Post originally by Mark Johnson at 2003-08-03 19:54:09
Converted from Phorums BB System

Comparing the two games against each other is ultimately futile. They are both products of their time attempting to do two very different things.

FASA Doctor Who explored the Doctor Who universe through the eyes of the Celestial Intervention Agency on Gallifrey battling the enemies of time. Mechanics tended toward early '80s crunchiness. Combat rules were fairly robust given that in the show "combat" almost always involved running as quickly as possible in the oposite direction. The fact that players almost always had a "mission" (mandated by the CIA) impelled them instantly toward action. It is an interesting, enjoyable take on the Doctor Who universe that adapted the setting in a creative way to fit a pre-existing rule set. Sometimes play seemed more like the A-Team vs the Daleks than Doctor Who, but for what it was doing it was workable.

Timelord on the other hand was obviously crafted in the early '90s. The rules tend toward the "lite" end of the spectrum. If it had been published five years later, it would have probably been diceless. High emphasis on "story" with story being events of the sort that one would often find in a Doctor Who adventure. A great resource for people who want to role-play Doctor Who while still having a game framework.

If I designed a Doctor Who game today, it would be substantially different than either of these entries. Not because of any quality problems, but the fact that gamer preferences have shifted over the years and the state of the design art has changed substantially as well. (Although Doctor Who D20 would probably look a lot more like the FASA game than Timelord).

Anyone know the status of the DW game license?