Latest Rulebook - Comments and Requests

[MongooseMatt]

Okay, so the latest version of the rulebook is now ready for download and some of you should have started to make your way thorugh it.

We really want your comments and ideas on this game, so please use this thread for suggestions and corrections. Nothing is too big or too small, from the smallest typo, to a request for a complete printable floor plan or an entire block (that one may take a while though...). If you want to see new Talents, let us know which ones, if you think something is too cheap or too expensive, shout out.

This is as much your game as ours, so feel free to make yourself heard. We already have one suggestion to put a version number/date stamp on the Contents page. What else would you like to see?

 

[numanti]

Vehicle rules, please Ground and flying (including jetpacks / skysurfers / batgliders) etc - flying could do with some clarification, I think.

Damage rules for structures / buildings / doors / vehicles etc. I may have missed it, but are there rules for kicking in a door / blowing up sections of wall (and anyone stood behind said section when someone fires a Hi-Ex at a wall... this happens a lot in our games - for that matter - a rule to disallow someone from aiming at a section of wall when the player can see that there are models behind it, but there would be no way thier shooting model would know! We houseruled a simple 'Not Allowed' due to the Line of Sight rule, but the player shooting argued he had line of sight to the wall... but a clarification would be nice as he artillery rule doesn't cover this!)

 

[Iron Warrior.]

Building collapse could be a real issue in a game that follows the JD comic. Also, if you have that weird gun that cuts thru anything but tends to get overheated and explode it becomes a major issue.

I'd like to see democratic rebels done as serious, dedicated people fighting the worst fascist regime in human history. Remember "America"?

Also rules for people fitted with suicide bombs, which were used in JD, might be interesting.

 

[Klaetch]

Corrections

• The mutant has disappeared from the Mercenaries list. No doubt, using some previously unforeseen invisibility power. :wink:
  
• The Close Combat Weapons list (page 16) is incorrect. Presently, the last two lines read:
  
  

  Weapon             Damage      AP     Special Rules       Cost
  Large Club
  Las-knife          2           0      Smasher             10

  
  I think it should be:
  
  

  Weapon             Damage      AP     Special Rules        Cost
  Large Club         2           0      Smasher              10
  Las-knife          1          -5      -                    20

• The Double-barrelled Stump Gun listing on the Rifle Weapons table (page 17) could use a reminder under the Special Rules column that you need to spend a Special action to reload it. It's quite easy to gloss over that from the listing alone.
  
• Typo, page 19. Energy Shield can be "wron with other armour".
  
• Typo, page 40. Klegg Master rule "A Klegghound may never move more than 12" away [from] a Klegg". Also appears on page 73.
  
• Typo, page 44. Renegade Robots intro "Her[e], they meet up".
  
• Typo, page 46. Big Jobs rule "This equipment normally takes the form of giants hammers".
  
• Possible mistake (or maybe intentional). When a Minion becomes a Hero through surviving battles (page 48), no mention is made of it receiving two Talents, as it normally might if upgraded.
  
• Typo, page 49. Light Foot talent "During a Move action, the Hero can m[a]ke an Agility check [to be] able to jump over".
  
• The Street Rumble scenario (page 61) says models can be deployed 12" from a table edge, and the diagram indicates 10".
  
• Typo, page 72. Juve Jimp intro "Jud[g]e impersonators" and "while not completely convincing, [a] particularly strong-willed juve".

Vehicle rules, please Ground and flying (including jetpacks / skysurfers / batgliders) etc - flying could do with some clarification, I think.

I definitely agree that some clarification on the flyer type is needed, but I like the rules for jetpacks, skyboards and batgliders as is. I wouldn't class them as vehicles, and I think the Lawmasters work fine as fast infantry too (although you might want to stop them, and tracked robots, from doing weird things like climbing ladders, etc.).

I'm still testing out the new rules (more games to follow tonight), but at this point I think the Combat Droid might be way too powerful, or way too cheap. The jury isn't in on this one yet, though, so I'll post again when more certain.

 

[GMAN]

In the zombie horde force it doesnt state how many Zombie Masters you can actually take. So if you can take multiple masters, how would the Psychic Conduit rule work? Would it not come into play until all masters were taken out of play?

Also is there an eta for the Zombie minis release dates or previews?

 

[Calyboi90]

I would like to see rules for the werewolf mini as it's on the judge dredd mini's page and I would like to see how it could work

 

[DyN]

Overall, very pleased with this revision..

With the Zombie Mast/Mistress, can he/she pick any talents or does the 'Inner Strength' rule count as one of its talents?

Because of the high score but relatively low stat-line (1 hit!) I have assumed 'Inner Strength' is treated like a racial trait and doesn't count as one of his/her talents...

 

[DyN]

And another thing on Zombies, Robots and Will

The new rues for zombies and robots doesn’t give any characteristic for ‘Will’ – both automatically pass Will tests. I can understand this in most cases but one example that seems a bit weird to me is Stealth.

Picture this: your hero is stalking through the shadows and uses the Stealth talent to hide (meaning enemies within 20” taking action against Hero must succeed at an opposed Will check) – robots would automatically spot him/her (electronic movement sensors are probably better than eyes) but so would shambling zombies who in popular fiction/films often fail to notice even basic things in front of them unless they perform some load or fast action.

Based on this, should zombies automatically pass Will checks to overcome Heroes who are being Stealthy?

 

[tnjrp]

Now that you mention it, it would also be rather odd if all robots had such sensitive equipment build in. They can't all be R2-D2s who is the droid equivalent of a Swiss Army knife :mrgreen:

 

[cfirpi]

After a few playtests of these new rule plus just from reading them , I have a few observations.

Judge cadets, seem a little to overpowered/underpriced. In a mutants/ape/judge 3 way. All had one hero, with 4 minions. The cadets were wiping the floor having the almost equivalent of a shell jacket and super charged spit pistol for the same price as a juve with shell jacket and *non* supercharged spit pistol PLUS the juve has negative modifiers. So in my opinion the numbers are a little skewed on this one.

Second thing, the Cal and the street judge under him have talents already. Does this mean you are not supposed to add stat points and choose talents when purchasing? Also Judge cal is listed as a LV 1 hero. The only other place you see a listed level is with the angel gang. Does that mean he have more restrictions? (not like judges have many options anyways)

IS the SJS judge in the Cal area purchasable for regular judge force?

I still couldnt find clarification as to what the "flyer" type is. Glider, jet pack, and board grant the flyer type. So what does this classification do?

Sorry to lay them all on like this.

 

[locarno24]

I think SJS are mercs for regular Judges. Cal was SJS through-and-through so he gets them as line guys alongside the Klegg Mercs. Kind of makes sense as you're not going to have Cal himself in a starting (or even quite big) gang, so having SJS personnel helps make them look different to the regular law.

 

[cheetor]

I got to play a game featuring zombies recently. The rules worked fine but playing zombies is a bit of a chore in some respects.

This is a feature that I have found in common with very many games that feature zombies: playing as a tough but brain-dead, slow, melee-only force can be trying. Shooting zombies is of course great fun, but playing as them often isnt.

A lot of games have included "Fast" or "Rage" zombies to counter this. Others feature zombies with superpowers, like projectile vomit attacks and the like. We also fielded a Mutant with one of the Zombie forces, but used a special zombie miniature to give an approximate equivalent of a large puking zombie (a "Boomer" for any of you who have ever player Left 4 Dead).

Off the top of my head I cant think of any canonical zombie variants in Dredd stories. On the other hand, I dont think that it is explicitly stated how fast the zombies in Judgement Day are moving either.

I reckon that there is room to add a couple of twists to the zombie formula to the zombie list, just to keep it fun for the zombie player. Even points spent that allow for zombies to pop-up somewhere mid-game (to "Deep Strike" or "Infiltrate" to use 40k parlance) to ambush opponents would help, and be totally authentic to that overrun by thousands feeling that is such a a part of the genre too.

A Fast zombie with a different stat line and an Ambush zombie would give the Zombie player more thematic options.

 

[GMAN]

Off the top of my head I cant think of any canonical zombie variants in Dredd stories.

In Judgement Day there was another type of zombie, called Chamhaks (or something like that, dont have my books on me) They were seen singing and dancing, but they also jumped about a lot as they did so. They were elite zombies, maybe these would make interesting additions to the force, a lot faster, able to to scale terrain easily, maybe even able to become heros too?

I've played a bit with this force and one thing im not too sure of is how many Zombie Masters you can have, it doesnt state theres a limit, but if you have two and one is removed, would the second one take control of them so they didn't need to roll as a psychic conduit?

IS the SJS judge in the Cal area purchasable for regular judge force?

I'd also agree that these are not available as troop choices for regular judge forces and are only mercs for them, were as they are a selectable troop choice for Cal.

 

[locarno24]

On a related note - thinking about civil war/necropolis/etc - is there any specific list of scenarios/opponents where Due Process is and isn't in force?

I can't imagine Caligula's henchmen going for it. For that matter, it might be a way to make SJS types stand out from the regulars - they don't consider themselves bound by Due Process, giving the judges (for a change) someone who can shoot first.


Also, if special characters are going in, can I put in a vote for Jack Point from The Simping Detective. He's awesome.

 

[chaoschild]

The Vid Reporter mentions charge actions under the rules for Story of the Day. Should this read melee actions, or is it specifically intended to be melee actions where the model charges?

As far as new additions to the game go, I'd like to see the undercity gang from Gangs of Mega City One back. Specifically troggies and werewolves (I love the new model BTW).

 

[twrchtrwyth]

Could the updates, as far as possible, be done in a way that only the pages with typos, updates, etc need be printed? Could extra gangs, characters, etc be added as appendices to the rule book? This would negate the need to reprint every update.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Just an update on this - we are planning another revision within the next month or so, so if there is anything more you wouild like to see added tot he rules themselves (rather than all new units), now is the time to let us know!

 

[GMAN]

A few of things i'd like to have clarified are in the next update are:

What does a "Flyer Type" do? models using a glider, power board or jet pack gain this trait, but I can't see what its advantages/disadvantages are anywhere.

Also, how many Zombie Masters a can a Zombie Horde have? If there is more than one, how does the Psychic Conduit rule play out? Does the game carry on as normal until there are no more Zombie Masters on the table?

Zombie Masters are Heroes but only have 1 hit. Should they have only one more as it states heroes get an additional hit.

Also, i may of totally missed it but, can Klegghounds and Robodogs become heroes? I know it states zombies can't but didn't see anything for them.

Lastly, just a typo, under the Klegghound, Klegg Master description, it states "A Klegghound may never move more than 12" away a Klegg" I presume that should say "12" away from a Klegg"

 

[GMAN]

Just a quick FYI...Some of the forces include Mutants in their Mercenary list, although Mutants don't appear in the list of mercenaries.

 

[Klaetch]

Hey, GMAN, it's awesome you're on the ball, but a few of these things have been pointed out already earlier in the thread (the typo and missing mutant, for instance, are in my own post).

To report back on what we found with the Combat Droid, we did indeed find it a little too cheap or a little too powerful. With the ability to be on Alert Status, coupled with a heavy weapon and not needing a Will check to attack Stealth'd combatants, it's a veritable killing machine (badum-chah).

If the Stealth vs. Robots (and Zombies) Will issue is resolved, that would mitigate things to an extent, but it might be a little too good even then, for the cost. In a sample game we put a Combat Droid tooled up to cost about the same amount as Dredd, and it dominated him for the most part (his incredible number of Hits allowed him to be a bit less tactically savvy, but mostly he had to hide).

I'm really hoping the new revision will hit before summer. A summer full of JDMG? Perfect.