That’s the trouble with regeneration – you never quite know what you’re going to get...” The 5th Doctor – ‘Castrovalva’ (1982)
The first expansion for the Doctor Who Solitaire Story Game (DWSSG3e+) is ‘All of Time and Space 1’ (AOTAS1) and will be released in a little over 2 weeks on, naturally, November 23rd 2026.
This first expansion adds both the 5th Doctor and 12th Doctor, along with their Companions, Gadgets and Ideas to the game, together with their new TARDIS Mats. So this week, let’s showcase the 5th Doctor:
The Firth Doctor – Peter Davison (1982-1984)
The Fifth Doctor is a gentler, compassionate and quietly heroic incarnation of the Doctor. Unlike some of his more flamboyant predecessors, he has an understated and modest manner, combining great intelligence and wisdom with a youthful, approachable personality. He can be uncertain, frustrated and occasionally irritable, particularly when faced with difficult moral choices, or the loss of those in his care. He feels a strong responsibility towards his companions and is profoundly affected when he can’t protect them. Ultimately, this Doctor is a fundamentally kind-hearted individual whose greatest strength is his humanity. He would always rather save everyone than defeat anyone, and his quiet courage is rooted in compassion.
In DWSSG3e+, the 5th Doctor gains a good range of skills and a particularly high Bravery of 6 which reflects his willingness to put himself in danger, and ultimately sacrifice his own life for his companion Peri on Androzani. His special ability allows him to inspire others to be better versions of themselves.
AOTAS1 provides the 5th Doctor with the Companions that began his era – Adric, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka. Although they are quite expensive, each having a Luck cost of 3, they are a very powerful team when together, and have a great variety of skills and special abilities.
The 5th Doctor famously lost his sonic screwdriver to the Terileptils early in his regeneration (‘The Visitation’), so his Gadgets reflect a more ‘back to basics’ situation with Cricket Ball and some Celery. He also has a TARDIS Tool Kit which is very handy in providing Engineer as a skill.
I’m very fond of the 5th Doctor era and look forward to seeing players experience his adventures in DWSSG3+.
What is DWSSG3e+?
DWSSG is a free print and play solitaire paragraph-booklet adventure game where the player assumes the role of the intrepid Time Lord himself - the Doctor! A player can travel in the TARDIS through time and space, meeting companions old and new, and fighting deadly enemies such as the Daleks or Cybermen. Like Doctor Who on television over the last 60+ years, DWSSG, has seen many incarnations since being created in 2009.
DWSSG3e+ is a revisit to the DWSSG3e system, and a pretty major revamp where rules have been tweaked, omitted and added, so that the game is even more thematic, even more narrative-driven, and even better at creating a Doctor Who episode as you play it.
What’s included in DWSSG3e+?
The game has 3 Booklets – Rules, Adventures and Enemies. I have also created a brand new Tutorial Booklet to guide players through their first game and act as a helpful tool. The Booklets are supported by a set of 96 cards, some Reference Sheets, TARDIS Mats, tokens and a new ‘TARDIS Console’ sheet.
DWSSG3e+ and the upcoming AOTAS1 are a FREE set of PDF files to download and PNP.
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“All of time and space - everything that ever happened or ever will. Where do you want to start?”