Note: This article was originally posted on the Calenmir's RPGs blog on February 14, 2025. Reconstructing in-article navigation and links to other articles in the series is a work in progress; thank you for your patience.

This is the fourth entry in a seven-part series demonstrating how to make a character using each of the available playbooks in Apocalypse Keys, written by Rae Nedjadi and published by Evil Hat Games. Player characters in Apocalypse Keys are Omen-class monsters, beings who have the power to save the world from destruction, and therefore could themselves be corrupted into Harbingers of the Apocalypse.

Since one of the themes of Apocalypse Keys is unfettered freedom, character creation allows players to choose from many options, all of which are customizable. Unfortunately, to many new players this feels overwhelming rather than liberating, and they often forgo the character creation process in favor of the provided premade character options.

To help onboard new players, this series uses well-known fictional characters as example characters, including how to level them up using Apocalypse Key’s system of Advancement.

In the first three blogs, we focused on Batman (The Shade), Anya Forger of Spy X Family (The Found), and Avatar Aang of Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Last). In this entry, I’ll resist the temptation to go with Manny the Mammoth from Ice Age and instead use The Doctor from Doctor Who.

Part 1: Batman | Part 2: Anya Forger | Part 3: Avatar Aang | Part 5: Kirby | Part 6: Optimus Prime | Part 7: All Might

Want to try Apocalypse Keys yourself? My one-shot module “Sweet Dreams” is now available on Itch, DriveThruRPG, and in the site shop!

Table of Contents

• How to Build The Doctor in Apocalypse Keys

• Table of Contents

• Why The Doctor Qualifies As an Omen-Class Monster

• 1) You Can Reflavor Gameplay Elements in Apocalypse Keys

• 2) He’s The Doctor

• How to Build The Doctor

• Playbook: The Last

• Character Prompts

• Selecting Moves

• Advances

• Ruin Advances

• Playbook Advances

• Congratulations, You’ve Built The Doctor!

• Glossary

Why The Doctor Qualifies As an Omen-Class Monster

The actual process of character creation begins in the section How to Build The Doctor, but first, I’ll be providing my rationale for why he qualifies as an Omen-class monster. This case will likely be the most straightforward of the blog series, for two reasons:

1. You Can Reflavor Gameplay Elements in Apocalypse Keys
2. He’s The Doctor

1) You Can Reflavor Gameplay Elements in Apocalypse Keys

To facilitate player freedom during character creation and Advancement, Apocalypse Keys specifically allows players to change the flavor of gameplay elements, as demonstrated by this excerpt regarding playbooks:

Playbooks focus on specific monstrous themes and unique emotional arcs rather than specific archetypes. You are encouraged to interpret your powers and origin, while exploring the themes of the playbook.

Players can also “…tweak the prompts as you like—each prompt is a starting point.” One such prompt is the character’s powers of darkness, which are superpowers the characters can always use however they like. Or as the rules spell out:

How you choose to interpret your supernatural powers, and their possible limitations, is completely up to you. The Shade’s machines powered by soul magic may be automatons or small steampunk devices. The Last’s time distortion may be used in a purely defensive fashion or may be in the form of a mysterious voice from the future.

Furthermore, when discussing taking moves from other playbooks as an Advance, the rules state:

If a move from another playbook sounds like fun but relates to the central themes of that playbook, you may rewrite the premise or reword triggers to better suit your own character. If your character does not communicate telepathically, you may take the Found’s You Are Not Alone and change it to only work if you can speak out loud to the character you are helping. Or you may connect to a power of darkness you have instead of telepathy, such as the dimensional phasing of the Last or the cosmic energy of the Surge.

Therefore, it’s well within the spirit of the rules to reinterpret the moves of your starting playbook to reflect the themes and background of your character, including when that character is The Doctor.

2) He's The Doctor

In addition to being an adventurous hero, The Doctor is the most feared being in his universe. On a regular basis, he’s the one choosing whether a planet is saved or destroyed, whether wars are won or lost, and whether entire civilizations must radically change their way of life. For the most part, the only ones who can hold him accountable are his companions: ones he chooses whether or not to bring, and also chooses whether or not to listen to.

He is ancient. He is powerful. He has killed.

At the same time: He likes funny hats. He often runs from danger. And he’s saved countless lives.

The Doctor could be the bane of all life, but that’s not what he wants. He’s a force for good because he chooses to be, and has come precariously close to becoming something darker and more devastating by choosing otherwise—just like any other Omen-class monster.

How to Build The Doctor

There are five steps for making a character in Apocalypse Keys:

1. Choose playbook
2. Fill out prompts
3. Select playbook moves
4. Introduce your Omen
5. Create starting Bonds

Since steps 4 and 5 are meant to be completed in-session, this guide is only for steps 1 through 3. In addition, the system for Advancement, including recommended Advances for The Doctor, will be covered in a subsequent section.

For the full text of playbook, Ruin, and DIVISION moves, please refer to the official rules.

Playbook: The Last

In the recent revival of Doctor Who, The Doctor carries the weight of being the last Time Lord, having lost his planet to the ravages of war. This makes him an excellent fit for The Last, a playbook for Omens who are the last of their kind, burdened by unfathomable grief even as they are empowered by their people’s legacy.

This playbook includes the starting move Ashes to Ashes, which allows The Last to call on the wisdom of their people. On a success, players can choose to gain information, temporary power, Darkness Tokens—an in-game currency to manipulate the dice, and therefore fate—or to deepen their connection to another character. All these options work quite well for The Doctor, who constantly defies the odds, often exhibits strange abilities, and is a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge, wisdom, and memories. The move, however, is not without risks: a disastrous success can cause tragedy to repeat itself, while an outright failure demands “fire and retribution.” These, too, plague The Doctor whenever his best efforts fall short.

Note that this move isn’t the only source of Darkness Tokens: all playbooks have built-in ways to gain this crucial resource. This is because Darkness Tokens represent Omens tapping into their inner darkness to enhance their power. Therefore, spending Darkness Tokens increases the odds of rolling too high and getting a disastrous success, while hoarding Darkness Tokens can trigger Torn Between, a move that forces Omens to choose between their humanity and the darkness that fuels them.

When you play The Last, you can get Darkness Tokens by leaning into your loss and grief, such as when you:

• Feel lonely or rejected

• React with doubt or confusion

• Ask someone to tell [you] of their past

• Ask someone to doubt their future

• Embody a Condition that affects [you]

Conditions, in this case, are emotional states reflecting the stress characters are under, serving as the closest equivalent to a hit point system in Apocalypse Keys. When you mark one of these Conditions, you get Darkness Tokens for roleplaying it. The Last can mark the following conditions:

• Cornered

• Distant

• Merciless

• Despairing 

Marking all your Conditions triggers your Breaking Point, which generally has thematic consequences for your character and anyone close to them. In the case of The Last, this involves giving in to anger at what you’ve lost, perpetuating a cycle of pain and vengeance.

Character Prompts

Some of the questions for character creation are standard across all playbooks, including Omens’ names, appearances, and origins. The Last also has the prompt “What Tragedy Destroyed Your People?” The show has established answers to all these questions with regards to The Doctor, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. As for the section on powers of darkness, the closest ones to the established abilities of The Doctor are “Time Distortion” and “Dimensional Phasing”, which neatly enable his escapades across time and space.

Meanwhile, “What Does the Darkness Demand of You?” is also included in all playbooks as a way to establish the nature of Omens’ inner darkness. Possible answers vary across playbooks, however, and the closest answers for The Doctor are “to resurrect my people at the expense of humanity” and “to betray those I love.”

Selecting Moves

When you make a character, you choose two moves. One must be from your playbook. The second may either be one of your playbook’s Ruin moves, which provides utility at the cost of accelerating your transformation into a Harbinger, or one of the DIVISION moves, which flesh out the shadowy organization the Omens work for.

For The Doctor, I recommend the playbook move Tragedy’s Long Shadow and the Ruin move Tragedy Will Not Claim Another.

Playbook Move: Tragedy’s Long Shadow

When The Doctor is in a situation that reminds him of the fall of Gallifrey, he can attempt to discern the best way to prevent history from repeating itself. On a success, he relies on his trusted companions for help and support, but on a disastrous success, he’s forced to tackle the situation alone. On a failure, the situation is worse than he imagined.

DIVISION Move: Tragedy Will Not Claim Another

I recommended this move as an Advance for both Batman and Avatar Aang, but in the case of The Doctor, it’s indispensable. When someone he cares about is in danger, he can ignore the “usual limits of time, distance, or plausibility” to appear in the scene to help them, deepening his relationship with them. Spending extra Ruin increases his ability to help them.

Advances

With these recommendations, you’re ready for your first session as The Doctor. If you continue past your first session, you’ll gain Ruin and XP, allowing you to gain additional abilities in the form of Advances. This section covers possible Ruin Advances and playbook Advances that are good fits for The Doctor, including how to order them in a narratively satisfying way.

Ruin Advances

Ruin Advances represent Omens drawing closer to their potential fate as a Harbinger of the Apocalypse. When you gain 5 Ruin, you narrate a cutscene of your Omen as a future Harbinger, then select one of nine non-repeatable options:

• Take a new Ruin move (2X): Gain another Ruin move from your playbook
• Take a Ruin move from another playbook (2X): Gain a Ruin move from a playbook other than yours
• Permanently mark a Condition (2X): Mark a Condition and forfeit the ability to clear it
• Gain a new Ruin Condition (2X): Gain a new Condition that cannot be cleared
• Retire Your Character and Become a Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Become a Harbinger and lose control of your character

Below, I’ll delineate which Ruin Advances are closest to Doctor Who’s depiction of The Doctor when he goes too far.

Take a New Ruin Move

This option can be taken twice, allowing you to gain two Ruin moves from The Last. All three remaining moves represent tantalizing possibilities for The Doctor, but the two that require the least adjustments are I Carry the Hope of My People and Reaching Beyond Time and Space.

Ruin Move 1: I Carry the Hope of My People

When The Doctor embodies what it means to be a Time Lord, no matter the consequences to himself or others, he may gain Ruin to access additional power, either temporarily or permanently, at the cost of changing his form. Barring regenerations, The Doctor’s form stays fairly constant, so it may help to interpret this change metaphorically, such as a change to his mindset or to his reputation.

Ruin Move 2: Reaching Beyond Time and Space

This move lets The Doctor call on fallen allies for aid, in defiance of the laws of the universe. This move can be used up to six times, though only once per ally: it comes with a list of prompts for possible allies, but when appropriate, substitute a deceased character from Doctor Who canon instead. When the ally’s time is up, The Doctor must gain another Ruin to ensure their soul finds peace, or else they’ll become a Harbinger, potentially returning as a future villain.

Ruin Moves from Other Playbooks

For The Doctor, there are plenty of options, but the two I most prefer are both from The Fallen: Tremble Before Me and My Beloved Nemesis. This is perhaps fitting since, in at least one moment The Doctor nearly lost his way, he likened himself to a god of time and space.

Ruin Move from The Fallen: Tremble Before Me

Though the flavor for this move references speaking in the true voice of a god, we can instead use this to represent The Doctor calling upon his fearsome reputation. When he attempts to enforce his will socially or emotionally via the basic move Unleash the Dark, he can gain Ruin to automatically succeed with additional benefits.

Ruin Move from The Fallen: My Beloved Nemesis

The flavor of this move includes prompts for designing a godly nemesis, but we’ll be using it to represent The Master. With this move, The Doctor may gain Ruin to trigger a flashback with mechanical benefits, or to trigger a temporary alliance with The Master against all odds. Both options deepen his relationship with The Master.

Mark Permanent Conditions

As a Powered by the Apocalypse system, instead of tracking physical damage, Apocalypse Keys has Conditions to represent the emotional toll of adversity and crisis. When there are no Conditions left to mark, Omens hit their Breaking Point, which generally has dramatic consequences. Marking a Condition permanently means it can’t be cleared, making it easier to reach this point. In addition, it provides an easy way to generate Darkness Tokens, representing the Omen fueling themselves via their worst traits.

For The Doctor, the two Conditions that make the most sense to mark permanently are Merciless and Despairing, representing him losing his patience and his belief in others’ goodness.

Gain Ruin Conditions

Ruin Conditions are added to your list of Conditions and are permanently marked. All Omens choose from the same list:

• Cruel
• Fragile
• Guilty
• Haunted
• Paranoid
• Possessive
• Ruthless
• Reckless

To avoid overlap with permanent Conditions, two good options for The Doctor are Guilty and Reckless, representing the weight of past failings and his tendency to throw himself into danger, respectively.

Becoming a Harbinger

When this Advance is taken, The Doctor transforms into a Harbinger of the Apocalypse, and you no longer control him. This Advance is generally taken last, assuming you don’t retire your character ahead of time.

Sequence of Ruin Advances

Taking Ruin Advances in the following order creates a corruption arc for The Doctor:

1. Ruin Condition: Reckless
2. Ruin Move from The Fallen: Tremble Before Me
3. Ruin Move from The Fallen: My Beloved Nemesis
4. Ruin Move: I Carry the Hope of My People
5. Ruin Condition: Guilty
6. Ruin Move: Reaching Beyond Time and Space
7. Permanent Condition: Despairing
8. Permanent Condition: Merciless
9. Retire Your Character and Become a Harbinger of the Apocalypse*

Though it might not offer the most mechanical benefits, taking Reckless as a Ruin Condition fits well with The Doctor’s tendency to throw himself into adventure to distract himself from his grief, which is present from his introduction in the New Who. Next up, take Tremble Before Me so The Doctor can wield his reputation as a weapon even as he tries to talk, rather than fight, his way out of situations.

My Beloved Nemesis opens up the can of worms that is The Master, and also makes The Doctor reflect on his role in carrying on the legacy of the Time Lords. These insecurities open the way to I Carry the Hope of My People, in which The Doctor goes far beyond the limits of morality to fulfill his role. Due to his excesses, he gains the Ruin Condition Guilty, and turns to companions and allies to keep himself in check. But out of compassion, pride, or desperation, he meddles in time further than he should, using his time-traveling TARDIS to gain allies who, according to the natural order, ought to be dead. As he continues to spiral, he gives in to despair and becomes merciless, eventually transforming into a Harbinger of the Apocalypse.*

*Or you can retire the character if you get too close to taking this Advance.

Playbook Advances

Apocalypse Keys lets players gain experience points (XP) via select moves, roleplaying, and introspection. Upon gaining 8 XP, players get to choose from one of nine non-repeatable Advances:

• Take a new move from your playbook (2X): choose another playbook move.
• Take a new DIVISION move (2X): take a DIVISION move.
• Take a move from another playbook (2X): select a move from a different playbook.
• Describe a new way to gain Darkness Tokens: gain a new trigger condition for getting Darkness Tokens.
• Take a new power of darkness from your playbook: Get a new power of darkness, AKA superpower.
• Change your playbook: Switch to one of the other playbooks.

Playbook Advances reflect character growth and provide additional tools for solving problems. This section includes my picks for The Doctor, as well as what order to take them in.

Take a New Move from Your Playbook

Moves for The Last tend to explore themes of legacy, grief, and connection. Two such moves that fit The Doctor well are A Flickering Hope and You Are All I Have Left.

Playbook move 1: A Flickering Hope

As mentioned in the writeup of Avatar Aang, this move lets The Last begin each session by recounting a memory of their people. Then the player rolls to determine whether this memory grants mechanical benefits or foreshadows potential complications. Note that while failures allude to losing the memory, this could be interpreted metaphorically.

Playbook move 2: You Are All I Have Left

This move dictates that The Last has an echo of their lost people who remains by their side, allowing them to benefit from a relationship with that echo. In the case of The Doctor, that echo is the TARDIS—though of course he has the TARDIS before taking this move, he can’t benefit from his relationship with it beforehand.

Take a new DIVISION move

In Apocalypse Keys, Omens are ordinarily employed by DIVISION, an organization with ancient roots and a mission of safeguarding the world from Harbingers. DIVISION moves ordinarily represent Omens relying on this organization’s connections and resources, but in the case of The Doctor, we’ll be reflavoring the moves to represent the resources and allies he’s gained through his travels. While multiple DIVISION moves could fit with some tweaks, the two best ones are The Forbidden Archives and Orphanage Visit.

DIVISION move 1: The Forbidden Archives

This move represents having stolen dangerous tomes from a forbidden library, which is exactly the sort of thing The Doctor would do. On a success, the book provides much-needed help, but on a disastrous success, the book has the opportunity to run rampant. On a failure, something else uses it as a portal to enter the scene.

DIVISION move 2: Orphanage Visit

Though this move could represent visiting a literal orphanage, as was the case with the Batman build, it could also represent The Doctor taking the time to be with someone in a bad situation, or who is lost, lonely, and abandoned. In addition to opening up interesting roleplaying opportunities, this move offers opportunities to erase Ruin or to gain bonds with non-player characters (NPCs).

Take a Move from Another Playbook

The Doctor is excellent at analyzing a situation to improvise a solution, which aligns with the move Soul Like a Steel Trap from The Shade. He also has a habit of twisting timelines to his advantage, which can represented by reflavoring Together We Are Destiny from The Summoned.

From The Shade: Soul Like a Steel Trap

This move, which was also featured in the article about Batman, allows the Omen who takes it to study a tense situation and devise a plan, even as complications develop in the event of a disastrous success. On a failure, The Doctor instead falls into a trap.

From The Summoned: Together We Are Destiny

This move repeatedly refers to the prophecy The Summoned is bound by, but to make it fit The Doctor, change such allusions to instead reflect an unaltered timeline. With that change, this move now reflect The Doctor joining his companions in defying the odds to attempt to rewrite future history, then rolling the dice to determine success or failure.

Describe a New Way to Get Darkness Tokens

While gaining Darkness Tokens is important for manipulating the odds, the triggers for gaining them tend to be unhealthy, self-destructive behaviors. For The Doctor, we’ll add the condition “neglect or reject one of my companions.”

Take a New Power of Darkness

Of the options not yet taken, “An Ancient Weapon of Destruction” seems like the most fitting thing for The Doctor to gain access to.

Change Your Playbook

If you change your playbook, you lose the unique abilities of The Last, including the starting move Ashes to Ashes, in exchange for gaining the unique abilities of a new playbook. Since Ruin Advances can never be undone, any that no longer make sense are switched out for more logical ones. In other words, this is a drastic change with a big impact on your character, and shouldn’t be taken likely.

Of the other playbooks, the one that makes the most sense for The Doctor is The Shade, considering the push and pull between his ability to regenerate and the way this process shifts his identity. It also resonates with themes of grief and the weight of history, softening the transition to a new playbook.

Sequence of Playbook Advances

Here’s the order of Advances I think are most consistent with The Doctor’s depiction in Doctor Who:

1. Move from The Shade: Soul Like a Steel Trap
2. Move from the Summoned: Together We Are Destiny
3. DIVISION Move: The Forbidden Archives
4. Playbook Move: A Flickering Hope
5. Playbook Move: You Are All I Have Left
6. New Way to Get Darkness Tokens: Neglect or Reject Companions
7. DIVISION Move: Orphanage Visit
8. New Power of Darkness: An Ancient Weapon of Destruction
9. Change Your Playbook: The Shade

The Doctor is very good at getting into trouble, which means he’s gotten good at spotting it. Therefore, Soul Like a Steel Trap is the first move to take. With the help of his companions, he takes things one step further, defying the odds and the flow of time via Together We Are Destiny. As they continue adventuring together, The Doctor references and gains all sorts of forbidden knowledge via The Forbidden Archives, even as he opens up more about his past via A Flickering Hope.

However, these memories are a double-edged sword, causing him to withdraw and seek solace from what remains of Gallifrey via You Are All I Have Left. Unfortunately, the closeness he’d established means that it hurts his companions even more when he pushes them away, so he begins gaining Darkness Tokens when he does so. However, as his companions hold him accountable, he makes more of an effort to reach out to people via the move Orphanage Visit.

Then, in a series of complicated events, he gains access to an ancient weapon of destruction he doesn’t dare use. Between this and revelations about what really happened to Gallifrey, he relinquishes his status as The Last, instead becoming The Shade due to his complicated relationship with death.

Congratulations, You've Built The Doctor!

Thanks for reading, and please let me know how it goes if you try this build, or if you think there are other moves or Advances that would fit The Doctor better. In the meantime, remember to read the previous blogs about Batman, Anya Forger, and Avatar Aang, and stay tuned for next Friday, when the fifth blog in the series will be released.

Return to the beginning of the article

Glossary

Advance: new abilities gained after accumulating enough Ruin or experience points (XP). Advances gained via Ruin represent development into a Harbinger, while Advances gained via XP represent character growth.

 

Bonds: A mechanical representation of the emotional connections between characters that doubles as an in-game resource. The most common use for Bonds is to increase or decrease the results of a roll.

 

Breaking Point: When a character marks all their Conditions, they hit their Breaking Point and cannot handle the strain they’re under. Each playbook has a different prompt for appropriately dramatic consequences.

 

Condition: rather than tracking damage, characters mark emotional states called Conditions in response to the various stresses they are under.

 

Darkness Tokens: this resource, which is primarily used to increase the odds of rolling a success, represents Omens drawing on their inner darkness for power. Each playbook has unique roleplaying triggers for gaining Darkness Tokens.

 

Disastrous Success: When players roll a result above a certain threshold, their success comes with complications or collateral damage. This is referred to as a disastrous success.

 

DIVISION: a mysterious and ancient organization that employs Omens for the purpose of preventing the apocalypse.

 

Experience Points (XP): via roleplaying, introspection, and select moves, Omens can gain experience points (XP). Once players accumulate 8 XP, they unlock an Advance.

 

Harbinger of the Apocalypse: a powerful entity who seeks to cause an apocalypse, usually for their own benefit.

 

Keeper: the person who facilitates a game of Apocalypse Keys.

 

Move: abilities with clearly defined triggers and outcomes. Basic moves are always available to all players. During character creation and Advancement, players may choose from moves defined in their playbook, Ruin moves that accelerate their development into a Harbinger, or DIVISION moves that establish their role within the organization.

 

Mystery: An investigation that may span one or more sessions of Apocalypse Keys that typically culminates in a confrontation with a Harbinger.

 

Omen-Class Monster: player characters, who are monsters with enough power to reshape the world. Abbreviated as “Omen”.

 

Playbook: a thematically unified set of prompts, abilities, and moves that players use to build their characters. There are seven playbooks to choose from.

 

Power of Darkness: an at-will superpower wielded by Omens.

 

Ruin: the mechanical representation of an Omen’s progress toward becoming a Harbinger. Accruing 5 Ruin unlocks an irreversible Ruin Advance, which is accompanied by a cutscene of the Omen as a future Harbinger.

 

Ruin Advance: Accruing 5 Ruin causes the Omen to gain a new ability that reflects their growing darkness, and is accompanied by a cutscene of the Omen as a future Harbinger.