I know this might be a large task but how would one go about making a gallifreyan/time lord from the show Doctor Who? including TARDIS and time travel rules...i mean i know some things you couldnt fix I.E. horus heresy, fall of the eldar crucial things like that but im only talking about small things. I just really want to introduce them as a xeno race in my campaign and wondered for your input.
Making Time Lords
While I don't recall details, apparently there was a "time lord" concept floaing around during the early days of 1st Ed. 40K.. Supposedly it had nothing to do with "Doctor Who" or it's background. However it was on the basis of a group or faction of humans/xenos that were very powerfull and delt with the manipulation of time. However like a lot of the concepts and original background material, it was either dropped or put on the back burnner and overall not really fleshed out, however not before one miniature was produced. Said miniature ended up in the old Space Pirates line, along with a lot of other ideas/concepts from 40K's early development. Does anyone out there have any further information or reference in regards to this?
As for a Dr. Who style Time Lord faction/race/organization, I would personally say, take it any way you see fit. Personally I wouldn't be fixed to something purly in the Dr. Who mold, however it's up to you how close to the original material you go or stray from.
However is such a faction did exist in 40K, I would not put it past it to be firmly tied in with The Black Library, and have ties to various organizations in human and xenos societies.
True they would probably have to be the librarians themselves if the Black Library is going to live up to its name, and as for being tied in with other human and xeno societies there are always strange unidentifiable xeno artifacts dating back further than anything we have ever seen. As for the mechanics of time travel Dr. Who seems to fit somewhat well since The Doctor usualy gets it wrong, well not wrong just not very accurate, anyways which i take to meaning the degrees of sucess on a xeno tech/ regular tech use (The Doctor has had to integrate regular tech since he first got the TARDIS) test. Im probably going to have to wait for RT to create my own ship, and im hoping they will make a more detailed xeno and or civilization and or planet generator, though I've heard from somwhere that they will have better xeno tech in it which will make it easier for me to make a sonic manipulation device
. With the DH xeno generator they are bipedial mechanized (or psyker depending on choice), have regeneration (tweaked down of course and i had to make the rules for making him/her change form to), sustained life, and innate psyker. As for the time lord faction themselves it would have to be split normaly...those who do their duties, watch events, and never interfere with things like the gallifreyan high council. Then there would be the radical "Doctor" those who do interefere for better (the doctor) or worse (the master, the monk, the warmaster ect. ect. ect.).
The Tardis
A plot device. Gets you from a to b. Anytime you try to do something, the DM decides whether it works or not.
Sonic Screwdriver
Essentially can do anything except shoot people.
Timelord or Timelady
Int 90 with modifiers as normal. Model all their odd biology. D10 fate points if PC.
My take
Time travel, in the Doctor Who style, seems inappropriate for 40k. Everyime I try to figure a way to jam it in, it yields a silly result. Modelling the intricacies of a consistent set of time travel mechanics (which DW never displayed, save for the Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey explanation, which is essentially: anything goes, it's plot driven) seems incredibly difficult. Working out the proper effects when the world itself isn't modelled could prove...difficult.
To do it well is one thing, to do it in the DW style merely requires a generally inattentive GM whose dreams exceed their means. It's a difficult task.
On Time Travel in 40k
That is not to say you can't have tons of fun with all this sort of stuff. The minor ordos, especially, may well explore the mechanics of timetravel. The idea that ships, armies and astropathic messages can arrive before they are sent is not new. The warp does incredibly weird things. You don't need to shoehorn the Doctor Who universe into 40k to be able to to obtain a rather spiffing bit of temporal roleplay.
Consider the Eldar Farseers, various human precogs and other time-psykers. Without even needing to timetravel they can be very clear about changing the future. They can be concerned with the appropriate timeline, the order of events, how things are 'supposed' to happen.
The Cabal of Legion , the Watchers in the Dark, the mysterious origins of the Ethereals, the long-term goal of the Emperor...There's plenty of stuff that can be explored without even once stepping foot inside the Tardis.
However
One could quite happily play out a scenario involving the Doctor and/or other timelords. Though a direct replication is perhaps unwanted, a full-blown crossover could be fascinating. Try writing up The Doctor as an NPC! Expert in the Scholastic/Forbidden Lore and Speak Language skill groups, but with at best basic abilities in most Common Lore. A basic proficiency in almost all other skills with a few other choice specialist abilities. Tack a few specialist talents on for fun, give him the Unnatural Intelligence and Unnatural Willpower traits and you've essentially got any of the ten Doctors. Some more specific modifications could further that and then you could have your 'acolytes' play as companions picked up by the Doctor who've now ended up in the 40k-verse.
Could be oodles of fun. The vast bulk of DW is plot device, so a canny GM with a clever story and a good eye for making things fun is essentially all that's necessary to capture the 'spirit' of DW.
To replicate the Time Lords, though...? Well, they rarely did anything anyway. Rationally their non-interference was quite clever as it explains why they almost never are seen by anyone else.
Lots of good ideas
there is quite an intriguing time travel plot and story in this artists gallery here:
http://www.renderosity.com/homepage.php?page=3&userid=451251
This is all very truly interesting and yes all of the DH things can see the future but none rarely fix it those are the trials of an old gallifreyan timelord he watches, knows, and never fixes it because he knows the unkown might happen and we cant have that can we? on the note of have The Doctor as an NPC anyone willing to come up with a character sheet? my campaign doesnt offer much time though i would love to see others interpretations on it (preferably the tenth doctor, the ninth was a little to war like for fun and the eleventh hasnt proven any worth over David Tennant) i would be eternally abliged.
In true Doctor fashion, just have them show up.
The idea basically went as this:
The Ten Doctors
Name: The Doctor (Tenth Incarnation)
Homeworld: Lungbarrow, Gallifrey, Constellation of Casterboras.
Gender: Male
Build: Scrawny
Skin: Good-pasty (moisturises)
Hair: Brown (good)
Height: 1.85m
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Unknown
Age: 903
WS 46
BS 52
S 41
T 42
Ag 38
Int 50
Per 52
WP 45
Fel 45
Skills: Awareness (Per) +20, Barter (Fel), Blather (Fel), Charm (Fel), Chem Use (Int) +20, Climb (S), Command (Fel), Common Lore (Tech) +20, Conceal (Ag), Decieve (Fel) +20, Dodge (Ag), Evaluate (Int) +20, Gamble (Int) +20, Inquiry (Int) +20, Intimidate (S) +20, Literacy (Int) +20, Logic (Int) +20, Navigation (Surface, Space, Time) (Int), Psyniscience (Per), Scholastic Lore (All) (Int) +20, Scrutiny (Per) +20, Security (Int), Search (Per), Silent Move (Ag), Sleight of Hand (Ag), Speak Language (All) (Int) +20, Swim (S).
Talents : Technical Knock, Psy Rating 5, Unnatural (Intelligence, Willpower).
Wounds: 18
Equipment
Good quality clothes (usually a decent suit of any era, but varies to include cricket whites and a u-boat captain's jacket, doubles as a backpack as 'pockets are bigger on the inside')
Pack of jelly babies
Yo-yo
Recorder
Lapel-leek
'Smart person' glasses (no actual effect)
Question-mark motif umbrella
18ft scarf (colour varies)
Psychic paper (y'know the deal, variously easy/difficult opposed Willpower checks)
Sonic Screwdriver (+20 to Security, Chem Use & Search tests)
Tardis (Means that anything can happen, anywhere at any time for no reason whatsoever, GM's judgement highly recommended)
Regeneration
1st Step aside, Peer (Academics), Jaded
2nd Performer (Musician), Peer (Academics), Talented (Logic, Scholastic Lores)
3rd Arms Master & all WTs, Drive/Pilot (all) +20, Charm +20
4th Combat Master, Disarm, Blather +20
5th - (+3 all stats?)
6th Air of Authority, Intimidate +20
7th Forbidden Lore (All) +20, Performer (all) +20
8th Soulsight & Personal Augury, Trade (Soothsayer) +20
9th Jaded, Invocation, Psyniscience +20, Lucky, Knack, Unremarkable
10th Carouse +10, Charm +20, Blather +20, Forget Me, Resist Possession
Reasoning
Well, I basically attempted to delineate 'em on the basis of their predominant characteristics. The First Doctor was rarely (if ever) an MD-style doctor, but instead a remarkable man of science (i.e. like a PhD), a crotchety old man with a heart of gold and a youthful eagerness. Similarly Troughton's Second Doctor was delightfully academic, if more frivolous and playful. The Third, as we know, was a more than just a bit of an action man and a dandy. The fourth was 'iconic' (and surprisingly good in a fist fight!) whilst the fifth was 'just the Doctor' (in truth, I couldn't really pin a remarkable aspect fo the Fifth, other than simply being a very true, distinguished and reserved Doctor).
With the Sixth Doctor we have a brash, overbearing and brooding lump of a man (in a ridiculous coat too). The Seventh is much more steeped in the mysteries of the universe, a much darker Doctor (hence the forbidden lore; so if he showed up in 40k, he'd probably be good chums with Alpharius, Magnus and Malcador, or even have actually *been* Malcador...) though also distinctly a performer.
The Eight Doctor we see as literally being a Lord of Time , he's intimately familiar with folks' pasts, futures, personalities and nature. The Ninth can be easily summed up as 'Jaded', but we certainly see him as being distinctly more psychic and 'magical' than others too. He's also a bit more...normal; if that can even be applied! The Tenth is a much more amiable Doctor, capable of a few bits and pieces of magical trickery (being more overtly telepathic, for instance), he's a handy man to have around.
Note that the extra talents and skills are often replacing weaker ones previously held (e.g. Blather to Blather +20).
Thoughts ?
If anyone ever wants to include any object, simply calling it the Lasgun of Rassilon will likely suffice. He's not a super-being, but he's got more than enough about him to make him a canny opponent or aid!
A Tangent or Adapting DW Ideas in 40k
I love many of the ideas of Doctor Who. The (visual and intellectual) themes of many of the heroes/villains of the story really are quite compelling. For my part, I see the 'aloof observers' of the Galaxy to be both the Demiurg and the Hrud.
The Hrud are an infestation. They're an extremely old, extremely potent, extremely resilient and extremely well-spread disparate society...yet they... don't do anything (of much significance). A big point of their description in Xenology is that they used to consider themselves the bookkeepers and librarians of the Universe, an Old species (like the Eldar, Orks, Jokaero etc) who were in later days transformed into the more...battle-ready society at the behest of their now-disappeared god Qah (who has parallels to both Khaine and Cegorach, perhaps simply actually being one of those gods! I'd wager Qah is Khaine who, on death, split up into the Umbra ["LINGER!"] and the Avatars, amongst other odd phenomena). Anyway, I'm digressing. The modernity of 40k is the legacy of the War(s) in Heaven. The story of the Eldar Gods, the story of the history of the Orks, the onset of Chaos, the Enslavers, the Rise and Hibernation of the C'tan and the Fall of the Old Ones is a very broad, grand and mythical backdrop with which we can pin events in 40k.
So whilst modern 40k might pit a bloody civil war as being an unfortunate aspect of the onset of Chaos assailing the Imperium, a DW story might pit it as the legacy of the Time War, say, or some other Time Lord intervention (or as a vendetta against 'em). Combining these one can link such stories locally to the Horus Heresy, to the Schism on Mars (for instance) or even to unite the two which point (IMO) right back at the grander designs laid down and set in motion during the War in Heaven, over 60million years prior.
With the Demiurg, on the otherhand, I favour the stance that they give that 'timeless' feeling. That they're wise, jaded, potent and reserved. My take on them is that their species is by its very nature lonely and afforded a great deal of mental prosperity in seeking solace, solitude and isolation from the galaxy they live in. That their massive, powerful and majestic Commerce Vessels trawl the void, hiding in the depths of the Coronas of stars, the hearts of nebula or the deep Cradle of the Milky Way, is teling. They're involved, and watching, but they're also merely doing their thing. Their vessels, equipment and input are superbly powerful, but they rarely interfere or provide any sort of input that'll directly affect the broader course of the universe and its destiny. The key example in this way is the Tau Empire. If the Thurm and Srry'tok brotherhoods take the form of 'The Doctor', then the Tau Empire (and all its inhabitants) is the Doctor's Earth. Most of the stories take place there, he continually moans about the uselessness and stupidity of humanity, but he has a fondness for it and has saved the entire species oodles of times. Translating that to the Demiurg in 40k, they could be a technologically, intellectually and 'actually' powerful race who only reluctantly cooperate with the Tau Empire. Otherwise they apply but a fraction of their power to solving problems. So when someone challenges their friend, they reveal a bit more of their stupendous power.
But even then, there's only few of them. Their intellectuals and industrialists, not warriors and politicians. They might have an awesome capacity for money making, science and ultimate power, but their drive carries them quite distant from that approach...
In that regard, I find the use of the two alien species the Hrud and Demiurg to provide a very 'neat' opening for which to start 'discussing' a Time Lord equivalent in the 40k setting without directly including them. Taking the inspiration, sure, but I find the 'expanding the setting' better than tacking 'em on.
I'm not really looking for an "equivalent" but an actual thing lol i know that sounds like a lot to shove into one another but im working steadily on it though i love the different incarnations have different talents thing thats awsome lol and his equipment though you should say the the equipment varies on incarnation.
Now I am going to try to create a mechanic for a TARDIS and the mechanics behind time travel
Now for the piece de resistance. I don’t want just the Doctor I want the entire race a player characters so I am going to try to make planetary traits and racial traits along with statistics although I will not be making a time lord career because a time lord is anything he wants to be a scum, a cleric (the monk), a guardsman (the master), an assassin, or whatever a time lord isn’t a singular thing they are anything and everything though it is perfectly acceptable to make one if you would like in fact I wouldn’t mind seeing it actually seeing it if anyone felt like making a career tree or just a singular side rank for it. I just don’t really believe a Gallifreyan could have a Time Lord Career seeing as its more of a pastime for their current exploration.
Gallifrey Planetary traits:
Knowledge of the Ages: Gallifrey is an ancient world it was one of the first to be inhabited by sentient life and since its beginning it has been studying every subject to spring up or die out. Because of this its people are incredibly intelligent and learned in any subject they need to be.
Effects: all Gallifreyans have basic knowledge in everything, and may choose 3 knowledge skills to become learned in. Because of their extensive knowledge some regret the things they have to know and gain 1D10 insanity and corruption points at the beginning of character creation.
Better than Humans?: a Gallifreyan’s anatomy and brain function are very similar to humanity’s “great design” set down by the emperor although there are differences and finding them out classifies them as a great heresy to the human form for their closeness in appearance, so avoidance of medicae facilities is a good thing if it can be avoided unless they are privately (inquisition) owned and even then the Ordo Xenos would be terribly interested in them. This anatomy includes nearly double of all organs a human has (except a liver though they are incredibly resistant to alcohol)
Effect: Gallifreyans can hold their breath for incredibly long times and will their bodies to resist radiation and toxins (GM’s discretion at what is not resistible (blame it on foreign toxins)) they can endure physical exhaustion for longer periods and extreme temperatures with ease. Due to their neural make up they can recall details and memories from their past lives with ease, basically allowing them the total recall ability.
Natural Psykers: Gallifreyans are naturally attuned psychically to the universe but they use a different energy than warp energy, though this does not make them immune to Perils of the Warp the Dark Gods despise their use of powers without using the stuff of their back wards universe they just don’t suffer corruption or insanity from it. Gallifreyans only use powers of the mind to see into others minds or into the future (that means they can take vermin speaker because its using the minds of vermin). Due to their natural prowess with their powers they are incredibly strong willed and intelligent.
Effect: All Gallifreyans, and upon character creation add +5 to their intelligence and willpower scores have a psy rating of 2 (they may increase this for 300 experience if they do not have it in their career tree if they do then pay the normal price) they have 3 minor powers starting off (buy more for 200 or regular price) and may take one power from the Divination tree and one from the Telepathy tree they can not use the other trees I repeat THEY CAN NOT USE THE OTHER TREES even if they are in the psyker career path (they may buy more psychic powers for 300 unless they are in the career path)
Technical Prowess: All of Gallifrey is a technical wonder seeing as they can travel time itself, and they know it. Every Gallifreyan is instructed on all the technology their planet has to offer and even people of the outskirts know how to use technology instinctually therefore they can surpass a tech priest without even looking at the thing they are building.
Effect: any technical knowledge or skill and talent relating to technology for a Gallifreyan is effectively +10, and given enough time and parts can upgrade any piece of technology to the best quality (time and parts are GM’s discretion)
Here are the statistics I believe a Gallifreyan might have:
15+2D10 weapon skill
15+2D10 ballistic skill
20+2D10 strength
20+2D10 toughness
15+2D10 agility
25+2D10 intelligence
25+2D10 will power
25+2D10 perception
20+2D10 fellowship
13+1D5 wounds
1 fate point (most Gallifreyans don’t have a strong sense of faith but they do believe in a “god” figure)
Gallifreyans may choose from any career type and when making physical descriptions choose from any category
For age have them be at least 500 but it may go up to 10,000 this has no effect on game play but that is the way they are.
When a Gallifreyan dies a player may choose to have him “regenerate” changing all his physical form (loosing all of his equipment in the process) when he regenerates he takes all of his experience he has acquired and puts it into a new career tree and you still count as having used stat modifiers for experience in the new tree (I.E. if you bought a strength +5 in one career that transfers to your next) (or GM’s discretion on how much can be used) but it must be a different career than the previous. If for some off chance the time comes for a time lords 13th life this is his last chance and when he dies this time his character is done for good so roll up a new one.
To play a Gallifreyan there is really only one thing in mind that is key, be haughty you control time itself so your arrogant most of the time and other than that enjoy yourself.
so reveiw, enjoy, and use it if you want to this is my attempt please edit it if you feel something is out of wack or even give suggestions i would love any critisism.