Ghosts 01

Here are four of the ghosts found in the N.O.W. supplement, Ghostbreakers:Spirits of Manhattan.

At the far left is Emeline Holt, an empathic 135 year old half-ghost drifter who seeks true love. Emeline was once a school teacher in the quiet rural town of Harper's Hollow, who enjoyed teaching children of all ages. She fell in love with a local man, Edward Barry, who promised he'd return from his trip to the city to marry her. She waited for his return in a storm and died of exposure. That was 1876. As a ghost, she chose to seek Edward and came to New York hoping to find her one true love. She was one of the first ghosts that Dr. Wheeler tried the anti-plasm particle accelerator on - though they worked too well and Emeline is completely corporeal now. Not "alive" but solid and unable to move on. She has difficulty with modern technology, but is learning how to answer the "telephone" and assign the Ghostbreakers team to their emergency call-outs. Despite being 135 years old, she has the appearance of a young woman in her late twenties. She is rank grade:5 with 5d6. Her figure is a Wargames Foundry Victorian Lady, which I bought very recently.

The other three ghosts are enemy NPCs with the following properties. Flight. Spirits can freely fly, although many are locked into old habits and do not. Incorporeal. This means that they can pass through solid objects, and are immune to all forms of damage except for anti-plasm and holy damage. Immortal. Spirits cannot be killed. If you can somehow reduce them to 0  HEALTH (by using anti-plasm weapons) they gain the Restrained condition until their HEALTH rises above 0 again. Senses. Spirits have superior dark-sight and life-sense to a distance of 5' per point of INT.
First up is a Grim Reaper, a class 9 (9d6) free-roaming full torso apparition with the True Death exploit. When the Grim Reaper reduces a target to 0 HEALTH, it dies instantly. This figure came from the Horrorclix Basic Set range of figures.
Next in line is a Shrieker, a class 6 (6d6) medium sentient spirit with the Ear-splitting Scream exploit. The Shrieker lets out a shriek in a Cone 3 which does 3d6 sonic damage. This figure also came from the Horrorclix Basic Set range of figures.
Finally, is a Slime Bucket, a class 4 (4d6) free-roaming repeating vapour with the Slimer exploit. The Slime Bucket makes a melee attack, coating its victim in disgusting, caustic slime. This causes 2d6 acid damage and inflicts the Restrained condition. This figure was produced by Crooked Dice Games and costs £4.00 from their webstore.

The Ghostbreakers of Washington DC & Los Angeles

One of the options you have for playing the Ghostbreakers:Spirits of Manhattan supplement is to create your own team and set them in a different location to New York. I used some of the figures from Crooked Dice Games' range of Paranormal Investigators for the pre-generated characters found in the supplement. I also had eight more investigator figures which I split into two more teams - the four males who are based in Washington DC and the four females operating from Los Angeles. Although I haven't worked out their N.O.W. stats yet they are all named with short background bios from the 7TV2E Programme Guide Volume 1.

At the far left is Dr. Harold Ziskey. This oddball scientist has joined forces with Dr. Miles Wheeler in New York and Dr. Holly Potts in Los Angeles and their combined genius is responsible for many of the spirit hunting gadgets that the investigators employ.
Second in line is Don Winthorpe. This armchair academic of the arcane is most likely to be found reading Hemlock's Spirit Guide, but is more than happy to put theory into practice in the field. His occult knowledge has saved the team more than once.

Third in line is Billy Ray. This everyman is just a working Joe intent on making a living. If it just happens to be saving his city from the undead then that's cool - just as long as he gets a steady pay check.
Finally, is Jim Blutowski. A sceptic and a chancer, this wiseass is the leader of the Washington DC Ghostbreakers, mainly down to his ability to talk his way in or out of situation, be that facing a pedantic city official or a 5000 year old demi-god.

Moving on to the Los Angeles based Ghostbreakers at the far left is Dr. Holly Potts. She is an exceptional quantum engineer - although many would argue her methods are unorthodox, some say down right dangerous! However, she has been able to weaponise Wheeler and Ziskey's inventions to deadly effect.
Next to her is Joan Ray. Billy's daughter wants to be just like her dad, and is desperate to impress him with her bravery and extermination skills. However, that can put her in some dangerous situations.

Second from the right is Annie Bertstrom. Visited by spirits at an early age, Bergstrom has always tried to deny the existence of ghosts, dedicating her life to science. That has not worked out so well...
Last up is Dr. Sookie Cooper. An enthusiastic ghost hunter, Dr. Cooper opened the first Paranormal Exterminator franchise out of the back of an old van. Now leader of the Los Angeles branch of the Ghostbreakers her team is one of the most successful in the country.

The Ghostbreakers of New York

Following on from my review of the N.O.W. supplement, Ghostbreakers: Spirits of Manhattan here are the 28mm scale figures I'm using for my team of Ghostbreakers. All of these 28mm scale figures were produced by Crooked Dice Games. I start with four PCs from the supplement. Ghostbreakers from other U.S. cities will appear in my next post.

First in line is Dr. Aurora Bradshaw, an unflappable 23-year old human parapsychologist who is determined to prove the existence of ghosts. Daughter of hippy parents, she was adopted by the Martins after they were killed in a fire. She's a doctor of psychology and parapsychology, determined to prove the existence of ghosts after witnessing a paranormal event as a teenager. Her work and research at the Columbia University Medical Centre is often mocked but thankfully she is left to her own devices in her lab. She is rank grade:5 (5d6).
Next up is Dr. Miles Wheeler, a brilliant 35-year old human experimental scientist who loves outlandish science. The real brains behind the group and creator of most of the super-science technology the team uses to battle the spirits. He's a doctor in theoretical physics and engineering. He doesn't really talk about his past, and finds talking to people a little unsettling. He finds science the most fascinating and loves the more outlandish multidimensional hypothetical theories around. He is also rank grade:5 (5d6).

Second from the right is Carlos Martin, a stoic 40-years old human priest who hopes to restore his faith. Carlos, with his adoptive sister Aurora Bradshaw, witnessed the paranormal as a teenager. Instead of turning to science he turned to religion joining the church. However, his research into spirits continued and he was excommunicated for his unfaltering fascination with becoming an exorcist. Before joining the team he was travelling the country, hoping to find his faith once more. He, too, is rank grade:5 (5d6).
Finally is Kymberlyn Gardner, an athletic 27-year old human taxi driver who loves to chat. Ex-marine, Kim has been working as a New York taxi driver for the last two years, hoping to earn enough to set up her own private security or chauffeur service. She's generally very sceptical, but struck up a friendship with Aurora after chatting in her cab. No nonsense, tough and streetwise, she's picked up lots of information about the streets of Manhattan through her driving. She is also rank grade:5 (5d6). I slightly converted her figure by remodelling her hair.

Judge Dredd - The Robot Wars

All across Mega City One, the robots are turning against their human masters. Chaos reigns as the charismatic robot leader, Call-Me-Kenneth, rallies the city's robots to his side, and only the Judges stand in their way. Play as Judges in The Robot Wars, or as Civilians and Perps in Saving Matt Damon Block, as war rages across the embattled city. With expanded rules for robot characters, in depth discussion of robots' role in society, and summaries of Dredd's earliest case files, this supplement is an essential addition to Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 AD roleplaying game.

This 104 pages supplement was written by Andrew Peregrine. It is split into eight chapters.

Chapter 1 - We Who Serve. In this chapter, robots across Mega City One are examined. The way they are programmed and how they think are detailed. Robot rights and how they are treated as well as how they regard their human masters, are also investigated.

Chapter 2 - Ex Machina. Now you know how they work, it is time to put this detail into action. In this chapter are all the rules you need to create robotic player characters. The detail in the core rulebook is expanded and augmented with new options and traits for your metallic monstrosities.

Chapter 3 - The Fleshy Ones. This book is not just about robots! How humans feel about their metallic cousins is detailed in this chapter. While some humans either ignore or abuse robots others are fighting to change the relationship between them for the better. Hate groups and robot rights activists are examined, as well as new careers for working with robots. Humans on the cusp of becoming robots themselves with cybernetic augmentations and the psychological effects of robophobia are also looked at.

Chapter 4 - The Robot Wars. In this chapter the Robot Wars are presented as an adventure for Judge characters. It allows your character's to fight by Dredd's side or to take the lead in defending Mega City One against the metallic revolution. Included are all the details you need, including the various locations and ways to expand beyond Dredd's story.

Chapter 5 - Saving Matt Damon Block. An original adventure for non-Judge characters that can be woven into the framework of the Robot Wars campaign.

Chapter 6 - Other Campaigns. The Robot Wars is more than just a single adventure, so in this chapter how to expand it into a full campaign is looked at. It is broken down into a campaign timeline and provides several new adventure ideas to play within this framework.

Chapter 7 - Further Case Files. The early adventures of Judge Dredd were not just about the Robot Wars. In this chapter several of Dredd's earliest cases are examined alongside details on how they might also become playable scenarios for your group.

Chapter 8 - Nuts and Bolts. Finally, a convenient collection of the major characters from the Robot wars saga and a few example characters and robot groups are provided. You might use them in not only The Robot Wars campaign but in further adventures across Mega City One.

I certainly enjoyed reading this supplement and I definitely plan on running my Judge characters through The Robot Wars scenario and possibly some of the others as well. I do own a lot of 28mm scale robot figures but I realise I'll need a few others to use on the table top. For example, I have just bought four Games Workshop Necromunda Ambots to use as Heavy Metal Kids. 

I only have one criticism to make about this supplement and that is there are no stats presented for using Judge Dredd. I mentioned this in regard to the core rulebook, but his omission here is even more glaring, especially as Judge characters have the option of working alongside Dredd. That aside, I can highly recommend this supplement. The next two Judge Dredd supplements planned for release later this year are Luna City One and The Cursed Earth.