[Original Character] The Gardener -- a damaged Time Lord

[Uncle_Beastly]

Here is my first attempt at a Time Lord character...

To make this character I filed the serial numbers of the Archivist (found on p.18 of Black Archive) and threw all the Traits and skills I liked the look of while trying to balance out the numbers...

(I don't play the game yet, at the moment I just collect it!)

I was aiming for a mildly comic character with a traumatic backstory (think the first series of the 7th Doctor mixed with the 9th Doctor)...

The Gardening AoE on the Craft skill and obsession with homemade produce and pipe smoking (and the Questioning AoE on Convince) is in homage to my Dad, a retired headteacher, who introduced me to Doctor Who.

(Please review and tell me where I have gone wrong! )

The Gardener crashed through the Time Vortex during an attack by a Dalek ship armed with a Maelstrom Cascade. Due to the horrific temporal nature of the weapon his TARDIS died and the resulting psychic backlash/artron fallout caused him to forcibly regenerate...

Now stranded on Earth and in a permanently weakened state, he works as a technical consultant for UNIT from his peaceful allotment sanctuary.

Deep in the Vortex a DARDIS attack ship chased a TARDIS of truly ancient make. The occupant Time Lord scrambled round the controls, frantically pulling levers and pressing buttons, hoping for a miracle.
"Come on darling. One last big push..."
The time rotor wheezed and groaned in protest, and the Time Lord laid a reassuring hand on a support strut.
The communications panel crackled, and the harsh mechanical voice of a Dalek was heard echoing round the Console Room: "Halt your vessel and stand by to be boarded! Failure to do so will result in immediate extermination!"
The Time Lord's response was to reduce life support to a minimum and boost the propulsion. The acceleration was accompanied by "Prepare to be exterminated! Launch Maelstrom Cascade!"

The last thing the Time Lord heard before waking up after regenerating on Earth, terribly diminished, was the dying scream of his TARDIS's Cloister Bell...

The Gardener -- a damaged Time Lord

Awareness 4[2]        Presence 2[1]
Coordination 3[1]     Resolve 2[1]

Ingenuity 5[6]         Strength 2[1]

(Square brackets denote -2 attribute changes due to Dead TARDIS trait, +3 Ingenuity from Gallifreyan race package and Time Lord trait, and -1 Strength from Gallfreyan. Presence/Resolve/Strength loss from Dead TARDIS trait triggered a regeneration and are set at 1 due to Regeneration Table Notes on p.45 of Time Traveller's Guide)

Traits
Boffin (Major Good): Can create Gadgets [2]
Experienced x2 (+4 CP, +4 skill points [6 SP]
Friends (Major) – UNIT [2]
Time Traveller (Minor x2): Familiar with Tech Levels 6 and 7. [0]

Biochemical Genius (Major Good) [2]
CIA Agent (Major Good [Time Travller's Companion]) [2]
Have I Been Here Before? (Minor Good [6th Doctor Sourcebook]) [1]
Innocent (Minor Good [7th Doctor Sourcebook]) [1]
Percussive Maintenance (Minor Good) [1]
Positive Outlook (Minor Good [7th Doctor Sourcebook]) [1]
Resourceful Pockets (Restriction: Pipe and tobacco, gardening supplies) [0]
Reverse The Polarity of the Neuron Flow (Major Good) [2]
Tech Sensitive (Minor: Dalek (Restriction: triggers Past Trauma) [Black Archive]) [0]
Time Lord (Experienced) +8 Skill points [2]

GALLIFREYAN (3 CHARACTER POINTS)
ATTRIBUTES: Ingenuity +1, Strength -1
TRAITS: Technically Adept (Minor Good): +2 to any Technology roll to fix a broken or faulty device, Psychic (Restriction: Contact or recognition of other Gallifreyan's only), Resistance (Radiation)
If the Gallifreyan character spends 1 additional Character Point, they may remove the restriction on their Psychic Trait and may then purchase other Traits that require Psychic as a prerequisite.

PATREX CHAPTER TIME LORD (4CP, 4SP [Time Traveller's Companion])
The Patrexes were philosophers and artists with a talent for insight. A Patrexian Time Lord takes the following Bonuses and Traits:
ATTRIBUTES: +2 Ingenuity (from Time Lord)
SKILLS: +1 Convince or Craft
GOOD TRAITS: Charming, Epicurean Tastes, Feel the Turn of the Universe (from Time Lord but removed because of Dead TARDIS), Frivolous Talent (Gardening), Psychic Training, Time Lord, Vortex (from Time Lord)
BAD TRAITS: Eccentric (gifts people with unwanted bottles of homebrew wine &/ pots of jam/chutney), Distinctive (Always dressed for a day in the garden - scruffy jumper, muddy trousers, wellington boots & with a pipe on hand to smoke), Obsession (Minor: Growing perfect plants; Clearing leaves; Homebrewing; Making jams/chutneys)

Obligation (Major) – UNIT [-2]

Dead TARDIS (Major Bad: no Feel the Turn of Universe trait [6th Doctor Sourcebook]) [-2]

Failed Mind Wipe (Major Bad: memories of Time War [Black Archive]) [-2]

Faulty Heart (Major Bad [Time Traveller's Companion]) [-2]

Fragments (Minor Bad: memories of Time War [Black Archive]) [-1]
Impaired Senses (Minor Bad: wears glasses) [-1]
Indolent (Minor Bad [7th Doctor Sourcebook]) [-1]
Last of My Kind (Minor Bad) [-1]
No Imprimatur (Major Bad [6th Doctor Sourcebook]) [-2]
Past Trauma (Major Bad: Time War [7th Doctor Sourcebook]) [-2]
Temporal Castaway (Minor Bad - TL5 [Black Archive]) [-1]

Wanted Renegade (Special Bad [Time Traveller's Companion]) [1 SP]

(Character Points: 24)

Skills: Convince 2[3] (Questioning 5), Craft 3 ([Gardening 6], Homebrewing 5, Jam & Chutney Making 5), Knowledge 4[5] ([Secrets of the Time Lords 7], Strategy and Tactics 7), Marksman 2, Science 4 ([Biology 6, Chemistry 6]), Subterfuge 2[4], Technology 4 (Demolitions 6, TARDIS 6), Transport 3.
(Square brackets in skill section are bonuses from various traits and not counted against skill limit)

(30 skill points [18 + 4 (Experienced) + 8 (Time Lord: Experienced)])

Tech Level: 10 Story Points: 3[+3 from CIA Agent]

Armour-Piercing Wicked Secateurs (free Gadget from Time Lord [Gadget Traits from Black Archive])
Dead Ancient TARDIS (disguised as garden shed; +2 SP [from No TARDIS (Time Traveller's Companion)])

[Stormcrow]

That's... a lot of stats for one character.

People really walk around with this person calling him "the Gardener"? "Gardener! What is that thing?" "Help, Gardener!" "I'll get you, Gardener, if it's the last thing I do!" Titles-as-names really only work when the title is an honorific one would add to a name anyway. "Gardener" not an honorific.

[misterharry]

Nov 21, 2018 15:01:34 GMT Stormcrow said:

That's... a lot of stats for one character.

People really walk around with this person calling him "the Gardener"? "Gardener! What is that thing?" "Help, Gardener!" "I'll get you, Gardener, if it's the last thing I do!" Titles-as-names really only work when the title is an honorific one would add to a name anyway. "Gardener" not an honorific.

Strange, I'd not spotted the rules on what not to name your own Time Lord characters in your own games. Gardener sounds like a perfectly good name for a Time Lord to me, along the same lines as the Adventurer, the Handyman, the Coachman, the Investigator (and loads more) - all names of Time Lords created by members of this forum and none of them honorifics. Or Corsair, Monk or even Rani, if you want examples from the TV series - nobody would address a genuine Rani as "Rani" in real life; it's like calling the queen "Queen", and yet it's OK in Doctor Who.

Why not try to be a bit positive about people's contributions to the forum once in a while?

[Uncle_Beastly]

I thought "Gardener" worked both as an assumed surname and Time Lord-esque honorific. *shrug*

"Random alien widgit? Take it to Gardener, he knows a bit about bizzarre tech..."

"Arrgh! Killer triffids spraying toxic pollen! Where's the Gardener with his anti-Vervoid weedkiller when you need him?"

(It's the same amount of traits as the Fouth Doctor = 28)

[Hedgewick]

Nov 21, 2018 18:27:19 GMT Uncle_Beastly said:

"Random alien widgit? Take it to Gardener, he knows a bit about bizzarre tech..."

"Arrgh! Killer triffids spraying toxic pollen! Where's the Gardener with his anti-Vervoid weedkiller when you need him?"

It's a perfectly fine name. I kind of like it, actually! I've always had a soft spot for Time Lords in role-playing games that follow this naming convention. And I love that snipped of narrative that you've added to his origin.

[Catsmate]

Nov 21, 2018 18:05:08 GMT misterharry said:

Nov 21, 2018 15:01:34 GMT Stormcrow said:

That's... a lot of stats for one character.

People really walk around with this person calling him "the Gardener"? "Gardener! What is that thing?" "Help, Gardener!" "I'll get you, Gardener, if it's the last thing I do!" Titles-as-names really only work when the title is an honorific one would add to a name anyway. "Gardener" not an honorific.

Strange, I'd not spotted the rules on what not to name your own Time Lord characters in your own games. Gardener sounds like a perfectly good name for a Time Lord to me, along the same lines as the Adventurer, the Handyman, the Coachman, the Investigator (and loads more) - all names of Time Lords created by members of this forum and none of them honorifics. Or Corsair, Monk or even Rani, if you want examples from the TV series - nobody would address a genuine Rani as "Rani" in real life; it's like calling the queen "Queen", and yet it's OK in Doctor Who.

Why not try to be a bit positive about people's contributions to the forum once in a while?

'Gardiner' is a perfectly reasonable surname (well for current English speaking humans) and a homophone so maybe;
"Who are you? And why are you standing over that still warm body?"
"I'm the Gardener"
"Theo Gardiner? Never heard of you. Anyway you're under arrest".


Frankly the continual use of titles by Time Lords seems rather silly to me.

[misterharry]

Nov 22, 2018 10:11:53 GMT Catsmate said:

'Gardiner' is a perfectly reasonable surname (well for current English speaking humans) and a homophone so maybe;
"Who are you? And why are you standing over that still warm body?"
"I'm the Gardener"
"Theo Gardiner? Never heard of you. Anyway you're under arrest".

Exactly, Gardener could easily be mistaken for the Time Lord's real name in many circumstances, so it doesn't sound odd at all to me.

Frankly the continual use of titles by Time Lords seems rather silly to me.

Nah, calling your Time Lord something like Percy the Pulchritudinous Pig is silly! Naming them after titles or callings is an established convention - and outside of role-playing games it's actually not that common at all. There are only half a dozen examples in the fifty-five years of the TV series and only one or two I can think of in the expanded canon. It's mainly gamers who love to use these sort of names, and why not? It's their gaming universes they're creating the characters for, after all. Nobody is insisting that the Gardener is officially part of the Whoniverse. And he's unlikely to bump into the Engineer or the Chronosmith or the Clockmaker or any of the dozens of other similarly named characters created for other campaigns set in other universes entirely.

[simonf]

Nov 19, 2018 10:19:13 GMT Uncle_Beastly said:

 +3 Ingenuity from Gallifreyan race package and Time Lord trait, and -1 Strength from Gallfreyan. me Traveller's Companion)]) 

I don't think the Attribute modifiers stack. My understanding is that it's possible to take the Gallifreyan race package or the Time Lord Trait, but not both.

[SoulDragon298]

The Gallifreyan race package is for playing a normal Gallifreyan who hasn't graduated the Academy and received their Imprimatur. Time Lord is for those who have received it, so it doesn't really make sense to have both.

[greyhame]

Taking both Gallifreyan & a Time Lord package makes perfect sense to me - If you notice, the Gallifreyan race package gives you 'Resistance (Radiation)' which none of the Time Lord packages do (& we know from the Doctor that Time Lords do have this).
Also, Scion of Gallifrey clearly mentions other races being able to take it - so, to me, that seems to hint that other races 'could' become Time Lords. I suppose that it just depends how you interpret things.

[definativewillg]

Nov 22, 2018 14:55:33 GMT misterharry said:

Nov 22, 2018 10:11:53 GMT Catsmate said:

'Gardiner' is a perfectly reasonable surname (well for current English speaking humans) and a homophone so maybe;
"Who are you? And why are you standing over that still warm body?"
"I'm the Gardener"
"Theo Gardiner? Never heard of you. Anyway you're under arrest".

Exactly, Gardener could easily be mistaken for the Time Lord's real name in many circumstances, so it doesn't sound odd at all to me.

Frankly the continual use of titles by Time Lords seems rather silly to me.

Nah, calling your Time Lord something like Percy the Pulchritudinous Pig is silly! Naming them after titles or callings is an established convention - and outside of role-playing games it's actually not that common at all. There are only half a dozen examples in the fifty-five years of the TV series and only one or two I can think of in the expanded canon. It's mainly gamers who love to use these sort of names, and why not? It's their gaming universes they're creating the characters for, after all. Nobody is insisting that the Gardener is officially part of the Whoniverse. And he's unlikely to bump into the Engineer or the Chronosmith or the Clockmaker or any of the dozens of other similarly named characters created for other campaigns set in other universes entirely.

Seems to me some of us  must have seen "Being There". The main character, played by Peter Sellers name (and title I suppose) "Chance, the gardener" is misheard as  as "Chauncey Gardiner" . Its a charming movie,But tell me if his outfit is totally Doctor-ish.