First Impressions - Doctor Who RPG - The Time Traveller's Companion

 

A book full of Timey-Whimey stuff.

TL;DR: I've mixed feelings about "The Time Traveller's Companion". It is a superb compendium of everything Time Lord with great production values, but it doesn't make me want to run games with it the way that Paternoster Investigations did. That said if I ever wanted to run a game on Gallifrey or with heavy intervention from the Time Lords, this would a fantastic reference. Ultimately that's what this is; the bumper book of Timey-Whimey lore, to be drawn on for inspiration and adventure when needed. Useful, but not necessary, this delivers what it sets out to achieve, a reference for all things Gallifreyan. 

So my latest roleplaying read was The Time Traveller's Companion for the Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. This was was one of the earlier supplements which had just lurked on my shelf, never reaching the top of the 'to read' pile, so I decided to dive into it. I suspect that I will need to tackle the RPG core rules themselves soon because my memories are reasonably vague of how the Vortex system works.

This is the Time Lord splat book. It is focused on Gallifreyan culture, history and law, drawing deep on lore from across the whole of the Doctor Who continuum. It's a 238-page hardcover in the middle range trade-dress for the Matt Smith era. Full colour throughout with some great pictures from the series. 

The book opens with a history of the Time Lords and key elements of their culture such as the High Council, the Panopticon and the Chancellery Guard. Technology such as the APC Net (the Matrix), Stasers and more are discussed along with Visionaries (those who can see through time), Outsiders, Renegades and the Plebeian Classes.

There's a chapter expanding character generation for Time Lords, with expansions on traits and optional rules for regeneration, with a selection of random tables at the heart of it for inspiration. I've not read the core rules recently enough to see how different this is, but it looks pretty comprehensive.

Chapter Four delves into Temporal Mechanics; all that Timey-Whimey stuff. It starts by saying that the GM is free to ignore anything here if it doesn't work for them or if they (like the Doctor) need an alternative solution. Anyway, you can learn all about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect (the way that the universe will intervene to prevent you messing too much in your own past), time loops and fissures, chronic hysteresis, time rifts, and paradoxes. It then delves into Relative Causal Nexii. These are key points and places in time in time traveller's lives. Temporal Nexus Points are discussed (critical points in the timeline, fixed points). There's a huge amount of lore here for the GM and Time Lord players to dig into if they want to spout Whovian PSB; however, it could just be used as flavouring. The chapter continues to give rules for Space-Time navigation, and then Temporal Devices such as Stasis Fields, Vortex Manipulators and Time Corridors.

The next chapter delves into the complexities of the TARDIS, with rules for navigating, manoeuvres, damage and repair and even the death of a TARDIS (mostly likely in the Time War between Gallifrey and the Daleks). There's a detailed discussion of the console with a whole variety of circuits (the architectural configuration circuit is included, along with the hostile action displacement system). The various rooms which could be in the TARDIS get covered and then there are rules for creating a TARDIS, be it Ancient, Decommissioned, Modern or even an Advanced unit from the later parts of the Time War. 

And then we reach Chapter Six which differs because it is completely focussed on the GM. The other chapters were designed for players and GM (and I believe were sold separately if you wanted them). This chapter is an introduction to what follows.

Chapter Seven covers the 'Dark Secrets of the Time Lords'; the unwritten parts of history such as Rassilon the Tyrant, Morbius, the War Chief, Omega, and the CIA. No, not Langley, but the Celestial Intervention Agency (originally an illegal operation but it later became official). The Master is covered (in his 13th Regeneration form). These key characters are presented with game statistics so that you can bring them into your game. Technology and weapons from the Time War are discussed. Renegades are outlined, drawing on characters such as the Monk and the Rani, Romana and the Master Reborn. All of these could potentially be out there for the player characters to encounter, so game statistics are given.

The next chapter covers whether the Doctor is actually the Last of the Time Lords and how this can be worked around if you want a campaign around another Time Lord. There are also generic stats and descriptions for High Councillors, CIA Agents, Cardinals and the Castellan. Options are given for Children of Gallifrey - Neo-Time Lords - such as River Song who may have gained the Rassilon Imprimatur and survived. 

Temporal Mechanics are revisited in detail with adventure seeds for the various time loops, differentials and more. Part of me wonders if these could have been illustrated in some way; I think that they would have been easier to understand, but perhaps it's my lack of four dimesional physics.

Managing Time Lord characters and abuse of the TARDIS capabilities are covered. The final section of the book provides lists of all the key parts covered earlier as an easy reference, along with TARDIS sheets and reference cards for temporal effects. The book rounds out with a decent index.

I've mixed feelings about this book. It is a superb compendium of everything Time Lord with great production values, but it doesn't make me want to run games with it the way that Paternoster Investigations did. That said if I ever wanted to run a game on Gallifrey or with heavy intervention from the Time Lords, this would a fantastic reference. Ultimately that's what this is; the bumper book of Timey-Whimey lore, to be drawn on for inspiration and adventure when needed. Useful, but not necessary, this delivers what it sets out to achieve, a reference for all things Gallifreyan. 

14 December 2020