set).

Tech 1
Urban centers, division of labor, trade, and metal tools mark the transition from tech 0 to tech 1. Lorwyn falls squarely into tech 1.

Tech 2
The boundary between tech 1 and tech 2 is perhaps poorly defined, but the rise of empires, the transition from iron to steel, the beginnings of formal mathematics, science, and philosophy, the invention of siege warfare, large-scale infrastructure like roads and aqueducts, and the proliferation of literature are all indications of a tech 2 society. Shandalar and Theros are a few of the many examples of tech 2 ratings.

Tech 3
Tech 3 is roughly Medieval, characterized by global trade, scientific experiment, early mechanical devices (mills, clocks, crossbows, etc.), chain and plate armor, crenelated structures, and printed texts. Gunpowder can exist on tech 3 planes, but its harnessing for practical military use often heralds a transition to tech 4. It is perhaps the most common tech rating in the Multiverse, including such planes as Dominaria, Innistrad, and Mious.

Tech 4
Tech 4 planes are characterized by the shift from natural philosophy to science proper, tall ships, black-powder weaponry, movable type, and other Renaissance-era innovations. Ixalan is an iconic example of a tech 4 plane, although that technology is not entirely widespread; while the vampires and pirates have ready access to tech 4, the Sun Empire's technology is closer to a 3.

Tech 5
Tech 5 is defined by industralization. Steam power is usually the beginning of tech 5; high tech 5 planes may run on diesel, electricity, aether, or stranger fuels. Kaladesh, Vasille, Feraguo, Festenya, and Weltall are all rated at 5, with Weltall right at the boundary to 6.

Tech 6
Any of a post-industrial economy, weapons of mass destruction, or computer technology is sufficient to denote a plane as tech 6. Terrana, Virilin, and Suldefsra are all tech 6 planes.

Tech 7
Tech 7 planes are generally "cyberpunk" in technology, with virtual reality, superhuman prosthetics, early nanotechnology, and potentially energy weapons being characteristic of the rating. Himidor and Lovi are among the few planes to receive a rating of 7; the Seventh Circle Initiative also primarily operates at this tech rating.

Tech 8
Tech 8 planes are iconically characterized by fusion power or similarly excessive sources of energy. Widespread nanomachines are also generally tech 8. AKHATAR is suspected to fall within tech 8, but this is as yet unconfirmed.

Tech 9
Tech 9 is mostly theoretical; the fundamental forces of nature are under direct control by a tech 9 society. The only confirmed tech 9 plane at this point is Linela, who merits the rating thanks to their chronotech.

Tech 10
Tech 10 has never been observed, but would represent full reality-shaping by technological means. Everyone would wield divine-equivalent power. The existence of a global "utility fog" of nanomachines is one theorized method for achieving tech 9; quantum-level control of individual particles on a planar scale, or direct source code access to the simulation engine of a simulated Multiverse would also qualify.