What's at stake?

[brainsnaffler]

Hi everyone,

Hoping you can help me.

I really want to run a decent adventure during the Dalek Invasion of Earth. I want all the PC's to be human rebels.

As anyone who's watched the story knows, the Daleks ultimate plan is a bit...weird to say the least. I want to try and build in some kind of plot twist with a good, exciting climax to it.

Problem is, I'm having difficulty thinking of ideas to come up with a suitable tension-filled plot twist and climax as the stakes for mankind have already sort of been lost - the Daleks have already invaded and enslaved everyone.

Has anyone got any ideas about how I can shift the focus from the drivy planet master plan to something else? I.e. what could the Characters stand to lose?

[cigarman]

There was a fanbook in the works called "Invasion" that would have covered this exact situation, but I haven't seen any updates on it in quite some time.

[misterharry]

OK, so the Daleks have invaded, but the humans don't know why. Is it just for the joy of conquering other planets? That's a bit dull. So the obvious options are either that they plan to use the Earth in some way or there's something here they want.

The latter is probably the most straightforward. A powerful weapon or artifact rumoured to be hidden here, possibly during the Time War (if the campaign is set after this). Or an ancient enemy of the Daleks that they want to destroy once and for all - or possibly capture alive for interrogation (otherwise why wouldn't they just bombard the planet from space?). Or a fugitive who's stolen something of vital importance from them.

The Daleks planning to use the planet in some way might be more interesting though. It could just have strategic importance in their larger plans for the conquest of the galaxy, but that lacks any personal impact on the humans. What if they're planning to use it as a trap for an enemy force - maybe the Movellans? The Daleks are planning to lure that force (or a significant part of it) to Earth, but then they'll detonate a Very Big Bomb capable of taking out both the planet and the enemy in orbit around it, perhaps even a good chunk of the solar system just to be on the safe side. So, mankind may have lost their freedom already, but now they'll lose their planet and face extinction. Instead of drilling to the centre of the Earth in order to install a planetary drive, the Daleks are drilling in order to plant a planet-buster bomb, and the rebels have got to discover what they're doing and stop it. In the meantime, the enemy force is on its way and will have its own plans for dealing with the Daleks... (I can't take credit for this idea - it's a reworking of the premise behind one of the Virgin novels.)

[Catsmate]

May 6, 2016 7:25:37 GMT misterharry said:

OK, so the Daleks have invaded, but the humans don't know why. Is it just for the joy of conquering other planets? That's a bit dull. So the obvious options are either that they plan to use the Earth in some way or there's something here they want.

The latter is probably the most straightforward. A powerful weapon or artifact rumoured to be hidden here, possibly during the Time War (if the campaign is set after this). Or an ancient enemy of the Daleks that they want to destroy once and for all - or possibly capture alive for interrogation (otherwise why wouldn't they just bombard the planet from space?). Or a fugitive who's stolen something of vital importance from them.

The Daleks planning to use the planet in some way might be more interesting though. It could just have strategic importance in their larger plans for the conquest of the galaxy, but that lacks any personal impact on the humans. What if they're planning to use it as a trap for an enemy force - maybe the Movellans? The Daleks are planning to lure that force (or a significant part of it) to Earth, but then they'll detonate a Very Big Bomb capable of taking out both the planet and the enemy in orbit around it, perhaps even a good chunk of the solar system just to be on the safe side. So, mankind may have lost their freedom already, but now they'll lose their planet and face extinction. Instead of drilling to the centre of the Earth in order to install a planetary drive, the Daleks are drilling in order to plant a planet-buster bomb, and the rebels have got to discover what they're doing and stop it. In the meantime, the enemy force is on its way and will have its own plans for dealing with the Daleks... (I can't take credit for this idea - it's a reworking of the premise behind one of the Virgin novels.)

I previously toyed with the idea of moving the GodEngine (from Craig Hinton's EU novel GodEngine (wiki, RefGuide) from Mars to Earth (and also Mondas) as part of an ancient Osiran experiment. Just drop the need for an absence of a planetary magnetic field and have the Daleks learn about the device, and you've a reason for the invasion and a justification for the Daleks looking to acquire a Smith-esque dirigible planet.
The Mondasians humans develop faster than the Terrans and, thousands of years ago, discover this device. Being humans they start to meddle with it, and send their planet heading off into space (and kill about 99.9% of their population).

In the ^eDoctor universe I re-used this idea to justify the Thaleks invading Earth, something that'd be logistically very difficult for them. They stumbled over a cache of Osiran tech and information, used a wormhole generator to move their invasion fleet to the Sol system and a subspace jammer (producing strange icarons) to prevent fleets from human colonies and alien allies from reaching Earth.

If you wished to use this premise then the Daleks would also be stretched, low on resources and forces (hence the use of Robomen), reliant on the jammer to blockade the system (with few spacecraft) and intending to get the GodEngine activated before the humans overcome them (the departure of the Earth from it's orbit should eliminate any remaining humans nicely). The PCs could learn of the Dalek's weaknesses and overall plan, and seek to disrupt their operations long enough to weaken them sufficiently to be beaten (with or without the assistance of a passing Time Lord). There would probably be a lot of human survivors, but dispersed and without organisation or leadership and slowly dying from famine and plague (and occasional Dalek seek-and-destroy sweeps and bombings). There would probably be human bases and settlements throughout the solar system, and possibly undersea also, that could act as centres for resistance operations.

[Marnal]

When I did my "Dalek Invasion of Earth" I had the PCs meet up with the Doctor around the time he leaves London and travel with him to the mining site. Then I had the Doctor go to the mines while the PCs went after another, nearby digging operation [thus preserving TV continuity].

I had the Dalek's end goal to take control of the Gravity Control Unit that's hidden somewhere on the Earth.

According to the novel "Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma" millions of years ag the the Lamia build the Gravity Control Unit on the Earth.

The humanoid Laima live on the drab, and, hot planet Trion (located near the center of Mutter's Spiral, about 20,000 light years from earth). The world will come to be known as Tri-on because it will be inhabited by Laima, Slots, and the Gallifreyan Clansfolk (the Tractators who call this world home appear to be ignored). The word "Laimee" means happiness.

The Laima have great knowledge and power and discover the secret of Unified Field Theory. This theory is also known as the Skasas Paradigm or the God Maker Equation. It unlocks how the universe works, giving the user complete control of the basic building blocks of the universe (time, space, matter). The Unified Field Theory gave the Laima the ability to travel through time and to alternate universes. But to traverse these dimensions, they needed to stop the gravitational constant from decreasing. Desiring to travel to the next highest Universe (a dimension of Thought), they create the Gravity Generator Control Unit. This device stops the decay of the Gravitational Constant and stabilizes it at 6.672x10^-11 N (m/kg)^2 throughout the universe. The Laima leave this Universe.

The Gravity Generator Control Unit is placed on the Earth. The presence of the Gravity Control Unit makes physics operate differently around Earth (this is why it took humans so long time to discover FTL drive). The world's effect on the laws of physics attracts the attentions of several other species and serves as a catalyst for the hundreds of alien invasions that Earth experiences throughout the Humanian Era. Indeed Earth will become the most frequently attacked, colonized, exploited, and enslaved world in the 5 Galaxies.

The Earth's gravity control unit might be buried beneath the Indian ocean's gravity distortion (this is a real distortion that cause a deformation in the ocean). Or it might be located at Stonehenge (where the Monk built a monument) as it was the first place Tanis seized when he attacked Earth.

[brainsnaffler]

Thanks everyone, there's some good ideas here. The consensus does seem to be a slight re-take on the planet engine plot of the original storyline. I like this, as I want to keep the continuity where possible, but perhaps add in a little bit of my own flavour too.

This thread's given me some stuff to think about so I'm really happy :-)