Recipe: Cheese and Crackers
When we’re not playing the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game, we are, of course, watching Doctor Who. Our most recent marathon was remarkably varied, a visual feast that featured screenings of everything from New Who webisodes to Torchwood installments to the bonkers Channel 5 telefilm Hotel! (2001), starring Paul McGann, Peter Capaldi, and Bradley Walsh. (That’s right. It has to be seen to be believed!) As is tradition, we also seized the opportunity to cook up a diverse selection of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres ranging from the simple to the elaborate, each of them celebrating our favorite series. These drinks and nibbles might be just the thing to serve up during your next RPG session, so, one-by-one, we’re sharing the recipes with you.
Today’s recipe is certainly on the simple side. Indeed, it barely qualifies as a recipe! You don’t have to be a master chef to prepare a platter of Doctor Who cheese and crackers. All you need is patience, a sharp knife, and a bit of imagination. With a keen eye and a little trial and error, a slice of sharp cheddar can be transformed into a Type 40 TARDIS with a broken chameleon circuit! Your favorite hard cheese can shapeshift into an Adipose, a Silent, or an Ice Lord’s helmet. Add some pepperoni or other garnish for a bit of contrast and serve it up on your favorite cracker. Consider the possibilities for the game table! Once your players acquire a taste for edible Story Points, there’s no going back.
Our thanks to Better Homes & Gardens for inspiring us with a plate of Halloween hors d’oeuvres prepared using cookie cutters. Have a look at their slideshow for more spooky party food ideas.
“The House That Ate Time”
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“The House That Ate Time” (1TD01) by Nathaniel Torson . Game Master: Erin Players: Adam, Brian, Erin Game Date: 6 July 2018; 28 July 2018; 18 August 2018 . Characters: The (Nth) Doctor, The (Lost) Doctor, The (Zen) Doctor, Selene, Marilyn, K9 Adversaries: The House, The Weeping Angels, The Reapers, et al. Allies: Howard Carter, John Smith Time: 16 November 1891 CE; 2 August 1914 CE; 9 September 1988 CE Space: Great Thrumpton, England, Earth; Valley of the Kings, Egypt, Earth; Montana, United States, Earth . Continuity: The first adventure featuring the Zen Doctor and K9. . Synopsis: In the tunnels beneath the Martian moon Phobos, the Doctor and Selene evade Ice Warrior extremists. Down the autumnal paths of nineteenth century New England, the Doctor and his trusty steed Marilyn flee the manifestations of a nightmare. And in the peace and serenity of his TARDIS, the Doctor’s meditations are interrupted by a warning from K9 concerning a temporal disruption. In one continuum-shattering instant, these three distinct incarnations of the same renegade Time Lord find themselves face-to-face, and the implications of such a convergence are nothing short of catastrophic. The force that has brought three Doctors to the same deceptively nondescript basement vault is driven by hunger, an all-consuming hunger greater than the raging energies of the time vortex itself. It feasts on the transcendental flesh of god-like Chronovores, and it saps the artron emissions from prototype Sontaran timeships. Unchecked, it will devour the TARDIS whole. Putting aside their differences to investigate this ravenous presence, the Doctors discover that beyond the underground labyrinth stands a house unlike any other, where spacious halls and tastefully decorated lounges conceal an architecture that mocks the laws of physics, and each door and window opens onto a different time and place. Reality itself is but a pabulum here, for this is the house that eats time! Deconstructing the deadly mysteries of this astonishing structure requires a coordinated effort across three distinct timeframes, moments in history infected by its corrupting influence. In each of these eras, a Doctor must face a gauntlet of terrors, for the paradoxes produced by this insatiable beast of an abode have attracted some of the universe’s most dangerous temporal parasites. But there is hope to be found in these distant times and places, for a lone figure is present wherever the Doctor ventures. Earth’s history and the survival of the TARDIS may depend upon the kindness and goodwill of one Dr. John Smith, an ordinary Englishman caught up in most extraordinary circumstances. Three Doctors. Three timeframes. One monstrous threat. It’s time to bring down the house. |
“Ascension”
“Ascension” (5ND04)
by Mark Clapham & Jon de Burgh Miller
Game Master: Adam Players: Brian, Erin
Game Date: 15 April 2018
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, The Rani, Ori
Adversaries: The Divinity, The New Moral Army
Allies: Captain Jack Harkness
Time: 11-13 February 2596 CE
Space: Dellah, Constellation of Vitroa
Synopsis: Prophecy tells of an apocalyptic battle that will take place on the planet Dellah on the eve of the twenty-seventh century, the ultimate clash between the Divinity and the one they call the Great Blasphemer: the rebellious trickster otherwise known as the Doctor. Desperate to bring an end to the ascendancy of his eternal foes, the Doctor embraces this destiny, calling upon his captive companions, the Master and the Rani, to break free of the control exerted over the TARDIS by the Time Lords.
The Doctor and Ori arrive on Dellah to discover that this once peaceful world has fallen under the pitiless rule of the New Moral Army, whose holy wars and genocidal pogroms have left the road to the city of Tashwari lined with the crucified corpses of unbelievers. Appealing to the Sultan of Tashwari, the travellers find that any effort to quell the religious fervour that grips the populace is hopeless. The Sultan and his army heed only the doctrine of their idols, the Divinity, and the Doctor and his companion are soon slated for execution. Hope arrives in the form of an unexpected saviour who falls out of the sky—not an angel but a man, a man named Captain Jack Harkness.
With the help of this dashing rogue, the Doctor and Ori flee the city in search of allies, the atheist rebels who hide in nearby hills. Their quest will take them deep inside the volcanic Mount Casmov, where they learn that the prophecy that has led the Doctor to Dellah is self-fulfilling, allowing a great evil to harness the power of his TARDIS. The Divinity have become one with the elder god known as Tehke, the Burning One, and unless the Doctor can extinguish the beast, it is his ascension that will at last allow these ethereal fiends to defile the most glorious domain in all of time and space: Gallifrey, homeworld of the Time Lords!
“The Atlantean”
“The Atlantean” (5ND03)
by J. Andrew Keith
Game Master: Adam Players: Brian, Erin
Game Date: 31 December 2017
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, The Rani, Ori
Adversaries: The Divinity, The Iyteans
Time: 17 December 1885 CE
Space: London, United Kingdom, Earth
Available: IN PRINT
Synopsis: On Baker Street in December of 1885, the Doctor introduces Ori to the joys of Christmas in Victorian London, but the two find there is little hope for peace on Earth. A brutal murder has struck down a member of Parliament, Sir Reginald Carruthers, and the Doctor’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding the high profile killing uncovers more extraordinary crimes. The dead man was involved in a black market connecting Marylebone and Limehouse, an underground network trafficking otherworldly artefacts to London’s elite. Another of the buyers, the eccentric Colonel Malcolm Fraser, believes these dangerous and powerful objects support his outlandish theories concerning the lost city of Atlantis. What’s more, he claims the artefacts have led him to make contact with an Atlantean!
The Doctor is sceptical of Fraser’s fantastic story until he chases down a cloaked, ethereal figure in a snow-strewn alley—a herald angel, a ghost of things to come. Recognizing this ghastly creature for what it truly is, he realizes that the truth of these events is more terrible and frightening than the likes of Carruthers or Fraser could ever have suspected. The course of human history is being threatened by the introduction of anachronistic alien artefacts, but there are those who will make every effort to ensure that mankind is not diverted from its predestined path. None are more invested in preserving the history of humankind than the Divinity. After all, it is a history that they have spent millennia remaking in their image.
“The Age of Prosperity”
“The Age of Prosperity” (5ND02)
by Walt Ciechanowski
Game Master: Adam Players: Brian, Erin
Game Date: 7 October 2017
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, The Rani, Ori
Adversaries: The Silurians
Time: 7-8 October 1877 CE
Space: Colorado, United States, Earth
Available: IN PDF
Synopsis: The men and women of Prosperity live their lives in the shadow of Sentinel Mountain. Its mines once drew prospectors from across the American West, but the gold has long since petered out, and the hopes and dreams of the people have gone with it. During a visit to the Gold Nugget saloon, the Doctor and Ori learn that the townsfolk are quick to forget their troubles. Their greed for gold has been swapped for a thirst brought on by a snake oil salesman’s promises of health and vitality. And though the Comanches warn of a beast that stalks the nearby hills, the end of gold mining has not brought an end to visits to the mines. Determined to uncover the truth, the Doctor and his companion engage in some prospecting of their own. Together, they learn there are primeval secrets concealed within the caves of Sentinel Mountain, secrets that could mean an end to mankind’s own age of prosperity on Earth!
Character Sheet: Ori
In a chic wine bar aboard the luxury starliner Dionysus, the Doctor encountered a kindred spirit: Orizrekit’Gehm. Her very name marked her as a woman of taste and refinement, for the wines produced by the Gehm family are famous on the ocean world of Adrilia and prized throughout the Third Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Ori spent her youth roaming island vineyards, developing an appreciation for the harvest and coming to learn all there is to know about winemaking. This lifetime of cultivation led to a prestigious position as chief vintner and sommelier aboard the Dionysus—and to the Doctor. As an Emahni, one of two intelligent species native to Adrilia, Ori is distinguished by her striking copper skin with its distinctive purple patterns. She is warm and outgoing, the perfect hostess, a woman known for her presence and her ingenuity. In skills, her mastery of her craft and epicurean taste overshadow all else. Ori is a consummate connoisseur with a passion for life, travel, and the finest food and drink in the galaxy. For the Doctor, she just may be the perfect travelling companion.
“Empire of the Rani”
“Empire of the Rani” (5ND01)
by Christopher Bulis
Game Master: Adam Players: Brian, Erin
Game Date: 9 September 2017
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, Ori
Adversaries: The Rani
Allies: Ptolemy Caesar
Time: 5 May 10 BCE (Dominion Year 10)
Space: Rome, Romano-Egyptian Dominion, Terra Nova
Synopsis: The TARDIS comes to ground in ancient Rome and is rendered powerless, stranding Ori and the Doctor in a landscape of disturbing anachronisms. They escape from a sealed tomb to find the skyline of the imperial capital broken by the startling shapes of smokestacks and electrical towers, and a majestic airship looms above the Colosseum. The so-called Romano-Egyptian Dominion is in the throes of an age of rapid and dangerous transformation, all thanks to the prophecy and divine guidance granted by a mysterious oracle. Unravelling the origin of this demented alternate history, the wayward travellers become embroiled in a dangerous game of politics and deceit, a contest that pits brother against brother against sister as the children of Cleopatra—Cleopatra Selene, Alexander Helios, and Ptolemy Caesar—compete for control of an empire on the verge of developing weapons capable of destroying their world.
Convincing the triumvirate to trust the Doctor won’t be easy, for he has been afflicted by dangerous transformations of his own and grows more unstable with each moment spent in this twisted timeline. In unexpected bursts of elemental energy, the Doctor is regenerating, regressing through past incarnations! As the Time Lord is transformed from wide-eyed bohemian to whimsical tramp to crotchety old man, an overwhelmed Ori comes to see that no one is as they seem, least of all Cleopatra Selene, for behind the guise of this wicked queen schemes one of the Doctor’s oldest and most unpredictable enemies. The earthbound Rani has been waiting for the Doctor to return to the era of the Roman Empire, and she intends to make the most of her revenge!
Minisode: “The Vintner’s Luck”
“The Vintner’s Luck” (5ND00)
by David Agnew
Game Master: Adam Players: Brian, Erin
Game Date: 30 July 2017
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, Ori
Adversaries: The Daleks
Time: 14 September 7306 CE
Space: Dionysus, Zeep Sector
Continuity: The first adventure featuring Ori.
Synopsis: Orizrekit’Gehm knows wine. Hailing from the ocean world of Adrilia, the seasoned vintner is heir to the renowned Gehm family winery, and a lifetime of cultivation has earned her a prestigious position as chief winemaker and sommelier aboard the famed luxury starliner Dionysus. Ori is a particular kind of connoisseur and so, she recognizes, is the strange, pale-faced passenger they call the Doctor. He strolls the liner’s self-contained vineyards as if he owns them, and his knowledge of variety and vintage is seemingly boundless. Ori is intrigued by this unusual man and, in a bid to impress him, she ventures into the depths of the Dionysus wine cellars to retrieve a rare bottle of Taurasi 178. Instead, she finds a raving metal monster that threatens her with extermination! In the fire and chaos that follow, she learns the truth about this stimulating stranger. The Doctor is experienced and discerning, a veritable virtuoso, but danger follows in his footsteps, and adrenaline is the vintage he knows best.
Back and Forth
These are exciting times for Doctor Who. As the countdown continues to the Twelfth Doctor’s final adventure—an episode that will also serve as an all-new television adventure for the First Doctor!—the series itself is undergoing a regeneration. Jodie Whittaker has claimed the role of the Thirteenth Doctor! We couldn’t be more proud, and we’re excited to see her take over the TARDIS. Our Doctor Who roleplaying campaign, like so many others, openly embraces the myriad possibilities embodied by the show’s changeable title character. There is so much potential in the role of the Doctor, and Whittaker will usher in a bold new era for the character. If regeneration stories have taught us anything, it’s that change is necessary, even if it can be hard to accept.
Amid the flurry of news regarding this changeover, it’s time to for us to share an update from the game table. Series 10 is at an end, and so is our most recent run of roleplaying adventures. “The Starmind” concluded an unforgettable second series for the Lost Doctor, Jeremy Brett (pictured here with esteemed Doctor Who guest star David Suchet, Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, and John Thaw, each of them a famous TV detective). The Lost Doctor and Riddell braved the elements across frozen tundra, through the depths of teeming alien jungles, and into the roiling cytoplasm of the universe’s largest living amoeba. They faced the Master, the Chelonians, the Ice Warriors, and the enigmatic Viyrans. The series ended with an epic cliffhanger, the revelation that the Cybermen have evolved to vanquish one of the most advanced races in the galaxy! What could possibly happen next? When the Dark Dimension campaign resumes later this week, you’ll find that we’ve jumped a time track.
After two series of adventures featuring the Lost Doctor, it’s time to change things up. Our next run of stories will return us to the era of the Nth Doctor, Richard E Grant. We promised you he’d be back! Consider these to be the Nth Doctor’s lost adventures. They’ll break the chronological order of things and take place earlier in the timeline, slotting into the existing chronology for the character. (The episode guide will, of course, be appropriately updated.) Ultimately, our intention is to introduce a unique original Doctor for each of the players in our campaign, and we’ll alternate between them from time to time. This is intended to ensure variety and allow everyone in our game an opportunity to play the Doctor, create a companion, and serve as our game master.
So, prepare yourself for all-new adventures in time and space with a familiar hero! The Nth Doctor remains a tormented puppet of the Time Lords, sharing his TARDIS with the ever-inscrutable android Master. We’ll also be introducing a never-before-seen companion who will join in these adventures.
The Lost Doctor will return, in time. After all, someone has to stand up to those pesky Cybermen…
Humble Bundle
Who could you be? Imagine you could go anywhere: this world or countless others, encountering strange alien races, new cultures, or hostile environments. Now imagine you could travel to any era as a Time Lord. The Humble RPG Book Bundle: Doctor Who from Cubicle 7 is here to make it possible!
Players and game masters, please attend carefully! Humble Bundle, the online store offering digital gaming packages in exchange for charitable donations, is currently offering an extensive selection of sourcebooks from Cubicle 7’s Doctor Who RPG. A donation of $15 or more unlocks downloadable PDFs for The Doctor Who Roleplaying Game core rulebook, The Time Traveller’s Companion, The UNIT Sourcebook, three adventure modules, all eleven of the individual Doctor sourcebooks, Cubicle 7 coupons, and more! Donations support the BBC’s Children in Need, a charity long associated with Doctor Who. If you’re a player or a gamemaster, now is the time to complete your electronic collection. If you’re curious about the Doctor Who RPG, there’s never been a better opportunity to get started! The offer is available until August 2nd. Visit Humble Bundle to choose your package.
“Destiny and the Doctor”
“Destiny and the Doctor” (ΩND01)
by William H. Keith Jr.
Game Master: Adam Players: Brian, Erin
Game Date: 9 July 2016
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, Riddell
Adversaries: The Supreme
Allies: Selene, The Brotherhood of Freedom
Time: 25340 CE–27121 CE
Space: Destiny of Ydar, Mutter’s Spiral
Continuity: The final adventure featuring the Nth Doctor and the first to feature Riddell.
Available: IN PRINT
Synopsis: After rescuing John Riddell from perilous misadventure in Afghanistan, the Doctor reconnects with his old friend over a drink aboard the TARDIS, but they are soon torn from the vortex by the ravenous maw of a black hole! Emerging from the wreck that remains of the TARDIS, the Doctor and Riddell find themselves aboard an inconceivable interstellar vessel, the Destiny of Ydar, a vast and frighteningly powerful megastructure possessing a singularity that consumes planets and stars. In the depths of this great and ever-growing world-ship, corridors become caverns at the core of a trapped moon, armed robots maintain an oppressive code of order, and one of the Doctor’s former companions waits for a moment of redemption.
With her are the children of a forgotten world, lost souls who have forgotten there is a universe beyond but seek to wage a bitter rebellion within their world-ship in the name of all life. The Doctor and his companions join their noble cause, but they are not prepared to oppose the implacable will of their enemy. The Supreme believes itself to be all-knowing, all-seeing, never-ending. It will not be deterred from its five million year mission of vengeance and survival. To bow to the will of the Supreme means galactic genocide. For the Doctor, there is no choice but to resist, even if challenging a would-be god for the fate of the galaxy will seal his own cruel fate. All things must end—even the legendary journey of the hero known as the Doctor!
A Time to Change
It seems like only yesterday that the Doctor and Selene were stepping out of the TARDIS and onto the beach at Arrowdown, ready to face an uncertain future and terrors untold. That was “Ghost Town,” the inaugural module in our ongoing campaign based on the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game from Cubicle 7. It launched an unforgettable run of adventures that has taken our players from the battlefields of Roman Britain to the flowering jungles of Vortis to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean in the belly of the Titanic. The Doctor and his companions—the robot Master, Selene, Mohana, and Alison—have toppled madmen and undead gods and alien killing machines. The Daleks and the Divinity came closest to ending their journey, but with carefully chosen traits and a few well-played story points, our heroes triumphed over evil time and again. The Doctor and the TARDIS are eternal. On television and at the gaming table, their story will never end.
That’s important to remember, as change is coming. The Dark Dimension is about to be renewed. The incarnation of the Doctor brought so memorably to life by Richard E Grant in “Scream of the Shalka,” star of our campaign, has dark days ahead as our game narrative is jumping forward to depict his defiant last stand. The time has come for an historic first in our campaign, the first regeneration—and the moment has been prepared for. Players and game masters will be switching roles, and there will be a shake-up in the status quo.
A regeneration is imminent, but that doesn’t mean we’re done telling stories with the Nth Doctor. Though we’ll be introducing the Doctor’s next incarnation and a new take on the ongoing story arc, there will be plenty of opportunities to play out the untold stories of the Nth Doctor’s era in the future. Going forward, the Dark Dimension will feature twice the Doctors. This will expand our ongoing original narrative and add some variety to the proceedings. Ultimately, each player in the campaign will have the opportunity to create their own Doctor. It’s been great fun developing an original take on the mythology of Doctor Who using “Scream of the Shalka” as a starting point. That mythology is going to take on a greater richness and vibrancy as our cast of Doctors begins to expand.
Who is the companion destined to board the TARDIS during its time of peril? Will the Doctor at last break free of the oppressive control of the Time Lords? Can the Master resist his hideous true nature? What is to be the Doctor’s final fate, and what sort of man will emerge from the ashes of his regeneration? Time, and a roll of the 2D6, will tell.
“Blind Eye”
“Blind Eye” (10ND04)
by Morgan Davie
Game Master: Erin Players: Brian, Adam
Game Date: 8 May 2016
Characters: The Doctor, The Master, Alison
Adversaries: Clockwork Robots, The Weeping Angels
Allies: The Indian Space Agency
Time: 15 July 2385 CE
Space: SS Marie-Anne Lavoisier, Sol System
Synopsis: Class is in session when the Doctor and Alison become the subjects of a peculiar lesson in a most peculiar school. The artificial gravity, perception filters, and clockwork teachers suggest a sinister curriculum at work, and expulsion from the classroom means certain death in the depths of space! Even the atmosphere of this strange place is toxic, burning the eyes and confusing the senses. Soon, the Doctor and Alison are running blind, relying on students to lead them in a desperate study of their surroundings. Together, they learn that the clockwork teachers are being directed by a more powerful and malevolent force: the Lonely Assassins who feed on time and wait in shadows for a moment of blindness in which to strike.
Recipe: The Ginger Scotch
The Nth Doctor is a man defined by his appetites. In contrast to many of his predecessors, this epicurean Time Lord always finds the time to enjoy a meal or a fine cigar. When the TARDIS lands on an alien starship or amid some historic crisis, it’s typical for the Doctor to gain his bearings by first seeking out a drink. In his adventures thus far he’s enjoyed a spot of Elystrian burned wine, a Drashani Syrah, brandy, prosecco, gin, and classic cocktails ranging from the colony to the sidecar. It seems fitting that we find the time to post the occasional drink recipe for the sort of pick-me-ups well-suited to the Doctor Who game table. That said, the latest cocktail is mixed in tribute not to the Doctor but to one of his great television companions.
The Ginger Scotch—better known to Whovians as an Amy Pond—is as bright and invigorating a drink as its ruby complexion would suggest. Any tipple mixed in tribute to the one and only Amelia Pond would have to be both sharp and sweet, of course. The Ginger Scotch delivers. In make-up, it’s not unlike a Mamie Taylor or Glasgow Mule. Combining ginger beer, black cherry juice, grenadine, bitters, and, of course, Scotch, this blend teeters between savory and sweet, imparting the same fierce flavor as Karen Gillan’s performance. (Our Ponds were mixed with Gosling’s Ginger Beer, which brought just the right bite.) If your character sheet calls for a companion that is both adventurous and reckless, stubborn and also fun-loving, sharp but also sweet, then you might consider mixing up a batch for your next game day.
For a full recipe, be sure to take down the details provided for an Amy Pond at Nicole Beckerman’s Doctor Who Cocktails blog.
The Dark Dimension 
