This week we're taking a look at the 2nd Edition of the Dr Who RPG from Cubicle 7. As you'll know if you saw my video on the starter set last week, my first impressions weren't great, and sadly the core book doesn't improve matters much.

After shooting this video, I think one of the great losses of the removal of Traits is that the classic balancing of advantages and disadvantages that one can do in other point-based character creation systems -- Champions, Mutants & Masterminds, GURPS, etc. -- is utterly lost here, as disadvantages have no mechanical weight and are just roleplay set-dressing, so you either pay Story Points for Distinctions or you don't. There are substantially less interesting choices to make in character creation as a result, and that's a bad thing, particularly when one of the characters is inevitably vastly more powerful than everyone else (The Doctor).

On the positive side, the book is beautifully constructed, and the layout and visual design is really clean. The pages are both vibrant and really easy to read, which is an excellent bit of layout work and the team who worked on this should get due credit for that.

Unfortunately, as far as the rules themselves, I'll be sticking with the previous edition, and its wealth of high-quality content. But, as I said in the reivew, if you don't like Traits and the positive/negative trait char-op minigame stuff, then this may well be perfect for you! This is just my perspective, as a guy who likes rules that structure and guide good roleplaying, and that don't shunt everything into GM fiat.

In any case, I'll even the scales next week with some genuinely excellent Cubicle 7 stuff, so please look forward to that :)

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