Jump to content

Dr Who


macamboy

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

Cybermen have their own interesting things. The only way the Cybermen can make more Cybermen (which they are always driven to do) is to capture humans or humanoids and "Convert" them. The original personality is wiped clean, replaced by a perfectly logical and reflexively obedient soldier. They will kill in combat, or to get rid of someone who betrays or otherwise annoys them, but their usual goal is to manufacture more of their kind.

Like Daleks their armor is very effective ("These men are using the same gun we are. Do you see any of those silver things dead?"). It varies, like in the case of the Daleks, from story to story -- I tend to call the Colin Baker story "Factory Recall of the Cybermen" because Cybermen were being killed right and left by things that normally they wouldn't even have noticed. How someone decided giving them a gold allergy was a good idea is anyone's guess -- what's the point of clogging the respiratory systems of creatures that don't even need to breathe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But they still need to get nutrition and oxygen to those organic brains inside their helmets. Ever notice that when they get shot, their heads explode regardless of where the injury occurred? Now, gold is a pretty expensive deterrent, worse than silver for a fantasy were-critter. At least dark elves are allergic to common iron and steel. How about aluminum? Difficult for pre-industrial cultures to separate from bauxite ore in any quantity, yet the most common metal on Earth. Who'd suspect metal men would be harmed by one of the most common and useful substances on the planet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cybermen can survive in hard vacuum. In one episode, the crew of a ship under attack was about to de-pressurize the ship in self-defense until the Doctor pointed out that while all the people fighting them in the ship needed air, Cybermen don't. And the Cybermen didn't need anything special to get around on the vacuum surface of the Moon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I recently had a chance to listen to the book on CD version of "The Sea Devils."  It struck me as very Lovecraftian:  A mysterious series of shipwrecks centered around a remote North Sea oil rig put in mothballs because of the accidents and equipment failures that hindered its operation.  An inmate of an isolated island prison (in this case, The Master) knows what is going on but won't tell.  The investigators (in this case, The Doctor and Jo Grant) must dodge the patrols of a nearby naval base to sneak aboard the oil rig, only to discover one caretaker dead and the other roaming the dark, cavernous facility in a murder-inclined terror.  And there are things shuffling around in the shadowy corridors.

 

The whole tale could easily be repurposed as a Call of Cthulhu scenario.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I recently had a chance to listen to the book on CD version of "The Sea Devils."  It struck me as very Lovecraftian:  A mysterious series of shipwrecks centered around a remote North Sea oil rig put in mothballs because of the accidents and equipment failures that hindered its operation.  An inmate of an isolated island prison (in this case, The Master) knows what is going on but won't tell.  The investigators (in this case, The Doctor and Jo Grant) must dodge the patrols of a nearby naval base to sneak aboard the oil rig, only to discover one caretaker dead and the other roaming the dark, cavernous facility in a murder-inclined terror.  And there are things shuffling around in the shadowy corridors.

 

The whole tale could easily be repurposed as a Call of Cthulhu scenario.

 

I think that was intentional. A few Doctor Who stories were inspired by Lovecraft's works.  The Daemons and Image of the Fendahl are some other examples that could make good CoC adventures. 

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The Horror of Fang Rock" is closer to standard gothic horror, but it does have very Lovecraftian elements.

 

Really, a fair number of DW episodes, old and new, have cosmic horror elements.  The Mandragora Helix?  The Great Vampire?  The competing monsters from "Ghost Light"?  The Gelth?  The Family of Blood?  Vashta Nerada?  Weeping Angels?  The Saturninians (a.k.a. the Vampires of Venice)?  The Silence?  Whatever's behind tonight's episode "Flatline"?

 

The classic covert alien invasion scenario lies behind both classic Lovecraft stories (e.g. "The Whisperer in Darkness", "The Shadow Out Of Time") and about half of Doctor Who episodes (and the vast majority in the UNIT era).  The main difference is tone and atmosphere ... and whether humanity has an alien expert on its side.

Frank

"Welcome to the hottest and fastest-growing hobby of, er, 1977." -- The Laundry RPG
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, and I think they mentioned the Old Ones in an episode or two.

 

I've considered the possibility of a crossover where the Time Lords are the Elder Gods and the Doctor is probably Nodens (or Nodens an incarnation of the Doctor).And the Master could be Nyarlathotep. There are enough similarities to make it work. Long enough for an appearance or two, at least.  

  • Like 1

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that was intentional. A few Doctor Who stories were inspired by Lovecraft's works.  The Daemons and Image of the Fendahl are some other examples that could make good CoC adventures. 

 

Yeah, now the Fendahl is pretty badass and fully powered there is really no point in statting one, anymore than an Other / Outer god (the ones in the books I used as avatars).

 

 

 

Okay now you need to know that in Doctor Who the Old Ones are the same as the Outer gods, and as such are universe+ sized beings that are not allowed, as per the Guardians of Time to fully manifest within a universe as they tend to pop it. Many of them don't mind this, as an eternity with nothing to do - read meddle in affairs of lower creatures, rather boring.

 

For anyone that wants it, I here is a link for EU Doctor Who thread:

 

http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/doctor-who-feats-and-source-thread.298198/

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Several of the Doctor's adventures become truly horrific if you replace the TARDIS crew with less competent protagonists. There are many times where it seems even the Doctor is in over his head, so imagine how hard it is for people who aren't super-genius, nigh-immortal Time Lords to confront the horrors he faces.

 

For example, I have a hard time thinking that anyone native to 1912 England would have stood a chance against Sutekh. Even a foe as intelligent and technologically savvy as the Doctor was countered and frustrated at every turn, with even his cleverest plans being matched by Sutekh's own intellect and overwhelming mental power.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Several of the Doctor's adventures become truly horrific if you replace the TARDIS crew with less competent protagonists. There are many times where it seems even the Doctor is in over his head, so imagine how hard it is for people who aren't super-genius, nigh-immortal Time Lords to confront the horrors he faces.

 

For example, I have a hard time thinking that anyone native to 1912 England would have stood a chance against Sutekh. Even a foe as intelligent and technologically savvy as the Doctor was countered and frustrated at every turn, with even his cleverest plans being matched by Sutekh's own intellect and overwhelming mental power.

 

In EU Sutekh was a universal level threat, as at one point IIRC he is no longer bound in the pyramid.

Not the least of which the Tardis is a eldritch abomination all of its own as it looks like a crustacean with tentacles that rips open reality (Autumn Mist).

Trouble with the Doctor is that he has plot shields from two multiversal entities, plus him being a CSE (Complex Space-Time Event) meaning the universe literally bends over every time he is around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Auton soldier

Source:  “Spearhead From Space,” Doctor Who, BBC Television, 1970

Auton soldiers are plastic robots animated by the Nestene Consciousness, an alien energy entity determined to conquer the Earth.  The Consciousness is a hive mind; each Auton is inhabited and motivated by a piece of it.  Although the Consciousness has since come up with more sophisticated units, the mannequin-like original model comprises the bulk of its troops.  Autons were initially assembled by a British doll factory which had been subverted by a Nestene agent.  They were shipped to department and clothing stores throughout the United Kingdom in preparation for an eventual takeover attempt.

A typical automaton resembles a bald 6-foot-tall department store dummy, either male or female.  Units already in shops are dressed in whatever is in fashion, sometimes topped with a wig and/or hat.  Units directly from a Nestene-controlled factory wear identical blue jumpsuits and beige ascots.  Each soldier is equipped with a ranged weapon system, usually installed in the right arm and hand.  The hand folds in half to reveal the business end of the weapon.  Death rays are standard but some units are loaded with knockout gas projectors.

Autons move slowly and deliberately; a human who keeps his wits and is not crippled can easily outrun them unless he allows himself to be maneuvered into a tight space.  They are strong, but not inhumanly so, and can be successfully grappled with by brawny adventurers or by heroes working in concert.  On the other hand, the plastic soldiers are largely imperious to physical blows and bullets.  It is difficult to incapacitate them with kinetic damage.  Autons are, however, vulnerable to heat; they can easily be burned or melted like any other plastic.  Also, electro-magnetism, radiation, or any other energy that interferes with their connection to the Consciousness will disable them.  Once a unit is destroyed, the piece of the Consciousness that animated it is dissipated.  Units that are not destroyed remain inert until activated during the inevitable next invasion attempt.  They can wait for decades, even centuries, without wearing out or breaking down.

Unlike traditional robots, Autons are actually alive and have the ability to sense others of their kind.  Most troops have limited ability to act independently.  They operate according to pre-programmed instructions supplemented by commands from a central controller, sending audiovisual feedback in return.  However, a few units, unable to communicate with their Nestene masters for extended periods of time, have managed to learn from experience and have developed a basic self-awareness.

STR 13

CON 19

SIZ 17

INT 5/10 veteran

POW 6/10 veteran

DEX 9

APP 7

Move:  6

Hit Points:  18

Damage Bonus:  +1D4

Armor:  10 (kinetic) fantastic plastic

Attacks:  Brawl 25%, 1d3+DB; Grapple 25%, 1d3+DB; Death Ray 30%, 1D10

Skills:  Climb 40%, Sense 45%, Spot 25%, Stealth 50%

Notes:

http://www.doctorwho.tv/50-years/monsters/autons

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Auton

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...