THE DYING EARTH

A scenario for Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space

by misterharry

This adventure was written with the Fourth Doctor and Romana II in mind, possibly accompanied by K9 Mark II.
But the GM should feel free to allow the players to use alternative characters – either a different combination of
the Doctor and companions, or a TARDIS crew of their own design.

Much of the adventure is written in a fairly linear fashion, but the actual flow of events will be determined by the
players’ actions and their interaction with the NPCs. The GM will need to bear this is mind and be flexible in how
the adventure pans out.

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 INTRODUCTION

GM’S INFORMATION
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The main setting of this adventure is Earth at the dawn of the 7 Millennium, in the period when humanity has
abandoned the planet due to increased solar flare activity. In orbit, space station Nerva acts as an Ark for
hibernating humans, while elsewhere in the Universe, Earth colonies are thriving.

On the Earth itself, solar radiation makes the planet all but uninhabitable. But it is not quite deserted. In a
protective Dome, a scientific enclave founded by a billionaire is planning to open a time corridor to project its
population to a future in which the planet has recovered and claim it as their own. While outside the Dome, a few
pathetic survivors have descended into barbarism, struggling to live in the increasingly hostile environment.

As the players investigate, it becomes apparent that the scientists’ efforts to escape are based on a huge
gamble, one which could destroy the Web of Time. And unknown to the humans, their experiments in time travel
are being hijacked. Instead of projecting a time corridor into the future, it has been drawn to a point in the distant
past – where the original owners of the Earth are using similar technology to try to escape their own impending
planetary disaster. In the course of the adventure, the players may get drawn into prehistory, where the Silurians
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are preparing to claim the Earth of the 7 Millennium as their birthright!

PLAYERS’ INTRODUCTION: A ROUGH LANDING

The TARDIS is travelling through the Vortex when it is suddenly hit by severe turbulence. As the players struggle
to keep their feet (Coordination + Strength rolls against a difficulty of 15 to avoid minor cuts and bruises), all sorts
of alarms are triggered and the console room is filled by the sound of the time engines under strain. If the Doctor
can cling to the console, he will see that all the readings are in the red. Unless he can land the ship almost
immediately, some external force will tear it apart!

Have the Doctor make an Ingenuity + Transport roll against a difficulty of 20:
 A Fantastic result indicates that he achieves a remarkably smooth landing with all systems still intact.
 A Good result means that the TARDIS can be landed before any critical damage occurs, but it may be a
while before the navigation systems can recalibrate.
 A Success means that although the TARDIS lands, a number of components spark and pop on the
console and will need some minor repairs.
 A Failure means that the TARDIS lands with a bump and the control room is plunged into darkness,
though there is no immediate danger to its occupants.
 A Bad result means that several small electrical fires flare up and acrid smoke fills the air.
 And a Disastrous result means that the console erupts in a column of flame and as the TARDIS’s fire
control systems come into play, poisonous fumes mean that the players have to abandon the ship
immediately.

If the Doctor hasn’t even managed to cling to the console, then treat the ship’s landing as an automatic
Disastrous result as the TARDIS crashes and the console explodes.

If the Doctor and co don’t have to abandon ship immediately, they can examine the read-outs on the console. But
whatever hit them in the Vortex has left the TARDIS systems disorientated. Their coordinates are rather vague,
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but they seem to be somewhere on Earth several thousand years in the future beyond the 21 Century.
Radiation levels are high but tolerable for short periods. If the players have time to look for them, the TARDIS
does carry anti-radiation pills which will provide protection against the effects of this level of radiation, but the pills
will need to be taken every six hours to maintain this.

If the scanner is still working, the view is of a bleak, rocky moorland with scrubby, twisted vegetation. There is a
very strong power source registering about a couple of miles away, with readings similar to the force in the
Vortex, though a lot lower now. But even if the TARDIS hasn’t been disabled by the crash landing, the residual
emanations from the power source will continue to be a navigational hazard for the TARDIS and other time ships.

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If the travellers have had to evacuate the TARDIS hurriedly, they will probably not be aware of the nearby power
source and will need to explore to get their bearings, while the TARDIS repairs itself. If they just huddle around
outside the ship, a cold persistent rain should encourage them to try to seek shelter, as should the approaching
twilight.

The bottom line is that the travellers will at some point need to venture out of the TARDIS, either because they
are forced to by noxious fumes, or because they need to investigate whatever brought them down. Given time,
the TARDIS can regenerate any damage it has incurred, but for the moment it is immobile. And in the meanwhile,
the player characters have an opportunity to explore their environment.

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 THE WILDERNESS

THE PLATEAU:

The TARDIS has landed near to the edge of a rocky plateau. There are small patches of dead-looking vegetation
– gorse, heather and the like. About a mile away, a small group of trees indicates the edge of a forest which
disappears over the far edge of the plateau. The ground makes for rough walking and is interspersed with muddy
patches of sucking black mud, perhaps capable of pulling an unwary walker down like quicksand. A successful
Awareness + Awareness roll against a difficulty of 14 reveals the absence of any birdsong, while an active search
for tracks and a successful Awareness + Survival roll against a difficulty of 12 indicates no animal trails (though a
Good or Fantastic result discovers a single footprint in a patch of damp earth – the footprint of a human wearing a
rough boot, possibly made from animal hide).

The nearest edge of the plateau is about 100 metres behind where the TARDIS has come to rest at an angle in
the mud. If the players head in that direction, they find themselves at a cliff edge looking over a similarly bleak
landscape stretching into the distance. The encroaching evening darkness reveals twinkling lights a couple of
miles away (in the direction of the power source if that was detected in the TARDIS). This is the Dome, but the
gloom conceals any further detail.

Descending from the plateau via the cliff face would be near suicide, particularly in the dark. The players will
need to find another way down.

THE DEAD FOREST:

At the far side of the plateau is its most obvious feature, the edge of a forest which continues down a gentler
slope to the countryside below. The trees are twisted and bare, with many showing signs of burning, as if from
acid rain. Virtually all of them are dead. A successful Awareness + Science roll against a difficulty of 15 indicates
that they are likely to be the victims of long-term radiation poisoning.

In order to get down from the plateau, the players will need to enter the dead forest. Because the trees are bare,
they will still be able to see the sky through the branches, and as they move down the slope a successful
Awareness + Awareness roll against a difficulty of 16 reveals a point of light through the trees, on the plains
below some distance away; a Fantastic result indicates that it is open flames, possibly a campfire.

Walking through the forest, the players will likely come across a clear trail through the trees. An examination is
difficult in the dark. But a successful Awareness + Survival roll against a difficulty of 18 (or 12 if they have a torch
or similar source of light) shows the trail to be made by the regular passage of crudely shod feet – human feet,
but with shoes made of rough cloth or hide. The trail leads along the slope in a slow descent.

A little way along the trail, the players may become aware that they are being followed. An Awareness +
Awareness roll against a difficulty of 18 brings the sound of faint movement to their ears, the snap of a twig
underfoot, or the scrape of a stone. If they stop moving, the sound stops too. The players could try to trick
whoever is following them, or chase them perhaps. In which case, use the Typical Savage stats from below. If
spotted, the savage will try to escape and warn his colleagues at a nearby settlement. Otherwise, he will continue
to follow the strangers to see where they go.

Further along the decent, the trail meets with a stream rolling gently down the slope and follows it for a while. At
the bottom of the slope, it broadens and flows into a small lake. Again, the vegetation around the shore looks
weak and blighted. The water of the lake is cloudy and smells faintly, a bitter smell that catches at the back of the
throat. The players shouldn’t be foolish enough to try drinking it, but if they do it burns the mouth. Any more
debilitating or long-term damage is left to the GM.

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THE SETTLEMENT:

By the time that the players reach the bottom of the slope down from the plateau, it will be fully dark. At this side
of the plateau, a single point of light can be clearly seen in the near distance. This is a campfire in the centre of a
small settlement. This is inhabited by one of the few remaining groups of humans descended from those who
stayed behind or were abandoned and left on the Earth at the time that the solar flares started; several
generations later they have devolved into stone-age savages. They are a sorry bunch, half-starved and
misshapen from genetic mutation. They have however built up a resilience to the background radiation. The
savages’ language is little more than grunts and growls, so communication is difficult. In any case, they have little
in the way of useful information to impart: they hate the Dome and the people who live within it, and they fear the
burning sky when the solar flares are active.

The settlement is likely to have been forewarned of the strangers’ approach by the savage who had been
following them through the forest. In which case, as the travellers approach, the settlement will appear to be
deserted. Around the fire, several crude buildings have been constructed from stone slabs leaning together, with
sheets of ancient and heavily corroded metal secured on as roofs. Doors and windows are screened with tattered
sheets and mouldering animal hides, none of recent vintage. Inside, the buildings lead down to underground
caves where the savages live.

If the players enter the central clearing in which the campfire is burning, the savages will suddenly appear from
out of the darkness, surround them and attempt to subdue them. They won’t kill the characters at this point –
after all, they need to keep their meat fresh for as long as possible...

TYPICAL SAVAGE:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 3; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 1; Presence 1; Resolve 3; Strength 3.

TRAITS: Environmental (resilient to radiation); Keen Senses (Major); Tough (Minor); Unattractive (Minor –
radiation scars and mutations).
SKILLS: Athletics 1; Fighting 3; Marksman 3; Survival 4.
WEAPONS: Stone axe, spear or knife (Strength +2 damage); spears can be thrown up to 10 metres, axes and
knives up to 5 metres.
TECH LEVEL: 1
STORY POINTS: 2

Any player characters who manage to escape will be pursued into the darkness. Those who are subdued will
awaken to find themselves inside a wooden cage. The door is secured by a knotted rope, but the cage is guarded
at all times. As the radiation levels from the solar flares have systematically wiped out most of the wildlife and
crops, the savages have had to resort to cannibalism, each tribe preying on others for food. In a few more
generations, the savages will be extinct. But in the meantime, the travellers are a welcome banquet!

If the players have avoided the settlement, then they will be hunted through the darkness, as the savage that
followed them down from the plateau will raise his fellows. Wild screeches and cries accompany the chase, and
the travellers may get split up if they are not careful. Whether they are captured on not is up to the GM – and the
dice rolls of course. If they escape, the travellers will find that they have been chased in the general direction of
the Dome, the lights of which are now ahead of them.

RESCUE:

The mysterious inhabitants of the Dome saw the explosion caused by the TARDIS’s crash landing on the
plateau, and a search party was dispatched to investigate. Whether the player characters have been captured,
are being hunted or are merely wandering lost in the night, they will be rescued by this group.

There are half a dozen members of this team, all clearly military personnel dressed in hazmat suits to protect
them from the radiation. They use shock and awe tactics to burst in amongst the savages, firing indiscriminately

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among them to cause panic, before grabbing the travellers and moving out as fast as possible. They are led by
Lieutenant Bors.

LIEUTENANT BORS:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 4; Ingenuity 3; Presence 4; Resolve 4; Strength 3.

TRAITS: Tough (Minor); Voice of Authority (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 3; Fighting 2; Knowledge 2; Marksman 4; Medicine 1; Survival 3; Transport 3.
WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT: Plasma rifle: L(4/L/L). Hazmat suit (Environment – radiation protection)
STORY POINTS: 5

HAZMAT SOLDIER:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 4; Ingenuity 2; Presence 3; Resolve 4; Strength 4.

TRAITS: By the Book (Major – “orders is orders”); Tough (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 3; Fighting 3; Marksman 4; Survival 2; Transport 3.
WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT: Plasma rifle: L(4/L/L). Hazmat suit (Environment – radiation protection)
STORY POINTS: 3

The rescue team will aim to get the players back to the safety of the Dome before the savages can regroup.

LOSING THE TARDIS:

A second search and rescue team has been dispatched to the top of the plateau to recover the TARDIS. If the
players return to the TARDIS having left it on its own for any length of time, they will be in time to witness the ship
being carried off strapped to the back of an armoured hovercraft-like vehicle, a large aircar fitted with anti-grav
drive. The aircar will fly over the cliff edge and disappear in the direction of the lights of the Dome.

AIRCAR: Armour: 10 points. Hit Capacity: 10. Speed: 8.

RADIATION EFFECTS:

Wandering around on this future Earth can be harmful to your health due to the high levels of background
radiation. If solar flare activity is minimal, then anybody outside without protection will take 1 point of damage per
day; this damage is not prevented by traits such as Armour or Tough, and is not healed except by specialised
medical treatment. During periods of active solar activity, damage is many times this. The locals have learned to
stay underground during those times.

If the PCs did not avail themselves of the TARDIS’s anti-radiation pills, then having wandered around
unprotected for several hours, they will have started to feel the effects of radiation poisoning – headaches,
dizziness, nausea and so on – and will have taken 1 point of damage to their Strength. Once they are picked up
by the hazmat team and taken to the Dome, they will be subjected to a decontamination programme and given
anti-radiation medication. Although they may feel unwell for a day or two, they will soon recover.

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 THE DOME

The Dome is a large grey geodesic structure almost a quarter of a kilometre in diameter and 100 metres high. It
is constructed of large reinforced plasti-steel panels in the middle of the desolate plain near to where the TARDIS
has crash-landed. In daylight, it dominates the landscape. Windows formed from transparent panels of the same
material are placed higher up on the structure, but none at ground level. A single pair of heavily fortified doors is
the only way in or out, large enough to admit the Dome’s armoured vehicles, and leading into a marshalling area
for troops and parking bays for transport. A secondary wall beyond that area leads into the interior of the Dome.
The entirety of the Dome is shielded from the radiation outside and protects the occupants from even the worst of
the solar flares. Power is provided by an underground atomic generator, supplemented by solar energy from
collection panels on the higher surfaces of the Dome’s exterior.

Life inside the Dome is a monotonous routine, a little bit like living inside a space station. Going outside is
hazardous, so hardly anybody does and certainly not without authority to do so. People are grey, pallid
specimens of humanity and are content to live within the rules of the Dome. There are 1,024 inhabitants and strict
limitations on who can have children, how many and when, as the Dome needs to ensure that the population
does not outgrow its resources. Laws will seem draconian to outsiders, with many crimes punishable by death –
the Dome just doesn’t have the resources to be able to waste them on keeping criminals alive.

GETTING INTO THE DOME:

Unless the player characters have been brought to the Dome by a search and rescue team, options for access
are fairly limited.

The large external panels of the Dome are held together by a series of magnetic fields. It is theoretically possible
for the Doctor to use his sonic screwdriver to detach one of them and gain entry that way, but the panels are
individually very large and heavy, so moving them aside will be difficult (requiring a total Strength equivalent to 10
or greater). Also, unless the panel is reattached from the inside, the savages are likely to discover the breach
before too long. Cutting through a panel will require overcoming its Armour of 10 points and its Hit Capacity of 5
points.

Trying the same trick with the main doors will have only partial success. Although the electronic locks can be
disabled, they are backed up by heavy metal chains on the inside, and rattling the doors to try to get them apart
will most likely draw the attention of the guards stationed just inside.

If the travellers somehow managed to get aboard the aircar on the plateau, there is room to duck down behind
the TARDIS it is carrying and smuggle themselves inside. It is even possible that they might have managed to
steal the aircar. If so, the transponder on board will alert the Dome to its approach and the doors will be opened
to admit them.

Brazenly walking up to the doors and knocking will be met with initial suspicion. But when it is clear that they are
not savages, they will be let inside and placed under arrest until they can be questioned by Colonel Lazka.

Other means may well occur to the players and the GM should deal with them accordingly, rewarding imaginative
thinking. Because of the small population, the inhabitants all know each other. So once inside, the players’ option
of trying to walk around incognito just will not work, even if they attempt some sort of disguise.

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KEY PERSONNEL:

DEVLAR KESH:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 4; Presence 5; Resolve 5; Strength 3.

TRAITS: Attractive (Minor); Charming (Minor); Indomitable (Major); Lucky (Minor); Obsession (Major); Voice of
Authority (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 1; Convince 5; Knowledge 4; Marksman 2; Science 2; Subterfuge 4; Survival 1; Technology 3.
WEAPON: Plasma handgun (concealed): 3(3/7/10)
STORY POINTS: 8

The community within the Dome is ruled by Devlar Kesh, a charismatic but emotionally unstable man who is
directly descended from the dome’s founder, the billionaire Lar Kesh. Devlar Kesh, like his ancestors before him
back to Lar, is obsessed with claiming the abandoned Earth for himself. Unlike his ancestors, Devlar has come
up with a scheme whereby he can do this within his own lifetime, rather than for the Earth to be inherited by one
of his descendents untold generations after his death.

Devlar Kesh is absolute ruler of his little fiefdom, with power of life and death over all within it. He sees himself as
ruler not just of the Dome, but of the entire planet, the rest of humanity having abandoned it to its fate. He is a tall
slim man in his early 50s, with black hair and handsome saturnine features. He is quiet, but exudes confidence
and personality, his mere presence dominating the room. Although he often appears unemotional, almost
detached from the goings-on around him, Kesh is like an elastic band under tension, ready to fly into a rage if his
will is opposed or his plans threatened. Kesh is not evil, just obsessed with his plan and slightly unhinged
because of it. He usually wears a black tunic.

COLONEL LAZKA:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 4; Ingenuity 3; Presence 4; Resolve 4; Strength 4.

TRAITS: Brave (Minor); Quick Reflexes (Minor); Voice of Authority (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 3; Convince 4; Fighting 4; Knowledge 3; Marksman 4; Medicine 1; Subterfuge 3; Survival 3;
Technology 3; Transport 2.
WEAPON: Plasma handgun: 3(3/7/10)
STORY POINTS: 8

Devlar Kesh’s right-hand woman is Colonel Elia Lazka, the commander-in-chief of the security personnel in the
Dome. She is a petite woman in her 30s, with her auburn hair cut short. Despite her stature, she has a military
bearing and issues orders in a firm, clipped voice. She is intensely loyal to Kesh and will back him up 100%. She
is usually in uniform and openly carries a sidearm.

PROFESSOR KOROS:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 3; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 5; Presence 3; Resolve 3; Strength 3.

TRAITS: Boffin (Major); Face in the Crowd (Minor); Insatiable Curiosity (Minor); Technically Adept (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 1; Convince 2; Knowledge 3; Medicine 2; Science 5; Subterfuge 2; Technology 4.
STORY POINTS: 5

Devlar Kesh’s chief scientist is Professor Aln Koros, a young man with a distracted air. In other circumstances,
Koros would be a decent human being. But the harsh environment and strict rules of the Dome means that he
gets on with his work without thought of the consequences. It is entirely possible that he could be persuaded to
assist the player characters, if they need him to. Professor Koros spends most of his time in the Dome’s science
labs, and he will almost certainly be present whenever the Time Snare is activated.

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TYPICAL SOLDIER:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 4; Ingenuity 2; Presence 3; Resolve 4; Strength 4.

TRAITS: By the Book (Major – “orders is orders”); Tough (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 3; Fighting 3; Marksman 4; Survival 2; Transport 3.
WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT: Plasma rifle: L(4/L/L).
STORY POINTS: 3

TYPICAL SCIENTIST:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 3; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 4; Presence 3; Resolve 3; Strength 3.

TRAITS: Technically Adept (Minor).
SKILLS: Knowledge 1; Medicine 2; Science 3; Technology 3.
STORY POINTS: 2

TYPICAL CITIZEN:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 2; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 3; Presence 3; Resolve 3; Strength 3.

TRAITS: By the Book (Minor – obey the rules); Face in the Crowd (Minor).
SKILLS: Athletics 1; Convince 1; Subterfuge 1.
STORY POINTS: 1

INSIDE THE DOME:

The footprint of the Dome is a circle a quarter of a kilometre across, and there are 25 floors at the highest point.
Some areas are more than one floor high, requiring more headroom. There are also some underground areas
beneath the Dome. The interior is a maze of corridors and stairs (only a handful of elevators), with everything
having a worn, used look and feel. Bright colours are virtually unknown, with browns and greys being the norm.

A summary of the main areas is as follows:

 Main entrance - with security garrison and vehicle bays.
 Public plaza – a public area at the top of the Dome with a clear roof looking up to the sky.
 Living quarters – small square box-like apartments with communal washing and bathing facilities.
 Canteens and kitchens – communal areas for all meals.
 Nurseries – for the raising of babies and young children; the parents have regular visiting times.
 Education – for children and young adults; mainly vocational/practical skills, with only a few of the more
academic disciplines for high achievers.
 Entertainments – cinema/theatre, gym, a small sports arena, library, etc.
 Medical facilities – doctor’s surgery, infirmary, operating theatre, pharmacy.
 Food production – hydroponics and artificial meat production (cloned meat tissue).
 Workshops – virtually everything manufactured in the Dome is hand-made, from clothes through to
heavy machinery; all materials are recycled and virtually nothing is original now.
 Water decontamination and purification plant – below ground level, drawing on the subterranean
water table.
 Maintenance substructure – heating, life, air decontamination, power, water, etc.
 Public broadcast facilities – a single TV station, broadcasts irregularly, mainly for public
announcements; adjacent to the Command Centre.
 Command centre – the central control room where Devlar Kesh and his deputies control the Dome.
 Security areas – surveillance, holding cells, armoury, etc; adjacent to the Command Centre.

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  Scientific research – including the Time Snare (see Things to See and Do); hidden away in a high
security area of the Dome.
 Underground caverns – atomic generator, storage, mushroom farm, and a deep shelter for the chosen
few in the event of disaster.
 Other areas as the GM needs.

A map of the Dome isn’t provided - given the size of the Dome and the number of levels within it, plus the
subterranean areas, there are over a quarter of a million square metres of floor-space! The GM should have a
rough mental idea of layout and the location of significant points of interest, and extrapolate from there. The
general feel of the place is more important than the specifics.

THINGS TO SEE AND DO:

The chain of events once the player characters arrive in the Dome is largely up to their interactions with the
NPCs and what the GM wants to achieve. If brought in by the rescue team, or captured trying to break into the
Dome, the travellers will initially be subject to decontamination and treatment for the effects of radiation exposure.
After that, they will be interrogated by Colonel Lazka and Devlar Kesh (see below).

The GM should be working towards pointing the players in the direction of the Dome’s time experiments – this
should be one of their priorities anyway following their crash-landing. The end result should be that the players
gain access to the Time Snare, either as a result of Kesh being convinced that they could assist, or by
subterfuge. An opportunity for the travellers to fall into the time corridor should be presented, so that the players
find themselves in the Silurian city of Hy-Brasil. If this does not happen for whatever reason, it is not disastrous,
but they will miss out on a chunk of the adventure and will likely be less prepared when the Silurians arrive in the
Dome.

Some of the likely events while in the Dome, and some possible diversions, are set out below.

Interrogation:

Shortly after they are brought to the Dome, or captured within it, the player characters will be interrogated by
Devlar Kesh and Colonel Lazka. Kesh and Lazka will both be suspicious of the new arrivals. Who are they and
where did they come from? What are their plans? Kesh is not aware of any other humans on the planet – other
than the savages, of course. So are they from the Earth colonies which turned their back on the dying planet?
Could they even – hope upon hope – be from the future, sent back to assist in Kesh’s great endeavour?

The interrogation is also an opportunity for the players to try to pry information from their captors. The GM
shouldn’t make this easy, of course, but a series of Presence + Convince rolls against Kesh’s Ingenuity +
Resolve will help. And if the players steer the interrogation in the right direction, they could win Kesh’s
confidence.

If the TARDIS was recovered by one of the search and rescue teams, then Kesh will undoubtedly be curious
about it. But neither his security teams nor his scientists have been able to open the strange blue box. Professor
Koros’s test run of the Time Snare picked up interference which coincided with the explosion caused by the
ship’s crash landing, so he is open to the suggestion that it could be a time machine and that the players are time
travellers. If so, would they help him with his great plan? He is not fool enough to let them have access to the
TARDIS yet, but he would be prepared to show them the Time Snare.

How the interrogation proceeds will go a long way to determining what happens while the characters are in the
Dome. Will they have to break out of prison and try to recover the TARDIS? Will they ally themselves with the
humans, whether genuinely or as an act of subterfuge? Will they assist in the time experiments or try to stop
them?

Base Under Siege:

This is an option for the GM to use, particularly if they wish to add an extra level of jeopardy. Attacks on the
Dome by the savages outside are rare and usually easily dispersed by the Dome’s superior firepower. However,

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the arrival of the player characters has disrupted the routine, so mistakes could be made. If the PCs tried to break
into the Dome (or out of it!), for example, they may have left a breach for the savages to exploit. The attack on
the savages’ settlement by the search and rescue team near the start of the scenario could easily have riled the
locals into action, and a larger than usual band may want to exact some sort of revenge on the Dome.

If the GM decides to use this option, the scale and nature of the attack is left to them to determine. It may just be
a nuisance that causes a distraction which the PCs can benefit from, something which results in a direct threat to
them, or an ongoing battle with escalating risk to all within the Dome.

Solar Storm:

This is another option for the GM to use, and one which provides a reminder of the conditions under which the
Dome’s inhabitants live. A solar storm could provide an opportunity for the player characters to sneak around the
Dome, or maybe even escape from imprisonment. Although the interior of the Dome is shielded from the worst of
the solar activity, major storms will still cause some disruption. Lights will flicker and dim, possibly reverting to
emergency chemical lighting; electrical systems will be unreliable, maybe even shutting down; and during the
worst storms, the inhabitants will largely be confined to their rooms, apart from a skeleton staff of key personnel.
Under these conditions, the players will be able to do a bit of investigating free from the constant supervision
placed over them by Colonel Lazka. The intensity and duration of a solar storm is up to the GM: it could be
anything from an hour or so, to several days. Meanwhile, outside the Dome, geomagnetic storms rage and the
savages cower in their underground caves.

The TARDIS Commandeered:

Shortly after the player characters’ arrival on this future Earth, the TARDIS is likely to have been recovered by
one of the Dome’s search and rescue teams. If so, it will first have been subjected to the attempts of Colonel
Lazka’s security teams to try to open it. Failing that, it will then be transported to the scientific research area,
where Professor Koros and his colleagues will make similar, though more sophisticated attempts. Naturally, none
will succeed.

However, Professor Koros suspects that the blue box is some sort of time machine. The interference detected by
his equipment during the test run of the Time Snare indicated this and coincided with the explosion which was
observed on the plateau, where the TARDIS was subsequently discovered. Further, the box is now emitting a low
level reading for chronon particles which virtually confirms his theory. When the travellers are first interrogated by
Devlar Kesh, Koros has not yet informed Kesh of his suspicion – though Kesh himself has the first inkling of this
anyway. If the players have not revealed themselves to be time travellers during the interrogation, Koros will
confide in Kesh once he has met them.

Throughout this adventure, the TARDIS is likely to be inoperable due to the damage it sustained during the crash
(unless it is needed for the player characters to be able to get to the prehistoric Silurian city of Hy-Brasil – see
later). Not just the damage to the control console, which may have been superficial; but damage to the time
engines deep within the craft. They need a period of time to recalibrate themselves, so even if the player
characters were willing to allow access to the craft (unlikely), they could not just leave. In any case, with the Time
Snare still active, it is radiating contamination into the Vortex even while it is not in operation.

Devlar Kesh and Professor Koros will both wish to see inside the ship once they are convinced of what it is.
Depending on his relationship with the travellers after the interrogation, Kesh may try to use his charm to
persuade them, or pass them to Colonel Lazka for her to use less subtle methods. If they are on particularly good
terms, Kesh may even humour the travellers, instead asking them to inspect his own time machine, the Time
Snare. Unless he sees the internal dimensions of the TARDIS, Kesh will in any case not believe that it is a
suitable vehicle to transport all 1,024 of the Dome’s inhabitants to the future.

The Time Snare:

This is what brought the TARDIS down at the start of the adventure. Although Lar Kesh, the original founder of
the Dome, was content that his people and their descendents should wait out the centuries safely inside it, Devlar
Kesh is not so patient. He has decreed that the Dome’s inhabitants will inherit the Earth within his lifetime.
Although time travel was technologically possible before the solar flares, the Dome does not have the expertise

11
and resources to be able to build a working time machine without years of research and development. But that is
what they have finally succeeded in doing. One of the test runs for the Time Snare is what brought the TARDIS
down. Using the feedback from that test run, the machine’s creator, Professor Koros, is convinced that he soon
will be able to use the Snare to form a stable time corridor to a future where the solar flares have abated, and
Devlar Kesh can lead his people through to a new dawn for humanity.

The Time Snare is located in a secure area within the Dome’s scientific research labs. The best option for access
is for the players to convince Devlar Kesh of their usefulness to his time travel experiments and so be shown
around – under supervision of course. If the players need to break in, then they will need to open various
electronic locks – Ingenuity + Subterfuge (Electronic Locks) against an increasing Difficulty rating, say 12, 15 and
18. And avoid any scientific or security personnel present, of course.

The Time Snare is a large technological arch, about 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide at the base, standing on a raised
platform with heavy power cables leading off into the floor (and down to the Dome’s atomic generator). A person
can easily walk through the arch and out the other side.

When powered up (which takes several minutes, during which the main power to the Dome goes offline, replaced
by the solar power only), a flickering energy field fills the inside of the arch. Anybody with Feel the Turn of the
Universe will be aware of the presence of chronon particles – this is a temporal field, probably one end of a time
corridor. But where does the corridor lead?

Professor Koros will almost certainly be present whenever the Time Snare is activated. He can explain the
principles behind it – which to a Time Lord will sound extremely primitive and inefficient, possibly even dangerous
as it leaks chronon energy into the immediate environment, causing a build up of temporal instability. As the
Professor explains the Time Snare and Devlar Kesh’s plan, the risks underpinning it will become apparent...

The Time Snare forms an unfettered time corridor, with one end within the arch of the Snare itself, but the other
lashing around in the Vortex until it locates a stable point to link onto. Normally, a second Time Snare needs to
be established and linked to the first, stabilising the time corridor. In this instance though, there is no option for
the Dome to set up this second Snare in the future that Kesh wishes to escape to. The Time Snare will therefore
be allowed to thrash around, with Koros exercising limited control over it to direct it into the future, and will be
frozen in place once the Dome scientists detect any semi-stable foothold a millennium or so in the future. A crew
of Dome technicians will then pass through the time corridor, to build a second Snare and enable the time
corridor to be anchored in place. Anybody foolish enough to enter the archway before the time corridor has
formed a stable link will be thrown into the Vortex with almost certainly fatal consequences.

But the thrashing of the Time Snare within the Vortex is insanely hazardous. Even assuming that the damage
caused does not directly fracture the Web of Time, the time corridor will be passing through all sorts of temporal
phenomena – divergent timelines, anomalies, time spurs cut off the rest of the Universe, and so on. If it
accidentally latches onto one of these, the Dome’s inhabitants will be passing through not to a future Earth, but to
one of any number of alternative Earths, past, present or future. Worse, whatever exists at the other end of the
time corridor could theoretically pass back through to the Dome – the prospect of the real Universe being invaded
by, for example, Reapers from a time spur, would be catastrophic.

Assisting Devlar Kesh:

It is possible that the players might be tempted to agree to help Devlar Kesh, either to stop the potentially
catastrophic use of the Time Snare, or for the humanitarian purposes of rescuing the Dome’s inhabitants. They
might even think about agreeing to use the TARDIS to transport Kesh’s people to the future they are seeking for,
or to pop into that future to establish a second Time Snare so that a stable time corridor is possible.

However, the players need to be aware of the risk of these actions. History does not record Devlar Kesh’s people
arriving in the future to claim the Earth. It’s possible that they did so, but either some calamity overlook them and
they were wiped out, or that their survival was inconsequential to the overall flow of history.

But this could be a pivotal point in time. What if the travellers do enable Kesh to set up his new empire? How
would this change the future? Would they wake the sleepers in the Ark many millennia before their time and a
new Age of Humanity supplant recorded history?

12
An Ingenuity + Knowledge roll against a Difficulty of 15 will reveal the above information to the players. Or if they
start down this path, any character with Feel the Turn of the Universe can attempt an Awareness + Awareness
roll against a Difficulty of 12 to begin to “feel” that something is wrong with this course of events.

If the players ignore these risks, the GM might wish to use this as the basis of a separate adventure, as they see
the results of their error and need to correct it somehow. The details of this are best left to the GM to determine.

A Test Run:

At some point, Professor Koros will run another test of the Time Snare. If the player characters are on good terms
with Devlar Kesh, they will be invited to observe, possibly even to assist in the process. If they are not on good
terms, possibly even locked up in security, any Time Lords’ Feel the Turn of the Universe sense will twitch –
something is amiss; a rip into the Vortex is leaking chronon energy; worse, this reality is being exposed to
potential alternative timelines. The players should need no encouragement to use this moment to make their
move, break out and head towards the source of this sensation.

If the players are present at the start of the test run, any objections they may raise are dismissed by Kesh. He will
not be dissuaded and will call for security if the player characters need to be restrained.

As the Time Snare’s power levels begin to rise, the air is filled with a low hum which grates the teeth, and the
feeling of pressure building. After a couple of minutes, the energy field within the Snare’s arch snaps into being
and crackles with the colours of the Vortex.

One of Koros’s fellow scientists suddenly shouts in surprise: “We have a link! We have a positive link!” Koros will
rush over to check the readings himself and confirms that it is so. If the players have the opportunity to check the
readings, any with the Vortex trait can make an Ingenuity + Technology roll against a Difficulty of 18. A success
confirms the readings that a link has been established, a Good result reveals that the link is active technology
from something at the other end of the time corridor, and a Fantastic result that the other end of the time corridor
isn’t in the future, but in the distant past – millions of years in the past!

Meanwhile, in the haze of energy within the arch, humanoid shapes can be glimpsed on the other side...

Into the Vortex:

The players may want to terminate the test run, but Devlar Kesh will have none of this! His plan is working! If the
players tell him that his time corridor goes into prehistory, they will still need to succeed at a Presence +
Convince roll against Kesh’s Presence + Resolve. If they can first persuade Professor Koros or another of the
Dome’s scientists if Koros isn’t present (using the same contest), then they have a +4 bonus to then persuade
Kesh himself.

Even if the players convince Kesh, it soon becomes apparent that control of the Time Snare is no longer in the
hands of the Dome. Whatever is at the other end of the corridor is now controlling it, and the rising howl of energy
indicates that these mysterious controllers are pushing the equipment to its limit. The GM may wish to allow the
player characters to attempt to do something drastic to shut the Snare down, but ultimately they will be too late.

The energy field begins to expand outwards from the arch and everybody tries to evacuate the room. In the
sudden panic and confusion, the time corridor explodes outwards, catching whoever is in the room within it,
flinging them into the maelstrom of the time corridor...

13
 HY-BRASIL: THE SILURIAN CITY

The other end of the time corridor is millions of years in the past, at the end of the rule of homo reptilia,
sometimes called the Silurians.

DATING THE AGE OF THE SILURIANS:

The TV series has always been a bit vague as to the precise dating of the time of the Silurians. Certainly the
Silurian period (443.7 to 416 million years ago) is far too early, as is the 200 million years ago suggested by the
globe discovered in Doctor Who and the Silurians. The Third Doctor’s suggestion of them being more properly
called “Eocenes” (and therefore coming from between 56 to 34 million years ago) is more feasible. However, they
apparently lived at the same time as apes (which only began to appear at the very end of the Eocene period).
Lance Parkin’s Ahistory concludes that the Silurians’ civilisation probably lasted for several millennia somewhere
between 5 and 10 million years ago. The issue of the Silurians having dinosaurs, or dinosaur-like creatures, can
be explained by their skill in genetics: these “pets” were artificially created or resurrected using ancient DNA. If
the players need more precise dating for this section of the adventure, I would suggest 7 million years BCE.

Alternatively, if the GM prefers, just ignore the above and assume that the Silurian civilisation rose and fell during
the final millennia of the dinosaurs, about 65 million years BCE.

THE APPROACHING DOOM:

As has been established in Doctor Who continuity, the Silurians went into hibernation in a series of underground
bunkers when they detected the approach of a small rogue planet. They believed this planet would draw off the
Earth’s atmosphere and cause cataclysmic gravitational changes, making life on Earth unsustainable for an
extended period. Unfortunately, the mechanisms which should have woken them from hibernation after the
danger had passed did not work. The Silurians continued their sleep of millions of years, allowing the apes to
evolve and develop, including one lineage which became the human race.

At the time that the player characters arrive in Hy-Brasil, the greatest city of the Age of the Silurians, the Silurians
are in the final phases of entering hibernation, with only a handful of the population still active. Severe storms,
tidal waves and earth tremors are already causing chaos. In brief breaks in the roiling clouds, the rogue planet is
visible in the sky as a slowly growing disc of light. The situation will get steadily worse, but will not actually result
in the mass extinction event that the Silurian scientists have predicted. The planet will not pass close enough to
strip the Earth’s atmosphere and, although there will be a great loss of life, very few species will disappear
entirely.

One small group of Silurians have a different plan to ensure their survival: as with Devlar Kesh millions of years in
the future, they plan to open a time corridor to allow them to pass through to a future Earth that has recovered,
ready to welcome their sleeping brethren when they awake. Records of Silurian technology show that the species
did not develop time travel, so this group is well ahead of its time – in other circumstances, the Silurians may
have gone on to become a time-faring civilisation (if the Time Lords were to permit it!). What they have managed
to build is still very primitive and unreliable. It is similar to the Time Snare of the Dome, with the Silurians capable
of opening one end of a time corridor, but with little control over where it will take them.

But whether by luck or judgement, they have detected the Dome’s Time Snare. The Silurians don’t know just how
far into the future the Time Snare is operating, nor who or what is on the other end. But it is their lifeline and they
intend to grasp it. But first, they need to know more about the future that they intend to step into – and have
grabbed a number of specimens for examination and questioning...

14
THE ROGUE PLANET:

In Doctor Who and the Silurians, the Doctor believed that the small planet went into a stable orbit and became
th
the Moon (a theory repeated in the 11 Doctor Edition GM’s Guide). However, current thinking places the origins
of the Moon at over 4 billion years ago, well before life of any sort began on Earth. The GM has a number of
options here, none of which should make a material difference as to how the adventure pans out:
• Just go with the Doctor’s Moon theory and ignore scientific reality;
• Assume that the Doctor was mistaken and that the approaching planet is another heavenly body, one
which passes close to Earth but doesn’t enter its orbit;
• Or just be non-specific about the details of the approaching planet – hey, it could even be prehistoric
Mondas, in its Millennia long elliptical circuit of the Solar System!

ARRIVAL AND CAPTURE:

The player characters will most likely arrive in the Age of the Silurians by being caught in the Dome’s Time
Snare. Being drawn unwillingly down a time corridor is a rough ride, and each character must make a Resolve +
Strength roll against a Difficulty of 14 to avoid blacking out for a few minutes (though no actual damage is
inflicted, only Stun). The characters materialise on a raised platform connected to a bank of machinery of
obviously alien design. Anybody with the Vortex trait can identify it as time corridor technology if they make a
successful Ingenuity + Technology rolls against a Difficulty of 15. Ranged around the platform are a number of
reptilian humanoids... the Silurians! Although they do not appear to be armed, players who have encountered the
species before (or who are familiar with the TV series!) will know about the creatures’ third eyes.

One of the Silurians steps forward; he is slightly larger than the others and has the bearing of a military officer.
This is their leader, Bokrug. Behind him, a slightly stooped reptile-man hovers: the scientist Esskorr. Bokrug tells
the new arrivals not to move and orders his warriors to take them to the waiting cells. Bokrug wishes to
interrogate the humans, to find out about the future they come from. Esskorr will also be present, but has different
motives: he is fascinated by the humans, an entirely new species, and one which seems to have a measure of
intelligence.

Bokrug will question the party until he has enough information for him to consider sending his task-force through
the time corridor to take control of the Dome. If the humans refuse to talk, he will be tempted to resort to torture.
But Esskorr will suggest a mind scan instead. He can arrange for one of the subjects to be connected up to a
device that can read thoughts (though he has never tried this on anyone other than Silurians before, so he is
unsure of the results). The subject will need to make a series of Ingenuity + Resolve rolls against a Difficulty
determined by the machine’s settings, up to a maximum of 18. Any Disastrous failures will result in the subject
receiving a point of damage in pain. Esskorr will start at a low setting (12) and work up; if a setting fails once, it
will never work on that subject, so it will be pointless Esskorr making repeated attempts on the same setting once
a subject has successfully resisted. Esskorr will be fascinated to observe the workings of an “animal” mind!

The GM should provide the players with the opportunity to escape if they wish, perhaps by breaking the
interrogation up with periods in between sessions. The characters will be left alone in their cell, but with a Silurian
warrior on guard outside. The lock on the cell door can be opened by frequencies radiated by the Silurian third
eye, and these may be duplicated by a sonic screwdriver or similar device. Or the characters may be able to
prise off a wall panel to get at the workings within. How likely they are to succeed depends on how ingenious they
are, and Difficulty levels are left to the GM to determine. Perhaps a timely earth tremor will help their chances...

If the players do manage to escape, where will they go? They will most likely be trying to get back to the time
corridor, but it would be more interesting to let them wander a little first. A key scene would be for them to find a
window, through which they get a view of what is outside: they are in a building with a vantage point looking down
on a deserted cityscape of colossal proportions, with stone buildings battered by storm-force winds and lightning
strikes, the sky boiling with black clouds. And if they manage to actually reach the outside, the city is deserted
and there is nowhere for them to go. They need to be inside the Silurian base to have any chance of getting
home.

15
It is possible that the player characters are not drawn into the time corridor created by the Dome’s Time Snare. In
which case, they may need to use the TARDIS to investigate where the Snare has linked with, or to rescue those
who have disappeared into the past. They will most likely need to persuade Devlar Kesh to let them have their
TARDIS back; whatever their relationship with him, he will only agree if some of his personnel accompany the
time travellers to keep an eye on them. He may even keep one of the PCs as a hostage. The TARDIS will be
able to trace the path of the time corridor back to the Silurian city. Once there, events are likely to play out
differently than described in this adventure, so the GM will need to be flexible. Maybe the Silurians will try to steal
the TARDIS, for example. But the GM should work towards the Silurian invasion of the Dome as described later.

HY-BRASIL:

The Silurian base in which the time travellers have arrived is located within the sprawling Silurian city of Hy-
Brasil. By the time of the Silurians’ hibernation, Hy-Brasil is an ancient city, many thousands of years old, and
exhibits many types of architecture with widely differing styles and building materials. However, the predominant
impression is one of construction on a vast scale, with magnificent towering structures built from colossal blocks
of greenish stone. Human-sized visitors will feel dwarfed by the immensity around them, with the streets hidden
deep within wide ravines of stone. It is also uncomfortably hot and humid on this prehistoric Earth, though at
ground level in Hy-Brasil, pedestrians are largely protected from the direct heat of the Sun by the city around
them. Although the streets are wide, the tall buildings cast long shadows. There are also open areas of parkland
in which plants long extinct by the time of the humans flourish, and there are even fern-like trees from the Age of
the Dinosaurs which the Silurians’ genetic technology has brought back to life.

Hy-Brasil is now virtually deserted. The storms and earth tremors caused by the approach of the rogue planet
have started to take their toll on the great city. Streets are damaged by wide cracks, hampering progress, and in
several places, some of the less structurally sound buildings have collapsed. Lightning lashes almost continually
around the tallest towers and the ground trembles periodically, accompanied by falling debris.

By modern times, millions of years of erosion and geological upheaval have obliterated all remains of Hy-Brasil,
to the extent that no trace of it or any of the other Silurian cities has yet been discovered by mankind.

A WHO’S WHO OF PREHISTORY:

CLASSIC SERIES SILURIANS:

The Silurians featuring in this adventure are intended to be the classic series versions with the third eye from
Doctor Who and the Silurians. If the GM prefers to use the new series Silurians instead, the scenario needs no
particular changes to incorporate them. Stats for the new series Silurians are provided in the Gamemaster’s
th
Guide, 11 Doctor Edition.

The classic series Silurians’ third eyes can emit heat radiation capable of injuring opponents, cutting through solid
substances and even burrowing through rock. Silurians also use it to manipulate their machinery and controls –
though they do not exhibit any wider telekinesis, so presumably their equipment is specifically designed to allow
this (and I have thus not given them the Telekinesis trait, for example).

Their weakness to cold gives Silurians a -2 penalty on all rolls for physical activity when exposed to such
conditions. Prolonged exposure will reduce Strength by 1 point per 10 minutes; zero Strength results in the
Silurian entering torpor.

A full write-up of the classic series Silurians is available in the DWAiTS Aliens & Enemies compilation, as is an
alternative write-up which includes various psychic abilities provided by the third eye.

16
BOKRUG, SILURIAN LEADER:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 4; Ingenuity 4; Presence 4; Resolve 4; Strength 5.

TRAITS: Alien (Special); Alien Appearance (Major); Burrowing (Minor: Speed 2 through soft material, or 1
through rock, etc); Fear Factor 2 (Special); Natural Weapon – Third Eye (Major: 7(3/7/10) or Stun damage);
Tough (Minor); Voice of Authority (Minor); Weakness – Hexachromite Gas (Major); Weakness – Cold (Minor: see
above).
SKILLS: Convince 4; Fighting 3; Knowledge 2; Marksman 3; Science 2; Subterfuge 2; Survival 1; Technology 4.
STORY POINTS: 8

Bokrug is the leader of the Silurians which remain active within Hy-Brasil. He is larger and more imposing than
his fellows, with his scales a deep glossy green. His third eye glows softly at all times and flares brightly when in
use. Bokrug is a Silurian warrior and has a soldier’s bearing.

Learning of Esskorr’s breakthrough in time travel technology, Bokrug decided that a task force was needed as a
back-up to the Silurian bunkers’ activation systems. His team would scout ahead into the near future to ensure
that his brethren awakened into an Earth safe from threats. He has since realised that Esskorr’s equipment is not
as advanced and reliable as the scientist made it out to be, and he now finds that his team are facing destruction
by the approaching rogue planet while Esskorr struggles to form a stable time corridor.

When the Silurians make the link to the Dome’s Time Snare, Bokrug sees this as their last desperate gamble to
fulfil his plans. It will not make any difference to him whether he travels a few years into the future or a few
million, so long as he saves the Silurian race. He will see the humans as an irrelevance to be swept aside.

ESSKORR, SILURIAN SCIENTIST:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 4; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 5; Presence 3; Resolve 3; Strength 3.

TRAITS: Alien (Special); Alien Appearance (Major); Burrowing (Minor: Speed 2 through soft material, or 1
through rock, etc); Fear Factor 2 (Special); Insatiable Curiosity (Minor); Natural Weapon – Third Eye (Major:
7(3/7/10) or Stun damage); Tough (Minor); Weakness – Hexachromite Gas (Major); Weakness – Cold (Minor:
see above).
SKILLS: Convince 2; Fighting 1; Knowledge 3; Marksman 2; Science 4; Technology 4.
EQUIPMENT: Control Box [Major Gadget]: Transmit (Minor); Hypnosis (Major); Restriction – only works on
Silurian pets.
STORY POINTS: 6

Esskorr is the brains of the bunch, having been instrumental in developing the Silurians’ time corridor prototype.
He is showing signs of his advanced years, with his scales having a faded, greyish tinge, and with patches of dry
flaking skin like a snake ready to slough. Although Esskorr is not a monster, he will not regard humans as the
Silurians’ equals. He will instead treat them as interesting specimens, or possibly even guinea pigs for his
experiments, unless they can convince him otherwise. He will not be unkindly without good reason, but will agree
with Bokrug’s view that the Earth of the future should belong to the Silurians.

Esskorr has a small pet pterosaur, Kor-Kal, which he can control using a control box which emits strange sing-
song noises when in use.

17
KOR-KAL, ESSKORR’S PTERASAUR PET:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 3; Coordination 3; Ingenuity 0; Presence 0; Resolve 0; Strength 1.

TRAITS: Alien (Special); Alien Appearance (Major); Fear Factor 1 (Special); Flight (Major: Speed 9); Natural
weapon (Teeth: Strength +2 damage); Tough (Minor: 2 points).
SKILLS: Athletics 2; Fighting 4; Survival 4.
STORY POINTS: 2

Kor-Kal is a small pterosaur, about the size of a kestrel. Despite a long jaw full of ferocious-looking teeth, his diet
is mainly insects and fish – though Esskorr also feeds him with small tidbits of meat as a treat. Kor-Kal is not
normally aggressive, though he may snap at any unwary fingers and will attack if Esskorr directs him to by using
a control device to manipulate the creature’s brain. Kor-Kal isn’t integral to the story, but provides a bit of colour.

TYPICAL SILURIAN WARRIOR:

ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 3; Coordination 4; Ingenuity 3; Presence 3; Resolve 4; Strength 4.

TRAITS: Alien (Special); Alien Appearance (Major); Burrowing (Minor: Speed 2 through soft material, or 1
through rock, etc); Fear Factor 2 (Special); Natural Weapon – Third Eye (Major: 7(3/7/10) or Stun damage);
Tough (Minor); Weakness – Hexachromite Gas (Major); Weakness – Cold (Minor: see above).
SKILLS: Athletics 2; Fighting 3; Marksman 4; Subterfuge 2; Survival 2; Technology 2.
STORY POINTS: 3

THE SILURIAN PLAN:

Once they have captured and questioned whichever humans came back in the time corridor, the Silurians will
prepare the next phase of their plan. Naturally, they are initially shocked that the future Earth is not ruled by their
own kind, but by a species of upstart ape whose ancestors were barely out of the trees in their time! Under
interrogation by Bokrug or by Esskorr’s mind scanner, they will have learned that due to the solar flares, the Earth
th
of the 7 Millennium is inhabited by only a thousand humans within the Dome, and by a few scattered tribes of
savages outside it. Bokrug is therefore confident that a rapid assault by his task force will quickly overwhelm any
resistance from the humans.

After that, his plan is less clear. He had expected the new Earth to be habitable and that he could easily locate
and awaken his sleeping brethren. Although he has plans of the locations of the hibernating Silurian colonies,
geological changes will mean that it is no longer so straightforward for him to find them. Even worse, the Earth is
irradiated by solar flares and is not habitable, even for a reptilian species like the Silurians. His back-up plan,
born of the desperation to leave his dying planet, is to capture the Dome and use the more advanced Time Snare
to project his task force even further into the future, another few thousand years when – as Devlar Kesh
anticipated – the Earth will once again be safe, and Bokrug can claim it for the Silurians before the humans can
return from their Ark in Space. More ambitiously, if Esskorr believes he can operate the Time Snare accurately
enough, Bokrug may even attempt to go back in time to wake his fellow brethren millions of years ago, after the
Earth has settled down again following the departure of the rogue planet.

Alternatively, if Bokrug has learned of the existence of the TARDIS and what it is, he will intend to capture it and
use it to transport his Silurians to a point in time only a few years in the Silurians’ future, as he had originally
planned with the time corridor. He will then be able to awaken the Silurians in hibernation and they would be able
to restore their civilisation. Naturally, this would be disastrous for the origins of mankind, and therefore for the
Web of Time itself!

Whether Bokrug takes the player characters back to the future with his task force depends on whether he is
convinced that they could be of some use to him. Perhaps Esskorr will want to take them. Or perhaps they will be
left behind to die in prehistory. It is even possible that the PCs escape and make it to the time corridor before
Bokrug’s task force has passed through, in which case he will hurriedly assemble a squad to pursue them.

18
SILURIANS ATTACK!

The Silurian attack on the Dome will be brutal. They will again take control of the Time Snare from their end and
will emerge from the archway in force only seconds after the PCs disappeared into the time corridor, immediately
attacking any humans in their way. Although Bokrug only has a few dozen warriors under his command, the
humans are unprepared for an attack from within the Dome.

Unless the players have been able to forewarn Devlar Kesh, the Silurians will quickly overrun the scientific
research areas before the alarms are even raised. After that, they will aim to gain control of the security area and
Kesh’s Command Centre, using any information taken from the time travellers to aid them.

The battle for the Command Centre will be fierce but brief, as the Silurians use their third eyes to cut through the
internal doors like butter and mow down any resistance. Once the Command Centre is taken, Kesh has little
option left but to surrender – though his obsession may lead him to make a suicidal attempt to stop the Silurians
first.

If the players had managed to get back to the Dome before the Silurians, then the humans will be prepared and
the Silurians will likely be walking into a trap. Alternatively, they could try to regain control of the Time Snare
before the Silurians emerge, either flinging them into the Vortex as the time corridor breaks free, or trapping them
in prehistory. It may be that the PCs are unable to prevent a massacre whatever they do. Or can they succeed
where the Doctor himself failed, and broker a peace between the species?

The GM should play out what is after all the climax of the adventure in whatever way will be most rewarding for
themselves and their players. Will they manage to warn the humans in time? Can they shut off the time corridor
before the pursuing Silurians come through? Could they convince the warring factions to talk rather than fight?
Are there opportunities for heroic action, saving a lost child from the advancing reptile-men, or leaping in front of
a shot intended for a friendly Silurian?

19
 CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE

OPTIONS FOR RESOLUTION:

There are a number of things the players will attempt to accomplish during this adventure, and they could achieve
each of these things in a number of ways. Set out below are the key objectives that they are most likely to try for
and some suggestions around how they could do this. But the GM should be aware that, players being players,
they are likely to come up with any number of alternative methods to bring the adventure to a close. It is also
worth noting that they may succeed with some of these objectives, but fail at others. This is not necessarily
disastrous, and it should be remembered that in the classic series the Doctor himself singularly failed to save the
Silurians and their marine cousins the Sea Devils in every televised encounter.

Sealing the Time Corridor:

The existence of the time corridor is a threat to mankind and to the future of the Earth.

If the players want to disable the Time Snare, then this is relatively easy to accomplish: they could simply resort
to brute force to smash key components, or they could be more discreet and sabotage it to fail catastrophically
when it’s next turned on.

How successful they are in the long run will of course depend on whether the human scientists are able to repair
the Time Snare. A more permanent solution might be to provide the scientists with the knowledge they need to
operate the Time Snare safely, without causing damage to the Vortex. Whether this is ethical or in itself causing
more problems is up to the players – and the GM, of course!

Persuading the humans that the Time Snare is not the solution to their problems is possible, but will be extremely
difficult so long as Devlar Kesh remains in charge. Professor Koros could be convinced by scientific argument
and back the players up.

Even if they leave the Time Snare intact, they will need to help repair it, to prevent the chronon pollution that is
currently leaking from it, as well as to stop it damaging the Vortex.

Saving the Humans:

Should the players prevent Devlar Kesh from taking his human survivors into the future? This is open to debate.
Although history does not record that Kesh’s people ever did arrive in their future and establish a new era for
humanity, it does not mean to say that they did not achieve their aim. Perhaps they arrived in the future, but did
not survive for long enough the make an impact. Perhaps they were rescued by humans from the former Earth
colonies who were exploring the abandoned planet. Perhaps they succeeded in founding an empire which
coincided with the awakening of the sleepers on Nerva. Or perhaps their fate is unknown, as is so much of
history in this future Dark Age caused by the solar flares. In the thousands of years before Earth is truly
repopulated, there may be room for Devlar Kesh’s people after all.

The Fate of the Silurians:

Survival for the Silurians will be more difficult to achieve, as the ones in this story are naturally hostile to mankind,
a species that they have no prior knowledge of and therefore no emotional resonance with. Why should they not
wipe the humans out and reclaim their planet? Nevertheless, the players may attempt to create some sort of
peace between the Silurians and the humans. This is the ideal outcome, but one which is more likely to succeed
if Bokrug has been killed.

An alternative would be for the PCs to transport the Silurians to somewhere they can colonise. At various points
th
in our future after the 20 Century, a number of Silurian and Sea Devil colonies lived among human society after
they were awakened. Some of them even travelled into space to found their own colonies among the stars. Could
Bokrug’s people be persuaded to join them?

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Otherwise, the Silurians may find themselves either trapped in the past on a dying Earth, or slaughtered by the
humans.

Recovering the TARDIS:

For the player characters, a personal objective will be to recover the TARDIS. They may need to steal it back
from Devlar Kesh, or even from the Silurians. Whatever the circumstances, their chance of success once
everything else has been sorted out should be fairly good. Some of the humans may even help them on their way
out of gratitude.

CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE:

The possible outcomes to this adventure suggest a few ways in which the story can be extended. For example,
the players could travel into the future to see what happened to the inhabitants of the Dome – perhaps some
other threat waits for them there. Or taking the Silurians to a new home among the stars could be an adventure in
itself.

The Time Snare itself could open up portals to any number of parallel Earths, which the TARDIS may be drawn
into. The players may need to close these portals down, after escaping from a series of adventures in the parallel
worlds, naturally!

Maybe the player characters will find themselves adrift in time, most likely because of the instability of the time
corridor. They may even find themselves trapped on prehistoric Earth as the rogue planet gets ever closer and
the Silurians have vanished into the future. How will they get back to their TARDIS?

If the players stranded the Silurians on prehistoric Earth, then this leaves things ripe for a rematch: maybe
Bokrug’s force managed to make it to a hibernation chamber at the last minute, and will wake millions of years in
their future...

Finally, Hy-Brasil is the name of an island in Irish myth somewhere off the west coast of the British Isles. But how
could Irish legends recall the name of a Silurian city which was destroyed millions of years ago? Perhaps the
early settlers of Ireland encountered something that was more than mere myth...

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