What's the deal with new Dredd rpg?
- Thread starter Blueberries
- Start date
My copy arrived today. Initial impressions are very good. Production standards seem very high. A little disapointed that you can only generate judge PCs but hopefully other PC types will follow soon. Also an outline map of MegaCity One would be useful. Judges have some extra abilities which sit outside the simple Traveller attributes and skills. I've yet to work out how necessary this extra layer of mechanics is. Very early days but generally very impressed with the work thats gone into this.
OK- a bit more reading and I'm coming across a few errors and inconsistencies. One of the most striking would seem to be the absence of a psi ability to cover pre-cogs. Despite saying (page 62) that Pre Cogs specialise in pre-cognition and clairvoyance I can't find any ability that would really cover this. Also the Psion Traveller book suggests doubling psi strength for a Judge Dredd setting, yet the Judge Dredd book makesw no reference to this...
It also seems that Skill 0 don't really exist in JD. Each new skill granted a PC seems to start at level 1. That is except for some strange instances of being granted a skill at level 0 but with a specialism included. For instance, Gun Combat (scattergun) 0. Clearly in these cases the skill needs to be granted at level 1 rather than 0.
Elsewhere in the rules we have a suvival roll of 12+ for Full Eagle Day yet in the character generation example it's 9+.
In one of the background pieces it states that the world of Judge Dredd is far stranger than the world of the early 20th Century - presumably should have been 21st? On page 56 it refers to a chart at page 55 -which is actually on 57.
Not looking for errors- these are just ones that have jumped out at me. Al in all I'm very impressed with the book. Judges are seriously kick ass characters and look like being great fun to play.
It also seems that Skill 0 don't really exist in JD. Each new skill granted a PC seems to start at level 1. That is except for some strange instances of being granted a skill at level 0 but with a specialism included. For instance, Gun Combat (scattergun) 0. Clearly in these cases the skill needs to be granted at level 1 rather than 0.
Elsewhere in the rules we have a suvival roll of 12+ for Full Eagle Day yet in the character generation example it's 9+.
In one of the background pieces it states that the world of Judge Dredd is far stranger than the world of the early 20th Century - presumably should have been 21st? On page 56 it refers to a chart at page 55 -which is actually on 57.
Not looking for errors- these are just ones that have jumped out at me. Al in all I'm very impressed with the book. Judges are seriously kick ass characters and look like being great fun to play.
dreamingbadger
Mongoose
djd said:
Clairvoyance is in the MGT core rulebook
djd said:
The are there lots of events give skill level 0 and check out page 12 (Events and untrained skills) as well
dreamingbadger said:
Many of the level 0 skills in events are the ones where it grants a speciality skill at the same time and therefore they can't be level 0
Other issues I've picked up on -
There's no actual mechanic given for using a Heat Seeking round - how hard is it to hit? Can it be evaded?
It states that there are only three of each special round available in any given lawgiver clip but RR bullets can be rapid fired which would use a minimum of 4 rounds and as many as 12 for autofire.
The lawgiver targeting system gives a +2 for each aim action. This is the same as the Rapid Aim special technique that judges can learn - whilst you could say that well, this applies to any weapon rather than just the lawgiver it is largely useless given a judge is likely to be using his lawgiver 95% of the time.
The stunner on the lawgiver is such a powerful weapon that it seems hard to find that many instances where the use of live ammo will be justified. Doesn't seem in line with the comics?
Clearer explanation of when a judge is justified in using deadly force on a perp would be useful. Dredd seems to use it as a matter of course where perps are resisting arrest. There are so many non deadly tactics available to judges (if they call for backup even more) that the use of deadly force could well drop to real world levels unless some clear rules of engagement are set out.
The bike canons are quoted as having 200 rounds each but in the table on the same page it says 36 each...
The relative performance of the Zipper bike seems wrong compared to the performance of the Lawmaster - check the two sets of stats. Also it's stated that the Zipper is much faster than the lawmaster. The stats tell us its 30kph quicker... I guess it's been in 2000AD at some point but 570kph for a bike with no fairing seems somewhat insane! Try hanging on to an unfaired bike at 150mph... Over 300mph doesn't sound like fun.
The lists of crimes are great however there seem to be a few missing. There's no money laundering for instance. Can't imagine that not being a crime in the future. The charges of attemping to commit a crime and conspiracy to commit a crime seem to attract lesser sentences. In the real world that is not the case. Also Conspiracy requires more than one person to commit - you can't conspire by yourself. Sorry if that last bit seems a bit nerdy but it's what I do for a living! :roll:
dreamingbadger
Mongoose
Pre-Cognition is a plot device, why bound it with a rule, that is essentially arbitary?
but, if you really wanted to consider it Temporal Manipulation, Past Denied only useable with Clairvoyance rather than with a person transfered to the future, and it only operates with a GM's discretion.
there is no reason that you cannot have a specialised level 0 skill only that you must have a specialisation if available at level 1 and higher.
HS Rounds, can't be evaded unless you are 15m or less, normal to hit roll and rules apply, or if the taget has no heat signature, or is able to change it in some specialised way (Gm fiat), but it isn't explained in the rules.
Agree on the RC round issue (looks like a typo).
I'm affraid I can't really agree with you 
Pre-Cog work is a key part of what Psi-Div does in Judge Dredd and not to have a rule / power to cover it must be an error - otherwise we might as well leave all psi powers up to the GM to make up on the spot.
HS rounds need some game mechanics. What are the chances of them locking onto the wrong target? Much too easy for the players if they automatically hit. I notice that the guided missiles elsewhere in the book get +4 to hit. Maybe that's an option.
As for Zero level skills - a level 0 gun combat is just that. It's not a gun combat (shotgun) 0. The specialism only appears at level 1. There are numerous examples of this error in the events table.
Pre-Cog work is a key part of what Psi-Div does in Judge Dredd and not to have a rule / power to cover it must be an error - otherwise we might as well leave all psi powers up to the GM to make up on the spot. HS rounds need some game mechanics. What are the chances of them locking onto the wrong target? Much too easy for the players if they automatically hit. I notice that the guided missiles elsewhere in the book get +4 to hit. Maybe that's an option.
As for Zero level skills - a level 0 gun combat is just that. It's not a gun combat (shotgun) 0. The specialism only appears at level 1. There are numerous examples of this error in the events table.
dreamingbadger
Mongoose
djd said:I'm affraid I can't really agree with you
As for Zero level skills - a level 0 gun combat is just that. It's not a gun combat (shotgun) 0. The specialism only appears at level 1. There are numerous examples of this error in the events table.
yup we disagree
havercake lad
Banded Mongoose
Still awaiting a rule book. Re queries about use of stunshot. The text of the Dredd story 'The Searchers' in Prog 1424 touches on the use of this option.
'Stunner beam facility on the Lawgiver Mark II. Limited range, unpredictable effectiveness. Not popular with the slab jocks of Street division.'
'Stunner shot. Limited range, unpredictable effectiveness. Register a complaint with the Teks, when he gets back to the city..''... IF he gets back to the city'.
So a very variable effect and unpopular option with Judges , though I don't know yet if the rules reflect this.
Judge White
'Stunner beam facility on the Lawgiver Mark II. Limited range, unpredictable effectiveness. Not popular with the slab jocks of Street division.'
'Stunner shot. Limited range, unpredictable effectiveness. Register a complaint with the Teks, when he gets back to the city..''... IF he gets back to the city'.
So a very variable effect and unpopular option with Judges , though I don't know yet if the rules reflect this.
Judge White
havercake lad
Banded Mongoose
Bit more on stun ability in 'Gun Play ' Prog 1122.
'The weapon [ Mk 2 Lawgiver ] can fire a short range energy pulse capable of disabling an opponent with none-lethal force. Overuse of the stun facility can rapidly exhaust the power cell. No more than TWELVE discharges are recommended before recharging'
In the strip a shot apparantly incapacitates at least five targets who are clumped together.
Judge White
'The weapon [ Mk 2 Lawgiver ] can fire a short range energy pulse capable of disabling an opponent with none-lethal force. Overuse of the stun facility can rapidly exhaust the power cell. No more than TWELVE discharges are recommended before recharging'
In the strip a shot apparantly incapacitates at least five targets who are clumped together.
Judge White
havercake lad said:
Yeah I incorporated the 12 shot rule, limited the Range (pretty short, personal +1 or 2 depending on conditions), and then assigned a 50/50 failure/success. Everything else I run off of Stunner rules.
Checked Prog 1122 as well so basically gave the Stunner, the radius effect of a small grenade. It's useful in game with these modifications but fails often enough now to want to throttle a Tek Judge over it. thinking of adjusting the 50% to a 25% failure, until the errata hits at least.
~Rex
havercake lad
Banded Mongoose
Perhaps the burst effect merits more power deplition from the 12 shot pool ?
havercake lad
Banded Mongoose
Point taken.
John
John
havercake lad
Banded Mongoose
Decided to use it as per Traveller core rules ( with 12 shot limit ) but when player roles 2d6+3 for 'stun' damage I discount the dice if they are tied.Rex said:
If I wanted to make it very tempramental I could decide that the number of a tied dice is added to a Perps End save v the weapon.
