Judge Dredd: What should Mongoose Publish Next?

[Garthantash]

Heya all

long time fan, first time poster.

I have been a huge fan of Dredd for about 10 years but very rarely get the opportunity to buy 2000AD here in Adelaide, Oz. Luckily I am an RPG player and the books are easier to obtain. I am a huge fan of the game and crave more books. I voted for "Other" as I would like a book detailing the some of the other megacities if at least in the same detail as Emerald Isle and Calhab are written. I don't expect (except in my wildiest dreams) a full book on Hondo City, Simba City or Sino City but I would like to have a good compendium of info to use as a resource in coming up with things such as foreign citizens, conspiracies, smuggling rackets and co-op between Judicial services.

 

[Arabin]

Welcome to the forums Garthantash. Great suggestion, I would also love to see details of more cities, but unfortunately it sounds like there are no immediate plans to release anymore supplements to the Judge Dredd rpg as it stands right now.

Matthew Sprange mentioned that they are looking into a 2nd Edition of the rpg which would have a more simplified d20 rules base, and the supplements would focus more on people than on places. It looks like we'll never get an indepth look at Oz, Hondo-Cit, or even the Cursed Earth. The new ideas they are currently discussing do sound very good though and could really improve the gameplay if done correctly.

Take a look at this other thread for the full details from Matthew Sprange himself:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3222

Arabin

 

[Garthantash]

I have already checked that thread out as well as the yahoo group posts.

It looks interesting although I personally like setting over mechanics of departments

 

[Arabin]

There is nothing to stop us, as fans, putting something together for cities we like... I'm pretty sure we could distribute that for free, but I don't think we would be allowed to charge more than cost for it.

I am not as keen on the character focus, but I love the idea of simplifying the rules, making them more Judge Dredd like, and improving the driving rules. I also love the idea of actually making perps with a knife a bit of a challenge. It is very frustrating when your players start to feel invulnerable.

Arabin

 

[Anonymous]

There is nothing to stop us, as fans, putting something together for cities we like... I also love the idea of actually making perps with a knife a bit of a challenge. It is very frustrating when your players start to feel invulnerable.Arabin

I found some great txt files about Hondo City on the yahoo forum and plan to add them to my game in the form of an NPC MegaCity 2 judge liason officer.

I am coming up against the invulnerable problem though with a slant. The PC judges see a few guys with knives and no body armour and go trigger happy with ricochet rounds. The first sign of a spit gun and the sod gets a high ex in the face (literally with a sharpshooter-type Clone). They have no fear of anything under AP6 and are deathly afraid of anything AP6 and above and have a tendancy to over react.

Sorry to continue this in the wrong thread - If we want to continue this discussion perhaps we should make a new thread.

 

[Garthantash]

that last post was from me - I had a problem with my log in status

 

[Arabin]

I had problems with judges overreacting and causing over the top damage at one point as well. The guys here on the forum helped me so I'll try to pass on some of the advice I received.

I never tell my players the AC of the armor, and give them an approximate description of what the perps are wearing only if they ask or it's appropriate. Make them do a streetwise or tech check or something. Then give them a vague description of the outfit... never actually tell them the AR or AP though.

One thing you could do is decide that if the judges are not taking cover, but are blatently standing out in the open, then the perps should get a +2 to hit and a +2 to damage. Something like that will make them behave a bit better.

Someone on this board recently mentioned that whenever his players see a perp with a handgun they just rush him since they are so sure they will not get hurt... the GM decided that when such a thing happens, the rules go out the window a bit and the perp automatically gets a critical hit for triple damage. The players will complain, but they should learn to be on their toes.

My players are rules junkies, but I fast learned that it's much better to try and steer the game in story mode rather than rules mode. If the rules will stop the action, or make things not feel like Judge Dredd, then change them. My players get annoyed when I do something like that and I get comments like, "That's not the way it's written, but if you want to play it like that..." but at the end of the day, I think they have more fun. They don't complain if it benefits them.

The yahoo group is a great place for files right now and has some really useful information. I'm not sure of the timeline of your game, but I'm pretty certain that in the current timeline, Mega-City Two does not exist. I'm pretty sure that it was destroyed and has not yet been rebuilt.

Arabin

 

[Garthantash]

I never tell my players the AC of the armor, and give them an approximate description of what the perps are wearing only if they ask or it's appropriate.

Mega-City Two does not exist. I'm pretty sure that it was destroyed and has not yet been rebuilt.

I give the players very little numerical detail. It halts the action. I fjust figure that the game I run should go some way to reflect the comics. Old Stoney Face can wade through a hail of blitzer fire using his skill, reflexes and high pain tolerance to not get hurt much but these street rookies need to know why the job is so dangerous and deadly.

I am going with the intention that Mega City 2 is intended to be rebuilt and in the initial stages. Hondo City wants to install its own Law and chooses to send some reps to MC1 and Texas for good will and to learn about their potential citizenry, refugees and criminals.

 

[Arabin]

I am going with the intention that Mega City 2 is intended to be rebuilt and in the initial stages. Hondo City wants to install its own Law and chooses to send some reps to MC1 and Texas for good will and to learn about their potential citizenry, refugees and criminals.

Mega City Two getting rebuilt could make a great story line... someday they might take a stab at that in the comics.

I'm not sure what you mean about Hondo City wanting to install it's own Law though, since they have their own Law and are completely seperate from Mega City One. They are their own country, and have no need of Mega-City Ones permission for anything... unless you mean that Hondo City is attempting to help rebuild Mega-City Two and install it's own government and Law there?

I looked up the description of Hondo City from the A-Z by Mike Butcher:

HONDO CITY
City: Japan

By the 22nd Century, Japan has become known as Hondo City and is policed by its Judge-Inspectors. Worshipped and feared like the Samurai Warlords of ancient Japan, these Judge-Inspectors proudly boast of a crime-free city. This is far from the truth, however, and Hondo City suffers from many of the same problems which beset its Western counterparts. Relations between Mega-City One and Hondo City are traditionally strained, but the world-wide menace of Sabbat the Necromagus saw an international council of Judges meeting in Hondo and links were strengthened.

Arabin

 

[Anonymous]

unless you mean that Hondo City is attempting to help rebuild Mega-City Two and install it's own government and Law there?

Right. I got my inspiration from the text files about hondo city on the yahoo group which were written about for the GW system but I am interested in the fluffy story stuff and not the game mechanics any way.

If Hondo City was attempting to rebuild Mega City two as a satellite state then there would be an influx of "colonists" from the other North American cities. As such though, the Hondo judicary would be unused to these "foreign" people. They would want to learn about Mega City one and also being a foreign power on US soil they would want to make exprerssion of good will - a good neighbour principle. As such, I am writing a game plot that involves the PCs dealing with a Hondo Cultural atache Judge trying to learn about Mega City one by sharing the beat with the PCs

 

[Arabin]

I understand now Sounds like a great story. Please keep us up to date on your progress. If you have any questions or need clarification, there are some great people here on the forum that can almost certainly answer anything. I might be able to help with a little of it as well.

Good luck.

Arabin