Here is the review of Doctor Who RPG by Cubicle 7 gamesa role-playing game clearly based on the historic television series Doctor Who, an icon of this panorama for over 60 years. This new work comes to us thanks to Cubicle 7 games.
A new journey
The basic manual Of Doctor Who RPG it is dotted with references and illustrations relating to the series, which are used as examples in the assimilation of the game mechanics placed in the orange boxes parallel to them. The purpose of the manual is lay the foundations on scenario construction and character creation, as well as providing useful tips on how to approach this narrative universe.
The game manual is also accompanied by one starter set complete, with elements that will be fundamental to making the most of our adventure. First we find the Source book, with references to episodes of the television series useful for creating adventures and campaigns. Then there are two new adventures, called “The timeless bookshop” and The echo chamber”. They complete the package pre-generated character sheetsthe simplified regulation, the introductory sheet, but above all three custom dice And 60 story tokens to use during the session.
The simulation
The first adventure of the set, The timeless bookshoprepresents an introduction to the game world experienced by the Doctor and those who are looking for him, while The echo chamber it is the direct continuation of it. The adventure begins with the investigation into the disappearance of a Silurian noblewoman, Lady Zemra, by her doctor, who to simplify the search has installed a virtual reality system connected to the Tardis with psychoactive crystals. The crystals, unbeknownst to the doctor, undergo accelerated growth within the Tardis, making it erratic. The situation gets even worse when the creator of this technology, a powerful alien psychic called Poppy Perdue he kidnaps the doctor, and using the crystals' ability to make you lose consciousness, traps her in a simulation based on her memories. The doctor, locked in the simulation, however manages to use the crystals to send a signal for help to his allies before completely losing consciousness, leaving the Tardis with the arduous task of recruiting all those who responded to the signal across space and time.
Doctor Who's allies
THE players they will interpret the doctor's allies, who once they enter the Tardis will lose consciousness due to the crystals, and will end up inside the simulation. The doctor's allies are not ordinary people, they possess ability and attributes that characterize them, and which will have an impact on the actions that can be taken in the scenes.
In addition to their qualities, the characters have at their disposal talents (Distinction) or gods gadgets useful for earning bonuses in trials or to reduce their difficulty by spending story points. However, owning talents and gadgets will limit the maximum number of story points owned by a character.
THE story points they are not only used to activate talents and gadgets, but are also used for other things, such as obtaining clues on the current scene, earn a D6 of advantage in trials, alter the outcome of a failure, heal yourself, and more. However, be aware that our protagonists are not the only ones who can take advantage of story points, because each character is also managed by game master – from allies to nemeses – has a limited number of points at his disposal, and he can use them to help or hinder the players.
Discovering the unknown
The game system adopted is a variant of the popular system Vortexand the inside of the manuals has separate orange sections to facilitate understanding.
The narrative follows gods precise tracks where each exchange is enriched with advice on possible evidence that the Game Master could present. The tests they are based on the exposition of the actions taken by the player, the difficulty of which is arbitrarily defined by the GM. The difficulty value to pass the tests it must be reached by the sum of the attribute values and skills, and by the roll of two D6s, furthermore the level of success or failure of trials will be altered by the number of 1 (failure indicator) and of 6 (success indicator) obtained in the dice roll.
In some situations the players narrative will require passing multiple tests, this will result in one downsidewhich will be applied with the addition of a third die and with the requirement to discard the one with the best result after the roll.
Conflicting opinions
During the narrative, the players' choices will not always be appreciated by the other members of the group or by the non-player characters, who may decide to enter Conflict and take a test to challenge their actions. The difficulty level of this test is defined by the sum of attributes and skills, plus the dice roll of the character carrying out the action.
The conflict mechanic is also used in fightingin which it is divided into action rounds, where the defending player acts as a contested character during the attack phase. In combat you can only take one action in your turn, however exemption from conflicts outside of it is not guaranteed. In that specific case the character will carry out his action normally, while any other action outside his turn will be subject to a disadvantage.
The failure of a defense testbased on type of damage inflicted (given by the equipment parameters), will result in a accumulation of wounds with related penalties on the character's abilities equal to the amount of damage (type N or normal damage), or being put out of action for the rest of the scene (S-type damage or stun) and in rare situations the death (type L or lethal damage) if the injured party does not have history points at his disposal. The effectiveness of the damage is also defined by the success level of the attack check.
An adventure in memories
Doctor Who RPG is easy to learn when it comes to the game mechanics present in the basic manualas well as a sober one introduction to the world of Doctor Who. The adventures present are engaging and linearly structured on solid tracks, thanks to the advice present in the chapters. The sourcebook facilitates the collection of material to fuel our future campaigns, providing profits references on episodes of the television series thanks to rich illustrations of the places and prominent figures that populate the narrative universe of Doctor Who. This trip down memory lane will meet the expectations of fans of the television series, and will give new players the chance to embark on an adventure historical space theme in a fantastic narrative journey.
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