Doctor Who: the Roleplaying Game | Review

Before we get into the review of Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game, I want to thank Cubicle 7 for sending us a digital copy of this product, written by David F. Chapman.

If you wish to purchase the volume, know that you can find it directly on the publisher’s store for around 45 euros for the physical copy and around 27 euros for the digital copy.

A 60-year History

Well, Doctor Who is almost 60 years old, would you have ever guessed that? The first season of the most famous Time Lord was made and broadcast by the BBC in 1963. The series consists of more than 800 episodes and is perhaps the longest-running in the world. To interpret the role of the Doctor, actors and actresses of excellent calibre have alternated, including David Tennant, Matt Smith e Jodie Whittaker.

If you are a fan of the series there is very little I can tell you; but, if you’ve never even heard of that human-like alien who travels through time and explores the universe using the TARDIS (a sentient machine that looks like a blue British police box), it’s time to fix it.

Doctor Who has millions of fans around the world and, after a setback in 1989, revived in 2005 with a new season by Russel T. Davis; a few years later it continues with Steven Moffat, which is perhaps most known for Sherlock. It does not seem so strange as the release of an RPG dedicated to the most famous Doctor of television.

Actually, this Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game is the second edition with revised and corrected rules and some significant changes from the first edition, released in 2009. Focusing on this new edition, we point out that the main differences revolve around the management of bonuses and penalties with the advantage mechanic and the replacement of traits with concept and focus.

The Latest Incarnation of The Doctor

Let’s start by saying that Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game is undoubtedly designed for fans of the series. This can be sensed from the very first pages, in which the peculiar setting is introduced (with a sort of monologue). Anyone who isn’t exactly accustomed to the tone of the TV series and the dialogues (sometimes decidedly over the top) between the characters may find themselves a bit taken aback. Generally speaking, however, the first chapter of the manual does its job adequately; it introduces the game and the mood expected in the plays.

As I anticipated, in 60 years of television series, different people have interpreted the role of Doctor Who. The Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game manual shows on the cover Jodie Whittaker, the thirteenth Doctor of the television series; although the character is an alien, in this incarnation she has a female aspect therefore the whole manual refers to the Doctor in the female form.

A Peek into the TARDIS

Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to take a tour inside the TARDIS? Chapter 4 of the Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game manual allows us to do exactly that. I have to point out that, unless you set up at least one session entirely inside the bigger blue booth inside than outside, this whole part is almost just flavour. But mind you, an exciting taste.

Definitely more pragmatic is the part that instead presents some random tables to generate time travel. We find a trick to change the path and the explanation of the functioning of the Vortex, or the temporal vortex, so as to be able to trace other temporal vessels. This way players will be able to create their own TARDIS.

The Roles in Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game

The creation of the characters starts with a very clear question: who are the characters? While it’s true that the Doctor has taken people of all backgrounds and types with her, they all had distinctive strengths and ultimately helped the Doctor in surprising ways. It is therefore good for the group to take their time deciding who the characters are and how they work together.

The Doctor has her own rules, which have changed over time and seasons. The important thing is that they are shared at the table and that everyone, above all else, enjoys themselves. For this to happen, the game suggests setting up a session 0 in which to define the mood and the topics not to be covered; he also recommends the use of the X card if a theme or a game situation disturbs someone.

Among the possible options, there is also that of using well-known characters from the television series. The pre-generated sheets can be found at the end of the manual; it’s a nice option, but maybe it ties the experience a little too much to what’s seen on TV. Otherwise, it is possible to create a new group of characters and start a whole new story.

A Cumbersome Protagonist

In any game that features a preponderant protagonist, there is the risk that the group cannot agree on who will play the Doctor. If the group does not decide, the last word belongs to the narrator (called GM, or Gamemaster); however, the manual recommends some expedients to please everyone.

One of the suggestions is to take turns interpreting the Doctor, taking advantage of the fact that in her incarnations the protagonist of the series changes her appearance and interpreter considerably. After all, it is true that Doctor Who is the main character, but her companions are just as important and more than once they have been the fulcrum to resolve hazardous situations. Of course, it’s the GM’s job to give everyone a chance to shine in the game.

Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game Character Sheet Review

Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game character sheet is filled out in a matter of minutes. Once the concept around which it revolves has been established, two words (his profession or a wish to be fulfilled) are enough to define the character. The concept can be brought into play as part of the narrative, and the GM can reward players with Story Points (points that can be spent to improve one’s actions or to change the outcome of certain events) if they remain consistent with the character’s concept

It is now necessary to define the Focus of the character, that is what moves the surface, his motivation or his passion. In practice, we are talking about the engine for which it makes certain choices. Focus determines two effects: strengths and weaknesses; this represents how the Focus helps and guides the character in managing the situations in which he finds himself, but also how it could instead hinder him, limiting his possibilities. Based on the level of Focus (normal, strong or intense), strengths and weaknesses follow a practical table available to the GM to make the narration more interesting.

Each character in Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game begins with a wealth of personal experiences. These are events that are created with the character and are part of his background. These events can be used to deal with certain situations in the game and even to improve skills during tests. If you don’t have any ideas, the manual provides a table on which to roll to randomly choose from a fairly large list of events.

Attributes and Skills

Once the background of our character has been defined, who he is and what drives him to act, it’s time to devote himself to the numbers. The scores of the 6 Attributes and the 12 Skills will be defined. In the creation phase, we will have 18 points to distribute in the Attributes. It is good to keep in mind that the maximum value for a human being is 6 and that the score of the Attributes can be reduced, for example, by wounds. Once it hits 0, things could go very, very wrong.

It is necessary to distribute the Attribute scores sensibly considering that 3 is an average value. The manual provides if you care to create the characters perhaps for a one-shot, a series of examples for some categories of characters. A great way to help the GM or lazy players.

While Attributes define what a character is, Skills define what they can do. Also in this case we will have 18 points to distribute bearing in mind that nobody knows how to do everything and that, again, 3 is an average value. Also for the Abilities the manual provides examples of the distribution of points for expert, professional or jack-of-all-trades characters.

The last details are given by small adjustments; we need to define what the character’s greatest secret and greatest fear are and why he is in the Doctor’s company. The level of technology in play, the objectives of the characters and their equipment must then be established.

Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game Rules Review

Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game has a very simple rules system, as we will see in this review; the circumstances in which you have to turn to the dice are varied: persuading someone, creating an object, fighting, piloting the TARDIS and much more. In these cases, it is necessary to face a test and it is necessary to roll 2d6 and add the value of the Attribute and that of the suitable Skill and overcome the value of the difficulty decided by the narrator; in this regard, once again the manual presents a handy table with the standard difficulty levels (from simple, equal to 3, to inconceivable, equal to 30).

As with many other games, Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game is also expected to be critically successful; if two 6s come out on the dice, the result will be a success even if the test has not been passed numerically. On the other hand, if two 1s come up on the dice, things will go very badly.

Il regolamento non si chiude qui; il manuale presenta una meccanica molto interessante legata ai Punti Storia per agevolare i personaggi. Non è una dinamica che possa essere utilizzata sempre, ma può essere un buon boost per aggiustare il tiro qualora la situazione si facesse ostica.

Tips for the Gamemaster

The manual dedicates an entire chapter to the storyteller, to help him both in managing challenges and in structuring the stories. I found this chapter particularly interesting; in fact, it accompanies the GM in defining not only the structure of an investigation but also (with very fitting examples) in constructing the opponents, the NPCs and the possible plot twists.

On balance, it is a practical handbook on how to structure a story that sees an investigation at its centre starting from the skeleton, and then arriving at a greater detail of the individual scenes.

This chapter also offers a practical summary table with various random options should it be necessary to set up a plot for an evening.

It is equally interesting that he proposes solutions between one trip and another on the TARDIS; after all, the characters will not only move through time but will also have to deal with what happens when they are engaged in their ordinary lives.

A Very Cinematic Aesthetic

The entire Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game manual, as you can also see from the images that we have inserted in this review, graphically takes full advantage of the TV series. All texts are printed on two columns and the font chosen is legible. The text is dotted with numerous boxes with an orange background which summarize tables and examples; a nice way to make tips stand out from the text.

The images give the product an aspect that recalls the 80s; it’s not a bad thing in itself, but it’s evident how the whole product is strongly linked to the visual imagery of the TV series.