Dr Who 2e - A Stitch in Time - Review

Pages: 112
Run Time: 10 sessions.
Pre-gens: None

This campaign is really 10 scenarios that have nothing to do with each other. Each scenario lets the PCs collect some items or information that might be helpful in the 10th scenario. The scenarios are fairly short and very straight forward. I would run the 10th scenario last.

I think the scenarios are ok, but on the whole unmemorable and too simple.

Of the scenarios, I'd recommend: The Great Sonic Caper, Silver Screams, Everything Must Go. 

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.

---

Hi-De-Hide

Time Period: Sept 23, present day.
Location: Fairway Holiday Camp, England, Earth
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: Temporal disturbance at a sleepy seaside (camping) resort.

A pretty straightforward scenario.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: Escaped alien prisoners, Jackda scientists, crash land on Earth. Slovari military come to capture the escaped prisoners. 
The Bad Guys: Slovari.

I had no idea what Tealcoats were. So, I had to look them up.

Tealcoats - Forestry Service

I found some actual photos of Space-X launches, so I used them for the crash landing.

Lights in the Sky

Lights in the Sky

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

The Most Dangerous Monster
Time Period: 24th century
Location: Former Cazralat prison complex
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: PCs have won an all expenses paid trip to the opening day of Deadly Prey Executive Holiday Experience by Targetzone Tours.

I had fun with all the NPCs.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: The mostly disabled Dalek is being hunted by the guests. Get the Dalek before it repairs itself.
The Bad Guys: Other guests, disabled Dalek, Targetzone Tours

I just used various TV families for the other guests.

Desire Imperdire

Atherton Arms Quiz Team

Daryl and Farnworth Shankly

Freda and Oscar Nibelraus

Hetherington-Smythe Family

Hobson Family

Rostophalnagapolitus Couple

Circle of Daskir 5 Stenza

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Silver Screams

Time Period: 1932
Location: Burbank, California, Earth
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: A vacation to checkout Hollywood.

My players enjoyed this scenario.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: Nestene animate monsters and toons. Figure a way to wipe them out and stop the signals from a tower.
The Bad Guys: Tentacle film monster, Cartoon Characters, King Kong, Giant Film Monster.

Sort of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and King Kong.

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Everything Must Go

Time Period: 23rd Century
Location: HYNAX Gigacomplex
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: Obnoxious advertising drive the PCs to a Sale. Everything Must Go!

A great place to get various items such as your own Psychic Paper.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: Unknown to the PCs, the managing director is auctioning off various illegal items. The security system goes haywire and starts kidnapping shoppers. PCs need to fix the HYNAX AI core to free the kidnapped shoppers.
The Bad Guys: Secu-Swarm, Krillitane, Ice Warriors, Sontarans

The reward for fixing HYNAX and arresting the managing director is a free item for each PC. This is a great opportunity to get something cool. Gadgets will still cost Story Points.

Personal Shopper

Secu-Swarm

AI generated - Bookshop shopkeeper

AI generated - Urbolo Zeem auction

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Protect and Survive

Time Period: 1066
Location: Battle of Hastings, Earth
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: Let's checkout the Battle of Hastings!

I liked this because of the Battle of Hastings and the Bayeux Tapestry.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: The king's brother is attacked by a creature, who is being held captive. It's a Silurian awoken from hibernation. An army of Silurians are going to wake up. Make sure they stay in hibernation, so history stays intact.
The Bad Guys: Various armies, Silurians.

Battle of Hastings battlefield

Death of Harold

Bayeux Tapestry: https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/britains-bayeux-tapestry

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Emergency Ward 26

Time Period: unknown date
Location: Urd
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: The TARDIS gets a time-space SOS and PCs are whisked away automatically.

In concept, I thought this was a pretty cool scenario. But in play, it was ok, but not as interesting as I thought it'd be.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: Unknown to the PCs, they're stuck in the heart of another TARDIS in siege mode. It's losing the battle to survive a Time Vortex. Echoes of its past reverberate inside it. And the PCs see ghosts scenes play out. The PCs are also split into two groups, a past and a future. To the PCs they're in a hospital. The past and future groups need to communicate the clues they find to each other.
The Bad Guys: Time itself.

Intercom between past and future

Past Hospital

Past Hospital

Future Hospital

Future Hospital

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

The Great Sonic Caper
Time Period: 2515
Location: Anahera, New Stenport, Earth Empire
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: Someone steals the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver.

This one is actually pretty fun. Sort of an Ocean's Eleven thing going on.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: A Museum Magnate hires someone to steal the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver for his museum (tech level 7). PCs need to break into and steal it and other items from the museum.
The Bad Guys: Pickpocket, Museum Magnate, Bodyguards, Museum security. 

Since I didn't have the Doctor in my game, she appeared in a short guest appearance. The PCs are with her, her Sonic gets stolen, but an emergency calls her away and she tasks the PCs to recover her Sonic for her.

I didn't want it too easy, so I made the Anaheran sculpture the PCs promised to steal very large. After the PCs got the sculpture, they wondered what the Redistributor was going to do with it. I put it prominently in The Knife and Scales pub, where the locals drink to it.

Ceiling Dome

Museum Event

Guests

Party!

More Party!

Early Anaheran sculpture

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Return to Sender
Time Period: 57th century
Location: Harmenhout, planet FBK-113
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: Investigate a pan-galactic kidnapping.

I liked the setting and messed up society.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: A colony ship crash landed and its inhabitants are ruled by a totalitarian state. To keep the inhabitants in check, the leader is kidnapping random people and using surgery to make them into monsters. He then drugs them and lets them loose, so his Jolly Pals can beat up the monsters and keep his people in check with fear. PCs need to rescue all the kidnapped aliens.
The Bad Guys: Jolly Pals, Orbgig (their leader).

I actually like this one because it's a mix of 1984 and Clockwork Orange.

Note that the Pting which is rescued is the same Pting in Save Nhein. Though I thought making it missing an arm was a bit harsh. There must be a better way to identify it.

Below pics are all AI generated:

Getchel Fargoulet

Getchel transformed

Sonoran lobster monster

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Green for Danger

Time Period: 2147
Location: Boston, Earth
Pages: 9
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: Watch 2147's Hover-Hockey's historic final match.

Sort of a bait and switch as this scenario has nothing to do with Hover-Hockey.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: People are breaking out in green patches. What is this disease? A clinic is using alien technology to cure people, but the side effect are these green patches. Stop the mad doctor before he uses the alien device to terraform the whole neighborhood.
The Bad Guys: Unethical doctor, Security services, Hostile locals, Crooked customs official.

AI generated - Saira

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Save Nhein
Time Period: 26th century
Location: Nhein
Pages: 11
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: PCs are snatched and dropped on Nhein.

For a finale, I felt this was a bit meh.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: A Pting is eating everything and growing exponentially. Eventually, it becomes Godzilla size. Fix this somehow.
The Bad Guys: Targetzone (from The Most Dangerous Monster), Bureaucracy, Pting (from Return to Sender).

The only reason the Pting is from Return to Sender is to guilt the PCs into thinking they caused this.

Basically, use the stuff gathered from previous scenarios, figure out some sort of solution, you don't need everything. Put the Pting to sleep. Reminds me of the story, The Hungry Thing.

In my game, the PCs had the city build a dome over the sleeping Pting and made it a tourist attraction.

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Dr Who 2e: The Secrets of Scaravore - Review

Pages: 112
Run Time: 7 sessions
Pre-gens: None

A campaign consisting of 4 scenarios, each giving clues to the finale, the 4th scenario. Since each scenario is about 20 pages each, they're a lot more complex than the ones found in A Stitch in Time.

In my game, the PCs don't have the TARDIS, but they have the Hermit's Lantern, a scaled down version of the TARDIS. Since the Hermit's Lantern is slightly damaged, it sometimes takes them somewhere they did not intend to go to. This does two things:

• Deus ex machina. I ask them where they intend to go and then drop them in the wrong place/time. I can sometimes tie in their intention with their destination, sometimes not. So, now they have to figure out where/when they are when they arrive which is sort of fun.
• Since the Hermit's Lantern is unreliable, they can't use it all the time to just teleport around because they might end up somewhere unintended.

I have 2 small negatives:

• Pictures are lacking, most are stock images from episodes of Dr Who, there's not enough useful pictures. I had to do web searches for pictures and used some AI generated images for my game. 
• Some information is spread out in different scenarios, so GM has to read all of the scenarios to figure some things out.

My Players really enjoyed this campaign, and I did too. So, I highly recommend it.

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 Sigils and Mandala of Scaravore

The issue is that the book doesn't really show what the Sigils and Mandala look like. You only find out by reading the last Chapter. And no examples were given in the book, so I made some myself.

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

Aldersgate

Aldgate

Bank Station

Bishopsgate

Cripplegate

Ludgate

Moorgate

Newgate

I didn't make a Mandala, but it's a odd circuitous route going from gate to gate. Tracing various streets and also going through the central hub of Bank Station.

The Sigils and Mandala are patterns that follow the mental patterns (neurons) of the Scaravore. The streets were built following its mental pattern.

I made 8 Sigils. If the Sigil for the Scaravore (god) was needed, I used the Bank Station Sigil.

In Paradise Lost, I made an effort to tell the PCs that the Sigils were definitely not Silurian.

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Paradise Lost

Time Period: 2769
Location: Aridius
Pages: 20
Run Time: 1 session

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: PCs are dropped in a forest of Cretaceous and Holocene plants. They soon realize they're in one of three connected domed habitats. Outside of the dome is mostly a desert-scape with occasional dinosaurs. Inhabitants are educated Neanderthals (The Caretakers). Soon, the PCs realize the Neanderthals are clones and are a lower tech level than the domed city. At some point, the PCs trigger an automated sterilization of the city and the PCs have to leave the city and find the Masters and shutdown the self-destruct.
Foes: Security Drones, Dinosaurs (T-Rex), Myrka, Silurians.
Scaravore Clue: The Caretaker script consists of Scaravore Sigils. Silurians created the Caretakers as a docile servant race, but something (The Scaravore) modified their DNA and brain patterns to be more independent and rebellious.

Cretaceous Plants (and yes the PCs asked about the dinosaur)

AI generated Caretaker (I couldn't prompt it to remove the animals)

I used this for the Security Drones

In my game, one Player recognized the Sigils of Scaravore as London streets. I was gobsmacked.

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

A Kind of Magic

Time Period: 2552
Location: Saphira
Pages: 27 pages
Run Time: 2 sessions

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: PCs get dropped into medieval forest. Tech doesn't work; magic does. Local knights are hunting "dragons" which the PCs learn are Draconians. Zygons have infiltrated Kelos Castle, hoping to learn the secret of "magic." Draconians have crashlanded and were investigating why there's an unauthorized colony on Saphira in the neutral zone. Zygon's bio-tech still works on Saphira. The Draconians have a standing order to bombard the planet from orbit if the Draconian scouting party isn't heard from. PCs need to contact the Draconian Dreadnaught before it sterilizes the planet.
Foes: Forest wildlife, knights with magic, Draconians, Zygons.
Scaravore Clue: The magic is psychic power. The human locals are from London 2152. Their DNA has been modified by The Scaravore. Due to contact with the mined crystals on Saphira, their DNA activate and psychic powers manifest. One lucky PC will gain psychic powers. This PC will have horrible headaches until they put on a Dreamcatcher which blocks out "the voices." The Dreamcatcher is a mesh with thread and crystals in the design of a Scaravore Sigil.

In my game, the PC picked Telekinesis, so I charged him 2 Story Points (permanent cost). I used the skill description from p.59, Archbishop Edwick Foss. Typically, a Distinction like this would cost 10 XP (p.62 core book).

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---

Westward Bound

Time Period: 1843
Location: Earth
Pages: 22 pages
Run Time: 2 sessions

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: PCs are dropped onto the Oregon Wagon Trail. They find a small stranded group of wagons and realize a fair number of the emigrants are aliens. Some have bounties on their heads. As bodies pile up, the PCs need to ferret out the shape shifting killers. What complicates this is that there are two sets of killers competing with each other.
Foes: Dysen Teri (alien bounty hunters), The Piyuri (alien poachers)
Scaravore Clue: One of the wagons has two humans, Scaravore cultists sent west to learn about mining techniques, especially tunneling.

I found it hard to tie in the cultists, so I put a few Scaravore Sigils carved onto one of the boards of their wagon. This got the PCs to talk to the cultists. I made up a story where they were told as a prophesy that in the future, the railroad would go west and would go through mountains. Also gold would be found out west and they should learn about mining. That they would need to learn these techniques for the Cult. I also told them it was foretold that Scaravore would rise again in 9 score 3 years = 183 years + 1843 = 2026.

Jax

Styne

Ben Connolly

Daniel Warner

Jim & Sarah Shankford

Swannson Family

Circling the Wagons when at rest

Campfire

=== SPOILER SECTION END === 

---

The Mandala of Scaravore
Time Period: 2026 (present day)
Location: London, Earth
Pages: 22
Run Time: 2 sessions

=== SPOILER SECTION START ===

The Plot: PCs arrive in London 2026. A walking tour guide sells them a tour of London, mainly around the old Roman gates. By now, the PCs should realize the Scaravore Sigils matches the modern streets near the old Roman gate locations. The only exception is the Bank Station. Under the Bank Station in an area under construction is The Scaravore's prison, a large metallic cube. Etched on the cube are instructions to lock away/free the Scaravore. What's needed is a key of 3 parts. The PCs need to find the 3 parts and lock away the Scaravore.
Foes: The Cult of Scaravore, Scaravore.

The scenario recommended that the PCs can do a statical analysis of the Sigils and figure out the 3 most likely locations of the key pieces. I didn't do that. I made them work for it. The PC who had gotten the psychic powers looked at the Mandala of Scaravore* and got flashes of 17 and the inside of a family home. PCs had to snap him out of it. With the 17 clue, they went from gate location to gate location, looking for houses with a 17 address and found the right location at about the third gate.

One Player noted that 17 Erovarac Street (backwards) = teert ScaravorE 71. After getting part of the key from here, the PCs had the psychic PC look at the Mandala again and got flashes of the church and tavern.

Scared Church of All Righteous Angels (Votive Order of Religious Ecumenical) = SCARAVORE (using the initials). How the PCs found this church was by going back in time to when the Roman wall was still present. They looked around for the other two parts of the key, but I wasn't going to make it that easy for them. I did let them notice the Christian church at Aldgate. They spoke to the priest, but that was about it. Back in 2026, they found a small church, surrounded by large buildings, the foundation of the church looked like old Roman stone. The Reverend tells them that luckily, the church owns the land since the Roman times, otherwise it'd be gone by now.

Unfortunately, The Rod and Vault didn't follow this pattern. The PCs tried two of the gates, looking at the spacing of where the key parts were found, and found The Rod and Vault at Ludgate, after spending hours going to various pubs and taverns.

The PCs got the Mandala of Scaravore* by following one of the PCs in a Street Taxi taking a ride to the homeless shelter (called the toll free number for a free ride). The other PCs followed in another non-Street Taxi. All the PCs made their mental save, but the non-Street Taxi driver didn't, so they realized the route was special. The PCs then made a GPS map of the route they took, and lo and behold, The Mandala of Scaravore. Oops!

In my run, out of the 4 PCs, only one made it to the Scaravore. The other three didn't survive the collapsing buildings (as buildings collapsed, I let them toss the key to someone else). I did think some of the tests were a bit one note, so I allowed them to use any appropriate Attribute + Skill to get past the Army of the Storm (p.106). I did follow the strict stipulation on p.108 for Final Confrontation as I wanted it to be a tough test, two successes were necessary to beat the Scaravor. The last PC succeeded, failed (lost 2 attribute pts), and succeeded (the even tougher test); and locked away the Scaravore.

I also used a lot of modern pictures of the locations, too many to post here, but here are some of the ones I used.

Walter Morrison - walking tour guide

Rochelle Baily - homeless advocate

The Simons

Tom and Barbara Ellison

Reverend Albert Collerson

Aldgate Pump

Aldgate

Bank Station tube entrance

Great Fire of London and Ludgate

Mooregate remains

Newgate Prison

Tube graffiti

Other graffiti

=== SPOILER SECTION END ===

---