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Post by Pertwee on Sept 21, 2012 13:23:57 GMT
As soon as it is out of approvals, the index can be created and the covers attached. Then it will be released in PDF and sent off to the printers.
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 21, 2012 13:49:50 GMT
Woo! I just ran my second game (with the 11th Doctor set), and that list of chapters is exciting. The option to run more rules heavy or light (the 'Quick & Dirty') is also interesting. I am still finding what balance my players want there. The way the options are laid out, you can mix and max freely between those two as well. So, for instance, you might use the full rules for the TARDIS (hardcore Time Lord mode as I think of it) and use the Quick and Dirty rules for non-TARDIS time travel devices. You could also use the detailed TARDIS systems with the Quick and Dirty time travel and damage rules (and there is a quick and dirty TARDIS sheet along with the detailed sheet and the more generic time travel device sheets). Optionally, you could switch back and forth between the full rules and the Quick and Dirty rules as the focus changes between detailed TARDIS use and quick, on the fly sort of stuff where the full rules would only bog things down (or Pertwee Mode, as I personally call it). So, for example, when the PC Time Lord is doing something extraordinary with the TARDIS to solve a problem, like inverting a rift or breaking through a Time Lock, I'll utilize the full rules to emphasize the complexity and wonder of the machine and how it is being torn apart by the forces involved. But if the TARDIS is not the focus, say it's being used simply as a conveyance to go from one planet to another as the players follow up a lead, then I'll resort to the Quick and Dirty system. Ultimately, as a Doctor Who guidebook, the TTC covers most of the TARDIS systems and reflect on the way it operates. Rules are then layered on to give each of those systems a game purpose. But the whole thing is very modular and you can use or ignore things as you like, as gamers are wont to do anyways.
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Post by Escher on Sept 21, 2012 17:36:32 GMT
Is there any difference between The TARDIS from Troughton/Pertwee's eras and the current one?
I'm just wondering if they are statted differently, have different traits or it was down to the Doctor's own skill (or lack of it!).
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 21, 2012 19:15:38 GMT
Is there any difference between The TARDIS from Troughton/Pertwee's eras and the current one? I'm just wondering if they are statted differently, have different traits or it was down to the Doctor's own skill (or lack of it!). Theoretically, yes. The one from the pre-Baker era was clapped out and it was only during the Pertwee era that we saw a dedicated attempt to fix it up in an attempt to get it working without the Time Lords control. After that, it gains considerably more accuracy as the series goes on, so we can assume that there were some intermittent repairs going on behind the scenes (as well as experiential gains on the part of the Doctor himself). As for the game line, no, not yet, but I'm sure that will change when the Classic Doctor books come out. I imagine the First Doctor's TARDIS, for instance, to be pretty similar to the default Decommissioned TARDIS from the TTC.
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Post by Marnal on Sept 21, 2012 22:45:03 GMT
You do realize that once the Time Traveler's Companion is published I'm going to have to re-write large hunks of my "TARDIS Technical Index" PDF (http://db.tt/ckZkkvEb)?? I just released that damn thing! Ditto for the Gallifreyan info in my "Rassilon, Omega, and that Other Guy" website [though that one has been needing an update for 2 years]. Of course I'll love every minute of researching a writing the update - but that's not the point!!! - Marnal Gate "I was told by the producer that the guiding principle was to make the scripts complex enough to keep the Kids interested and simple enough for the Adults to understand!" -Douglas Adams on writing Doctor Who For all things Time Lord see www.meshyfish.com/~roo/And for all things TARDIS see db.tt/ckZkkvEb
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Roger
2nd Incarnation
Lord Of Time And Space
Posts: 74
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Post by Roger on Sept 22, 2012 4:57:56 GMT
Wonderful news. Thank you so much for keeping us updated.
Even if I never played the game again these books would still be an amazing resource for the WHOniverse.
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cal585
2nd Incarnation
Posts: 14
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Post by cal585 on Sept 23, 2012 10:02:25 GMT
I don't really post here much (due to lack of RPG knowledge/skill), though I still keep checking to see what's happening. Anyway, just thought I'd post for once and add how absolutely, ridiculously keen I am for this. Words cannot describe. This is a must buy, regardless of price.
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 23, 2012 14:22:12 GMT
I don't really post here much (due to lack of RPG knowledge/skill), though I still keep checking to see what's happening. Anyway, just thought I'd post for once and add how absolutely, ridiculously keen I am for this. Words cannot describe. This is a must buy, regardless of price. Even if it costs... [pinkytoedgeofmouth] one BILL-ion DOLLARS?[/pinkytoedgeofmouth] Oh, and some friggin' sharks with some friggin' laser beams on their foreheads... MuHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 23, 2012 14:39:38 GMT
You do realize that once the Time Traveler's Companion is published I'm going to have to re-write large hunks of my "TARDIS Technical Index" PDF (http://db.tt/ckZkkvEb)?? I just released that damn thing! Ditto for the Gallifreyan info in my "Rassilon, Omega, and that Other Guy" website [though that one has been needing an update for 2 years]. Of course I'll love every minute of researching a writing the update - but that's not the point!!! - Marnal Gate "I was told by the producer that the guiding principle was to make the scripts complex enough to keep the Kids interested and simple enough for the Adults to understand!" -Douglas Adams on writing Doctor Who For all things Time Lord see www.meshyfish.com/~roo/And for all things TARDIS see db.tt/ckZkkvEbWelcome to my world. Moffet and company do that to me all the time. Remember that comment about the Corsair in 'The Doctor's Wife?' Had to add that possibility in to the book (basically a Bad Regeneration Result can cause some serious changes). And all that stuff I did to update the Weeping Angels in the core set? We'll see how much of it stands after next week's episode. There are tonnes of little rewrites and addendums that end up happening as new episodes air, and the production office isn't at all bothered if they do something that completely invalidates some guys efforts to straighten out the immense tangle that is the history of the programme. But then, why should they? The show's the thing, to paraphrase The Bard, and there was a period in the eighties when too slavish a devotion to continuity created a bunch of episodes that were nothing more than a series of references to past shows that many new viewers had never seen (although nothing to the scale of the Virgin New Adventures reference a page). Doctor Who in the old days had a bit of continuity, but nowadays, if a writer really wants to do something, you simply wave your hand and say the magic word 'Time War' and anything becomes possible. I'm still expecting a 50th anniversary episode that completely rewrites my entire Gallifrey chapter, even though everything in it is ripped right out of the previous series. But that is the nature of the beast. T'aint my show so I got to go with the flow...
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Post by Marnal on Sept 23, 2012 16:27:14 GMT
Don't be dissin' "The New Adventures"! All you Expanded Universes guys should be nice to each other! That said, my rule is... "Doctor Who" writers should focus on telling the best damn story they can and leave reconciling the continuity to the fans and the reference book writers (if they care). If your book has NOTHING but continuity from the TV series then I probably won't have to change anything in my book. However, truth to tell, I'm actually hoping you did stick some new continuity in there [or at least nailed down and clarified the meanings of a lot of the vague comments that have been made in the show.] Even though I was pissed that BBC Books published Tribe's TARDIS Handbook after rejecting my Tech Index, I still ran out and bought it just to pick out the new ideas (and clarifications). [And the Handbook is actually great as far as it goes.] So, for someone like me, your "Time Traveler's Companion" is the single most exciting bit of media for 2012 - eclipsing even Season 7 of New Who. [Though I have to admit the updated "AHistory" being released in November is a close second.] Keep up the great work! - Brian "Marnal Gate" Swift "I was told by the producer that the guiding principle was to make the scripts complex enough to keep the Kids interested and simple enough for the Adults to understand!" -Douglas Adams on writing Doctor Who For all things Time Lord see www.meshyfish.com/~roo/And for all things TARDIS see db.tt/ckZkkvEb
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Post by Escher on Sept 23, 2012 16:55:27 GMT
Is there any difference between The TARDIS from Troughton/Pertwee's eras and the current one? I'm just wondering if they are statted differently, have different traits or it was down to the Doctor's own skill (or lack of it!). Theoretically, yes. The one from the pre-Baker era was clapped out and it was only during the Pertwee era that we saw a dedicated attempt to fix it up in an attempt to get it working without the Time Lords control. After that, it gains considerably more accuracy as the series goes on, so we can assume that there were some intermittent repairs going on behind the scenes (as well as experiential gains on the part of the Doctor himself). As for the game line, no, not yet, but I'm sure that will change when the Classic Doctor books come out. I imagine the First Doctor's TARDIS, for instance, to be pretty similar to the default Decommissioned TARDIS from the TTC. Many thanks for that! I am going to have that Decommissioned TARDIS from the TTC ready for my Reboot...
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Rassilon
Administrator
Grand Administrator
Posts: 751
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Post by Rassilon on Sept 23, 2012 17:09:23 GMT
Anyway, just thought I'd post for once and add how absolutely, ridiculously keen I am for this. Words cannot describe. This is a must buy, regardless of price. I agree 100%. Pertwee (Mr Torson) writes as a true fan does and his attention to detail and quality is meticulous. If anyone has seen his work for the original Time Lord game (Journeys, write-ups, TARDIS Manual) and his Barbarians Of Lemuria - Barbarians Of The Aftermath game, you'll know this. Even though I am extolling the quality of his work, I am particularly hurt I wasn’t included in the playtesting, you scurvy lot!
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 23, 2012 19:49:03 GMT
If your book has NOTHING but continuity from the TV series then I probably won't have to change anything in my book. However, truth to tell, I'm actually hoping you did stick some new continuity in there [or at least nailed down and clarified the meanings of a lot of the vague comments that have been made in the show.] Well, I say that, but there are little bits and bobs here and there that die hard fans will see and say 'Ooh! I remember that from the comics!" or "With this and this I can make Shayde!" On that latter bit, I almost included a small section on 'Matrix Constructs' as characters, but figured I would be pushing the limits of my writ in doing so. But if you want to go that direction, here's a hint: create a Time War Creature with half the Character and Story Points, give it the 'Matrix Child' Trait, Insidious (Major), the Alien level of the Vortex and Shapeshifting. From that point on it should be pretty easy to create your own matrix constructs... Even though I am extolling the quality of his work, I am particularly hurt I wasn’t included in the playtesting, you scurvy lot! Truly sorry about that, but I didn't even know this board existed until my play-test was well and truly finished and the book already in layout. Otherwise, all of you would have been in the play-test, as I love having extra sets of eyes on everything I do. Maybe I'll involve you all in the GM's Kit chapters I'm writing or the Pertwee Book. We'll see how it goes...
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cal585
2nd Incarnation
Posts: 14
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Post by cal585 on Sept 24, 2012 3:28:21 GMT
I don't really post here much (due to lack of RPG knowledge/skill), though I still keep checking to see what's happening. Anyway, just thought I'd post for once and add how absolutely, ridiculously keen I am for this. Words cannot describe. This is a must buy, regardless of price. Even if it costs... [pinkytoedgeofmouth] one BILL-ion DOLLARS?[/pinkytoedgeofmouth] Oh, and some friggin' sharks with some friggin' laser beams on their foreheads... MuHAHAHAHAHAHA! Even then, assuming it is still available for purchase by the time I raise funds
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Post by imajica on Sept 24, 2012 12:16:41 GMT
Any chance the lost stuff might make an appearance in PDF for later? Sort of a "Time Traveller's Companion Confidential"?
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Post by Doctor X on Sept 25, 2012 6:28:49 GMT
Doctor Who in the old days had a bit of continuity, but nowadays, if a writer really wants to do something, you simply wave your hand and say the magic word 'Time War' and anything becomes possible. I'm still expecting a 50th anniversary episode that completely rewrites my entire Gallifrey chapter, even though everything in it is ripped right out of the previous series. But that is the nature of the beast. T'aint my show so I got to go with the flow... Well, you know I'll gladly buy it, whatever they put you through. I just have one request: When you're readying "Defending the Earth," do NOT let the bastards take the Brigadier off the cover!
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Post by Craig Oxbrow on Sept 25, 2012 14:32:01 GMT
Well, you know I'll gladly buy it, whatever they put you through. I just have one request: When you're readying "Defending the Earth," do NOT let the bastards take the Brigadier off the cover! Amen!
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 25, 2012 19:08:07 GMT
As far as I know, the Brig is still on the cover. I don't think there was ever any question about his presence there, especially since he is in the book in a prominent sort of way.
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Post by imajica on Sept 27, 2012 8:37:37 GMT
No mention of TTC in the newsletter beyond "coming soon" - has UNIT leapfrogged it in the release queue? Not that this is a problem, I suspect we'll all be buying both of them.
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Post by Pertwee on Sept 28, 2012 19:11:24 GMT
No mention of TTC in the newsletter beyond "coming soon" - has UNIT leapfrogged it in the release queue? Not that this is a problem, I suspect we'll all be buying both of them. Yep, it got leapfrogged, I'm afraid, but it's a much larger and more intensive book than UNIT, so that probably has a lot to do with it. But it is in approvals, so it's working its way through the system...
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Post by Escher on Sept 28, 2012 19:49:41 GMT
So when will the UNIT PDF be out?
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Post by Doctor X on Oct 18, 2012 9:29:00 GMT
So, not that I'm not grateful to have the UNIT book, but what's up with this one?
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Post by Pertwee on Oct 18, 2012 14:41:51 GMT
So, not that I'm not grateful to have the UNIT book, but what's up with this one? Still in approvals over at the Beeb. It's a 240 page book and members of the Doctor Who production team have to go over the whole thing so the wait, understandably, continues. Trust me, NOBODY is anticipating its return more than I am...
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Post by imajica on Oct 18, 2012 14:58:05 GMT
As we're currently between Who at the moment, you can't help but wonder what they're filling their time with. Either that or they're planning something truly spectacular for next year.
By a strange coincidence, one of my sons has a birthday on November 23rd - the day the first episode aired. He's definitely getting a TARDIS cake next year.
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Post by Corone on Oct 19, 2012 14:22:20 GMT
As we're currently between Who at the moment, you can't help but wonder what they're filling their time with. Either that or they're planning something truly spectacular for next year. By a strange coincidence, one of my sons has a birthday on November 23rd - the day the first episode aired. He's definitely getting a TARDIS cake next year. My birthday is the same as Amy & Rory's anniversary (June 26th) Anyone else have a Who related birthday?
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Post by elbarre on Oct 19, 2012 19:38:50 GMT
Not a birthday but my parents were actually married on Nov. 23rd 1963!
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Rassilon
Administrator
Grand Administrator
Posts: 751
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Post by Rassilon on Oct 19, 2012 22:13:51 GMT
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Post by Craig Oxbrow on Oct 20, 2012 3:02:34 GMT
My birthday is the same as Amy & Rory's anniversary (June 26th) So is mine! (It's great for presents, being almost as far away as possible from Christmas...)
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Post by Corone on Oct 20, 2012 14:34:24 GMT
My birthday is the same as Amy & Rory's anniversary (June 26th) So is mine! (It's great for presents, being almost as far away as possible from Christmas...) Absolutly! Pressies every 6 months!
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Post by Craig Oxbrow on Oct 21, 2012 0:12:58 GMT
Absolutly! Pressies every 6 months! TV wasn't as good as Christmas, though. Unless you liked Wimbledon, of course. (And we're a bit off topic. )
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