Companions (Dr Who-style hack): A fun first game, and some thoughts

Jeremy Tidwell has written a hack called Companions (here) that is set after the death of the Doctor, where the TARDIS has gathered some of his old companions together to finish the Doctor's work.

It's a great pitch: with a real sense of melancholy and purpose, and it totally grabbed the 4 Dr Who fans I pitched it to at a house-con yesterday.

The game went well: we played an adventure called Ice World Zero, set at a point in the Battle Cleric timeline when suspicions of the Doctor are high, and one of the Doctor's old enemies is up to a nefarious scheme. By the end of the mission, two of the Companions had been killed and then resurrected by the TARDIS - coming back ... changed by their time in the vortex.

Due to lack of time, I'll break my feedback into two or three posts.

In this post, I just wanted to discuss some ideas that came up when we discussed the Touchstone playbook after the game. We felt the Touchstone (an everyday person with a heart) didn't have many options for things to do in the game. We discussed how to make him/her more emotionally central to the game.

(Jeremy, this is one of those situations where I'll offer some suggestions, but they may not be right - they may just help you identify issues of your own. It's all cool!)

People instinctively moved to shield and protect the Touchstone from Harm. Perhaps there could be a move to take advantage of this: "If others take harm to protect the Touchstone, both parties benefit (the Touchstone gains XP, and the protector takes +1 forward)", for instance.

There could be a move that's something like "In a dire situation, you are not seen as a threat by anyone."

Monster of the Week (a hack by Mike Sands) has a great little move for the Mundane called "Always the Victim". I'll have to check out the details of it, but I think it's about people gaining XP if you need rescuing. Similarly, there's an "I'll check it out" move, where the Mundane gains XP for heading off on her own and investigating stuff.

We all thought it would be fantastic if having the Touchstone present when a companion died gave that companion a bonus to being resurrected. Something like "add your Hx with the Touchstone to your resurrection roll."

In general, we wanted the Touchstone to have more stuff that helped her connect with others, protect and help others, and support others.

Thanks for the feedback, and for the praise, Steve :)  I definitely want this kind of information on first hand experience, so please keep it coming!

You've touched on some issues others saw in the Touchstone playbook at the last playtest at OrcCon.  As I indicated to you, the Touchstone is going to get some different moves based on the idea of being everyone's support.  One of the things I am going to do is make it so that playbook is the only one that gets XP from supporting someone else.  It doesn't seem to fit with the others as much, and it's really really easy to farm XP when everyone gets that benefit.

I initially wanted to work in those moves from Monster of the Week.  Mike was kind enough to allow me to take the spirit of the moves.  I reconsidered it because I want the Touchstone to be like the person you describe, an everyday Joe with a heart, but have them be transformed by their time with the Doctor into someone much more effective.  While keeping their roots, of course.  Having a damsel-in-distress move doesn't really fit with that.

I am going to use those kinds of move for one of the two new playbooks I'm working on.  It's called the Legend.  It's going to be based on Rory Williams.  He's going to start naive, but as he advances, his move pool will change, reflecting him or her blossoming into a Universally known and feared badass, ala the Last Centurion.

I would love to hear more!  Also, please ask your players how they would like to be credited as playtesters, and that goes for you as well.  Where are you guys located?

Jerry

All those changes sound good, Jerry. I look forward to reading the new and revised playbooks.

I had a think about principles and MC moves today. When I was playing the game, here are some of the moves I think I was making:

- illustrate the wonder of the universe
- give an individual a chance to make a huge difference
- hint at things happening behind the scenes
- capture a companion (or take her into your power)
- reveal your master plan
- show them a glimpse of what will happen soon
- show them a hint of the consequences of inaction
- demonstrate a good or bad consequence of the Doctor's influence
- present them with a mystery
- acknowledge the loss of the Doctor
- reveal an historical detail
- have a conversation with a companion


Another thing I noticed is that the Basic Moves might need to be unpacked a little bit. I found myself suggesting they use Act Under Pressure *a lot* (which got a little boring), and that Control a Dire Situation didn't always fit (because of its harm options).

I would suggest splitting Control a Dire Situation into two things: i) highly charged situations that could go (or are in the process of going) bad, and ii) fights.

Examples of (i) include the Doctor or Rory negotiating with the Silurians in Cold Earth, the Doctor speaking to the assembled troops on Demon's Run, or any point where a villain is explaining and executing their master plan. Examples of (ii) include hand to hand fights (uncommon) or gunfights (Unit vs Daleks in Day of the Daleks, or Mickey and Martha vs a Sontaran in The End of Time).

When you Try to Control a Dire Situation, then, might go something like this:

On a 10+ hold 2, on a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold to:
- make them listen or talk to you
- make them stop what they're doing and focus their full attention on you
- spot something that's previously been unnoticed (or realise something)
- give someone an opening
- assess a piece of technology (surreptiously)


I also felt that operating the TARDIS needed to have a little something extra aside from Acting under Pressure or Use Unfamiliar Tech. I felt that operating the TARDIS should be *cool*, and perhaps have a move all of its own. The following move is definitely not cool but it's a start:

When you pilot the TARDIS or use an aspect of its technology, roll+vortex. Gain a bonus for each +vortex individual who is helping you pilot (up to 5)

On a 10+, you land at the right time and palce, or achieve your desired effect
On a 7-9, choose 1
- right place
- right time
- the TARDIS takes you where it thinks you should be
- the effect works temporarily.

Oh, and another way of looking at that Control a Dire Situation suggestion is a move like "When you interrupt a plan".

Here's something I realised about the story tensions that you can develop in a game of Companions.

Initially, I think characters are going to be driven (at an interpersonal level) by dealing with the loss of the Doctor, forming their own version of a team, and finding their feet as heroes on their own.

The need for revenge against whoever or whatever killed the Doctor may also provide a motivation for some Companions. And you could provide advice in the game about how to devise and reveal the truth about the Doctor's death - treating it as a mystery for the Companions to uncover.

Another tension is the TARDIS’ plan for the Companions, which I think would play best as being a different objective than 'Revenge'. The inspiration here could be the 7th Doctor, and his elaborate millennium spanning schemes where he's set up different pieces in different time-periods. If you go down this route, with the TARDIS helping the Doctor pay off some of his plans, you might want to treat this like an Arc in Monster of the Week, letting the MC figure it out slowly and having this plot develop/count down over quite a few sessions. 
 

History and Experience

You might need to be a bit clearer about the procedure for creating characters in the playbooks.

I think it'd help to add the following step before assigning Bonds and History: "Go around the group once, describing your Companion's look and what the group would know about them."

Then you could move the "Once you are finished" sentence to after the descriptions of the bonds. By the way: everyone thought the Bonds with the other companions were awesome!

History was actually a bit complicated to figure out, and the language here feels like it needs to be more specific. Do you determine starting Hx by going round the table and asking each player how many bonds they have with you? (And then that total number of bonds the other player has with you is your Hx score?)
 
Also, I think I missed this bit: Are there rules for helping? Do they use Hx? Do you just use the standard AW rules for helping and interfering?
 
I also think I missed how you gain Hx.
 
Experience seems a little problematic. I didn’t observe the players referring to the xp charts that much. Oh, and do you highlight stats?

 
Playbook suggestions

The group suggested another couple of playbooks:
- The Part timelord?
- The Soldier (ala The Brigadier)
- The Kid

I think you may have suffered from not having the latest version of the playbooks.  A lot of your confusion during character generation and experience prompts may have been cleared up.  In no particular order:

You do not highlight stats.  Instead, each playbook has highlighted moves.  When the player makes a highlighted basic move, they mark experience.   There's also in-fiction prompts for marking XP underneath the highlighted moves.  Those need tinkering.  Was that not clear or confusing during play?

You are on to something about 'control a dire situation'.  It's supposed to be the fighting move.  I need to come up with a better name.  But the other ways you mention to nip a dire situation in the bud before it becomes a fight can be done via quite a few basic moves; 'convincing with reason' or 'appeal to emotion' under manipulate a person were designed to cover the kind of situation with the Silurans you described.  You are correct about needing a section of text unpacking how to use the basic moves.

As for History (hx):  Each player adds up the total number of bonds they have for each other player, and that is that player's bond rating.  For instance, if the Agent names the Whiz in two different bonds, the Agent has history-2 with the Whiz.  This is directly lifted from Dungeon World, if you've seen it.  I'm glad they like the text for the bonds! :)  

Oh, and History goes up or down at the end of a session, like AW.  There are one or two moves that change it during play, like the romance move for the Construct.

You also noticed that I need to write up a bit about the TARDIS. :)  The way I run the game, there is no way to pilot it.  In the fiction, the TARDIS is acting on its own, seemingly fulfilling the Doctor's agenda.  A trick I have used at the beginning of the session is that the TARDIS appears and picks up the Companions.   Each one had been a way for a period of time after the Doctor died, so it immediately whipped up an emotional resonance.  (like when Sarah Jane saw it again in the 10th Doctor story with her.)  

If the TARDIS wants someone to pilot her, I generally don't make them roll for it; either it's an invitation to make a hard move, or it goes without incident.  The behind the scenes rule with that is that the TARDIS has to *want* to let them succeed.

Sorry for the brain dump.  It's late, but I wanted to get some of this out before I went to bed.  The main thing I got from your last two posts is that I need to clarify a lot in the text, so thanks for the nudge in that direction :)

Jerry

That all sounds good; I’m looking forward to reading the next draft!

Looking through the rest of my notes, I had one more lot of feedback and ideas:

- - -

Jenni was playing the Agent, and she noticed something about the ‘[X] knows something about me’ bond. She wanted to know who decides what the secret is. This could be as simple as adding something to the end of the bond description like “Ask them what it is” or “Tell them what it is”.

- - -

Given what you’re saying about how assigning Hx works, the simplest solution might be to have an instruction which reads: “Go around the circle again. On your turn, tell each player how many bonds you have with their Companion, and ask them to write that down as their Hx with you.”

- - -

It might be good to add some space in each playbook for you to write down what bonds other players chose about your Companion.

- - -

I also wonder whether it might be quite cool to have a little extra step where the players assemble a rough timeline (out of the information in their bonds) about who was on the TARDIS with each, and when people knew each other. That could be fun.

- - -

Finally, I was thinking about other ways that characters in Doctor Who deal with conflict and resolve situations. Here’s a move (adapting from Monster of the Week) for your consideration,

When you Examine a Mystery, roll +Clever. On a 10+ pick two (or the same one twice). On a 7-9 pick one.
•Tell me something about what already happened.
•Tell me something about what’s behind this.
•Tell me something about a species.
•Tell me something that is likely to happen
•Point out to me if anyone is hiding something, or is not quite right.


- - -

Thanks for writing this, Jerry. I’m sure I’ll be playing again :)

I’ll chat with the playtesters and ask them about whether and how they want to be credited.

Jenni was playing the Agent, and she noticed something about the ‘[X] knows something about me’ bond. She wanted to know who decides what the secret is. This could be as simple as adding something to the end of the bond description like “Ask them what it is” or “Tell them what it is”.

Steve,
In Dungeon World, this bond is ambiguous. As GM I switch back and forth on who I ask what the secret is based on who hasn't had much to say in the question time so far. Sometimes I open it up to the table for ideas.

Where are you guys located?

Wellington represent! ;)

And while I'm here, will you be at Nerdly Beach Party, Jerry?

Like I said in the original post.  Companions is a gem.
I'm just 'not worthy' to use it^^

You see, i've got a Doctor who campain ongoing (we just finished a new session just a few hours ago, by the way). I drove my players insane by swapping the system twice already, because it didn't suit my unusual tates.
For now we're using a 'lite' version of fate, it's neat but I keep dreaming about Companions.
I'm conviced that an AW Hack is exactly what my group needs.
Oh sensational move snowball!

The only problem is that if I had to use Companions, I'd have to betrain one of its prime vision...
No Doctor/Timelord on board! And my campain got its own!
Tragic! Please Mr Tidwell don't hate me!
I guess that point is non negociable?!

By the way, I second that request.

The group suggested another couple of playbooks:
- The Part timelord?
- The Soldier (ala The Brigadier)
- The Kid