How do you guys play Doctor Who?

[Redmao]

I don't mean which rule set you use, but rather how do you actually play the Doctor in a skirmish game?
It's not like you can have him run around with a sub machine gun... well you could, but that would rather be out of character.

[Hat Guy]

Yes, because the Doctor never uses guns...



 

The man led the charge at Reykjavik, killed Grandfather Paradox in a fist fight and steered a rocket into a giant vampire. Forget all that New-Who rubbish, the Doctor kills.

[nozza_uk]

I don't mean which rule set you use, but rather how do you actually play the Doctor in a skirmish game?
It's not like you can have him run around with a sub machine gun... well you could, but that would rather be out of character.

I think the ruleset will determine how the Doctor is played. Most rulesets will have him running around in the background solving problems whilst others do the fighting.

Also, don't forget that the Doctor has got his hands dirty fighting before (mostly in old Who)

[Diplomatist]

Well, if you prefer you could have him handy with his fists (the old Venusian Ju-Jitsu), while hanging around in the company of heavily armed types ("Five rounds rapid!").

[The_Beast]

Sixth Doctor; just go around annoying EVERYBODY... 

Doug

[grant]

Sixth Doctor; just go around annoying EVERYBODY... 

Doug

Why is it that it's all the old, decrepit doctors that are doing the fighting, while the young ones, who actually looked capable of hurting someone, are more likely to just run around doing nothing?

Hmmm. Maybe the old geezers have just had enough and are ready to rumble after an eternity of being a wus.

[Michka]

In the old Harlequin Doctor Who miniatures game, the Doctor and his companions would run around the battlefield looking for encounter markers which would provide clues, pieces of tech for him to cobble together, or additional problems.

[Hat Guy]

These are the stats for the 3rd Doctor in my Superhero games:

The Doctor – All-Action Man

Strength   4   Mind   8
Resolve   8   Agility    5
Hits:
         KO
AP: 13
Physical   Hit   5   Resist   4
Mental   Hit   8   Resist   8

Attacks (3 AP)
Venusian Aikido [5]: Melee 4 Damage
Sonic Screwdriver [5]: 12” Range 6 Stun

Powers/Abilities
Quite Spry (A): Enemy Models do not get the Ganging Up Bonus against The Doctor. 
Reverse the Polarity (A): Target Model within 12” makes an Opposed Resolve Test against The Doctor, if Failed, Target Model may not Activate this Turn. 
Time Warrior (A): The Doctor may Re-roll a Failed Resolve Test. The second result must be accepted.
Slightly Psychic (A): The Doctor may Re-roll his Initiative. The second result must be accepted.


As you can see, he's got a leadership/support role.

The UNIT (Pertwee) era is about the best to game, it has soldiers, cool vehicles and a range of awesome monsters.

[Rhoderic]

I would imagine that if one wanted to specifically capture the feel of "new Who", the Doctor ought to be more of a protector/defender (as well as a leader/thinker/mechanic) than an offensive fighter.

For instance, in some scenarios he might have the power to "passively" keep enemies at bay, making said enemies unable to enter within a certain radius of him (or unable to move or activate at all). This could represent him doing something with the sonic screwdriver or some other device tuned to act as a monster-of-the-week repellant. The challenge would then be for the Doctor to run around trying to protect friendlies scattered across the table. Perhaps said friendlies need to stay scattered performing various tasks (repairs, operating machines, fetching stuff, etc) and it's a game of cat-and-mouse as enemies try to outmaneuver him and attack exposed targets before he can run over to protect them - some of the friendlies would (should?) probably die even if the Doctor does finally win the day. Or perhaps the Doctor has to "gather up" friendlies as he makes his way from point to point on the table, thus gradually accumulating a group of survivors who have to move with him in order to remain protected, and who have various skills, offensive abilities, quirks and dangers of their own. Perhaps he has to act as a "mothership" who has to send friendlies out to perform tasks away from his protective radius while he escorts the brunt of the group to safety.

A similar premise would be that only the Doctor has the ability to detect enemies. He then has to team up with friendlies who possess offensive abilities so as to enable them to attack enemies who would otherwise be invisible. This could be an opportunity to use invisible movement rules (perhaps with tokens that are turned over to hide/reveal which are actual enemies and which are duds). Again, friendlies might have to be scattered about so he has to run from one to the other trying to always be in the right place at the right time before the stealthy predators pounce.

Or just have him be a force multiplier. Three soldiers with guns become as nine soldiers with guns when he's with them, boosting their abilities.

Of course, the Doctor-as-protector premise can also be inverted by having the Doctor be the problem-solver who needs other figures to protect him (probably by fighting) while he pursues non-combat objectives like locking/unlocking doors, repairing items, operating computers, searching for clues/items, and so on. But that might be a rather underwhelming way to represent him.

Ultimately though, I agree that it's probably going too far to represent him as some sort of MacGyver-like personality who refrains from violence and weapons. Give him a sword and let him have at it.

[Hammers]

I know from a club meet some years ago how matakshi rolls his Dr Who games: with massive overkills. :-)

[nozza_uk]

I would imagine that if one wanted to specifically capture the feel of "new Who", the Doctor ought to be more of a protector/defender (as well as a leader/thinker/mechanic) than an offensive fighter.

For instance, in some scenarios he might have the power to "passively" keep enemies at bay, making said enemies unable to enter within a certain radius of him (or unable to move or activate at all). This could represent him doing something with the sonic screwdriver or some other device tuned to act as a monster-of-the-week repellant. The challenge would then be for the Doctor to run around trying to protect friendlies scattered across the table. Perhaps said friendlies need to stay scattered performing various tasks (repairs, operating machines, fetching stuff, etc) and it's a game of cat-and-mouse as enemies try to outmaneuver him and attack exposed targets before he can run over to protect them - some of the friendlies would (should?) probably die even if the Doctor does finally win the day. Or perhaps the Doctor has to "gather up" friendlies as he makes his way from point to point on the table, thus gradually accumulating a group of survivors who have to move with him in order to remain protected, and who have various skills, offensive abilities, quirks and dangers of their own. Perhaps he has to act as a "mothership" who has to send friendlies out to perform tasks away from his protective radius while he escorts the brunt of the group to safety.

A similar premise would be that only the Doctor has the ability to detect enemies. He then has to team up with friendlies who possess offensive abilities so as to enable them to attack enemies who would otherwise be invisible. This could be an opportunity to use invisible movement rules (perhaps with tokens that are turned over to hide/reveal which are actual enemies and which are duds). Again, friendlies might have to be scattered about so he has to run from one to the other trying to always be in the right place at the right time before the stealthy predators pounce.

Or just have him be a force multiplier. Three soldiers with guns become as nine soldiers with guns when he's with them, boosting their abilities.

Of course, the Doctor-as-protector premise can also be inverted by having the Doctor be the problem-solver who needs other figures to protect him (probably by fighting) while he pursues non-combat objectives like locking/unlocking doors, repairing items, operating computers, searching for clues/items, and so on. But that might be a rather underwhelming way to represent him.

Ultimately though, I agree that it's probably going too far to represent him as some sort of MacGyver-like personality who refrains from violence and weapons. Give him a sword and let him have at it.

That's why I use Pulp Alley for my Dr Who games, as it lets you do all of this.

[psullie]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the Dr Who Miniatures Game brought out ages back by the Crooked Dice guys, uses the same engine as 7TV & 7th Voyage, has tonnes of material and is FREE! http://drwhominiatures.co.uk/index.html

[nozza_uk]

I did try the Dr Who Miniatures Game a few years ago. For some reason, my group just couldn't get into it. I think at the time, we were playing a lot of 5150/Nuts etc and the Insight was missed. The irony is now we play Pulp Alley and Frostgrave, either of which doesn't have such a check.