Character Templates: Alien Rogue

The penultimate character template in my set is another one that's usually very popular. There are, I suspect, at least a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, the concept of a 'rogue' is one that's common to a lot of RPGs - it's a standard character type that's as easy to understand as the combat jock and that has a clear role in any party. Secondly, there are many players who, when faced with a science fiction RPG, are keen to play the aliens; there's an appeal in being something out of the ordinary and a little bit special.

Doctor Who, however, presents a problem with alien PCs that most other science fiction shows do not. If the character is obviously alien, it's going to be difficult to justify them doing much in a historical or contemporary setting. And, in fact, even in mid to late 21st century settings. To get around this, when I have run non-convention games where the players design their own characters, I stipulate that all PCs must at least be able to pass for human on cursory examination, and I've used the same principle in these templates. An alien that simply looks human (such as Trion or a Drahvin) isn't terribly interesting unless, like Time Lords, there's something else inherently cool about them. Human-seeming androids might well work since they, too, will likely have unusual abilities. But your other options are some device that disguises the alien's appearance or... well, shapeshifting.

Settings: Skaro (The Daleks)

The second serial in the TV show’s history is, of course, the one that ensured its survival and first made it big. In many respects, the story has a different version of the titular aliens than appear in any other. I’ve covered Daleks in game terms previously, but here we’re concerned with the setting and story. Specifically, we’re interested in the version of the planet that we see in this particular serial, largely ignoring what will come later. 

Where & When

The story is set on the planet Skaro. The few stories that have attempted to give any hint as to where this might be in relation to Earth generally place it in a different galaxy but all we can say with certainty is that it’s a long way away.

Since the story, taken on its own terms, has no connection with Earth, the date is equally impossible to determine. As one might expect, multiple different theories have been advanced, some placing it very early in Dalek history, before they developed space flight, others in the far future, when a forgotten and degenerate group have been left behind on their home planet, cut off from their fellows. Most go for somewhere in between, often one or two centuries into our future, but it's probably more accurate to say that we just don’t know.