Easy to write for Monsters?

[ugavine]

Do you find yourself drawn towards a particular monster time and time again when writing Doctor Who RPG adventures?

Generally most stories I seem to come up with would be perfectly suited to the Cybermen. Unlike many fans I wouldn't count Cybermen as my favourite monster, yet time and time again when writing adventures I'm thinking , "Oh this would be a great Cyberman story."

Obviously I don't want my campaign to be 'Doctor Who and the Cybermen Adventures', so I end up writing half the adventure then finding another monster to put in the place of the Cybermen.

Anyone else drawn to a particular monster?

[Craig Oxbrow]

Generic invaders in space battle armour, who aren't very good shots.

Off-brand Imperial Stormtroopers, basically. Or Sontarans without the height-based casting restriction. Add a gibberish name and some details of what their armour looks like, and off they go!

I came up with five of these bands of goons in a thirteen-episode series (and another in a one-shot) and only two of them had remotely memorable gimmicks. Which I'd stolen.

[elbarre]

I actually keep bringing back the Quick the villains in the premade adventures area. I did all three adventures, and keep making knew ones they are our campaigns recurring villains and always seem to grab the players attention, seeing how that they now have a long lasting relationship with these creatures.

[Siskoid]

I dunno... I've used Daleks, Autons, stuff I cribbed from GURPS books like Creatures of the Night and bad Time Lords.

I once had the opportunity to use the Cybermen and decided to go with a completely different cyborg life-form.

I do feel a need to update classic series monsters, but have been holding back for my players' sake. Still... I've got to get some Ice Warriors into the action at some point.

[knasser]

Sontarans.

They aren't the villain that I always use, but they are the gold standard of enemies in my game. Their simple desire for war makes them a natural villain, easily deployed. Their power-level (both thematically and in terms of game abilities) makes them hugely versatile.Want a lone Sontaran villain causing trouble? No problem. Want a small detatchment of thirty-some warriors deployed occupying a Yorkshire town? No problem. Want a fleet of them besiging a peaceful alliance of planets? No problem. And their war with the Rutan Host provides an instant array of plot-intros, rivals and all sorts of complications as needed. If the Cybermen occupied a small Yorkshire town, it would be a very different story, with forced conversions and the instant threat of them wanting to spread out and convert the world. If a lone Dalek was the antagonist of the story, then you'd instantly expect the World to be at stake.

Sontarans establish a base-line. When the Daleks make their appearance in my game, it will be when they decimate a group of Sontarans, thus making clear how dangerous they are.

I like Sontarans.

[Kit]

Nov 17, 2010 10:08:42 GMT knasser said:

Sontarans.

They aren't the villain that I always use, but they are the gold standard of enemies in my game. They're simple desire for war makes them a natural villain, easily deployed. They're power-level (both thematically and in terms of game abilities) makes them hugely versatile.Want a lone Sontaran villain causing trouble? No problem. Want a small detatchment of thirty-some warriors deployed occupying a Yorkshire town? No problem. Want a fleet of them besiging a peaceful alliance of planets? No problem. And their war with the Rutan Host provides an instant array of plot-intros, rivals and all sorts of complications as needed. If the Cybermen occupied a small Yorkshire town, it would be a very different story, with forced conversions and the instant threat of them wanting to spread out and convert the world. If a lone Dalek was the antagonist of the story, then you'd instantly expect the World to be at stake.

Sontarans establish a base-line. When the Daleks make their appearance in my game, it will be when they decimate a group of Sontarans, thus making clear how dangerous they are.

I like Sontarans.

good points

[Curufea]

I'm not sure Daleks would take time to kill just one in ten Sontarans - they're more likely to kill all of them.



(This message brought to you by the league to keep the use of the word decimate accurate)

[misterharry]

Nov 18, 2010 1:32:34 GMT Curufea said:

I'm not sure Daleks would take time to kill just one in ten Sontarans - they're more likely to kill all of them.

And the Sontarans would love it. "Wonderful!"

I have to say the Sontarans are my own default baddies too. They're adaptable to so many different scenarios and styles of play.

[knasser]

Nov 18, 2010 1:32:34 GMT Curufea said:

I'm not sure Daleks would take time to kill just one in ten Sontarans - they're more likely to kill all of them.



(This message brought to you by the league to keep the use of the word decimate accurate)

Well you know it's quite possible that I actually did mean decimate in its original sense: after all, those pesky Sontarans can move pretty fast when they're being exterminated.

My campaign has now faltered due to work and player issues, so I don't know if this will happen. But I have pencilled out a story that takes place on a large Sontaran troop transport, carrying prisoners back to Sontar for interrogation / analysis. As well as a group of Judoon, a Krillitane and a load of Trions, there are a handful of imprisoned Daleks (seven reds and a blue). Naturally the players will suspect that the Daleks are going to get loose and start killing everyone.

Which of course they are.

[Kit]

Nov 18, 2010 11:50:44 GMT knasser said:

Nov 18, 2010 1:32:34 GMT Curufea said:

I'm not sure Daleks would take time to kill just one in ten Sontarans - they're more likely to kill all of them.



(This message brought to you by the league to keep the use of the word decimate accurate)

I love the idea of this adventure.
Out of curiosity, how many adventures did you run for your group?
Well you know it's quite possible that I actually did mean decimate in its original sense: after all, those pesky Sontarans can move pretty fast when they're being exterminated.

My campaign has now faltered due to work and player issues, so I don't know if this will happen. But I have pencilled out a story that takes place on a large Sontaran troop transport, carrying prisoners back to Sontar for interrogation / analysis. As well as a group of Judoon, a Krillitane and a load of Trions, there are a handful of imprisoned Daleks (seven reds and a blue). Naturally the players will suspect that the Daleks are going to get loose and start killing everyone.

Which of course they are.

[lomythica]

Morbius - Pre atomization. Most of the creatures my campaign will be creations or mutations created by Morbius. I may even create an alternate creation story for one of the core races in the WHOniverse... Maybe Morbius helped Davros build his life support technology... And then told him to watch out for pesky timelords that would try to stop him at every turn..

[ugavine]

A couple of my recent ideas have involved Morbius.

[lomythica]

Great minds think alike!

[Kit]

I have trouble getting past how silly Morbius looked as a monster

[lomythica]

Well, my campaign takes place in Gallifreyan time period before Morbius was atomized. The Cult of Morbius is in full swing. He's the elusive big bad that they will eventually have to face off with.

[curtisj]

Nov 17, 2010 10:08:42 GMT knasser said:

Sontarans.

They aren't the villain that I always use, but they are the gold standard of enemies in my game. Their simple desire for war makes them a natural villain, easily deployed. Their power-level (both thematically and in terms of game abilities) makes them hugely versatile.Want a lone Sontaran villain causing trouble? No problem. Want a small detatchment of thirty-some warriors deployed occupying a Yorkshire town? No problem. Want a fleet of them besiging a peaceful alliance of planets? No problem. And their war with the Rutan Host provides an instant array of plot-intros, rivals and all sorts of complications as needed. If the Cybermen occupied a small Yorkshire town, it would be a very different story, with forced conversions and the instant threat of them wanting to spread out and convert the world. If a lone Dalek was the antagonist of the story, then you'd instantly expect the World to be at stake.

Sontarans establish a base-line. When the Daleks make their appearance in my game, it will be when they decimate a group of Sontarans, thus making clear how dangerous they are.

I like Sontarans.

I seem to have trouble writing for the Sontarans, even though they are my favourite Doctor Who baddies. I seem to be drawn towards a)Time Lords (despite playing post-Time War) and b) parallel universes. Often in the same episode.

[alix367]

Typicaly I use creatures that I've created, although I am rather partial to Daleks. Nothing inspires fear like an intelligent trashcan. I want to use the Carrionites though, they look like they can be real fun.

[chickenpaddy]

Carrionites are really good for prodding the characters from a distance. All they need is to cast a little techno magic and you have an awesome scenario for a story. In a story of mine, the witches and created a mini-dragon to guard one of their rift generators. When the characters encountered it, it was friendly and submissive. However, later, when triggered by the witches, it turned aggressive and tried to kill the players. Luckily, they used diplomacy to tame it and free it from control of the Carrionites. Heh. Now it travels with them.