Doctor Who: The Card Game – Classic Doctor Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
• Overview of the Game
  • Types of Card
  • On Your Turn
  • The Playing Area
  • The End of the Game
  • Winning the Game
• Starting the Game
• Playing the Game
  • Action: Play a Location Card
  • Action: Play Defender Cards
  • Action: Play Enemy Cards
  • Action: Play a Support Card
  • Action: Place Cards in your Reserve
  • Action: Buy Cards with Time Points
  • Action: Discard Cards for Time Points
• Resolving Conflicts
• Ending Your Turn
• Ending the Game
• Who Wins?
• Card Explanations
  • Defender Cards
  • Support Cards
  • Enemy Cards
• Two-Player Variant

Introduction

Doctor Who: The Card Game Classic Doctors Edition is an action-packed adventure for three or four players. To win the game you will have to use your wits and courage to:

• Defend the universe as the Doctor and his companions.
• Send the Doctor's enemies to conquer the places your competitors are trying to protect.
• Save the universe!

Components

• This rulebook
• 4 sets of player pieces, each one consisting of 5 TARDIS counters and 5 Dalek counters
• One set of game cards (127 in all)
• 4 Starting Location cards
• 1 End of the Game card
• 30 Time Points

Overview of the Game

In Doctor Who: The Card Game you take on the role of the Doctor and his companions in defending locations across time and space from a variety of enemies AND you also play the role of the forces of evil by sending enemies to invade the locations belonging to other players.

Types of Card

There are four types of card in the game:

• Defenders – the Doctor and his companions.
• Locations – places in time and space that need the Doctor's help.
• Enemies – a variety of aliens and creatures intent on conquest.
• Support – allies, gadgets, and events that will help (or hinder) the Doctor.

On Your Turn

During the game players will take it in turns to perform actions, which will involve playing cards. You can never have less than three cards in your hand. Once you have finished your actions you must pass three cards to the player to your right.

The number of actions you can perform in your turn therefore depends on how many cards you are able to play. This will vary as you can retain cards from earlier turns in your reserve and you can buy extra cards with Time Points.

Play continues in this manner until the end of the game.

The Playing Area

During the course of the game you will play a number of cards in front of your position. Most of these will be face-up Location cards that you have played. Behind your line of Location cards you can also keep up to two cards in reserve, which are played face-down. Certain Support cards are played here too, face-up.

Other players can play Enemy cards face-down onto your Location cards. You can play Defender cards on your own locations, either to defend them or to repel an enemy attack.

The End of the Game

The game ends immediately if you have all five of your Dalek counters or all five of your TARDIS counters in play at the beginning of your turn. Otherwise, the game ends when, after the End of Game card has been revealed and the End Game period has commenced, a player can no longer take their go.

Winning the Game

At the end of the game you score points for Locations that you have protected and locations that you have conquered. The player with the most points wins the game.

Starting the Game

Each player should choose a colour and take the matching set of Dalek and TARDIS counters.

Find the four Starting Location cards and the End of the Game card and put them to one side.

Shuffle the Starting Location cards and deal one to each player (if there are three players then place the last card to one side).

All of the players reveal their card and place it in front of them. The player with the highest value Starting Location, as shown by the number under the card name, becomes the first player.

Shuffle the remaining cards and deal out 5 cards to each player EXCEPT the person sitting to the right of the first player, who only receives 2 cards.

Count out 20 cards, face-down, and place them in the centre of the table. Place the End of the Game card face-up on top of these cards, then the remaining cards on top to create a draw deck. During the course of the game players will need to discard cards. The discard pile should be created next to the draw deck.

Place a pile of Time Points by the side of the draw deck.

You are now ready to begin playing the game!

Playing the Game

Play starts with the first player taking their turn. Once they have finished they hand 3 cards to the player to their right and the player on the left takes their turn. Play continues in this manner until the end of the game. The game ends when either the End of the Game card has been revealed or a player has all five of their Dalek or TARDIS counters in play.

When it is your turn you can perform as many actions as you want. However, at the end of your turn you MUST pass on three cards to the player to your right, leaving yourself with no cards in hand. Thus you can never have less than three cards in your hand. You then draw two cards from the draw deck. The player to your left then starts their turn.

The actions that you can choose from are:

• Play a Location card.
• Play one or more Defender cards on one of your Location cards.
• Play one or more Enemy cards on another player's Location card.
• Play a Support card.
• Place cards in your Reserve.
• Buy cards with Time Points.
• Discard one or two cards in exchange for Time Points.

Each action is discrete and can be performed more than once during your turn. Normally you must complete one action before performing your next action, although some Support cards can be played during an action (which will be clear from the text on the card).

Action: Play a Location Card

During the course of the game you will create a line of Location cards in front of your position. You will already have one Starting Location card in front of you.

When you play a Location card you place it next to one of your other Location cards.

You then take a number of Time Points, as indicated on the card.

If the supply of Time Points is exhausted then you take the points required from other players, you choose who (and you could choose to take from more than one player).

Action: Play Defender Cards

There are several different types of Defender card in the game; including several incarnations of the Doctor and his companions. You can never play two or more of the same type of Defender card on a Location card.

As an action you can play one or more Defender cards on one of your Location cards.

If you place the Defender card or cards on a Location card that is not under attack, then you place them face-down. Make sure the Location card is not completely covered – it is important that all players should be able to see the Victory Point value of the card.

You can play Defender cards on a Location card that already has Defenders on it, as long as you do not end up duplicating the same Defender card (you can always peek at your own Defender cards). You can also play Defender cards on a Location that has a TARDIS counter on it. Once played you cannot withdraw Defender cards from a Location (with the exception of Adric, Mel and Tegan).

If you play the Defender card or cards on a Location that has one or more Enemy cards on it, you resolve the conflict immediately. Note that it is important that you declare all of the Defender cards you wish to play before revealing any Enemy cards. You will find the rules on how to resolve a conflict explained on pages 10 and 11.

Action: Play Enemy Cards

As an action you can play one or more Enemy cards to attack one Location belonging to another player. All Enemy cards must be of the same type (Daleks are an example of an enemy type, as are Cybermen and Silurians) or state on them that they can be combined with a different enemy type (for example, the Master or Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart).

If you place your cards against a Location that is not defended then you place them face-down. You then take one of your Dalek counters and place it on top of your cards to show that you control that attack. The cards should be placed so that it is clear which Location card they are attacking, but not obscure the victory point value of the card.

Example: Elisabeth decided to attack one of Tom's Locations, Deva Loka, 39th Century, with two Enemy cards, which are the Daleks and the Ogrons. This is allowed as Ogrons can be played with any other type of Enemy card. After placing the cards face-down, Jenna places one of her Dalek counters on top of them. (The rulebook's example names "Jenna" where the player is Elisabeth; this is printed as-is.)

You can add Enemy cards to one of your attacks, as long as the card or cards you play can legally be played with the cards already in play (you can peek at your Enemy cards if you wish). The cards you add are played face-down.

Note that you cannot attack a Location that is already under attack from another player, nor can you join with another player's attack. You cannot attack your own Locations. Once played, you cannot withdraw Enemy cards from an attack.

If you play your Enemy cards against a Location that is defended by one or more Defender cards then you must resolve the conflict immediately (see pages 10 and 11).

If you play your Enemy cards against a Location that has a TARDIS counter on it then you immediately discard the cards you intended to place and return the TARDIS counter to the owning player (hint: it is always best to remove a TARDIS counter with a weak Enemy card). Any Defender cards on the Location card remain face-down. You can, as a subsequent action, play another Enemy card to the Location once the TARDIS counter has been removed.

Example: Here Elisabeth is able to remove the TARDIS on the Castrovalva card by attacking it with the Haemovores. The Enemy card is discarded and the TARDIS counter is returned to its owner, Tom.

Action: Play a Support Card

Support cards have a range of different effects, which are described by the text on each one. The majority of Support cards are played as actions – you just follow the text on the card. You can never play a Support card face-down on a Location card.

Some Support cards remain in play, whilst some are discarded after use. The effect of each Support card is explained in more detail on page 14.

Action: Place Cards in your Reserve

You may want to keep one or more cards to play in a later turn. As an action you can play 1 or 2 cards from your hand in to your Reserve. You can keep up to 2 cards in your Reserve. A card played to your Reserve should be placed face-down in front of your position, behind your line of Location cards. You must make sure it is clear to other players which cards are in your Reserve so as to not give the impression that they are defending a Location).

Any card in your Reserve can be picked up and added to your hand at any point during your turn – it's like having a larger hand to play from. Picking up a card from your Reserve does not count as an action and can be done while performing another action.

Action: Buy Cards with Time Points

As an action you can buy one or more cards by paying 5 Time Points for each card you wish to take. You draw the cards from the top of the draw deck. You retain any unspent Time Points.

Action: Discard Cards for Time Points

As an action you can discard 1 or 2 cards, placing them on the discard pile. You take 1 Time Point for each card you discard. You can repeat this action on your turn, discarding 1 or 2 cards each time.

Resolving Conflicts

Conflict occurs whenever a Location card has both Defender and Enemy cards played against it. The conflict should be resolved as soon as the active player has declared which card or cards they are playing on the Location.

All Defender and Enemy cards at the Location in question should be turned face-up. Each player takes Time Points if they revealed a Romana, Sarah Jane, Susan, Nyssa or Omega card. If the attacker revealed a Rani or Meddling Monk card then they take a Time Point from the defender, if possible.

Every Defender and Enemy card has a strength value, as indicated by the number on the top left of the card. Each side now calculates their strength (some Support cards have the potential to add to the defender's total).

If the defender's total strength is equal or greater than the attacker's total then the defender wins. All defending and attacking cards are placed on the discard pile. The defending player places one of their TARDIS counters on the Location card to indicate that the Location is now under the protection of the Doctor.

Example: ITAR is under attack! Tom has played one Enemy card against the facility, owned by Elisabeth. During her turn she decides to play two Defender cards in an attempt to defeat the attack, the Doctor and Jamie. Both her cards and the Enemy card are revealed. The Enemy card turns out to be the Yetis, with a strength of 3. The defender's strength is 8 (the Doctor is worth 5 and Jamie is worth 3), so the Doctor and Jamie easily win the day. All three cards are placed on the discard pile. The Dalek counter is returned to Tom. Elisabeth now places one of her TARDIS counters on ITAR.

If the defender's total strength is less than that of the attacker then the defender has lost the conflict. If the defender already had an Adric, Mel or Tegan card on the Location when it was attacked then they retrieve it and place it back in their hand. All of the remaining defending cards are discarded. The attacker may also have to discard cards too. The attacker must discard Enemy cards to match as closely as possible the strength of the defender, but without it exceeding it.

Remaining Enemy cards stay played on the Location, face-up and can be attacked (or reinforced) in subsequent turns – but now the defender knows how strong they are so can plan your defence even better!

Example: In an earlier turn Nicholas launched an attack with two cards against Egypt, 1911, owned by Tom. These cards are still face-down. Tom decides to play two Defender cards to attempt to defeat them, the Doctor and Romana. The two Enemy cards are revealed to be Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart and the Primords. The effect of Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart is to force one of the non-Doctor Defender cards to switch to the side of the attackers, thus leaving the Doctor, with a strength of 5, facing a total attack strength of 11. This means that the Doctor card is discarded. However, the attacker must also discard the Primords, as it is the closest match in terms of strength to the Doctor card. The attacker could not have discarded Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart or Romana, as they would not have been the closest match to the defender's strength.

Note that a Location card is never physically captured by a successful attack during the course of the game. The card stays exactly where it is. It is only at the end of the game that points are awarded for controlling Locations, so if you lost to an enemy attack you can still try to defeat it again in a later turn, to reclaim control of it.

Ending Your Turn

Although in theory you can have as many actions as you wish, in practice the number of actions you can perform is limited by the number of cards and Time Points you have. You MUST end your turn by passing on 3 cards to the player to your right, leaving yourself with no cards in hand (the cards in your reserve don't count).

Once you have done this you draw 2 cards from the draw deck. The player to your left now starts their turn. When they have finished their turn they will hand you 3 cards, so you will have 5 cards in your hand to start your next turn with (plus any from your reserve).

Ending the Game

The game will end immediately if at the beginning of your turn you have all five of your Dalek counters or all five of your TARDIS counters in play. You do not take your turn. Each player adds up their victory points, as explained below, and a winner is declared.

The game is also close to ending if the End of the Game card is revealed. A special 'End Game' period must now be completed, where players play out their remaining cards. Once this period is over victory points are counted up and a winner is declared.

If the End of the Game card is revealed during your turn, as the result of performing actions that require the drawing of cards, then you place the End of the Game card to one side and continue with your turn normally, drawing as necessary from the cards that were covered by the End of the Game card. When you have ended your turn you pass on three cards to the player to your right, as you would do normally.

However, you now pick up five cards instead of two. If the End of the Game card is revealed at the end of your turn, as a result of you picking up two cards, then you place the End of the Game card to one side and pick up enough cards to bring your hand up to five cards.

The 'End Game' period now starts with the player to your left going first.

During the End Game period when it is your turn you can only perform one action. Once you have completed your action play proceeds to the next player. You do not pass any cards to the player to your right, nor do you refill your hand. You can perform any of the actions described in the main body of these rules. You cannot choose to pass and do nothing.

The game will end when it reaches a player's turn and they cannot perform an action, which means they have no cards in hand or sufficient Time Points to buy a card. If the draw deck is exhausted shuffle the discard pile to make a new deck.

If, during the End Game period, a player has all five of their Dalek counters or all five of their TARDIS counters in play at the beginning of their turn, the game ends immediately as normal.

Who Wins?

Players now calculate how many victory points they have gained. You add up the victory points on each Location card you have that is not under attack, i.e. does not have any Enemy cards placed against it. You also add up the victory points on each Location card that you have an attack against (as marked by your Dalek counters).

The player with the most victory points is the winner. There is no tie-breaker, so if two or more players have the same victory point totals then they share the honours of winning the game.

The rulebook's diagram shows Elisabeth's card display at the end of the game. She has five Location cards, two of which are under attack from other players. Elisabeth also has attacks against two Locations. She gains 10 victory points from her own Locations and 6 points from the Locations she is attacking, making a final total of 16 victory points.

Card Explanations

Although most cards have text on them explaining how they work it is not possible to deal with all possible situations. Please take some time to check below about exactly how some of the more involved cards work.

Defender Cards

Adric – To gain the effect on Adric's card he must already be in play on a Location card. If that Location is attacked and the defenders are defeated then you return the Adric card to your hand. Note that he still adds his value to the defence first. What you cannot do is play Adric on a Location that is already under attack to reveal the attackers, and then take the Adric card back into your hand.

The Doctor – Although there are eight different pictures of the Doctor in this set, they all count as the same Defender so you cannot play multiple copies to the same Location, even if they have different pictures on them.

Romana – You gain 1 Time Point when the card is revealed, either because it was already on a location that was attacked or because you played it to defeat an already existing attack. Even though there are two different pictures of Romana in the set, they count as the same Defender.

Mel and Tegan – Same effect as Adric.

Sarah Jane, Susan and Nyssa – Same effect as Romana.

Support Cards

Unless stated otherwise, playing a Support card counts as an action. Normally the card is discarded after use.

Bessie – If you lose a conflict as the defender then you can play this card, either from your hand or reserve, and retrieve all of the Defender cards involved. You place the Defender cards back in your hand. Playing this card does not count as an action, it is part of the conflict resolution.

The Brigadier – When you play this card you can choose one Enemy card presently attacking one of your Locations and discard it. The card you remove can either be face-up or face-down. If this card was the only Enemy card on the Location, you may place a TARDIS counter on the Location.

Jago and Litefoot – You can turn face-up all of the cards in one attack against one of your locations. You also take one Time Point.

K-9 – This card has the same effect as The Key to Time card but you must also discard one Defender card from your hand or reserve to gain the effect.

Kamelion – You may re-direct one attack from one of your locations to that of another player. You cannot re-direct the attack against the owner of the attack, i.e. a player can never end up attacking one of their own locations. It does not matter if the Enemy cards in the attack are face-up or down. Keep the cards the same way up when they are moved. You do not place a TARDIS on your Location as you did not defeat an attack.

The Key to Time – You automatically defeat one attack against one of your locations. It does not matter whether the Enemy cards are face-down or up. You place a TARDIS counter on the Location card in question.

Miniscope – The card has the same effect as the TARDIS Console card.

The Morphos – This card has a similar effect to the TARDIS card, the difference being that each player counts up the number of Dalek counters they have in play. You, as the player of the card, take an additional 2 Time Points.

Regeneration – When you play this card you can discard as many cards as you wish from your hand and draw the same number from the deck. You also draw a replacement card for this card, i.e. it counts as one of your discards.

Sonic Screwdriver – Same effect as Jago and Litefoot.

Sabalom Glitz – Same effect as Jago and Litefoot.

TARDIS – When you play this card you and the other players check to see how many TARDIS counters each of you have in play. For each TARDIS counter a player has in play they take 1 Time Point. You, as the player of the card, take an additional 2 Time Points.

TARDIS Console – When you play this card you place it face-up in your Reserve. You can now keep one extra card in your Reserve, not including this card (so you could now keep up to three cards in your Reserve). The effect of this card can be combined with that of the Miniscope, which would allow you to keep four cards in your Reserve.

Time Lord Politics – Same effect as The Morphos.

UNIT – When you play this card you place it face-up in your Reserve. It counts as a card in your Reserve. You can use the effect of the card whenever you are involved in a conflict as the defender. If you pay 1 Time Point you can add 1 to your defence strength. You may only pay 1 Time Point per defence in this way. You can do this after all cards have been revealed. Employing the effect on this card does not count as an action, although playing it to your Reserves does.

The Valeyard – When you play this card you may remove up to three TARDIS counters from Locations of your choice. You return the counters to the owning players. You also take 2 Time Points.

Whomobile – Same effect as the TARDIS.

Would you Like a Jelly Baby – Same effect as the TARDIS.

King Yrcanos – Same effect as The Brigadier.

Enemy Cards

The Black Guardian – If this card is in play against a Location card at the end of the game then that Location does not score any victory points for either player.

Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart – One of the Defender cards that is NOT the Doctor will immediately switch sides (as it is their alternate, evil version) and add their strength to the attackers. If there are multiple non-Doctor Defender cards, the attacker picks which one switches side. This card can also be combined with the Primords and the Republican Security Forces. Note that the defender still takes 1 Time Point if it is Nyssa, Romana, Sarah Jane or Susan that are revealed and switch sides. After a conflict, even if Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart has been discarded but the Defender card that switched sides has not, the Defender remains an Enemy. This does not prevent the defender from playing a new version of the same card to the Location as a Defender.

Cyber Controller – You can play this card on a face-up attack that includes at least one Cybermen card and take control of that attack. You remove the original Dalek counter and replace it with one of your own. You cannot take over an attack against one of your own locations. You can still play this card as a regular Enemy card and can combine it with the Cybermen.

Dalek, Dalek Emperor and Davros – You can combine Daleks, the Dalek Emperor and Davros at the same location.

Davros – You can play this card on a face-up attack that includes at least one Dalek card (which may be the Dalek Emperor) and take control of that attack. You remove the original Dalek counter and replace it with one of your own. You cannot take over an attack against one of your own locations. You can still play this card as a regular Enemy card, and can combine it with the Daleks or Dalek Emperor.

The Mara – This card can be combined with any other Enemy cards in an attack. When this card is involved in a conflict then you first check to see if one of the Defenders is Tegan. If so then The Mara card is discarded, along with the Tegan card. If there is no Tegan card then any Doctor card in the defence is automatically discarded. If there is neither a Tegan nor a Doctor card, then The Mara card does not contribute to the conflict (and may not be discarded). Note that if you reveal Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart, The Mara and Tegan at the same Location in a conflict, this will cause The Mara to be first discarded, and then for Tegan to become an enemy.

The Meddling Monk – When you reveal this card you take 1 Time Point, if possible, from the owner of the location that you are attacking.

Omega – You gain 1 Time Point when the card is revealed, which will either be when you play it against a defended location or it already is on a location that is then defended.

The Rani – Same effect as The Meddling Monk.

Two-Player Variant

To play Doctor Who: The Card Game with just two players, you'll need to remove a couple of cards from the deck to make it work. Remove the Kamelion, Cyber Controller and Davros cards from the deck. Play as normal, except after your turn discard 1 card and pass 2 to the other player. Draw up to 5 cards as normal at the start of your turn.