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Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 05/22/2023 13:24:12

Updated Review posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2023/05/review-doctor-who-adventures-in-time.html

The first decade of the 2000s gave us a new series of Doctor Who starting in 2005. The 9th Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, was, in his own favorite word, fantastic. He re-introduced the character to both new and old audiences. It can be argued that the show, and new fandom, really took off with David Tennent's 10th Doctor. In 2009 British RPG publisher Cubicle 7 released its first Doctor Who game. Like the show it was based on, it was a huge success. A couple of points I want to clarify first.

I am reviewing my boxed set here AND the PDF from DriveThruRPG. There will be differences, so I will point these out.

I was on the playtest for this game as I have mentioned in the past. Plus Dave Chapman and a fe of the Cubicle 7 guys were also play testers for my Ghosts of Albion game. We communicated often in the time Doctor Who, Ghosts, and Chapman's other RPG Conspiracy X was being developed by Eden Studios.

Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space

262+ pages. Full-color interior and covers. Print: soft-cover books in a boxed set. Digital: Seven PDFs in a Zip file.

This is the first of many printings of the C7 Doctor Who game. A good way to differentiate from one to the other is by which Doctor appears on the cover. This is the Tenth Doctor's cover.

The Boxed set features two softcover books; a Player's Guide and a Gamemaster's Guide. Several cardboard "story point" tokens, a "Read Me First" booklet, several character sheets, and gadget sheets. All of these are also present in PDF form. The Boxed set additionally has a set of six d6 dice to use in the game. The dice are also available separately.

Read This First - How To Play

This four-page booklet covers the really basic basics. It is written with the Doctor Who fan in mind and not the average role-player. So we cover questions like "where is the board?" and "how do I play?"

Inside the 10th Doctor's character sheet is broken down. It is recommended that starting players use one of the pre-made characters in the box, but there is nothing saying you can't use your own characters.

The "Basic Rule" is covered here.

Attribute + Skill (+Trait) + 2d6 = Result; Compare result to a Task Difficulty.

That is the guiding principle for the entire game and it works really, really well. Your average Difficulty is 12 but it can be as low a 3 (super easy) or 30+ (near impossible). Contested rolls are introduced and the all-important Story Points (the little cardboard counters).

You are directed next to the Adventures Book.

Adventures Book (and Characters)

This is a 32-page book of easy to start with adventures. They include "Arrowdown" with some monster form Autons (very clever), "Judoom" a short adventure inside a Judoon cruiser, and a bunch of adventure seeds to give you some starting points. All the rules needed to run these adventures are self-contained.

For these adventures, it is recommended that you use the provided characters. These include The 10th Doctor, K-9, Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Mikey Smith, and Capt. Jack Harkness. Additionally, there are some "pre-gens" for players to customize on their own. These include a Medical Doctor, a Musician, a Student, a UNIT Soldier, a Torchwood Operative, a Scientist/Inventor, and a Journalist. There are also six blank character sheets for your own creations. The "named" sheets are printed on slightly heavier stock than the pre-gens or the blank sheets.

There are also gadget sheets, both filled out and blank.

The Player's Guide

These are the rules of the game proper. This is a 86-page soft-cover perfect bound book. Mine is getting on so the binding is coming loose, but nothing that I didn't expect for a book that is nearly 14 years old (which is old for a Sontaran!).

Chapter One: The Trip of a Lifetime

This chapter begins with some set-up fiction. Only two pages. We get another recap on the basics; Who is the Doctor, what is roleplaying, what is a Gamemaster, and the like. As well as how to use this book in the game.

This chapter sets up the game rather well. Imagine going anywhere, anytime, past, present, or future.

Chapter Two: The Children of Time

This covers the characters of the game. From playing your own to games with no Time Lords at all! We start with detailing the Attributes of the character, or the qualities of a character that are typically fixed. These are Awareness, Coordination, Ingenuity, Presence, Resolve, and Strength. Similar to the "Basic 6" of many RPGs. All these are scored from 1 to 6 with 1 being the human minimum, 6 the human maximum, and 3 being the average. Time Lords and other aliens can go beyond these. These are bought on a point-buy system.

Traits are the qualities of a character, good or ill. There are Minor Traits (Animal Friendship, Attractive), Major Traits (Boffin, Fast Healing), and Special Traits (Alien, Cyborg, Time Lord). Like Attributes, you spend Character Points to buy these. Some can be good or bad traits, and some can be Minor, Major or Special depending on how they are "bought" in character creation. "Friends" can be minor or major depending on the friend in question. "Hypnosis" can be minor, major or special depending on how powerful it is.

Skills are also purchased with Points. There are only 12 skills, unlike modern D&D and more like Unisystem, skills can be combined with any attribute as appropriate.

Chapter Three: Allons-y!

This takes us back to our basic rule and expands on it. It gives us some details on the Task Difficulties; 3 for Reall, Really Easy, 12 for Average, and 30 for Nearly Impossible. Additionally, there are thresholds if you roll above or below the set difficulty levels. So for example, if you score 9 points above the roll needed something special can happen like extra damage or something. Likewise, if you roll poorly, something bad can happen.

The rolls, much like in Unisystem, become easier with practice and soon you won't need any guides at all.

Contested rolls, rolls where your character is being prevented from success are also covered. The biggest example of this is combat. Example situations are given and which skills can or should be used. This is a good way to rule these since Doctor Who is not really about combat. "Combat with words" is more important and can even stop physical combat. Though there are weapons detailed here and how deadly they are. Afterall no one can talk a Dalek out of being a Dalek.

Chapter Four: Two Worlds Will Collide

This covers the ins and outs of good Roleplaying. There is also another character sheet here to copy (print) or print out (pdf).

The Gamemaster's Guide

This book is for the Gamemasters naturally. Not that Players can't read it. This book is also a full-color, perfect-bound softcover book. It is 140 pages.

The first four chapters here parallel the four chapters of the Player's book.

Chapter One: Next Stop, Everywhere!

A brief recap of the basics and what this book is for.

Chapter Two: The Stuff of Legend

Covers character creation from a Gamemaster point of view. This includes different types of groups (Doctor and Companions, Unit or Torchwood Groups, and more). We also get some details on how the various Attributes work with examples of seven levels (1-6 for humans, 7+ for others).

Traits are likewise discussed since they provide the most differences between characters and character types. All the traits are covered again, but in briefer, "rules only" formats. Same with skills.

We also get some "Technology Levels" TL. I will have to go back and see how well these map onto other RPGs, in particular the FASA Doctor Who and Traveller. For the record Earth of Doctor Who is TL 5, we are closer to TL 4.75 I think.

Chapter Three: The Long Game

Covers running a game. This includes when to roll (and when not too) and how to judge rolls and difficulty levels. While not a combat-focused game there is lot of text dedicated to it since that is the place where rolls will happen the most.

We get a section on using and regaining Story Points and experience.

Some equipment is also covered here.

Chapter Four: A Big Ball of Timey-Whimey Stuff

Covers not just roleplaying, but roleplaying in Time Travel games. Here we get a lot of advice on how, well, to keep gamers from being gamers and avoiding paradoxes.

We get some background on Time Lords and TARDISes. Not encyclopedic details mind you, but enough to keep players and gamemasters happy.

Chapter Five: All the Strange, Strange Creatures

Ahh. Here is our chapter on all the Aliens. While some are certainly foes to be fought (Daleks, Cybermen) there is a lot here that run the spectrum of friend to fiend. Creatures use the same stats as characters. So it is expected that there are some "Alien Traits" here as well. These work just like Character Traits, but are typically not bought by characters.

Chapter Six: You Are Not Alone

This covers the role of the Gamemaster and what they do in the game. There are some resources shared here for gamemaster including other Doctor Who books out at that time.

Chapter Seven: The Oncoming Storm

This chapter covers running adventures. This includes where (and when) to set them and a basic 5-act adventure formula. Other tips and tricks covered are personal story arcs (thin Donna or Clara), cliffhangers, two (or three) part stories, and more.

It is a great starting point for all GMs.

Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space really is a wonderful game and the best Doctor Who game to date. It is easy to see why it has had such staying power. The rules are simple, easy to understand, but infinitely flexible. They emulate the genre very well and can be used to in a variety of situations.

The rule system is such that it could be powering other games as well. It did, for a while, with games like Primeval (no longer available) but I am not sure if it is used elsewhere now.

Honestly, it is one of my favorite games.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
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Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Shadows in The Mist
by Sami H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/21/2023 07:51:04

We had a blast during our 25ish session to run the entire campaign.

The setting of Anvilgard is very unique and well describe throughout the various sections of the book.

And the campaign itself is written in a way were you can easily homebrew around and make it your own.

10/10 would recommand.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Shadows in The Mist
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Wrath & Glory: Threat Assessment: Xenos
by Aaron T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/04/2023 00:14:24

Plenty of filthy Xenos to have your party evicerate, maim and burn in the name of the Emperor (Except for Tyranids for some reason). Goes into plenty of detail of what you'd expect from them and how hard you will have to pray to the Emperor to get out of a fight to the next hard-won battle to whatever may lay ahead of the horizon. Hopefully the Administorum will permit the creation of a Threat Assessment of Chaos as well as an Imperial codex for those who enjoy playing as disgusting Heretics in the near future.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Wrath & Glory: Threat Assessment: Xenos
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Deathwatch: Final Sanction (Quickstart)
by Chris B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/27/2023 02:16:51

Ein sehr starkes Abenteuer zum Einstieg. Führt euch gegen die Genestealer und Tyraniden. Beachtet den Teil 2, der ebenso kostenlos ist

https://frostypenandpaper.de/tag/der-letzte-ausweg/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Deathwatch: Final Sanction (Quickstart)
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Warhammer Fantasy Role Play :Old World Adventures - Night of Blood
by Rich D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/18/2023 11:32:52

A classic snenario that I have run multiple times in different campaigns and RPG's, including D&D.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Fantasy Role Play :Old World Adventures - Night of Blood
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Imperial Zoo
by Darya S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/08/2023 03:55:09

Probably the best supplement of the 4th edition WFRP. It's not the great-and-terrible "Old World Bestiary," but it's a remarkable thing in its own way. I really liked the idea of a zoological expedition and the comments of its participants about different beasts. The «Old World Bestiary» was well written, but more like a collection of random notes than a real book. And the "Imperial Zoo" has a solid storyline with the main character and his memorable companions. The illustrations, both traditional and sketch-like, are quite good. The only bad thing, perhaps, is that the "Zoo" covers only a small part of the various terrible creatures from the world of Warhammer Fantasy. And that's why I want more. Something like new version of «The Witch Hunter's Handbook»…



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Imperial Zoo
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Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Core Rulebook
by Timothy W. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/31/2023 13:06:52

Well organized, evocative and themeatic, and really walking away feeling like I got my moneys worth. Excellent RPG and system, particularly once the next batch of proof-reading goes in. 5 stars.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Core Rulebook
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Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Core Rulebook
by Matt P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/28/2023 15:31:56

As of right now, I would wait on the book. This needs at least a few more passes with proofreading that we the players should not have to do for C7. You have in the character creation section alone pre-made Duty templates with skills and/or equipment unavailable to them and the character goals section refers to a non-existent table, some gear are listed in tables but have no description numerous errors like two of the roles having their names misspelt multiple times. Wait for it to marinate with some errata before taking it out of the oven and buy it then.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Core Rulebook
by Troy P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/27/2023 20:54:04

Generally, this book is amazing to read and the patron creation rules is interesting and collabrative. The artwork is pretty amazing. This book has errata that needs to be corrected and it seems C7 is trying their best to get this corrected. My only real complaint and the reason my rating is 4 stars instead of 5, this book needs an index. I like my core rule books to have an index for finding items quickly or hyperlinks within the PDF for quick navigation.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Core Rulebook
by Alistair P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/27/2023 17:29:53

Not great full of errors and none clarified rules clearly not had proofreading , i say steer clear of this product.

the set is a cross of WHFRP and Dark heresy and RT it doesn't really have anything or add anything to the old rule sets its confused and pointless anything this has you could already do,

dont give them money for nothing i fear this is a cash grab where like WHFRP 4th you will have lots of little books to provide what you should have been given in the core rules , it also has a strange thing where it wants the party to be nothing like its afraid that the PC’s have any status or power don't get this if you don't had Dark heresy or rogue trader get them if you want o play in a 40k universe



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Old World Bestiary
by JJ O. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/24/2023 18:31:41

Ok. I bought this thinking it would be like a D&D Monsters Manual - lots of interesting creatures to mix in to gaming sessions with information and stats. Its not that. 2/3rds of the book is what could be termed "stereotypes." You get a section on Peasents talking about the creature, then scholars talking about the creature, then how the creature talking about themselves and about everything else, generally the humies.

Yes, what any GM or player worth their salt would realise anyway.

The last third actually has what you probably bought the book for - Statistica and basic information. But it only covers the pretty standard Warhammer Creatures that fill every other book.

So, I was pretty disapointed in this book. The overall messege is... the Warhammer world might be a fun place to adventure in, but its not a very fantastical realm at all. There really is not that much Variety out there. Chaos of various types, Goblinoids of various types, Vampires, Etc etc

Hell, the Thousand Thrones Campaign has more of a beastiery than this book, as it at least has a bit on encounters in a Swamp.

So ya, if you are interested in verious perspectives on the same old Warhammer races, then you will enjoy this as it is well written. But if you want to get interesting animal or other encounters for your players, this isn't it. It's a shame, but I have to tell you what I think. 3/5



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Old World Bestiary
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Empire in Ruins - Enemy Within Campaign Director's Cut Volume 5.
by Gideon T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/06/2023 04:54:27

Empire in Ruins is, regrettably, not the finale the Enemy Within campaign deserves. It is the weakest of the campaign's five adventures and struggles to manage the many demands placed on it. The first part of the adventure relies too heavily on dull political cut scenes; the second half is a mostly straightforward object quest and funhouse dungeon. The combination is a linear scenario that does a poor job of building on the campaign's earlier events.

For a more detailed review, see:

https://awesomeliesblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/05/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Empire in Ruins - Enemy Within Campaign Director's Cut Volume 5.
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Wrath & Glory: Threat Assessment: Xenos
by Irene P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/19/2023 10:41:09

As a GM who is much more comfortable modifying a statblock, rather than homebrewing creatures from scratch, I am quite pleased with this product. In fact, I got more than I expected to, from the description of the product as a bestiary.

Unlike typical bestiaries, the book adds a small lore blurb for each Xenos species, detailing why they’re present in the Gilead System and in what capacity, along with the names of a few key individuals or groups. I was particularly interested in how they’d introduce the T’au (whose empire is canonically at the far end of the galaxy) and the Necron (who would run the risk of swiftly overrunning a single system without something significant in their lore to put them at a disadvantage). I have been consistently impressed with Cubicle 7's writing, especially with the cleverness and nuance they build into the corners of the setting where they have creative control – and I’m happy to report they knock it out of the park again. I shall avoid spoilers, but I can say my concerns have been handily addressed and now I’m actually eager to play around with the implications of the lore they’ve introduced.

I was also surprised to find the book contains basically all the information one would need to build a T’au character using freeform rules. The book does not provide any Archetypes, but it does contain charts with the species starting Attributes, Skills, Speed, and any Special Abilities of all five T’au Casts, plus the Vespid, along with species maximums. (One note: at time of writing this review, the charts DO have a column for the XP cost of choosing these species, but the column appears to have been accidentally left blank. However, this is not the end of the world, because there is enough information to figure out the XP cost by “working backwards” from the cost of starting Attributes and Skills.)

As a beastiary, it is quite thorough. For the factions it explores, it contains stat-blocks for nearly every entity I recognized from the tabletop (not counting named characters). This includes entities I would have assumed would be too powerful to throw at a party: Necron Overlords, Drukhari Archons, Ork Gorkanauts (or possibly Morkanauts), the Solitaire, etc. It deals with this by including the option for playing at Tier 5 (which, in my personal assessment, appears to be for if your party really wants to play at the level of named lore characters). However, if you wish to play a game at lower Tiers, there are still plenty of options.

I cannot speak to the balance of the stat blocks, as I have not used any of them in a game yet. However, it appears Cubicle 7 did try to give the factions their own unique flavor, without making any too OP for a party to go up against. For example, the damage of Necron weaponry is lower than I expected (still high, but not as ridiculously OP as some lore might suggest), which I suspect is to offset the Necron’s strong staying power. T’au ranged weaponry, on the other hand, IS ridiculously OP – and they are incredibly squishy, if you can actually pin them down. The Aeldari are probably going to be the most frustrating to play against, since their section is peppered with numerous warnings about how they tend to not fight fair and they possess a lot of tools which can make a party’s experience hell. Prospective GMs will probably want to plan encounters with Swooping Hawks or Warp Spiders with care, since only very specific parties will be able to face them and find the experience actually fun.

In summation: I am quite happy with the purchase. I bought it expecting it to mostly be a vehicle for conveying stat blocks, meaning I was pleasantly surprised by the fact it provided more. The lore blurbs, character options, and section adding some environmental challenges are all small on their own (so temper your expectations), but more than I expected out of a bestiary. As a bestiary, it appears thorough and thoughtful, at least at first read-through (mandatory reminder that I have not gotten to test out most of these stat blocks yet, so opinions on individual creatures may change later). While there are a few errors and areas where I can see the potential for frustration at the gaming table, this is all well out-weighed by the sheer number of enemies it provides for GMs to play around with and its welcome sprinkling of extra goodies.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Wrath & Glory: Threat Assessment: Xenos
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Warhammer Fantasy Role Play: Something Knocking
by Edouard C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/31/2023 19:01:25

One of the best adventures out there for WFRP 4e. Easy to grasp, well edited for GMs. And interesting. Thank you



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Fantasy Role Play:  Something Knocking
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Warhammer Fantasy Role Play: The Warband of Bayl Many Eyes
by Edouard C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/06/2023 23:49:58

Great value. Great art on the Chaos champions: grim, realistic, serious. Great stats, hooks. Please do more like those, any theme, it's very good work. Khorne, Orks, Dark Elves, Nehekhara. The format is awesome and convenient for GMs. And keep up with the artwork!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Warhammer Fantasy Role Play: The Warband of Bayl Many Eyes
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