More Publication

I should mention that I have articles in Signs & Portents issues 21 and 22.
Issue 21 has ‘Derailed’, an adventure for ‘Breakdown Control’ which was the campaign toolkit published in issue 15. It’s something I’m really quite proud of, and I’m still surprised they published it. There’s a subtext of real unpleasantness there. And it’s entirely unlike any other adventure I’ve ever seen in terms of what it has the characters do. Check it out!
Issue 22 has ‘Time Space Voyager’, basically Doctor Who the RPG but with the serial numbers filed off. Again, I’m proud of this one; I think it’s a solid and innovative piece of game design that solves one of the trickiest puzzles in the D20 system. Yay me.
Buy stuff by me.
exeunt, pursued by a bear

3 thoughts on “More Publication”

  2. People sitting down at the same table with characters of significantly different power level.
    D20 in all its guises is structured so that there is a steep slope of threat and capability. Frex, characters who are at level 5 (or equivalent) are vastly, vastly outmatched by an opponent calibrated for level 10. D20’s key rules assumption is that all players are using characters of roughly equivalent capability.
    Doctor Who, of course, is archetypally about one ultra-experienced dude and his novice friend. Even with all the meta-rules stuff you can do around this (emphasise niches, create adventures that give both of them important stuff to do, pitch appropriate threats each way, etc etc), this still poses a challenge to the D20 system.
    What I did was a riff on the Buffy model of giving more ‘action point’ type things to weaker characters. I do that, and ramp up the flexibility massively. In essence, if you’re a low level character, you have much more codified ability to ignore the randomness of the system (a big thing with a 20-point randomizer) than high-level characters, who are subject to it.
    It preserves the benefits of experience – the high level character is still vastly more capable than the lower level character – but it gives lower level characters a lot more flexibility and a worthwhile play experience.

  3. Overall a good article well-focused on capturing the spirit of the series. Congrats.
    Some thoughts.
    Effect Dice – a bit too arbitrary for my tastes, serving no purpose but to create balance and encourage non-Time Lords (oops, Masters) to quit the game when they get to a high level (suddenly it explains why you ditch a companion – they stop being useful after 10 levels).
    Confidence/Doubt – very James Bond
    Shock/Madness – a good way for characters to be “screamers”.
    Be interested to debate some of your choices, particularly concerning issues of balance in d20/OGL Doctor Who if you care to join us at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/who-rpgd20/

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