Whoniverse has adapted the standard open game rules to better reflect the atmosphere of Doctor Who, and therefore focus more upon cause and effect than upon combat skills and small arms superiority. Scenarios developed for this game offer recommended character levels, but this should represent the party average rather than setting minimum or maximum requirements. Solutions should be cerebral, not combat-based.

Character Creation	Game Mechanics

Designer’s Note:
The Whoniverse and the Open Gaming Licence

The Whoniverse Role-Playing Game is based on the original and the world’s most successful role-playing game which, like Doctor Who, has become an institution, a household name for games involving characters, quests for treasure, wizards, sorcerers, dragons and monsters of all shapes and sizes.
The Open Gaming Licence has broadened the scope and appeal of the original game to embrace a whole host of new possibilities in the modern era and throughout time and space. The game will use the contemporary era as its springboard, and its contents are largely compatible with the OGL System and its many spin-off products. So if we have inspired you to explore the other worlds of role-playing that are out there, the chances are you’ll already be familiar with the rules.

What’s different about the Doctor Who universe?

There are some genres with which the OGL System doesn’t sit comfortably, and at first glance, that of Doctor Who is just such a genre.


Under normal circumstances, the standard OGL system operates to allow a group of characters to progress equally, rising in levels as a rounded party of adventurers who face common challenges and adversaries together.

In the Doctor’s world, however, we have an enigmatic character who secretly wields a greater level of power than many of his enemies, and who works with characters of significantly lower levels of skill and experience. Their role is to give the Doctor someone to talk to and, in turn, to share the Doctor’s adventures with a broader audience.



The Doctor is a legendary character whose great age and experience makes him considerably more powerful than normal characters. In contrast, many of his companions are young and inexperienced, perhaps even low-level teenagers whom he can mould and develop throughout their adventures. A second area of discomfort is the OGL System’s focus upon combat over communication.





The Doctor and his companions use wit and wisdom to overcome their enemies, with little call upon guns or weapons of mass destruction. Sometimes the Doctor needs to call in reinforcements such as Torchwood, UNIT or the Space Security Service, but their involvement with the stories is usually peripheral.

Finally, there is no magic.



The Doctor has, on many occasions, spoken with authority on this subject. The laws of the universe do not permit magic to occur naturally. However, the fabric of time and space can be manipulated with a level of expertise whose effects can often be indistinguishable from magic.