starting a new campaign (hopefully) how is this?

[kidcthulhu]

I want to start a game where the pc's are all newly graduated time lords in a parallel universe where gallifrey still exists, but the Doctor does not. How does that grab ya?

[Craig Oxbrow]

It certainly gives you a lot of leeway to change things. What else is different? for example, will they meet the Daleks on Skaro, and prevent them gaining time travel?

It doesn't appeal to me personally (parallel universe games for licensed settings where the canon didn't happen never do) but I'm not going to be at your table so that's beside the point.

[kidcthulhu]

At it's core it is a way to introduce the game to people who may only have a passing knowledge of DW. Ultimately I may destroy their universe and throw them into the main universe.

[chickenpaddy]

If you're going to do that, you might as well set it in the canon universe to begin with. I think the best way to introduce people to Doctor Who is having them interact with it directly. I think you would be missing an excellent opportunity by not having the players as young Time Lords directly assist the Doctor in the Time War. You could explain the PCs surviving using any number of Timey-Wimey explanations (void ship, reality bubble, dimension gate, etc.). Like Craig Oxbow said, it's your game, but these are just a few suggestions.

Personally, I like the idea of the players playing Time Lords, especially with the new rules out in the TTC book. Just be sure your players will be able to handle the great power of the Time Lords that is given to them.

[Pertwee]

I put a setting option in the TTC to do just that: act as though the Doctor never existed and have the PC Time Lord take his place. There are a lot of advantages to this, the main one being that the Doctor doesn't overshadow the PCs.

You can follow the path of the series for your adventures, which makes adventure creation easy. The new Doctor Sourcebooks coming out this year will help there. Alternately, if your players are intimately familiar with the classic series, or you prefer a series more inclined towards the modern revival in style, you could say the Doctor bit it in the time war and the PC characters are the ones who survived.

I think it's a great idea and one you should run with. The First Doctor Sourcebook should be out in PDF shortly and that will give you everything you need to get started.

[Escher]

Jan 3, 2013 14:58:31 GMT Pertwee said:

The First Doctor Sourcebook should be out in PDF shortly

Arrghh! Now I'll be checking Drivethru obsessively... ;D

[knasser]

I think it sounds fine as it is. It must never be forgotten that the PCs are the stars of the show. That's half of what the players love. The DW universe is incredibly rich and filled with stories just waiting to be told. If they're not going to be the Doctor then go ahead and through them in as newly graduated Time Lords. They can have great fun discovering the Daleks, battling Zygons or just flying off in their own new and insane direction.

Embrace change. That's what DW:AiTaS is all about to me.

[chickenpaddy]

Alright. So I was wrong. I guess one thing that holds me back when it comes to this is I find myself getting stuck inside the box. I have a hard time seeing the more "out there" stories and usually play it safe. Nothing wrong with a little universe bending, I suppose.

My main point I was trying to make earlier was that it seemed silly to me to demolish the old universe your players had spent so much time saving and you creating, only to set them up with the original classic
Doctor Who universe. But, as always, you're the GM and there's nothing stopping you from creating whatever fantastical scenarios you want. Heck, there's simply no way I, sitting behind a computer, possibly hundreds of miles away, can truly see the grand scope of whatever ideas you have in mind.

I guess what I'm trying to say is have fun, and don't let anything (even the rules) get in the way of that.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Jan 3, 2013 2:53:44 GMT kidcthulhu said:

At it's core it is a way to introduce the game to people who may only have a passing knowledge of DW.

In that case, I'm not sure throwing them in at the deep end (playing Time Lords, even young ones) is the best approach. I'd probably start unfamiliar players with human characters.