The Time Lords were inhabitants of the planet Gallifrey, who were most famous for the creation and attempted monopolization of time travel technology. They created and upheld the Laws of Time.
Time Lords were sensitive to timelines, being able to see “all that is, all that was, all that ever could be,” but also “what must not [be]”. They had an instinctive urge to stay away from events that would always happen. They were seen as nearly immortal, partially due to their ability to regenerate.
Time Lord Traits
Your time lord/lady character has the following traits shared by all iterations of the species.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Time lords are theoretically immortal. A time lord’s ability to regenerate allows it to live a minimum of 13 iterations (after 12 regenerations), and a time lord can live over 1,000 years in a single iteration. Certain particularly clever time lords live beyond even 13 generations. A time lord typically claims adulthood around their 200th birthday (regardless of current iteration).
Alignment. Most time lords tend towards lawful alignments, seeing it as their natural duty to uphold the laws of time and cause as little damage to the time stream as possible. Rogue time lords, however, have been known to ignore the law in order to do good (or evil).
Size. Timelords are human in appearance, ranging from 5 to over 6 feet tall, typically with a slender build, likely due to higher metabolisms. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Clever. You have proficiency in the Insight skill. You also start with one talent. Roll or choose your talent on the Time Lord Talents table below.
Time Lord Durability. You have resistance to radiant damage.
Time Lord Regeneration. If you die, your body regenerates in 1d10 minutes, changing your appearance, personality, and potentially your alignment and gender as you do. Your name and memories stay the same as do most of your skills, features, and abilities. Roll on the Time Lord Regeneration Changes tables below to determine your new identity.
Once you regenerate, you regain all your lost hit points and become active again. Regenerating is an ordeal. You take a -4 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Every time you finish a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears. If you die again before the penalty disappears, you are permanently dead and cannot regenerate. Once you’ve regenerated 12 times you cannot regenerate any further.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice. Most time lords are polyglots that can speak billions of languages. Don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of time to learn some more.
Time Lord/Lady Regeneration Changes
When you regenerate, select traits or roll on each of the tables below to determine the changes your body and personality goes through during the regeneration process.
Time Lord/Lady Gender
Roll to determine if your gender changes.
| d10 | Result |
| 1-9 | Your gender stays the same |
| 10 | You change to the opposite sex |
Time Lord Alignment
Roll to determine if your alignment changes. (Edit: whoops, looks like I forgot CN. Will add tomorrow.).
| d100 | Result |
| 01-75 | Your alignment stays the same |
| 86-81 | Lawful Neutral |
| 82-87 | Lawful Good |
| 88-90 | Lawful Evil |
| 91-93 | Neutral |
| 94-96 | Neutral Good |
| 97-98 | Chaotic Good |
| 99 | Neutral Evil |
| 00 | Chaotic Evil |
Time Lord Age Appearance
Roll to determine your perceived age.
| 2d4 | The Age You Appear |
| 2 | Teenager (late teen years) |
| 3 |
Young adult (early to mid-twenties)
|
| 4 |
Adult (late twenties to mid-thirties)
|
| 5 |
Middle-aged (late thirties to early fifties)
|
| 6 |
Old (mid-fifties to early seventies)
|
| 7 |
Elderly (mid-seventies to late-eighties)
|
| 8 |
Venerable (early nineties or older)
|
Time Lord Physical Capabilities
Roll to determine if your physical capabilities change.
| d20 | Change |
| 1-14 |
No change to physical capabilities
|
| 15 | Stronger but slower (Str +1, Dex -1) |
| 16 | Stronger but fragile (Str +1, Con -1) |
| 17 | Fast but weak (Dex +1, Str -1) |
| 18 | Fast but fragile (Dex +1, Con -1) |
| 19 | Tough but weak (Con +1, Str -1) |
| 20 | Tough but slow (Con +1, Dex -1) |
Time Lord Talents
Roll or choose a new talent. New talents that you learn replace talents from your previous iteration.
d100 |
New Talent |
| 01-08 | Plays an instrument. You gain proficiency in one musical instrument of your choice. |
|
09-16 |
Great with animals. You gain proficiency in the Animal Handling skill. |
| 17-24 | Great with children. You have advantage on all Charisma ability checks when interacting with children. |
| 25-32 | Great at solving puzzles. You have advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to solve puzzles. |
| 33-40 | Great at one game. You gain proficiency in one gaming set of your choice. |
| 41-48 | Great at impersonations. You have advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks made to impersonate another person. |
| 49-55 | Draws beautifully. You gain proficiency in calligrapher’s supplies. |
| 56-63 | Paints beautifully. You gain proficiency in painter’s supplies. |
| 64-71 | Sings beautifully. You have advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks made to sing. |
| 72-78 | Expert carpenter. You gain proficiency in carpenter’s tools. |
| 79-85 | Expert cook. You gain proficiency in cook’s utensils. |
| 86-92 | Expert juggler. You have advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks made to juggle. |
| 93-00 | Skilled dancer. You have advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks made to dance. |
Time Lord Mannerisms
Roll or choose a mannerism.
| d20 | Mannerisms |
| 1 |
Prone to singing, whistling or humming quietly
|
| 2 |
Speaks in rhyme or some other peculiar way
|
| 3 | Particularly low or high voice |
| 4 | Slurs words, lisps, or stutters |
| 5 | Enunciates overly clearly |
| 6 | Speaks loudly |
| 7 | Whispers |
| 8 | Uses flowery speech or long words |
| 9 | Frequently uses the wrong word |
| 10 |
Uses colorful oaths and exclamations
|
| 11 | Makes constant jokes or puns |
| 12 | Prone to predictions of doom |
| 13 | Fidgets |
| 14 | Squints |
| 15 | Stares into the distance |
| 16 | Chews something |
| 17 | Paces |
| 18 | Taps Fingers |
| 19 | Bites fingernails |
|
20 |
Twirls hair or tugs beard |
Personality Traits
Roll or choose a personality trait.
| d12 | Personality Trait |
| 1 |
“I am always right; don’t even try to argue with me.”
|
| 2 |
“I’m the best at what I do; there’s no one better.”
|
| 3 |
“Stay out of my way before you get hurt.”
|
| 4 |
“A lot of people think I’m rude. And I think those people are dumb and ugly.”
|
| 5 |
“I’m always interested in puzzles and mysteries.”
|
| 6 |
“I love meeting new people and being friendly towards them, even if they don’t feel the same about me.”
|
| 7 |
“I always tell the truth, even if it gets me into trouble.”
|
| 8 |
“It doesn’t take much to set me off.”
|
| 9 |
“I find myself often irritated by the actions (or inaction) of others.”
|
| 10 |
“I like to sit and ponder about things.”
|
| 11 | “I’m quiet.” |
| 12 |
“I don’t trust anyone and I’m always suspicious.”
|
Time Lords Ideals
Roll or choose an ideal based on your alignment.
| d6 | Good Ideal | d6 | Evil Ideal |
| 1 | Beauty. “I see the beauty in all things.” | 1 |
Domination. “All beings must tremble before my might.”
|
| 2 | Charity. “I want to give something back to the universe.” | 2 |
Greed. “If I want something, I must have it.”
|
| 3 | Greater good. “I must always do what is best for the greater number of people.” | 3 | Might. “Only the strong survive.” |
| 4 | Life. “All life is precious.” | 4 |
Pain. “I want to cause pain in others.”
|
| 5 | Respect. “Above all, everyone must give respect where it is due.” | 5 |
Retribution. “Any slight against me will not go unanswered.”
|
| 6 | Self-sacrifice. “I would do anything to help others.” | 6 | Slaughter. “Death to the unworthy.” |
| d6 | Lawful Ideal | d6 | Chaotic Ideal |
| 1 | Community. “I am a servant of my homeland.” | 1 |
Change. “If we don’t alter our course, we are doomed.”
|
| 2 | Fairness. “All beings are created equal.” | 2 |
Creativity. “Freedom of expression supersedes everything.”
|
| 3 | Honor. “Nothing stands in the way of my duty.” | 3 |
Freedom. “No chains, figurative or literal, can bind me.”
|
| 4 | Logic. “Order must be preserved and chaos thwarted.” | 4 |
Independence. “I am free to do as I please and I am beholden to none.”
|
| 5 | Responsibility. “I put my mission before everything else.” | 5 | No limits. “I live at the edge.” |
| 6 | Tradition. “This is the way it has always been.” | 6 |
Whimsy. “I make and keep no promises.”
|
| d6 | Neutral Ideal | d6 | Other Ideals |
| 1 | Balance. “All things in the universe must be balanced.” | 1 |
Aspiration. “I was born for greater things.”
|
| 2 | Knowledge. “If you aren’t learning, you’re dying.” | 2 |
Discovery. “There are new worlds and things I wish to experience.”
|
| 3 | Live and let live. “It is not my place to say whether someone lives or dies.” | 3 |
Glory. “I want my name to remember throughout all of history.”
|
| 4 | Moderation. “I must respect my own limitations.” | 4 |
Nation. “All that matters is the motherland.”
|
| 5 | Neutrality. “I don’t take sides.” | 5 |
Redemption. “I strive to make reparations for the past misdeeds of myself or others.”
|
| 6 | People. “Good or bad, lawful or chaotic, people are what matter.” | 6 |
Self-knowledge. “True knowledge is in knowing thyself.”
|
Time Lord Bonds
Roll or choose a bond.
| d10 | Bond |
| 1 |
Dedicated to fulfilling a personal life goal.
|
| 2 |
Protective of a close family member.
|
| 3 |
Protective of colleagues or companions.
|
| 4 |
Loyal to a benefactor, patron, or employer
|
| 5 |
Captivated by a romantic interest
|
| 6 | Drawn to a special place |
| 7 |
Protective of a sentimental keepsake
|
| 8 |
Protective of a valuable possession
|
| 9 | Out for revenge |
| 10 |
Dedicated to preserving a culture or species.
|
Time Lord Flaws
Roll or choose a flaw.
| d10 | Flaw |
| 1 | “I enjoy decadent pleasures.” |
| 2 |
“I am arrogant and often seen as rude.”
|
| 3 |
“I envy another person’s possessions or station.”
|
| 5 | “I am uncontrollably greedy.” |
| 6 | “I am prone to fits of rage.” |
| 7 | “I have a severe phobia.” |
| 8 |
“I am prone to bouts of foolhardy bravery.”
|
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Great stuff. However, technically, Gallifreyans are effectively ordinary Humans. A Timelord or Lady is “made”. She or he is shown the Eye of Time on Gallifrey [see various stories in the modern Doctor Who series which relate to The Doctor’s and/or The Master’s background]. Thus. technically,the Timelord is a Character Class, or a Character Prestige Class [3.0 / 3.5 Ed terminology]. Considering the survivability of a Timelord, it should probably realistically be an Epic option [ie. for Levels 21-30].
Additionally, in the relaunched [Modern Doctor Who] series, the newly-regenerated Timelord has on several occasions shown a “Residual Resilience” characteristic. This is an ability to take massive Damage and effectively ignore it, even to the extent of eg. losing a hand, which them regenerates in pretty short order.
Also, The Doctor seems to be living in reverse Time-Flow [his Regenerations generally tend to get progressively younger as their Iteration Number increases]. This is why he and another recurring Character keep notebooks for “spoilers”, because they are living through Temporal Space in reverse relative directions.
Regards,
Christopher Simpson.
I agree that timelord should be a race. The Rassilon Imprimatur changes you generically. But most of them never leave the planet. So I would have their alignment be more Chaotic seeing that only rogue timelords tend to venture to other planets. As NPCs, I would make their alignment Neutral Good, as the ones homebound tend to be isolationist.
That’s the joy of making stuff from Dr. Who. There’s so much background on them, it’s hard to get everything perfect LOL
I appreciate the feedback, though! Maybe I’ll revisit them later.