Creating Abrams-like Doctor Who game?

[Kit]

I've been asked to run a DWAITAS game for a group of young gamers. They like to game and like the show, but know very little of its history. The approach we are going to take is a reboot/revamp/re-imagining in the mold of Marvel's Ultimate line or the Abrams' Star Trek film. The players will create their own version of the Doctor and companions, free of the continuity of the series.

What classic or new races would you use?
Which would you skip?
which classic or new characters would you use?
Which would you skip?
What episodes from new or classic series might you actually revise and run players through?

[starkllr]

Do your players have any particular favorite episodes or characters from the new series?

From the classic series, you probably couldn't go wrong with a visit to Skaro and a re-do of "Genesis of the Daleks".

For a mini-campaign, you could do your own version of the Key to Time. You could take as much or as little of the actual stories as you like (personally, I'd keep Pirate Planet and Androids of Tara and make up new adventures for the rest, but to each their own), so long as you retain the basic structure of six segments to find over six adventures, and a dilemma of what to do with the Key at the end.

I think having anoter Tie Lord out there woud be worthwhile. The Rani, the Meddling Monk, or a totally new creation of yours.

[Siskoid]

Flares, lots of flares!

Ok, seriously now... Just because players don't know much about the history doesn't mean you need to change the world. I guess you're going to use the Doctor, because all new characters have to learn everything from scratch anyway and need introductions to any new concept, alien or character. Characters learn the history as they make it, sort of thing (this is what happened with my group who was really only conversant with the new series).

So how much of a revamp is it? Do Daleks still look like Daleks? Might they have completely different origins? Are you willing to use the fact that your players don't know about the history to completely rewrite it?

In any case, I think almost any old monster or story could work in a reboot environment. You can change the ones that had problems, and keep the ones that were awesome. For younger gamers, I think Ice Warriors (reptilian Martians!) could be a nice addition (come on, new series!), and stories like Invasion of the Dinosaurs or Terror of the Zygons (with the Loch Ness monster) would be pretty cool. You can NEVER go wrong with dinosaurs! I'd do away with UNIT and have the third Doctor stories happen on whatever visit to Earth. Inferno, where the companions can meet their evil selves would be cool, but the Primords need a fix (maybe make them some Silurian plot instead).

And don't forget the historicals. I'd throw a pure one in from time to time based on the gamers' interests. Something I've done is asked the players to have a conversation around the console like "Anywhere in history? The Wild West? The Pyramids? The time of the Samurai?" and see what they come up with, then use it.

I've once wanted to do a series that goes through all the classic stories in order, but revamped and modernized. It could be a fun experiment.

It's also a fun idea (which I've done for a James Bond RPG) to have episode viewing sessions at some point allowing your players to watch how other characters dealt with similar situations. They could see the original timeline, so to speak. Makes them discover old treasures and at the same time get to go "I'm way braver than Susan!" or "That's me! I did that too!"

[starkllr]

I've once wanted to do a series that goes through all the classic stories in order, but revamped and modernized. It could be a fun experiment.

Oh, that sounds fantastic! For my game, I've thought about doing sequels to classic stories, but this would be a really cool campaign.

[Siskoid]

I've had that sequel idea too, but as a (perhaps complicated) series where your TARDIS is somehow locked onto the Doctor's, but you always arrive after the Doctor's left and have to deal with the consequences of his actions.

[Kit]

Good points.

Part of the genesis of the idea is that some want to play the Doctor, but not any of the versions they've seen. Largely, they feel inadequate to the task. They also feel intimidated by the history of the series. So, they asked if they could do a reboot. The core concept of the Doctor would remain and the exterior of the TARDIS would remain, but anything else goes. Dalek history can be rewritten. Cybermen may get yet another origin. The meddling monk may appear as may the Master. or Romana. There is the freedom for me to rewrite old episodes that players have never seen and as you suggest, have them watch the eps afterwards.

There is some decision making going on about whether the player Doctor will be his first incarnation or a second or later incarnation. Any thoughts on the pros/cons of this?

Also, the other players are not restricted to cannon companions. They may mix and match from new and old series companions with revised histories or they may create their own companions.

[Craig Oxbrow]

The series sort of did this in 2005, of course. Sure, the Doctor is the Ninth to begin with and he knows who the Daleks are, but equally he knows who the Judoon and Weeping Angels are in their first appearances, and the Cybermen get a new origin, while the Time Lords are swept away.

But anyways, plenty of things could be shaved off.

You could go more radical, and look at the series that might have been in the 90s before it was locked as being the Eighth Doctor - he was just the Doctor, and had a new half-human origin with the Master being his all-Gallifreyan half-brother, meeting the spider-y Daleks at their creation, and possibly having adventures adapted from previous series (although they were apparently examples of the kinds of stories that could be told with the format rather than real plans to remake episodes).

Or look at the movies, where the Doctor is the apparently human Doctor Who and Susan is about eight or nine, as discussed, along with other reboot notions, at Bigger On The Inside.

Certainly look to Rose for a guide, and compare the Eighth Doctor's pilot for an example of not rebooting but showing off continuity too heavily for a potential new audience.

I'd keep the TARDIS always recognisable as a blue box rather than something like A Door, the Daleks Dalek-y if the potential audience have any fondness for the show, the Time Lords absent or distant unless someone wants to play another one, and then get to raiding.

One change I'd definitely consider would be to make the Doctor or equivalent less mighty compared to the other potential PCs, as play balance may well matter more than fealty to the series.

[Craig Oxbrow]

And to answer the follow-up questions you posted while I was typing: A second or third Doctor would have had plenty of time to build up a rogue's gallery of enemies, as well as one or two he'd be understandably wary of since they killed him. But the First Doctor managed to get to about six hundred years old, so he would have time for this as well...

And since you don't need to worry about casting, maybe the Time Lords don't change appearance when they regenerate except to get a bit younger? ... If they regenerate at all?

I'd ask the players, and by default leave it as a question for the moment, in case you have a great "Past Doctor Crossover" idea. And even those could be done with a future Doctor instead...

[Curufea]

I'd do a latter day EDA game. One of the Doctor's companions is Compassion. That would be "thinking outside the box"

[cliffordjones]

Hmmm, things I would probably be tempted to do in a reboot:

Mainly, start at the beginning. A reboot gives you the opportunity to take everything back to day 1. This is pretty much what Abrams did with his Star Trek movie. Basically you get to do the 'origin story'.

So, a 1st Doctor, on Gallifrey, gets fed up and steals a TARDIS. Goes to Earth 50s/60s where the TARDIS disguises itself a police telephone box. Somehow the chameleon circuits get damaged and the TARDIS gets 'stuck' in this form. The Doctor maybe meets some groovy young people who would like to go travelling in time and space.

At some point, the Time Lords summon The Doctor back to Gallifrey and cut him a deal. They agree to let him keep the stolen TARDIS if he helps them investigate some problem they have. His invesigation won't be official as the Time Lords have a strict non-interference policy. Cue lots of grumbling about Time Lord hypocrisy.

So The Doctor goes off to investigate. He eventually discovers that there is an evil plot to take over the galaxy. But who is behind this plot? The answer, it seems, will be found on the mysterious planet Skaro...

[brainsnaffler]

It sounds a good idea to me as it can be intimidating to play the Doctor a certain way and expressing certain mannerisms. Ok I will add my views here..

I wouldn't even classify the doctor. It's just.....the Doctor. His regenerative number is unspecified because it doesn't matter in game. He is who he is. That way, you avoid canon and running out of regenerations etc. whilst also allowing the players to create new uniforms and mannerisms for him. Much fun

As for classic bad guys, well... everyone loves the staple ones like Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Sea Devils etc.

I would obviously use them but if you wanted true radical change, then I would think about the concept behind the baddies and try to re-imagine them. For example, the Daleks have underpinning theme of totalitarian regimes and racial purity. Cybermen about conformity and uniformity. I'm sure lots of fun could be had delving into those concepts and re-imagining them!

Which one's would I skip? Hmmm not so sure there are that many that deserve skipping. Part of the love for classic 60's dr who's (and even later than that) is in looking past the special effects. I suppose the only one that sticks out massively is the Quarks!

Having recently watched the Unearthly Child, I think it's as great today as it ever has been! What a story! Plenty of character interaction and problem solving and not an alien in sight!

I think the Silurians is also another good story to do, but it takes a bit of work to come up with better reasons to ignore the doctors advice, other than blind stupidity

Sounds a good idea to me anyway and if they EVER get around to releasing specific Doctor themed campaign sets running through the various incarnations adventures, it's a concept I'm sure many people here would love to explore.

Let us know how you get along with it.

[starkllr]

I wouldn't even classify the doctor. It's just.....the Doctor. His regenerative number is unspecified because it doesn't matter in game. He is who he is. That way, you avoid canon and running out of regenerations etc. whilst also allowing the players to create new uniforms and mannerisms for him. Much fun

If you're doing a re-boot, you could combine the above approach with a twist on the the way the new series did it.

In the new series, the Doctor remembers the Time War and what he did to end it, and the Universe at large (at least the "higher species") remember the Time Lords, and there's still evidence scattered here and there of their presence.

So tweak that a bit - the end result of the Time War was not that the Time Lords and Daleks were destroyed, or "Time-locked", but instead they were completely unhappened. They never existed.

Nobody remembers them, there's no record of evidence of Time Lords anywhere in the Universe, and the history of the Universe might have taken very different turns.

And the only survivor is your new Doctor, who knows that he's a Time Lord, even as he doesn't remember what a Time Lord actually IS...

[da professor]

Some interesting ideas here. Some may well find their way to a future campaign of mine.

[zebaroth]

if I were to Do reboot I would most likely keep the origin the same. but would mix it up a bit when it came companions like have ace with one the other doctors William hartnill, John petwey or tom baker maybe .
as for villeins the daleks , the master, the nistine and the autons, and possibly The monk and The Rani.
I would do some of the episodes listed on the Hidden Planet to keep it fun for the players.
as for episodes i would redo would be Spear head from space. and Time and The Rani as those are two of my favorites. and maybe just for a funny and strange game session up have the doctor Go up against Doctor Frank N Futer( From The Rocky Horror Picture show )

[Doctor X]

Someone beat me to the "Do the Peter Cushing version" idea, so deleted that post. The Celestial Toymaker as the recurring foe, maybe?