Time Claw

Various (science fiction) [fan game, supplement]
Self Published
2001
Complexity: 2

Time Claw is something I came across while researching Ironcaw. It’s also a Doctor Who fan game that used the system from Ironclaw. This game comes from an interesting point in the Doctor Who fandom, the Internet was now making communication and sharing of information incredibly easy. But it was also a time twelve years since the end of the series, and five years since the movie, and still two years away from Scream of the Shalka—or four years away from the series revival if you want to pretend Shalka didn’t exist.
Setting: N/A
Time Claw is set in the ‘Whoniverse’, which is largely indefinable as Doctor Who has always had a largely “just throw in whatever the story calls for” attitude towards its continuity. However, the game does actually provide its own premise, a rogue TARDIS just kinda decides to pick up some random folks and go on adventures. It’s kinda cute, but also solves the issue of having a time and space adventure without an accompanying Time Lord.

Character Creation: 2/5
Character creation is mainly the same as in Ironclaw, with some small changes. The biggest difference if that you’re given 50% more points to build your character and the limit of points that can be spent/gained from gifts/flaws is doubled. The only race actually provided is Human, with guidelines for creating others—and a pretty strong suggestion that they should be more or less humans. No careers are provided, just the guidelines to create one—i.e. chose four skills that make sense—which is arguably better than the massive list in Ironclaw. Characters also gain free ranks in skills related to their native planet and a free rank in Resolve. Additionally hit points, lift bonus, and max encumbrance are all increased by 1—with the latter two also being modified by the gravity level of the character’s home planet, which I think is a nice touch.
Overall most of the changes are just buffing the characters a bit, presumably to lower the difficulty. Aside from that it’s really just adding options for modern and futuristic abilities. I really would have preferred some more race options, having the option to create whatever is good, but I prefer it as an option rather than a necessity. At least you can always just use the Ironclaw Cat race to play as one of the various Doctor Who cat peoples.

Writing: 1/3 [−]
While this is a Doctor Who game, it really doesn’t feel very much like one while you’re reading it. There's very little reference to anything specifically whovian, and it comes across mostly as generic science fiction. Aside from that the writing is just kinda bland and very minimal. Some sections also seem arbitrarily placed, and formatting is inconsistent. In fact there isn’t even consistency in whether the game is called “Time Claw” or “Timeclaw.” Also for some reason Rutan is spelled “Rooton,” and Doctor Who is predominantly written as “Dr. Who,” which is such an uncommon spelling that I felt uncomfortable writing it.

Presentation: 1/5
It’s text on a page with some headings. Formatting seems mostly arbitrarily decided on a case-by-case basis.

Content: 1/3 [−]
The bulk of Time Claw is just new content for Ironclaw, but it mostly just feel like whatever the author could think of off the top of their head rather than a full assortment of new content for time and space adventures. For some reason “Stage Magic” is one of the fifteen new skills, and there are new rules for whips, nets, and tridents, but not any kind of modern or futuristic firearms. Most notable however is the “Game Manager” section, which contains one item, stats for one Doctor Who monster. What monster, you ask? Daleks? Cyberman? Krotons? Dominators? Nope, vampires. Yeah it’s weird Doctor Who vampires, but I seriously doubt they’re on anyone’s top ten Doctor Who baddies list.
Mine goes like this:

1. Cybemen
2. Daemons
3. Kandyman
4. Dominators/Quarks
5. Sontarans
6. Monoids
7. Yeti
8. Haemovores (much more interesting vampires)
9. Sea Devils
10. Zarbi

Final Remarks
The only reason I checked out this game was because I thought it would be interesting, and honestly at best it’s a curiosity. If you were a Doctor Who fan in the early 2000s I could see the appeal, but at this point you have access to many better options.

Base Points: 3
Character Creation: 2/5, Mechanics: N/A, Presentation: 1/5
Adjustments: −2
Setting: N/A, Writing: −1, Content: −1

Overall Score: 10% (1/10 Points)
WOOOOOooooooo...