Saturday 1 September 2018

Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD - a Preview

Great news! The one gaming book I have most been looking forward to seeing is due to be released very soon and that is, of course, Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD, published by EN Publishing and using their What's Old Is New (WOIN) rules. I am a massive fan of WOIN, especially their N.E.W. sci-fi RPG. Next month sees the launch of a Kickstarter campaign in which you can purchase the following -

  • Full colour 270-page hard-cover Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD core rulebook!
  • The Robot Wars, 150-pages, the first in a series of softcover sourcebooks and adventures!
  • Sturdy two-sided cardboard 4-panel GM screen full of handy reference charts and tables!
  • Special limited edition Judge Dredd dice set!
  • Also, we are offering a limited edition version of the core rulebook with a special cover exclusive to this Kickstarter!
Judge. Jury. Executioner. Play as a Judge of Mega-City One and bust perps, Sov spies, and mutant raiders in this action-packed stand alone tabletop role playing game, bringing to life the iconic characters and worlds found in the legendary British comic 2000 AD. This book is your introduction to Mega-City One, and your gateway to a line of supplements based on 2000AD's many characters and settings.

The Kickstarter launches on Tuesday, September 24th, at 5pm GMT! Don't miss it!

Russ Morrissey, one of the author's of this game, as well as the author of  N.E.W. and O.L.D., got in touch with me and asked me if I'd like to share some preview pics of the rulebook with you? Naturally, I said yes.
I start with the contents page. Note that this book is firmly based on the Judge Dredd stories. The other 2000AD stories, listed under the heading for Chapter 2, will be covered in future supplements. EN Publishing has exclusive rights from Rebellion to produce RPGs and supplements for the complete back catalogue of 2000AD stories, which is a hell of a lot of material.
This page shows the stats and rules for playing a Street Judge. You can play other types of Judge, or even perps or other character types, but I'd imagine Street Judges will be the most popular choice. I can't wait to create my own Street Judge Scott.
 Next up is a list of some of the vehicles to be found in Mega City One.
Playing a mutant character is an option and these two pages give a list of mutations you can roll for your character.
Note that book is in full colour throughout and each chapter has its own colour scheme.
Stats for loads of NPCs are also provided to help you get into the game straight away. This particular page shows the stats for a Blitz Agent and a regular Citizen. I do love how Citizens are described as an alternate term for collateral damage!
 Also included are a host of simple scenarios to help get you started. Most only take up one page.
This picture shows the Games-master's Screen. The chart on the left shows a list of crimes along with their appropriate sentences, which should prove very helpful for players.

For those of you who are wary of Kickstarters, let me reassure you that EN Publishing have a very reliable track record in delivering their Kickstarters and best of all, they don't keep you waiting long for your order to arrive once the Kickstarter ends. I'll be backing this on the day it goes live. Once I receive my parcel you can expect a full review here on my blog. I am incredibly excited about this announcement and I honestly believe this will be the best Judge Dredd RPG ever produced. I leave you with this cool-looking promotional video -


30 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It certainly does, Andy. Believe me, EN Publishing have massive plans for this franchise.

      Delete
  2. Looks great Bryan, and thanks for sharing all the information

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Dave, and I'm only too happy to share this news.

      Delete
    2. As the lead writer on this, I wanted to say thanks Bryan, you make all of this worthwhile when I read such a wonderful writeup!

      <3

      Delete
    3. That's very kind of you to say so, Darren.

      Delete
  3. We do indeed, and this is JUST the very tip of the 'Berg!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Darren. I heard your podcast with Morrus and loved what you guys have planned for this game and the rest of the 2000AD franchise. I'm super happy and excited! :-)

      Delete
    2. Heya, Bryan, glad you enjoyed it. I'm super excited to see where all this goes, and I'm glad we have some great fans of WOIN as well as Dredd backing us to the hilt.

      Delete
    3. Oh, I most definitely will be backing this to the hilt. I've been collecting the 2000AD comic since Prog#1 and still have them all, so this franchise is just a dream come true for me.

      Delete
    4. Awesome, we can't wait to see what folks think of it when it comes out!

      Delete
    5. Thank you, Darren, for helping to make this happen. Your enthusiasm for the project is clearly evident and obviously matches my own.

      Delete
  4. What a stunning achievement for you Bryan, I'm so very pleased as its clear just how much you enjoy both "2000 A.D." and "W.O.I.N." - Marvellous stuff :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Greatly appreciated, Simon. This is the best news I've had all year.

      Delete
  5. no zenith, makes me a little sadder.. but everything makes me happy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zenith isn't the only title missing from the list but that doesn't necessarily mean he won't get an RPG supplement.

      Delete
  6. I heard about this on Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk (small plug for them) and the way they talked about it, man I cant wait for the Kickstarter to open. I might never play it (still waiting to find people to play Conan from Modiphius)but, as they said on the podcast, this looks like a great Judge Dredd coffee table book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi and thanks, Bernie. I recently ran a successful Judge Dredd campaign using the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" rules by Warlord Games. Whilst I did enjoy it as a series of skirmish games (which is what it was designed for) I did miss the role-playing elements, so I'm definitely looking forward to playing this new version. By the way, I'm a solo gamer, so lack of other players isn't a problem for me. I totally agree with your comment about the book making a great looking coffee table book.

      Delete
    2. It is a great coffee table book, even if you're not into RPGs ... but you are into Dredd and 2000AD I'd say this book fits in nicely with the other coffee table books that just talk about the history of comics titles etc.

      Delete
    3. That is very much the impression I got as well, Darren.

      Delete
  7. Nemesis the Warlock - man that will be fantastic. Rogue Trooper could be good - especially with the upcoming film if it follows the true storyline

    however there seems to be an omission of Tharg's Future Shocks.... A classic series

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks, Fat Pob. There are so many characters and stories from 2000AD that I want to see in RPG format. Tharg's Future Shocks was (and still is) great fun. Yes, a classic series.

      Delete
    2. There's a lot of worlds we have access to, a lot of strips we can leverage from across the 2000AD spectrum -- but there are also things that we can't touch (yet), or might not be able to use due to various other copyrights that exist alongside the stories.

      Tharg's Future Shocks could make an add-on book to the core Dredd book, but they are also done by various authors and artists -- so I'm not sure if that's covered by our license.

      There's somewhere in the region of 150 or so strips we have been told we can use, that's a lot of material.

      Nemesis the Warlock will definitely be part of that ;)

      Delete
    3. Because "Tharg's Future Shocks" covers such a wide variety of settings, locations and stories I'd imagine you could use the rules from any of the WOIN rulebooks to create a one-off adventure.

      150 strips that you can use is a staggering amount! The mind boggles!

      Delete
    4. Yep, and quite a few are firm favourites of mine!

      Delete
  8. Tharg like a twilight zone/outer limits is replicable in any game for sure, but a good rules set with ideas and quick gen characters would be good. It's really the stories and the twists that make it.

    In regards Dredd I think this is the third incarnation, with the GW offering back in the 80s and the last by mongoose using traveller rule set. My problem with both these is that playing the Judge is really for smaller groups, perhaps 2 players, maybe 3 at best.
    I would like to see more on alternative games to be played in the Mega City.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've played Dredd with five other players all playing Judges and had no problems. The new rulebook offers choices for playing non-Judges. An interesting alternative would be playing a perp gang, trying to grow in stature, with the Judges as the bad guys. Really, there is no need to limit yourself to a Judges only campaign with this rulebook.

      Delete
  9. I have played Dredd with 5 judges, even though we had different specialities we did feel kind of the same. It's a bit like pendragon in that way. I did think though it played better with 2/3 player judges.

    GW did a perps supplement and that the as fun, though we did get smashed by the judges, and regularly had 'new recruits'

    I will be backing in any case, 2000AD was my youth and all that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good man for wanting to back it anyway. Ultimately, the game can be whatever you want it to be and the WOIN rules are designed for "sandbox" play so that you can run the game that best suits your needs.

      Delete