Monday, 28 February 2011
The Vampires Of Venice action figure
Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen...
Or if you prefer game content... This was before the episode aired, so for the Saturnynes I'd add Alien Appearance and Gadget (Perception Filter) but otherwise they're pretty much as-is.
Or if you prefer game content... This was before the episode aired, so for the Saturnynes I'd add Alien Appearance and Gadget (Perception Filter) but otherwise they're pretty much as-is.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
A series-ful of plots series two: Series Two!
Time for a series rundown again!
And just to give added content, a bunch of different example adventures, with episode ideas listed to map out the shape of a second series.
The Complete Series N2
And just to give added content, a bunch of different example adventures, with episode ideas listed to map out the shape of a second series.
The Complete Series N2
A series-ful of plots series two: Another Christmas Special
We've discussed this before and the basic idea is pretty much the same, unless your Christmas Special is also your Series Finale.
Do something different from last year, and from the rest of the run. A special guest PC or two wouldn't go amiss, particularly if PCs left in the series finale but their players want to bring in someone new next series.
Here are several more ideas that you might consider.
And an actual play example.
X: I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past...
Do something different from last year, and from the rest of the run. A special guest PC or two wouldn't go amiss, particularly if PCs left in the series finale but their players want to bring in someone new next series.
Here are several more ideas that you might consider.
And an actual play example.
X: I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past...
A series-ful of plots series two: The Big One-Shot
Not an essential, this, but something like Doctor Who Live or a Prom or the Doctor Who Experience exhibition. A one-shot adventure with a bigger cast than usual, which doesn't count as part of the series continuity even though it has bits featuring the Doctor and written by the series lead writer.
This could be a convention game, or a game for guest players you know, where the normal players may or may not appear and may or may not play their regular characters - but even if they do, they shouldn't overshadow the guest players. This will need cooperation from the regular players, of course. Otherwise, the game will be rather baffling and full of in-jokes and the guest players may not get to do very much, and all of these are to be avoided.
The guest players' characters are generally normal modern-ish people (as they're easy to relate to) so it's a huge over-the-top space-opera threat looming over normal modern-ish Earth.
It probably features Daleks.
Even if it doesn't feature Daleks, it probably has Daleks appear in a crowd scene of monsters.
L: Hello! I'm the Doctor! And I need your help!
This could be a convention game, or a game for guest players you know, where the normal players may or may not appear and may or may not play their regular characters - but even if they do, they shouldn't overshadow the guest players. This will need cooperation from the regular players, of course. Otherwise, the game will be rather baffling and full of in-jokes and the guest players may not get to do very much, and all of these are to be avoided.
The guest players' characters are generally normal modern-ish people (as they're easy to relate to) so it's a huge over-the-top space-opera threat looming over normal modern-ish Earth.
It probably features Daleks.
Even if it doesn't feature Daleks, it probably has Daleks appear in a crowd scene of monsters.
L: Hello! I'm the Doctor! And I need your help!
Friday, 25 February 2011
A series-ful of plots series two: The Series Finale, Take Two
So you've ended one series, possibly with a fleet of Dalek ships or the imminent destruction of reality as we know it or some other way of pulling out all the stops. Do you try and top it, or do something else?
12: Don't look back. Just go. RUN!
13: Is this it? Is this my death?
12: Don't look back. Just go. RUN!
13: Is this it? Is this my death?
A series-ful of plots series two: Time Travel
You might think that a show about a time traveller would have a fair number of episodes about time travel, but this isn't really the case. Normally, the TARDIS is a magic door to a new adventure, and once you're there, you're there. Episodes where time travel is a major feature after the initial setup are much less common, although Steven Moffat is doing his best to change this...
The series has built up some (rather inconsistent) rules about time travel, from ontological paradoxes and how they apparently work even though they don't to the Blinovitch Limitation Effect saying that you can't meet yourself or you shouldn't meet yourself or you mustn't come into contact with yourself or that's okay as long as you're from a parallel universe or nothing else has happened or...
Generally, going back in time and having another go at fixing things is not on. Unless time itself has gone very wrong, in which case it is. I think. Anyway, there's a lot about this in a future supplement, but I'm not here to talk about how it works as that changes from story to story, I'm here to talk about the story in time travel itself.
11: Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey!
The series has built up some (rather inconsistent) rules about time travel, from ontological paradoxes and how they apparently work even though they don't to the Blinovitch Limitation Effect saying that you can't meet yourself or you shouldn't meet yourself or you mustn't come into contact with yourself or that's okay as long as you're from a parallel universe or nothing else has happened or...
Generally, going back in time and having another go at fixing things is not on. Unless time itself has gone very wrong, in which case it is. I think. Anyway, there's a lot about this in a future supplement, but I'm not here to talk about how it works as that changes from story to story, I'm here to talk about the story in time travel itself.
11: Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey!
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas Courtney, the longest serving and one of the most well-loved of the series' recurring guest stars, has died at the age of 81.
His appearances go from the First Doctor to The Sarah Jane Adventures, meeting all of the original run's Doctors on screen or in audio plays, and the Brigadier carried on the good fight in novels and comics as well.
SFX reran an interview with him as part of their obituary.
His appearances go from the First Doctor to The Sarah Jane Adventures, meeting all of the original run's Doctors on screen or in audio plays, and the Brigadier carried on the good fight in novels and comics as well.
SFX reran an interview with him as part of their obituary.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
A series-ful of plots series two: And Now For Something Completely Different
Doctor Who can do so much, so it's a good idea to balance light and dark, thrilling adventures, Big Emotional Episodes, horror shows and so on across a series, rather than having a few similar unconnected adventures back to back. Apparently with the mid-series split this year, the episode order has been juggled so we don't have too many funny ones or too many scary ones in a given block.
So take a look at what you've done before, and what you're planning next, and find a place for something a bit different. This could be a format-bender, or simply something in a different theme. Something like a special guest writer might bring this, but it helps to have variety in mind anyway.
10: This, I was not expecting.
So take a look at what you've done before, and what you're planning next, and find a place for something a bit different. This could be a format-bender, or simply something in a different theme. Something like a special guest writer might bring this, but it helps to have variety in mind anyway.
10: This, I was not expecting.
A Challenge
One of our watchers bravely put this up. So this resulted in me coming up with thirty Radiohead songs that could work as Earthbound Who adventure titles.
(For an adventures in time and space game I'd go with Muse.)
(For an adventures in time and space game I'd go with Muse.)
Monday, 21 February 2011
A series-ful of plots series two: The Arc Episode
So you're building a series arc, and you want to sneak something important in a few weeks beforehand. This seems like a good time to do it!
This has been done to variable degrees and with variable success in the new series. Some were just repeated references subtle or otherwise, but some proved their importance in earlier episodes than anticipated. Mr. Saxon's machinations really started in The Lazarus Experiment and the Crack stopped being a minor out-of-character curio in Flesh And Stone and played a key role in Cold Blood as well.
9: What does that mean?
This has been done to variable degrees and with variable success in the new series. Some were just repeated references subtle or otherwise, but some proved their importance in earlier episodes than anticipated. Mr. Saxon's machinations really started in The Lazarus Experiment and the Crack stopped being a minor out-of-character curio in Flesh And Stone and played a key role in Cold Blood as well.
9: What does that mean?
Friday, 18 February 2011
A series-ful of plots series two: The Special Guest Writer
Or possibly the Blue Peter monster design competition.
Getting an adventure from an outside source - a DWAITAS supplement, another Who source like the books, comics or audio plays, a different game, some random geek's rambling Who blog - would fit here.
But one particular option is to canvass the players and see what adventure ideas they come up with. They probably have ideas for what they'd like their characters to see and do (which may or may not resemble what the characters themselves would want...) and might have suggestions for monsters and the like too.
The ultimate step is to let someone else take a turn GMing an adventure. Normally this is one of the players as they know the series, which can prove a fascinating insight into how the game works.
8: I was tempted to get someone else to write this article...
Getting an adventure from an outside source - a DWAITAS supplement, another Who source like the books, comics or audio plays, a different game, some random geek's rambling Who blog - would fit here.
But one particular option is to canvass the players and see what adventure ideas they come up with. They probably have ideas for what they'd like their characters to see and do (which may or may not resemble what the characters themselves would want...) and might have suggestions for monsters and the like too.
The ultimate step is to let someone else take a turn GMing an adventure. Normally this is one of the players as they know the series, which can prove a fascinating insight into how the game works.
8: I was tempted to get someone else to write this article...
RPG settings as Who adventure hooks
I linked to the thread in which we remix entire settings as episodes of Doctor Who on the DWAITAS forum, I believe, but having looked it up just now, I figure it's worth an entry on its own.
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