Check Out The Cover of the Upcoming Doctor Who: Second Edition RPG!

The 2nd Edition of Cubicle 7's Doctor Who roleplaying game is upcoming, and they've shared the cover art by Will Brooks.

Cubicle 7 renewed their Doctor Who license with the BBC back in April. They've been publishing the game since 2008. The 2nd Edition core rulebook is fully compatible with the first edition, but Cubicle 7 says it's faster, easier, and quicker to learn. Here's a quick look at what to expect:

• Complete character creation rules to allow you to bring to life a new time travelling adventurer to explore space and time aboard the TARDIS. They could be companions to the Doctor, or a new Time Lord of your own creation, Time Agents, or investigators and defenders of planet Earth.
• The complete revised rules for playing Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game. The new and updated version of the popular Vortex system is completely compatible with the First Edition of the game. Second Edition makes gameplay faster, easier, and quicker to learn, while keeping all of the dramatic action you’d expect from an episode of Doctor Who.
• Advice for Gamemasters, new and old, on how to make the experience of Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game feel like you’re living an episode of the TV series, as well as how to create exciting storylines and continuing campaigns.
• Revised rules for creating your group’s own TARDIS, or other time travel device to allow them to adventure from the dawn of history to the very ends of the Universe.
• An expansive look at the history of the Universe, detailing many of the aliens and creatures the Doctor has encountered across space and time.
• Pregenerated character sheets for the Doctor and her companions, ready to play straight away!

 

[sheepishgoat]

I can’t wait for the announcement 3 months from now that they will no longer be making the Doctor Who RPG! #OneRing #LoneWolf

 

[TrippyHippy]

It is a peculiar one. A second edition of the game they simply renamed slightly - as there were three other Doctor Who editions based on previous iterations of the Doctor (including the 50th Anniversary edition). They always seem a little retrospective too, as there will inevitably be a new iteration of the Doctor in the near future again and the game will lag behind. While being backwards compatible is fine, it seems a lot of editions where the only real change is in which photographs they choose to illustrate the text. I guess the listed bullet points give avenue for a few new things I suppose.

 

[nyvinter]

It is a peculiar one. A second edition of the game they simply renamed slightly - as there were three other Doctor Who editions based on previous iterations of the Doctor (including the 50th Anniversary edition). They always seem a little retrospective too, as there will inevitably be a new iteration of the Doctor in the near future again and the game will lag behind. While being backwards compatible is fine, it seems a lot of editions where the only real change is in which photographs they choose to illustrate the text. I guess the listed bullet points give avenue for a few new things I suppose.

All those previous "editions" were more revisions and on the whole only differed in which Doctor it was based on and what traits were in the core book. Also some errata and layout fixes of course. But they were all based on the first Vortex Engine (Just like Primeval and Rocket Age).

This is the first time they've updated the actual rules.

 

[jolt]

One thing with licensing Doctor Who is that the BBC requires that the current Doctor always be front and center of any product. The game originally came in a box that had Tennant on the cover. In less than a year, they had to change it to Matt Smith on the cover as he was the current Doctor. So you can always tell when a core product came out (roughly) by which Doctor is the most front-and-center. Gale Force 9's re-release of their board game is going to have Jodie in the front as well - the BBC requires it.

 

[ProfessorDetective]

I was wondering when this would be in the offing. They usually get the New Doctor revisions out within a year or so of their introductions, but Thirteen's been around four-five years now. The Pandemic probably slowed them down a hair, but still...

 

[nyvinter]

I think both updating the rules and not jsut doing a redress added some time, as well as the fact that it was a lot longer between the seasons for Thirteen than the ones before. Because you probably need at least one seasons worth before you can even start writing the rpg. And then I'm sure covid affected the approval rate. (I think I heard that they had originally planed this for 2020.)

 

[irrg]

Maybe it’s because we only play DW at cons but I’ve never had issues with any of the rules needing any help. It’s a very simple system and aside from con games being more flush with…whatever they call bennies in Vortex…I’m curious what they’d bring to the table.

(Also played a con game of Primeval and was constantly told by the GM that my character wouldn’t or couldn’t do that. Second worst con game of my life.)