Hello, hello!

I'm Ramis, I've been looking forward to playing DWAITAS for a while, and am also starting up my own game elsewhere on Rpol. Been a Doctor Who fan for a few years.  I've watched all of New Who of course, and am working my way through Classic Who as well at the moment. Looking forward to playing with you guys!

Welcome to the insanity :-)

Welcome, Vax! :D

Not sure when I can get an IC post in. Life has suddenly become much busier than I'm used to. Gonna post soon as I can, though!

I'm still around, too, just floundering as usual.

As much as I like and enjoy Dr. Who, all that wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey stuff confuses the hell out of me. Just when I think I understand something, it takes a left turn into the Twilight Zone!

If you have any questions, I might be able to help clarify things. I've watched a whole lot of Doctor Who and Star Trek. :P

No, and that's the point--I don't even know what questions to ask!

Don't feel bad.  Even after all that I'm mired pretty badly in analysis paralysis myself.

I'm fairly certain the Doctor Whoiest solution to all this would be to figure out how to talk the monster into sacrificing itself by jumping down the Rocket Shaft to destroy the planet and save Gallifrey. I'm also fairly certain that trick won't work until it's threat level has built to the highest possible point.

Okay, sorry for the delay again. I was busy with RL stuff and other games and waiting for more discussion in-character. It also looks like we lost the new player who adopted Vax Kent.

TBH, I'm a bit stuck on how to proceed, and I suspect you all are too. The module's random defrost rates for the sites and plot events means we're in a "wait and hurry-up" stage – nothing can really happen until the Memento Mori is released or you PCs do one or two things, which you haven't done.

So, shall I time-jump forward to the next defrosting or have an NPC throw some spanners around? Or can someone give me a clear course of action for the PCs?

I say we nuke the site from orbit, its the only way to be sure.

Unfortunately we lack nukes. So with that in mind, either we do what Axander said in last post or when timeskip to the next event. We've done enough analysing.

I'm gonna be more or less out of commission for the next ten days or so. Road trip. Pretty sure I suggested something IC earlier, but don't have time to read what I wrote right now and also am not entirely comfortable with Axander taking charge so soon in his career as a main character.

Too bad about the Vax Kent player. It happens when there's nothing going on, and the players don't move it along.

Try sending him a PM.

It's an odd adventure in that it doesn't seem as if any of the characters have any ability to make progress.

Anyway, as I understand it, this weekend is GenCon, so don't expect much activity till Monday (recovery) or Tuesday.

He bailed on his new game too (Class is in Session).

I've gone ahead the time-jump forward and released the monster so we can keep things in motion.

I'm back from my trip! I'll be able to get caught up and post a thing soon, but need to get settled back in and such.

I spent a week thinking I'd posted, fully remembering what I'd posted, and repeatedly discovering I hadn't posted. @_@

I posted! :P

All hell breaks loose! Complete chaos! I should do that more often. :D

For Tarys versus the Memento Mori, I'd like to make this a Mental Conflict, made metaphorical to be more interesting than just flashing cameras between your faces. :) Think of the Matrix scenes (or the movie!) and the Third Doctor's psychic brawl against Omega. In any case, you should be well-suited to it.

However, the sourcebooks are a bit vague on how to handle one. I'm looking at the "Losing a Mental Conflict" section of the main sourcebooks, and page 108–109 of the Third Doctor Sourcebook. From what I can tell, we can treat it as a regular conflict, only using Ingenuity, Resolve, or Presence (I'm adding that) instead of Strength, and damage is done to Resolve.

The associated stat or skills isn't clear. The 3DS suggests Knowledge or Science, which seems odd in the context. Fighting still seems a fair one to use, more for tactics than actual martial arts. It also lets us use other skills for other kinds of mental conflicts. Maybe we can revise the mental fight to a mental chase, that sort of thing.

Plus, of course, you can apply psychic traits and bonuses, of course. You can also have an imaginary knife to go with the Fighting skill.

The Memento Mori goes on Fighters. Using its power, it will manifest old enemies against you. You can invent them, or I can, or both. The mental landscape can also be changed to suit whatever kind of emotion is being imparted or memory is being invoked.

Does that work for you?
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:43, Sun 03 Sept 2017.

I love this plan!  I'm excited to be a part of it! </venkman>

I made a post that perhaps frames it in a way that would be more fun than a back-and-forth slugfest.

You might not be when you see its roll... It has an inhuman Resolve score. But I think you get close to matching it when you add in everything.

Actually, you can apply Brave. This is a personification of Time Lord death designed to scare, and Resolve is being used, so it fits.

Before I start rolling actions: my read on the various traits based on the rulebook would be like this:

Psychic Training is good for all-around psychic defense.

Psychic is more specifically aimed against brute-force control or possession.  It might be valid as an offensive bonus when specifically trying to influence the Memento Mori or break through its defenses.

Hypnosis would be part of a more subtle / social interaction than this, and not really applicable.

So I am taking it that I can get Resolve + Ingenuity + Psychic Training + Brave as a defense and Resolve + Fighting + Psychic as an offense, actions being otherwise appropriate.

And I'm at 4 SP.  Unless you want to grant me one for Impulsive.

My read was that Psychic Training gets replaced by Psychic, and so you wouldn't need to have both abilities. Was that not how it worked?

Still working on getting caught up and posting. Been a bit scattered lately.

It might have been the designers' intent, but it's not spelled out that way, and the writeup on Psychic specifically refers to having both.  The DWAITAS rules, for all that they give a simple and reasonably emulative way to capture typical Who activities, are not a masterpiece of clarity.

My understanding is:
Psychic Training: Not actually psychic, but skilled enough to resist general, basic psychic deception and assault.
Psychic: Actually psychic, easier to get with Psychic Training than to be a natural. Gives big bonuses specifically against possession and mind-reading.

Psychic Training gives a +2 bonus against something like psychic paper, but Psychic wouldn't apply to psychic paper, as it's not possession or mind-reading. Ergo, I don't believe they overlap or that Psychic replaces Psychic Training. OTOH, IMO, they do stack: DWAITAS doesn't have have any stacking restrictions, and if you have both Psychic Training and Psychic, you deserve a +6 versus possession. :)

Hypnosis: Isn't actually psychic, but skilled enough to fake it. :)

Defence: I thought Resolve + Fighting + Psychic Training + Brave. But you can use Ingenuity instead of Fighting if you like, since DWAITAS is vague on psychic combat (despite being such a big part of the series), and doesn't make much difference.

Offence: I thought Resolve + Fighting. I'm not sure Psychic fits here, as its specifically about mind-reading, not psychic combat. You need Psychic to get into it, but I'm not sure it applies in the battle itself.

The Memento Mori doesn't actually have any Psychic traits. It's a tough customer in psychic assault, but Tarys is stronger in defence and so will probably outlast it. You might use Psychic to get read its mind/programming if you're victorious. I'll also give bonus information when you roll well.

You can have a SP for Impulsive and another for your Code of Conduct.

I've made some assumptions in my last post, let me know if I need to change anything.

Hi, I'm not dead! Just tired. I'll try to get in another post ssoon

Yeah, there's a lot of that going around. Had my own meltdown for awhile.

Needed to recharge my creative energies.