Judge Dredd Role Playing Game

[Latrina Mosely]

JudgeDredd has been the inspiration for four role-playing game systems. These games are based on the fictional world of the Judge Dredd series from the British comic 2000AD. The role-playing games are unrelated to each other except for the setting.

The first, Judge Dredd roleplaying game, was published under license by Games Workshop in 1985, and used a rules system created specifically for the game, which resembled GW's Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.[1]

In February 2017, EN Publishing announced the new Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD Tabletop Adventure Game[3] using the What's OLD is NEW (WOIN) roleplaying game system.[4] The first releases were the Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD core rulebook, and The Robot Wars adventure/sourcebook in early 2019. In November 2021, the company announced that their license to create 2000 AD products had come to an end.[5]

Judge Dredd is a comic book superhero system in which the player characters are super-police officers, "Judges", in a wretched future society. Based on the popular British comic-book series, the game is grim but humorous.[1] The 1st edition has a "Judge's Manual" (player's book, 72 pages) and a "Game Master's Book" (128 pages); they are combined in the one-volume 2nd ed. Characters are created with basic skills and learn further abilities as these skills increase. The GM's section covers scenarios, crimes, and criminals in detail, plus there is an index of Mega-City slang. The 2nd edition is indexed and includes the hand-to-hand and vehicle combat rules from the Judge Dredd Companion.[1]

Judge Dredd - The Roleplaying Game was written by Rick Priestley, with a cover by Terry Oakes, and was published by Games Workshop in 1985 as a boxed set containing two books (128 pages and 72 pages), a large color map, a cardstock miniatures sheet, and dice.[1] The second edition was published by Games Workshop in 1989 as a 142-page hardcover book.[1]

Games Workshop stopped making and supporting the game system in 1992 and dropped it from their catalogue. They later lost the license to the property in 1995 and had to destroy all non-sold stock in their warehouse.[citation needed]

Games Workshop published a Judge Dredd map expansion detailing a housing block called Citi-Block. This contained conversion rules for its use as a Hiveworld in the Warhammer 40K wargame.

Their in-house gaming magazine, White Dwarf featured articles and adventures for the RPG. They also published a rules supplement and sold limited-edition themed miniatures for their Blood Bowl game (a fantasy version of American football set in their Warhammer Fantasy universe) which included a team of Judges and a team of Fatties.

Additional material for the RPG included the adventures Judgement Day and Slaughter Margin.[2] Judgement Day concerned a plot by traitors and brainwashed sleeper agents both within and outside the Justice Department to destroy Mega City One. The Judges have to find them before they release a weaponized virus that was made immune to current treatment. Slaughter Margin's plot was about a cell of Nippon City survivors seeking to avenge the destruction of their Megacity during President Booth's Atomic War by nuking Mega City One in retaliation. The Judges have to work with Japanese Judges from Hondo City before the terrorists set off their bombs.

Block Mania (1987), a wargame set in Mega City 1, was based on the Judge Dredd "Block War" storyline. Players represent the Citi-Defence forces of one of two Housing Blocks (named after historical figures Sammy Fox and Buddy Holly). Each Block is fighting a "Block War" against neighboring rival Housing Blocks using their arsenal of advanced weapons. Successful attacks penetrate armor or damage interior spaces and reduce the Block's structural integrity. The winner is the last Block left intact. This was expanded with additional rules and game pieces from the Mega-Mania box set (1987) (which added the Sly Stallone, and Richard Nixon Blocks) and the Happy Hour article featured in White Dwarf #94.

Games Workshop also produced a range of licensed figures for the setting. Citadel Miniatures made Judge Dredd figures and sold them in 3-piece blister packs. Judge Dredd and PSI-Judge Anderson figures came in two-piece "hero" packs - one figure shows the character standing and another shows the character seated on a Lawmaster cycle. A special limited-edition 77-piece box set for use with the Slaughter Margin adventure module was also available for 40; many were later reused for their Warhammer 40K line. The Judge Dredd license was then taken on by Wargames Foundry who continues to produce a range of figures and paints for their line of 2000 AD characters.[3]

The Games Machine reviewed Judge Dredd - The Role-Playing Game and stated that "The game captures the atmosphere and tone of the comic extremely well. Any roleplayer who enjoys Judge Dredd's adventures should get a lot of fun out of it."[5]

In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan thought the "generous amount of artwork from the comics" made this game "as much fun to read as to play. However, as almost all of the rules are directed to violent encounters, the game lacks depth and it's not likely to sustain long campaigns." Despite this, Swan awarded the game a rating of 3 out of 4, saying, "But in small doses, Judge Dredd is undeniably exciting, even for players who have never laid eyes on the comics."[6]

Paul Pettengale, the editor of the British games magazine Arcane, did a retrospective review of Judge Dredd: The Role-Playing Game in 1996, stating that "This was a highly professional [...] system of game mechanics, and it is still easily the most enjoyable set of rules I've played."[7] Later that year, Arcane published a readers' poll to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, and Judge Dredd was ranked 21st. Pettengale commented: "This is one of the best roleplaying systems ever created. It oozes atmosphere and spits out gritting violence and playability, and generally makes for a very good time indeed. The excellent way in which the rules are laid out (and written), helps referees to start running the game almost straight out of the box. In our eyes, it should have featured in the top ten."[8]

Written by Ravachol and produced by Rebellion Unplugged, this fantastic tabletop role-playing game for 4-6 players uses tottering towers of Jenga blocks to create an exciting dynamic as democracy activists race to reveal dark secrets about the Judges before Justice Department catches up with them!

As the iron fist of the Justice Department tightens its grip on the people of Mega-City One, there stirs once again movement towards democracy. As pro-democracy agitators, now is the time to take a stand for self-governance!

Because now you have Walter, a former Justice Department droid and somewhat reluctant co-conspirator who has damaging information about the Judges. Information the public must hear. And you will deliver it to them, today, at the opening game of the first Aeroball season in decades.

All of Mega-City One will be watching. The Judges will be unable to pre-emptively shutdown the broadcast for fear of citywide riots. It is the perfect opportunity. Never has democracy stood a better chance.

One player takes on the role of the Host, tasked with representing the mayhem and magnificence of Mega-City One and its inhabitants. The other players act as characters living in the shadow of the Statue of Judgement, doing whatever it takes to thrive and survive.

The Judge Dredd comics appeared in the 2000AD magazine and featured a post-nuclear world where civilization is packed together in Mega Cities. These cities cover several states and are populated by millions, "every one of them a potential criminal". For various 'historical' reasons the Judges, a police force with the combined authority of Cop, Prosecutor, Judge, and Jury (and sometimes Executioner), handle the law in the Mega Cities. The toughest and fairest of them is Judge Dredd. If you know the comics, nothing more needs to be said. If you have seen the movie you get a pretty good idea of life in and around MC1 (although the movie takes some drastic liberties with the original comics).

It was published in 1985 and spawned two official scenarios - Judgement Day and Slaughter Margin - and a Companion volume. There were also regular articles and scenarios in White Dwarf. GW also produced an official line of Judge Dredd miniatures.

I am not an authority on the Dredd comics. I discovered them only after I heard about the game. Only a handfull were translated into Dutch and the price tag on the English B/W Titan editions forced me to limit my collection to a dozen. Having said this, I like the comics for their cynicism, their violence and for the humor and parody. And the artwork is nice too

The box itself is sturdy and has survived the past 13 years without much wear. The front shows a picture by Terry Oakes; the back has a picture by Brian Bolland, a photo of the contents and contains a typical Games Workshop disclaimer in 0.4pt font.

The box contains 2 books, 4 dice, a cutout character sheet and a sheet of double-sided floor plans. GW had the habit of giving people everything to play in one box and the only thing missing here was a Game Master screen. The four dice (d4, d6, d12, and d20) are standard issue; the d6 is a bit small and the D12 is the only die I ever broke during a game. The full color floor plans measure approx. 16"x22" and are printed on both sides of the same sheet (this is "clearly" marked on the box; see disclaimer above) and are for use with the two scenarios. One represents the interior of a Shuggy Hall (3D-Pool); the other shows a stretch of road near the entrance of an underpass. The cutout characters are also in color. Not of the quality of SJGames Cardboard Heroes, but they contain images from the comics. They are useful but nothing spectacular.

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