name a game setting the players must be familiar with before you run it.

Ravenswing · November 02, 2017, 12:23:49 PM

Quote from: Simlasa;1005151I don't see why... most Dr. Who episodes I've seen are more investigation/exploration without much combat at all. If the PCs are 'companions' of the Dr. or some other timelord then it's normal for them to start out as perplexed fish out of water.

... and when the players decide they're unwilling to be clueless sidekicks, they're going to take the bit in their teeth and play according to their own lights, and that's unlikely to be Doctor-standard pacifism any more than you'd dump a bunch of newbies on Star Trek and expect them to follow the Prime Directive.

Simlasa · November 02, 2017, 01:23:38 PM

Quote from: Ravenswing;1005161... and when the players decide they're unwilling to be clueless sidekicks, they're going to take the bit in their teeth and play according to their own lights, and that's unlikely to be Doctor-standard pacifism any more than you'd dump a bunch of newbies on Star Trek and expect them to follow the Prime Directive.

So what? Are you trying to emulate the TV show or play free-willed PCs in the setting? Characters in TV shows and movies do all sorts of things that the average person would not... but I usually, except maybe for Call of Cthulhu, avoid games that force Players to recreate those dramatic performances.
It might be interesting to see what happens if the Dr. ends up with some companions who are much more proactive and confrontational.
In Star Trek I'd expect some consequences for characters who ignore the Prime Directive... are there such setting-based reinforcements of Dr. Who's pacifism?

AsenRG · November 02, 2017, 01:42:24 PM

The Doctor taking offense at people from TARDIS that don't follow it might well be considered a reinforcement.

saskganesh · November 02, 2017, 01:46:32 PM

Pendragon. Because it's not Conan or Westeros.

Simlasa · November 02, 2017, 02:02:00 PM

Quote from: AsenRG;1005185The Doctor taking offense at people from TARDIS that don't follow it might well be considered a reinforcement.

That makes sense. I'd go with that sort of thing, the setting reinforcing itself, rather than relying on Players to behave themselves for the sake of emulating the show.

Mike the Mage · November 02, 2017, 04:30:26 PM

Quote from: Simlasa;1005151I don't think Jorune is so weird that I can't get the basic starter idea off with a short preamble during play... the PCs start as young adults working to gain citizenship by performing various tasks for established members of the community. Start off in some rural place with a less diverse populace... introduce races and creatures as you go along.

Well that's encouraging. I have a 2nd edition boxed set but I never played it. I wish I could these days.:rolleyes:

Simlasa · November 02, 2017, 04:57:54 PM

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1005214Well that's encouraging. I have a 2nd edition boxed set but I never played it. I wish I could these days.:rolleyes:

There's a lot of nomenclature for all of it... social positions and races and magic... but the concepts aren't that difficult to parse into plain language. The setting is reminiscent of Tekumel's but not nearly as dense (IMO). The magic is probably the most unique and complicated element... color-coded magical energy (Isho) and spells (dysha)... magicians worry a lot about magical weather and their personal magic levels.

RPGPundit · November 04, 2017, 03:02:55 AM

It astounds me that people wouldn't get why Dr.Who would be difficult to emulate. It's been a huge problem with all Dr.Who games ever. In essence unless you want to act the way the characters in the show do, you aren't going to be playing Doctor Who, just some sci-fi game.

TrippyHippy · November 04, 2017, 03:18:14 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1005592It astounds me that people wouldn't get why Dr.Who would be difficult to emulate. It's been a huge problem with all Dr.Who games ever. In essence unless you want to act the way the characters in the show do, you aren't going to be playing Doctor Who, just some sci-fi game.

I think if you were brought up in the UK, with Doctor Who being very much part of the normal household entertainment, you just end up observing that it is, for the most part, just a generic vehicle for playing a variety science fiction tales - like Star Trek does too in effect. There are re-occurring characters, monsters and lore and so on, but that is the same for any show. You can run all sorts of tales without heavy canon.

It is different to usual sci-fi rpgs insofar that there is little violence in BBC family viewing shows, which is mechanically addressed of course, but that is a different issue for me to the question of familiarity. If you grew up with it, it's already familiar.

AsenRG · November 04, 2017, 04:42:10 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1005592It astounds me that people wouldn't get why Dr.Who would be difficult to emulate. It's been a huge problem with all Dr.Who games ever. In essence unless you want to act the way the characters in the show do, you aren't going to be playing Doctor Who, just some sci-fi game.

The problem isn't with Dr. Who, IMO, but with players who don't like playing pacifists;).

Ravenswing · November 04, 2017, 01:00:52 PM

Quote from: AsenRG;1005603The problem isn't with Dr. Who, IMO, but with players who don't like playing pacifists;).

I think that's less of a problem than that Big Bads are less likely to be bamboozled by the pacifists than when they have sympathetic scriptwriters and showrunners compelling them to be so.

Simlasa · November 04, 2017, 02:07:19 PM

Quote from: Ravenswing;1005639I think that's less of a problem than that Big Bads are less likely to be bamboozled by the pacifists than when they have sympathetic scriptwriters and showrunners compelling them to be so.

That and having a bunch of confused pleb PCs joined to one demi-godlike NPC who owns the primary means of travelling around the setting.
Like most movies/books/shows with a single primary super-human character and their followers, it's got inherent difficulties for translation into an RPG.
If you could run it like Dark Heresy, with The Dr. engaged elswhere, it might work... but then that's not the same show... and who gets the Tardis?

AsenRG · November 04, 2017, 06:26:59 PM

Quote from: Ravenswing;1005639I think that's less of a problem than that Big Bads are less likely to be bamboozled by the pacifists than when they have sympathetic scriptwriters and showrunners compelling them to be so.

Maybe - never tried running it, myself;).

Bren · November 04, 2017, 07:29:22 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1005592It astounds me that people wouldn't get why Dr.Who would be difficult to emulate.

But is it really any more difficult to "get" than many other properties (like say, Star Trek or 4-color comics) that people may, or may not, be familiar with and which they may, or may not, choose to engage on its own terms?

DavetheLost · November 04, 2017, 09:59:56 PM

Running a game in the Dr Who universe for people who aren't familiar with Dr Who would be not much different to running other wierd sci-fi fi stuff. I wouldn't expect it to feel much like the show though. I am not sure that gamers who are familiar with the show woud produce a game that has the same feel either to be honest.

I have the C7 RPG and I think it does an excellent job, but Dr Who depends a lot on things that might not translate so well to RPG play.