Doctor Who - The Game of Rassilon

[Raven Crowking]

Psychic Hypnosis

Cost: 2.

Prerequisites: Telepathic Reception and Telepathic Speech.

You are able to hypnotise a target with a few words and/or gestures. It is only possible to use this power against creatures that are not already hostile to you, and it can only be used in a relatively calm environment (as determined by the Game Master).

When you use this power, make a Psionic Potential check; this sets the DC for the Will save to resist. A target that fails this save takes no action for at least one full minute, unless disturbed.

You may spend any number of Action Points to increase the DC of the Will save; each Action Point so spent raises the DC by 2.

You may spend any number of Action Points to give a post-hypnotic suggestion to your target. Each post-hypnotic suggestion costs 1 Action Point. Your target gets an additional save when the post-hypnotic suggestion is triggered, but this save is at a –4 penalty. It otherwise uses the same DC as the original Psionic Potential check.

The quintessential use of this power in the Doctor Who universe was by the Master, who could hypnotise by merely uttering “I am the Master; you will obey me.”​

Psychic Leech

Cost: 1.

You are able to leech the Psionic Potential from another creature you touch.

When you use this power, make a Personality check; this sets the DC for the Will save to resist. A target that fails this save loses 2 points of Psionic Potential, which are passed onto you. Because you pay 1 point of Psionic Potential to use this power, you are restored 1 point per transfer.

Your Psionic Potential cannot be increased beyond its normal amount using this power. Your target’s Psionic Potential cannot be lowered beyond –10 (at which point the target dies). Your target cannot grant more Psionic Potential than it is able to give.​

 

[Raven Crowking]

Psychometry

Cost: 1.

Prerequisites: Clairvoyance.

Use this power when in contact with an object to gain a general idea of some significant event in that object’s past. You can use this power more than once with a single object. You are likely to see more recent events on first use, though in some cases emotionally charged or historically important events are so impressed upon the object as to become immediately apparent upon use of this power.

Spend 1 Action Point to gain the answer to a simple question concerning the object.​

Telekinesis

Cost: 4.

Use this power to move an object that you could normally move with one hand, without actually having to touch it. You must be able to see the object to move it.

Spend 1 Action Point to double the amount you can move (so that you can move any object that you could physically move).

Spend any number of additional Action Points to increase the amount you can move; each Action Point doubles the amount you can move.

You can use this power while touching an object, effectively moving something that you could not otherwise move (i.e., without spending an Action Point, you could use this power to lift an object with one hand that would normally require two.)​

 

[Raven Crowking]

Telekinetic Attack

Cost: 4.

Prerequisites: Telekinesis.

Use this power to hurl an object – or a myriad of tiny objects – at an opponent. You must be able to see your opponent. Make a Psionic Potential check. The value of this check is the DC of the Reflexes save to avoid damage. A Telekinetic Attack normally does 1d6 damage.

You may spend any number of Action Points to increase the DC of the save; each Action Point so spent raises the DC by 2.

You may spend any number of Action Points to increase the damage; each Action Point so spent raises the damage by 1d6.

Spend 1 Action Point to make an attack using pure telekinetic force (i.e., without hurling an object or objects). Your target makes a Fortitude save to resist rather than a Reflexes save.

Spend 2 Action Points to hurl your opponent. Your target makes a Willpower save to resist rather than a Reflexes save. Your target is hurled 2 meters + 1 meter for every 1d6 damage this attack does.​

Telekinetic Jamming

Cost: 4.

Prerequisites: Telekinesis.

This power requires 1 Action Point to activate. Use this power to telekinetically cause a machine or other device to stop functioning. The device ceases to function until you release it, or for 8 hours, whichever comes first.​

 

[Raven Crowking]

Telepathic Focus

Cost: 0.

This power gives you the ability to focus your thoughts on a particular object, making telepathic contact with it. Use this power to activate an item that requires Telepathic Focus, such as slightly psychic paper or the 1st Doctor’s ring.

Some devices may require Action Points, as well as this Psychic Power, to activate.​

Telepathic Reception

Cost: 0

This power allows you occasional glimpses into the surface thoughts of other beings nearby. You do not have to declare that you are using this power; it is always active. Your Game Master will inform you if you gain any useful information through receptive telepathy.

Spend 1 Action Point to actively read the surface thoughts of a creature that you can see. This active reception lasts for 1 minute, so long as the creature remains within 1 kilometre (whether or not it is sight).

Spend 1 Action Point to perform a deeper probe on a creature that you already have an active telepathic reception with. This requires close proximity and/or physical contact, and may (for example) allow you to determine why a clockwork repair droid was scanning your target’s brain.​

 

[Raven Crowking]

Telepathic Speech

Cost: 0.

Prerequisites: Telepathic Reception.

Use this power to communicate with another creature (or group of creatures) that you can see using telepathy.

Spend 1 Action Point to allow the telepathic communication to be two-way (so that other creatures can respond to you telepathically). Two-way communication lasts 1 minute.

Spend 1 Action Point to telepathically communicate with another being, who is well known to you (such as another Player Character), so long as they are on the same planet and in the same time-frame as you are. This communication lasts 1 minute.

Spend 2 Action Points to telepathically communicate with another being, who is well known to you (such as another Player Character), so long as they are in the same time-frame as you, regardless of distance. This communication lasts 1 minute.​

Teleportation

Cost: 4.

You can use this power to transport yourself instantly from one location to another, without traversing the intervening space. When you use this power, you may transport to any location known to you within 5 meters. Teleportation doesn’t change your time-frame.

Spend 1 Action Point to increase the range to 1 kilometre.

Spend 2 Action Points to increase the range to any location on the same planet.

Spend 4 Action Points to increase the range to any location.

Spend 1 or more Action Points to bring other creatures with you. Each Action Point gives you the ability to take another creature with you. The creatures must be in close proximity or physical contact with each other and with you. Unwilling (and conscious) targets gain a Will save (DC set by your Psionic Potential check) to resist.

Spend 1 Action Point to teleport without transporting yourself as well (i.e., it costs 2 Action Points to teleport another being without your going with them, 1 for the additional creature, and 1 to not transport yourself).​

 

[Raven Crowking]

Action Points

You can spend one or more Action Points to accomplish any of the following:

· Activate an “Action Point Activated” Knack.
· Activate a special use of a Psychic Power.
· Activate another special ability that requires an Action Point.
· Gain a +4 bonus to a skill or Attribute check before the die is rolled per Action Point spent.
· Spend 1 Action Point to ask the Game Master a question. If the GM decides not to answer, you get your Action Point back. Note that the answer may occur in a way that you didn’t expect!
· Spend 2 Action Points to transfer 1 Action Point to another character.
· Spend 1 Action Point to survive when you would otherwise have been killed. It is up to you to determine what made your survival possible.​

You gain Action Points in the following ways:

· New characters begin with 4 Action Points.
· You gain an Action Point at the end of each episode.
· You gain an Action Point by deciding that something bad has happened to your character that has an actual effect on play. Examples include:

* “I Twisted My Ankle” – you automatically fail in any chase scene, and your movement is reduced by one step for the remainder of the episode.
* “My Sonic Screwdriver Burned Out” – a piece of useful equipment is destroyed, and cannot be used for the remainder of the episode.
* “I Have A Bad Cold” – you are feeling ill, causing you to have a –1 penalty to all skill and Attribute checks during a whole episode.
* “I Abhor Violence” – you avoid the easy solution to a problem because it is against your character’s personal or moral beliefs.
* “His Sins Will Find Him Out” – you allow a villain to escape, possibly to plague you in the future. This should be a potentially villain potentially capable of reform, such as the Master, the Meddling Monk, or one of the Siltheen family, rather than one you know will go on to massacre millions, like Cybermen of the Black Dalek.​

· You do something that is particularly brilliant, or particularly entertaining for the whole table. Your Game Master has final discretion as to whether or not a particular action applies (generally by gauging how the other players respond, and by his own personal response).
· You sacrifice your character to save others. You gain this Action Point even if your character survives – indeed, you may use it to ensure his survival.​

You do not gain Action Points for things that happen to your character during the game due to the actions of other Player Characters, Non-Player Characters, or the environment. Thus, you do not gain an Action Point if the GM tells you that a Dalek destroys your sonic screwdriver. You only gain this bonus when you are responsible for the decision to have a bad thing happen to your character.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Example of Action Points in Play

In Smith and Jones, the 10th Doctor begins the episode with 1 Action Point (having spent the last of his Action Points in The Runaway Bride, and having gained 1 Action Point at the end of the episode). Martha Jones, being a new character, has 4 Action Points.

The episode proceeds without either having to expend an Action Point, until the Judoon ships land on the moon. As the Doctor tries to discover what the Judoon are looking for, the GM tells him that the Judoon have locked the hospital computer systems, and then that they have wiped the records. As the Doctor decides to make a Computer Use skill check to see if there is a backup, Martha Jones spends an Action Point to ask the GM who the aliens are looking for.

The GM tells Martha that, while she doesn’t know, Dr. Stoker’s office is nearby, and he would probably be able to tell her. As he knows that Martha will discover the Plasmavoure there (thus answering her question), he doesn’t return the Action Point.

The Plasmavoure sends one of its Slabs to kill Martha. After a chase scene, the Doctor uses Jiggery-Pokery to turn an x-ray machine into an x-ray laser. This uses the Doctor’s last Action Point and kills the Slab. Martha points out that the x-ray machine would irradiate the area, and the GM agrees. He calls for an incredibly high Fortitude save for the Doctor to survive. Moreover, the radiation in the area would be so high, he rules, that if Martha entered the area, she would probably be making a Fortitude save as well.

The Doctor decides that he has to spend 2 Action Points to make a Minor Special Effect – absorbing and expelling the radiation to prevent either save from being necessary. The GM agrees that this would work, but the Doctor needs Action Points to do it. The Doctor does an amusing dance, but it isn’t “particularly entertaining” enough to gain him an Action Point. So, he declares that his sonic screwdriver was burned out for 1 Action Point. In order to gain another Action Point (because he doesn’t want to be at 0 Action Points), he says that the radiation would be expelled into his left shoe. The GM doesn’t think this is sufficient, but grants the Action Point for both shoes. The Doctor is now barefoot on the moon, and the radiation is dealt with.

Still later, the Doctor needs to slow down the Judoon. He again decides to create a Minor Special Effect, using 2 Action Points, to make a genetic transfer to Martha that would confuse the Judoon long enough to allow him to deal with the Plasmavoure. At this point, the Doctor has 1 Action Point, and Martha has 3, so Martha spends 2 Action Points to grant the Doctor 1. The GM decides that, as it has been made abundantly clear that the Judoon are killing anyone who appears to be an alien, this qualifies as self-sacrifice, and awards Martha an Action Point. She promptly uses it to ensure that the Judoon don’t kill her – in fact, they give her a compensation voucher.

Without any Action Points left, and not a lot of equipment that he can sacrifice to create new ones, the Doctor confronts the Plasmavoure (which has just spent an Action Point to utilize Jiggery-Pokery on the MRI herself).

He decides to play for time, learning her plans, and then points out to the GM that, if the Plasmavoure drinks his blood, she will register as an alien, allowing the Judoon to recognize her. Moreover, the MRI device that the Plasmavoure is creating will certainly cause the Judoon to evacuate too quickly to sentence the hospital to death for harbouring a fugitive. This is definitely self-sacrifice and the GM awards the Doctor 1 Action Point.

The Doctor uses that Action Point to avoid death, claiming that he used Body Control to enter a trance, allowing him to heal some of the damage from the Plasmavoure by the time Martha uses her Treat Injury skill to revive him. The GM agrees that this would work. Martha uses her last breath to save the Doctor, but the GM decides that, as the oxygen level was running out anyway, this doesn’t qualify to give her an Action Point.

The Judoon evacuate the moon, the Doctor disables the Plasmavoure’s MRI device (without the aid of his sonic screwdriver), the hospital is returned to the Earth, and all that remains is wrap-up. The Doctor and Martha play this up with some amusing banter, that the GM decides is worth an Action Point each.

At the end of the episode, Martha has 2 Action Points and the Doctor has 1. The GM awards them an Action Point each for playing through the episode, and an additional Action Point each because the victory conditions for the episode were unusually difficult to meet – after all, they had to locate the Plasmavoure and make the Judoon recognize it for what it was, while avoiding having the Doctor being executed as an alien, preventing the Judoon from declaring the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, and moving fast enough to solve those problems before the air ran out.

The 10th Doctor goes into The Shakespeare Code with 3 Action Points, and Martha Jones goes in with 4 Action Points.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Advancement

As you have adventures, you gain skills and levels, as shown on the table below.

Level = XP Required = Ave Episodes
1 = 0 = 0
2 = 3 = 1
3 = 6 = 2
4 = 12 = 4
5 = 24 = 8
6 = 42 = 14
7 = 66 = 22
8 = 96 = 32
9 = 132 = 44
10 = 174 = 58

Characters gain 2 skill points at the end of each episode. In addition, they earn from 1 to 5 experience points (XP) per episode, depending upon their amount of participation and role-playing. The average amount of XP per episode is 3.

Characters gain a new level each time they achieve the XP requirement for that episode. When you gain a new level, you roll 1d8 + your Endurance (to a minimum of 1) and add it to your hit point total. You also 2 points to add to your saves; you may gain +1 to any two saves, or +2 to one save.

At every third level (3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, and so on) you gain an additional Knack. At every 4th level (4th, 8th, 12th, and so on) you can increase one of your Attributes by 1.

 

[Silmarillius]

Characters gain 2 skill points at the end of each episode. In addition, they earn from 1 to 5 experience points (XP) per episode, depending upon their amount of participation and role-playing. The average amount of XP per episode is 3.

This seems like the Star Wars system, but probably because I hear you talking about your games a lot. I know the game is fast paced, but do you think this is TOO fast for level advancement. Your thoughts?

 

[Raven Crowking]

This seems like the Star Wars system, but probably because I hear you talking about your games a lot. I know the game is fast paced, but do you think this is TOO fast for level advancement. Your thoughts?

Because the XP progression in exponential, you level a lot in the beginning, then once the character is "established" you level more slowly. However, skill points are decoupled from levelling so that your character always learns something from each game session you participate in. Of course, buying skills can also represent things that you were interested in/knew about earlier, but that just haven't come up before. That seems (to me, at least) to model the program pretty well.