Character Archetypes or: what is your D&D doing in my DWAITAS?

While I definitely don’t intend to convert from my own heavily house-ruled brand of 1^st edition DWAITAS to any other system, I must say that several features of the new DOCTORS & DALEKS rulebook published by Cubicle 7 have struck me as particularly well thought-out, with a very strong accent on genre emulation. 

One of these features is the list of six basic character classes – reminiscent of the old D20 Modern ones (IIRC) but re-designed DW-style. The idea is simple: each of the six basic D&D attributes (Strength, Wisdom, etc.) is tied to a specific character class, which is clearly defined more as a heroic archetype than as, say, a profession or career, which is, IMHO, the perfect way to go. 

The six classes are: the Charmer (Charisma), the Thinker (Intelligence), the Empath (Wisdom), the Trickster (Dexterity), the Protector (Strength) and the Stalwart (Constitution). The names are self-explanatory and if you want more details on these classes, well, I direct you to the Doctors & Daleks players book. 

Each class provides a wide array of special talents and other signature abilities which (this being, basically, D&D) are acquired as the character gains levels (and which, incidentally, take this iteration of DW in RPG form in a completely opposite direction to the one followed by DW 2^nd Edition, which took all our beloved traits out of the equation but I won’t elaborate on this).

As I was thinking about these six classes (let’s call them ‘archetypes’), I realized that they could be readily translated into Doctor Who RPG 1^st edition terms, since the six attributes of the Vortex system are almost identical to the classic D&D six (with a few variations – Wisdom being replaced with Awareness and Constitution with Resolve… but these actually make things even more logical, e.g. Stalwarts being defined by their high Resolve). 

These six archetypes could simply be used as simple and elegant templates for beginning player-characters (especially with new players, I’d say), with their associated special abilities and talents being represented by (wait for it…) a list of possible good traits – YES!

 So here is the result of my little conversion work – and I must say I find it quite interesting. (BTW, for simplicity’s sake, I’ve limited the listed possible good traits to the ones listed in the 12^th Doctor rulebook, leaving special traits out).

Let’s start with the ‘prime requisite’ attribute – the one which should be at least equal to 4:

Charmer = Presence

Empath = Awareness

Protector = Strength

Stalwart = Resolve

Thinker = Ingenuity

Trickster = Coordination

And now, on to the typical/recommended good traits:

Charmer: Attractive, Charming, Friends, Lucky, Noble, Owed Favour, Voice of Authority

Empath: Animal Friendship, Charming, Empathic, Friends, Hypnosis, Psychic Training, Sense of Direction

Protector: Brave, Indomitable, Military Rank, Noble, Quick Reflexes, Tough, Voice of Authority

Stalwart: Brave, Face in the Crowd, Fast Healing, Indomitable, Military Rank, Sense of Direction, Tough

Thinker: Biochemical Genius, Boffin, Percussive Maintenance, Photographic Memory, Resourceful Pockets, Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow, Technically Adept

Trickster: Face in the Crowd, Keen Senses, Lucky, Owed Favour, Quick Reflexes, Resourceful Pockets, Technically Adept

Yes, by some quirk of fate, each list has the same number of typical traits (seven). These lists are not exclusive lists; they simply show which good traits would go well with each archetype; if you really want to make a rule about this, you could say that the character must purchase at least 2 points worth of these recommended traits.

I was amazed by how easy this little conversion work was – and, if anything, it shows that the underlying idea behind the six Doctors & Daleks classes is a very sound and apt one in terms of genre emulation, since it translates so nicely and easily to TOSTIL (That Other System That I Love J).

The Key to Space (2/3)

Second Fragment: The Secret City

I. The Cursed House

Lady Penelope’s search for the second fragment of the Key to Space takes her to Prague, a city full of stories and secrets, memories and mysteries. Her steps soon lead her to the Jewish Ghetto, where the shadows of the past and the threats of the future lurk at the threshold of a troubled present. There, in a forsaken house, a dying man of wisdom is waiting for her…

II. The Hidden Legend

Now in possession of the second fragment of the Key, Penelope must confront a man who should have been dead for 75 years – former charlatan Edward Kelley, now known as Doctor K, hidden master of the Imperial Secret Cabinet. Meanwhile, a religious pogrom is brewing and a well-kept secret is about to step out of the shadows, into the streets of the Ghetto…

Of course, the Golem of Prague made a spectacular appearance - but it was a reinterpreted golem, made of the very stones of the Ghetto and given life by the combined powers of telluric energy (the 'signature shtick' of Penelope 7 - see our last season) and the collective unconscious of an entire community. Part two was extremely moving, with some very emotional scenes dealing with the trail left in Prague by Morrolan, Penelope's long-dead Time Lord father... Also, that scoundrel Edward Kelley finally met a fitting end - yes, it was the Third Defenestration of Prague!

Next stop: Paris!

The Key to Space (1/3)

In this six-chapter mini-series, Lady Penelope goes on a quest all around 1668 Europe to retrieve the three fragments of the Key to Space, a prodigious (and quite hazardous) device crafted by her late father, the Time Lord Morrolan, also known as the Architect… Who knows what hidden perils, mysteries and revelations await her?

First Fragment: The Shining City

I. The Hollow Court

Lady Penelope’s quest for the Key to Space first takes her to Whitehall Palace in London, the seat of King Charles II’s decadent and intrigue-riddled court. Her search soon brings her to join forces with England’s rising star architect, Christopher Wren, to whom her father had entrusted the first fragment of the Key – which has just been stolen by an unknown party…  

II. The Invisible College

Penelope’s search for the stolen fragment of the Key takes her to Oxford, where she quickly draws the attention of the Invisible College, an ancient secret institution fallen under the influence of the mysterious Twilight People. But what is the true agenda of these elusive entities?  And why are they so interested in Christopher Wren’s dream of a new London?

Aside from Christopher Wren himself, this first two-parter featured quite a few historical guest stars and cameos, including Charles II, his various mistresses (well, as far as 1668 was concerned: Barbara Palmer née Villiers, Moll Davis and Nell Gwynn), his wife and his brother James, the inevitable Samuel Pepys, John Denham (reinvented here as a truly tragic figure), the polymath genius Robert Boyle and Lady Margaret Cavendish, duchess of Newcastle and author of that strangest of utopias, The Blazing World…

Next stop: Prague!

Lady Penelope Rides Again!

 Our sixteenth season was great - but clearly left us wanting for more, probably because its two halves had been separated by a longer time gap than usual, because of the Not So Great Hiatus. Sylvie and I were supposed to start the first season of a new campaign for another, completely different game... but in the end neither of us felt ready for this. So we decided to bring our Time Lady back far sooner than was planned - not for a seventeenth season but for a limited 'mini-series' of six heavily connected episodes (or, if you will, a trilogy of two-parters). Yes, that's right, we're going a bit FLUX here - but this mini-series will have a very different feel. I'm not divulging anything yet (SPOILERS!) but the basic premises we agreed on was to use a single historical setting, for a longer immersion than is usually the case...

I started working on the storyline one week ago or so and the ideas have been flooding in... We'll play the first episode next Saturday... A bientôt ! 

Season 16 Finale (Episodes 14-15)

Episode 14: Trail of the Lloigor

Channeling their eldritch energies through a trans-temporal nexus, the Lloigor are trying to use the Cardiff Rift to break the quantum barrier that imprisons them in a single continuum. Racing against Time itself, Penelope must reach 2024 to prevent the realization of the sinister entities’ master plan – but her old enemies are determined to throw her off-course…

Episode 15: Cwlwm

Having (at last!) arrived in 2024 Cardiff, Lady Penelope must deal with the traitor at the Torchwood Hub, before facing the primal might of the Timeless Lloigor as they prepare to wreak havoc on our reality (not to mention solving the mysteries of the National Eisteddfod). A climactic conclusion to the Power of the Earth story arc – and the end of another season…   

Aside from a dramatic dimensional showdown with the Lloigor, this definitely Welsh episode also featured the historical character Iolo Morganwg and the pseudo-historical character Geraint the Blue Bard. If you’ve never heard about them, check them out on Wikipedia – their story is just fascinating!

And so concludes the sixteenth season of Lady Penelope’s Odyssey – a season which was split in two because of the aforementioned Not So Great Hiatus. And perhaps because of all this, it will definitely fill a special niche in my memory as a veteran (nah, grizzled) GM. Aside from all this, the interruption actually allowed me to steer the direction of the season finale in a completely different direction than what I initially had in mind (and hadn’t quite managed to foreshadow yet, so all this reshuffling happened off-stage, unbeknownst to my dear player and compagne).

When I immersed myself back in my old notes and re-read the blurbs of episodes 1-8, I had something of a brainwave (no, it was not another stroke…): the whole “Power of the Earth” theme, which had been running like an underground river in the background since Penelope’s latest regeneration in season 15, was definitely the way to go and gave me a perfect opportunity to bring back Penelope’s arch-enemies, the Lloigor, with some unexpected revelations about their origins and answers to some very old questions about Penelope’s father, the Time Lord Morrolan… old and new, past and present, the perfect way to end up the seventh Penelope’s second season!

So what about the other idea, the one that I dumped for this Big Lloigor finale?  Well I’m not telling (since Sylvie is reading this blog) and I’ll keep in store… perhaps for season 17? 

See you in a few months – and thanks to those who sent me words of support and kindness. 

La vie continue…

Season 16: Episode 13

Episode 13: Last of the Wampanoags

New England, 1774. Answering a call for help from an old friend, Penelope discovers two communities in turmoil. As tensions flare between colonial settlers and Native Americans, dark forces from a forgotten past are awakening in the depths of the Earth. With the help of allies from each side, the Time Lady must once again face her old arch-enemies… the Lloigor!

As implied from the title and the blurb above, this scenario mixed a somewhat Lovecraftian vision of colonial America with a strong ‘Last of the Mohicans’ vibe and some elements from Algonquin folklore. It also involved several key ingredients from our own continuity about the Lloigor, different time continuums and the telluric Power of the Earth. The “old friend” mentioned above was Alicia McLaren née Maddox, a psychic / time sensitive first introduced in “Stolen Pasts” (season 9, episode 7) and later seen in “Hellfire” (season 10, episode 7) and “Cry of the Banshee” (season 12, episode 1).

As is often the case, actual play brought its fair share of unexpected turns and twists – including a very amusing ‘oops’ moment by Penelope herself during the initial reunion with Alicia ; the NPC had just mentioned the Boston Tea Party – a reference which was not understood by either of Penelope’s companions, so the Time Lady explained that this event was “the first step leading to the birth of the United States of America”, which caused Alicia (whose husband Sean had joined the ranks of the American rebels) to shed tears of hope and joy: “So we ARE going to win!  This changes everything!”  What made this especially funny is that Penelope had, mere minutes before, sternly warned her companions about the dangers of meddling with history and judging the past with the benefits of historical hindsight…

We had a GREAT time. The episode marked a high point in the current season; it was quite epic, with a constantly rising dramatic tension, some very moving moments and quit a few memorable scenes. “Fantastique!” said Sylvie, right after the end…

As the antepenultimate (I love that word…) episode of our current season, “Last of the Wampanoags” also opened the doors to the final diptych, in which the Lloigor will, of course, play a prominent part… See you soon for the penultimate episode!

Season 16: Episode 12

Episode 12: Time and the Land

Penelope is back in the alternate 22^nd century of New Camelot, in the court of King Arthur the Second – but her true destination is the Hidden Kingdom of the Tanu, where her former lover King Fenn is about to face his ultimate destiny. There, she will discover the answer to the Riddle of the Two Dragons and the last secrets of Excalibur, her father’s masterwork.

As usual, a few notes about this episode:

It was a very character-driven episode, centered on Penelope’s decisions and with no real antagonist or conflict – but it was certainly not a “time-off” story. Indeed, it marked a pivotal milestone (so to speak) in our Time Lady’s personal evolution, as well as in the whole King Arthur / Tanu plotline that has been around since our first two seasons.

Penelope’s seventh incarnation seems to be clearly marked by the pursuit of wisdom and the “great-power-great-responsibility” theme.

The story itself revolved around her interactions with various key NPCs, including the Tanu King Fenn, who played a major role in several previous stories – his last appearances were in the first episode of season 14 (where he was at the very heart of the story) and, less prominently, in the third episode of season 15 (Penelope’s latest regeneration, which gave her an even greater link than before to the Power of the Earth, the telluric energy which has played such an important role in our various New Camelot / Tanu / Lloigor stories). There were still some loose ends to tie regarding this character and his ties to Penelope and NOW seemed the perfect time to do so.

Having recently realized that her old arch-enemies the Lloigor seemed to be entirely absent of the main future continuum (as opposed to the alternate timeline New Camelot) and that her father Morrolan’s own discoveries about the Power of the Earth hadn’t yet revealed all their secrets and mysteries, Penelope had decided, at the end of our previous episode, to seek some answers from the Tanu – particularly from Queen Alba (wife of King Arthur II) and her half-human, prescient daughter Princess Dana.

So I decided to wrap up my various New Camelot / Tanu loose ends into a coherent storyline, adding two new narrative elements: the aforementioned Riddle of the Two Dragons (my own interpretation of the well-known tale about the boy Merlin discovering two fighting dragons beneath King Vortigern’s tower) and the first clear indication of a “new deal” regarding the Lloigor, Penelope’s most enduring arch-enemies… who have apparently completely vanished from this continuum too. Could this have something to do with the incoming season finale?  We’ll know soon enough!

An important aspect of this episode was how it brought Penelope back to the very first elements of her unique heritage and odyssey: the sword Excalibur, the very existence of the New Camelot future, her father Morrolan’s secret experiments and his connections to Arthurian legend… and even the mysteries of her own TARDIS…

Last but not least, New Camelot also provided the perfect new home for Just Penny (Penelope’s single-lived clone – see last episode). We’ll take a short break next weekend – see you in a fortnight or so for the antepenultimate episode of our season!