What is the Doctor Who RPG?
Imagine you're the protagonist of your own Doctor Who episode. Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition (Cubicle 7, 2021) is like being handed the keys to the TARDIS - it's a storytelling game where you and your friends create adventures across time and space, solving problems with wit, compassion, and the occasional sonic screwdriver.
Think of it as collaborative storytelling meets improv theater, with dice to add excitement and unpredictability. One person plays the Gamemaster (like a TV director), while others play characters who travel through time and space, encountering aliens, solving mysteries, and saving civilizations.
This guide follows the Second Edition rules. The older First Edition (Adventures in Time and Space, 2009 to 2015) used the same 2d6 roll but read the results differently, so if you've played it, the six results and Story Points below are the parts to relearn.
The Heart of the Game: Story Points and Attributes
Story Points - Your Creative Currency
Story Points are like the show's dramatic budget. In a typical Doctor Who episode, there are moments where characters do something extraordinary - the Doctor sonic-ing their way out of a locked room, a companion making a brilliant deduction, or someone showing incredible bravery. Story Points let you create these moments.
A human character starts with 12 Story Points. Species and special abilities (Distinctions such as being a Time Lord) and Gadgets cost some of them, so alien and gadget-heavy characters start with fewer - an experienced Time Lord or a Sontaran starts with 8. Each point you spend raises a roll's result by one level. You earn points back by being heroic, by letting your character's flaw cause trouble, and even by getting captured.
Think of It Like: The Superhero Moment
Think of action movies where the hero suddenly finds that extra burst of strength to lift the fallen beam, or has a flash of insight that solves everything. Story Points are your "superhero moments" - they let you exceed normal human limitations when the story needs it most.
Example in Play
Maya, a museum curator, is trapped in a Dalek facility and tries to override a door panel with Technology. She misses the Difficulty, but one die shows a 6, so the result is Almost: no, but something goes her way. Her player spends 1 Story Point to raise it one level to Barely - Maya remembers something the Doctor once told her about Dalek circuitry, and the door opens, though an alarm starts to wail. A failed roll can be raised no higher than Barely, so Story Points rescue you, but rarely cleanly.
Attributes - Who You Are
Your character has six Attributes that define their capabilities, like the stats in a video game character, but more narrative-focused. For humans they run from 1 to 6, with 3 as average, and you share 18 points among them:
- Awareness: How well you notice things - like Sherlock Holmes spotting crucial details
- Coordination: Physical agility and dexterity - think Spider-Man's acrobatics
- Ingenuity: Creative problem-solving - the Doctor's "I'll reverse the polarity" moments
- Presence: Charisma and leadership - how Captain Kirk commands a room
- Resolve: Mental fortitude and determination - like Ellen Ripley never giving up
- Strength: Physical power and endurance - Superman's raw physical capability
Skills - What You Can Do
Skills are your character's learned abilities, like a toolbox of expertise. There are twelve, rated from 1 to 6, and you get 18 points to spend on them. In Doctor Who, characters often succeed through knowledge and cleverness rather than brute force. The groups below are just this guide's way of sorting them:
Thinking Skills
- Knowledge (History, culture, general facts)
- Science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry)
- Technology (Computers, Engineering)
- Medicine (Helping the injured)
People Skills
- Convince (Talking your way out of trouble)
- Intuition (Reading people and sensing what's wrong)
- Subterfuge (Bluffing, sneaking and misdirection)
Doing Skills
- Athletics (Running from Daleks)
- Conflict (When running doesn't work - fists and weapons alike)
- Craft (Making and fixing things by hand)
- Survival (Staying alive in hostile places)
- Transport (Driving, piloting, riding)
The Dice System: Simple Yet Dramatic
The game uses a beautifully simple system: roll 2d6, add your relevant Attribute and Skill, and try to equal or beat a Difficulty number. It's like rolling to see if your character can live up to their potential in a crucial moment.
Difficulty Levels
Difficulties run from 3 for something trivial up to 30 for the near-impossible. Most tasks sit at 12.
Reading the Dice: Six Results
Passing or failing is only half the answer. The faces on your two dice set how well it goes: a 6 makes things better, a 1 makes them worse.
- Brilliant: you pass and a die shows a 6, or you roll double 6s (which count even if the total falls short). Yes, and something extra.
- Success: you pass with no 6 and no 1. Yes.
- Barely: you pass but a die shows a 1. Yes, but at a cost.
- 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 each other out. On any 2d6 roll, the chance of a 6 without a 1 is exactly 9 in 36 (25%), the same for a 1 without a 6, and 2 in 36 (5.6%) that you get one of each.
Three more things can change the dice. Advantage means rolling 3d6 and keeping the best two; Disadvantage means keeping the worst two. Your Focus or a recalled Experience adds a separate bonus d6 to the total (it never counts as a 6 or a 1). And each friend who helps adds +2, up to a limit. Try any combination in the Dice Roller.
Example: The Classic Door Problem
The Doctor needs to open a sophisticated alien lock. The GM sets the Difficulty at 15 (Tricky). The Doctor has Ingenuity 5 and Technology 4, so they roll 2d6+9. The dice show 3 and 4, for a total of 16 - enough, with no 6 or 1, so it's a plain Success. The sonic screwdriver hums to life, and the door slides open with a satisfying whoosh. (With 2d6+9 against 15 the Doctor needs 6 or more on the dice: exactly 26 in 36, about 72%.)
Character Types: Your Role in the Story
Just like in the TV show, different characters fill different narrative roles. The core book's ready-made characters are the Thirteenth Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan, and most groups end up with a similar mix of these three roles.
The Doctor
The brilliant, eccentric problem-solver. Like a mad scientist crossed with a wise teacher, they see solutions others miss.
The Companion
The heart of the team. Often more grounded than the Doctor, they provide emotional intelligence and ask the questions the audience would ask.
The Expert
The specialist - a scientist, soldier, or historian who brings specific knowledge to the team.
How Play Flows: The Adventure Structure
A typical session follows the rhythm of a TV episode. There's investigation, rising tension, crisis, and resolution - all driven by character choices and dice rolls.
Try It at the Table
Activity One: Character Concept
Create a character concept by answering these questions:
- What's your character's background? (Teacher, mechanic, archaeologist?)
- What draws them to adventure? (Curiosity, duty, accident?)
- What's their greatest strength? (Compassion, intelligence, courage?)
- What's their biggest weakness? (Impulsiveness, fear, stubbornness?)
Example Character: Maya Chen
Maya is a museum curator who specializes in ancient artifacts. She's drawn to adventure by her insatiable curiosity about history's mysteries. Her greatest strength is her ability to see patterns others miss. Her biggest weakness is her tendency to touch things she probably shouldn't - which is how she first met the Doctor. That weakness would make a good Focus: it gives her a bonus die when curiosity drives her, and earns a Story Point whenever it lands the group in trouble.
Activity Two: Story Point Scenarios
For each scenario, describe how you might spend a Story Point - raising a result, gaining Advantage, asking for a hint, or changing a detail of the scene:
- You're locked in a room filling with water
- You need to convince a hostile alien to trust you
- You're trying to defuse a bomb with 30 seconds left
- You're separated from your friends in a maze
Activity Three: Difficulty Assessment
Assign Difficulty numbers (3 to 30, with 12 as the everyday default) to these tasks:
- Opening a modern electronic lock
- Convincing a scared child to trust you
- Reprogramming Dalek technology
- Jumping across a 6-foot gap
- Remembering obscure historical facts