![]() Once you've encountered an Enemy, your next task is to discover their Goal. The choices are Enemy, Event, Character and Location, with Enemy encounters becoming more common in later turns. If an encounter occurs, you roll 1d6 on a table to determine what type of encounter it is. This roll starts at 7+ and goes down by 1 every 4 turns. For instance, the Move action requires a Tracking roll to reunite separated characters, the Rest action allows a Medicine roll to try to heal wounds, and the Rescue action requires a successful Thief roll.Īfter the action, and any subsequent encounters, are resolved, you make another 2d6 roll to see if you have any random encounters this turn. Those actions that don't have such a table usually require a Trait roll (more on those later) to accomplish something. In many cases, this results in an immediate Event. ![]() In any case, most actions involve rolling 2d6, adding modifiers, and consulting a table which tells you what the outcome is. These events cause some actions to be closed off and others to open up. Most often, this involves whether or not you've encountered the Enemy, and whether you've discovered their Goal. However, not all of these are always available – some can only be chosen in specific circumstances, and others are forbidden under certain circumstances. There are 16 in the basic rules, plus another two offered as options in an appendix of the rulebook, and one of the expansions divides the Explore action up into various types depending on location, and adds Meddle and Challenge. This determines when and where you are, which in turn determines the possible choices for random encounters, and may also have other rules-related effects.Įach turn, you then choose an action such as Explore, Plan, Rest, Seek Information and so forth. After determining the stats for your version of the Doctor, you roll to see where the TARDIS has landed – that is, which page in the Adventure book to turn to. So how do you actually play this thing? In brief, the game is divided into turns – 12 is the default number, and so far I haven't found any Adventures that are exceptions to this. Even without these, the rules you'll need to refer to most often are only spread across 8 pages or so, which means that most of the page-flipping you'll be doing is in the Events book. There are also reference sheets available that summarize the rules (though unfortunately none of the ones I've seen are completely up-to-date and comprehensive I may have to create one myself to fix that). However, in the case of the Adventures and Enemy books, you'll normally remain on the same page for the entire adventure. ![]() With four books involved, not counting any expansions (of which there are many available, which I'll discuss later) you might expect a lot of page-flipping, virtual or otherwise. The other major difference is that each of the original games had two main books (one for rules and one for events), while the DWSSG has four (rules, adventures, events, and enemies). (I've never played either of them, though I did download and skim through them.) Unlike its predecessors, the DWSSG doesn't use a board of any kind – which is why I've classified it as a role-playing game rather than a board game, despite its origins. The format is modeled after a couple of board games from the 80's, named Star Smuggler and Barbarian Prince – both are available as free downloads here. ![]() In a sense, it's a hybrid of a gamebook and a random plot generator. It's similar to a solo gamebook such as the Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf series, except that the story is constructed on-the-fly. ![]() The DWSSG assumes that you're familiar with the basic concepts of Doctor Who (as will this review), though detailed knowledge is not necessary. So this will be my first playtest review. Since it's designed for solo play, I was able to do something I normally don't have the opportunity to: playtest it. It's not an officially licensed game like DWAITAS, but rather a fan-made labor of love available as a free download from BoardGameGeek. I discovered the Doctor Who Solitaire Story Game a few weeks ago, quite by chance. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |