Thursday 23 April 2020

Long Live Long Dead RPGs: Justifiers

I recently joined the facebook group Fans of Dead Games, where members share their stories and pictures of Roleplaying Games throughout history.

Whilst my collection is myriad, it doesn't come close to some of the shelves I've seen shared in the brief time that I've been a member.  Here's my little contribution:

Justifiers RPG (ISBN: 1-878711-00-8) p128

Published in 1988 by Star Childe Publications, Justifiers RPG puts you in the role of a Betahumanoid.  A half human, half animal genetically modified hybrid, you are the property of your corporation and your job is to "justify" or explore newly discovered planets.  If anthropomorphic sci-fi adventure in the style of Traveller is what you want, then Justifiers is for you.

Reviews from Ryleh gave Justifiers a good going over 

The rule book also contains the scenario The Axon Confrontation written by Battletech author Blaine Pardoe.

Justifiers RPG - Core Rulebook
Justifiers RPG
(Core Rulebook)
Justifiers RPG - The Tower Scenario
The Tower
(Adventure)
Justifiers RPG - The Insidious Campaign Scenario
The Insidious Campaign
(Adventure)
Justifiers RPG - Out of the Mists Scenario
Out of the Mists
(Adventure)

There are a handful of other books I do not (but would love to) own to complete my collection:

Justifiers RPG - Aborigine Sourcebook
Aborigine Sourcebook
Justifiers RPG - Corporate Sourcebook
The Corporate Sourcebook
Justifiers RPG - Poseidon Scenario
Poseidon
(Adventure)
Justifiers RPG - Hybrid Sourcebook
The Hybrid Sourcebook
Justifiers RPG - CyberMedTech Sourcebook
The CyberMedTech Sourcebook
Justifiers RPG - Cold as Ice Scenario
Cold as Ice
(Adventure)
Silent Corp Sourcebook
Justifiers Boxed Set
(Dark Tower Enterprises)
UPDATE:  Thanks to the wonderfully generous people in the Fans of Dead RPGs facebook group I have discovered that there was in fact a reprint box set released in 1992 by Dark Tower Enterprises.  This contained: Core Rulebook, Hybrid Sourcebook, Aborigine Sourcebook, Poseidon Adventure, an unknown bonus adventure and a Poster.

I have also subsequently discovered that Justifiers is not technically dead and some of the books are available as Watermarked PDFs from Drivethru RPG.  Apparently more are in the works.

Other StarChilde Books


Domination: Sabot and Laser - I can't tell if this is a standalone game or a supplement for something else.  The cover has a modern soldier and a generic insect atop a WWII tank so this could be something completely unconnected.

UPDATE: This is the blurb from the back of the book:
"In 1961 mankind struck out into space...In 1992 space struck back! Play out the critical campaigns of mankind's most desperate war. On the one side the superior technology of the Kalotian Empire. On the other, men and women who know too well that the fate of the Earth rests with them. With a complete role playing interface for Domination."
 So clearly this is a standalone game and nothing to do with Justifiers.

Domination: Sabot & Laser

Guardians RPG - StarChilde Publications also made this Superhero roleplaying game.  From what I can research this amounts to two even rarer books (someone should really create a Starchilde wikipage).

UPDATE: As with Justifiers RPG both of the Guardians books are now available on Drivethru RPG as Watermarked PDFs

Guardians RPG
(Core Rulebook)
Freedom Union
(Scenario)
If anyone out there has any more information regarding any of these books please drop me a message in the comments below.

Old School RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com


Wednesday 22 April 2020

Jessie's Prints: Episode 3 - Prismatic Walls, Hellraiser Jewellery Box

This week, I are mostly been printing... 

Prismatic Walls - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4292839

I'm really pleased how these came out and I covered the design and painting processes in earlier posts.  Thanks once again to RedBeardBoss without whose video I would never have have started this project.





Hellraiser Lament Configuration Jewellery Box - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1277931

Another prop print which has been on the bucket list for since forever.  Of course once you've printed the classic Lament Configuration you have all the other configurations thanks to the sterling work of designer Crashjensen although, I think his soul will have paid a heavy price to have this much knowledge.


Hellraiser Puzzle Box Lament Configuration

Tuesday 21 April 2020

A Trick of the Light Part 2 - Lenticular Colour Shift Painting - Prismatic Wall

I am a big fan of optical illusions so when I saw RedbeardBoss's Prismatic Wall, I knew I had to have a go.



In the last episode we covered how I created the model, which is available for free at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4292839.  If you like the model please consider leaving a like a comment or even a tip.

The Painting

Following RedBeardBoss's tutorial I primed the models in silver, just cheap automotive silver spray paint from my discount retailer of choice Poundland.

Once the silver was dry it was time to fire up the airbrush and christen the Big Box Project Mobile Miniature Painting Workstation.  My chosen colour combos were:

    To achieve this lenticular effect we are going to spray the wall head-on starting from the small end (Green).  Keep the angle of the airbrush to no more than 30 degrees left or right as you pass down each side of the miniature.

    Painting the Prismatic Wall

    The paint will hit only two sides of each hex as you pass down the miniature. Once your first colour has dried change to your second colour (Red) and spray in the opposite direction on both sides.

    There will be a bit of overspray on your second colour which will help to blend the effect and the faces which run parallel to the long side will end up a combination of both your silver base coat and your two chosen colours.

    A quick base coat in black and your mini should look like the one in the video above.


    Monday 20 April 2020

    Reaper Bones #13 - Giants!!

    Probably the two biggest minis in the Bones 1 Vampire level core set are the Giants. 

    Male Storm Giant (Julie Guthrie SKU: 77163)

    Yephima, Female Cloud Giant (Patrick Keith SKU: 77162)

    These are some of my earliest attempts at airbrush painting and my lack of talent at this stage shows.  I struggled to get the right consistency of paint to avoid the dredded spiderwebbing.  I was also using a single action airbrush which is great for undercoating but lousy for anything else.  Seriously, if you are interested in airbrushing buy a double action brush.

    For some reason the matte varnish coat that I apply to all my minis never really hardened properly giving it a bit of a gloss sheen and I will probably add another coat in the future to see if it fixes it.

    Nothing but a repaint is going to fix those bloody eyes though!!

    Bones Progress

    Reaper Bones: 245 - Painted: 44

    Related Posts

    Sunday 19 April 2020

    The Big Box Project - A Mobile Miniature Painting Workstation

    Having gotten back into painting recently I have consequently developed a living space problem...

    My dining table has succumbed to The Law of Flat Surfaces and is covered in painting tools and half completed projects.  It has just frankly gotten out of hand. 

    I am a a firm believer in the reuse part of the recycling mantra, so when I found a wooden Carpenters Tool Box abandoned on the stairs of my apartment block a few months ago, I had to grab it.  I knew that when time became available it was going to be put to good use and become my mobile painting workstation.

    Carpenters Tool Box

    This is no vintage hand crafted thing of beauty.  It's a roughly made carcase of 1/2" (57mm) thick pine with the front and back skinned in thin plywood, the edges of which are splintered in places but the box is solid enough.  The front hinges down to create a sort of sloped shelf.

    The plan is to get the majority of my mini power tools and accessories installed into the box permanently.  I want to include a power strip and some form of worklight.  This is not an exhaustive list of what needs to go in their but it's a start:

    Power Tools

    • Rotary Sander (aka a nail file)
    • Air Compressor (& airbrushes)
    • Micro Drill
    • Anglepoise Worklamp

    Accessories

    • Paints - A mix of Vallejo / Scale75 / Army Painter dropper bottles and various GW / Tamiya / Daler Rowney pots and bottles.
    • Big Bottles - Airbrush thinners & cleaners
    • Paint Palettes - Wet and Dry Palettes
    • Water Cups - 2 water cups, one clean and one dirty
    • Glues - Superglue
    • Brushes - a good selection of miniature painting brushes.
    • Sandpaper - Sanding Sticks
    • Miscellaneous Tools - Pin vice, side cutters, needle nose pliers, tweezers, painting handles, coffee stirrers, clamps, sanding papers and sticks
    • Cutting Mat - I'd like this to fit one inside the lid.
    • Collapsible Spray Booth - I want this to double up as a spray booth so need to create a stowable cardboard spray shield  
    As you can see this is quite the project and fitting everything in the list above into the box would challenge even the best TARDIS designer.  Lockdown is the perfect opportunity for me to get this done. and I have already started to tackle some of the exterior panels.

    Big Painting Chest Work in Progress

    I'm going for that distressed WWII Warbird meets Cyberpunk aesthetic.  For the back I think I'll have to have a go at painting the "Bug Stomper" noseart from one of my favourite 80s films "Aliens".  I should have it done in time for Aliens Day on the 26th April 2020.

    Bug Stomper Aliens USCM Dropship Noseart

    Progress on the interior has begun with a shelf and a storage flap in the base.  The exact configuration of the interior is likely to be very moveable flexible as I learn what works and what doesn't.  For starters that shelf needs a lip because as soon as you lift it up, anything unsecured falls off the shelf.  Don't ask me how I know...

    Big Box Interior

    Saturday 18 April 2020

    A Trick of The Light? Prismatic Wall - Part 1

    It's very rare when a paintjob blows my mind so thanks to the YouTube algorithm for suggesting this video from ReadBeardBoss's painting channel.



    I was so impressed that I wanted to do this myself but a search on the interwebs for a printable model drew a blank.  I guess I have to model my own then.

    The spell description describes two modes:

    A shimmering, multicolored plane of light forms a vertical opaque wall—up to 90 feet long, 30 feet high, and 1 inch thick—centered on a point you can see within range.

    Alternatively, you can shape the wall into a sphere up to 30 feet in diameter centered on a point you choose within range.

    This lenticular paint job won't work on a sphere (no straight lines to hide the colour shift) but six straight wall sections could be arranged into a 15 foot circle (ish) or a 30ft semi-circle (ish).  Two birds one stone... Job done.



    I design my models in Sketchup, which turns out is not the best software for printable models, but I love how easy it is to use.  It often creates STL (STereo Lithography) files which are a bit sloppy and not what is known as "Watertight" or solid.  In practice this means that they can often have faces missing, internal geometry and be unprintable.

    My workflow to getting a printable model is to export the STL from Sketchup and import it into Tinkercad.  Check that there are no holes, if there are go back to Sketchup and delete any faces which might be hiding inside solid areas of the model and repeat the process until Tinkercad is happy.

    I also use a fabhouse service called i.materialise.com where I can do a second pass check to see if the model can be printed.  This also allows those without a 3D printer to order a model in their material of choice.  The example above in Polyamide (Selective Laser Sintering) would cost £11.14 ($13.85) each and discounted to £55.68 ($69.23) for 6 copies in white.

    This model is free to download at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4292839. If you like or make one click the heart, post a make photo and add a tip to the jar.

    Prismatic Wall DnD Spell Effect


    I will be painting my wall in Part 2 so stay tuned to see if I can master the lenticular paint effect.

    Friday 17 April 2020

    Savage Dredd

    The current pandemic predicament has given me a lot of free time which of course I am spending wisely (there's Fuck all else to do!!).  

    I am currently busy familiarising myself with the Savage Worlds system and the unofficial Savage Worlds conversion by Randy Mosiondz and Teller.

    I will also be incubating some fresh Judge Dredd ideas so that when we are released from Lockdown I can potentially run a game in one of my favourite settings.

    I am also busy gathering models into a Judge Dredd collection on thingiverse and printing as many as I can.  If you are following my printed miniatures series Jessie's Prints you will probably see a few homebrew Judge Dredd models in there as well.  Hopefully the current worldwide PLA shortage won't scupper my plans.


     

    Wednesday 15 April 2020

    Jessie's Prints: Episode 2 - Alien Cube, The Awoken

    This week, I are mostly been printing... 

     An Alien Cubehttps://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1741021

    A great prop model and easily worked into any game.  Perhaps it is a magic item, a bomb or maybe the lines are a map or maybe, just maybe, it is a key to unlocking ancient secrets...




    The Awoken - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1640837  

    Another great model for fantasy roleplayers.  The Awoken is labelled as being a 15mm scale miniature but he cuts quite the imposing figure at 30mm scale.  The base is 3inch in diameter so that makes him HUGE by D&D standards and IRL he is 120mm tall so that would make him 24 feet tall.

    Nice!

    Monday 13 April 2020

    Reaper Bones #12 - A Monstrous Menagerie

    12 episodes in and we have only painted one big monster mini.  Let's fix that with this monstrous menagerie.  

    In alphabetical order we have the:

    Clay Golem (Ben Siens SKU: 77170)

    Muscles upon muscles upon muscles, this is such a great multipurpose mini.  Imagine your heroes surprise when the weakling they thought they were going head-to-head with transforms in to this Jekyl like man beast.  I thought it was too good a sculpt to give it a terracotta warrior treatment.

    Reaper Bones Clay Golem




    Eye Beast (Julie Guthrie SKU:77043)

    Reaper's homage to the quintessential Boss Monster that is the Beholder.  A two part mini which came preassembled.  Judicious use of miliputt was needed to hide the seam between the top and bottom sections of the head.  The addition of eye stalk tentacles at the bottom are a great way of incorporating a flying base and the abandoned sword is a neat touch.

    I've been a fan of Julie Guthrie's sculpts for years and loved this mini from the first moment I saw it.

    Reaper Bones Eyebeast


    Griffon (Jason Wiebe SKU:77156)

    Probably one of the best Griffon sculpts on the market and an essential creature for your wandering monster collection.

    Reaper Bones Griffon


    Marsh Troll (Jason Wiebe SKU: 77152)

    I love the addition of the spine plate reminiscent of some 1950s B Movie dinosaur.

    Reaper Bones Marsh Troll

     Owlbear (Jason Wiebe SKU: 77156)

    A bit of a contentious "more owl than bear" sculpt on this one and the one legged stance makes the mini droop towards the floor.

    Reaper Bones Owlbear

    Bones Progress

    Reaper Bones: 245 - Painted: 42

    Related Posts





  • Reaper Bones #1: The Marathon Begins - Where I paint a dozen Giant Rats.
  • Reaper Bones #2: Kobolds, Are They Dogs or Dragons? - Where I paint a dozen kobolds.
  • Reaper Bones #3: A Carcase of Skeletons - Where I paint a half dozen skeletons.
  • Reaper Bones #4: A Shuffle of Zombies - Where I paint five zombies.
  • Reaper Bones #5: Introducing Shaina Coppervein, Dwarven Orc Hunter - First PC mini.
  • Reaper Bones #6: Mimic, Treasure Chest and How I re-base my Bones - Where I paint furniture.
  • Reaper Bones #7: Fire Elemental Meets Novelty Lamp - Where I hack a mini with LEDs.
  • Reaper Bones #8: Flaming Sphere LED Tealight Hack - Another mini LED lighting project.
  • Reaper Bones #9: Elliwyn Heatherlark, Gnome Bard - Another PC mini.
  • Reaper Bones #10: Horace "Action" Jackson - A Baddass disco dancing Motherfucker.
  • Reaper Bones #11: Pirate Captain Thorin Stoneheart - A Swashbuckling Philanthropist.
  • Friday 10 April 2020

    Coping with COVID-19: Online Gaming - How Low (Fi) Can I Go?

    Some people call it a "Shelter in Place" others " Self Isolation" but we all know it as "Lockdown".

    Whilst many might accuse us roleplayers as being sad loners, nothing could be further from the truth.  The vast majority of games need to be played with at least 2 people and most RPGs don't function without 3 or more.  That puts us roleplayers in a dangerous position.

    Alternatives to Illegal Assemby


    So you want to continue your normal (insert day of the week) roleplay session and still want to stay safe and legal?  What are your options?

    You could sign up to the usual suspects, the Benicio del Toro of Roll20 or the Gabriel Byrne that is Fantasy Grounds.  Playing D&D? Then you probably already use D&D Beyond.  There are other smaller players such as Astral Tabletop, Beyond Tabletop, Tabletopia or Tabletop Simulator.  All of these services are more than up to the task, but the question is are you?

    In my experience these offerings don't replicate the sitting around the table experience and come with an Everest of a learning curve.  Pre-game setup is also arduous just for simple encounters and the nice things typically sit behind a subscription paywall.

    Do it for Free


    The thing is most of us, thanks to corporate homeworking,  already have the necessary kit at our fingertips.  Video calling software such as Whattsapp, Google Hangouts, Facetime and Skype can all manage group video calls. The chat and game streaming services such as Discord and Twitch are probably two of the easiest services to use and are available across the spectrum of devices from iphone to laptop.

    You will need to do some initial trials to see what works best for you in your situation but the last three weeks has seen my group using a combination of Twitch / Discord for the video & chat and a second service such as skype for the audio.

    Virtual Game Setup for Games Masters


    The setup for a GM is trivial.  You already have all the maps, minis, rulebooks and handouts that you use in your regular game all you need is:

    low-fi online GM setup

    1. A mobile device (or preferably 2) - capable of being used as a video camera and don't forget the charger(s), you are going to be on a video call for a couple of hours.  If you are using a second device make sure that you mute the microphone on this one so it is only capturing the video.

    2. Wi-fi - don't blame me if you rack up a huge data bill hosting your game.  Make sure that you connect your device(s) to your wi-fi.

    3. A tripod or selfie stick - to get that high level over head view of the battlemap.  If your location allows position it on a hig shelf with a good view of the map.

    4. A headset on a second device - a headset is essential to cut down on any unwanted noise from appliances and feedback from speakers.  Using a second device logged into a different account or a different service to handle the audio is ideal.

    5. An arms length indication device - AKA a stick!! The more tech obsessed (and cat lovers) will no doubt possess a laser pointer which is a suitable alternative.

    Set Up For Players 


    The setup for players is even more trivial and just requires you to have a mobile device and a headset.

    Add-Ons and Resources


    Here is a list of services which you might find useful to enhance your sessions.
    • Dice Logger - free dice roller service which creates a read only log of every roll you can share with your DM or vice versa.
       
    • Sketchup - you can quickly create 3d illustrations of rooms in your scenario using the warehouse of free 3d objects.


    Monday 6 April 2020

    Plastichunter - Adventures in the 3D Printing Zone

    Every GM should have one.  They are cheap to buy and run, they are readily available, don't take up a lot of space but can literally add an extra dimension to your games.

    What am I talking about?  3D Printers of course.  I've owned one for a couple of years and found a limitless amount of things to print and here are just a few ways they can help to bring that extra something to your games.

    From large to small there are plenty of great models which can be downloaded for free from 3D warehouses such as Thingiverse, Pinshape, MyMiniFactory etc.

    Scenery Items

    For those of us who still like to meet in meatspace every week, dressing your dungeon with scenic accessories is a great way to enhance your game and helps the players immerse themselves in your story.  It's much more satisfying for a player when they hide their mini behind a plastic pillar rather than a circle drawn on some lino.  Some items are functional in combat, other are just there for dramatic effect but they all make a huge difference to your game.

    D&D Idol Moloch Players Handbook

    D&D Demon Idol - DownloadDestroyed Colums - Download

    Monster Minis


    We all have a bunch of the common or garden minion miniatures (I'm looking at you orcs, goblins and skeletons) but who wants to spend a ton of cash collecting those speciality foes.  A quick search online and you are printing off your mid level minions in minutes at a fraction of the price you would normally pay.  Only need it once? No problem you've not invested that much and you can always give it to someone as a Christmas or birthday gift if you don't have the storage space.

    D&D Umber Hulk D&D Beholder 3D Printed
    Umber Hulk - DownloadBeholder - Download

    Unobtanium


    If you are playing a long dead unsupported game and you need minis, you can always make your own.  I touched on this in a previous article, when I ran a Judge Dredd game a few years ago.  I was using the 15mm scale because the Laserburn Lawmen from Alternative Armies are just about the best simulcrum out there.  Modeling and printing vehicles and scenery items for your game is easy using free software such as sketchup and tinkercad.  You are only limited by your imagination.

    Judge Dredd Hover Wagon H-Wagon


    H-Wagon Homemade Judge Dredd Spinner

    Gadgets and Accessories

    Probably one of the most useful objects whilst being entirely frivolous at the same time are the game accessories.  Who doesn't want a cool looking Castle Grayskull Dice Tower, a dice box or even some spell templates to enhance your enjoyment.

    Castle Grayskull Dice Tower D&D Spell Templates 3D Printed
    Castle Grayskull Dice Tower - DownloadD&D Spell Templates - Download



    Tuesday 24 March 2020

    Reaper Bones #11 - Pirate Captain Thorin Stoneheart

    I, like many around the world, am on lockdown thanks to the Coronavirus outbreak.  This means that I have a lot of free time on my hands which I could use constructively but instead have chosen to catch up on my painting pile.

    Barnabus Frost (Bobby Jackson SKU:77132)

    My Barnabus Frost is known as Captain Thorin Stoneheart, a swashbuckler of advancing years who has given up the life of the ocean waves and settled down with his Dwarven wife Wilomena to run their Waterdeep tavern "The Rudderless Clipper".  However, this is merely a cover for his real passion in life as by night Thorin roves the streets and back alleys of Waterdeep in search of the young waifs and strays exploited by the criminal elements.  He and his wife give them bed, board and protection in exchange for their help running the tavern.

    Thorin is also a member of the Company of the Corgi, a strange band of misfits who delve into the undermountain in search of fortune and glory.  "So it is!"

    Thorin Stoneheart

    Bones Progress 

    Reaper Bones: 245 - Painted: 37

    Related Posts:


  • Reaper Bones #1: The Marathon Begins - Where I paint a dozen Giant Rat

  • Reaper Bones #2: Kobolds, Are They Dogs or Dragons? - Where I paint a dozen kobolds.

  • Reaper Bones #3: A Carcase of Skeletons - Where I paint a half dozen skeletons

  • Reaper Bones #4: A Shuffle of Zombies - Where I paint five zombies.

  • Reaper Bones #5: Introducing Shaina Coppervein, Dwarven Orc Hunter - First PC mini

  • Reaper Bones #6: Mimic, Treasure Chest and How I re-base my Bones - Where I paint furniture

  • Reaper Bones #7: Fire Elemental Meets Novelty Lamp - Where I hack a mini with LEDs

  • Reaper Bones #8: Flaming Sphere LED Tealight Hack - Another mini LED lighting project

  • Reaper Bones #9: Elliwyn Heatherlark, Gnome Bard - Another PC mini

  • Reaper Bones #10: Horace "Action" Jackson - A Baddass disco dancing Motherfucker
  • Friday 3 January 2020

    2020 - the Dark Future is here

    A random post on twitter reminded me that we are now living in the year of one of the greatest genres roleplaying has ever known.  Cyberpunk 2020.

    I have been a fan of the genre since discovering it in the early 80s through the literary works of Gibson, Sterling, Williams and Effinger. Visual stimulation came in the forms of films such as Bladerunner, Akira, Bubblegum Crash, Black Magic M66 and Ghost in the Shell.

    It changed the way I looked at technology and society and changed my future career choices.  I was never much of a punk but I immersed myself deeply in the dark gritty disposable future of a new breed of heroes.

    The new 20s sees the cyberpunk alive and kicking in the form of the much anticipated video game Cyberpunk 2077 and a new version of the RPG from R.Talsorian.

    Salut my friend

    Sunday 11 March 2018

    Prog 6 - Vive La Resistance

    A continuing series of session reports from my current Judge Dredd game using Starblazer Adventures rules. 

    Moma Fratelli courtesy of Brian Daigle on Dribble

    Wallace sees a silhouetted figure in the cab of the truck and fires a GP round through the right window.  A miss.  Still positions himself strategically behind the office wall and serves up a slice of justice pie with a three round burst of HE rounds hitting ED209's left gun pod and blowing off some panels.  Que likewise fires an HE round at ED209 further damaging it's left gun pod.  Holmes tries for the truck's rear door handle and as it begins to move away she leaps onto the rear step.  ED209 strafes Steel and Que's positions hitting Que in the left arm shattering her radius.  Call Me Edd rams the truck punching his loading prongs through the metal door sandwiching Holmes between the truck and it's torso.  The truck drives out of the loading bay carrying Holmes and EDD with it.

    Fearing that the truck will make a clean gettaway, Judge Wallace throws a bleeper onto the side of the truck. Steel fires another three shot burst of HE at ED209 damaging his right gun pod.  Que follows suit firing a three shot burst which only does superficial damage to ED209's carapace.  Holmes climbs up Edd's loading prongs and clambers onto the droids large domed head.  ED209 stomps through packing crates to close the gap on Steel.  A case of squeaky toys explodes like a shower as twin rockets emerge from the wardroids gun pods.   With a woosh they shoot towards Judge Steel missing him entirely and blowing a huge hole in the wall to his right and blowing the main building doors to his left to smithereens.

    Calling for his Lawmaster, Judge Wallace jumps down into the truck pit firing off an HE round at the trucks rear tires causing one of them to explode.  The truck rocks violently left and right.  Steel fires another three shot burst at ED209's damaged carapace hitting with one round.  Smoke begins to pur out of the hole as Steel calls his bike "To me!"  Que spots that ED209 is directly below one of the roof beams supporting the massive reinforced concrete floor slab above.  She shoots an HE at the beam which buckles and creaks as the heavy floor  bows and sags.  Holmes, clings onto the truck roof like a human spider, slowly edging towards the cab.  The truck careens around the corner onto 76th Street and Call Me Edd is thrown violently off the truck across the street and slams into the building opposite.  It's single menacing red eye flickers and dies.  With an unmistakeable gutteral roar Wallace's Lawmaster leaps through the destroyed front doors and into the warehouse.  The Lawmaster's superior combat computer immediately identifies the vintage war droid as a threat and fires it's cyclops laser at ED209 melting off the joint between the torso and the right leg.  ED209 hits the floor, it's chicken like legs flapping about in panic.

    In hot pusuit Wallace fires another HE round at the front right tire, blowing off the entire wheel.  Que spots ED209's energy cell through the tangled mass of wires and circuitry.  Thrusting her fist through the sparking mess she triumphantly rips out the energy cell.  As Holmes crawls towards the front of the truck, the vehicle veers violently to the right and crashes into the warehouse wall throwing her onto the glass roof of the cab.  Wallace runs around the rear of the truck as Steel arrives on his bike accompanied by Holmes's Lawmaster.

    "Citizen you are under arrest, prepared to be judged" orders Steel.

    As the driver stumbles out of the cab, obviously concussed, Holmes drops onto him and they both crash to the floor.  Wallace pulls Holmes to her feet and then drops on the perp.  Steel dismounts and cuffs the perp's hands behind his back and drags him to his feet.  A male in his mid to late 20s, he wears a black and white stripey turtleneck jumper and a beret.  Que arrives round the back of the truck on her bike and gives Holmes the sniffer.  As they open the doors the sniffer needle bounces off the end of the scale but the truck is empty.  The Nitro-9 was definitely here but it has long since been unloaded.

    Fratellis Pizza Wareouse Crime Scene - Click to Enlarge

    Under interrogation, the perp is identified as Marcel Le Peu.  He admits to transporting the Nitro-9 but defiantly informs the Judges that they are too late and it has already made it onto the streets.  Running Marcel's ID through their bike computers the Judges discover that he has an older brother, Pepe.  Another career criminal, Pepe is at large, having most recently been released two years ago for handling stolen goods, his registered address is 258–33 Mitterand Mansions.  Despite having facing a 70 year stretch for numerous crimes, Marcel is uncooperative and resists further interrogation shouting "Vive La Resistance!".

    Faced with closing down a uge crime scene the Judges call for immediate backup and Tech Support. Judge Belloch confirms the order and despatches an entire clean up crew.  With the discovery of a cache of weapons and a homicidal War Droid the investigation has been upgraded and an hour later Judge Hiro joins the patrol to bolster their numbers.

    The contents of the warehouse are summarily catalogued by Tech Judges and forensic accountants.  The cacge includes a number of interesting items including several cases of guns, ammo, riot foam and anti-personnel grenades destined for several Citi-Def units in the Eurozone such as Berlusconi Block, Mitterand Maisons, Merkel Mansiona and Costa Blanca Conapts.

    Mega City One - Sector 55 - The Eurozone

    Judge Que receives medical attention from the support crew who put a synthi-cast on her arm.  They head for Mitterand Maisons whilst Holmes attempts to contact her stoolie Jimmy the Spiv.

    NEXT PROG -> Mitterand Maisons

    Back Issues

    Monday 26 February 2018

    Prog 5 - Ed, Edd, Eddy and ED209

    A continuing series of session reports from my current Judge Dredd Game using Starblazer Adventures rules.

    Inside Fratellis' Pizza


    The Judges enter the dark warehouse through the broken window.  Haphazardly stacked crates, cases and boxes, of all shapes and sizes, form a maze of corridors and tunnels inside.

    Steel and Que inspect one of the military style flight cases and find a consignment of Stub Guns which their label confirms were part of a consignment destined for the Citi-Def at Berlusconi Block in the Eurozone.  Steele makes his way along the wall until he finds the main door.  He locates the buildings electrical panel and flips all the switches.  The lights turn on illuminating the warehouse and the Judges get a brief glimpse of their surroundings.

    if only it was as neatly arranged as this famous warehouse
    Steele notices a flashing red light with a rudimentary label below which reads "SECURITY".  He immediately kills all the lights but the red light keeps flashing.  In the distance Que and Wallace hear the unmistakable sounds of droid servo motors whining.  The judges switch to their infrared lawgiver scopes.

    Que and Steele spot an approaching droid whose nameplate reads "Call Me Eddy".  A forklift bot with two long fork arms, it trundles innocuously forwards to a large crate nearby marked "Soft Toys" and proceeds to lift it up.  A second forklift droid, "Call Me Ed" approaches Wallace and Holmes position on the 76th street side of the building and positions itself behind a large crate.  Eddy's torso swings violently towards the Judges as he throws the large crate at Steele.  His fate is not to die today and he leaps out of the way through the glassteel door into the office hallway as the crate lands, its contents of garishly coloured stuffed toys erupting like an exploding volcano.  Rolling to his feet he fires an Armour piercing round at the droids domed head which punches a neat hole through the glasteel wall of the hallway, and another just below the droids menacingly reciprocating singular red eye revealing sparking interior circuits.
     Edd pushes the crate towards Wallace who instinctively leaps atop it, the label at his feet reads "Anvils".  He selects a High Explosive round, steps back onto a second crate marked "Packing Peanuts" and fires at Edd's head.  At such close range the HE does not have time to arm and it ricochets off the droid exploding somewhere else in the warehouse.

    Que spots a big red stop button just below the Eddy's nameplate on his chest and fires an AP round at it.  The plastic button stands no chance and disintegrates on impact as the round pierces deep inside Eddy shredding vital components as it goes.  Gears begn to grind and Eddy's torso revolves at an alarming rate it's long forklift arms acting like scythes shredding anything they touch. 

    On the other side of the warehouse Holmes fires an AP round blowing off one of Edd's radar dish ears as it crushes the case of Anvils against the case of Packing Peanuts.  Eddy continues his inexhorable deathspin towards Steele and Que.

    Wallace fires another AP round at Edd which penetrates but does not cause any appreciable change in the droids behaviour.  Faced with being sliced to death by Eddy's forklift hands, Steele calmly aims at the hole inthe droids body work and fires an AP round.  It is a direct hit! and Eddy drops an arm, overbalances and crashes to the floor.

    Que moves into the office and spots another droid approaching from the shadows on the other side of the warehouse some 45 feet away.  It looks like a decomissioned war droid sporting a FOR SALE sticker half covering it's nameplate "Call Me ED209".  She immediately fires an AP round at the hulking bipedal death machine's head punching a neat hole in it's grill.  It's twin miniguns whirr into life as it commands

    "+++HALT INTRUDERS+++ +++YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO COMPLY+++"


    ED209 - Winner of 1980s "Now That's What I Call A War Droid" Award


    Meanwhile Holmes homes runs up alongside Edd and slams her fist into the droids Kill switch shutting the oversealous cargo bot down.  As she surveys the scene her keen eye for detail makes her notice that the truck which had been parked in the loading bay with its driver side window wound down now has it wound up.  A third lifter droid hoves into view from around the other side of the Fratelli's Truck.

    Wallace hears the truck's engine start.  From his elevated vantage point standing on the crate of packing peanuts he shoots at the right front tire with an HP and misses.  The round explodes under the truck lifting it up briefly.

    Steele fires a Heatseeker over the shattered glassteel office window which locks onto the nearest heat source blowing off part of ED209's faceplate.  Que kicks through the shattered window and and shoots an HE at ED209's exposed circuitry the explosion spins the war droid off to the right as it unleashes both of its miniguns shredding crates and their contents like confetti at a wedding.

    Holmes rushes towards the back of the truck grabbing at the rear door lever determined to gain entry and arrest the driver.

    NEXT PROG -> Vive La Resistance

    Back Issues

    Making Judge Dredd fit the Starblazer Rules

    I make no apologies I love Starblazer Adventures (SBA) because its Fate 3.0 is so simple and lends itself to fast cinematic play. I had long fallen out of love with the clunky GW rules for Judge Dredd and never bought into the Mongoose era so I naturally turned to SBA when it came to choosing a new system for my Judge Dredd Campaign.  

    Starblazer Adventures
    (sadly out of print)
    My concept for the PC Judges is that the Justice Department mercilessly churns them out through the Cadet system removing any personality weaknesses and indoctrinating them with a core set of skills and knowledge which will serve them well on the streets of Mega City One.  SBA has no physical stats system and relies on a system of Skills, Stunts and Aspects to allow for a huge amount of character variety with little recourse for complex game grinding math.

    Skills

    Looking through the list of 31 skills, it was obvious that some of them would be innapropriate for Judges and I narrowed this down to a subset of 16
    • Alertness - perception based stunts
    • Athletics - agility and speed based stunts
    • Contacting - access to friends, connections and personal reputation stunts
    • Drive - vehicle stunts
    • Empathy - insight and intuition based stunts
    • Endurance - physical stunts
    • Engineering - technical stunts
    • Fists - unarmed combat stunts
    • Guns - missile combat stunts
    • Intimidation - human interaction stunts
    • Investigation - detective stunts
    • Leadership - command and legal knowledge stunts
    • Might - physical strength stunts
    • Mysteries - psychic powers (Psi Judges only)
    • Resolve - determination and will power stunts
    • Weapons - Melee combat stunts

    The Skills Pyramid

    Standard SBA allows players to allocate PC skills in a pyramid of 5 levels from Average (5 skill slots at +1 dice) to Superb (1 skill slot at +5) totalling 15 skills.  Given that there were only 16 skills to choose from and I wanted this to be a gritty game I reduced every level except superb by 1 slot giving players a choice of 11 skills for their character.
    • Superb (+5) - 1 skill slot
    • Great (+4) - 1 skill slot
    • Good (+3) - 2 skill slots
    • Fair (+2) - 3 skill slots 
    • Average (+1) - 4 skill slots

    Stunts

    Pretty much all the stunts for all the above skills are available to players with the exception of some of the unique / special / magical objects or tech which aren't standard issue.

    Aspects

    Remain unchanged from the standard SBA although these are dependant largely on how each PC is going to be played.  For exmple Dredd himself might have the aspect "I am the Law" and Walter the Wobot might have "Live to serve".  As long as it doesn't provoke an immediate psyche evaluation by the Justice Dept, I am fairly easy going.