Has anyone run Traveller with the Doctor Who rpg?

[Spinward Scout]

So, I've got the new Doctor Who rpg. I really like the skill system in it. It's a 2d6 system but with an expanded Trait system. So, you roll 2d6 and add relevant Attribute, Skill and Trait, to come up with a total. I think it would work very well for a Traveller game. And seems very scale-able to throw in some Ancient artifacts and fantastic tech.

Has anyone tried this?

 

[Nathan Brazil]

You mean the new Vortex System version?
Using DWAITaS as is is too abstract as is. I have written a conversion, but had to incorporate elements from Rocket Age and Pulp Fantastic to make vehicle and starship combat fun.

Tech levels (which affect die rolls involving tech) incur a +difficulty if your native TL is different from the objects TL (unless you pay for the point to be familiar with the non-native TL) per TL difference. However the scale is too compressed to make much difference in the OTU unless you change it.

1 Primitive: Stone Age
2 Metalworking: Bronze to Middle Age
3 Renaissance: 15-17th Century Earth
4 Industrial: 18-20th Century Earth
5 Space Faring: 21st century Earth. Colonization of the Solar System.
6 Star Faring: 22nd -30th Century Earth. FTL Travel. Transmats.
7 Advanced Interstellar Empire: 31st-49th Century Earth. No Time Travel.
8 Time Faring - 51st Century Earth
9 Advanced Time Faring - The Daleks
10 Time Lord
11 Ancient Time Lord - The Dark Times, Rassilon and Omega.
12 Beyond Comprehension - Abilities available only to the Eternals.

 

[Spinward Scout]

You mean the new Vortex System version?

Yeah, that one. I'd love to see your conversion.

Of course, the game would only go up to Tech Level 7. I like the compressed scale better, to be honest. It seems to fit more with the descriptors from MegaTraveller and MgT: TL 1-3 = Primitive, TL 4-6 = Industrial, TL 7-9 = Pre-Stellar, etc...

 

[Reynard]

I compared the two task systems and, quite frankly, there's nothing for each to be a superior substitute to the other especially how close they are.

Dr Who himself, as powerful as he is, would be more an adventure plot device than an NPC per se. Daleks would be damn scary in Traveller (which I did decades ago; who hasn't?).

To only thing I want to port from DWAIT are the catkind as uplifted felines. I imagine hospital ships with Thomas Kincade Brannigan as a pilot and cat nurse nuns as the staff.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Reynard, the reason to port over is not the skill system primarily but to use a rule system that specifically is less deadly to characters in general. It is certainly not "traditional Traveller" because, well, characters die much more easily in a Traveller firefight. Vortex as written is less deadly in general and it has Story Points (get out of death free cards).

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Yeah, that one. I'd love to see your conversion.

Of course, the game would only go up to Tech Level 7. I like the compressed scale better, to be honest. It seems to fit more with the descriptors from MegaTraveller and MgT: TL 1-3 = Primitive, TL 4-6 = Industrial, TL 7-9 = Pre-Stellar, etc...

I used Mongoose Traveller mostly as it was a more streamlined task system. But I did not like that there as no limit to TL. Also Reality Manipulation ("do overs" sounds like time travel to me) are TL 27 in T5.09 rules. Note how the spread of TL allows it to match the Experimental/Prototype idea in T5.09. I used T5.09 Tech Level tracks like so:

Traveller TL	Vortex TL
0	1 Primitive: Stone Age
1	2 Metalworking: Bronze to Middle Age
2	3 Renaissance: 15-17th Century Earth
3-7	4 Industrial: 18-20th Century Earth
8-9	5 Space Faring: 21st century Earth.
10-15	6 Star Faring
16-21	7 Advanced Interstellar Empire: Transmats
22-24	8 Time Faring
25-26	9 Advanced Time Faring - The Daleks
27-29	10 Time Lord
30-32	11 Ancient Time Lord - The Dark Times, Rassilon and Omega.
33	12 Beyond Comprehension - Abilities available only to the Eternals.

In the 10th Doctor edition Transmats were one level high, so I moved it up to more conform with T5.09

 

[maksimsmelchak]

Traveller TL	Vortex TL
0	1 Primitive: Stone Age
1	2 Metalworking: Bronze to Middle Age
2	3 Renaissance: 15-17th Century Earth
3-7	4 Industrial: 18-20th Century Earth
8-9	5 Space Faring: 21st century Earth.
10-15	6 Star Faring
16-21	7 Advanced Interstellar Empire: Transmats
22-24	8 Time Faring - 51st Century Earth
25-26	9 Advanced Time Faring - The Daleks
27-29	10 Time Lord
30-32	11 Ancient Time Lord - The Dark Times, Rassilon and Omega.
33	12 Beyond Comprehension - Abilities available only to the Eternals.

In the 10th Doctor edition Transmats were one level high, so I moved it up to more conform with T5.09

The Vortex TL's look remarkably like GURPS.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Reynard]

I'm looking over the attack and damage in DWAIT and they actually use (L)ethal as a type of damage. Seriously, you're dead. Traveller isn't that bad though a PGMP might come close. That's not less deadly. What the game stresses outside the mechanics is find ways not to get in a (L)ethal situation.

If it's all about lethality then tone down the damage ability rather than replacing the whole game mechanic. Referees are allowed to do that like don't make PGMPs easily available. Be generous and find ways to make a situation less deadly if necessary. Maybe actually add a form of Story Point as a Get out of Dead card if big damage can't be avoided but really, a good referee should be able to find less obvious means.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Only the Laser, Cyber-Particle Gun, Judoon Blaster and Dalek Exterminator are rated L, and those groups of aliens are all TL 7 and up.

Also the initiative order penalizes fighters by virtue of their selected action
All Talkers go first and their actions are resolved first
All Runners go second and their actions are resolved next
All Doers go third and their actions are resolved next
All Fighters go last and their actions are resolved last

 

[Timerover51]

So, I've got the new Doctor Who rpg. I really like the skill system in it. It's a 2d6 system but with an expanded Trait system. So, you roll 2d6 and add relevant Attribute, Skill and Trait, to come up with a total. I think it would work very well for a Traveller game. And seems very scale-able to throw in some Ancient artifacts and fantastic tech.

Has anyone tried this?

Kelly, did you download the Doctor Who game from DriveThru?

 

[Whipsnade]

Reynard, the reason to port over is not the skill system primarily but to use a rule system that specifically is less deadly to characters in general.

Is that a good thing?

It is certainly not "traditional Traveller" because, well, characters die much more easily in a Traveller firefight.

Deadly combat is pretty much what made the Traveller system stand out in the late 70s. That doesn't mean you need to follow the example.

Vortex as written is less deadly in general and it has Story Points (get out of death free cards).

So more of a rewards base system than the older consequence based system? Again, nothing wrong with that.

I do know it would be a real hoot reading your conversion notes. I'm sure many here - myself included - would be interested and would love to see what they could "borrow" for their own games.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Kelly, did you download the Doctor Who game from DriveThru?

I picked it up at The Wandering Dragon in Plainfield. It's the Limited Edition rulebook. Very nicely done.

 

[Timerover51]

I picked it up at The Wandering Dragon in Plainfield. It's the Limited Edition rulebook. Very nicely done.

Got you. I will have to check with Friend's Hobbies or Games Plus in Mount Prospect. Thanks, Kelly.

 

[Reynard]

In other words, the Dr. Who game really, really makes an effort to penalize fighting at least to make it safer for the main characters (because everyone else in the tv series died often, regularly and in large number). Conversion sounds like an awful lot of work to tone down Traveller so much. It seems more reasonable to use DWAIT with players dressed as Traveller characters and the backdrops look like Traveller ships and planets. There will be a lot more encounters settled with witty banter and intelligent negotiations.

Hmmm, Traveller characters as agents of a future Torchwood chasing weird happenings across the sector.

 

[Vargas]

Doctor Who is more narratively driven that Traveller so it's a somewhat coarse fit but it could be done depending on the wants/needs/tastes of all involved. The initiative system would have to change, pretty much, but if everyone can accept, for example, using the Vortex Technology skill to represent Traveller's Engineering, Electronics and Computer skills then why not?

 

[Reynard]

In a way you are right. If people like the Vortex system to run a Traveller game then more fun for them.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Hmmm, I might be able to port over the Skills and Traits from Serenity rpg into the Doctor Who rpg.

This could work.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Anyone else have both the Doctor Who rpg and the Serenity rpg? Doctor Who rpg might be a pared down version of Serenity rpg. Some of it is virtually identical in both books.

Also, it looks like combat is more fleshed out in the Doctor Who U.N.I.T. Sourcebook. I'll have to check it out at my FLGS.

 

[Echo]

I haven't used Doctor Who for Traveller directly, but I do think it's a bloody good Sci-Fi game!

The initiative rules are it's signature, but I've found them to be very dynamic in game play. It's cool because the players get a sense quite quickly on how to act if they want to go first, while violent players aren't left out of the loop entirely (they just have to be patient). It simulates the TV show well too, of course, but it's actually refreshing as it cuts down on arbitrary dice rolling i many cases, and just gets the players roleplaying in a narrative sense.

The rest of the game has some similarities to the Traveller game, and I'd imagine it would be possible to port some ideas across either way. There is certainly a wealth of background material in both cases.

 

[Spinward Scout]

And if you don't want to use that Initiative system, Serenity rpg just has you roll Agility + Alertness (2d6 + Awareness + Coordination in Doctor Who rpg).

I'm going to make a conversion doc, when I have the time.