Post by bishop on Jun 23, 2010 0:51:46 GMT
Children of the Vortex
Context:
This is the first in a series of adventures with my three sons, ages 12, 10 and 5. They are passionate Doctor Who fans and have come to know its stories as both science fiction adventure and compelling character development (respectively for their ages). I viewed playing DW:AiTaS as a fun way to spend time together, a way to dig in deeper to Doctor Who mythos, and, perhaps, learn a bit about history too.
Despite knowing what they do about the Last Great Time War and the Doctor’s status as the last of his kind, the boys wanted to play Gallifreyans themselves - and more wanted to play characters similar to themselves and their respective ages. I loved the challenge, here’s how our first adventure went:
Story Background:
The boys were born on Gallifrey after the Last Great Time War began. The oldest two have stood before the Untempered Schism and been entered into the Academy (being inducted into the Prydonian house). The youngest has shown unique psychic powers, particularly telepathy, and has keep close to his brothers despite not joining old enough to go to witness the Untempered Schism or join the Academy.
Beginning:
Attacks by the Daleks during the time period the boys live in have intensified. The Academy has been closed and children are being evacuated. Children are to be relocated to another safer period in Gallifrey’s history transported by Temporal Trains. (This all comes from the children’s literature which involves the mass evacuations of London during WWII, imagery which my sons are very familiar with.)
Following a moving farewell to their parents, they boarded the train in its last carriage and prepared to be relocated in time (the train has safety locks preventing its travel in space). As the train begins its journey, there is an attack on the depot, and the boys see the “engine” and the rest of the cars being left behind. The engine being the navigation system while the last carriage housing the time coil, which allows travel through the Vortex.
Lost in the Vortex, the youngest accidentally witness it for the first time, which he endures with his brothers’ assistance. They then work together to “land” the carriage, ending up in an ancient Ice Age of Gallifrey’s past. As they being to freeze they attempt to work together to jiggery-pokery some type of navigation system. They fail to do so, but restart the time coil and reentering the Vortex out of control.
They emerge in the middle of a battle between Battle TARDISs and Dalek ships, taking heavy damage which causes the safety locks on the time coil to fail. They are thrust spinning into time and space and each loses consciousness...
They awake in a TARDIS and are soon greeted by the Third Doctor. He has watched over them for a few days while they slept and recuperated. He is amused and somewhat enchanted by their presence, and they seem to bring back some fond memories of his youth. He is horrified and moralistic about the Time Lords part in the Time War, but is even more concerned with the boys themselves. His diagnostic tests show them to be in perfect health, but that they have very unusual temporal energy.
Not interested in returning to Gallifrey (clearly this takes place after he has recovered the TARDIS dematerialization codes), he invites them to stay with him for a few days. As anxious as the boys are to get home, they have taken to him as a grandfather figure and are happy to stay a few days, rest, learn about Earth and its history, and even help him with tests.
During the next few days, the boys delve into Earth, they discover that their carriage had “crashed” into the TARDIS. Much like the Doctor caring for the boys, the TARDIS seems to be caring and tending to the carriage, so much so that it has taken on a different appearance and seems to be growing inside.
Finally the Doctor comes to them while they are in the TARDIS’ library, with grave news. He has determined that the Dalek’s used a “Time Bomb” in their attack on the Temporal Train depot. This bomb erases everyone and everything that is caught in its blast, not just destroying, but removing all traces of people and objects from existence. (The Doctor suspects that the bomb has even removed itself from existence too.)
Evidently, the boys carriage was dematerializing at just the precise moment and they escaped. Tragically, their parents and the thousands present at the depot were caught in the blast. The depot itself and the technology of the Temporal Trains would also have been erased form all time, leaving the carriage as a unique artifact of a world that never existed.
The Doctor sadly ends, “You are now more children of the Vortex, than of Gallifrey.”
Story Response:
The boys were both enthusiastic and deeply affected by the game session. We took a great deal of time learning together the mechanics and practicing how to tell the story together. We are looking forward to our future adventures.
Context:
This is the first in a series of adventures with my three sons, ages 12, 10 and 5. They are passionate Doctor Who fans and have come to know its stories as both science fiction adventure and compelling character development (respectively for their ages). I viewed playing DW:AiTaS as a fun way to spend time together, a way to dig in deeper to Doctor Who mythos, and, perhaps, learn a bit about history too.
Despite knowing what they do about the Last Great Time War and the Doctor’s status as the last of his kind, the boys wanted to play Gallifreyans themselves - and more wanted to play characters similar to themselves and their respective ages. I loved the challenge, here’s how our first adventure went:
Story Background:
The boys were born on Gallifrey after the Last Great Time War began. The oldest two have stood before the Untempered Schism and been entered into the Academy (being inducted into the Prydonian house). The youngest has shown unique psychic powers, particularly telepathy, and has keep close to his brothers despite not joining old enough to go to witness the Untempered Schism or join the Academy.
Beginning:
Attacks by the Daleks during the time period the boys live in have intensified. The Academy has been closed and children are being evacuated. Children are to be relocated to another safer period in Gallifrey’s history transported by Temporal Trains. (This all comes from the children’s literature which involves the mass evacuations of London during WWII, imagery which my sons are very familiar with.)
Following a moving farewell to their parents, they boarded the train in its last carriage and prepared to be relocated in time (the train has safety locks preventing its travel in space). As the train begins its journey, there is an attack on the depot, and the boys see the “engine” and the rest of the cars being left behind. The engine being the navigation system while the last carriage housing the time coil, which allows travel through the Vortex.
Lost in the Vortex, the youngest accidentally witness it for the first time, which he endures with his brothers’ assistance. They then work together to “land” the carriage, ending up in an ancient Ice Age of Gallifrey’s past. As they being to freeze they attempt to work together to jiggery-pokery some type of navigation system. They fail to do so, but restart the time coil and reentering the Vortex out of control.
They emerge in the middle of a battle between Battle TARDISs and Dalek ships, taking heavy damage which causes the safety locks on the time coil to fail. They are thrust spinning into time and space and each loses consciousness...
They awake in a TARDIS and are soon greeted by the Third Doctor. He has watched over them for a few days while they slept and recuperated. He is amused and somewhat enchanted by their presence, and they seem to bring back some fond memories of his youth. He is horrified and moralistic about the Time Lords part in the Time War, but is even more concerned with the boys themselves. His diagnostic tests show them to be in perfect health, but that they have very unusual temporal energy.
Not interested in returning to Gallifrey (clearly this takes place after he has recovered the TARDIS dematerialization codes), he invites them to stay with him for a few days. As anxious as the boys are to get home, they have taken to him as a grandfather figure and are happy to stay a few days, rest, learn about Earth and its history, and even help him with tests.
During the next few days, the boys delve into Earth, they discover that their carriage had “crashed” into the TARDIS. Much like the Doctor caring for the boys, the TARDIS seems to be caring and tending to the carriage, so much so that it has taken on a different appearance and seems to be growing inside.
Finally the Doctor comes to them while they are in the TARDIS’ library, with grave news. He has determined that the Dalek’s used a “Time Bomb” in their attack on the Temporal Train depot. This bomb erases everyone and everything that is caught in its blast, not just destroying, but removing all traces of people and objects from existence. (The Doctor suspects that the bomb has even removed itself from existence too.)
Evidently, the boys carriage was dematerializing at just the precise moment and they escaped. Tragically, their parents and the thousands present at the depot were caught in the blast. The depot itself and the technology of the Temporal Trains would also have been erased form all time, leaving the carriage as a unique artifact of a world that never existed.
The Doctor sadly ends, “You are now more children of the Vortex, than of Gallifrey.”
Story Response:
The boys were both enthusiastic and deeply affected by the game session. We took a great deal of time learning together the mechanics and practicing how to tell the story together. We are looking forward to our future adventures.