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Post by doctorflea on Feb 17, 2012 16:47:55 GMT
It takes a while folks. there's no way around it. the TTC is a good example. I have to pull all the imagery and the player's guide alone has 100+ pictures, so it takes time, as you might imagine. Layout takes time, and editing is not all that swift either. Then there's the labyrinthine approvals process, which can take any amount of time. Still, things are afoot and you have real reson to feel like there's a light (on top of a TARDIS) at the end of the tunnel... That's fantastic news, Pertwee. Thank you for keeping us 'in the loop'. However, from what you are saying, does this mean these forthcoming items have yet to go through the "labyrinthine approvals process"?
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Rassilon
Administrator
Grand Administrator
Posts: 751
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Post by Rassilon on Feb 17, 2012 17:56:27 GMT
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Post by garethl on Feb 17, 2012 18:16:52 GMT
Thanks! I didn't find it because I was searching for the username 'pertwee'. I am really looking forward to both The Time Travellers Companion and Defending the Earth. Didn't the latter have mass combat rules? If so, I am going to test them with the Battle of Canary Wharf. ;D
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Post by Pertwee on Feb 17, 2012 19:38:22 GMT
That's fantastic news, Pertwee. Thank you for keeping us 'in the loop'. However, from what you are saying, does this mean these forthcoming items have yet to go through the "labyrinthine approvals process"? Yep. Every product does. And they can't go through piecemeal, they have to be complete and ready to go. And even then, the Beeb may come back and request changes. And just to give you a sneak peek, here is a list of what's in the Time Traveller's Companion box at this stage: The Player's GuideFor the players, including a chapter on Gallifreyan life and history, a chapter on advanced Time Lord creation and Regeneration, a chapter on Temporal mechanics and alternate time travel devices, and finally, a chapter that contains everything there is to know about a TARDIS. Each chapter supported by rules to use the various ideas discussed in your games. The GM's Guide This book contains a chapter called 'Dark secrets of the Time Lords' which gives an alternate, more accurate account of some of the events in the PG, including events that the average Time Lord won't know about. It also has information and stats for a number of Time Lord renegades. The chapter on Temporal Mechanics is largely the same as the PG version, but includes a few extra time uncommon travel devices (like the SIDRAT) and helpful rules to adjudicate temporal phenomena and adventure seeds to inspire adventures set around them. The TARDIS chapter is also largely the same (to avoid the GM having to flip through two different books). I just wrote and layed out the last chapter 'Think you've seen everything? think again...' which gives more alternate, optional rules, Gallifreyan NPCs and a collection of tables for those who do not have or cannot use the card decks. The Card DecksThere are three card decks to be included in the box. The first is a regeneration deck, for handling this most pivotal of events in a Time Lord's lives. It also serves a secondary purpose, allowing GM's to create detailed NPCs on the fly. The second is a Misjump Deck, for figuring out what happens when your trips through the Vortex don't go as planned. The third is a TARDIS Damage Deck for those times when your TARDIS takes a beating. Why cards? Well, there are a few good reasons. First, they're quicker than tables. Second they're more compact than tables, and third, they are easily expandable. That last point is important, because, it allows you to tailor your campaign more easily. I can forsee additional locations being added into the misjump deck, new distinctive features being added into the Regneration Deck, or new systems being added to the TARDIS damage deck as those systems come up in the series. The possibilities for deck customization are pretty much limitless, whereas a table in a book is pretty much impossible to modify and rather predictable. Data CardsThe GM's Guide has a section on 'Letting the Experts Speak' and these cards facilitate that. Basically, whenever the players encounter one of the temporal phenomena in the book, the person who successfully identifies it (most likely the Time Lord) gets a card with information pertaining to it that they can then share (or not) as they see fit, in character. No GM infodumping necessary and characters can hold back info if, like the 7th Doctor, they need to for reasons their companions won't understand. Needless to say, there are blank cards for you to use for your own 'Expert Info,' which can really be anything. The 11 DoctorsAll the incarnations of the Doctor will have a character sheet in this box, including special rules for each incarnation that reflect that particular Doctor's strength and weaknesses, like the Third Doctor's dematerialization code mental block during his exile. TARDIS SheetsA record sheet for keeping track of yout TARDIS, including little side slots to slide cards under to record damage. Another good reason for card decks.
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Post by doctorflea on Feb 18, 2012 10:42:07 GMT
Thank you, Pertwee, for that comprehensive reply that has certainly whetted my appetite for this box set. I can't even begin to express the awesomeness of it all While it all sounds magnificent, the cards are a stroke of genius - anything that cuts down on referencing rules books during a game is "just what The Doctor ordered".
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Post by Rel Fexive on Feb 18, 2012 12:56:20 GMT
Crikey! How does The TTC manage to sound better and better every time I hear more about it?
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stahlman
3rd Incarnation
Doctor, stop wasting my time, will you?
Posts: 222
Favourite Doctors: second,third,fourth
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Post by stahlman on Feb 18, 2012 13:01:45 GMT
Thanks-gosh there are some changes forthcoming-I like the further streamlining with card decks although more for the novitiate gamer I imagine
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Post by kingkaddish on Feb 19, 2012 0:38:04 GMT
Just the expanded coverage with the official stats covering the various 11 Doctors has me wanting to buy this now.
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Keeper
2nd Incarnation
Posts: 21
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Post by Keeper on Feb 19, 2012 3:15:42 GMT
Okay i have the david tennent edition and alot of what i am hearing sounds as if the might have changed the system a bit is this true ? Thank you Yours in time the Keeper
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Rassilon
Administrator
Grand Administrator
Posts: 751
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Post by Rassilon on Feb 19, 2012 13:58:27 GMT
Just the expanded coverage with the official stats covering the various 11 Doctors has me wanting to buy this now. Just to be clear: he was talking about The Time Traveller's Companion, not the new Basic Set.
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Post by Stormcrow on Feb 19, 2012 15:38:49 GMT
Okay i have the david tennent edition and alot of what i am hearing sounds as if the might have changed the system a bit is this true ? The impression I got was that some of the text was cleaned up to better explain certain things, and perhaps some oddball cases have gotten rulings, but that the actual game system hasn't changed.
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Post by Pertwee on Feb 19, 2012 17:52:33 GMT
Just to clarify, the box contents described above are for The Time Traveller's Companion, not the Core Box. I'll edit that to say so directly.
As for the Core Box, Stormcrow has it on the nose. You will find it almost identical to the Tennant Box, outside of the new character sheets, monsters and gadgets and a few tweaks here and there, but nothing that makes the Tennant box a different game.
Pulling pictures for the TTC now. Should have the books completely done in the next week...
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Post by Escher on Feb 19, 2012 21:49:47 GMT
I hope the writers are talking into account that the 1st & 2nd Doctors (and Susan) had somehow temporarily severed their 'reflex link' psychic connections to the Time Lords so they could travel incognito.
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Post by kingkaddish on Feb 20, 2012 0:27:10 GMT
Just the expanded coverage with the official stats covering the various 11 Doctors has me wanting to buy this now. Just to be clear: he was talking about The Time Traveller's Companion, not the new Basic Set. ...crap. I thought this was in the 11th Doctor Boxed set....
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Post by imajica on Feb 20, 2012 15:21:18 GMT
The answer to this is probably "no" but I'm going to ask anway...
Will the template for the Card Decks be made available as a download to allow us GMs to create our own cards on our nice, shiny computers? I appreciate that having a download link is dependent on having a website for the RPG...
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Post by Pertwee on Feb 20, 2012 17:05:03 GMT
I hope the writers are talking into account that the 1st & 2nd Doctors (and Susan) had somehow temporarily severed their 'reflex link' psychic connections to the Time Lords so they could travel incognito. In the episode 'The Invisible Enemy' the Doctor comments on the reflex link, a special organic nodule in his brain, by saying it is a connection that allows him to connect to the Time Lord Intelligentsia but he lost that ability when they 'kicked him out,' probably during his exile. It can be assumed that the link is facilitated by the telepathic circuits and the act of 'kicking him out' denied him direct access, through those circuits, to the 'gestalt mind' of the Time Lords, although it is never implied that this connection is mandatory. Even in the new series, the implication is that a Time Lord can always feel the 'presence' of his race in the back of his mind, but cannot tell exactly where they are and are individually thinking from one moment to the next, unless they hook up with the gestalt mind directly and give specific information (as the Doctor does by using the Telepathic Circuits in Planet of the Daleks), by sending messages in telepathic mailboxes ( The War Games and The Doctor's Wife) or are standing in relative proximity (as when two Time Lords, despite multiple regenerations, recognize each other like Drak does with the Doctor in The Armegeddon Factor, which is also covered in the rules). Let me point out briefly, though, that while the TTC is pretty comprehensive on the general level, factoids and background material that really are only come up in a single episode, like the Reflex Link, or one off events like absorbing the vortex through the TARDIS console, are beyond the scope of this box. Instead they will be covered, specifically, in the individual Doctor Box sets in the section on that episode, or generally, by using the 'Other Extraordinary Feats' rule from the Core Box. Otherwise, we'd have an unrealistically massive boxed set that duplicates a lot of material from other sets. The answer to this is probably "no" but I'm going to ask anway... Will the template for the Card Decks be made available as a download to allow us GMs to create our own cards on our nice, shiny computers? I appreciate that having a download link is dependent on having a website for the RPG... I should think so, but not on a 'Who specific' site. I imagine that, if the BBC denies C7 the right to do dedicated forum boards, they won't be too chuffed about a fully dedicated web page. Still, I'm sure it could be popped up on a general resources page and there will be a number of blank cards in the set, so you could always photocopy a sheet for your own use.
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Post by Curufea on Feb 21, 2012 4:34:31 GMT
The answer to this is probably "no" but I'm going to ask anway... Will the template for the Card Decks be made available as a download to allow us GMs to create our own cards on our nice, shiny computers? I appreciate that having a download link is dependent on having a website for the RPG... I've made templates for the gadget cards if you want them. I can do the same for the monster cards.
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Post by Escher on Feb 21, 2012 14:31:23 GMT
I hope the writers are talking into account that the 1st & 2nd Doctors (and Susan) had somehow temporarily severed their 'reflex link' psychic connections to the Time Lords so they could travel incognito. In the episode 'The Invisible Enemy' the Doctor comments on the reflex link, a special organic nodule in his brain, by saying it is a connection that allows him to connect to the Time Lord Intelligentsia but he lost that ability when they 'kicked him out,' probably during his exile. It can be assumed that the link is facilitated by the telepathic circuits and the act of 'kicking him out' denied him direct access, through those circuits, to the 'gestalt mind' of the Time Lords, although it is never implied that this connection is mandatory. Even in the new series, the implication is that a Time Lord can always feel the 'presence' of his race in the back of his mind, but cannot tell exactly where they are and are individually thinking from one moment to the next, unless they hook up with the gestalt mind directly and give specific information (as the Doctor does by using the Telepathic Circuits in Planet of the Daleks), by sending messages in telepathic mailboxes ( The War Games and The Doctor's Wife) or are standing in relative proximity (as when two Time Lords, despite multiple regenerations, recognize each other like Drak does with the Doctor in The Armegeddon Factor, which is also covered in the rules). Hi, with genuine respect I’m already aware of all this; I'll be more specific regarding my concerns: are practical reasons/game mechanics given concerning the 1st and 2nd Doctors in regards to not being able to be tracked by the Time Lords during their tenures? How did they do it? There will be some point where players ask “If the 1st and 2nd Doctors are fugitives from their own near-omnipotent race, why can’t the Time Lords track or detect him as they did so in later seasons?” I assumed this was the reflex link you see… I'm not being argumentative, but players will come up the most incisive questions from time to time.
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Post by Stormcrow on Feb 21, 2012 16:51:40 GMT
I'm not being argumentative, but players will come up the most incisive questions from time to time. Make up some gobbledygook about psychic links and reversing polarity. Whenever the series does this it means, "This is a plot device; don't worry about it."
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Post by imajica on Feb 21, 2012 16:53:37 GMT
Hi, with genuine respect I’m already aware of all this; I'll be more specific regarding my concerns: are practical reasons/game mechanics given concerning the 1st and 2nd Doctors in regards to not being able to be tracked by the Time Lords during their tenures? How did they do it? There will be some point where players ask “If the 1st and 2nd Doctors are fugitives from their own near-omnipotent race, why can’t the Time Lords track or detect him as they did so in later seasons?” I assumed this was the reflex link you see… I'm not being argumentative, but players will come up the most incisive questions from time to time. You could (entirely unofficially, of course) take the lead from "The Doctor's Wife" and have the TARDIS shielding itself - and, by extension and coincidence the Doctor - from the rest of the Time Lords. Why she would stop doing that is a matter for debate and I'm out of good ideas at the moment.
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Post by Escher on Feb 21, 2012 22:31:00 GMT
If we are supposed to make it up ourselves I'll go with 'Reflex Link'. Still, I had hopes we'd get more thorough writeups.
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Post by Kit on Feb 21, 2012 23:26:30 GMT
If we are supposed to make it up ourselves I'll go with 'Reflex Link'. Still, I had hopes we'd get more thorough writeups. I think the issue may be addressed in TTC. Though I honestly dont remember. There is a lot of stuff there covering pretty obscure bits of Time lord strangeness.
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Post by Pertwee on Feb 22, 2012 2:56:22 GMT
If we are supposed to make it up ourselves I'll go with 'Reflex Link'. Still, I had hopes we'd get more thorough writeups. Believe me, you are. As I mentioned, each Doctor is done up using not only the new rules from the TTC, but each one has a 'special rule that reflects that particular incarnation. But as I also mentioned, there are very specific things that are not covered because there simply is not enough room. these things will be left to the individual episode guides to explain. Until those pop up, I suggest using your best judgement and the 'Other Extraordinary Feats' rules. And if your players want to know why the Doctor could hide, tell them it was a combination of a museum piece TARDIS that almost no one (outside of the tribunal that exiled the Doctor) even knew was missing until Spandrel discovered the fact in 'The Deadly Assassin' and possibly an attempted bypass of the Matrix Interface by the Doctor that resulted in his totally random trips for two incarnations. Also the connection the Doctor talks about is not a specific one that can pinpoint you down to the inch and second, but a general feeling in the back of the head that gets stronger until two Time Lords meet face to face (for which there are rules in the TTC) or hook into the Time Lord Intelligentsia directly, something the Doctor wasn't likely to have done before the War Games, which might explain why he was so woefully uninformed about Daleks, Cybermen and the like.
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Post by Escher on Feb 22, 2012 3:28:56 GMT
If we are supposed to make it up ourselves I'll go with 'Reflex Link'. Still, I had hopes we'd get more thorough writeups. Believe me, you are. As I mentioned, each Doctor is done up using not only the new rules from the TTC, but each one has a 'special rule that reflects that particular incarnation. But as I also mentioned, there are very specific things that are not covered because there simply is not enough room. these things will be left to the individual episode guides to explain. Until those pop up, I suggest using your best judgement and the 'Other Extraordinary Feats' rules. And if your players want to know why the Doctor could hide, tell them it was a combination of a museum piece TARDIS that almost no one (outside of the tribunal that exiled the Doctor) even knew was missing until Spandrel discovered the fact in 'The Deadly Assassin' and possibly an attempted bypass of the Matrix Interface by the Doctor that resulted in his totally random trips for two incarnations. Also the connection the Doctor talks about is not a specific one that can pinpoint you down to the inch and second, but a general feeling in the back of the head that gets stronger until two Time Lords meet face to face (for which there are rules in the TTC) or hook into the Time Lord Intelligentsia directly, something the Doctor wasn't likely to have done before the War Games, which might explain why he was so woefully uninformed about Daleks, Cybermen and the like. That's a great response. Very eloquently put pertwee. Thank you!
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stahlman
3rd Incarnation
Doctor, stop wasting my time, will you?
Posts: 222
Favourite Doctors: second,third,fourth
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Post by stahlman on Feb 24, 2012 7:47:36 GMT
Whilst I quite understand the excitement about the imminent arrival of the 11th Doc ed I am much more interested in the TTC,DTE and a screen would be good too.Having said that I am sure I wil get the new set anyway.It just now loooks so much more hopeful post the newsletter
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misterharry
Dominus Tempus
Dalek Caan's Lovechild
Posts: 3,246
Favourite Doctors: Second, Third, Fourth, Eleventh, Thirteenth
Traits: Empathic, Face in the Crowd, Insatiable Curiosity, Stubborn, Phobia (Heights), Unadventurous
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Post by misterharry on Feb 24, 2012 11:00:22 GMT
Whilst I quite understand the excitement about the imminent arrival of the 11th Doc ed I am much more interested in the TTC,DTE and a screen would be good too. Me too - though I'm looking forward to the new monsters and adventure book too. We should be getting a new C7 newsletter any time now. Hopefully with more DWAITAS news - particularly about the pdf version, which should be available imminently!
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Post by garethl on Feb 24, 2012 13:22:55 GMT
Me too - though I'm looking forward to the new monsters and adventure book too. Me three! But what book(s) are you referring to? The individual Doctor sets?
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misterharry
Dominus Tempus
Dalek Caan's Lovechild
Posts: 3,246
Favourite Doctors: Second, Third, Fourth, Eleventh, Thirteenth
Traits: Empathic, Face in the Crowd, Insatiable Curiosity, Stubborn, Phobia (Heights), Unadventurous
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Post by misterharry on Feb 24, 2012 13:37:16 GMT
I was meaning the new monsters and adventures in the 11th Doctor set. But the individual Doctor sets are actually the things that I'm most looking forward to!
Once the 11th Doctor edition is out, hoepfully that will open the flood gates, so anything after that will be most welcome. If things pan out as has been hinted at by C7, I can see my bank account being sorely tested!
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Post by garethl on Feb 24, 2012 13:43:47 GMT
My mistake, I completely forgot about the, in the core included, adventure book and thought you were talking about a new monsters and adventure book(s).
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Post by Kit on Mar 2, 2012 15:47:34 GMT
C7 has the 11th Doctor set up for pre-order [with a $10 discount through this weekend]
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