I'm currently trying out Doctor Who RPG Second Edition. I ran the Starter Set's scenarios: The Timeless Library and The Echo Chamber.
I found The Timeless Library a bit railroady, but it was the tutorial scenario which introduces the rules to the GM and Players. But combined with The Echo Chamber, things in The Timeless Library that bothered me made more sense.
The Echo Chamber booklet has two scenarios: The Echo Chamber and The Hermit's Lantern. In order to be NOT confusing, when I refer to The Echo Chamber, I'm speaking of just the scenario, not the booklet.
I do recommend running The Echo Chamber immediately after The Timeless Library for a complete mini-series story arc.
The Starter Set comes with 5 pre-gens: Sam (IT guy, 2000s), Charlie (Stage Actress, 1800s), Aiden (Investigator with cyber enhancements), Chamberlain (hospitality robot), Triketh (Silurian Scientist).
Notice that The Doctor isn't a pre-gen. I think this is for balance reasons and also newbies to Doctor Who may not have in-depth knowledge of the Whovian Universe, so playing The Doctor might be a stretch for a newbie.
The system is simple. Roll 2d6 + Attribute + Skill, look for 6's and 1's. Most tests require a total of 12 (Difficulty Number) for a Pass. Rolling a 6 (good) or a 1 (bad) bumps the Success Level up and down. Success Levels are: Brilliant! (box cars or pass with a 6), Success (pass with no 6s or 1s), Barely (pass with 1), Almost (fail with 6), Failure (fail with no 6s or 1s), Disastrous (snake eyes or fail with a 1).
Brilliant, Barely, Almost, and Disastrous include something helpful or an additional complication, much like other narrative systems like PbtA. Rule of thumb: 6 good, 1 bad.
Story Points can be spent to bump the Success Level, 1 for 1. So, to bump a Failure to a Barely, you need to spend 2 Story Points. You're not allowed to bring a Fail to higher than a Barely (p.77 core book), but you can bring a Pass all the way up to Brilliant! PCs start with 12 Story Points (minus points for gadgets).
Advantages / Disadvantages (p.88-89 core book) allows you to roll 3d6 and either use the best two or the worst two dice.
Focus Bonus (p.28 core book) and Recalling an Experience (p.60 core book) add an extra +1d6. This is separate from the 2d6 die roll, so you either need a different colored die or roll separately (and declare this before rolling the 2d6).
Each PC helping gives you a +2 to the die roll (Cooperation, p.77 core book), with some limits on how many can help. This also applies to NPCs such as a group of NPCs shooting at you (Multiple Opponents, p.89 core book), so instead of rolling each attack, you can roll once for a group against a specific PC.
One of the most Doctor Who thing is the initiative order: Talkers, Movers, Doers, and then Fighters go in that order. Intent of each PC / NPC is discussed, then actions are resolved in initiative order.
Story Points are your get out of jail free bennies for changing die roll outcomes. If you spent too much, you can recover a point by playing out a Focus that creates a complication or getting captured (another Doctor Who trope).
Your hit points are your Attribute scores. Depending on how you get hurt, your Attribute score goes down (also reducing your chance of success). Once an Attribute hits 0, you get a Condition, a Disadvantage to rolls involving the Condition. Two Conditions and opponents also get an Advantage die. Third Condition and you're Defeated, your PC quits and tells The Doctor you've had enough and go home. I found this very thematic and funny. This does make it sound like it's almost impossible for PC to die, but some creatures do Lethal attacks (Daleks) which can instantly disintegrate you.
Not all creatures or objects have pictures in the scenarios. The good news is that there's a Doctor Who Wiki where you can find pictures of various aliens.
I really enjoyed the game and it did feel like a Doctor Who episode. One issue is that The Doctor is very powerful, much more than the Companions, so there's a power balance issue. I've decided that The Doctor would be a rotating PC (or absent). I did tell my Players that if The Doctor is in play and you play The Doctor, your PC isn't, which means you don't get any XP for your PC. That is the tradeoff you have to make, if you want to play The Doctor.
Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes.
I hide spoiler sections with JavaScript. If you have JavaScript turned off, you can skip the spoiler sections I have marked.
The Timeless Library
Pages: 48
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-gens: provided
Hook: PCs (pre-Companions) are gathered by the Tardis to save the Timeless Library.
This is the starter set tutorial. Some of the tests are easier with pre-gens with specific skills or backgrounds. If you're going to let your Players make their own PCs, you might have to adjust the skill tests or just assume the PCs will have to spend more Story Points.
I did feel this scenario was a bit railroady, but it is the Starter Set Tutorial with rules imbedded in the text or breakout boxes. So, the 48 pages does include rules sprinkled throughout.
If you ran this with experienced Players, you might get rid of some of the railroadiness, but that takes away some of the ties to The Echo Chamber.
=== SPOILER SECTION START ===
Spoilers! That's why the cover's here instead.
The Plot: Random PCs are kidnapped by the TARDIS. They're not Companions yet and may not even know of Time Travel. On the surface level, the PCs are guided by a hologram of The Doctor, giving them tasks to save the Library of Carenthian that has been attacked by Daleks. The Daleks are looking for the Manifold of Ruin. The PCs need to get survivors onto a shuttle (while avoiding Daleks), get the Generator going (while avoiding Daleks), and reprogram a time field to banish the Daleks (while avoiding Daleks). On the meta-level, the PCs are actually in a VR video game that has infected the TARDIS. Winning the game, breaks the PCs out of the game, and frees the TARDIS from the purple crystals infecting the TARDIS. The Bad Guys: Daleks
You can run the scenario without the VR video game aspects and just have the PCs save the Library. But the Daleks have been dialed down a little to be less deadly. And if a PC dies, they're just respawned to continue the game. Without this, a PC might die in their first adventure. So, I do recommend keeping the VR video game aspect and running The Echo Chamber afterwards.
The Doctor's hologram pops up once the PCs depart the TARDIS, just like a video game avatar, telling the PCs what they need to do to complete the game. At various points, her hologram pops up congratulating them and reiterating what they have to do next -- very much like a video game tutorial. This makes the scenario railroady, but is on point for a RPG beginner tutorial, and a video game tutorial. At various times, there is interrupted video and indications that the PCs are in a video game.
As a joke, after the first PC dies, I tell the Player that the PC sees in the corner of their eye a blinking 2, as if it's a life count indicator.
I also delay shunting the PCs to the video game, letting them explore the TARDIS and hoping someone puts on the VR headset. If someone does that, I can then take them all into the game, making it more thematic. I actually show them the Library in the VR headset before continuing with the scenario description. If no one does, I follow the scenario description and have the TARDIS activate and drop them into the Library. I also don't make the TARDIS vanish after they arrive, I just close the door behind them when they step into the Library. Nobody's tried to get back into the TARDIS, but if they did, I'd just lock the doors.
The first time I ran this, I didn't do as many tests as written, I thought it was a bit die roll heavy, and the PCs finished with almost all of their Story Points intact.
The second time, I ran it as written, and Sam ran out of Story Points, and got Exterminated just as he handed off the Tehyspike to Aiden who needed it to unlock the door to the Instrument of Knowledge. It wound up being more exciting. I had Sam respawn at the bottom of the staircase where he picked up the Ood Sphere, re-enabled its Lethality, and used it against a Dalek.
TARDIS Exterior
TARDIS Interior
The Hologram
Various NPCs:
Kor-Dor - Jundoon - Head Librarian
Megrol-Koi-Ker - Lugal-Irra-Kush - Assistant Head Librarian
Wiley - Leonian - leg injury
Sekris - Skithra - Librarian - abdomen injury
Hastis - Silurian
3 Iron Deaths
Artifacts of the Library: I told the PCs that next to each item was a description and sometimes an image. For the vial of Balhoonian Bodily Fluids, there's a picture of a Bahoonian. For the Ood Translation Sphere, there's a picture of an Ood handling the Sphere.
Balhoonian - Vial of bodily fluids
Ood Translation Sphere
Swathe of Plenitude
Tehyspike
Tivolian Flag of Surrender
Artifacts in the Restricted Archive:
The Manifold of Ruin
The Mirror of Princes
The Revelation Dice
Lotos logo for the VR Headset
The Lotos logo
=== SPOILER SECTION END ===
The Echo Chamber
Run Time: 2 sessions
Pages: 42
Pre-gens: provided
Hook: PCs find a chalkboard with clues in the TARDIS and the TARDIS plays a voice message from The Doctor imploring the PCs to save her.
This longer 3 Act scenario is a lot more enjoyable than The Timeless Library, but best run after you finish The Timeless Library. There are also elements of the scenario that were designed for the provided pre-gens, tying into their skills or backstories.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good scenario.
=== SPOILER SECTION START ===
The Plot: The PCs are dropped in front of the Lotos corporate HQ. The PCs learn about the Lotos headsets and Poppy Perdue, then Transmat to the Tempest, a spaceship that's a travelling theater. They learn that memories are stolen from people and stored in blue crystals. From there, the PCs Transmat to the crystal caves under Metebelis III. Inside a cave is The Doctor, trapped in purple crystal. The PCs need to free her with her sonic screwdriver. The Bad Guys: Dream Hound, Poppy Perdue
The Lotos logo
To tie things together more, when the PCs exit the TARDIS and see the high-rise that's the Lotos corporate HQ, I put a giant multi-story video screen on the front of the building showing their latest best selling video game, The Timeless Library. Advertising for the Lotos VR Headset and video clips of someone playing The Timeless Library is shown. Also a clip of Poppy Perdue extolling how great her technology is, how immersive her VR worlds are, light years ahead of the competition.
I found that there are Lotus-eaters (from Homer's Odyssey) and Lotos-eaters, a poem by Lord Tennyson. But I think they're actually the same thing.
I found it odd that the scenario didn't have a picture of Poppy, so I picked an actress that I liked.
Poppy Perdue - glamor shot for magazine
Poppy Perdue in business attire
The Dream Hound is a Dr Who version of the Hounds of Tindalos which can travel dimensions freely. It's really a GM tool to drive the PCs to action. At one point, it shows up to force the PCs to use a transmat device to escape to the next Act. In both runs of the scenario, the PCs removed the collar that controlled the Hound in Act 3 when it blocks their way.
Dream Hound
In one run, the PCs interacted with all the NPCs in the Tempest. In another run the PCs spent more time in the Lotos HQ, but avoided all the NPCs in the Tempest. Oddly enough, both runs took 2 sessions to finish.
Harcourt's Journal
Tempest Crew:
Bresh - Troupe Leader
Fleder - Head Chef
Tempest Passengers:
Lord Zusco - Silurian
Lady Zemra - Silurian
Tempest Players (actors):
Verdigris - Vinvocci
Strife - Sontaran
Lexis - Carrionite
Kahandra - Draconian
Ees Ky-Liss - Raxacoricofallapatorian
Crystal Caves:
Blue Lizard
Ruins of Gallifrey
Sonic Screwdriver
=== SPOILER SECTION END ===
The Hermit's Lantern
Run Time: 2 sessions
Pages: 20
Pre-gens: provided
Hook: The Doctor grabs all the PCs to go on a new adventure. A planet can only be accessed every 50 years. Others are looking for a treasure, the Doctor is joining this expedition.
This scenario is more action oriented as there are numerous challenges the PCs face.
=== SPOILER SECTION START ===
The Plot: Lord Trescothick hires a group of skilled people, including the PCs, to help him acquire the Hermit's Lantern. It's a race between Lord Trescothick, The Brazen Eye, and Baugulf. The Bad Guys: Lord Trescothick (he'll betray the PCs), various native animals, The Brazen Eye cult, Baugulf's mercenaries.
This scenario pushes the PCs to the brink with a lot of die rolls, burning up a lot of Story Points. There are points where it looks like the PCs are on the edge of getting their 3rd Injury. I liked this, but I felt there were too many die rolls to get the PCs to that condition. I almost feel like I should halve the PCs' Story Points and reduce the number of die rolls.
I also didn't like that there's a bit of Doctor ex machina where she shows up at the very end and resolves what should be the conflict in the finale. The Doctor also falls into a deep well 2/3rds into the scenario and disappears, so I don't recommend anybody play The Doctor as a PC.
The good news is that in the end, the PCs will get The Hermit's Lantern which is basically their own Tardis. So, you can continue having Doctor Who scenarios without The Doctor. The Hermit's Lantern is slightly damaged, so I decided it sometimes whisks the PCs to random adventures just like the Tardis does. When activated, those in its light get taken through time and space. It also does psychic translations, like the Tardis, and costume changes if required. Since it's damaged, it'll refuse to operate until the scenario they're in is completed; this will prevent the PCs from continuously using the Lantern as a get out of jail free card.
This scenario lacked a lot of pictures for the local creatures and NPCs. The creatures are unique and I wasn't able to find them in the Dr Who Wiki, nor via a Google search, so I just displayed the closest animal I could find.
