Pope: Thanks for bringing that to my attention, I'll try and remember to fix that next update. Considering that I wrote that in May, it wasn't a freudian slip but it might have been a prophetic insight!
Bytus:
I agree that the site could use more content. I've written up a lot more stuff for the various adventures, but I only posted stuff to the web site that was part of established Doctor Who cannon. The other stuff I intend to link to the Adventures section if I feel like doing the work. This feedback is giving me a big boost to do so! Actually, I imagine the stats and adventures I made up for many of the adventure of the week would be easily adaptable for Star Trek games.
As for submissions, I did not initially set up for that because I did not think there would be enough interest. But I want the ICON system to expand to be a fully generic core system, and I'm willing to do my part to make that happen. And frankly, I'd love to see what other narrators have put together. I definetly want to promote Doctor Who gaming. Ok, you talked me into it: If the interest is out there, and people have submissions, I'll set up my site to support it! Let's unleash the richness and complexity of the Doctor Who universe together!
I did not have much diffuclty adopting source materiel to the ICON rules. Converting stuff from the FASA sourcebooks was easy except for one thing: when brining skills over, there would sometimes be two skills that were appropriate. For example, the FASA skill negotiation/diplomacy relates to the ICON skills Diplomacy and Pursuasion. When up against that, I just had to make a judgement call, sometimes giving the character both ICON skills.
The aliens and bad guys were actually much easier than converting the Time Lords like the master. The biggest tricky point there was deciding on the armor values. Daleks and Cybermen, for example, are virtually immune to bullets (with certain exceptions), and highly resistant to all but the most advanced energy weapons. So I made a judgement call, converted notes from the FASA materiel regarding vulnerable points with an appropriate target modifier. I'm happy with how they came out, and they have all appeared in adventures in my campaign and they playtested well. In my game, the stats made them act pretty much like they appeared on the show.
I had to return the FASA materiel I was borrowing, however. I'll get it again later, as I need it for my upcoming planned adventure with the Silurians/Sea Devils. Plus I think Davros deserves representation.
Nope, I have not been brave enough to look into Starship combat rules. I'm not planning to, but if some else contributed stats for Doctor Who starships in the ICON system I'll post them. Here's why I'm not planning to make any myself: Even more so than in Star Trek, starship combat is definetly in the background of Doctor Who stories. You don't see it on screen both because it is an expensive special effect, and because it doesn't interact well with the typical Doctor Who characters.
For example, when Daleks attack the Federation's space prison to free Davros, there is dialog saying that fighters have been launched to stop the Daleks, but they are quickly defeated and not shown on screen. Because what would be the point to the story of gaming that out? The important thing is that the Daleks reach the station, and the adventure goes on from there. Or another example, the Atrios fleet is attacking another fleet and the end of a long war, all you see on screen is a few radar "blips" winking out as they are destroyed. Because what is important to the story is that the Atrios military is desperate and willing to use any nasty weapon to turn things around...
I can't think of any Doctor Who companion which would be in the thick of space combat, and it's not genre appropriate to dwell on it. Just describe things in dramatic terms. Don't game out several rounds of starship combat when the Sontaran Destroyers attack the research station, have the dangerously augmented Androgun sabotage the space defences.
I’ve already got several pieces that I created for my own RPG. These include a detailed history of UNIT (based off the time line at Gallifrey1), and a selection of notes concerning the CIA (the one on Gallifrey, not the US version).
A list of “modifications” that need to be made to FASA Doctor Who (to bring it more in line with the cannon of the novels) could also be whipped up easily.
Where do I sign up!
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Just remember, even though it’s a vacuum,
In space no one can hear you Clean.
-J.T.
Add me to the list boys! An ICON Dr. Who game would rock.
Here's what resources I bring to the table...
Dr. Who RPG (FASA)
A number of adventures I can borrow from a friend
Timelords (British Dr. Who RPG)
DUNE RPG (More refined ICON system)
So what do we do and how do we start?
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Aslan Collas
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Star Trek:Strange New Worlds;
http://www.geocities.com/aslan_collas/
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Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
Resources I have in my own home:
Doctor Who - Monsters (a sometimes useful book)
Doctor Who - Cybermen (the DEFINITIVE analysis of the Cybermen)
All the 8th Doctor Novels
Almost all the 7th Doctor “New Adventures”
All but 7 of the episode novelizations done by Target.
All of the Doctor Who FASA stuff (except for “The Cybermen” which is in the mail)
The Doctor Who - Time Lord RPG
A Sonic Screwdriver prop replica (not sure how it helps, but I like to brag about it)
Doctor Who - The Gallifrey Chronicles (a good overview of the Time Lords)
Doctor Who – A History of the Universe (all the TV episodes and half the novels in one big chronology)
Regarding “Cannon” details I’d arrange the following hierarchy:
Class A Source: The Doctor Who TV Series and the TV Movie
Class B Source: The novelizations of the TV episodes and the Audio Dramas made by Big Finish.
Class C Source: The Doctor Who Novels by Virgin and BBC
Class D Source: FASA, Time Lord and other licensed sources.
If there’s any discrepancy then we use the higher-ranking source. That way we get maximum info with minimum effort. This isn’t written in stone however, I’m open to suggestions.
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Just remember, even though it’s a vacuum,
In space no one can hear you Clean.
-J.T.
I have Dune, and Dune did not streamline the ICON system. In fact, the combat system is more complex. But for Dune, that's a good thing. They made the mechanics fit the system. Dune NEEDS the somewhat more tactical combat to reflect the "plans within plans" machiavellian thinking that was shown in the Dune books. Also, the Dune RPG tweaked the point cost for attributes and skills, and changed the way specializations appeared. This seemed to be an attempt to fix some of the problems we're familiar with adding together skill levels gained at various points in character creation.
Few people have the Dune book. The more tactical combat is not a required feature for Doctor Who. This reflects the genre as depicted in the show: heck, the third Doctor's venusian Akido seemed to only have one move that they showed over and over!
Revamping or streamlining the ICON system is a very contenious task, that other treads have found little agreement on. Let's instead provide quality ICON statistics that people can use with whatever house rules float their boat.
I think I've been inspired to write up combat maneuvers for Venusian Akido. Come to think of it, there is another move I remember him doing. Let's help each other out by pooling our knowledge. Let me demonstrate:
Venusian Akido:
Of course we all can recall the third Doctor throwing his assailant over his shoulder... time and time again, the exact same way. Sometimes several times in immediate succession. I also remember in "Invasion of the Dinosars" the Doctor "escaped" from the unresisting Benton by a karate-like chop to the neck. Can anyone remember and post any other instances of V.Akido in action?
Mental combat: Several times in the show, psionic combat is represented by the doctor and the bad guy fighting hand to hand in a void. This could be represented by having a martial arts combat with attacks using the Projective Telepathy or Mind Control skills (with the real-life results depending on what skill was used), and the defencive rolls (blocks, dodges etc) using the Mind Shield skill. And your "mental" resistance and hit points would be determined by your presence+will (modified by the strong will advantage) instead of strength+vitality.
In addition to using the FASA sourcebooks for converting stuff, allow me to reccomend the Holodeck Adventure book as it gives the briefest of info for ICON system in few other time periods. For example, I used the (an excellent ICON link, downloadable for free from trusty www.trekrpg.net) medieval adventure holodeck material extensively for one planet. My personal additions of new weapons, armor, and shields can be found in the Fantasy ICON thread. And I found the pirate adventure very useful in three of my Doctor Who adventures... one in Boston 1775, a pirate island also in 1775, and during the French invasion of the Dutch republic in 1672 (the PCs helped William of Orange take power and prevented Amsterdam from being overrun by opening the dikes and flodding the area around the city).
One thing that would be of critical help to Doctor Who narrators would be ICON stats for various time periods. Hrm, we may need to expand on the ICON tech levels of 0-6, but for sentimental reasons I'd rather not change to a new scale, but rather break that down further. For example, Star Trek's old series Federation might be tech level 6.0, but the TNG-era Federation might be 6.4. No, on second thoughts that doesn't add much useful and bogs things down. In any case, let's get a body of equipment stats together for whatever eras we individually feel most comfortable with.
I could probably write up a decent list of gadgets for the Time Lords. (What tech level are they anyway?)
Some are already done, like the Sonic Screwdriver, but there’s the rest of the items in the TARDIS Toolkit to cover. I could also do Stasers, The various Keys, a conversion of the FASA stuff about the TARDIS, and maybe the stats for K-9.
Somebody should also do jelly babies, string, yo-yos, etc…
Venusian Akido (what I can remember)
Over the shoulder throws,
The chest paralyzing maneuver
The Venusian nerve pinch (done like spock’s only on both sides of the neck at the same time)
Some sort of tumble and come up standing maneuver.
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Just remember, even though it’s a vacuum,
In space no one can hear you Clean.
-J.T.
What is everyone's opinion on statistical changes of aliens in different time periods?
For example, FASA created a different model type of Cyberman to represent the different costume changes. However, if you look at the chronological list of Cybermen stories, there are some discrepancies.
What is everyone's opinion on Timelord regeneration?
FASA had two methods. The simple method was to change appearance and personality. The complex method was to also change the attributes and skills.
FASA also described Timelord characters with just one set of statistics and different descriptions for each regeneration. The Time Lord game actually had different attributes and skills for each regeneration.
Some of the Doctor's past regenerations focused on certain skills, the Third Doctor's Unarmed Combat (Venusian Aikido), the Fifth Doctor's Athletics (Cricket), for example. Other skills, Personal Equipment (Sonic Screwdriver) carried over through several regenerations. This has led me to think that Timelord regeneration is not so unalike from a Trill Symbiont.
For each past Trill host, the Symbiont gains three Symbiont Skills at level 0. These skills are also a little cheaper to purchase and improve and can be used at anytime, even at a 0 rating.
Following this train of thought, each incarnation of a Timelord could select three Regeneration Skills. After creating a Timelord character, the player determines which three skills this particular regeneration will focus on. This should also help to identify and roleplay the personality of the Timelord. Regeneration Skills are not kept from one incarnation to another. A Timelord can only have three Regeneration Skills at any one time. Only skills that are already known by the Timelord can be Regeneration Skills. If the Timelord character has some Experience Points remaining after a regeneration, he may be able to purchase new Skills to use as Regeneration Skills. Regeneration Skills must, of course, be determined at the time of creation or regeneration.
A Regeneration Skill, like the Symbiont Skills, gain a +1 bonus to both skill and specialization and are one Experience Point cheaper to improve.
Regeneration Skills help to explain the Doctor and his skill changes by incarnation. They also should help in roleplaying by giving a newly regenerated (or created) Timelord some kind of focus to help base a personality on.
The Trill don't have to pay any Development Point costs for their symbionts. It's a racial ability. Perhaps regeneration should also be a free racial ability, or a Regeneration +3 Advantage.
Realistically the further in the future you go the more advanced the monsters (and the good guys should be). On the other hand the BBC never really worried about it too much.
Some Dalek examples would be.
Genesis of the Daleks: the Daleks do not have FTL drive.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth: The Daleks do have FTL drive.
The Day of the Daleks: the Daleks have primitive time travel abilities.
The Chase: the Daleks have time machines that can do everything a TARDIS can.
John Peel and Terry Nations book “Doctor Who The Daleks” has a pretty good chronology. And Terry Nations invented and wrote almost all of the Dalek stories so it’s pretty close to Cannon. Lance Parkin’s has another, slightly different version of their history in “Doctor Who A History of the Universe”
Some Cybermen examples:
The Invasion & The Tenth Planet: the Cybermen appear to have no FTL drive.
Iceberg: They Cybermen are vulnerable to radiation but not to Gold.
Revenge of the Cybermen: The Cybermen are vulnerable to Gold.
Earthshock: The Cybermen appear to have FTL drive.
Attack of the Cybermen: The Cybermen have stolen a Time Machine from another race.
David Banks’s book “Doctor Who: The Cybermen” is absolutely superb and gives a very detailed history of the Cybermen. It also offers alternate dates for several stories. Once again Lance disagrees with a few dates in “DW A History of the Universe.”
So how detailed should this go? Should each variation of Cybermen have different states? If FASA has already done the work for us (i.e. all we have to do is convert their stats) then I say use the different Cybermen. The scene in Iceberg where the Doctor discovers Gold doesn’t hurt early Cybermen is wonderful.
On the other hand the Dalek’s exterior appearance hardly changes at all (and FASA only changes their guns).
PS I used to use the TimeLord RPG states for modern Daleks and the FASA states for older Daleks.
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Just remember, even though it’s a vacuum,
In space no one can hear you Clean.
-J.T.
I like your 3 “regeneration skills” idea in principle. I’m a little fuzzy on execution. Would you choose regeneration skill when you create the character or would you do it when the character regenerates.
Would the actual skills change with each regeneration or would just the level change?
Regeneration (and the other Time Lord special abilities) should definitely be listed as advantages and have development point values assigned to them. I could make up a list of all the Time Lord advantages (and disadvantage) fairly easily. (I just did it for GURPS yesterday). Is anyone interested?
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Just remember, even though it’s a vacuum,
In space no one can hear you Clean.
-J.T.
I'd love to see your take on the time lord special ablities, JT. They should definetly be the advantages trait with point values assigned. You can see my attempt at http://bancroft.tripod.com/DWconversions.htm
I working out the point cost for regenerations was particularly tricky. But what do you think of the alternate method I thought of: having regerations cost nothing if another PLAYER gets to play that character after he/she regenerates? This very elegantly solves the way of represting the changed personality, while keeping one person from hogging the time lord spotlight.
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