Ok, here is the newest version of the Time Lord playbook.

6 thoughts on “Ok, here is the newest version of the Time Lord playbook.”

1. Okay, interesting. Even as somebody totally not invested in Doctor Who (alright alright, totally ignorant),  I could imagine running with this playbook. Only the Allons-y move seems off, or, at any rate, it doesn’t compute for me. That might be due to lack of familiarity with the show’s tropes, but the rest of the playbook translates fine. Could you elaborate a little? Why would we want to run the risk of having one Hunter totally elsewhere at the start of a mystery? Thx!

2. I’m really not happy having this as a ‘beginning of mystery’ move, since the doctor can use the box at any time, really. Some folks felt it was too powerful, but it’s sort of his key thing. 

       In any case, the real answer to your question regards the risk of having he party split.

       This is partly about recreating the tropes of the show. Often, at the beginning of a story arc, the doctor is struggling with his box and doesn’t end up where he wanted to go. But, he ALWAYS ends up where he needs to be. So you have to trust your Keeper not to be a jerkwad. If the TIme Lord fails at Allons-y, put him where he needs to be, or at least some place exciting and compelling that ties into the story. Maybe he goes to the past, just in time to see some important event in your backstory. He’s never in time to help, but might get out alive if he thinks fast. 😉 

       I hope that helps. Part of the idea behind this skin is to let people play with the ideas without all the history and minutiae of Who-fandom.

3. Alright, I see. I’d probably, for my purposes, not have it as a beginning of mystery move – possibly as an end of mystery move, to kickstart/foreshadow the next session?

   And I see no obvious problem in having the Time Lord use this thing during a Hunt – the drawbacks are sufficient; my only worry would be that if gives the Hunter too much spotlight, not the question of power or balance or any of that stuff. Thanks!

4. One of the reason that I suggested making it a “beginning of mystery” move is that it almost always kicks in at the beginning of an episode, and never at any other time. The TARDIS is usually a framing/setting device for the episode.

   Even when they were doing timey-loopy stuff in the Season 5 finale, that wasn’t the TARDIS. So that’s my thought.

   You could also probably tie it into Big Magic somehow…..

   Hmm, I wonder. The main concern of mine is that you really don’t want to have players running amok with timelines. Here’s a thought, though. If you threw back Allons-y to a more general trigger, you should add in a Paradox move that triggers “when you meddle in the past” (or something like that). The hard moves out of that could be delightful.

5. Thank you folks very much for your feedback!

    So, I finally got a chance to test this and ran game of MotW with the entire world in peril of an imminent alien invasion.

   The biggest issue was the inability to influence the monsters. When it came to the big confrontation, there was really no mechanic to track the Time Lord and Companions’ arguments against the invaders. Admittedly, things often come down to violent science in Doctor Who, but it still would have been interesting to have a legit social conflict. Even if the aliens ignored the PCs it would have been fun for them to WIN the legal/moral argument,  quoting the Shadow Proclamation and such.

   After much deliberation over alternate damage tracks and social combat, I realized I was looking for something that would propel the story forward to an exciting conclusion rather than end the story with a”stern talking to.” Also, the Doctor often discovers things during his confrontations or reaches some important conclusion. Further, others can participate. So, currently my thought is adding this as a setting move:

   LAY DOWN THE LAW (ROLL 2D6+SHARP)

   When you confront Otherworldly Powers and call them on their illegal/immoral actions, roll+sharp. On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1. On a miss, the Otherworldly Power chooses 1.

   • You recall or uncover some NEW weakness of your enemy.

   • Take +1 forward to defeat your enemy.

   • Your enemy foolishly reveals their ultimate goal.

   • You establish the moral high-ground. This option may only be taken once in a confrontation. Galactic law is on your side in this matter, for whatever that’s worth.

   • Cause your opponent to stall, hesitate, or flinch, giving a companion the opportunity and +1 forward to take dramatic action.

   I intended to steal the DWRPG’s initiative style: talking before running before fighting. But it didn’t end up mattering much.

   I like Andy’s idea of a failsafe of some sort for players who want to get creative with time. Here goes:

   MEDDLE WITH TIME (ROLL 2D6+COOL)

   When you meddle with important events in the space-time continuum, roll+cool. On a 10+, you do what you set out to do and the paradox is contained; take 2 harm. On a 7-9, the Keeper chooses 1. 

   • You unravel part of space-time, creating a major side-effect.

   • Your actions create a crisis in the future.

   • You become trapped in an a time loop. Only further meddling, or a Time-Space Box, can help.

   When all this is tested and settled, I will make the Mysteries and setting stuff available, too. Other than the big issue above, MotW worked very well for a Time Lord and Companions. Investigate a Mystery FTW.

   B

6. Damn it! The Timelord is gone ! 🙁

Comments are closed.