Judge Dredd - A question of speed.

[Arabin]

I've noticed something that seems a little odd, and I'm not sure if it's a d20 thing, or a Judge Dredd d20 thing, but I'd like some help figuring it out please.

The base movement rate of humans seems to be 30ft. This makes sense and is not a problem.

However, a lot of times when I go through the supplements, I find statements where something should clearly not move at the same speed as a normal human, but is still listed as 30ft. Is this a typing error, or am I missing something?

Here are two examples:

RG: Justice Department, Pg.63
Judge Couhan, Chief Quartermaster. The text states that he lost both his legs and is now disabled (I'm assuming in a wheelchair), but his speed is still listed as 30ft. In fact, I don't see anyway to incorporate his disability into the skills and stats.

RG: Psi Talent, Pg. 85
Zombie. The text states that they shuffle around and that they advance in a slow wave... so I'm thinking they should have a speed of 15ft. or so, but no... they have a speed of 30ft. as well.

I'm sure there are other example, but if something could let me know if this is correct, or if I should be fixing these things for my games, that would be a great help.

Arabin

 

[redlaco]

When the rules don't match with the flavour text or the setting, it's usually an oversight, as it often happens to speed, especially. Simply tweak the stats as you see fit (rule #1, remember? 8) ). Your guess of 15 feet for the zombies look fine to me, but I suggest giving them a 20 ft speed to prevent the PCs to run circles around them. As for Judge Couhan, I'd give him a 15 ft speed, as it is a severe "handicap".

The only other tip I can give you on speed is that the Star Wars D20 RPG gives a 6 meter speed for most small-sized humanoid while medium-sized usually get a 10 m speed.

Hope this helps.

 

[Matt Sharp]

RG: Justice Department, Pg.63
Judge Couhan, Chief Quartermaster. The text states that he lost both his legs and is now disabled (I'm assuming in a wheelchair), but his speed is still listed as 30ft. In fact, I don't see anyway to incorporate his disability into the skills and stats.

Like many auxilliary judges, he has artificial legs that allow him the same mobility as a regular judge but ensure that he is disqualified from street duty.

RG: Psi Talent, Pg. 85
Zombie. The text states that they shuffle around and that they advance in a slow wave... so I'm thinking they should have a speed of 15ft. or so, but no... they have a speed of 30ft. as well.

Remember that zombies can only make one action every round (either a move action or a standard action) so they cannot move faster than walking speed - they can't make double-move actions or run.

 

[redlaco]

Grimalkin seems way more apt to answer that question, so I bow down gracefully and suggest to follow his recommandations...

 

[Arabin]

Thanks guys. I guess it's true that Zombies only get a single action each round, but 30ft is still quite a lot. So far, most of out adventures haven't been in a large enough map area to really make a big difference with the speed. I will have to play with this in practise and see how it works. In theory, it seems like they should get a reduced movement rate as well... and if so, I like Red's suggestion of 20ft.

As for Judge Couhan having artificial legs... I can believe that, but if it gave the same mobility as a regular judge then I see no reason to keep him off the streets. After all, Judge Dredd has an artificial eye so technically he should be disqualified from street duty as well. I think I'll adjust it to give it more of a feel like robocop... powerful, durable legs that get your around, but are slower than a human. That would still drop his speed to about 20ft.

Thanks for the feedback, and thanks Red for the reminder of the #1 rule.

Arabin