The next story is Dalek, and it’s finally time to try and cover the most iconic, and frequently-used, of all the Doctor Who “monsters”. I’ve left them this long mainly because they’re such a big topic that it’s easier to do other races first, but also because they are quite complex. Given their greater number of appearances than Cybermen, it’s notable that they’ve changed rather less than that race has, but even so, and ignoring unique and variant individuals, I’ll need to cover at least three different versions in their evolution over the 60 years of the series so far.Appearances
The race first appeared way back in the first season in 1963, as literally the first “monster” in the series’ history. That first appearance was followed by at least fourteen further Dalek stories in the classic series (arguably more, if you count brief appearances) with at least one for every Doctor up to the Seventh. As I write this, there have been sixteen unequivocal Dalek stories in the modern series, but such is their popularity that if you are reading this even one year after I penned it, there’s a good chance that that number will have increased.
The Daleks have been much less popular in the novels, due largely to licensing issues. So far, there have only been three full-length novels featuring the race… and two of them contained excessive fanwank. There have, however, been plenty of licensed short stories and numerous appearances in the comics, so fans of the written word are by no means restricted to fanfic.
The number of audios featuring the Daleks is similarly vast, easily outweighing their TV appearances. By my count, there have been over one hundred Dalek audios to date and that number is only going to go up. This is partly due to the existence of entire mini-series featuring the race as regular opponents, mostly set during the Time War, but naturally, there have been many one-offs as well. As with the prose stories, sometimes these introduce their own variants on the race, but I am going to stick to the televised versions.
Description and Biology
The look of Daleks has changed relatively little over the 60 years of their appearance. They appear as robotic pepper-pot shapes with a skirt composed of (usually) 12 angular segments, each decorated with a vertical row of four hemispherical bumps and with a fender at the base that runs very low to the ground. The midsection is, in most versions, adorned with a series of vertical slats and has a forward surface bearing a gun and what looks suspiciously like a sink-plunger. Above this is a wraparound grill with (usually) three projecting rings around it, and then the top dome, with an eyestalk and two lights that flash in time with the creature’s speech.
Even looking at supposedly baseline Daleks there are some changes to this over the series’ history and one can really go down a rabbit hole if one delves into the fine detail. Avoiding that, we can still say that the original look, as seen in the first two Dalek serials, lacked the slats around the midsection, instead having two smooth horizontal rings. The slats first appear in The Chase, where they are explained as the means by which the Dalek obtains power from its environment – the earlier versions either obtained it from electrically charged flooring through their bases, or via dish receivers attached to their backs.
The earliest Daleks were blue-and-silver (not that it was easy to tell in black-and-white) but various muted liveries were used down the years. In the modern series, we instead get an all-copper livery and glowing blue eyes. The slats are now riveted pieces of metal, probably decorative and/or protective so that we can assume the power source is internal by this time. In Victory of the Daleks we see a “new paradigm” version, with brightly coloured livery and a larger body that’s both chunkier and more smoothly moulded. The slats have gone, to be replaced by something closer to the original design, but thicker and more angular. This look didn’t last, and the latest baseline versions are pretty much back to the “copper” look.
But, of course, all of this refers to what we normally see and, as every fan knows, despite appearances, the Daleks aren’t really robots. Instead, the visible part is, in effect, a miniature tank being driven by an alien mutant deep inside the shell. The ancestors of these mutants were once indistinguishable from humans, but the form they now take has tentacles and a single eye, looking – at least in the modern series – like something between a starfish and an octopus. Whatever humanoid internal anatomy they may once have had has obviously mutated to the point of unrecognisability and they don’t, for example, appear to have any skeleton.
While they are permanently ensconced within their travel machines the degree to which they are physically integrated with the electronics varies. Most do not appear to be true cyborgs, although (for example) the “Imperial Daleks” of Remembrance clearly are.
The shell provides all the life support that the mutant could need, and is sealed, allowing at least the modern series version to survive in the vacuum of space. Presumably, there are refillable air tanks or something in the casing to allow it to breathe. Since they are organic, they must also obtain food somehow – Into the Dalek states that some of this is hoovered up by “antibodies” that attack bacteria and other potential pathogens, but it seems unlikely that this would be the only source. This being supplemented by the energy that also powers the unit itself (whether it be static electricity or something else) may, however, mean that less is required than one might think.
Daleks are generally described as if they are all male. Certainly, they sound male, and since they were originally built by a humanoid race, that’s surely intentional. Having said which, they probably aren’t biologically male in the sense of having functional gonads, since they no longer breed. Instead, they appear to reproduce using some form of cloning technology, which likely helps to explain their remarkable uniformity of personality and their obsession with racial purity.
Game Attributes
Trying to provide statistics for Daleks is not as straightforward as doing so for more humanoid species. Strictly speaking, they should be described using the rules for vehicles, not those for characters or monsters. But this is at odds with the way that they are normally used and encountered, so “monsters” it is. There’s also the question of variation, and for these purposes, I am going to consider four different things to provide statistics for:
- Original Daleks – Those that appeared in the First Doctor stories The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth
- Classic Daleks – All others that appeared in the classic series, from The Chase to Remembrance of the Daleks
- Modern Daleks – Including both the baseline copper version and the “new paradigm” Daleks, since, in game terms, there is probably little difference.
- Kaled Mutants – the actual living creature, out of its shell
It’s also worth remembering that, because they are mass-produced, without even the variation in body size that Cybermen have, in systems that normally describe attributes as a range of values these won’t apply to the physical ones in the case of Daleks.
The strength of a Dalek is not going to refer to their athletic prowess or their ability to use melee weapons, since neither of these is really applicable and the sucker-arm (even in versions where it's deadly) likely has little physical strength of its own. Instead, it makes more sense to consider the Dalek’s ability to resist being pushed around, which the evidence suggests still isn’t great, especially in the earlier versions. The Kaled mutant does have strength that can be used for more conventional purposes, and we know that it’s strong enough to strangle someone – but so are most humans, so again, this isn’t necessarily that impressive.
Dexterity has a similar issue in that, whatever else a Dalek may be, it’s hardly what you’d call flexible and acrobatic. Nor does it have high manual dexterity, since it doesn’t have any fingers. However, in most systems, dexterity (or its equivalent) is primarily useful for attacking with ranged weapons, which Daleks certainly can do, and, usually to a lesser extent, for determining initiative. This would be guided by the accuracy and reflex speed of the mutant inside, which is probably decent, but nothing too remarkable; given how deadly the Daleks’ main weapon is, we don’t want to make them hit every target.
The physical resilience of Daleks is, however, impressive. Being machines, they don’t tire easily and they don’t bleed. The early versions aren’t especially well armoured, and can, for example, be killed by being run over by a bus. Later versions in the classic series are, however, at least resistant to firearms and, while the actual frame of the modern ones may be no better than that, they have a forcefield that’s almost totally impervious to anything early 21st-century military hardware can throw at it.
The mutant is physically quite pathetic (barring the one inside the exceptional “reconnaissance Dalek” in Revolution of the Daleks) being slow-moving and lacking much in the way of obvious defences. It is, however, this that provides the mental attributes and skills of all regular Daleks so that these shouldn’t vary except insofar as the physical attributes might affect them in the relevant game system. Here, we can say that the average Dalek is probably as intelligent as the average human but that, except for intimidation, its charisma is pretty awful. In some systems, the jarring voice won’t help with that. Their willpower does not seem to be great, since they often start to panic if they are, say, blinded or otherwise inconvenienced, and they follow the orders of their superiors without question.
In terms of skills, Daleks are good at shooting and at controlling larger vehicles and spaceships. Even the regular Dalek grunt also has some technical expertise although it’s probably only the officers that can be said to have any tactical skill – again, we don’t want to make them too effective. In D&D terms, they’re about as good an example of “lawful evil” as one could wish for, being regimented, blindly obedient, and driven by a raging hatred of anything different from themselves – this is easily sufficient to be reflected by negative mental traits in systems that quantify such things.
Special Abilities
Modern series Daleks can survive for at least some time in the vacuum of space, and presumably underwater as well – although there’s no evidence this is true of the earlier versions. Notably, they can fly, although they don’t seem to be especially fast; this is first seen, as an even more limited hovering ability, in the last two Dalek stories of the classic series. Otherwise, classic Daleks are landbound, with the original versions being further limited by their need for an external power source. Famously, they cannot climb stairs, which is a bit of a limitation – indeed, with their ground clearance, even rough terrain is going to be a problem.
One of the novels gives Daleks the ability to see in the infrared, which seems a logical enough extrapolation given that their eyestalks are (in most versions) electronic sensors, but I’ll pass on this as not explicitly supported by canon.
Where they do excel, of course, is in their built-in weapons. The “plunger” is capable of manipulating the controls of their vehicles and other equipment but is otherwise useless in the classic version. The modern Daleks can use it as a weapon, although it’s short-range and of limited utility. The gun is a different matter, almost always killing anything it hits, barring any high-tech armour or force fields. If the game system has mechanisms to allow targets to dodge or otherwise evade being hit, the staggeringly high damage this implies may not be an overwhelming issue, but in those that don’t it may make sense to argue that it’s not very accurate – or to find a way of giving Daleks a low initiative so that escape is always an option. How it works is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not really detailed; it’s simply an “energy weapon”. Some indications in the TV series (for example, in the 9th Doctor episode Dalek) imply that it’s at least partially electrical, so that may be as good a description as any in game systems where it matters.
5E - Original Dalek
Medium construct, lawful evil
Armour Class: 16 (light metal casing)
Hit Points: 43 (5d8+20)
Speed: 20 ft. (only when able to receive energy)
STR 10 (+0) | DEX 12 (+1) | CON 18 (+4) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 8 (-1) |
Saving Throws: Strength +2, Constitution +6
Skills: Intimidation +1, Technology +2
Combat Skills: Missile Attack +3
Damage Resistances: Piercing, Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities: Paralysed
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Gun-stick: Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 50/200 ft. one target. Hit: 3d6 lightning damage.
Challenge: 1 (200 XP)
5E - Classic Dalek
Medium construct, lawful evil
Armour Class: 20 (dalekanium casing)
Hit Points: 76 (8d8+40)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 12 (+1) | DEX 12 (+1) | CON 20 (+5) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 6 (-2) |
Saving Throws: Strength +3, Constitution +7
Skills: Intimidation +0, Technology +2
Combat Skills: Missile Attack +3
Damage Resistances: Piercing, Slashing, Fire,
Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities: Paralysed
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Exterminate!: Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 50/200 ft. one target. Hit: 6d6 lightning damage.
Challenge: 4 (1,100 XP)
5E - Modern Dalek
Medium construct, lawful evil
Armour Class: 24 (force field)
Hit Points: 95 (10d8+50)
Speed: 20 ft., fly 30 ft.
STR 14 (+2) | DEX 12 (+1) | CON 20 (+5) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 6 (-2) |
Saving Throws: Strength +5, Constitution +8
Skills: Intimidation +1, Technology +3
Combat Skills: Melee Attack +1, Missile Attack +4
Damage Resistances: Piercing, Slashing, Fire,
Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities: Paralysed, Prone
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Sucker to Death: Melee attack: +1 to
hit, 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d10 force damage.
Exterminate!: Ranged weapon attack: +4 to hit, range 100/400 ft. one target. Hit: 6d6 lightning damage.
Challenge: 6 (2,300 XP)
5E - Kaled Mutant
Small monstrosity, lawful evil
Armour Class: 11 (natural)
Hit Points: 10 (4d6-4)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 10 (+0) | DEX 12 (+1) | CON 8 (-1) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 10 (+0) | CHA 6 (-2) |
Saving Throws: Constitution +1
Skills: Intimidation +0, Technology +3
Combat Skills: Melee Attack +1
Damage Resistances: Necrotic
Senses: Passive Perception 10
Tentacle: Melee weapon attack: +1 to hit, 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
Challenge: 0 (10 XP)
BRP - Original Dalek
STR 10 | CON 18 | SIZ 11 |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 3D6 (10-11) | CHA 2D6+1 (8) | |
Hit Points: 15 | Move: 8 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: 0 |
Armour: 4-point light metal casing
Skills: Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Gun-Stick 60% (range 20 metres, 2D8
damage)
Limitation: Can only move when there is access
to power, normally static electricity through the floor, but including
transmitted power if fitted with a receiving dish.
BRP - Classic Dalek
STR 12 | CON 21 | SIZ 11 |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 3D6 (10-11) | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 16 | Move: 8 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: 0 |
Armour: 10-point dalekanium casing
Skills: Pilot 40%, Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Exterminate 60% (range 80 metres, 4D8
damage)
Flight: 6th and 7th Doctor versions can fly at a Move of 5 and with Flight skill at the base value of DEX x ½ (5%).
BRP - Modern Dalek
STR 14 | CON 21 | SIZ 11 |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 3D6+6 (10-11) | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 16 | Move: 8 | |
Base SR: 5 | Damage Bonus: +1D4 |
Armour: 16-point force field
Skills: Flight 40%, Pilot 40%, Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Exterminate 60% (range 80 metres, 4D8 damage), Sucker 25% (1D8+1D4 damage)
New Paradigm: SIZ is 13, giving a total of 17
Hit Points.
BRP - Kaled Mutant
STR 2D6+3 (10) | CON 2D6 (7) | SIZ 3 |
INT 2D6+6 (13) | POW 3D6 (10-11) | |
DEX 3D6 (10-11) | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 5 | Move: 6 | |
Base SR: 6 | Damage Bonus: -1D4 |
Armour: None
Skills: Repair 40%
Combat Skills: Brawl 40%, Drive (Dalek) 90%
Radiation Resistance: The mutant takes only half damage from radiation attacks.
GURPS - Original Dalek
ST 10 | DX 12 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Speed: 7.5 | Move: 4 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance +5, Doesn’t Sleep, Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Neck, Unliving), Radiation Tolerance-5
Disadvantages: Bad Temper, Cannot Float, Dependency (energy supply, constant), Disturbing Voice, Electrical, Intolerance (total), No Legs (glides), One Arm
Skills: Armoury/TL9-10, Beam Weapons (gunstick, 3d burn damage)/TL9-13, Electronic Ops (Comms)/TL9-11, Electronic Ops (Sensors)/TL9-11, Intimidation-11
GURPS - Classic Dalek
ST 12 | DX 12 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Speed: 7.5 | Move: 4 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance +30, Doesn’t Sleep, Filter Lungs, Flight (6th & 7th Doctor versions only), Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Neck, Unliving), Radiation Tolerance-5
Disadvantages: Bad Temper, Bloodlust, Cannot Float, Disturbing Voice, Intolerance (total), No Legs (glides), One Arm
Skills: Armoury/TL10-10, Beam Weapons (exterminate!, 5d (2) burn damage)/TL10-13, Computer Ops/TL10-11, Electronic Ops (Comms)/TL10-11, Electronic Ops (Sensors)/TL10-11, Intimidation-12, Piloting (Low Performance Spacecraft)-11
GURPS - Modern Dalek
ST 14 | DX 12 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Speed: 7.5 | Move: 4 |
Advantages: Damage Resistance +50, Doesn’t Sleep, Filter Lungs, Space Flight, Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Neck, Unliving), Innate Attack-2 (Melee Weapon), Pressure Support-1, Radiation Tolerance-5, Sealed
Disadvantages: Bad Temper, Bloodlust, Cannot Float, Disturbing Voice, Intolerance (total), No Legs (glides), One Arm
Skills: Armoury/TL11-10, Beam Weapons (exterminate!, 6d (5) burn damage)/TL11-13, Computer Ops/TL11-11, Electronic Ops (Comms)/TL11-11, Electronic Ops (Sensors)/TL11-11, Intimidation-12, Piloting (Low Performance Spacecraft)-11
GURPS - Kaled Mutant
ST 10 | DX 12 | IQ 10 | HT 8 |
Thrust: 1d-2 | Swing: 1d | ||
Speed: 5 | Move: 5 | ||
Size: -3 |
Advantages: Injury Tolerance (No Neck), Radiation Tolerance-5, Reduced Consumption-1
Disadvantages:
Skills: Battlesuit-14, Brawling-13 (n.b.: excludes skills it is functionally unable to use outside of the casing)
Savage Worlds - Original Dalek
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d8 | Spirit: d6 |
Strength: d6 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills:
Edges: Hard to Kill
Hindrances: One Arm, Ruthless (Minor)
Abilities: Armour, Construct
Gear: Gun-Stick (equivalent to a laser rifle)
Pace: 4 Parry: 2 Toughness: 11 (3) Size: 0
Savage Worlds - Classic Dalek
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d8 | Spirit: d6 |
Strength: d8 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills:
Edges: Hard to Kill
Hindrances: One Arm, Ruthless (Major)
Abilities: Armour, Construct, (6th and 7th Doctor versions add Flight at Pace 2)
Gear: Exterminate! (range 30/60/120, damage 3d6+4, RoF 3)
Pace: 4 Parry: 2 Toughness: 14 (6) Size: 0
Savage Worlds - Modern Dalek
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d8 | Spirit: d6 |
Strength: d8 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills:
Edges: Hard to Kill
Hindrances: One Arm, Ruthless (Major)
Abilities: Armour, Construct, Flight (Pace 4)
Gear: Exterminate! (range 30/60/120, damage 3d6+4, RoF 3)
Pace: 4 4 Parry: 2 Toughness: 18 (10) Size: 0
Savage Worlds - Kaled Mutant
Agility: d6 | Smarts: d8 | Spirit: d6 |
Strength: d4 | Vigour: d4 |
Skills:
Hindrances: One Arm, Ruthless (Major)
Abilities: Tentacles
Pace: 4 Parry: 3 Toughness: 2 Size: -2
STA - Original Dalek
Control: 9 | Fitness: 12 | Presence: 8 |
Daring: 8 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 2 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 14 | Resistance: 1 |
Weaponry: Built-in phaser Type-2
STA - Classic Dalek
Control: 9 | Fitness: 13 | Presence: 8 |
Daring: 8 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 1 | Engineering: 2 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 14 | Resistance: 1 |
Weaponry: Built-in disruptor rifle
Menacing
STA - Modern Dalek
Control: 10 | Fitness: 13 | Presence: 8 |
Daring: 8 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 1 | Engineering: 2 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 15 | Resistance: 4 |
Weaponry: Built-in disruptor rifle, sucker (1^ deadly)
Menacing
STA - Kaled Mutant
Control: 8 | Fitness: 6 | Presence: 6 |
Daring: 7 | Insight: 6 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 2 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 2 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 8 | Resistance: 0 |
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