The Doctor and the TARDIS, how to stat?

[Magickal_Grenadier]

First things first, I finally got my PDFs! Happy days are here again.

Anywho, I'm working on a new scenario for my Louisville, KY campaign and I was wondering how one would go about writing up The Doctor and the TARDIS from the BBC series Doctor Who? I was toying around with a few ideas in my spare time but I'm still getting back into the swing of things.

Just my ideas:

High Concept: The Doctor
Trouble: Last of the Time Lords
Other Aspects: Just The Doctor
                     Time Traveler
                     Bane of the Daleks

Ideas, critics, suggestions?

[Lavecki121]

Just the Doctor doesnt really do anything that The Doctor doesnt do. And being a timelord kind of implies that he is a time traveler. I would put something reffering to the TARDIS such as Maried to my Ship or something. I would probably stat the TARDIS as an IoP so having the aspect could be something that is required.

[Deadmanwalking]

The TARDIS needs no stats, it's purely a plot device that does specific things that are necessitated by plot.

The doctor, meanwhile, is best built with full Thaumaturgy and lots of Potion Slots plus a few Enchanted Items, all based on Scholarship and Craftsmanship not the normal skills, and representing his superscientific knack. He might also have Supernatural or even Mythic Recovery with a hell of a Catch and possibly Human Form [+2].

That's most of it. Aspects would vary by which Doctor, as would skills beyond Superb or higher at Craftsmanship and Scholarship.

[Sanctaphrax]

I've never seen Doctor Who, but I'm pretty sure that leaving the TARDIS unstatted is a bad idea. At least make it an Aspect. And if it has a useful effect that's used regularly find some way to model it with Powers.

[Deadmanwalking]

I've never seen Doctor Who, but I'm pretty sure that leaving the TARDIS unstatted is a bad idea. At least make it an Aspect. And if it has a useful effect that's used regularly find some way to model it with Powers.

It's a valid Aspect, yeah.

But as for powers: It can take you anywhere, is the reason the cast can speak any language, and is completely invulnerable. If they need to be trapped it's either inaccessible or can't be moved for some reason. Other powers occur at the speed of plot and no other. It's a pure plot device/genre convention, not a stattable thing.

[Sanctaphrax]

Item Of Power attached to a -1 Power that lets you speak all languages and a custom Power that lets you go anywhere. Plus an Aspect, of course.

That's not impossible to stat. In fact, it's not even hard to stat.

[Lavecki121]

Not necessarially true. It has time travel so that might be hard to stat out, but it has Mythic recovery, Undying, Mythic Toughness (mythics might even be a step higher). It wouldnt be that much harder to stat it. Obviously not a PC or something that could reasonably be an IoP owned by a low level PC but still statable. It is an intelligence after all.

[Sanctaphrax]

Wait, why would it have all that Toughness stuff?

I mean, it's already indestructible just because it's an IoP. And I thought the Doctor's durability was inherent.

[Deadmanwalking]

Wait, why would it have all that Toughness stuff?

I mean, it's already indestructible just because it's an IoP. And I thought the Doctor's durability was inherent.

Item Of Power attached to a -1 Power that lets you speak all languages and a custom Power that lets you go anywhere. Plus an Aspect, of course.

That's not impossible to stat. In fact, it's not even hard to stat.

Wait, why would it have all that Toughness stuff?

I mean, it's already indestructible just because it's an IoP. And I thought the Doctor's durability was inherent.

It kinda makes you completely invulnerable while inside it, too, and heals itself if it does somehow get damaged. And several other things. It's theoretically stattable...but doing so is silly. Like statting the city a game takes place in. I mean, you could give one Mythic Toughness, and other assorted stuff...but why would you?

You generally give something that's the whole premise of a series and not really destructible or effectable by conventional means some Aspects and call it good. The TARDIS very much falls into that category.

[Sanctaphrax]

Being totally indestructible and healing from damage that's somehow inflicted anyway is part of the basic IoP package.

Does standing in it actually make you indestructible or does it just put an indestructible thing between you and the outside world? If the latter, IoP includes that too.

As for why to stat it, because if you're actually going to use the Doctor in a game he needs to pay for the abilities he has.

The TARDIS is not part of the DFRPG's basic premise.

I'm gonna be honest, this whole plot device thing always kinda makes me groan. It's as if people are so impressed by something fictional that they want it to be awesome in a way that mere mortals cannot quantify. Even if it clearly isn't.

[Magickal_Grenadier]

I.m mostly focusing on the tenth Doctor.

So what I'm getting so far:

High Concept: The Doctor
Trouble: Last of the Time Lords
Other Aspects: Married to my ship
                     Bane of the Daleks
Skills:
Superb: Intelligence
Great: Lore, Craftsmenship?
Good: ?
Fair: ?
Average: ?

Powers:
Mythic Recovery
Mythic Toughness
Human Form

[ways and means]

How much refresh is the ability to travel faster than speed of light worth, how much refresh is the ability to change time worth, how much refresh are shields that can with stand the force of an exploding planet worth (ok some times it can some times it can't), how much refresh would you charge for something that can phase through nearly anything. If you can figure that out then you can stat a tardis.

[Deadmanwalking]

Being totally indestructible and healing from damage that's somehow inflicted anyway is part of the basic IoP package.

This is true. Also the least of the TARDIS's abilities.

Does standing in it actually make you indestructible or does it just put an indestructible thing between you and the outside world? If the latter, IoP includes that too.

Technically? The second. For practical purposes since it's a building that can move anywhere and you can do anything from inside, and nobody can get in without permission? The first. Also, see below.

As for why to stat it, because if you're actually going to use the Doctor in a game he needs to pay for the abilities he has.

But that's the thing: Beyond getting him on scene and occasionally off again as an escape route, the TARDIS's potential capabilities are basicaly never utilized by the Doctor in any way. When and if they are it's because he worked out some way to do so that took as much time as any of his other technobabble solutions (ie: it's a use of Thaumaturgy).

The TARDIS is not part of the DFRPG's basic premise.

But it is a part of Dr. Who's. Indeed, a more major art than any city, and a very similar one in that it's only ever relevant to the plot very indirectly. Threatening the TARDIS happens, but in the same way that threatening the entire city happens in the Dresden Files, and the TARDIS enables the basic premises of a Dr. Who game the way a city does for DFRPG.

I'm gonna be honest, this whole plot device thing always kinda makes me groan. It's as if people are so impressed by something fictional that they want it to be awesome in a way that mere mortals cannot quantify. Even if it clearly isn't.

That's not at all how I use the term. I use 'plot device' specifically to refer to items that have widely varying capabilities that make no sense logically and work entirely based on what the plot demands, and are thus impossible to stat remotely accurately since, for any given episode, your stats are likely to make the whole thing make no sense.

The TARDIS fits this definition perfectly.

[Deadmanwalking]

Skills:
Superb: Intelligence
Great: Lore, Craftsmenship?


Powers:
Mythic Recovery
Mythic Toughness
Human Form

Intelligence isn't a skill. It's covered by the other two. And the doctor has no Toughness at all, much less Mythic.

[Lavecki121]

This is true. I dont think he would have human form either. None of his "powers" are ever gone. I would say that he has undying but there is the posiblity of him dying it just never hapens. So I suppose you could give it to him. He has regenerative properties but they ussually put him out for a while when he dies.

Additionally i would just stat the TARDIS as his workspace. It works thematically.