Judge Dredd And The Worlds Of 2000ad Rpg Pdf

[Montray Yadav]

Mutantbounty hunters hunt down the scum of the universe. The noble houses of a resurgent imperial Russia use every means at their disposal to attempt to become the supreme power; using bribery, assassination, espionage, diplomacy and war. The solar system is invaded by the Geeks - a hostile alien race hell bent on the destruction of mankind, on Earth and her colonies in the solar system. Criminal hitmen fulfil their contracts, blasting their way though rivals and bodyguards to achieve their bloody payday. Occult investigators hunt down demons and restless spirits threatening both the lives and souls of the people of Britain.

This roleplaying game provides the core rules for the science fiction worlds of 2000 AD. It also provides in-depth material allowing you to create and run adventures in the world of Judge Dredd. Inside you will find:

// A wide array of equipment and weapons from the pages of Judge Dredd. Use the iconic lawgiver pistol with its six different bullet types. Use the daystick baton to subdue perps when up close to them. Ride the lawmaster bike, the two-wheeled kind of the road.

Whether you are a street gang looking to make it into the big time with a major robbery, a task force of Judges trying to dismantle a major criminal organisation or a group of citizens just hoping to negotiate the Black Friday sales at one of the massive shoplexes (the most dangerous task of all) this book has you covered!'

What you get: Your GBP 39,99 will buy you the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD Core Rulebook, the 270-page rulebook that starts the eponymous gameline in both its full colour hardback as well as its pdf edition.

For the Dredd fans that want to splash, a limited edition is also sold for GBP 74,99. The pdf is once again included in the price. The publisher describes it as 'left over from failed pledges from our Kickstarter in 2018, and we will never be printing any more. Limited alternate cover, with the same interior contents'. The present review does not cover the limited edition. I have not perused it, and I cannot pronounce myself on it.

For those who want to try before they buy, EN Publishing offers a 29-page quickstart with pre-generated characters, the most basic rules, and State of the Empire, the introductory adventure that is also contained in the present core rulebook.

Incidentally, this is not your average playtest. I am an avid fan of the Judge Dredd universe, and own more Dredd and Anderson collections than I should have. I had also dabbled with the d20 version of Judge Dredd back in the days when 3E was all the rage.

Contents: Judge Dredd is probably the most famous British contribution to comicdom. If you don't care to read wikipedia's full entry, something that I strongly advice since it covers the setting extensively, here is the tl;dr version:

'The titular character in the franchise, Judge Dredd, is a law enforcement officer in the dystopian future city of Mega-City One, which covers most of the east coast of North America. He is a "street judge", empowered to summarily arrest, convict, sentence, and execute criminals. [...] Street Judges act as police, judge, jury, and executioner. Capital punishment in Mega-City One is rarely used, though deaths while resisting arrest are commonplace. Numerous writers have used the Judge System to satirize contemporary politics.

Judges, once appointed, can be broadly characterised as "Street Judges" (who patrol the city), and administrative, or office-based Judges. Dredd was once offered the job of Chief Judge; but refused it. [...] Dredd's first stories take place in the year 2099, 122 years after its publication date in 1977. The setting of Judge Dredd is a dystopian future Earth damaged by a series of international conflicts; much of the planet has become radioactive wasteland, and so populations have aggregated in enormous conurbations known as 'mega-cities'. The story is centred on the megalopolis of Mega-City One, on the east coast of North America. Within Mega-City One, extensive automation (including intelligent robots) has rendered the majority of the population unemployed. As a consequence, the general population is prone to embracing any fashion or craze they encounter. Mega-City One is surrounded by the inhospitable "Cursed Earth". Much of the remaining world's geography is somewhat vague, although other mega-cities are visited in the strip.'

The book's Introduction kicks off with a discussion of the setting. Mega-City One reaches from New England to Florida with a population of over 800 million, while a block of flats alone can house up to 50.000 residents. An illustrated two and a half page example of play uses scenes from the cartoon while emulating the voice of the GM and the players. It is followed by a short text about the game's tone. We are talking sci-fi hi, be it gritty, space opera, to anything in-between.

The Worlds of 2000 AD presents the different comics that made it into the eponymous magazine, itself a collection of many ongoing serials. I count twenty entries with two to three paragraphs each. The ones I am better acquainted with are Strontium Dog and Sline, yet this doesn't mean you won't recognize Necronauts, Defoe, the Red Seas and Robo Hunter.

The 70- page (!) Character Creation chapter does exactly what it says. The game uses the 'What's O.L.D. is N.E.W.' (W.O.I.N.) game system, which is based on attribute plus skill plus equipment dice pools rolled against a target difficulty. The number of dice in a pool is dictated by a character's score there. Characters have eight primary attributes (Strength, Agility, Endurance, Willpower, Intuition, Logic, Charisma, Luck) as well as two secondary ones (Reputation, Psionics). Their range is open, even though an average human would be mostly depicted by 4s, leading to a dice pool of 2d6 when it comes to ability. The species you choose will affect the values of your attributes in a rather broad way. There are seven species on offer, three of which are different kinds of apes outside the Dredd standard of humans, mutants, clones and robots. In addition to the seldom oddity like a list of 36 mutations for the mutants and the exploits (see: special abilities) that each species has, species also influence the skills a player can choose. The list of skills is open-ended, and any activity can be a skill. Each character then follows five different careers which can relate to a number of broad categories like Civilian, Perp, Judge and Specialty Judge. Examples of careers include gamer, PI, scavenger, mobster, punk,street judge, tek judge, and dozens more. Each has a prerequisite, alters you attributes and increases your skill choices, not to mention that it offers new exploits to draw from. There are more minor steps in character creation, the most interesting of which is the fact that at character can be summarized in the format 'A [age] [trait] [species] [career] who [hook], or, to create one example, 'a middle-aged erudite game reviewer who takes basketball very seriously'. Characters advance through XPs which are earned through overcoming challenges, defeating enemies and completing milestones.

The Equipment chapter doesn't just cover the physical items themselves. It also discusses money (creds), services, drugs, cybernetics, and all kinds of customized gear. As importantly, it covers requisitions and organizations. The judges are not buying the lawgivers with their own money after all.

Playing the Game is a 35-page chapter that discusses the particularities of the system itself. Dice pools are limited by a character's grade, namely the number of careers he has taken up to now. Thus, an experienced character of grade 14 will roll a maximum of 8d6 if his attribute + skill + equipment allow him to. On the other hand, this maximum is further modifiable by a character's exploits and Luck. Tests range from easy to mythical, with a threshold ranging from 7 to 45. The GM has a number of tools at his disposal like complications (reduction of the dice to be rolled), opposed checks, group checks, extended tasks, contests, etc. Critical successes obviously exist; you need to roll three 6s to achieve one. Obviously enough, the more dice you roll, the higher your chances for a critical. The chapter deconstructs common situations like chases, engineering, hacking, and what have you, while presenting tecnhobabble tables around engineering and medical terms. Countdowns are the second major core mechanic in JD, and can be used anywhere from death and disease to drowning or an impending natural disaster. They are also formed around dice pools; the larger the dice pool, the longer the countdown. As an example, a dying character would use his Endurance dice pool. Each turn the pool is rolled. Depending on how fast or slow the countdown is, all dice depicting 6s and potentially 5s and even 4s are removed. When the pool contains no more dice, the event takes place. Countdowns can be both stabilised (they no longer progress) or replenished (more dice are added). Luck is discussed in some length: it adds or deducts dice to attribute checks, adds or absorbs damage dice, and many more. Luck dice explode when 6s are rolled, and can be rolled again. To that extent, the game recommends using a different colour for them.

Combat is tactical, grid-based, and starts by personal initiative determined through rolling Intuition. In a round a character can take a number of actions, usually two. Available actions include aiming, picking up an item, firing a weapon etc. Characters also have access to bonus actions, as well as reactions to other combatants' actions. Attacks are opposed checks, and take into account aspects like facing, range, high ground cover, flanks, etc. Armor does not make you harder to hit; it reduces damage. A player can also vary his attack and damage dice, by spending the former in order to invest in the latter. I count ten different damage types, and a list of almost two dozen conditions, not to mention fourteen diseases. If COVID-19 is the terror of our time, 2T(Fru)T is one of the banes of the Dredd universe. It literally turns its victims into crazed cannibals!

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