Where & When
The story is set on an unnamed human colony world at an unspecified point in the future. The colony is stated to be “centuries” old, which places the earliest possible date at around 2300, while we also know that it must be significantly earlier than Gridlock – but that’s a vast range. Fan theories tend to place it early on, before the foundation of the original Earth Empire, and thus somewhere in the 24th to 26th centuries.
Setting
We are told that the colony was established by settlers coming directly from Earth, which suggests that it happened in the initial wave of humanity’s expansion across the stars – supporting the idea that we are before the Earth Empire (since it’s “centuries” old, not “a thousand years” or more). This also implies that the star is relatively close to our own. However, since there is still over a hundred years’ leeway, there is no reason to suppose the world is as close to Earth as close as Vulcan is, so there’s no way of even guessing which star it might be, beyond the fact that it seems similar to our own.
As shown in the animation, the area where the TARDIS lands is a desert, but the planet, as seen from orbit, appears to have at least some oceans. In this case, it’s likely that the colony was originally established to mine valuable minerals, without much regard for how habitable that part of the planet was. It may therefore be more hospitable elsewhere. Alternatively, it could be that life has only barely left the seas here, so that much of the planet looks like a desert (albeit with some sparse grasses) even if water is plentiful.
As usual, the gravity and atmosphere appear Earthlike, and the day-night cycle is close enough to ours to be comfortable to humans. In the animation, the planet has two moons, although only one is mentioned in the novelisation.
When they arrive, Ola says that he would expect to be informed of any strangers “crossing the territory” towards the colony. This could be taken to mean that there are other settlements on the world, but there is no other indication that this is the case. He may instead be referring to starships landing, implying some ability to detect this happening. Otherwise, the colony appears isolated, and visitors are obviously very rare, but not a complete shock to the inhabitants.
How large is the colony? While we don’t see large crowds, for obvious production reasons, there are reasons to suppose that the population may be sizable. It has been in existence for hundreds of years, and, at least until recently, it must have been expanding, since there are new houses being built. While what we see isn’t a large city, so we aren’t in the millions, a population of a few thousand seems plausible – although it certainly could be smaller.
Unlike that on Vulcan, the colony here seems to be prosperous, with a comfortable lifestyle for anyone who doesn’t break the rules. Food is plentiful, and there is no indication of a shortage of other resources. Indeed, from what we can see, society is almost a communist utopia; something that may be easier to achieve with a combination of small size, isolation, and effective mind-control technology than it has ever been in the real world.
This society is extremely regimented, with pressure to conform that mirrors that in some Asian communist states. For example, clothing is grey and virtually identical, evidently produced by some central supplier; only the police and entertainers are wearing anything different. A few senior officials get to add coloured stripes below their shoulders, but otherwise, they wear the same as the regular citizens.
Given the state of the colony, there must be many professions that we don’t see. There must, for instance, be mechanics, electricians, farmers, builders and so on. How the food is produced is unclear. It could be that there are extensive irrigated croplands on the far side of the city, or possibly some sort of hydroponic facility. In this respect, it’s interesting to note that the nighttime scenes include what appear to be animal sounds in the background. If these aren’t native lifeforms, they could be something originally brought from Earth to populate the agricultural land.
Citizens are assigned to work groups, probably on the basis of aptitude determined at an early age. (We don’t see children, but the colony isn’t dying, so they must exist). Shifts and designated break periods are all determined centrally, all regulated by music broadcasts over the colony’s PA system. There is a curfew after dark, with night shift workers confined to their posts until dawn, and only designated Emergency Patrols allowed out onto the streets.
The colony is headed by a Controller, regularly issuing directives and making propaganda announcements over the PA, but, like Big Brother in 1984, never seen in person. His deputy is termed the ‘Pilot’, presumably a tradition going back to the colony’s founding. Unlike his superior, the Pilot is regularly seen and works alongside the Chief of Police and other officials. He uses a “telescopic viewing machine” – probably a network of CCTV cameras – to keep track of everything going on in the colony. While this may not extend into personal living quarters, since nobody notices the speakers in the visitors’ rooms being damaged until Ben alerts them, there is evidently very little privacy anywhere else.
When they arrive, the time travellers are taken to the Refreshing Area. Since visitors are rare, these are obviously for the use of the citizens, perhaps as a reward for working especially hard, or just as part of the illusion of a pleasant and caring society. Without having to pay any fee, the visitors are offered massages, beauty treatments, steam baths, hair styling, “sunlight treatment” (possibly a tanning bed), and “moonlight treatment”, whatever that may be. And that’s likely just a partial list of the options.
The Refreshing Area also includes accommodations, where the time travellers stay overnight. Contrary to what’s seen in the animation, in the original, Polly has a different room from the menfolk, who are sharing.
The downside of all this is that the punishments for infractions are severe; we’re told that breaking curfew is potentially punishable by death. More commonly, however, malefactors are locked up in a prison cell temporarily before being sent to the gas pits for a period. There is no sign of any trial system, with the Pilot seemingly deciding cases by fiat. If the crime is political, such as disputing propaganda, the offender is sent to the Correction Hospital for intensive mind control treatment and, if that fails, they go to the gas pits for life.
This brings us to the issue of mind control, a key element in how the colony functions. It’s likely that this, or something much like it, predates the Macra and was simply subverted by them, its use being greatly extended in the process. The process for newcomers is described as “high-powered adaption”, perhaps implying the existence of a lower-powered version for people who have grown up in the colony and have less reason to resist.
In the high-powered version, sleeping gas is pumped into the visitors’ quarters, and they are subjected to a hypnotic voice telling them what to think. A system of wires in the walls amplifies the hypnotic effect by “tapping the subconscious” of the sleepers. The form used in the Correction Hospital is perhaps stronger still, and what we see of it shows a conscious subject tied down and being bombarded with instructions under bright lights.
In the story, Polly and Jamie both resist the mind control methods employed against them. In Polly’s case, this may be because the Doctor intervened early on, while Jamie starts out suspicious and is having difficulty sleeping. In game terms, of course, they may just have passed a saving throw. The Doctor is entirely unaffected, and while that may just be him, we can also note that he isn’t human, and the system is probably tuned to the human brain.
This could be relevant in a game where not all the PCs are human. We might reasonably expect Vulcans or Jedi to have some mental resistance anyway, but, if it would work in-game, there could be a saving throw bonus (“advantage” in 5E) for any alien race – Andorians, Wookies, Sparrials, etc. Those that are particularly inhuman or are naturally immune to psionics, such as Hivers, may be entirely unaffected… but if we wish otherwise, we can point out that it isn’t actually psionics that are being used. Robots may be on safer ground still, although the colonists will probably try to reprogram them directly if they can.
Another key section of the colony is that containing the gas pits. The colony exists to tap and refine the gas for the Macra, although the colonists are only vaguely aware that it is useful and valuable without being able to explain why. While the exact nature of the gas is never specified, we know that it is generated by salt veins within the underlying rock strata, and it seems to need some sort of refinement or chemical treatment before it is useful to the Macra. It is poisonous, and small quantities of it leak into the upper sections of the pits, making working there hazardous without protective equipment.
Significantly, a much older system of mining shafts adjoins the gas pits. These are likely the original purpose of the colony, intended to mine some valuable mineral that has either played out or, perhaps more likely, simply been ignored after the Macra takeover. The old tunnels are sealed off, with Macra hiding in them (so some sections probably naturally have gas in them, although most of those we see do not) and also include locked access points to other parts of the colony.
Pipes run from the pit head to carry the gas to the Control Centre, from which the Controller supposedly, and the Macra actually, run the colony. Nobody in the colony seems to know where this is, so at least since the takeover, it must have been sealed off in a remote underground section that there is no reason to visit. The mind control likely helps here in keeping everyone incurious about this hidden location.
Settings where interstellar commerce is more widespread and universal may require a little more tweaking. In Star Wars, even out on the Rim, it’s unlikely that visitors would be as rare as they appear here, and in the standard Traveller universe, it’s arguably harder still to justify. A way around this is to have there be other colonies on the planet. Overall, it has a low population, but the starport is somewhere else, and this particular community is mostly left to its own devices, isolating itself to maintain ideological purity even before the Macra came along and took over.
Alternatively, the control could be more subtle, so that visitors are less likely to become aware of it unless they stay for a long period. In this instance, everyone knows that the world is a dictatorship, but the Macra have only recently subverted it, and the society is closed off enough (and perhaps regarded as odd enough already) that nobody outside has really noticed. This may, however, require some changes to the setting as seen on screen, and to the details of the plot.
Scenario
Given the world’s isolation, we need a reason for the PCs to visit. They could be making a rare trade visit, hoping to pick up minerals in exchange for whatever goods they may be carrying, or they are simply exploring, in the style of classic Star Trek. If we want them to be there on purpose, and suspicious from the start (as the protagonists are in the story), a possibility is to have them be hired to look into a disappearance. Somebody else went to the colony, for whatever reason, and now has not only not returned, but has made no attempt to contact their family/spouse/associates/etc. This would introduce a new subplot in which the PCs try to find the vanished person and then, when they find that they are perfectly content, try to figure out a way of de-brainwashing them.
In the story, the time travellers are treated as honoured visitors, given free access to the Refreshing Area. This is a good opportunity for roleplay, with players suggesting how their PCs would prefer to be pampered (or not) and for the GM to display the more utopian side of the society.
We probably don’t want them to be introduced to Medok as early as they are in the TV story, not least because we can’t guarantee they will react as Ben does and failing to do so would require some more drastic alterations to the plot. As such, it’s likely better to bring him in after or during the relaxation in the spa. Most PCs will probably suspect that everything isn’t quite as good as they’re being led to believe (since their players know they’re in a scenario, so something has to be up), but they won’t necessarily know what the issue is going to be.
Depending on events, the Macra will at some point want to use the “adaption” technique to take over the PCs’ minds. The PCs will have to sleep at some point – the phrase “long rest” comes to mind in 5E – and that’s the opportunity, perhaps after introducing them to guest rooms more luxurious than the plain ones we see in the serial. Paranoid players may insist on taking turns on watch, which will reveal the ruse, but that’s actually no different than Jamie and the Doctor not going to sleep in the serial, so it isn’t necessarily a problem.
In fact, having any of the PCs taken over for any length of time, as Ben is, may be counterproductive unless you have a player who likes that sort of roleplaying opportunity. If there are redshirts or similar “party NPCs” they are obviously a good option to be controlled – and here, we can note that not all of the characters are likely to be in the same room. But even if not, or if the PCs shake off the effect quickly, it doesn’t derail the larger plot. We need to see the effects of what’s happening and realise that it has to be dealt with; we don’t necessarily have to be victims for an extended period.
A key element in the story is the time travellers being sent to the Pits to work in the Danger Gang. After clandestine meetings with Medok, possibly trying to rescue him or the citizen they were originally looking for, or just generally snooping around, there’s a good chance that at least some of the PCs will do something to raise the ire of the authorities. For instance, as soon as you tell them there’s a curfew, and Medok (or whoever) hints that there are monsters creeping around at night, there can’t be many parties that will want to ignore it all and do as they’re told.
If somehow they don’t or – as is more likely – they evade arrest, it shouldn’t be hard to drop hints that they need to explore the Pits anyway, if only to rescue someone else. And it’s being in the Pits, rather than in the Danger Gang, that is the only real requirement in terms of letting the PCs figure out what’s going on. Having said which, if they are in the Gang, in the story, one member of the team gets to stay at the pit head and coordinate the others over the radio. This provides an opportunity, if we want one, for the sort of discussion the characters have in the serial about whether this should be the (perceived) weakest individual, or the one who can cause the most trouble technologically.
Once they are in the Pits, it’s a relatively simple matter to find the old mine workings and/or to follow the pipes to Control. Then we let the PCs deal with the Macra however they will, which won’t necessarily be by reversing the polarity of the flammable toxin flow, as in the serial… but you never know.
It’s worth noting here that, in a game, the Macra aren’t essential to constructing a story. They provide the obvious target, the evil aliens that have to be thwarted, and whose defeat marks a clean end to the story. But it’s likely that the society already worked much as we see it when the human Controller was still in charge, since the Macra couldn’t have invented the mind control technology, and must have subverted something pre-existing for their own ends. Even if that’s not the case, we could still use that premise, making things more morally grey and the villains less easily identified and labelled. This may, or may not, suit the style of a particular campaign but, either way, a totalitarian society based on mind control can function as a villain even if it isn’t being run by giant crabs.
Rules
The tech level of the colony world is debatable. The original colonists possessed FTL travel, but the colony itself can no longer build starships, so its effective tech level may be lower now than when it started. In fact, other than the mind control device, we don’t see anything that’s obviously beyond modern-day technology (although you couldn’t have said that at the time of broadcast). Where the mind control equipment would fit on a tech level scale may vary from game to game, but it doesn’t involve cybernetic implants, nanotechnology, or anything of that sort, so it might not be exceptionally high.
If we take an early interstellar society as our starting point, however, we have a TL of 9 in GURPS, 9 or 10 in Traveller, and 6 in Doctors & Daleks. This gives the world a Traveller UWP of something like E-8665AB-A.
The guards are not wearing any obvious body armour, other than helmets; in a society where nobody else is expected to have weapons, this may be all they need. In the animation, they are armed with carbines, but since they never use them, there is no way to know if they are laser weapons or just ballistic. So, even if we want to stick to the aesthetic of the original, either would work, depending on the larger setting we are a part of.
There are two elements that require specific rulings. The mind control is perhaps the most obvious. This would be resisted with Willpower, Wisdom, or some similar statistic, perhaps with advantages or even immunity for certain races. The effects are clear enough, with the subject becoming a willing ally of the Macra, even if he doesn’t know that that’s what they are. Thus, the main decisions to be taken are the difficulty of the resistance roll, and how often further rolls can be made to shake it off; in the story, this seems to be more determined by dramatic moments challenging Ben’s loyalty to the authorities than a “once every hour” sort of thing.
The remaining feature is the gas and, specifically, how toxic we want it to be. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t seem to be particularly deadly until it builds up, so repeated low-level poison attacks may be a good way of modelling it, giving a good chance of resistance until the subject accumulates enough bad rolls to succumb.
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