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| Mk V |
This one, by the way, is going to be a long post. There’s a lot to cover!
Note: Since I started this series of posts, Cubicle 7 have announced a 5E version of their existing Doctor Who RPG. I'll continue posting my 5E interpretation of stats here, at least for the time being. Although it's likely they'll be very different from the "official" versions, not least because there will presumably be some difference in the fine details of the systems, these posts do at least include my reasoning.
Appearances
The Cybermen have the distinction of being the first “monster” other than the Daleks to appear in more than one story. They are also the oldest of the races in my pick of the top seven humanoid monsters, dating back all the way to the First Doctor’s era and his final story The Tenth Planet. Frequently re-invented since that first appearance, they appear no less than four times in the Second Doctor’s era (whereas the Daleks only appear twice). The Third Doctor is the only classic-era Doctor not to have a TV story featuring them, with Doctors Four to Seven having one major Cyberman story each, not counting their brief appearance in The Five Doctors. Skipping the Eighth and Ninth Doctors because of their short runs, every modern Doctor from Ten onwards has faced them. In total, that’s 23 stories featuring Cybermen as more than brief clips or mentions.
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| Mk II |
It will probably come as no surprise that Cybermen are regularly featured in the spin-off media, too. They have featured in five full-length novels alongside both classic and modern Doctors. There are eighteen regular audios that include at least some element of the Doctor versus the Cybermen, plus an audio-only novel and an alternative adaptation of Fourth Doctor TV story The Revenge of the Cybermen. Notable among these is Spare Parts, a Fifth Doctor story that recounts the origin of the Mondasian Cybermen. On top of that, the Cybermen face off against UNIT without the Doctor in one audio, and even featured in a stage-play (together with the Daleks) in the ‘80s. There’s also a full eight-part audio series simply titled Cyberman that doesn’t include any recurring characters from the main series at all, showing them
threatening a future Earth when the Doctor isn’t around to save it. Plus, as one might expect, innumerable short stories, and appearances in the comics and video games.
Description and Biology
Given these large number of appearances, over several decades of real time, the Cybermen have undergone a number of makeovers in terms of their visual design. These are usually interpreted as different versions of Cybermen, in many cases having different origins. At least eight different forms can be identified over the years, but, in this post, I will be ignoring the most radically different ones – including the most and least advanced versions – and concentrating on the more ‘typical’ ones.
Firstly, then, we have the Telosian Cybermen. These have smooth faceplates with circular eyes and a rectangular slot for a mouth and speak in a buzzing monotone. They first appear in The Moonbase, before being seen again on their apparent homeworld in Tomb of the Cybermen. The Twelfth Doctor later lists them as an example of parallel evolution, although most other sources state that they are an offshoot of the original, Mondasian, Cybermen that somehow found a new planet to colonise and later spread out from.
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| Mk III |
Also seen in the Second Doctor’s run are a subtype described in a 1993 novel as originating on “Planet 14”, an object somewhere in our own solar system that acted as another early Mondasian colony. These are distinguished by their tear-drop eyes, have narrower mouth-slots than the Telosians, a lighter chest unit, and less discordant voices. Even here, there are two different looks, with the version seen in The Invasion having large muff-like shapes on the sides of their head, which those in The Wheel in Space lack. Like the Telosians, however, they have bodies covered in a smooth flexible material that could be intended to be either latex or plastic. Although
usually considered distinct, due to a new vulnerability, the Cybermen of the ‘70s show physically resemble those of The Invasion, so it may just be that the humans they are fighting there (and the Doctor) don’t yet know of their weakness.
The Cybermen of the ‘80s have more sculpted faces, sometimes with the original human jaw visible through a plastic cover on the faceplate. They also have a thinner (plastic?) covering on their bodies rather than the thicker, smoother, material of earlier versions. Most notably, they lack the bulky chest units, replacing them with a much sleeker module over their shoulders and pectorals, and the exoskeletal pipes seen on the earlier versions are now apparently built into their bodies, which are often larger and more physically imposing. These ones seem to be more emotional than other versions, although that’s obviously relative and may be partly down to their more human-like voices.
When the Cybermen return in the modern series, they are initially from a parallel Earth but when some from our own universe turn up later in the show, they have the same appearance and are clearly technologically similar. They have visible armour-plating and are back to
having an electronic voice, albeit one more modulated than the harsh ‘60s versions. Jumping over the advanced models from Nightmare in Silver, the final version to date are the “warrior” Cybermen of the Thirteenth Doctor’s run. These have similar armour-plated bodies to the other modern types, but are distinguished by a head that combines features of the ‘80s and final ‘60s versions.
To trim this down, and simplify things for the purposes of this blog without using terms that may be unclear such as “neomorph”, I’m going to use the following scheme:
- Mk II – The Telosian Cybermen (The Moonbase, Tomb of the Cybermen)
- Mk III – Collectively, the next three versions (The Wheel in Space to Revenge of the Cybermen)
- Mk IV – The ‘80s Cybermen (Earthshock to Silver Nemesis)
- Mk V – The original new series versions (Rise of the Cybermen to Death in Heaven)
- Mk VI – The current version, as of 2022 (The Haunting of Villa Diodati to Flux)
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| Mk IV |
What all of these sub-races have in common is that they were originally either humans or aliens indistinguishable from humans. To various degrees, they have replaced their organic body parts with cybernetics. In the case of the Mk V, this goes so far that the entire body is robotic, housing a human brain with a few nerves threaded through the robot parts to control them. All of the other versions have at least some flesh underneath the exterior coating, although the extent of this may vary depending on the race’s current level of technology – the Cybermen clearly exist for over a thousand years in some form or other, and one would expect them to upgrade where possible.
In the real world, some organs are easier to replace with artificial parts than others. We already have artificial hearts, for instance, and it’s not hard to imagine hydraulic assistance for muscles. At a slightly more difficult level, we don’t yet have artificial kidneys that can comfortably fit inside a human body, but it’s not going too far to imagine that such a thing would be possible. Organs such as endocrine glands, the spleen, and liver are perhaps the hardest to replace with inorganic components although, by the time the body is completely robotic, you probably don’t need them anyway.
Even a Cyberman consisting solely of a human brain in a robot shell would, in reality, still require oxygen and nutrients in order to function, and would produce at least a small amount of waste products. Oxygen might not be such an issue, with organic lungs perhaps being maintained in some less cybernetic versions, and some kind of atmospheric extractor unit attached to the blood supply (or similar oxygen-carrying fluid) in the more complete ones. Thus, there’s no reason to suppose that Cybermen don’t breathe, although they may be capable of holding their breath for a long time, or of surviving in oxygenated water.
It’s the nutrients that are more of an issue, however. Cybermen don’t seem to eat, so how they get around this problem is unclear. A power supply is fine for the electronic parts, but brain tissue needs glucose and a fair bit of it; Cybermen are not true robots.
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| Mk VI |
Cybermen are incapable of biological reproduction and need to convert existing humanoids to maintain their numbers. In theory, they could get around this by cloning themselves and putting the resulting organic bits into the cybernetic body but there’s no indication on screen that this is what happens.
Finally, the most distinctive feature of the Cybermen is that are said to be emotionless, although the extent of this does seem to vary. In reality, having no emotions at all would render an intelligent being incapable of meaningful action. Cybermen may not suffer from crippling fear, but they are concerned enough to wish to maintain their own existence, or at least that of their species. They can’t feel love or human affection, but they must want and desire things on some level, or they’d never do anything. But they can certainly do without humour, anger, compassion and so on and, if some vague emotional impulse must drive them in certain directions, it’s never strong enough to overwhelm them or distract them from logical thinking. They must be disappointed when their plans fail (or why bother doing them?) but they don’t feel true grief or shame when it happens.
Game Attributes
Other than their physicality and lack of emotion, the only significant special ability that Cybermen possess is that most, perhaps all, of them have built-in weapons. These are usually in the hands or wrists, but they were built into the helmets in the Mk III. The Mk II lacked built-in guns, but did have the ability to deliver a stunning jolt of electricity through their hands.
Early versions did have specific weaknesses that seem to vanish in the modern series. The Mk II was vulnerable to anything that might clog up their chest units, including solvents that affect plastic. With the Mk III, however, the Cybermen improved their resistance to this type of attack, but remained vulnerable to chemically inert contaminants – specifically gold dust. This weakness remains in the Mk IV, but has not been mentioned since, implying that they have overcome it, presumably with more efficient filters.
5E - Cyberman (Mk II-III)
Medium construct (cyborg), lawful evil
Armour Class: 14 (resilient coating)
Hit Points: 43 (5d8+20)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 18 (+4) | DEX 10 (+0) | CON 18 (+4) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 5 (-3) |
Saving Throws: Strength +7, Wisdom +3
Skills: Intimidation +0, Technology +3
Combat Skills: Melee Attack +7, Missile Attack +3
Damage Resistances: Cold, fire, poison
Vulnerability (Mk II): Certain atmospheric dispersal agents, such as solvents, can act as poisons against which the Cyberman does not have the usual Damage Resistance.
Vulnerability (Mk III): Gold weapons
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Hand-shock: Melee weapon attack: +3 to
hit, reach 5 ft. one target. Hit: 2d8 lightning damage.
Helmet Gun (Mk III): Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400 ft. one target. Hit: 3d6 force damage.
Challenge: ½ (100 XP)
5E - Cyberman (Mk IV)
Medium construct (cyborg), lawful evil
Armour Class: 16 (resilient fabric)
Hit Points: 43 (5d8+20)
Speed: 30 ft.
STR 18 (+4) | DEX 10 (+0) | CON 18 (+4) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 7 (-2) |
Saving Throws: Strength +7, Wisdom +3
Skills: Intimidation +1, Technology +3
Combat Skills: Melee Attack +7, Missile Attack +3
Damage Resistances: Cold, fire, poison
Vulnerability: Gold weapons
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Wrist Gun: Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400 ft. one target. Hit: 3d6 force damage.
Challenge: 1 (200 XP)
5E - Cyberman (Mk V-VI)
Medium construct (cyborg), lawful evil
Armour Class: 18 (rigid armour plating)
Hit Points: 57 (6d8+30)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 20 (+5) | DEX 10 (+0) | CON 20 (+5) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 5 (-3) |
Saving Throws: Strength +8, Wisdom +3
Skills: Intimidation +0, Technology +3
Combat Skills: Melee Attack +8, Missile Attack +3
Damage Resistances: Cold, fire, poison
Damage Immunities (Mk V): Poison.
Condition Immunities (Mk V): Poisoned
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Wrist Gun: Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400 ft. one target. Hit: 3d6 force damage.
Challenge: 1(200 XP)
BRP - Cyberman (Mk II-III)
STR 1D6+15 (18-19) | CON 1D6+15 (18-19) | SIZ 1D6+10 (13-14) |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 1D6+6 (9-10) | CHA 1D6 (3-4) | |
Hit Points: 16 | Move: 8 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: +1D4 |
Armour: 3-point resilient coating
Skills: Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Brawl 60%, Energy Pistol 60%
Hand-Shock (Mk II): In addition to regular unarmed combat damage, a blow with a hand deals an extra 1D6 damage that ignores any metal armour (but not other types of armour).
Cloggable Air Intake (Mk II): Certain atmospheric dispersal agents can affect the Cyberman’s chest unit, having an effect equivalent to poison (variable POT, depending on details).
Susceptibility to Gold (Mk III): Any hit with a gold weapon is treated as a special success for damage purposes.
BRP - Cyberman (Mk IV)
STR 18 | CON 21 | SIZ 1D6+10 (13-14) |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 10 | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 18 | Move: 10 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: +1D4 |
Armour: 5-point resilient fabric
Skills: Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Brawl 50%, Energy Pistol 60%
Susceptibility to Gold: Any hit with a gold weapon is treated as a special success for damage purposes.
BRP - Cyberman (Mk V-VI)
STR 20 | CON 24 | SIZ 15 |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 10 | CHA 1D6 (3-4) | |
Hit Points: 20 | Move: 6 | |
Base SR: 4 | Damage Bonus: +1D6 |
Armour: 8-point rigid armour plating
Skills: Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Brawl 40%, Energy Pistol 60%
Robot Body (Mk V): The Cyberman cannot be poisoned, unless the toxin is somehow injected directly into the brain.
GURPS - Cyberman (Mk II-III)
ST 18 | DX 10 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Thrust: 1d+2 | Swing: 3d | ||
Speed: 7 | Move: 5 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance +2, Doesn’t Eat or Drink, Doesn’t Sleep, Fit, Innate Attack (Burning, 1d, melee attack)
Advantages (Mk III): Innate Attack (Burning, 2d)
Disadvantages: Callous, Disturbing Voice, Killjoy
Disadvantages (Mk II): Weakness (5 minutes, atmospheric dispersal agents)
Disadvantages (Mk III): Vulnerability (gold, -10)
Skills: Beam Weapons (pistol)/TL9-12, Brawling-12, Electrician/TL9-11, Electronic Operation/TL9 (various)-11
GURPS - Cyberman (Mk IV)
ST 18 | DX 10 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Thrust: 1d+2 | Swing: 3d | ||
Speed: 7 | Move: 6 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance +6, Doesn’t Eat or Drink, Doesn’t Sleep, Fit, Innate Attack (Burning, 2d)
Disadvantages: Killjoy, Vulnerability (gold, -10)
Skills: Beam Weapons (pistol)/TL10-12, Brawling-12, Electrician/TL10-11, Electronic Operation/TL10 (various)-11
GURPS - Cyberman (Mk V-VI)
ST 20 | DX 10 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Thrust: 2d-1 | Swing: 3d+2 | ||
Speed: 7 | Move: 4 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance +10, Doesn’t Eat or Drink, Doesn’t Sleep, Hard to Kill-1, Innate Attack (Burning, 3d), Very Fit
Advantages (Mk V): Injury Tolerance (no blood, unliving)
Disadvantages: Killjoy
Disadvantages (Mk V): Cannot Float, Noisy-1
Skills: Beam Weapons (pistol)/TL10-12, Brawling-12, Electrician/TL10-11, Electronic Operation/TL10 (various)-11
Savage Worlds - Cyberman (Mk II-III)
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d6 | Spirit: d10 |
Strength: d12 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills: Fighting d6, Intimidation d4, Repair d6, Shooting d6
Edges: Armour +2, Cyborg, Hard to Kill (Mk III only:
not against damage caused by gold), Stun
Hindrances: Slow, Vulnerability (to certain aerosols,
Mk II only)
Gear (Mk III): Laser pistol (built into helmet)
Pace: 5 Parry: 5 Toughness: 10(2) Size: 0
Savage Worlds - Cyberman (Mk IV)
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d6 | Spirit: d10 |
Strength: d12 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills: Fighting d4, Intimidation d4, Repair d6, Shooting d6
Edges: Armour +4, Cyborg, Hard to Kill (not against
damage caused by gold)
Gear: Laser pistol (built into wrist)
Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 12(4) Size: 0
Savage Worlds - Cyberman (Mk V-VI)
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d6 | Spirit: d10 |
Strength: d12+1 | Vigour: d12+1 |
Skills: Fighting d4, Intimidation d4, Repair d6, Shooting d8
Edges: Armour +6, Construct (Mk V only), Cyborg (Mk V
only), Hard to Kill, Nerves of Steel
Hindrances: Can’t Swim, Slow
Gear: Laser pistol (built into wrist)
Pace: 4 Parry: 4 Toughness: 14(6) Size: 0
STA - Cyberman (Mk II-III)
Control: 10 | Fitness: 12 | Presence: 7 |
Daring: 8 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 1 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 14 | Resistance: 1 |
Traits (Mk III): Helmet Gun: The cyberman has a type 1 phaser built into
their helmet.
Vulnerabilty to Gold: Gold weapons are considered to be Vicious 1 when
employed against the cyberman.
STA - Cyberman (Mk IV)
Control: 9 | Fitness: 13 | Presence: 7 |
Daring: 8 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 1 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 15 | Resistance: 2 |
STA - Cyberman (Mk V-VI)
Control: 10 | Fitness: 13 | Presence: 7 |
Daring: 8 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 1 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 15 | Resistance: 2 |
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