D&D 4E Recreating a Dalek in 4E

[WizarDru]

Since all my experience is with the old series, I was wondering why they were being built as something so formidable. They seemed to be "big hat, no cattle" in the old series - very good at announcing their intentions but poor at carrying them out.

I gather they got a bit better at that "carrying out" thing in the new series.

Well, it might have something to do with the fact that they conquered Earth in the second appearance (The Dalek Invasion of Earth), set in the year 2164. Then they started forcibly converting humans into robotic slaves twice more and would have succeeded without the Doctor's intervention. Heck, they Daleks started using subjugated races like the Ogrons to alter history to bring about victory. In 'Planet of the Daleks', about a dozen of them subjugate an entire planet.

I mean, in the Doctor's universe, the Daleks pop up again and again, nearly destroying a solar system, taking over a colony, invading Earth, holding whole systems to ransom from a galactic plague, waged an intergalactic war against the Movellans, engaged in a civil war...and so on. The old series made them pretty significant as foes, even if the Doctor tends to upset their plans relatively easily.

The new series made them a little more dangerous, but that's more a point of execution rather than story. I mean 'Planet of the Daleks' could have looked like 'End of the World', if CGI was cheap and available in 1974.

 

[Squire James]

In the episodes I watched (which hardly makes me a master of all things Doctor Who), the Daleks always seemed to be these robot thingies that nearly conquer the universe off-screen but when they make it to the show they metamorphose into blithering idiot McDonald's Garbage Cans that do little more than shout "Exterminate!" at regular intervals.

I guess a lack of special effects budget can make just about anything look weak.

Back to the subject, since you don't exactly have to follow Dr. Who canon in your D&D campaign, they can be any level you feel is sufficient to challenge/threaten the party. The only real requirement is their heavy use of "exterminate" as a verb.

 

[Momeeche]

The hubby says;

• Level 20 soldier
• Perception 30
• Saves 20+ (except will, which is pretty low)
• Resist most everything 5
• At-Will blast attack (like the ones a warlock makes)
• Electricity Area attack (recharge on d4, d5, d6)
• Grapple can easily kill, but not easy to make
• AC 20+
• Speed 6
• Flight 6 (require move action to switch from ground movement to flight and vice versa)
• Evil
• High int
• Low wis