Wednesday, April 4, 2012

D is for Doctor Who

One of my favorite TV shows ever is Doctor Who.
I discovered it back in the 80s on PBS and was hooked.  Of course my dream was always to have a Doctor Who RPG.  There was a Doctor Who by FASA, and I liked it, but I never got a chance to play it much.

Well 2005 rolls around and we got a new Doctor Who on TV! Yeah! and A few years later we also got a new Doctor Who RPG! Double Yeah!  And I got to play-test it!!

And I know I am not the only one excited about it.  Doctor Who related posts are some of my most viewed.

Well there is a new version out and I wanted to let you all know about it.


Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space is a great and worthy game to bear the name of the highly acclaimed "restart" of the Doctor Who series.

Using a simple 2d6 + attribute + stat + mod, roll over target number system, DW:AiTaS though goes beyond what is typically since in RPGs. Talking and Running are preferable to fighting, just like in the show and there many ways to measure success.

The system is really, really simple. In fact once you get the hang of it it "disappears" much like Unisystem does.

The system is similar to Unisystem and even GURPs, but not as "crunchy". This is a game of normal humans and the occasional alien battling foes that out match them, out gun them and out "tech" them. You are going to need to be very clever or lucky (or both!). While this could have fell into the Call of Cthulhu end of the spectrum on hero survival, heroes are expected to survive and even win.

There are two versions of this game out.  The Original or 10th Doctor version and the new 11th Doctor version.

For the 11th Doctor edition what do have?  Well the trade dress and artwork is all from the 11th Doctor/Moffat era.   But if that were all then there would not be much need to buy this.  There is an easy to use "Read This First" file, all the important stuff in two pages.  There are characters from the Matt Smith run, so The Doctor, River, Amy and Rory. All the new monsters (and the old faves) like the Atraxi, Cybermen, New Paradigm Daleks, and the Silurians. In fact there is quite a bit of "new stuff" that feel this is much more of an update than a simple re-edit and design.

Note: If you have the 10th Doctor version then C7 has the files you need for free.

Now the game is supposed to be played with 2 6-sided dice (2d6 in RPG parlance), but I have this cool 12 sided die with clock faces instead of numbers that is so perfect for Doctor Who that I can't not use it!  Plus as many Who fans know, the d12 is important to Who history.

I have done some character write-ups for Doctor Who: AiTaS, check them out.
  • Madame Vastra and Jenny: Everyone's favorite katana wielding, Victorian lesbian Silurian/Humans consulting detectives/warriors for hire.
  • And Count Dracula
  • And something special later on today!
Dave Chapman did a fantastic job with this game. Not just the writing, but the whole concept.  I love it. I only wish *I* had been the one to do it!

11 comments:

Grammy said...

Hi, second Dr. Who I have read about today. Excellent post, and Dr. Who movies are fascinating, aren't they. The idea of time travel has always appealed to us, hasn't it?
Best regards,
Ruby

Anonymous said...

Where can I get this D12 of which you speak?!

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I bought mine at Gen Con a few years back. but they are made by Chessex.

S. L. Hennessy said...

I've never played any of the games before, but I love the show so I would definitely be interested in checking the games out. Awesome D post.

Tim Knight said...

Great post, Tim, on a great subject. I have the PDFs of the 11th Doctor iteration and am now waiting eagerly for the hardcopy version to come out in the next couple of months.

And then a flood of support material, supplements etc... ;)

Briane said...

Hey! Saw you commented on TBOE and thought I'd check out your blog. It's been decades, literally, since I played any RPGs; the last one I remember was sort of an RPG/strategy game called "The Awful Green Things From Outer Space."

Now I kind of want to play that.

Having never gotten into Doctor Who, I admit I'm mystified by the appeal -- but you know who I bet is jealous of Dr. Who?

Mr. What.

Ms. Where.

Senor When.

Sir Why, and

Lil How.

(That, in my mind, is their old crimefighting team that got busted up when Dr. Who went solo, leaving the others sitting around in their lair, moping and cursing the newscasts when Dr. Who shows up.)

Wanttodelete said...

Doctor Who is amazing<3 I got hooked on it and watched every episode (Eccleston-Smith) my first semester of college. The tenth is most definitely my favorite<3
Curious to see what happens when Amy leaves next season!

F. Douglas Wall said...

There was also a Doctor Who RPG in the early 90's called Time Lord. I've got a copy of that one. It has stats for every Doctor and every companion from the old show on the presumption that you'll be playing them. There is a bit in the back of the book on statting yourself as a companion. The fun bit is that you're supposed to arm wrestle the GM in order to determine your Strength score.

Erin M. Hartshorn said...

I'm going to have to pick up the 10th Doctor version. (Tennant is better than Smith.)

Erin

Golden Eagle said...

Yet another post about Doctor Who! I've never seen the show, but it sounds awesome.


The Golden Eagle
The Eagle's Aerial Perspective

The Jovial Priest said...

Like many Australians, and most Britons, I grew up watching Dr Who, spending more time hiding behind the couch than sitting on it. No special effects, yet riveting story lines that scared.

Blockbusters could learn a thing or two.

I feel sorry for those in the USA who missed out on growing up with the Dr. What about Canada?