I'd like to run another Doctor Who game using the Adventures in Time and Space rules from Cubicle 7. Last time, a couple of years ago, going with the standard set-up of TARDIS, Time Lord, and Companions, I got hung-up on introducing PCs from far-flung corners of time and space, then writing them out with player attrition and introducing new ones. I've seen other DWAITAS games suffer the same problems. (Other problems of mine were player apathy and me assuming I knew how to run a Who RPG without fully reading the GM's Guide, but I've done that now.) So I've considered possible settings and campaign set-ups, but I'm a bit stuck on deciding which to run with. So, to organise my thoughts and help choose, I thought I should lay out my ideas, the various possibilities, and canvass opinions here.

So, what kinds of DWAITAS games do people want to see? What do you think would best on RPoL?

(Disclaimer: I'm a Wilderness Years fan of the classic series, books, and comics. I only came to like the new series with Seasons 7a and 8. Everything is canon, but what's in continuity is what I know and remember. History is as laid out in Lance Parkin's Ahistory or A History of the Universe, depending on edition.)

TARDIS Travels: The classic set-up of a TARDIS, a Time Lord, and companions, travelling through time and space. It's obviously the most versatile for adventure possibilities and types of characters, but I've found it's tricky to sensibly get together a contemporary human, someone from the 1800s, and an alien from the far future with the Time Lord, and separate them again without arbitrarily dumping them on alien worlds (not that that would be unusual in Who). Plus, everyone does it.

Travel without the TARDIS: Forget the TARDIS, the PCs are crew of a spaceship in the future. It doesn't travel in time, at least not often. Maybe its a tramp freighter plying the space-lanes, just trying to get by (thinking Firefly, Red Dwarf) or a stolen ship of wanted criminals pursued by authorities (like Farscape, the Guardians of the Galaxy movie). Maybe it's an official military/research ship exploring space and fighting alien conquerors (a Who-themed pastiche on Star Trek or Babylon 5 say). Maybe adventurers and mercenaries looking for trouble (like Abslom Daak and the Star Tigers wiping out Daleks from the Kill-Wagon). Or just a bunch of weird people with a weird ship, knocking around space (ala Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Glitz and Mel in Iceworld). Or hell, it could be a luxury cruise ship; they get into enough trouble in Who (Love Boat in space!).

Depending on the set-up, I'm thinking the late 25th/early 26th century, set against the rise of the Earth Empire and the rule of the corporations, in the aftermath of the Dalek, Cyber, and Draconian wars. Or maybe later at the peak and fall of the Earth Empire (in the grim dark future of the 30th century, there is only an unholy mashup of Warhammer 40K and Judge Dredd — yeah, it happened). Or later still in the Peladon-era Federation for the Star Trekkiest set-up.

Earth-based: The other standard set-up: the PCs are based on contemporary Earth and investigate alien incursions, conspiracies, and weird stuff. Maybe they're a bunch of kids like in Sarah Jane Adventures or K9. Or taybe the PCs are members of UNIT (and that's the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, none of this Unified nonsense), international soldiers and scientists, and stranded aliens and time travellers. (Sorry, I don't do Torchwood.) Alternatively, they might be based in the 1800s, like the Paternoster Gang and Jago & Litefoot.

Tales of the Time War: PCs are agents of Gallifrey and its allies: Time Lords, Minyans, future humans, refugees from destroyed timelines, and others who've regenerated far too many times. They battle Daleks across time and space and sabotage their plans, and carry out retcon operations against Enemy Reps in a battle to control history. Wrong time war? That's time wars for you. I'd mash together ideas and elements from the Last Great Time War against the Daleks, the War in Heaven against the Enemy and Faction Paradox from the novels, even the 4-D War against the Order of the Black Sun and Sontarans that Alan Moore himself started and never finished in the comics (the Special Executive from Captain Britain came from Gallifrey, and could be a model for a group of extremely weird PCs).

Some appear restricted to a world or time, but I'd still find ways to get aliens or time travellers into the party, and occasionally shift stories to other worlds and times.

There are probably other possibilities that are variants on the above, but you can see where my ideas are going and what I'm interested in. I'm leaning toward some ideas more than others, and won't necessarily pick the most popular, but hope to focus my ideas more.

Thanks!
This message was last edited by the user at 10:59, Tue 06 Jan 2015.

Hmm.

Despite the cliche of it; travels with a TARDIS is kinda fun.

Having said that, Tales of the Time War is something that could actually be done a heck of a lot better in a medium like this, than the show could -ever- hope to achieve.

Another thing you could do is to have the PC's be Time Agents, ala Capt. Jack.  There could be only one Vortex Manipulator (they can jump multiple people) and they seem to break/fail often so that could be easily used in the plot.

As for playing, while it sounds interesting and I'd happily Lurk, I'm full up on games currently.

The time war one has a certain cachet if only for being this big portentous era of stuff just lightly touched on and giving broad room for getting creative with concepts.

Being both a whovian and an emmence fan of HGttG, I'd love the idea of bouncing through space and time getting shot at by sontarins, daleks, cybermen, and who knows what else, all the while try to find the best pangalactic gargle blaster mixer. Who cares about who controls the universe, right? Actual an entire campaign based on collecting/losing/finding/taste testing all the ingredients to that illustrius drink would be tons of fun.

Yeah, you can't go past a TARDIS. :)

The Time Agency is a good model. But there seems to be almost nothing known about them; Time Agents are either renegades or poor saps there only to lose a vortex manipulator. The Time Agency needs to be fleshed out from whole cloth — in that sense, they're perfect for an RPG. But if I had to do that, I'd rather go for Time Lords. I considered the 51st/52nd century, but it's mostly the stomping ground of the new series and books I skipped, and I prefer a future closer to the present.

Admittedly, I'd want to run some of the modules for a while to get a hand of things, so something more flexible than Time War missions appeals to me.

In reply to ArgamenPhish (msg # 5):

I just said in another thread that I rarely play comedy type games.  I would quit one of the games I play in to do this one IF it was done right.

TBH, I'm not interested in running a comedy-focused game. Mainly I don't think I'd be very good at it, though I do have fun comedic characters. Being Doctor Who, there should be a strong element of humour, but this should arise from situations and characters rather than being deliberate.

Admittedly, I'm not actually sure how fun Time War missions would be once you started regardless.

.. I'm not a huge fan of the time agency; mainly because the Time Agency espoused by Captain Jack seems to be a very different one mentioned in Talons of Weng-Chiang - despite the fact that -both- specifically mention as the 51st century being the base.