GURPS Doctor Who

[Akahige]

I find it strangely amusing that the BBC considers unlicensed interception of their programming to be "theft" when they're beaming the signals straight into everyone's living room. If anything, the people should sue the BBC for invasive radiological practices! (But, of course, that would require a people that believe in the sovereignty of the individual, as opposed to the "divine right of kings".)

Anyway, is there anything else to be said about Doctor Who in GURPS? (I thought this thread died a while ago, but now it's popped back up again.) Besides the official (?) game, a D20 adaptation I saw in a Yahoo group, and "Time Lord", it seems like Doctor Who isn't really a popular RPG topic.

[quarkstomper]

In my view, the big problem with running a Doctor Who campaign is game balance. You need to have one Time Lord in the game, (otherwise who drives the TARDIS?), then the rest of the players would be companions. Unless you load the Time Lord with enough disads to make him near incompetent, (like the William Hartnell incarnation, who was so cranky and eccentric the other characters couldn't really depend on him), you are going to end up with one character that way overpowers the others.

The alternative is to run an all-Time Lord campaign, (possible, I suppose, but it would have to be a very small group), or an all-Companion game, (again, who drives the TARDIS?).

I would love to run a Doctor Who campaign some time; I just haven't figured out a way to make it work.

[Tech13]

Originally Posted by quarkstomper

The alternative is to run an all-Time Lord campaign, (possible, I suppose, but it would have to be a very small group), or an all-Companion game, (again, who drives the TARDIS?).

Sometimes I've wondered if the Dr was actually driving, or just pushing random buttons like anyone else would. As a GM, could easily handwave it as The TARDIS is driving.

[Akahige]

I suppose the Doctor would actually have a default to use in pushing random buttons, whereas his lower-TL companions wouldn't. However, some of them were able to learn the basics of the TARDIS pretty quickly. I'm specifically thinking of Turlough, but then again, I've not seen many of his episodes.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by quarkstomper

Unless you load the Time Lord with enough disads to make him near incompetent, (like the William Hartnell incarnation, who was so cranky and eccentric the other characters couldn't really depend on him)...

This might be the best solution for most groups: One player will stand out in mental abilities, but will be handicapped with a boatload of disadvantages.

Another possibility is making the Time Lord an NPC. I wouldn't run this myself, but others might give it a try. It would require a certain level of trust on the part of the players, but would probably be easier to pull off than having a player in the main role.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Tech13

Sometimes I've wondered if the Dr was actually driving, or just pushing random buttons like anyone else would. As a GM, could easily handwave it as The TARDIS is driving.

Quite right. The Doctor's first two incarnations had almost no control over the TARDIS. It took the Doctor in his second regeneration (third body) a whole season to get to Metebelis 3. It wasn't until near the end of his third regeneration that he really got control over the TARDIS ("The TARDIS and I are getting rather better at these short hops"). After that, he could usually pick a time and place and go there.

An all-Time Lord game would probably resemble the dynamics of the Doctor, Romana, and K-9, which an all- or mostly-non-Time Lord game would be more like the dynamics of the Doctor, Teegan, Turlough, and Nyssa.

A game with a single Time Lord and companions can work. The Time Lord doesn't need to dominate the game. Imagine if Romana left the Doctor with a time capsule of her own. Or imagine a Time Lord with the limited experience the Doctor had just as Ian and Susan came aboard the TARDIS. And if the adventures focus enough on new cultures that not even the Time Lord has heard about, the playing field will be much more level.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Tech13

Sometimes I've wondered if the Dr was actually driving, or just pushing random buttons like anyone else would. As a GM, could easily handwave it as The TARDIS is driving.

Quite right. The Doctor's first two incarnations had almost no control over the TARDIS. It took the Doctor in his second regeneration (third body) a whole season to get to Metebelis 3. It wasn't until near the end of his third regeneration that he really got control over the TARDIS ("The TARDIS and I are getting rather better at these short hops"). After that, he could usually pick a time and place and go there.

An all-Time Lord game would probably resemble the dynamics of the Doctor, Romana, and K-9, which an all- or mostly-non-Time Lord game would be more like the dynamics of the Doctor, Teegan, Turlough, and Nyssa.

A game with a single Time Lord and companions can work. The Time Lord doesn't need to dominate the game. Imagine if Romana left the Doctor with a time capsule of her own. Or imagine a Time Lord with the limited experience the Doctor had just as Ian and Susan came aboard the TARDIS. And if the adventures focus enough on new cultures that not even the Time Lord has heard about, the playing field will be much more level.

[AOTA]

I've seen it suggested that one way to run a Doctor Who game is have the players take turns being the Time Lord. I was thinking of taking it a step further. Each player would play a different regeneration of the Time Lord. So using the Doctor as a example. Player one plays the Doctor during his third regeneration and the rest of the players are the companions. This will go until the adventure is over with. Then they switch to a different player in the role of the Doctor during his fourth regeneration and the others playing companions from that time. This way every one has a chance at the time lord and are able to play them how they see fit.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Originally Posted by Akahige

I suppose the Doctor would actually have a default to use in pushing random buttons, whereas his lower-TL companions wouldn't. However, some of them were able to learn the basics of the TARDIS pretty quickly. I'm specifically thinking of Turlough, but then again, I've not seen many of his episodes.

Turlough had a lot of talents he never got to use. He was, after all, not only alien but a trained soldier and much older than he appeared. He had grown very used to keeping secrets and, when it did not involve a major moral dilemma, he could keep them very well. He would have been the perfect assassin for the Black Guardian had he been less scrupulous.

The prodcuers did leave a plot hook dangling as far as Turlough is concerned -- how he got to Earth, why he was placed there, and how those who had placed him there reacted to his departure. It was clearly a combination of exile and imprisonment -- Turlough would never have come to Earth voluntarily.