This Old Dragon: Issue #116

Time to jump back into my box of Dragons and pull out a Dragon at random...no not that one, this one. Ok so sorta random. To be fair I pulled this one second and really it is a better fit this week.  If you must know, the one I originally pulled was #106.  Next time for that one. Today I am going to talk about Dragon #116.  

This issue does have significance to me. This is the first Dragon I bought after the watershed issue #114. As I mentioned before I typically bought every other Dragon back then, so this was my next one. I rather liked the cover to be honest.

To set the stage here, this issue was dated December 1986. This was my senior year in high school. My regular DM had gone off to the Air Force the year before and we had done our big "Dragon Wars" which was our "World War."  Most of my AD&D 1st Edition characters were dead or retired and I didn't know what exactly was next.  But this issue gave me ideas.

Letters covers the debates of the day. Mark D. Spivey laments that Dragon is now too much about AD&D and D&D and not other games.  Kent B. Gravelle counters with his observation of AD&D being less popular now than other games. 

Forum laments the lack of women DMs or why D&D is not as popular as Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly. I am no expert (ok but I DO have the benefit of hindsight) that both of these issues will change around the same time.

Add for the Wilderness Survival Guide. I will admit I did enjoy this book.

We get to the main feature of this issue; Maritime Adventures.

While I did use this material then, over the summer in 1987 I was back from college and my DM was back due to medical leave. We began a new campaign with new characters. The idea was to create some ocean going adventures. I rolled a few characters and we were going to something that would today call the funnel.

Margaret Foy is up first with High Seas which is a fantastic overview of nautical terms and ideas for AD&D. So good in fact it can still be used today and for many other sorts of games.  The article is long, 14 pages, and not a bit of it is wasted or fluff. 

Note: There were ads for Traveller and Star Trek RPGs. I kept thinking that I could adapt these rules to space or visa versa. 

Aquatic elves get time to shine in Children of the Deep by Todd Mossburg.  Aquatic elves would have been part of our game. This is a pretty good article really. So good in fact you tend to forget these elves still need to be around the sea. 

In an odd one out, we get an Ecology Of.. article from Anthony Gerard, Ecology of the Minotaur. I would think a Triton or other sea creature would have worked better. But this is still welcome. It is also a rare (but soon to be less rare) ecology article not from Ed Greenwood.  I rather liked this one to be honest. It gave a different insight to Minotaurs. This was on the heels of the second Dragonlance Trilogy which made Minotaurs a more playable race than AD&D core, so this return to form was nice.

Up next we get the first Dragon's Bestiary in nearly five years. This one has a dozen new AD&D monsters all with a sea or underwater theme. Lots of new monsters here, or at least new at the time. 

Ads for The Palladium Fantasy RPG and the Bestiary. Two products I wanted back in the day. I eventually got them both but never really did much with Paladium. 

"Hello? Your Majesty?" from Craig Barrett covers communication in history and fantasy. It is a well-researched article, at least as far as I tell.  Easily could use this in any game. We get coverage of the Horse Post, the Foot Post, and especially messages by sea travel. I can honestly see an interest set of adventures that involve getting critical messages from one place to another while fighting evil wizards, governments, and monsters.

My issue sadly no longer has this, but our center-fold section is a cardstock assemble-your-self 3D ship designed by Dennis Kauth titled High Seas in 3-D.

What I do have is a huge ad for Warhamer Fantasy. And by huge, I mean 8 full-color pages.

Ed Greenwood is back with Rogue Stones and Gemjumping, or how Elminster gets around. This covers a special type of stone, a Rogue Stone, and El's spell to use them as means of getting around. Not a long article, but certainly a fun one.  Something to whet the appetite for the upcoming Forgotten Realms campaign set.

In an interesting and long article, By Tooth and Claw by Gregory Detwiler gives us details on how just normal animals can be terrifying foes in any game, especially for lower level characters. While the focus is AD&D it can be adapted to all games that have animals.  

Michael DeWolfe and Galan Akin are up with the only ElfQuest RPG article I can recall. High Ones, Ancient Ones covers the origins of the Elves in the ElfQuest universe.  I mean I have always known about Elf-Quest, I am not sure I know much of what it is really about. I mean I know it was created by Wendy Pini. But that is about it. The RPG uses Chaosium's BRP I also knew that much. 

Role of Computers by Hartley and Pattie Lesser talks a bit about communication and how humans can now use computers to talk to each other via BBSes. Something that soon dominate my own experiences in a couple of years. They even talk about how one day you could read Dragon over your computer! Imagine that! They also cover the DM's aid Dragonfire II. Likely the software can be found somewhere on the internet now.  They also look at Bard's Tale a full-featured computer RPG.

TSR Previews lets us know what is upcoming for 1987. In particular, H2 Minds of Bloodstone and DA2 Temple of the Frog.

Cool ad for some D&D shirts, I should have jumped on that, I kinda wish I could get them now.

Marvel-Phile gives us six heroes I have never heard of. Crossfire, Ringleader, Bombshell, Oddball, Tenpin, and Knickknack. Remember I am a DC fan.

Ok, here is the reason I wanted this one for today.  All six incarnations of The Doctor for the FASA Doctor Who RPG by none other than Margaret Weis and Michael P. Bledsoe (the game's author) in Doctor Who? The article is copyrighted 1986 FASA. The article goes into far more detail than the game does. I imagine the article was part of the 1985 rule manuscripts and was cut for size and expanded on here.  It is useful enough that it should be added to one of the boxed sets of any serious Doctor Who RPG Gamemaster. 

Flamethrowers get special coverage in William A. Barton's Aim and Burn.  

Gamer's Guide gives us some small ads. This month we get two ads for people to draw your character, something I really wanted back then. Johan I had just been retired and Larina was only 6 months old (or 19 in game years).  I do admit I look up the addresses and names on some of these ads to see if they are still in business. 

Convention Calendar covers the con scene for the start of 1987.

We end with Snarf Quest, Dragonmirth, and Wormy.

A good issue that I would not see the value of until six months or so later. 

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 5, Room 4

 There are rooms on either side of this long strange hallway, both left and right.  Taking the first room on the right.

There are crates here that look like they are made of metal but are lighter than wood. Inside the crate are strange devices shaped like short (5.5 inches / 12 cm) cylinders.  There are three studs on the cylinder, blue, green, and red.  Pressing one of these studs causes a mist to fire out of the end opposite of the studs.

The room is otherwise empty.  There are no other exits.

--

This is the first of many storage areas near the shuttle bay.  This one has a crate of medical supplies.

The cylinder is a subdermal medical injection tool like a hypospray. If applied properly, bottom on bare skin and button pressed. 

• Blue will heal 1d6+4 hp of damage (like Cure Wounds).
• Green will cure any disease (like the spell Cure Disease)
• Red provides a stimulant. (like the Haste spell)

Only one application per hour can be used.

There are 20 of these hyposprays in this crate, and they have 1d6+3 charges remaining.

 

FASA Doctor Who RPG: Part 2, Review

As we talked about yesterday, the Doctor Who RPG from FASA was released in 1985/6 and consisted of three books and two d6s.  I'll cover each in turn.

Since yesterday I have discovered that while, yes, Colin Baker's 6th Doctor was not popular, that is not why his photos have been removed in the later printings, it was due to FASA not securing the rights to Colin Baker's (and the 6th Doctor's) images. 

A few more notes. The material is a bit all over the place, as was common with many game books of that time, so you need to jump from the Player's Manual to the Game Operations Manual. Not a big deal really, but feels unneeded these days.

The books are also presented in three-column format. And in case you forget, the logo for Doctor Who is at the bottom of every page.  Most of the art is either black-and-white screenshots or publicity stills from the first 25 years of the show and some art. The art varies quite a bit and a lot of it is repeated. Again, I find it hard to complain by comparing it to today's standards. Plus licenses are expensive. 

The Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG

Michael P. Bledsoe & Wm John Wheeler & L. Ross Babcock III & Guy W. McLimore Jr
FASA 9001, ISBN 0931787904
1985
Out of Print

Book 1: Player's Manual

This 48-page book focuses on introducing new players to this RPG and Doctor Who, though it seems unlikely that anyone buying this doesn't know what Doctor Who is. This also covers character creation. 

Characters will be either a Time Lord from Gallifrey or a human companion. It is recommended that first time players choose a human companion. While the rules *could* adapt to other species of companions there are no real guidelines for it. But honestly human does account for at least 90% of all companions. Even "aliens" like Adric, Nyssa, and Capt. Jack. The only ones that were not human were K-9, Romana, Susan, and River.

All characters have six Attributes; Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Charisma, Mentality, and Intuition. These would map onto the "Standard Six" pretty well. Attributes can range from 1 to 30, with human average of 6 to 10.  Additionally, these scores are grouped by Performance Levels (I to VII, "Handicapped" or "Unskilled" to "Mastery").  Skills are measured the same way.  Each skill is attached to an Attribute. A "Trivia" category even covers any skill not described. Some weapons are covered (largely thanks to Leela I think) but there is only a sampling. Weapons are deadly in Doctor Who.

Characters also gain a Special Ability (or more) to help set them apart. This can be things like the Master's ability to hypnotize.  

Other details like personality traits, appearance, and background are then worked out. 

There is a fiction section, Tabby Cats and Time Lords, that gives us a new Time Lord "Stan" short for "Alistanathcalebiviteth."  Obviously using Romana as the model here. And a new companion T.C. a cat burglar. They get involved with the Master, and Stan ends up regenerating right away.

From here we get into the details on how to make characters. 

Here we find that level (I to VII) grants bonus points (1 to 7) to skills.  Attributes all begin at 6 and players are given  36+2d6 points to divide up amongst the Attributes.  Then a 3d6 is rolled to determine what if any special abilities characters could have.  Plenty of examples are given along the way.

Even looks and personality traits can be randomly determined.

There is a section on combat, but Doctor Who is not a combat-focused show nor is it a combat-focused game. 

The Doctor Who game uses an Action Point system. Fairly routine these days, but it was fairly novel back then. This lets the players know what (and how many) actions they can take. 

This book ends with a bit on Regeneration for Time-Lord characters.

Book 2: Sourcebook for Field Agents

This 64-page book is simultaneously fascinating and irritating. The book largely works as the "Campaign Setting" for this game. First thing first, massive credit to the authors for trying to make sense of 25+ years of Doctor Who lore that is often contradictory and lacking in proper details. The book, even as a guide to Doctor Who, is fascinating. I also get irritated at some of the liberties taken with the lore. I understand WHY they had too, and why it is needed for the game. There are similar liberties that FASA takes in the Star Trek Game. Nothing here would impact my enjoyment of the RPG or the show, but some are just odd.  Example. Conflating the "Meddling Monk" with "The Master" as the same person. Something later media does not do. 

Of course, some things are nowhere near the fault of the writers, either of the show or the game. For example, we never made it to Jupiter in the early 2000s (interestingly enough, the same thing is predicted by Star Trek).

The focus of this book and indeed the "buy in" from the players and characters is the involvement of the CIA or Celestial Intervention Agency. This is a group of Time Lords that do meddle in the affairs of others and keep time flowing on it's proper course. They are largely ignored by the President and High Council of Gallifrey and are said to have been created by Rassilon himself. Since they are clandestine and "off the books," CIA field agents don't get top-notch equipment. Usually, they get what ever has been ignored in the repair bays. So these TARDISes are older and often have bits still malfunctioning. It makes it easier then for Game Masters to steer them where they want. 

I DO enjoy the game making Earth a "Temporal Nexus Point" within the game.   While this moves the spotlight away from Earth as the Doctor's favorite planet, it does help explain why the rest of the galaxy keeps picking on us. 

This book has an overview of all the creatures we have seen in Doctor Who to that point and detailed sections on some of the major creatures/aliens too. Namely the Daleks, Ice Warriors, and Cybermen. The Movellans keep getting attention here despite at that time only appearing in one serial. Since then they have only showed up as background elements in a Dalek fight. Not really on par with the Sontarans or the Silurians really if you ask me. 

Lists and descriptions of tons of equipment including the famous sonic screwdriver and the Master's Tissue compression eliminator. Honest the list feels like an expanded version of the Doctor Who Technical Manual.  There are broad timelines for both Earth and Gallifrey. Best just to avoid the whole UNIT timeline. 

The TARDIS Operations section is still surprisingly useful, even given all the things we have seen since. 

We also get some stats for all six incarnations of the Doctor along with a bio. We also get stats for 14 (or 15 if you count Romana twice) companions, with a focus on the most recent and most popular ones. Sorry Dodo and Polly.

This is the one book from this game that would still have some utility in other Doctor Who RPGs. Some minor edits would be needed to bring it in line with the modern series, but that is expected.

Book 3: Game Operations Manual

This 80-page book is the Game Master's book. One of the complaints I have read about this book is that a lot of the material in it is a repeat of material from the Player's Manual, but this is a feature, not a problem. 

It covers the basics of what an adventure is, what a campaign is, and how to craft adventures for your players. 

There is a good section on Judging Character Creation, which goes over the character creation options from the Game Master's point of view. While not explicitly said it lends itself very nicely to notion of a Session 0. 

The leads into judging various actions and what to do. Here the Interaction Matrix comes into play a lot. Modern games would likely have a sliding target number, but this chart is wonderfully Old-School. There are also plenty of examples of what can be done at each Attribute and Skill Performance Levels (I-VII).

There is repeated content on the various alien creatures here. I did recall that at the time I wanted these to be better edited so they took up less space more more importantly having all the information in one spot, but today I am fine with it. This way the players can keep a book nearby and the Gamemaster has their own book.

We also get a lot of detail about time travel (naturally) and TARDIS systems. This in and of itself is a great read.

Overall and Closing Thoughts

I do have to hand it to the authors, designers, and the folks at FASA for trying to untangle a mass of self-contradictory histories from within the show.  

The game is still very playable to be honest and has a lot going for it. I think play wise it would be far too crunchy for many modern players, especially when there is the fantastic Cubicle 7 game that is still available. But that doesn't mean you still can't use these books.

The Sourcebook for Field Agents is still a great read as a Doctor Who book, not just an RPG. And there is still good advice here for Game Masters of every sort, not just Doctor Who (whatever RPG) ones.

It is great to have this and I am looking forward to seeing what I can do with it in the future.

Still, though. Pity how the 6th Doctor was done wrong here.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 5, Room 3

At then of this strange cave (shuttle bay) there is indentation that looks like a door, as the party approach it, it slides open with a "whoosh!"

This opens up into a long hallway.  Like the previous room this one is bright with flickering lights. When the party leaves the previous room and all are in the hallway the door Whooshes shut behind them.

When that happens a spectral figure appears in front of them.  The figure is humanoid but appears to have snake-like features. It speaks to the party in its own hissing language.  

Attacks against the creature fail and undead turning does not appear to affect it. The language it is speaking is unlike anything the party has heard before.

There is nothing else in this long hallway.  There are doors ahead and on the left and right. 

--

The apparition is actually a holographic message. The creature is an Ophidian, or snake man, or more to point, a snake woman, but there non of the secondary sex characteristics typically associated with mammals. 

Even if the characters can speak ophidan they will not likely understand these. This is not a spaceship but a dimensional ship. These ophidians were sent to aid the ophidians of this time and place, but they miscalculated and their ship crashed.   The Ophidians of the past fought a war with the Deros and both sides lost.  The human slaves of both groups became the Grimlocks of this island.

FASA Doctor Who RPG: Part 1, Unboxing/Introduction

To start off my month-long exploration of the various Doctor Who RPGs, I thought I would start off with the very first Doctor Who game from FASA.  But before I get into the details, let's look at two of the three variations of this game.

There are two boxes for the FASA Doctor Who RPG, featuring Tom Baker's fourth Doctor and Louise Jamison as Leela.  The first box (1985) features them in an artistic style (is that...The Guardian of Forever? More on that!) and the other a publicity shot (1986).

The game was published in 1985.  The materials in the "art box" are all dated 1985. The materials in the "photo" box are a mix of 1985 and 1986. For the purposes of this review/overview only I will refer to them as the 1985 and 1986 boxes respectively. 

The books inside are also different looking.

For the most part, the text seems the same. That is to say, I did not find any differences. The art used, in particular, the photos are different in places. Often Tom Baker's 4th Doctor replaces Colin Baker's then-current 6th Doctor. 

This is explained well by the fact that in the US in 1985/6 it was Tom Baker's Doctor on PBS and most popular at the time. 

Other differences often include the addition of an element of art here and there. 

The Doctor Who RPG is described as been close to, but not exactly the same as, the FASA Star Trek RPG.

The games have very similar rules and very similar layouts. This would lead to some confusion in the mind of your good author here, but these games are still more similar to each other than they are different.

The Doctor Who RPG uses 2d6 for most of its resolutions and rolls while Star Trek uses d% and d10s. Both my boxes have their original dice and I think if I tried rolling those d6s now they might shatter.

Thankfully I have my Doctor Who dice from the Cubicle Seven Doctor Who RPG (also 2d6 based) I can use.  Plus I have my clock-face d12 that I like to use when playing the C7 Doctor Who RPG that could work here too. It would mess up the probabilities a bit.

No discussions about the FASA Doctor Who RPG would be complete without a nod to the famous Doctor Who Technical Manual. This gem of a book was always used in every Doctor Who game I ever saw or played in. 

I know I am not the only one that did that too. I'd later use the various Star Trek technical manuals (esp. during the early TNG days) with the Star Trek RPG.

I'll talk more about the relationship between the Doctor Who and Trek RPGs at a later date (Friday maybe).

The rules between the various printings (1985/1986) appear to be the same so when I do my review I'll just game one set. I am partial to the 1985 box, but 1986 books. 

I did say I was looking at Two of the Three. What is the third one?

The Third FASA Doctor Who game shares the same box as the 1986 edition, but the books inside have a different look to them. I do not have a copy of this one, but it appears to be a later one. Wayne's Books though has pictures showing all three printings.   The TARDIS Captain also has a copy of this other printing that he showed off during his character creation month.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 5, Room 2

 Entering the silver room, the party finds a large open area. Lights everywhere flicker on and off in multiple colors, like Faerie Fire.

There are no creatures here.

Attacking the lights will result in an electrical discharge, resulting in 1d6 hp of damage.

--

This room is a shuttle bay, but all the shuttles were gone when the crew abandoned the ship.  Let the characters press buttons and have a bunch of lights come on and off, with lots of beeps and noises. The most dangerous things are gone. There are no weapons here, either. 

Doctor Who, Sci-fi Month, and A to Z Reflections

It's May 1st! Here at the Other Side, that means Sci-Fi Month. 

Doctor Who RPG

I didn't want my Doctor Who fun to stop, so I will extend it to May and I will cover the two major Doctor Who RPGs; the 1986 FASA Doctor Who and the two editions of the Cubicle 7 ones.

I also have the complete FASA line and many of the Cubicle 7 ones. I'll see where my gaps are.

Right now, I am not considering covering the Time Lord RPG above and beyond what I have already done, but I will consider it. I also might toss in a few other time-travel RPGs if I have the time.

In any case, the reasoning is the same for May and it was for April; 2023 is the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

A to Z Reflections

I completed another A to Z blogging challenge. I had a lot of fun with this, and I think people liked it too. I didn't visit as many other blogs as I wanted, way less than I usually do, so I am going to make an effort to go back and visit them all again.  There were a lot of great blogs this year and it seems a shame not to go back. In fact a few will even go on to my new follows list.

Thank you everyone that came by and posted comments.

Follow Timothy's board "April 2023 A to Z of Doctor Who" on Pinterest.

I already have next year's planned (I knew what it was going to be last year) so I might get started on them now so I can spend next April visiting other blogs. Not a bad plan, really.

All images are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 5, Room 1

The bottom of the stairs opens up to a gigantic cavern. But that is not the most significant item of interest here.

There appears to be a large metallic cylindrical (as far as can be seen of it) structure here. It is buried into the walls of this cavern.  The structure is at least 100 ft long and 30 ft tall, though all dimensions of it are buried.

There is a square opening nearby.

--

Notes about this level. There is ambient lighting throughout. This is due to the lighting of the spaceship.

This level is all about an abandoned, crashed spaceship.  It was here before the Citadel of Conjurers, and they tried digging down to it. When the Vampire Queen took over these catacombs. She tried to plumb its secrets, but many still remain.

Describe this level to the players, but try to avoid calling it a spaceship or anything futuristic (it's actually very old and really a dimensional ship) and describe it all as if it is magic.  Use the meaning of Arthur C. Clarke's quote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  Everything should be described in terms of magic.

#AtoZChallenge2023: Doctor Who Zygons (and Vogons!)

Doctor Who has had many writers over the years who have contributed to the deep lore of the show. But some writers stand out and some creatures stand out. 

Today I want to wrap up my A to Z of Doctor Who with the best-known Z creature they have, the Zygons, and maybe their related species the Vogons.

Zygons

The Zygons are great creatures. They first appeared in "Terror of the Zygons" where they were controlling the Loch Ness Monster. They are shapeshifters, but require special technology to achieve this, and look like they could be related to cephalopods.  This seems confirmed when we meet them again in "The Day of the Doctor."

I like that idea, to be honest. An octopus has natural camouflage abilities, it is likely that the Zygons did too, and then used their superior technology to take it to the next level.  They are the perfect doppelgängers in Doctor Who. 

Like the cryptids I mentioned yesterday, the Zygons kind find their way into myths and legends of the Earth by replacing doppelgängers or changelings (the faerie kind, not the Star Trek kind, though they work too).

Their planet was destroyed as collateral damage in the Time War, so they have taken to settle on Earth. At first they wanted to take it over, but soon realized trying to live in peace and hiding, is a better choice.

But what about their lesser-known cousins? The Vogons?

Vogons

Now to be fair. Vogons are not really related to the Zygons, at least not in canon. They do share some similarities, though. But their biggest connection comes from the creator of the Vogons, Douglas Adams.

Douglas Adams has a deep connection to Doctor Who. He was a script editor during the Tom Baker years. He was good friends with Lalla Ward (Romana II) and Richard Dawkins. In fact, he introduced them to each other and they were married. He also wrote some Doctor Who episodes, namely "The Pirate Planet" and "Shada."

Adams' character of Professor Chronotis, aka Salyavin, is a renegade Time Lord (much like the Doctor) and appears in the serial "Shada." Shada is the Time Lord's prison planet where Salyavin was supposedly kept.  Professor Chronotis also appears in a not much-changed appearance in his own novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency."

This has lead some to conjecture that Adams' own "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is part of the Doctor Who universe.  It was at least what we all thought back in the 1980s while reading HHGttG and watching Doctor Who.  My first Doctor Who characters were versions of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox. All three of these characters also appear in the 8th Doctor's version of Shada as prisoners. Zaphod I get, but certainly not Arthur.

To make the connections deeper, the BBC TV series of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" aired in 1981. The show has a solid Doctor Who look and feel to it. I swear that they were the same sets half the time. Also Sandra Dickinson, who plays Earth scientist Trillian, was married to Peter Davidson the Fifth Doctor at the time. Their real-life daughter is Georgia Moffett, now Georgia Tennant, who is married to David Tenant, the Tenth Doctor, and Georgia played "Jenny," the Doctor's Daughter in "The Doctor's Daughter."  Confused? Yeah not surprised.

These connections were finally canonized by the Tenth Doctor in "The Christmas Invasion" when walking around in a robe and his "jim-jams" (pajamas), he remarks that he looks "very Arthur Dent. Now there was a nice man."  The novelization of The Christmas Invasion also makes more mentions of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and the Vogons.

So back in the 1980s we just assumed that Zygons and Vogons had to be related and used them as such in the FASA Doctor Who RPG. 

While the Zygons are deadly, I doubt they have anything near as awful as Vogon Poetry. 

This has been an absolute blast to do. And today's post is a good segway into next month's Sci-Fi Month's topic of the Doctor Who RPGs.

All images are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

And that is another April A to Z in books.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 4, Room 30

 The last room on this level can be accessed via Room 23 or Room 29. The doors to this room are locked.

This room appears to have been the start of something, but unfinished in many aspects. There is a flight of stairs carved into the stone with wood for supports. The wood is old, but newer than the rooms above might suggest.

The stairs descend very far down and there is a glow seen at the bottom of the stairs some 100' below.

There are no monsters and no treasure here.

#AtoZChallenge2023: Doctor Who Yeti (and other Cryptids)

The Doctor has battled all sorts of monsters over the years. But some of those monsters (ok, more than some) have had their genesis in the myths and legends of Earth. I already talked about Vampires, but today let's look at a few cryptids, starting with our featured creature, the Yeti.

The Yeti

The Yeti first appeared in the Second Doctor serial, "The Abominable Snowmen" (1967). At first, we are led to think these are actual yeti, but they are, in reality, robots controlled by The Great Intelligence, a disembodied entity trying to take over the Earth, but it needs a physical body first.  The Yetis and the Great Intelligence appear again in 1968's "The Web of Fear." 

This reminds of the various "Bigfoot" episodes of The Six-Million Dollar Man. Here Bigfoot was revealed to be a robot sent by aliens. 

Interestingly enough, when we meet the Great Intelligence again in the new series, it is in an episode called "The Snowmen." This time the GI is using animated snowmen (as in made of snow) to do the same thing. 

Patrick Troughton (the Second doctor) often said he would have liked to come back to Doctor Who and just play a monster like the Yeti. No one would know it was him under all that costume.

Reptoids

Reptoids and reptilian humanoids are an old favorite among cryptid hunters and UFOlogists. I even featured them twice in last years A to Z of Conspiracy Theories under C Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis and E Extraterrestrials on Earth.  The Silurians and the Sea Devils fit these ideas perfectly. They are reptilians, and they come not from outer space but from the inner Earth.  The Draconians fit the notion of reptile-like humanoids from space.

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness monster might be one of the most famous cryptids ever, and good old Nessie appears in Doctor Who's Season 13 opener "Terror of the Zygons" as well.  In this case, as a creature controlled by the Zygons (more on them tomorrow). The Zygons are using Nessie (in reality a creature from the Zygon homeworld called a "Skarasen") to destroy oil rigs that are digging into their underwater base.

Others

Other cryptids like the Chupacabra and the Australian Yowie has appeared in prose and audio dramas of the Doctor not televises.

Like the creatures mentioned above and the Vampires there is a lot of cryptids in the world now that could be made to fit Doctor Who. Creatures from the past, future or other dimensions or planets are all great choices.

I might have to try my hand at stating a few up for the various Doctor Who RPGs.

All images are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 4, Room 29

The door at the rear of Room 28 leads to a finished room exactly like Room 23.

There are four statues in each corner of demonic women standing 7 ft tall. Each holds a sword. There is a fifth statue in the center of the room holding a staff.

The statues are really Caryatid Columns. 

They will only attack people if they attempt to go throw the door straight ahead. 

Whenever a character strikes a caryatid column with a weapon (magical or nonmagical), the weapon takes 3d6 points of damage. Apply the weapon’s hardness normally. Weapons that take any amount of damage in excess of their hardness gain the broken condition.

The caryatid columns do not have treasures, but their swords can be used.  Each Caryatid Column has two masterwork swords they wield. These swords require an 18 strength to use but are treated as a +2 weapon that does 1d10 hp damage.

Additionally, there are two dead orcs here with no treasure or weapons.

Adapted from Pathfinder.

#AtoZChallenge2023: Doctor Who Xoanon

Doctor Who: You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views, which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

- The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil

Ok. The quote is connected to today's topic, but only tangentially. It comes from the same episode, and it is just a great quote. 

If there is one thing you can pretty much guarantee in Sci-Fi, and Doctor Who is no exception, if there is a brilliant artificially intelligent computer then at some point it is going to go mad.

Such is the case with the supercomputer Xoanon from the Mordee expedition. We meet this computer centuries later when the expedition had failed and the Survey Team and Technicians are separated and evolved into different groups of primitive humans, the Sevateem and the Tesh, who both worship the god Xoanon.  The trouble for the Fourth Doctor, the computer is mad and has part of the Doctor's own personality stuck inside it. So it's "Face of Evil" is that of the Fourth Doctor.

I rather enjoyed the whole idea of the insane computer. It is something that Doctor Who would come back to a few more times.

In "The Armageddon Factor," the sixth part of the Key to Time series, the computer Mentalis on the planet Zeos (not sure if the computer company was named after it) was at war with the planet Atrios. The computer is running everything and even takes over K-9.

We get another one in the semi-lost story of "Shada" on Skagra's (our bad guy) spaceship, but it is reprogrammed in end by the Doctor (you think he would have learned by now).

Our next encounter with a crazy computer comes much later on in the time of the 10th Doctor.

We meet up with the Doctor and River Song on The Library where everyone has gone missing. Here we encounter the computer CAL who just keeps repeating the same message over and over.  In this case we learn the computer CAL is actually "Charlotte Abigail Lux" and she is not a computer per se but the consciousness of a girl who died early. Her father created the library so she had every book in the universe to enjoy. She downloaded all the minds of the people in the Library to "save" them (as a computer would) and it was driving her crazy.

The Doctor (ok, really River) fixed her and the Doctor uploaded River to Library computer to watch over her.

There are some others of course. These stories were popular in the 70s when computers started becoming a thing. Now if we want to scare viewers it is less about computers and more about out of control AI.

All images are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 4, Room 28

 In room #25 the other exit (not the one that leads to Room #26) is a locked door. The corridor leads a square room.

Inside this room are two War Pigs. These are Orcs infected with the Devil Swine lycanthropy.  When they see the party, they transform into large boars and attack the party.

They were part of a larger group coming up from the lower levels.

These creatures have 3x Treasure Type C, looted from their previous companions.

#AtoZChallenge2023: Doctor Who War (The Time War and the War Doctor)

DORIUM: The asteroid, where you've made your base. Do you know why they call it Demon's Run?
MANTON: How do you know the location of our base?
DORIUM: You're with the Headless Monks. They're old customers of mine.
KOVARIAN: It's just some old saying.
DORIUM: A very old saying. The oldest. Demons run when a good man goes to war.

- Doctor Who, "A Good Man Goes to War"

Today's quote does not come from the episodes I am covering, but it sums them up very well.

When the new series of Doctor Who was released in 2005 Russel T. Davis was very smart on how much detail to give the viewers. Just enough to get the old fans like me hooked and not too much to scare off the new fans (like my wife).

Over the course of many episodes, we learned something very, very terrible. First, the Doctor was the last of the Time Lords. Then later, it was because Gallifrey had been destroyed. Then later because it had been destroyed in the Last Great Time War between Gallifrey and the Daleks.

Over the years, more details emerged. The Time War was so great that there was collateral damage across all of Time and Space. The Daleks and the Time Lords had destroyed much of the universe. Even to the point that regular humans like Cass (Night of the Doctor) knew of Time Lords and their science. 

At one point, the Doctor, tired of running, tired of death, regenerated into something new. The War Doctor, played by veteran actor John Hurt. This time Lord, no longer the Doctor, was a warrior.

"No more."

- The War Doctor

The War Doctor steals a weapon so terrible even the Time Lords won't use it. Known as "The Moment," it will destroy all of Gallifrey and take all the Dalek with it.

This is all detailed in the 50th Anniversary story, "The Day of the Doctor."

After "The Day of the Doctor" aired, I realized that the "New Who" doctors fell into the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief.

• The Eight Doctor - Denial. He avoids the war he knows he caused and tries to help where he can.
• The War Doctor - Anger. He turns to fight against the War. Not against the Daleks or even the Time Lords, but the War itself.
• The Ninth Doctor - Bargaining. He runs. He runs as far away as possible and hopes to make something good.
• The Tenth Doctor - Depression. I mean, look how he acts. The silly façade is only that. Underneath, he was weighted down with guilt.
• The Eleventh Doctor - Acceptance. He knows he can't change his past, no matter what.  Or can he?

The Time War was something hinted at in the Doctor Who novels. No surprise, really, since some of the novel and short story writers would later come on to the show, most notably Steven Moffat.

It could be one of the more exciting pieces of Doctor Who lore created for the show. 

House: Fear me! I've killed hundreds of Time Lords!
The Doctor: Fear me. I've killed all of them.

The Doctor, "The Doctor's Wife"

Rewatching old episodes, especially the old Dalek ones, you get the notion that the Daleks have been ramping up their ability to fight, particularly the Time Lords. I mean, from their point of view, the Doctor has been the center of all their most significant defeats. He was there when they were created and slowed down their progress. He was there when they finally broke out of their destroyed cities on Skaro. He was there to defeat them in their attempts to revive themselves or even against their ancient enemies the Movellans. Even the Time Lord's "weapon" (really a scientific device to harness the power of a star), The Hand of Omega, was used to destroy their homeworld of Skaro.

The Doctor may have wanted to avoid this war, but he picked this fight.

DOCTOR: Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace, and never even know the word Dalek.
SARAH: Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate.
DOCTOR: But I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent lifeform, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks.

The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane, "Genesis of the Daleks"

The Time War, and thus the War Doctor, were always going to happen.

The idea was so pervasive that even the novels and the audio productions did their own versions before we saw details of it on TV. The two most powerful groups in the Universe were going to butt heads sooner or later.

As I mentioned before, in the language of the Gamma Forests, the word "Doctor" translates into "Great Warrior."  Another tidbit from "A Good Man Goes to War."

In the time of the 12th Doctor's regeneration, we see what being "The Doctor of War" means, in a way only Capaldi's Doctor could. "Try to be nice, but always be kind."  Which, in a way, influences how his 1st incarnation sees things right before his regeneration into the 2nd Doctor.

The Time War was great, but I hope it holds true to it's name as "The Last Great Time War."

All images are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 4, Room 27

 A secret door on the far wall of Room #26 opens to a very tight tunnel (party can only go single file at 1/2 speed). It opens to a room with the same dimensions and general layout as Room #23.

The opening into this room is also a hidden door.

Once the party enters this room 1d4+1 Wraiths will appear. 

The wraiths will attack. They each have treasure type E.

This room also has another secret door that leads back to Room #20. 

#AtoZChallenge2023: Doctor Who Vampires

The Doctor: Do you know, it just occurs to me there are vampire legends on almost every inhabited planet.
Romana: Really?
The Doctor: Yes.

- The Fourth Doctor and Romana II, "State of Decay"

Honestly, it would not be an April A to Z V-Day if I didn't do Vampires, and Doctor Who is no different. You might think a sci-fi family show would not have much to do with Vampires, but it does, and they are part of the show's history.

State of Decay

The first use of vampires was the later Tom Baker story from the Fourth Doctor era, "State of Decay." The Doctor and Romana had fallen into a CVE, or a hole in the universe into another universe (E-Space). 

Here we get the background on vampires in the Doctor Who universe. Long ago in even the ancient times of Gallifrey the Time Lords, led by Rassilon, fought the great Vampires. These creatures were huge (maybe related to the Dæmons as some of the books say) and they "swarmed" across the cosmos draining entire worlds. Rassilon invented the "bow ships" to impale them on a massive spike of steel, the only way to truly kill them. The time Lord destroyed them all except for their leader, the Great Vampire. The Doctor, Romana, and Adric find them in E-Space. Here three human explorers from Earth got trapped in E-Space and began to feed the Great Vampire. It has taken thousands of years to restore him, but the Doctor manages to destroy him once and for all.

One of the vampire humans in this story, Camilla, was obviously named after Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla." Likewise, Camilla shows more than a casual interest in Romana II.

There is an implication here that Time Lords and Vampires share a long history, maybe even before their war.  The various novels in the "New Adventures" series expanded on this.  

I watched "State of Decay" for my October Horror Movie Marathon a while back. I don't have the DVD, but as part of the Tom Baker Season 18 Blu-Ray.

The whole episode was a huge homage to Hammer Horror, much like The Brain of Morbius was.

The Curse of Fenric

This story from the 7th Doctor era is also a favorite of mine. In the far future when the Earth is a toxic dump, it is the home of the Haemovores or mutated humans that needed the blood of others to survive. They could pass on their mutation to others, turning them into vampire-like creatures. They were not undead, like the human-turned-vampires of the Great Vampires, but shared many of the same features.  They were, for example, very suspectable to psychic attacks and a strong-willed human, even ones with no psychic ability, could keep them at bay.

I am uncertain if these creatures are related to the Great Vampires or not; it seems that they are not.

Smith and Jones

The first episode of David Tennant's 2nd season as the Doctor introduces us to Martha Jones and a Plasmavore, a type of vampire-like alien that feeds on blood. This creature is another variation on the vampire theme but has no relationship (as far as I know) to the Great Vampires or even the Haemovores.  Though they do seem more closely related to the Haemovores in their need for the salt content in their victims' blood.

Vampires of Venice

A run with the 11th Doctor exposes Amy and Rory to the Saturnyn, another type of vampire (sexy fish vampires, according to the Doctor). They could live off of the water content in people's blood. They could make humans into their own species by replacing all their blood. 

The Saturnyn lost their homeworld due to the cracks in the Universe (caused by the Doctor's exploding TARDIS in the future) and "the Silence" a major plot point for this season.

We will likely see more vampires in the future, hopefully going back to the original Great Vampires. 

All images (expect for personal ones) are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 4, Room 26

 There are two exits in Room #25. One to the right as the party came in an one straight ahead.  The exit straight ahead leads to Room #26.

Room #26 is a very rough-cut room. Little more than a cave that has been cleared out. 

Inside this room are several (5) Ochre Jellies. But these are bright purple in color. There are others here that are smaller and do not attack.

These Purple Jellies are Ochre Jellies that have been subjected to necromantic magics. Thus they have a bonus +4 to all saves vs. any type of magic. 

They have no treasure but if they can be collected in a glass vial they will fetch 50 gp per standard oil flask/holy water flask size to an alchemist or other arcane researcher.