A War in Heaven

[rulandor]

Inspired by the basic concept of the Faction Paradox, I have introduced sort of a special form of Time War into my campaign.

In this war, the Time Lords are at odds with the "Darklords" (creative, huh?), and "currently" both are battling about a doomsday weapon called the Black Ark (shamelessly stolen).

Now, I am still struggling to keep the Daleks as a major threat in the campaign. Possibly, the Darklords try to manipulate the Daleks as an instrument of their own struggle with the Houses of Time (as the normal Time Lord faction is called in the campaign).

Could it be in any way possible that it is the other way around? Could the Daleks (or some intellectual superior sub-category of them) be imagined as manipulating a bunch of rogue Time Lords like the Darklords? What do you think?

The Darklords' strategic aim is, by the way, to use the resources of the Time Lords in order to rule and shape the universe, in stark contrast to the non-interventionist policy of the High Council. Rassilon or Morbius or the Master could very well have incited the formation of the Darklord faction.

[Catsmate]

Hmmm, interesting concept.

The first idea that popped into my head is the Battle Computer chair from Remembrance of the Daleks and the notion that someone the Daleks had used as a strategist ended up taking over a group of them and and using them for their own purposes. This might explain the Daleks (or a faction of them) using such relatively subtle (for them) tactics. That way there'd be our factions in play; the Time Lords, the Daleks, the Darklords and the Renegade Daleks. This would allow for various alliance, cooperation and back-stabbing.

[rulandor]

Thank you for your input! Great ideas, that I am going to use. Especially the potential of various alliance is a perfect tool for my Time War storyline.

So, Remembrance of the Daleks is on my next Doctor Who shopping list!

[Catsmate]

May 11, 2015 17:47:23 GMT rulandor said:

Thank you for your input! Great ideas, that I am going to use. Especially the potential of various alliance is a perfect tool for my Time War storyline.

So, Remembrance of the Daleks is on my next Doctor Who shopping list!

Yeah I'm not sure where it came from but the more I think about it the more I like it as the source of a antagonist group, renegade Renegade Daleks. Maybe the Daleks try their machine on a Time Lord (such as the Master) and get more than they expected.
Sort of like the humanised Daleks from Evil of the Daleks, a small group hiding out the rest of the Daleks.
Or perhaps a brilliant Dalek leader like General Xenol Chief Scientist Yttral from Second Empire is responsible.

[Hedgewick]

This is an exciting set-up. The War in Heaven concept has always been engaging, and it should make great fodder for an epic campaign.

Given the concept of warring factions introduced here, there's a twist that might be employed. Based on this scenario, I would be tempted to establish the Darklords as the villains, gradually reveal that they have come to dominate a faction of Daleks--and then, once the status quo has seemingly been established, allow the players to learn that the Time Lords themselves have forged a sort of deal-with-the-devil bargain with the opposing force of Daleks! This revelation might be the pivotal twist in the arc. As the war unfolds, the Time Lords and their (Imperial) Dalek allies would battle the Darklords and their (Rebel) Dalek servants, with terrible consequences.

What tactics, abilities, or motivations might differentiate or distinguish the Dalek factions? Might the Time Lords ally with a specific sect or distinct group of Daleks? The Cult of Skaro, the Eternity Circle, or the Dalek Time Controller? What do the Daleks know or possess that the Time Lords need to turn the tide of the war? How do the Daleks themselves hope to benefit from the bargain? Undoubtedly, there would be a balance of treachery throughout. (The Time Lords might plot to dispose of the Daleks at a key point in the war, and the Daleks themselves might be using this time to obtain some unimaginably powerful device or technology.) Is the alliance a well-kept secret, a conspiracy? How might the general populace of Gallifrey react to knowing their leaders have allied with their most dangerous enemies?

At the risk of over complicating things, this would add a significant moral quandary to the campaign, establish a sort of balance of power, and position the player characters themselves between two equally abhorrent combatants. There's no end to the war stories that could be told here.

[Catsmate]

I like that, a good opportunity for plot twists, desperate alliances and betrayals.

Ever since reading/watching Second Empire I've been intrigued by the idea of factionalism within the Daleks. I think it provides an opportunity for passing beyond the usual paradigm of Daleks simply as adversaries.

The idea of the Cult of Skaro (and their backstory) also has possibilities; what if they're trying to preserve the Dalek race by betraying the Emperor?

[rulandor]

Yes, both Time Lord factions (High Council and Darklords) might be secretly in cahoots with a Dalek faction. An especially intriguing variant (because of moral quandaries) might be if the sinister Darklords are allied with a renegade Dalek cult that perhaps wants to veer off the genocidal agenda of imperial Daleks.

If the war goes badly for the Houses of Time, a faction of the High Council an Gallifrey might consider an alliance of convenience with the Dalek Emperor.

In the end the player characters are confronted with the "good" Time Lords scheming with the Dalek Emperor and the "bad" ones scheming with comparably "good" Daleks.

I love this brainstorming. If anybody has additional ideas, do not hesitate to post them! :-)

[Marnal]

Er... the Daleks are subtle and clever LOTS of times. You don’t need an excuse or special faction for it.

* The Daleks: Invite all the Thals to a dinner, then kill them all.
* Dalek Invasion of Earth: Disguise their bio-warfare weapons as a random space plague. Then arrive and kill them all.
* The Chase: Build a Robo-Doctor to infiltrate the TARDIS and then kill them all.
* Power of the Daleks: Pretend to be the servants of humanity and then kill them all.
* Evil of the Daleks: Get the Doctor to think he’s going to humanize the Daleks when in reality he’s show them how to Dalek-ize humans.
* Day of the Daleks: Have their human collaborators pretend to be nice guys to get the Doctor and Jo to explain where the Rebels are. And then kill them all.
* Death to the Daleks: Disguise their bio-warfare weapons as a random space plague, then monolpolize the cure and blackmail the Galaxy.
* Genesis of the Daleks: Let Davros and the other Kaleds think they are in charge until we know longer need them. And then kill them all.
* Destiny of the Daleks: Realize we’ve been outsmarted by a computer and run back to our daddy crying.
[or War of the Daleks Version: trick our Daddy into thinking we are idiots so that we can use him in a plot to convince the Time Lords that our homeworld has been destroyed.]
* Resurrection of the Daleks: Make evil clones of the Lord President of Gallifrey to infiltrate and take over the High Council.
[or War of the Daleks Version: trick our Daddy into thinking we are idiots so that we can use him in a plot to convince the Time Lords that our homeworld has been destroyed.]
* Revelation of the Daleks: Arrest our upstart daddy.
* Remembrance of the Daleks: Use controlled humans to infiltrate Earth society to seize Time Lord tech and make themselves Lords of Time.
[or War of the Daleks Version: trick our Daddy into thinking we are idiots so that we can use him in a plot to convince the Time Lords that our homeworld has been destroyed.]
* Dalek: A Dalek tries to kill them all.
* Parting of the Ways: The Daleks pretend to be a media corporation for centuries to get humanity to grow them a new army. And then kill them all.

I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point. Daleks love to play subtle manipulative shadow games. They love to use proxies to fight their battles.
So make the Daleks as fiendish, manipulative, and clever as you want. They may look like tanks and act like tanks when in combat. But outside of combat they are very very much a master of miss direction.

[rulandor]

Hm. Hm.

So I don't need any special faction? That is something worthy of consideration.

Perhaps the whole reason for the War in Heaven might have the vague outlines of a pepperbox. Indeed, why should a vainglorious Time Lord be immune against a multilayered Dalek conspiracy, playing with his delusions and aspirations?

If the Daleks were capable of laughing, they might find reason to do it.

Indeed, Marnal, if one takes your arguments at face value, then Moffat's Time War might have been the most easy way to do it. Why should the Daleks do all the dirty work themselves? Why not manipulate the High Council to spend their doomsday devices at the wrong places, then swoop in and, as you so aptly put it, kill them all?

[Catsmate]

I think one of the reasons Daleks aren't perceived as subtle is their general on-screen portrayal as clumsy killing machines ("My vision is impaired........Bang!").
They don't do sneaky at an individual level, lurking in shadows, crawling along ducts and all the other stuff associated with espionage.

Of course given the recent human switch to drones, information warfare and ElInt that's increasingly an inaccurate vision; indeed the Daleks fit better into that paradigm. Certainly as a race they're capable of being quite devious.

However I still like the idea of multiple factions among them, with different objectives and styles. Including one subverted by a renegade Battle Computer.

[Marnal]

Oh I'm not saying you shouldn't have multiple factions of Daleks. Just that you don't need them to justify subtle manipulative Dalek plots. Personally I see them as the enemy all along in pre-Nu-Who Time War. And they Time War in Nu Who is just what that War became when the Time Lords finally figured out who the real enemy was [hey it worked for Attack of the Clones!]

[jennysfan]

May 15, 2015 16:34:23 GMT Marnal said:

Oh I'm not saying you shouldn't have multiple factions of Daleks. Just that you don't need them to justify subtle manipulative Dalek plots. Personally I see them as the enemy all along in pre-Nu-Who Time War. And they Time War in Nu Who is just what that War became when the Time Lords finally figured out who the real enemy was [hey it worked for Attack of the Clones!]

True enough. Though I do like my 'Web of Time retcon' idea.

Point is the Daleks can be clever & subtle. It is something that they spend a lot of resources on actually. They just tend to make sure that it is normally a small group or even a single specialized individual who is charge of that sort of thing.

Exceptions to this can be awesome. "Power of the Daleks" comes to mind.