Doctors and Daleks

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Doctors and Daleks
Release date:	2022 - present
Publisher:	Cubicle 7

Doctors and Daleks was a roleplaying game released by Cubicle 7 in 2022. It was a “parallel” game to Adventures in Time and Space: The Roleplaying Game, using a heavily adapted version of the rules for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons rather than the original Vortex system rules of Adventures in Time and Space.

Publisher summary

A New Way to Adventure through all of Space and Time

Doctors and Daleks brings the epic adventures of the Universe’s most famous Time Lord to the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Running parallel to the award winning Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game, Doctors and Daleks is a new line of products that brings Doctor Who adventures to your table using 5th Edition rules.

Releases and revisions

The releases were:

• Doctors and Daleks Player's Guide
• Doctors and Daleks Alien Archive
• The Keys of Scaravore

All three books were also available in a TARDIS slipcase as Doctors and Daleks: Collector’s Edition.

Game mechanics

Doctors and Daleks is an adaptation of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, published under the Open Game License (OGL), which allows third-party publishers to create compatible content based on the “System Reference Document” (SRD), a freely available version of a subset of Dungeons & Dragons rules. As a result basic mechanics are shared between the two games, but Doctors and Daleks is mostly a standalone game, though it does refer the reader to the SRD to fill in any rules which can’t be reproduced. (The free Basic Rules or the 2014 edition of the Player’s Handbook for D&D would also work.)

Characters and other creatures have six “Ability Scores” - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma - which define their basic capabilities. Each has a numerical score (typically between 8 and 20), and a modifier derived from the score (typically between -1 and +5).

To resolve an action with a chance of failure, a player makes an “Ability Check” by rolling a twenty-sided dice and adding a modifier based on the appropriate Ability Score. They may also add additional bonuses, such as a “proficiency bonus” representing training in a specific skill or other area of expertise. They might also roll two twice and take the higher or lower result, if they have some kind of circumstantial advantage or disadvantage.

If the final result of the dice roll plus any modifiers equals or exceeds a “Difficulty Class” set by the Game Master, the action succeeds. Attack rolls (for affecting other creatures negatively) and saving throws (for avoiding danger) are resolved in a similar way to Ability Checks. Other variable effects, like how much damage is inflicted by a hazard or an attack, use other sizes of dice with four, six, eight, ten or twelve sides.

Differences from Dungeons & Dragons

While the above basics are the same, many specific rules are heavily modified and others added to provide a similar play experience to Adventures in Space and Time. Some key differences include:

• The fantasy classes (Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric etc) are replaced with six classes based on each of the six Ability Scores, similar to the older game d20 Modern.
  • These classes are the Charmer (Charisma), Empath (Wisdom), Protector (Strength), Stalwart (Constitution), Thinker (Intelligence) and Trickster (Dexterity).
  • Each class has a number of “subclasses” - specialisations like “The Boffin”, “The Criminal” or “The Survivalist”. Each uses one of the Doctor’s companions or allies as an archetypal example, like Christina de Souza for the Criminal or Dan Lewis for the Survivalist.
• Similarly the “races” from D&D are replaced by species from the Doctor Who universe, including humans, Silurians, Sontarans and Time Lords.
• All references to magic are largely replaced by technology, and the game uses the Technology Levels from Adventures in Space and Time to represent both a character’s familiarity with technology, and the standard of technological achievement of a culture.
• Spells are replaced by Quips, which represent “the power of conversation in Doctor Who”. They are special abilities that usually involve talking to affect change. All classes have access to at least some Quips, and many Quips are adaptations of spells from the D&D basic rules.
• The game introduces many rules and changes to support non-violent conflict, including:
  • “Hit Points”, which measure physical injury and stamina, are replaced with “Plot Points”, which measure luck, resolve and drive.
  • The addition of two new damage types, “emotional damage” and “logical damage”. Dealing any other kind of damage is an “escalation” that makes an opponent less likely to listen, and thus Quips are less effective.
  • Initiative uses similar rules to Adventures in Space and Time, in which characters who are talking act before attackers.
  • A variety of alternatives to deadly force, including “Environmental Action” (using your environment to impair an opponent), “Changing the Situation” (using Quips and other abilities to talk your way out of a fight), incapacitating an opponent, and rules for retreats and chases.
  • Alternate ways to earn experience points which don’t rely on defeating enemies.

External links

• What is 'Doctors and Daleks'? - introductory blog post from Cubicle 7