Day of the Doctor, Triffids, and 200 Posts

Today is the big day. I know many of you are Whovians too. Unfortunately, I have plans and won't get to watch it until tomorrow.

Google has a simple, but fun game today on its page. I also want to take this time to plug a free indie hip hop tribute to Doctor Who. Rapper, More or Les, has released his love letter to the Doctor, Bigger on the Inside: A Time Traveler's Mix Tape.I have one word to describe it... fantastic!

In honor of the day (and one of my latest movie purchases), I'm going to stat out the infamous Triffids for Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space (and Primeval). Note that my triffids are based on the 1962 film with some inspiration drawn from this post. Also, if you aren't familiar with Threat (a creature attribute from Primeval) ignore it, and allow the Triffid to use the stinger ability once or twice an encounter. Also, if you aren't familiar with triffids, check out the movie, one of the series, the book, or the wikipedia article.

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Triffid
Home Period: Unknown

Attributes

Awareness 2 Coordination 2

Ingenuity 1

Presence 2  Resolve 5

Strength 8

Speed: Slow     Small: Big

Maximum Threat: 10

Threshold: 5

Traits:

Armour (Minor Good): Triffids unique plant physiology allows them to shrug off most damage. Electricity, fire, and cold attacks ignore this armour.
Fast Healing (Special Good): Unless the damage is caused by fire or salt water, triffids can heal back from nearly any wound.
Fear Factor (Minor Good): Triffids are are frightening to behold and create an unnerving sound when they move.
Immunity (Major Good): The aforementioned physiology effectively renders triffids immune to damage from bullets.
Natural Weapons (Minor Good): Triffids can make slam attacks with their large stalks.
Poison (Special Good): The triffid's stinger is injects a deadly poison. A person infected with it must make a Strength and Resolve check against a Difficulty of 12, once every hour. If they fail the check they are rendered unconscious.  They must make the check every hour until a cure is found and administered. On a disastrous Failure, the victim dies.
Weakness (Major Bad): Being plants, triffids, are weak against fire and cold attacks (these attacks are doubly effective). In addition salt water quickly kills the creatures, causing them to dissolve.

Threat Powers

Stinger (1 Threat): The triffid can spend 1 threat to shoot a poisonous tendril at it's prey. This attack only does have the damage of the creature's slam attack (+ plus poison), but the triffid can make an extra stinger attack each round at the cost of one Threat per attack.

Skills: Athletics 2, Fighting 3, Marksmen 3, Subterfuge 3, Survival 2

I haven't tested these yet, but comparing them to other stats from the book, they seem to be on par. 

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I also wanted to mention that this is my 200th post. I hope the next 200 occur more frequently and are more substantial. 

Graboids - 02 - Shriekers

I've already statted out graboids for Cubical 7's Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space and Primeval RPGs. Today I present to you the second step in the Graboid life cycle, the shrieker. For more information about that, check out the movie (which is an Instant View on Netflix).

Shriekers

Attributes

Awareness 5* Coordination 3

Ingenuity 1

Presence 3  Resolve 5

Strength 4

Speed: Average                Small: Small

Maximum Threat: 8

Threshold: 4

Traits:

Aggressive: When threatened, the shrieker’s Threat Threshold is reduced by 2.

Bite: Shriekers have strong mandibles. They can make a bite attack that does Strength + 2 damage.

* Infrared Vision: Shrieker vision is based on heat. Areas of effectively blind them (giving them an affective Awareness of 1).

Threat Powers

Chew Through Armor (1 Threat): The shrieker can spend 1 threat to ignore up to three points of armor from a single bite attack.

Snap (2 Threat): The Shrieker can make another bite attack. This doesn’t cost an action, the shrieker can keep snapping as long as it has Threat to spend.

Warning (2 Threat): The Shrieker can release waves of heat to alert others. Increase the Threat of all shriekers and assblasters in the area.

Who's Who - H.P. Lovecraft

Today I finally received my physical copies of Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space and Primeval. In honor of that I've decided to stat up a guest star that I plan on using occasionally, H.P. Lovecraft. Because of his appearance and the fact that he's starred in so many "Lovecraftian" movies (and as Lovecraft himself in the dreadful horror anthology "Necronomicon") I cast my favorite horror actor, Jeffrey Combs as Lovecraft. I know Lovecraft had many characters flaws and wasn't the adventurous sort, but I think he'd make an entertaining guest star. Plus, I like the idea of a few adventures with the Doctor inspiring some of his creations.

Name: Howard Philips Lovecraft

Species: Human

Home Tech Level: 4

Personal Goal: 

Story Points: 12

Attributes:

Awareness 4   Coordination 3

Ingenuity 5     Presence 2

Resolve 4        Strength 2

Traits:

Brave [“Unphased” would be a better name], Face in the Crowd, Hypnosis, Photographic Memory, Psychic Training

Unadventurous, Unlucky

Skills:

Convince 3, Craft 3 (Writing), Fighting 2, Knowledge 3 (Literature), Marksman 1, Medicine 1, Science 2,  Subterfuge 2

Stuff:

Sword Cane (Str+2)

Background: 

Most people know HP Lovecraft as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20^th century. What many don’t know is that during his younger years he was also an occasional traveling companion and ally of the Doctor. Despite being a homebody, H.P. had several adventures with the Doctor (gaining inspiration for the creatures of his Mythos) though misfortune seemed to plague him.  

Tremors - 01 - Graboids

In the past I have expressed my love for the Tremors movies. They are cheesy as hell, but a lot of fun. Also, as I mentioned in my post yesterday I'm looking for new aliens and creatures to through into an upcoming Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space campaign that I'd like to run. Why not Graboids?

Since I have both Doctor Who:AITAS and Primeval (which use the same system) I statted out Graboids using Primeval (which has more creature rules). If you don't have Primeval there is still enough here to use in a Who game. 

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Graboid

Attributes

Awareness 5 Coordination 2 Ingenuity 1

Presence 4 Resolve 4 Strength 15

Speed: Average  Size: Huge

Maximum Threat: 12

Threshold: 6

Traits

Aggressive; Graboids are quick to attack. When attacked their threshold is reduced by two.

Armour: 4

Burrow: Graboids can burrow through the earth with relative ease. Normally thick stone and harder substances will stop them (though see below).

Bite: Graboids have massive jaws and that can literally bite a man in two. Their bite attack can do Strength + 2 damage.

Tremorsense: Graboids detect things by sensing vibrations in the earth. They are considered to have an Awareness 5 for that purpose. If vibrations aren't felt, they are considered to have an Awareness of 1. 

Threat Powers

Break Through (2 Threat): The graboid can attempt to break through a harder substance. They gain a +4 bonus to their Str+Athletics task.

Extend Mouth Tentacles (2 Threat): The Graboid shoots out three serpent-like tentacles, attacking for 6 damage (4/8/12) with a +2 bonus to the attack.

Skills: Athletics 4, Fighting 2, Marksman 1, Survival 2

For Doctor Who: This one is simple enough. Have a malfunctioning TARDIS land in an isolated area with an active Graboid population (such as Perfection, NV). The Doctor and Companions have to stay alive, while trying to repair the TARDIS.

For Primeval: The first use of Graboids in a Primeval game is obvious. Have an anomaly send the characters back to the time of the Graboids. The movies intentionally kept this vague. Another interesting idea would be to send the party to an isolated area in which Graboids have resurfaced (much like Perfection, NV). What do the characters do when they realize that the problem can't be solved by sending the creatures back through an anomaly? 

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Over the next few days I will post the stats for Shriekers, Assblasters (which I will rename Bumblasters), and  probably El Blanco. 

Attack the Block (Updated with Primeval and Doctor Who: AITAS stats)

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching one of my favorite monster flicks of the past few years, Attack the Block. The film centers around a young London street gang that must defend themselves from alien invaders. The movie is fun, and while none of the characters are that appealing at the start, they really do grow on you (which is one of the points of the film). I didn't really recognize any of the actors other than Nick Frost (who doesn't have a major role in the movie). If you haven't seen the movie I highly recommend it. Its fun, has great dialogue, and memorable characters.
Of course, I had to find some sort of gaming application for the movie. I've been looking for "new" aliens to throw into a Doctor Who game so I decided to stat our the unamed alien invaders.

(Revised on 2-11-13:  Forgot to give aliens skill ranks. Also, traits for the compatible Primeval RPG have been added. Revis again on 10-10-13, I don't know why I didn't think of the name Blue Tooth. Snagged name from this post over at A Field Guide to Doomsday.)

BlueTooth

Attributes
Awareness 3
Coordination 4
Ingenuity 1
Presence 5
Resolve 3
Strength 6

Skills
Athletics 3, Fighting 4, Subterfuge 3 (Stealth), Survival 3

For Doctor Who:AITAS
Traits
Alien
Alien Appearance (major)
Alien Sense (Pheromone)
Armour (minor)
Climbing (major)
Environmental Adaptation (Vacuum, major)
Fear Factor
Natural Weapons (minor)

For Primeval
Speed: Fast  Size: Average
Maximum Threat: 10
Threshold: 5 (Unless target is covered in pheromone, in which the Blue Tooth will always attack).

Traits
Armour: 4
Claws: Blue Teeth have climbing claws that can also be used to slash at opponents. They do Strength damage (3/6/9).
Bite: Blue Teeth have strong jaws and sharp, tearing teeth. It has a bite attack that does Strength+2 damage)

Fear Factor 1: +2 to rolls when trying to intimidate prey, and humans need to make a Fear test when they first meet the monster.

Threat Power:
Frenzy (Costs 4 Threat): The Blue Tooth goes into a frenzy, attacking savagely until it misses with an attack or makes five attacks, whichever comes first. While frenzying, the monster cannot make Reactions.

Blue Teeth are blind, gorilla-sized aliens with spiky black fur. Their fur is so dark that it reflects no light. However, the creatures can be detected in the darkness because of their multiple rows of glowing blue teeth. Blue Teeth are simple bestial creatures. They travel through space likes spores, drifting on solar winds until the find a suitable planet.  When they find a such a place, the female releases a strong pheromone that attracts the males.Any none Blue Teeth covered in the pheromone will be hunted mercilessly as prey. The dangerous creatures can be quite formidable and more than one community has been destroyed by an infestation.

Turtles in Time - April O'Neil and Casey Jones

Continuing with my Doctor Who/TMNT mash-up I give you Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space stats for the Turtles closest human allies, April O'Neil and Casey Jones.

Name: April O'Neil

Species: Human
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Personal Goal: Not be a damsel
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 3   Coordination 3
Ingenuity 4     Presence 4
Resolve 4        Strength 3

Traits:
Attractive, Boffin, Friends, Photographic Memory,  Technically Adept

Adversary (Minor), Distinctive, Impulsive, Insatiable Curiosity  

Skills:
Athletics 1,  Convince 2, Craft 3,  Fighting  3,  Subterfuge 2, Technology 4, Transport 2

Background: April the Turtles' closest friend and confidant. The first human they had friendly contact with, she quickly became an important part of the family. Brilliant and independent, April doesn't like to play the part of the damsel. The Turtles and Splinter have taught her some ninjutsu, so she can hold her own in a fight. Also, while not on the same level as Donatello, April is a skilled computer programmer and former intern to Baxter Stockman.

Other Notes:
The above version of April represents the most common (though not necessarily well known) version of her. If you'd prefer the more popular I would drop Boffin and Technically Adept, but add Screamer. Her convince is increased to 4 (Reporting), but her Technology goes down to 2 and her Fighting becomes 1.

Many version of April are romantically linked to Casey Jones. In the Fox cartoon series it is revealed that the eventually marry and have children.

Name: Arnold Bernid "Casey" Jones
Species: Human
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Personal Goal: Bust some skulls!
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 2   Coordination 3
Ingenuity 3     Presence 3
Resolve 5        Strength 5

Traits:
Brave, Fast Healing (Major), Tough

Adversary (Minor),  Argumentative, Impulsive, Obsession (Minor)  

Skills:
Athletics 4,  Convince 3 (Intimidate), Fighting  5,  Marksman 2, Medicine 1, Subterfuge 2, Survival 2, Technology 2, Transport 3

Stuff:
Baseball Bat (Str +2 Damage)

Background: Growing up in NYC, Casey Jones had a rough life. It wasn't that he had a bad home life,  but his neighborhood was overrun by criminals. Casey decided to fight back. He bought some martial arts books and started a heavy work out regiment. He then donned a hockey mask, armed himself with sporting goods, and began a one man war on the scum of the city. Initially coming into conflict with Raphael, the pair quickly became friends. 

Casey isn't the most brightest or most sophisticated guy, but he's loyal and great to have in a fight.


Other Notes:
The original comic and cartoon versions of Casey Jones were more unhinged. Code (Major) in reference to his vigilante code would be suitable.

Turtles in Time - Venus de Milo

Okay, now that the brothers are out of the way it's time to go with secondary and tertiary characters (and other requests).  This is Venus de Milo, the apocryphal fifth Turtle. Sister to the others, she's a sore spot to some Turtles fans (and according to some things I've read one of the two creators). She only appeared in the live-action series, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (the Fox series that had a crossover with Power Rangers... which could be a new line of... no I refuse!). While I wasn't exactly a fan, as a female friend of mine pointed out, "If you were a geeky girl growing up, she rocked."

I'm going to be honest, I don't remember much about her and had to check out the wikipedia page to refresh. One of the main things I remember though was that she practiced magic. Since that doesn't exist in the Whoverse, I gave her psychic powers.

Name: Venus de Milo
Species: Mutant Animal/Alien
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Home Planet/Dimension: Earth NM
Personal Goal: 
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 4   Coordination 5
Ingenuity 3     Presence 3
Resolve 5        Strength 3

Traits:
Alien,  Armour (Minor), Environmental (Aquatic), Quick Reflexes, Precognition, Psychic  Telekinesis, Tough

Alien Appearance (Minor), Code of Conduct (Major), Technically Inept

Skills:
Athletics 3,  Craft 2,  Fighting  3, Knowledge 3 (Mysticism), Marksman 3 (Telekinesis/Mystic Orbs),  Medicine 2,  Subterfuge 2, Survival 2, Transport 2

Background:
When Splinter gathered the Turtles, he accidentally missed a fifth turtle.Somehow the young turtle made her way to Chinatown where she was found by a bushido mystic named I Chung (who named her Mei Pieh Chi). She was trained in the mystic arts, but not ninjitsu like the others (though she was trained to fight).Upon his death I Chung informed her of her true origin and she ventured to New York to rejoin the other Turtles. After their first victory, she took the name Venus de Milo, to be more like her artistically named Turtles. She was shown to wield mystic orbs in combat.

Other Notes:
These versions of the Turtles were not biologically related. This was probably to make a romantic subplot between Venus and one of the other Turtles possible.

Turtles in Time - Donatello

(The Turtles are on roughly equal footing with a starting character, though they may be a few points over the starting amount.)

Name: Donatello
Species: Mutant Animal/Alien
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Personal Goal: Invent and Learn
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 3   Coordination 4
Ingenuity 5     Presence 3
Resolve 3        Strength 3

Traits:
Alien,  Armour (Minor), Boffin, Environmental (Aquatic), Quick Reflexes, Technically Adept, Tough

Alien Appearance (Minor), Code of Conduct (Minor)

Skills:
Athletics 3,  Craft 1,  Fighting  3, Knowledge 3 , Marksman 2, Science 5 (Gadgetry), Subterfuge 4 (Sneaking), Survival 1, Technology 3, Transport 3

Stuff: Bo Staff (Str + 2 Damage), various gadgets

Background:
If Michelangelo is the heart of the Turtles, then Donatello is the brains. He is easily the most intelligent of the brothers and tends to speak in technobabble. He tends to focus more on technology than ninjitsu. The Turtles have benefited from this though, as Donatello has created most of their gear. This sometimes causes him to have a chip on his shoulder, but he is ultimately an optimistic turtle.

Variations: 
The Turtles origins have always been tied to the Ooze (though Michael Bay's film is supposed to make them aliens). In some versions the Ooze was created on Earth but in a few it is of alien origin. Donatello is very similar in most depictions of TMNT. However it should be noted that in the newest version he has a serious crush on April.

Turtles in Time - Michelangelo

(The Turtles are on roughly equal footing with a starting character, though they may be a few points over the starting amount.)

Name: Michelangelo
Species: Mutant Animal/Alien
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century

Personal Goal: Have fun
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 3   Coordination 5
Ingenuity 3     Presence 4
Resolve 3        Strength 4

Traits:
Alien,  Brave, Armour (Minor), Environmental (Aquatic), Quick Reflexes, Tough

Alien Appearance (Minor), Code of Conduct (Minor), Impulsive

Skills:
Athletics 3, Convince (Wisecracks) 3, Craft 3,  Fighting  3, Knowledge 3 (Geeklore), Marksman 2, Subterfuge 4 (Sneaking), Survival 1, Transport 2

Stuff: Twin Nunchaku (Str + 2 Damage)


Background:
Michaelangelo is the heart of the Turtles. He is easy-going and free spirited. He is the comic relief of the group, most of the time. He's the youngest of the turtles and while he loves to relax and eat pizza, he's also quite adventurous and creative.

Variations: 
The Turtles origins have always been tied to the Ooze (though Michael Bay's film is supposed to make them aliens). In some versions the Ooze was created on Earth but in a few it is of alien origin. In the 2K3 TMNT cartoon Mikey was shown to be a huge comic book geek. He even created a superhero alter-ego, the Turtle Titan, and teamed up with the premiere supers team on his world, Justice Force. He was also shown to have a special connection with animals. He had a pet kitten and befriend a triceratops when the turtles traveled back to prehistoric time. I'd give him Animal Friendship. 

Turtles in Time - Raphael

(The Turtles are on roughly equal footing with a starting character, though they may be a few points over the starting amount.)

Name: Raphael
Species: Mutant Animal/Alien
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Personal Goal: Kick some shell!
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 3   Coordination 5
Ingenuity 3     Presence 2
Resolve 4        Strength 5

Traits:
Alien,  Brave, Armour (Minor), Environmental (Aquatic), Quick Reflexes, Tough 

Alien Appearance (Minor), Argumentative, Impulsive

Skills:
Athletics 4, Craft 1, Fighting  4, Marksman 3, Subterfuge 4 (Sneaking), Survival 2, Transport 3 (Motorcycles)

Stuff: Twin Sai (Str + 2 Damage, Fighting skill considered +2 when attempting to disarm opponent), Shellcycle


Background:
Raphael is the second oldest of the brothers. Unlike the level-headed Leonardo, Raph is known for his hot-headed nature and looking before he leaps. He tends to experience extreme emotions, whether they be frustration, anger, or rebelliousness  While Raphael often argues with his older brother, Leo, and pick on his younger siblings, he is still extremely loyal to his brothers and his friends,  especially fellow hot-head Casey Jones.

Variations: 

The Turtles origins have always been tied to the Ooze (though Michael Bay's film is supposed to make them aliens). In some versions the Ooze was created on Earth but in a few it is of alien origin. In the movie TMNT Raph is shown to have a masked vigilante alter-ego, the Night Watcher. In this version give him the Night Watchter costume (which gives him to additional points of Armour), a chain (Str+2 short ranged weapon, though it still uses Fighting for Test purposes). Also, in the newest cartoon series, Raphael has a pet (normal) turtle named Spike, that he often confides in

Turtles in Time - Leonardo

(The Turtles are on roughly equal footing with a starting character, though they may be a few points over the starting amount.)

Name: Leonardo
Species: Mutant Animal/Alien
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Personal Goal: Keep his brothers safe, Lead
Story Points: 12

Attributes:
Awareness 3   Coordination 5
Ingenuity 3     Presence 3
Resolve 3        Strength 4

Traits:
Alien,  Brave, Armour (Minor), Environmental (Aquatic), Quick Reflexes, Tough, Voice of Authority

Alien Appearance (Minor), Code of Conduct (Major)

Skills:
Athletics 3, Convince (Leading) 3, Fighting  5, Knowledge 1, Marksman 2, Subterfuge 4 (Sneaking), Survival 1, Transport 1

Stuff: Twin Katana (Str + 3 Damage)

Background:
Leonardo is the eldest of the Turtles and the most calm. He is the de facto leader of the group and most "spiritual" of the brothers. He has a very close bond with his father, Splinter, and has a very strong sense of honor, ethics, and Bushido. He holds himself to a very high standard that not many live up to. In many ways, he is his own worst enemy.Of his brothers, Leo butts heads with the hot-headed Raphael the most. Leonardo tends to try to see the good in people (even potential enemies) and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Variations: 
The Turtles origins have always been tied to the Ooze (though Michael Bay's film is supposed to make them aliens). In some versions the Ooze was created on Earth but in a few it is of alien origin. Because of his spirituality and things Leonardo could be a latent psychic. In the first live action movie he is the first to gain psychic contact with Splinter after all. If you choose to go this route give him Psychic Training and Psychic. While not a geek to the level that Michelangelo is, Leo has been shown to love nerdy things in some incarnations (such as his love for "Space Heroes" in the newest cartoon series). Also of note, in some versions of TMNT (noticeably the 2003 Fox series), Karai, Shredder's daughter, is Leo's potential love interest.

Turtles in Time and Space

I have been on a big TMNT kick lately. I grew up with the Turtles and have watched and read every incarnation of them (except for the gonzo anime). I've also been on a Doctor Who kick recently. Why not combine the two?

Okay, I know that initially the two franchises don't seem to have a lot in common. However there have been several times that the Turtles have been featured in space and time based theories. The earliest examples I can think of are the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and the SNES video game Turtles in Time. The movie featured the Turtles being sent back to feudal Japan to save April via a time travel device and the game featured them fighting Shredder and the Foot across various times (past, present, and future). The second (Fox) series also featured the Turtles traveling to various dimensions and alien worlds. It's "sequel" series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fast Forward even involved the Turtles being sent 100 years into the future. The anniversary special, Turtles Forever, even proposed that each incarnation of TMNT exists in its own dimension.

With all of these alien and time travel stories, why not throw in some Whovian goodness? It may not be for everyone, but I think it would be fun to get some TMNT action and I think Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space works just fine as a rules set for it. Well I will throw, in a bit of the action-y goodness of Primeval too.

Also, I'd like to point out that IDW makes Doctor Who and TMNT comics. They've done Doctor Who/ Star Trek crossovers, so a crossover with TMNT isn't totally unthinkable.


My plans are to stat out iconic version of the main characters (possibly with some alternate versions, since characters like Shredder are quite different in a few series). I also want to stat out some of the aliens (Triceratons, Utrom, Krang) and devices/gadgets (like the Time Scepter from the third film). I think it'll be fun.

I'll post the Turtles over the next couple of days and then go on from there.

Who's Who: Desmond Miles

I recently borrowed my friends copy of Cubicle 7's Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space. I absolutely love it. I hope to have a game going soon (though whether that happens or not remains to be seen). I plan on picking up my own copy of DW:AITAS and a copy of Primeval (at the recommendation of Tim Brannan). 

As the muse inspires I will post stats of random characters I think would be interesting to throw in a session or two. Let's start out with Desmond Miles, protagonist of the Assassin's Creed game series.

(Updated stats - 1/19/13)

Desmond as seen in the Assassin's Creed games

Name: Desmond Miles
Species: Human
Home Planet/Dimension: Earth AC
Home Tech Level: 5 - 21st Century
Personal Goal: Stop the Templars
Story Points: 8

Attributes:
Awareness 4    Coordination 5
Ingenuity 3       Presence 3
Resolve 4        Strength 4

Traits:
Adversary (Minor - Templars), Brave, Face in the Crowd,  Keen Senses (Major), Obligation (Major - Assassins),Quick Reflexes, Tough

Skills:
Athletics 3, Craft 1, Fighting  3, Knowledge 1, Marksman 2, Subterfuge 4, Survival 2, Transport 1

Stuff: Hoodie, Assassin's Blade (Str+2 Damage)

Background:
Desmond Miles was born and raised in an Assassin enclave called "The Farm," which is based out of Black Hills, South Dakota on an alternate Earth.

Kidnapped by Absertgo Industries (a front for the oppressive Templars of his Earth), Desmond was forced to relive the past lives of his ancestors via the Animus (a machine that unlocked genetic memory). His time in the Animus has reawakened his ancestral Assassin talents and skills. He is also a master of parkour and mixes a mean "Shirley Templar," his version of a Shirely Temple with gin.

Diego Luna (my casting choice) 

Freed from the machine by undercover Assassins (and their allies), Desmond is on the run from Templars, seeking the knowledge the Templars tried to glean from his ancestors. He doesn't want to be an Assassin, but he knows he must stop the Templars.

Campaign Uses: 
More action oriented than a typical companion, Desmond would make a great re-occurring guest star during a season. He could even seek the Doctor out in order gain more knowledge of his past.