Dalek Scoutship

A write-up of the Dalek Scoutship from Tyranny of the Daleks.  This is using the second edition rules for the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game from Cubicle 7.

Dalek Scoutships inside a Battleship

A dark shape against the stars, the Dalek Scoutship is the silent workhorse of the Second Dalek Empire. Compact, swift, and unnervingly spartan, these vessels slip into unexplored systems without fanfare, probing worlds before the main fleets arrive. They carry Daleks, Robo-Men, prisoners, or whatever the Empire requires, but always with the same purpose: to prepare a planet for subjugation.

The craft itself is brutally utilitarian. There is space for two Daleks or up to eight Robo-Men, but “space” is all it offers; no seats, no restraints, no comfort. The Daleks regard turbulence as irrelevant, and many humanoid passengers have been thrown against bulkheads during transit, sometimes with fatal results. To travel in one is to feel like so much cargo.

The Scoutship’s design reflects its role as a first-response vessel. Twin trans-solar discs generate lift, while stubby wings stabilize it if flying in an atmosphere. The controls are deliberately crude so that even a Robo-Man can fly it, though in practice the craft largely pilots itself once a destination is set. Sensors are minimal, communications link only to Dalek command channels, and there are no weapons at all. The Empire considers stealth and expendability to be armament enough.

Despite its stripped-down nature, the Scoutship is fast. In a typical planetary atmosphere it can reach up to 4,000 km/h, though structural stress usually forces lower speeds. In the vacuum of space it travels at up to 1% of light speed, making it an efficient interplanetary courier. 

Rarely (and in game terms normally with the spending of Story Points) some Scoutships are fitted with an experimental Relativistic Drive, capable of hurling the vessel to a terrifying 70–80% of light speed. Engaging such a drive is a gamble: without precise computer handling, or a player’s Hard difficulty level Coordination + Transport rolls, the Scoutship is almost certain to disintegrate within minutes. Even expert repairs (Hard Ingenuity + Technology rolls) may only buy a little time before the vessel tears itself apart. (In game terms 2d6 minutes after the Relativistic Drive is engaged without computer control, the Scoutship will explode, destroying everyone and everything inside. If the Technology roll is made, this is extended by a further 2d6 minutes).

In short, the Dalek Scoutship is a paradox: fragile yet fearsome, crude yet dangerously effective. To encounter one is to glimpse the patient reach of the Empire, and perhaps to steal a tool of survival from the claws of its masters.

Concept: Short range scout

Focus: Scout ship

Awareness 3, Coordination 4, Ingenuity 2, Presence 3, Resolve 3, Strength 3

Distinctions: None

Weapons: None

Tech Level: 9

Story Points: 6

Dalek Scoutship ascending from the surface of Galentor