Strontium dog - questions

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Greetings,

I've been curious about Strontium Dog for some time, never read any of the comics but seen him a couple times in Dredd crossovers. So when a bundle pack appeared as part of the "new year, new game" offer on drivethru rpg I saw a perfect opportunity to learn more.

I must say, I like what I'm seeing! Haven't had a chance to actually play yet, but the setting sounds very promising!

I did stumble upon a couple questions though.

1) Blasters using the stun setting. Do they deal normal damage, but as stun instead? So a 4d6+3 blaster rolling a total of 17 forces the target to take an endurance test with -17 mod?

2) the variable cartridge blaster. Wow, awesome weapon! And I thought dredd's lawgiver was badass! Anyway, p. 55 describes the number 1 cartridge as a heavy blaster shot, but on the table on p. 56 gives it the profile of a regular blaster. Which one is it?

3) number 2 and 3 cartridges, short range and tunneling/igniting, those effects are up to the GM to do something appropriate with?

4) electro-flare. From the description it sounds to me like a third option for number 1 cartridge (stun, flesh, flare) but they're listed as a separate cartridge type? (Not technically a cartridge but an additional powerpack setting)

5) the VCB accepts up to 20 cartridges, but the table on p. 56 shows it with 24 - unless I read it wrong and the number of shots listed there are how many you get when you buy one unit of spare cartridges at the stated cost?

 

[Balrog]

Hi AG

Did you treat yourself to this RPG package and get the answers you needed?

Walts

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Greetings,
I got the book, but not the answers :/

Still, I reckon most of them's gonna solve themselves once we get there. Right now I don't even have a group, so no real rush....

 

[Balrog]

Yeah, getting a group together is really difficult for the SD RPG.

I ran a handful of games with two nearby friends of mine, but as they drifted away to
other games, I'm all on my lonesome now. Tis the nature of the beast.

I did wonder on running a Play by Forum to get at least some SD action ... would you
be interested?

Walts

 

[Balrog]

It's been quite a while since I played SD RPG, so I've had a quick look at the Trav & SD rulebooks with some feedback on ur questions ...

1) Blasters using the stun setting. Do they deal normal damage, but as stun instead? So a 4d6+3 blaster rolling a total of 17 forces the target to take an endurance test with -17 mod?

Only stun damage. REM that armour is still effective against this type of attack.
As bounty hunters, we get a lot of warrants that need to be taken alive!

There are weapons out there that deal normal damage PLUS stun damage at the same time (Stunstick), so you can mix & match.

2) the variable cartridge blaster. Wow, awesome weapon! And I thought dredd's lawgiver was badass! Anyway, p. 55 describes the number 1 cartridge as a heavy blaster shot, but on the table on p. 56 gives it the profile of a regular blaster. Which one is it?

As the description has it down as a Heavy Blaster, I'd go with the 6d6+4 damage! Don't forget the Recoil of 1 as well, this shot packs a punch!!!

3) number 2 and 3 cartridges, short range and tunneling/igniting, those effects are up to the GM to do something appropriate with?

Yeah, these cartridges would need a bit of tweaking ... can't see any obvious refs in other weapons.
The usual "Range of Short" would seem obvious to start with?

4) electro-flare. From the description it sounds to me like a third option for number 1 cartridge (stun, flesh, flare) but they're listed as a separate cartridge type? (Not technically a cartridge but an additional powerpack setting)

Not sure what your asking? The setting of 3 in a magazine would only be for the cost of buying a new mag?

5) the VCB accepts up to 20 cartridges, but the table on p. 56 shows it with 24 - unless I read it wrong and the number of shots listed there are how many you get when you buy one unit of spare cartridges at the stated cost?

Your allowed 20 cartridges in any combination of the magazines (10, 5 or 3's) ... you could have 6 (out of 10) cartridges of the No1 shot if you took one of everything. You could have 20 shots of No1 and nothing else? Does that make sense? Mix & match upto 20 cartridges max based on the magazine size.

Hopefully my blurb will help you out ... Walts

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

It's been quite a while since I played SD RPG, so I've had a quick look at the Trav & SD rulebooks with some feedback on ur questions ...

1) Blasters using the stun setting. Do they deal normal damage, but as stun instead? So a 4d6+3 blaster rolling a total of 17 forces the target to take an endurance test with -17 mod?

Only stun damage. REM that armour is still effective against this type of attack.
As bounty hunters, we get a lot of warrants that need to be taken alive!

There are weapons out there that deal normal damage PLUS stun damage at the same time (Stunstick), so you can mix & match.

Of course only stun damage. But how much stun damage? That is my question. I didn't mean that they'd deal their normal damage, just suggested that they'd roll the same amount of dice, and then apply that as -DM to the endurance test, as with the stunner from the main traveller rulebook.

2) the variable cartridge blaster. Wow, awesome weapon! And I thought dredd's lawgiver was badass! Anyway, p. 55 describes the number 1 cartridge as a heavy blaster shot, but on the table on p. 56 gives it the profile of a regular blaster. Which one is it?

As the description has it down as a Heavy Blaster, I'd go with the 6d6+4 damage! Don't forget the Recoil of 1 as well, this shot packs a punch!!!

That's what I thought too

3) number 2 and 3 cartridges, short range and tunneling/igniting, those effects are up to the GM to do something appropriate with?

Yeah, these cartridges would need a bit of tweaking ... can't see any obvious refs in other weapons.
The usual "Range of Short" would seem obvious to start with?

So, you're suggesting they'd only work at ranges up to short? Well, that'd work I guess. or, they could use the 'thrown' weapon ranges... ?

4) electro-flare. From the description it sounds to me like a third option for number 1 cartridge (stun, flesh, flare) but they're listed as a separate cartridge type? (Not technically a cartridge but an additional powerpack setting)

Not sure what your asking? The setting of 3 in a magazine would only be for the cost of buying a new mag?

I got confused by its description.
"Electro-flare - not technically a cartridge but an additional, powerpack setting"
To me, that description makes electro-flare sound like an additional setting, such as regular blasters that can be set to stun or burn. I do see that flare is listed as an ammo type of its own in the list, but the way it's described makes me think that maybe flare is a third setting for number 1 cartridges (giving it three modes: Stun, burn, flare).

5) the VCB accepts up to 20 cartridges, but the table on p. 56 shows it with 24 - unless I read it wrong and the number of shots listed there are how many you get when you buy one unit of spare cartridges at the stated cost?

Your allowed 20 cartridges in any combination of the magazines (10, 5 or 3's) ... you could have 6 (out of 10) cartridges of the No1 shot if you took one of everything. You could have 20 shots of No1 and nothing else? Does that make sense? Mix & match upto 20 cartridges max based on the magazine size.

It does make sense. That is the way I'd handle it too. My confusion in this case comes from the fact that for every other weapon in traveller the Magazine column shows how many shots the magazine contains, and how many you'd get when purchasing one reload. In this particular case however, the magazine numbers are per reload, and then some or all of the cartridges bought can be inserted into the weapon.

Hopefully my blurb will help you out ... Walts

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Yeah, getting a group together is really difficult for the SD RPG.

I ran a handful of games with two nearby friends of mine, but as they drifted away to
other games, I'm all on my lonesome now. Tis the nature of the beast.

I did wonder on running a Play by Forum to get at least some SD action ... would you
be interested?

Walts

I never really expected to get a group together for SD to be honest. I bought it mainly because I was interrested/curious about the setting, and to see if I could find inspiration to use for my Dredd games, but if you do manage to get a forum game going I might be interrested. Never tried play by post, might be fun to try

 

[Balrog]

Of course only stun damage. But how much stun damage? That is my question. I didn't mean that they'd deal their normal damage, just suggested that they'd roll the same amount of dice, and then apply that as -DM to the endurance test, as with the stunner from the main traveller rulebook.

I would say only the #1 cartridge could do stun damage (Heavy Blaster/6d6+4 damage) ...

• UNCONSCIOUSNESS
  An unconscious character may make an Endurance check after every minute
  of unconsciousness – if successful, he regains consciousness. If he fails he
  must wait another minute and can then try again with a +1 DM on the check
  for every check previously failed.

... So if they fail the endurance test, their knocked out! ... Walts

 

[Balrog]

So, you're suggesting they'd only work at ranges up to short? Well, that'd work I guess. or, they could use the 'thrown' weapon ranges... ?

mmmm ... throw range goes upto 50 metres .... that's pretty far?

I got confused by its description.
"Electro-flare - not technically a cartridge but an additional, powerpack setting"
To me, that description makes electro-flare sound like an additional setting, such as regular blasters that can be set to stun or burn. I do see that flare is listed as an ammo type of its own in the list, but the way it's described makes me think that maybe flare is a third setting for number 1 cartridges (giving it three modes: Stun, burn, flare).

Some flavour text, me'finks?

As long as you declare what (cartridges) magazines you have in the gun at the start of the assignment (and are carrying) you'll know how many uses you can get out of each, but I wouldn't play that if you ran out of Electro-Flare shots that you could use a cartridge from any of the other magazines.

Having spare mags of all the cartridges allows you to chop&change during the game, to adapt to different scenarios and encounters, so a spare one of these would always be essential!

Walts

 

[Balrog]

I never really expected to get a group together for SD to be honest. I bought it mainly because I was interrested/curious about the setting, and to see if I could find inspiration to use for my Dredd games, but if you do manage to get a forum game going I might be interested. Never tried play by post, might be fun to try

I know these forums have a couple of Traveller campaigns going ...

>>> http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewforum.php?f=112

... which gives an idea of what to expect. My only concern is that these forums
don't do dice rolls, so we would need to work between a dice-rolling website as well?

I use BGG a lot and it has all singing/dancing thread tools & dice, so I might suggest
we try a PbF over there? Are you registered on BGG ...

>>> https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/64691/strontium-dog

... I would have liked to have used MP forums, but inThread die rolls are essential and
will be needed during postings ... Walts

PS: Been playing around (trying to work out!) with dice rolls ...

>>> https://rpggeek.com/article/19479815#19479815

... What style do you like ... the icons/images/emotions or just plain text?

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

I never really expected to get a group together for SD to be honest. I bought it mainly because I was interrested/curious about the setting, and to see if I could find inspiration to use for my Dredd games, but if you do manage to get a forum game going I might be interested. Never tried play by post, might be fun to try

I know these forums have a couple of Traveller campaigns going ...

>>> http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewforum.php?f=112

... which gives an idea of what to expect. My only concern is that these forums
don't do dice rolls, so we would need to work between a dice-rolling website as well?

I use BGG a lot and it has all singing/dancing thread tools & dice, so I might suggest
we try a PbF over there? Are you registered on BGG ...

>>> https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/64691/strontium-dog

... I would have liked to have used MP forums, but inThread die rolls are essential and
will be needed during postings ... Walts

PS: Been playing around (trying to work out!) with dice rolls ...

>>> https://rpggeek.com/article/19479815#19479815

... What style do you like ... the icons/images/emotions or just plain text?

Hi,
Sorry for the very late reply, I've been A bit busy lately... I don't have an account at either of those sites, and since I have never played by post I don't know which kind I'd prefer. I do however know that right at the moment I'd find it very difficult to find the time to take part in a rpg campaign unfortunately... So if you of have a group that wants to go now, then you'd best get on with it, don't wait for me. Sorry.

 

[Balrog]

Hi AG

No worries. I'd put out PM's over a multitude of websites to see if I could entice any others,
with no luck there as well. I know it's a major commitment for anyone getting involved, so
the responses where not unexpected.

There's so little coverage for the SD RPG and advertisement/modules by the publishers that this
genre hasn't captured the imagination of RPG'ers like the Judge Dredd franchise has, so there's
very few players out there.

Guess it's back to Pathfinder, again!

Walts