The overall stage of technological development in your fictional world, which shapes everything from warfare to daily life.
Technology level refers to how advanced (or primitive) the tools, machines, and scientific knowledge are in your world. It's not just about gadgets; it determines how people travel, communicate, fight, farm, and heal. A world with gunpowder has fundamentally different politics than one with only swords. A world with instant communication has different secrets than one that relies on messengers on horseback. Your tech level sets the baseline for what's possible and what's not.
Technology shapes plot constraints in ways that are easy to overlook. Can your character send a warning message in time? Depends on the tech level. Can an army cross a continent in weeks? Depends on transportation. Can a wound be healed? Depends on medicine. Getting your technology level right (and staying consistent with it) prevents plot holes and makes your world feel coherent.
Herbert deliberately regressed some technologies (no computers, limited ranged weapons due to shields) while advancing others (space travel, stillsuits), creating a unique tech profile.
Sanderson mixes medieval social structures with magical technology (fabrials) that functions like early industrial machinery, creating a world on the brink of a technological revolution.
By advancing the same world 300 years, Sanderson shows how magic interacts with industrial-era technology: trains, guns, and electric lights alongside Allomancy.
Technology and culture co-evolve. If you want modern attitudes in a medieval world, explain what drove that social change. It doesn't have to be our history, but it should make sense.
Technology spreads. If there's a gap, explain it: geographic isolation, deliberate suppression, magical interference, or resource scarcity.
For every major technology, ask: who benefits from this? Who loses power because of it? What new problems does it create?
Take your world's current technology level and remove one key invention (writing, the wheel, gunpowder, the printing press). Spend 15 minutes writing a scene that shows how daily life is different without it. Focus on a specific character dealing with a specific problem that this technology would normally solve.