Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space

[Scorpina]

So, as (if you know me) you might know, I am a huge Doctor Who nerd. I also like roleplaying games (hence my presence here). I just discovered this while browsing on Amazon.

The reviews are good, and it seems like it should be a good game. But, on the other hand, it's £30. And that's a lot to pay without knowing too much about the system in question.

Has anyone played it? Is it good, or bad? Would I be better trying to get my hands on an old copy of Timelord?

[Hzurr]

Hmm...If any of my friends were Doctor Who fans, I might pick this up. If you end up getting it, please let us know how it plays.

(Also, if your first adventure involves wiping either the Slitheen or Mickey Smith from the face of the universe, I'll be your best friend. So stupid...)

[Matthew]

I have not had the chance to play it, but Cubicle Seven are a pretty reliable company with some good production values. They have recently gotten the license to make (yet another) Lord of the Rings RPG. There is a preview of their Doctor Who game here and a character sheet for The Doctor here.

[Hzurr]

Thanks to Matthew, I found the justification for buying this book on page 2 of that character sheet, in the listing of traits:

Boffin - This Trait allows the character to create Gadgets through the fine art of “Jiggery-Pokery”. Your average Joe can try to open their household appliances and wire them together to try to make something - though they’ll probably only gain an electric shock or worse. Only a Boffin can do this and create a useful device that can scan DNA, cracks safes, or disable Dalek forcefields. More details on creating Gadgets can be found in the Jiggery-Pokery rules on p.[?].

Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to see the phrase "Jiggery-Pokery rules"?

[pffh]

Thanks to Matthew, I found the justification for buying this book on page 2 of that character sheet, in the listing of traits:


Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to see the phrase "Jiggery-Pokery rules"?

Now I must have that book. Damn you I'll probably never convince my group to use it so that's money out the window, but a jiggery-pokery rule!

I hope it also has rules for timey-wimey stuff.

[Matthew]

Glad to be of service.

[Scorpina]

Yes. The jiggery-pokery rule just makes me want it all the more.

[hamlet]

I have not had the chance to play it, but Cubicle Seven are a pretty reliable company with some good production values. They have recently gotten the license to make (yet another) Lord of the Rings RPG. There is a preview of their Doctor Who game here and a character sheet for The Doctor here.

I have had a chance to play it. My friend ghost wrote the thing.

I recommend it highly.

The system is so simple a mentally impaired chimp could learn it in 10 minutes. It'll take an average human about 2 minutes.

[fusilier]

If you're a fan of the original series, there's an old game called "Time Lord" that you can find online, for free. I never played it but it looked good. The weird thing about it was character creation. Originally, you either played a pre-defined character (e.g. one of the Doctor's regenerations), or you played "yourself." It had an appendix where the GM would basically stat you. It involved things like arm-wrestling the GM to determine strength, etc. I think an expansion supplied a more conventional character creation system.

Here's the link:
http://www.cnctraveller.com/TimeLord/main.htm

[Matthew]

I have had a chance to play it. My friend ghost wrote the thing.

I recommend it highly.

The system is so simple a mentally impaired chimp could learn it in 10 minutes. It'll take an average human about 2 minutes.

Interesting; any comments on how the game went? Who played the doctor, or was he an NPC or non-feature?

[hamlet]

Interesting; any comments on how the game went? Who played the doctor, or was he an NPC or non-feature?

We played with a rule that there was only 1 time lord in the game, and upon his death/regeneration, all character sheets were passed around the table to new players. Worked out great.

Time Lord was NOT The Doctor, but was titled The Explorer instead, and was relatively inexperienced and . . . strange.

It went very well, indeed, even for folks that aren't true devotees of the show, but only passing fans. Another great aspect was the "don't worry about continuity, just have fun" aspect.

However, in the end, I think that it boils down to the system, which mostly is "2d6 + Attribute + Skill vs. Difficulty Number." That's it. Haven't seen the actual book, so I can't comment on what else made it into that tome, but the main mechanic is so simple a squirrel could figure it out, and it's so easy it never gets in the way of anything.

[Thurbane]

A friend of my flatmate is writing modules for this system. I've only skimmed it so far, but I'm also a huge Dr Who fan, so it's worth looking into.