I recenlty ordered the Doctor Who RPG by Cubicle 7 because I have some family members getting into gaming who are also Dr. Who fans and figured it might be fun to run for them. But I don't have much experience with Cubicle Seven's games. Anyone know how this one holds up? Is it a good game for beginners?

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;582426I recenlty ordered the Doctor Who RPG by Cubicle 7 because I have some family members getting into gaming who are also Dr. Who fans and figured it might be fun to run for them. But I don't have much experience with Cubicle Seven's games. Anyone know how this one holds up? Is it a good game for beginners?

It worked ok for the short campaign I ran. Pretty simple and a lot of hand outs and tokens for those that like that sort of thing (which are not needed, they are just references).

It's a simple core mechanic (Stat + skill + 2d6 + mods vs static results table), and has light enough mechanics, and enough examples, to put together most enemies the Doctor may face.

Also has some great initiative mechanics, and rewards non-violent solutions.

Yeah, it's worth the cost. (Also, I playtested it, but our group was one of the un-named testers ).

In an ideal world the FASA game from aeons ago would still exist. Why? Because it was fucking awesome.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;582463In an ideal world the FASA game from aeons ago would still exist. Why? Because it was fucking awesome.

I have that boxed set, and a few sourcebooks.

And it IS awesome.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;582463In an ideal world the FASA game from aeons ago would still exist. Why? Because it was fucking awesome.

And available free online.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;582426I recenlty ordered the Doctor Who RPG by Cubicle 7 because I have some family members getting into gaming who are also Dr. Who fans and figured it might be fun to run for them. But I don't have much experience with Cubicle Seven's games. Anyone know how this one holds up? Is it a good game for beginners?

I love it. One of the best games I've purchased in the last few years. The system is light, great for new players, but very adjustable...reminds me of, not in specifics but in utility, BESM 2E, but more importantly perfectly captures the flavour of the show, up to and including making Talking a viable action in combat situations. I ran one of the sample adventures from the core set as a Call of Cthulhu one-shot (upped the horror a bit, but didn't have to do much tweaking). I highly recommend it, just don't wait around for supplements.

Quote from: TristramEvans;582504I love it. One of the best games I've purchased in the last few years. The system is light, great for new players, but very adjustable...reminds me of, not in specifics but in utility, BESM 2E, but more importantly perfectly captures the flavour of the show, up to and including making Talking a viable action in combat situations. I ran one of the sample adventures from the core set as a Call of Cthulhu one-shot (upped the horror a bit, but didn't have to do much tweaking). I highly recommend it, just don't wait around for supplements.

Sounds like lots of folks like it. That is encouraging.

How do they handle time travel mechanically?

I find the new Dr. Who game, very solid and reasonably well done. It reminds me of a bit better balanced version of Unisystem.
Time Travel requires a special device but I don't recall the specifics. I can get to it later, perhaps.

Quote from: Silverlion;582556I find the new Dr. Who game, very solid and reasonably well done. It reminds me of a bit better balanced version of Unisystem.
Time Travel requires a special device but I don't recall the specifics. I can get to it later, perhaps.

I like unisystem so that encouraging to hear.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;582426I recenlty ordered the Doctor Who RPG by Cubicle 7 because I have some family members getting into gaming who are also Dr. Who fans and figured it might be fun to run for them. But I don't have much experience with Cubicle Seven's games. Anyone know how this one holds up? Is it a good game for beginners?

Well, given that I had a hand in its development, I have to say that yes, its fairly good. Given that I playtested it with several beginners and they all handled it really well, I'd say its also good for that, yes.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;582602Well, given that I had a hand in its development, I have to say that yes, its fairly good. Given that I playtested it with several beginners and they all handled it really well, I'd say its also good for that, yes.

RPGPundit

I didn't realize you were involved in the development. So far everything I am hearing makes this sound like a winner. I ordered the boxed set for the new doctor and am looking forward to running it. My cousin and her husband are on board to play. May even be able to talk my father into playing it given he is a Dr. who fan as well (though he has never touched an rpg).

As another potential customer - How good is it for statting up new timelord characters? I remember reading somewhere that the game is designed to be run as either The Doctor + Companions or Humans only.

Also, how does it deal with gadgetary?

MacAndrew

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;582528Sounds like lots of folks like it. That is encouraging.

How do they handle time travel mechanically?

Pretty much no rules, as in mechanics, rather there is an extensive chapter for the GM with advice on handling it, the "rules" according to the mythos of the show, the difference between time travel before and after the Time War, etc. It's extensive enough that after reading it I definitely felt it would be easy to run. The authors really did their homework, as well. Not just in this section, but throughout the whole book there's many references to classic Who along with the new series and there's a careful but I think successful balance reached by the game.

Here's a little thing I wrote up just after reading the game the first time, just to test out how far I could stretch the system:

HELLBOY



ATTRIBUTES:

AWARENESS: 3 (Hellboy does have a tendency to stumble into traps & take the first hit in a fight more often than not, though he is a competent (more "beat cop" than "Carnacki") invesitgator, able to identify clues in his surroundings, so I averaged out the two aspects that Awareness concievably covers.)

COORDINATION: 2 (He's not a clutz, but agility is not one of Hellboy's strong suits.)

INGENUITY: 4 (Hellboy's not remarkably witty or creative, but he's no dunce and retains a surprising amount of information about the supernatural and the myths surrounding them.)

PRESENCE: 3 (This will probably immediately seem too low to a lot of Hellboy fans, and is probably the score I wrestled with the longest. It wasn't until I left it and was reading another part of the book that I realized Hellboy's imposing appearance would be covered by specific TRAITS and that PRESENCE is mostly a rating of personality, charisma, and congeniality;at least that's my understanding based on the attribute's description in the GM's guide. Hellboy is sort of a Gruff Lower-Class Everyman, atagonistic towards pretension, and usually the one to call a spade a spade. He is generally well-liked and has a large number of friends across the world, if few of them are intimately close with him. Hellboy's the type to frequently "throw back one" with a few buddies, be they werewolf-fighting Catholic priests or the ghostly skeletons of sailors at the bottom of the sea.

That said, Hellboy is antisocial, withdrawn, blunt, undiplomatic, and quick-tempered. Despite his "inheritance" he shows little tendency towards leadership, and is not known to be charming, suave, or even intimidating except for threat of violence. It's part of Mignola's comic's charm that Hellboy is just this big, demon-looking guy that travels around the world fighting monsters and no one barely comments or panics (with one notable exception). * No one stands in awe of him. In fact, he doesn't get ANY respect, except from godlike fallen angels dressed as monks. So, again with the disclaimer that several Traits will address of other apects of the character related to PRESENCE, I went with a lower score simply based upon Hellboy's personality.)

RESOLVE: 5 (Here is Hellboy's first significant rating, befitting a character with the willpower to resist the seductions and intimidations of demons and major mythological figures and even assert his own personality, in essence redefining his soul, to break a magical binding by way of his "True Name". Granted, with a little motivational help from the Wee Folk.)

STRENGTH: 8(Decidedly superhuman, I guestimated this rating based on the ratings of the aliens, in this case suggesting he is at least as strong as a Slitheen, though this may be a lowballed figure. The GM's guide has detailed descriptions and examples for attribute scores from 1 to 6, the game's "human maximum". I hope that the upcoming Aliens and Creatures supplement includes an expanded description of "superhuman" attribute ratings.)

Since TRAITS are going to require a bit of thought, let me momentarily skip ahead to SKILLS:

ATHLETICS: 3; CONVINCE: 1; FIGHTING: 4 (Fisticuffs) ; KNOWLEDGE: 4 (The Occult, Folklore, Archaic Languages) ; MARKSMAN: 2; SUBTERFUGE: 1; SURVIVAL: 3



And on to TRAITS (For clarities sake, I am going to include the new traits I created specifically for Hellboy italicized at the end):

Armour (Special Minor Good Demon Trait)
Brave (Minor Good Trait)
Code of Honour (Minor Bad Trait)
Experienced (Special Good Trait)
Fast Healing (Special Good Demon Trait)
Friends (BPRD Contacts - Major Good Trait)
Immortal (Special Major Good Demon Trait)
Impulsive (Minor Bad Trait)
Indomitable (Major Good Trait)
Obligation (BPRD - Major Bad Trait) **
Resourceful Pockets (Utility Belt - Minor Good Trait)
Technically Inept (Minor Bad Trait)
Tough (Minor Good Trait)


Demon (Special Good Trait) For simplicties' sake, and because it works, (especially if I ever want to have a Torchwood/Angel one-off), basically here "Demon" is the Trait "Alien" with the names switched. Like the "Alien" Trait, it is "a "Gateway" so to speak, opening a selection of other Special Traits that are normally unavailable to mere humans." (GMG 111)

Demonic Appearance (Minor Bad Demon Trait) is the trait "Alien Appearance" with the names switched. Hellboy looks like a big walking classical image of the Devil, and shaving his horns doesn't hide being 7 feet tall, red, and hoofed with a tail. To some people of a partiular religious disposition this may be terrifying (even though may of Hellboy's friends are priests); however, generally speaking, most people don't react or even comment on Hellboy's appearance. He's too well-known, used as a posterboy for the BPRD for years*.

Special-Pull Punch Hellboy's massive strength can do some significant damage, especially when using his Red Right Hand, but Hellboy can deliberately pull his punch when facing human or human-like opponents. Hellboy's player must announce this intention beforehand, but then rolls to hit normally (Strength + Fighting). On a minor success, Hellboy may adjust the damage (downwards only) by up to 4 pts, on a Major Success by up to 8 pts, and on a Fantastic Success, up to 12 points.

Special-Right Hand of Doom This Trait is elaborated from the "Natural Weapon" Trait, with some of the rules for Gadgets added in. Hellboy's Stone-like right hand is an irremovable gauntlet***, the last surviving piece of a prehistorical statue. Hellboy doesn't yet know its origin or it's prophecied purpose in relation to the Apocalypse**.A "natural weapon", it increases the damage of any physical attack by +4 (It's customary to loudly exclaim "BOOM!" when employing this feature). The hand itself also has the following Traits: Clumsy (Minor Bad Trait, -1 to Coordination when attempting any feat of manual dexterity when using the Right Hand of Doom); Dark Secret (Major Bad Trait); Experienced (Special Good Trait); Indestructible (Special Good Trait, The Right Hand of Doom cannot be damaged by any natural means). It holds 4 Story Points.
 


* - Yes, the movies went a different route. In fact, if you only know Hellboy from the films, some of this profile may seem inaccurate, as Del Toro took the basics of the characters and went very much in his own direction. (Totally with approval and enouragment from Mignola I should add)

** - Note this profile is specifically for a game taking place during a time Hellboy was still with the B.P.R.D, as reflected in a few of his charateristics and descriptions (My ideal pairing here would probably be Pertwee or Tom Baker/ UNIT era). Thus I went with a Hellboy before the events leading up to his leaving, in other words, pre-Seed of Destruction.

*** - AFAIK, it's never been specifically revealed whether Hellboy's right hand IS his hand, or is a gauntlet fused atop his hand, or if his real right hand was amputated and the stone hand grafted on. Several years ago this was a somewhat flame-prone argument on a few Hellboy-themed MBs I frequented.