The Symphony of Play
Think of the rules as the musical notation that helps an orchestra create beautiful music together. The rules aren't restrictions - they're a shared language that helps everyone at the table tell an amazing story. In Doctor Who, the best solutions come from creativity, not combat, so the game rewards clever thinking over brute force.
Imagine you're part of an improv theater group where everyone knows the basic structure but the story emerges organically. The dice add surprise and tension, while the rules ensure everyone gets their moment to shine. It's collaborative storytelling with just enough structure to keep things exciting and fair.
The Doctor Who Difference
Unlike many RPGs where combat is central, the Doctor Who RPG puts problem-solving and character interaction at the heart of play. Violence is rarely the answer - understanding, compassion, and brilliance are your primary tools. The rules back this up: talking and thinking happen before anyone gets to shoot, and characters can lose Story Points for killing.
The Core Roll: Attribute + Skill + 2d6
At its heart, every action in the game follows the same simple pattern. It's like having one universal tool that works for everything from picking locks to convincing aliens to stop their invasion. Add the Attribute and Skill that fit what you're doing, roll 2d6, and add them up. Equal or beat the Difficulty and you pass. Then look at the faces: 6s improve the result and 1s spoil it.
The Six Results
- Brilliant: you pass and a die shows a 6, or you roll double 6s - double 6s count even when the total falls short. Yes, and you get something extra.
- Success: you pass with no 6 and no 1. Yes.
- Barely: you pass but a die shows a 1. Yes, but it costs you something.
- Almost: you fail but a die shows a 6. No, but something goes your way.
- Failure: you fail with no 6 and no 1. No.
- Disastrous: you fail and a die shows a 1, or you roll double 1s. No, and things get worse.
A 6 and a 1 on the same roll cancel out, so the result is a plain Success or Failure. With Advantage or Disadvantage, only the two dice you keep count. Bonus dice from your Focus or an Experience add to the total but never count as a 6 or a 1.
Making the Roll Easier (or Harder)
- Advantage: roll 3d6 and keep the best two. Story Points, good plans and helpful surroundings can grant it.
- Disadvantage: roll 3d6 and keep the worst two - for instance when you're acting out of turn or carrying a Condition.
- Focus and Experiences: when your Focus applies, or you recall a relevant Experience, add a bonus d6 to the total.
- Helping: each character who helps adds +2, up to a limit. When a group of opponents acts together, they roll once.
- No skill at all: you can spend a Story Point to attempt something with a skill you don't have.
Here is how much each one is worth for an average character (Attribute 3 + Skill 3, so 2d6+6) against the usual Difficulty of 12. These are exact, counted over every way the dice can land:
| Roll | Chance to pass |
|---|---|
| Plain 2d6+6 | 26 in 36 (72.2%) |
| With Advantage | 193 in 216 (89.4%) |
| With Disadvantage | 103 in 216 (47.7%) |
| With a bonus d6 (Focus or Experience) | 203 in 216 (94.0%) |
| With one helper (+2) | 33 in 36 (91.7%) |
The plain roll breaks down as Brilliant 25.0%, Success 41.7%, Barely 5.6%, Almost 0%, Failure 8.3% and Disastrous 19.4%. (Almost can't happen here: any 6 without a 1 already reaches 12.) Set up your own numbers in the Dice Roller.
Difficulty in Context
Difficulties run from 3 to 30, with 12 as the normal bar. This guide uses Okay, Tricky and Hard for 12, 15 and 18; the other headings below are just descriptions. Each card gives the exact chance that the same average 2d6+6 character passes.
Below 12 - "Of course you can"
Example: A professional mechanic fixing a simple car problem, or the Doctor flying the TARDIS on a quiet day.
Odds at 9: 35 in 36 (97.2%) - only double 1s fail.
Okay (12) - "Should be manageable"
Example: Convincing a frightened civilian to trust you, or hacking a basic computer system.
Odds: 26 in 36 (72.2%).
Tricky (15) - "Requires focus"
Example: Disarming a modern security system, or negotiating with a suspicious but not hostile alien.
Odds: 10 in 36 (27.8%). An expert with 2d6+9 passes 26 in 36 (72.2%).
Hard (18) - "This is tough"
Example: Reverse-engineering alien technology, or talking down a Dalek from extermination.
Odds: 1 in 36 (2.8%) - only double 6s. The 2d6+9 expert passes 10 in 36 (27.8%).
Above 18 - "Nearly impossible"
Example: Rewiring a TARDIS console while it's materializing, or convincing a Cyberman to feel emotions.
Odds at 21: 1 in 36 (2.8%). Even a human at the top of the scale (Attribute 6 + Skill 6) passes only 10 in 36 (27.8%).
Up to 30 - "Requires genius"
Example: Creating a new type of matter from scratch, or reasoning with a completely alien intelligence.
Odds: 1 in 36 (2.8%) on double 6s, unless bonus dice, helpers or an inhuman Attribute close the gap.
Story Points: The Heart of Drama
Story Points are your "superhero moment" tokens. Think of them like the moments in TV shows where the music swells and the hero does something that makes the audience cheer. They represent those times when ordinary people become extraordinary through determination, insight, or sheer bloody-mindedness.
A human character starts with 12. Distinctions (being a Time Lord, telepathy and so on) and Gadgets lower that number, which is why an experienced Time Lord or a Sontaran starts with 8 - ordinary humans get the most luck.
Ways to Spend Story Points
Raise a Result
The classic use. Each point moves the result up one level, from Disastrous through Failure, Almost, Barely and Success to Brilliant. A roll that failed can be raised no higher than Barely, so it costs you something; a roll that passed can go all the way to Brilliant.
Change the Story
Add something helpful to the scene that wasn't there before. Small edits cost 1 point; bigger ones cost more, up to 11 for something enormous.
Gain Advantage
Spend a point before you roll to roll 3d6 and keep the best two.
Ask for a Hint
Get a nudge from the GM when the group is stuck.
Everything Else
Activate a Distinction, heal injuries, use a skill you don't have, push a Gadget beyond its limits, or simply do something amazing when the moment calls for it.
Earning Story Points Back
Story Points come back through heroics and through accepting trouble. You can also choose to take a result one level worse than you rolled and gain a Story Point for it. It's like the dramatic law of equivalent exchange - the more interesting problems you accept, the more power you get to solve them creatively. Terrible acts, such as killing, can cost you points.
Playing Your Focus Flaw
Your Focus helps you, but it also gets you into trouble. When it does, you earn a point.
Acting Heroically
When you put yourself at risk for others or for what's right.
Getting Captured
Being caught is a classic Doctor Who beat, and the game pays you for it.
Gifts from Other Players
Players can pass points to each other when a friend needs the boost.
Extended Actions: When Time Matters
Some tasks are too complex or time-consuming to resolve with a single roll. This guide doesn't reproduce exact rules for long tasks, so the three approaches below are table techniques built from ordinary rolls and the six results. Agree on the one you're using before the dice come out.
Three Ways to Run a Long Task
Progress Track - Building Success
Each good roll brings you closer to your goal. Like climbing a mountain - every step counts, and you can see your progress. A simple scale: Brilliant 2 steps, Success or Barely 1 step (Barely with a snag), Almost or Failure no steps (Almost with a clue), Disastrous no steps and a new complication.
Example: Repairing the TARDIS Console
Goal: 4 steps
Time per roll: 10 minutes
Roll: Ingenuity 4 + Technology 4 + 2d6 against Difficulty 12
Round 1: Dice 6 and 3, total 17 - Brilliant = 2 steps (2 of 4)
Round 2: Dice 4 and 2, total 14 - Success = 1 step (3 of 4)
Round 3: Dice 2 and 1, total 11 - Disastrous = no steps, and a fuse blows: Difficulty 15 from now on
Round 4: Dice 5 and 4, total 17 against 15 - Success = 1 step (4 of 4) = REPAIRED!
Countdown - Racing the Clock
You need a number of passes before the failures run out. Like defusing a bomb with a timer ticking down.
Example: Convincing the Sontaran to Stand Down
Goal: 3 passes before 3 failures
Each round: a Presence + Convince roll
Failure cost: the Sontaran becomes more aggressive
Contest - Opposing Forces
You're working against an active opponent. Like a chess match where both sides are trying to win: both sides roll each round and compare.
Example: Cyber-Warfare Against the Daleks
Goal: First side to win three exchanges
Participants: Team's hacker vs. Dalek systems
Rolls: Ingenuity + Technology vs. the GM's roll for the defenses
Conflict Resolution: More Than Just Fighting
In Doctor Who, most "conflicts" aren't solved with violence. They're intellectual puzzles, moral dilemmas, or social challenges. The game handles everything from debates to chases to actual combat with the same roll, and nobody rolls for initiative.
Who Goes First
Everyone first says what they intend to do. Then actions resolve in a fixed order that favors words over weapons: Talkers, then Movers, then Doers, then Fighters. Trying to react out of turn - leaping in front of a blast before your group's moment - is possible, but at Disadvantage.
Chase Sequences: Running from Daleks
Chases are high-energy sequences where geography and quick thinking matter more than raw speed. They're like action movie sequences where the heroes use the environment creatively. The core book has its own chase rules, which this guide doesn't reproduce.
Keeping Track of the Gap
Whatever rules you use, it helps to show the distance between hunters and hunted where everyone can see it. A simple lead track like this one works at the table: start in the middle, move toward Escaped when the runners do well and toward Caught when the pursuers do.
Chase Actions
- All-Out Run: Strength or Coordination + Athletics
- Clever Route: Awareness + Survival, or Knowledge if you know the area
- Create Obstacle: Ingenuity + Craft or Technology (slow the pursuers)
- Grab a Vehicle: Coordination + Transport
- Environmental Use: Coordination + Athletics (swing from the chandelier!)
Mental Challenges: Battles of the Mind
These represent everything from solving ancient puzzles to resisting psychic attacks. In Doctor Who, the mind is often the most important battlefield.
Puzzles and Mysteries
Classic Doctor Who problem-solving. The GM presents clues, players make deductions.
Example: The Temporal Paradox Lock
Clue 1: The lock shows three different time periods simultaneously
Clue 2: Each period shows the same location at different times
Clue 3: Something important happened at this spot in each era
Solution Process:
Ingenuity + Knowledge roll: "Wait, this is Gallifrey - these are all moments of great change!"
Ingenuity + Science roll: "The lock responds to temporal resonance - we need to align all three timelines!"
Psychic Attacks
Mental intrusion, mind control, or telepathic assault. These are battles fought with willpower and self-knowledge.
Example: Resisting Cyberman Conversion Logic
Cyberman Attack: "Emotions are weakness. Logic is strength. You will be upgraded."
Defense: Resolve + Intuition (or whatever skill the GM thinks fits) against 15
Failure Effect: Mental damage, and you become more logical and less emotional
Victory Condition: Assert your humanity strongly enough to break the influence
Information Warfare
Hacking, data analysis, or technological problem-solving under pressure.
Example: Breaking Dalek Encryption
Each round represents 1 minute of work. Passing gives you pieces of the overall picture. Failure triggers security countermeasures, and a Disastrous result means you've been spotted. The tension comes from racing against time while avoiding detection - a good fit for the countdown technique above.
Damage and Recovery: More Than Just Hit Points
The game has no hit points. Damage can be physical, mental or social, and it wears down the Attribute it hits - exhaustion, stress, despair and confusion all count.
- Damage lowers an Attribute. The matching Attribute drops for a while.
- At 0, you gain a Condition. A Condition gives you Disadvantage on rolls it affects.
- Two Conditions: your opponents get Advantage against you.
- Three Conditions: you are Defeated and out of the adventure.
- Lethal attacks - many advanced weapons are Lethal - skip all of that and kill outright. That's why running is so often the right call.
Understanding Damage
Physical Damage
Actual injuries from falls, weapons, or environmental hazards.
Mental Damage
Psychological trauma, confusion, or mental fatigue.
Social Damage
Reputation loss, relationship strain, or community standing.
The Path to Recovery
Healing in Doctor Who is rarely just about medical treatment. It's about solving the underlying problem and helping people (including yourself) move forward. Story Points can also be spent to heal.
Sarah's Recovery Story
The Problem: Sarah took mental damage from witnessing the destruction of an entire civilization. She's withdrawn and questioning whether their adventures are worth the cost.
The Solution: Not just rest, but seeing the survivors they saved rebuilding their lives. Talking with the Doctor about the weight of their choices. Gradually understanding that witnessing tragedy doesn't diminish you - it makes you more determined to prevent it.
Game Mechanics: Until she recovers, the lowered Attribute and any Condition stay on her sheet. Playing out scenes like these is a good moment for the GM to restore them, or for Sarah's player to spend a Story Point to heal.
Environmental Storytelling: Making the Setting a Character
In Doctor Who, the environment is never just background. Whether it's the TARDIS humming with temporal energy or an alien world with three suns, the setting actively participates in the story. Mechanically, the GM has three simple levers: Advantage, Disadvantage, and moving the Difficulty up or down.
Features of the Scene
Helpful Features
Elements that characters can use to their advantage
- A convenient ventilation system - Advantage on Subterfuge to move unseen
- An ancient knowledge repository - Advantage on Knowledge or Science rolls
- Temporal instability - allows time-travel related solutions
Hostile Features
Environmental challenges that create complications
- A radiation leak - ongoing damage unless protected
- Shifting gravity - Coordination rolls needed for movement
- Psychic interference - Disadvantage on mental actions
Interactive Features
Elements that respond to character actions
- A living ship - can be reasoned with or befriended
- A quantum computer - gives different answers based on how you ask
- A temporal echo - shows different outcomes based on choices
Putting It All Together: Complete Scene Examples
Scene One: The Dalek Archives
Setup
The team needs to access the Dalek Imperial Archive to find information about a temporal weapon. The archive is guarded by automated defenses and contains psychic traps designed to overwhelm non-Dalek minds.
Scene Breakdown
Phase 1: Getting Inside (Physical Challenge)
Challenge: Bypass Dalek security systems
Roll: Ingenuity + Technology
Difficulty: 15, Tricky (these are Daleks!)
Consequences: Failure triggers alarms and defense systems
Sarah (Ingenuity 5, Technology 4) rolls 2d6+9: dice 3 and 4, total 16. Success! She finds a maintenance access that the Daleks overlooked because they never consider the possibility of retreat.
Phase 2: Navigating the Archive (Mental Challenge)
Challenge: Resist psychic overload while searching
Roll: Resolve + Knowledge
Difficulty: Escalating (12, then 15, then 18)
Environment: Psychic nightmares - mental damage on a failure
James (Resolve 4, Knowledge 3) passes the first roll easily. On the second, his dice show 6 and 1 - they cancel - for 14 against 15: a plain Failure. The GM describes visions of Dalek victories flooding his mind. He spends two Story Points to raise it through Almost to Barely, remembering his grandmother's stories about surviving the Blitz - "I've heard worse than this before." He gets through, but shaken.
Phase 3: The Discovery (Social Challenge)
Challenge: The archive contains a living Dalek consciousness
Roll: Presence + Convince (yes, even with a Dalek)
Difficulty: 18, Hard
Twist: This Dalek has been isolated for centuries and is questioning its programming
The Doctor approaches this as a damaged mind, not a monster, spending a Story Point to establish that isolation can change anyone, even a Dalek, and another for Advantage on the roll. The conversation becomes about loneliness and the need for purpose beyond destruction.
Try It at the Table
Activity One: Difficulty Calibration
For each scenario, pick a Difficulty between 3 and 30 (12 is normal) and explain your reasoning:
- A professional chef cooking a familiar recipe under normal conditions
- A pilot landing a damaged plane in a storm
- A child convincing their parent to let them stay up late
- A scientist explaining quantum physics to a medieval peasant
- Anyone trying to reason with a Cyberman
Activity Two: Story Point Scenarios
For each situation, describe how a player might spend Story Points creatively - and what a Barely or an Almost would look like:
- Trapped in a sealed room with rising water
- Facing a hostile alien species that doesn't speak any human language
- Needing to repair complex alien technology with primitive tools
- Trying to convince time-displaced historical figures to work together
- Racing to prevent a war between two alien species
Activity Three: Extended Action Design
Design an extended action for each scenario, including goal, time frame, skills needed, and what happens on failure:
- Gaining the trust of a paranoid conspiracy theorist who has crucial information
- Reverse-engineering a broken alien device with limited tools
- Evacuating a city before a natural disaster strikes
- Solving an ancient puzzle that guards a temporal gateway
Activity Four: Run a Conflict
Choose one scenario and walk through a complete conflict:
- Debating with an alien ambassador about trade agreements
- A chase scene through a crowded marketplace
- Resisting mind control from a psychic alien
- Hacking into a computer system while security hunts for you
Include: the setup, each side's Attributes and Skills, who acts when (Talkers, Movers, Doers, Fighters), and how the results and any Conditions play out.
For Gamemasters: Making It Flow
The rules are just tools - the real art is in using them to support great storytelling. Here are the key principles for keeping the game moving and engaging.
Say Yes, or...
The default response to player ideas should be "yes" or "yes, but..." or "yes, and..." Only say "no" when it would break the game or story.
Fail Forward
Failure should advance the story, not stop it. The dice help: a Barely is "you pick the lock, but the alarm goes off," and an Almost is "the lock holds, but you hear the guards' plans through the door."
Let Characters Shine
Create moments where each character's unique abilities are the solution. The scientist needs science problems, the leader needs leadership challenges.
Embrace the Absurd
Doctor Who is wonderfully ridiculous. Giant spiders, robot dogs, and defeating armies with a bag of jelly babies are all perfectly valid.
The Rhythm of Adventure
Good gameplay flows like a well-written TV episode - there are quiet character moments, building tension, dramatic reveals, and satisfying resolutions. The rules support this rhythm by providing structure without overwhelming the narrative.
Remember, the goal isn't to win or lose - it's to tell an amazing story together. The dice add surprise and tension, but the real magic happens when everyone at the table contributes to creating something greater than any of them could imagine alone.
In the end, the rules fade into the background, and what remains is the story of unlikely heroes using their wits, compassion, and determination to make the universe a better place - one adventure at a time. To see the odds behind any roll on this page, open the Dice Roller.