150 OBJECTS The universe is full of objects. Chairs, desks, trees, boulders, automobiles, crates and more. Most of the time Player Characters will simply interact with them in the way they are supposed to be interacted with – they will sit on the chair or put some supplies in the crate. Sometimes, however, the attributes of an object will be needed. An object’s statistics are based on its size and its composition. These two pieces of information are all that is needed to determine an inanimate object’s DEFENCE, HEALTH, and SOAK. HEALTH. The health of an object is simply the square root of its weight in pounds (if known). If the exact weight is not known, use the average figures below. An object is broken when reduced to half HEALTH and destroyed when reduced to zero. This does not apply to creatures or characters, whose HEALTH is based on other attributes. DEFENCE. An object’s DEFENCE is based on its size. SOAK. An object’s SOAK is based on the material it is made of. If an object is made of multiple materials, simply use the most prevalent. Some materials are vulnerable (+1d6) against certain types of damage. For example, a wooden door is a large wood object with 25 HEALTH, 5 SOAK, and 10 DEFENCE. The following is a list of common objects and their stats. Reinforced Objects. Reinforced objects have double the normal HEALTH. Ray Shielding. Ray-shielded objects gain +10 SOAK vs. energy damage. Fireproofed. Fireproofed objects gain +10 SOAK vs. heat damage. Material SOAK Vulnerable Aluminium 5 Ceramic, china 0 Blunt Crystal 5 Sonic Diamond 20 Duranium 20 Fabric, leather 5 Heat Fibreglass, plaster 0 Forcefield* 20 Ion Glass 0 Blunt Gold, lead, silver 5 Iron, steel, plasteen 10 Paper 0 Heat Plastic 0 Heat Stone, concrete, brick, marble 10 Titanium, plasteel 15 Transparent aluminium 10 Tritanium, adamantium 25 Wood 5 Heat *Forcefields regenerate 5 HEALTH per round Size DEFENCE HEALTH Creature Object Tiny 22 5 Mouse, cat Book, ball Small 18 10 Dog Chest Medium 14 15 Human Chair, bicycle Large 10 25 Tiger Table, Lawmaster, door Enormous 10 70 Elephant, T-Rex Car, van Gigantic 10 150 Whale Truck, bus, mopad Colossal 10 250 - Fire truck, H-Wagon Titanic 10 800 - Ship, jumbo jet, Big-Mo
151 Item Type HEALTH SOAK DEFENCE Vulnerable Altar, stone Large stone 25 10 12 Barrel Medium wood 15 5 14 Heat Book Tiny paper 5 0 18 Heat Bottle Tiny glass 5 0 18 Blunt Chair Medium wood 15 5 14 Heat Chest Small reinforced wood 10 5 16 Heat Computer terminal Small plastic 10 0 16 Heat Console Medium aluminium 15 5 14 Desk Large wood 25 5 12 Heat Door, archaic cell Large reinforced iron 25 10 12 Door, blast Ion Enormous reinforced rayshielded duranium 140 20 6 Door, forcefield Large forcefield 25* 20 12 Door, futuristic cell Large reinforced duranium 25 20 12 Door, office Large aluminium 25 5 12 Door, wood Large wood 25 5 12 Heat Football Tiny fabric 5 5 18 Heat Guitar Small wood 10 5 16 Heat Pistol Tiny steel 5 10 18 Rifle Small steel 10 10 16 Safe Medium reinforced steel 15 10 14 Stone statue Large stone 25 10 12 Sword, two-handed Medium steel 15 10 14 Table/desk, aluminium Large aluminium 25 5 12 Table/desk, wood Large wood 25 5 12 Heat Tree Enormous wood 70 5 10 Heat Tree, large Gigantic wood 150 5 5 Heat Wall, bulkhead, 5’ section Enormous steel 70 10 6 Wall, futuristic bulkhead, 5’ section Enormous duranium 70 20 6 Wall, stone, 5’ section Enormous stone 70 10 6 Window Medium glass 15 0 14 Blunt Window, futuristic Medium transparent aluminium 15 10 14 *Regenerates 5 HEALTH per round
152 THE ENVIRONMENT Adventurers in Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD can’t always rely on the fact that they’ll be in a comfortable, temperate environment. Deserts, volcano bases, mountaintops, howling storms, blizzards, driving rain, underwater lairs, and more can contrive to create a wide array of environments and can make for extremely memorable set-piece battles. The following environmental templates can be applied to areas the size of a world or as small as part of a room. Environments sometimes inflict a persistent condition, such as Sick or Fatigued, which only wears off after a night’s sleep. If a condition mentions that it applies after an hour, it is considered a persistent condition. Areas can have more than one environmental type. For example, an arctic wasteland might be cold and windy. Some creatures are immune to certain environments. SOAK 5 (or more) of an appropriate specific damage type (where relevant) makes a creature immune to a condition. Some abilities or exploits may also provide condition immunity. An environment doesn’t typically inflict actual damage. Anything in the environment that’s dangerous enough to inflict damage (such as an actual fire, lava pit, pool of acid, liquid nitrogen, etc.) is a hazard and can do direct damage to those who touch it. Environments do not have such extreme effects, can typically be traversed, but may have effects if characters spend too long in them.
153 Environment types have the following characteristics. Acidic. Acidic environments can be caused by acid rain or chemical smoke. An acidic environment causes irritation and pain. Those who spend more than an hour in an acidic environment suffer the Pain condition. Cold. From arctic wastelands to meat freezers, cold environments can be debilitating and deadly. After an hour, cold environments inflict the Slow condition due to sluggish reactions and slowing metabolisms. Note that 5 points of cold SOAK, such as that from protective gear, protects from cold. Difficult terrain. Snow, mud, rubble, debris, swamp, shallow water, deep undergrowth, and more can create difficult terrain. Difficult terrain halves ground movement speed, costing two points of SPEED to move one square. Dim/smoky/rain/snow. Dim light, obviously caused by a lack of light, can also represent smoky, snowy, or raining environments where vision is compromised. Dim light renders a creature which starts its turn in the area Blind (although this does not progress beyond the first stage); darker areas inflict the severe Blind condition automatically unless the creature has some way of illuminating the area or seeing in the dark. Unlike other environmental effects, this wears off as soon as the environmental effect goes away. Hot. From hot volcanic ninja lairs to burning warehouses, a hot environment is an environment similar to that of a desert; somewhere in the region of 100+ degrees Fahrenheit (or 45 degrees Celsius). It causes Fatigue after an hour. A scorching environment is significantly hotter, and burns those within it; those who begin their turn in a scorching area gain the Burning condition. Radioactive. Radioactive areas are very dangerous. Those who begin their turn in a radioactive area gain the Sick condition. Those who spend an hour in the area contract radiation sickness (see the section on illnesses and diseases). Slippery. A slippery area, caused by things like icy ground or an oil slick, counts as difficult terrain (half SPEED). Thick/thin atmosphere. While both thick and thin atmospheres are very dissimilar, their effects on creatures are not so different. Both types of atmosphere can quickly tire a creature not used to it; after an hour, creatures gain the Fatigued condition. Tremors. Unstable environments could be caused by earthquakes, sailing ships under extreme weather, or buildings about to explode. Tremors count as difficult terrain (half speed). At the start of each round, all creatures must make a Routine [10] AGI check or fall prone. Quakes make for an extremely difficult environment—horizontal movement is counted as climbing—and the AGI check is Difficult [16] and additionally inflicts 2d6 blunt damage on a failure (as well as knocking the creature prone). Underwater. An underwater environment is more severe than the wet environment; it eliminates all fire-based effects, reduces fire damage from weapons and other effects by –1d6, increases electricity damage by +1d6, and counts as difficult terrain. It is also airless (see suffocation, under thick/thin atmospheres). Vacuum. A vacuum is an area with no atmosphere. It is a myth that vacuums cause spontaneous explosion of human tissue, although exposure is certainly not healthy. The biggest danger from a vacuum is simply the lack of air. Without some way to breathe, living creatures in a vacuum will quickly suffocate. Lack of oxygen uses a similar process to that when an unconscious character is dying. Create a countdown dice pool equal in size to the character’s END attribute. Each turn, the dice pool is rolled and any 6s rolled are removed from the pool. When the final die is removed, the character falls unconscious and the unconscious and dying process begins as normal. Wet. A wet environment is a humid or rainy one—tropical jungles, aboard a sailing ship, in driving rain. In these environments, the Burning condition has no effect and fire-based weapons cannot cause critical hits. Windy. Windy environments are caused by rushing air (or other gases). Wind always has a direction of movement, which is determined beforehand. Moving into the wind counts as difficult terrain. In a hurricane, it is harder—to move into the wind, a Challenging [13] STR check is required. Additionally, at the start of every turn, all creatures must make a Challenging [13] STR check or be pushed 1d6 squares in the direction of the wind. /// EXAMPLE AREAS The following areas are common examples. You can slot these into your game, or devise your own. Arctic or Antarctic Regions Icy winds batter at your skin. As far as you can see, the ground is blanketed with snow as deep as your knees. » Traits: windy, freezing, difficult terrain. Irradiated areas of the Cursed Earth or the Radback Your rad counter beeps urgently as you survey the devastated landscape. Nothing can live here in the ruins of a once-great city. Rusting metal protrudes from the ground, the remnants of vehicles and structures. The very air has a faintly acidic smell, biting at your skin. » Traits: irradiated, caustic. Burning Engine Room The engine room is aflame, the anti-matter core clearly breached. Smoke fills the area, reducing visibility. The gravity controls are clearly damaged, and the room is a zero-g area. » Traits: hot, smoky, zero-g.
154 Decompressing Chamber The air rushes out, dragging you towards the breach in the wall. The icy coldness of space beckons as you gasp for oxygen. » Traits: hurricane, thin atmosphere, cold. Deserts The sun beats down relentlessly. In the distance the horizon is dotted with the occasional distant moisture farm, breaking the otherwise featureless desert landscape. The deep sand makes walking awkward. » Traits: hot, difficult terrain. Rain Forests The trees tower around you and the undergrowth closes in. The sound of insects and mutated critters can be heard in every direction. The air is wet and humid, your footing is treacherous. » Traits: wet, difficult terrain. Wrecked Starship You peer through the darkness down the deserted corridor. The atmosphere has long since leaked away, and the artificial gravity ceased functioning long ago along with the radiation containment fields. Here and there you see corpses, killed by fire, suffocation, freezing or radiation sickness. » Traits: radioactive, freezing, zero-g, dark, vacuum. Stunt Areas A stunt area is a particular type of environmental effect. It is usually applied to an area within the overall encounter area. Stunts are colourful manoeuvres which characters may use while in combat. They serve to liven up combats, creating more interesting and varied battles. You may perform a stunt when in a Stunt Area. The GM places the Stunt Areas on the battle map before the combat begins (or designates a zone as a Stunt Area when using theatre of the mind play). Each Stunt Area contains a feature which applies to any stunts performed there; it is up to the player how that feature is used. A Stunt Area may feature a hanging cable or chandelier, a stack of aluminium crates, a roaring fireplace, an icy patch or even a trampoline. The character may spend one action to use the feature of the Stunt Area as long as he is anywhere within the designated area (in other words, he does not have to be in the same square as, or adjacent to, the feature itself). Each character may only make use of a given Stunt Area once, whether he succeeds or fails to perform the stunt. A stunt is usually a Challenging [13] check. AGILITY is the most common attribute used in a stunt, although any attribute is permitted. Similarly, skills like climbing, acrobatics, jumping and bluffing are common skills. Stunts do any one of the following, at the player’s choice: » Stunts can grant a +1d6 attack bonus. » Alternatively, stunts can help with movement, granting double movement for one action or double a jumping distance. » Finally, stunts can grant an attribute check a +1d6 bonus. Bonus dice granted by stunts can exceed a character’s normal maximum dice pool. If you fail the attribute check when attempting to perform a stunt, you do not gain the benefits of that stunt, although you may continue to act normally. However, you cannot attempt to use that Stunt Area again. If the attribute check is a critical success the stunt does not cost the character an action. /// Some Examples of Stunts How each player uses a Stunt Area is up to them. Below are some examples. Hanging cable. The character could choose to use the rope to swing across the room, giving him double movement. The character uses AGI (climbing). Stack of Barrels. The character might use the barrels in a similar way, rolling the barrel across the room as he works it like a treadmill. The character uses AGI (acrobatics). Roaring Fireplace. The character might flick coals at the opponent in an attempt to distract him, giving him +1d6 to attack his opponent. The character uses AGI (bluffing). Icy Patch. The character might slide across the icy patch in an attempt to gain momentum and surprise his opponent, benefiting from a +1d6 to hit his opponent. Alternatively, he might use the same icy patch to double his movement. The character uses AGI (acrobatics). Trampoline. The character is a poor jumper and needs to leap up to a balcony. Using the trampoline, they double their vertical jumping distance and reach it easily. The character uses STR (jumping). Banister. The character slides down a banister, doubling his movement. The character uses AGI (acrobatics). Example Stunt Areas Barrels, crates. Banquet table. Trash chute, pipe. Hanging cables. Icy patch. Ladder. Ivy. Low branches. Pillar. Service droid. Pool. Rapids. Banister. Tapestry, curtain. Fan blades. Sickbay gurney.
155 Theatre of the Mind Combat Theatre of the mind combat refers to encounters which do not take place on a battlemap. Because there is no battlemap, values like speed and distance are tracked differently. In theatre of the mind encounters, the area is divided by the GM into “zones”. Each zone has its own name, environmental traits, and possible access requirements. For example, a flaming balcony would be described as: Flaming balcony » Hot, smoky, high. Access 2 actions; Challenging [13] AGI via climbing Any creatures in the same zone can strike at each other with melee weapons. Creatures in different zones must use ranged weapons. It usually takes one action to move from one zone to another. However, some zones are marked as “far”, and require two actions to enter or leave. Zones which are difficult terrain also require two actions to enter (but not to leave). Zones with access requirements might include high places, places which require a balancing act to enter, zones which are hot and require an END check to access, thick undergrowth which requires a STR check to penetrate, and so on. Usually, this check is a Challenging [13] check, but it can be more difficult. A failed attempt to enter a zone still takes an action.
156 A giant city covering the east coast of what was the United States of America. A city eight hundred million citizens call home. A city that began as a dream for a better future, but has evolved into a crime ridden nightmare. History Mega-City One began life as a massive sprawling conurbation that stretched from New York City to Washington D.C. It quickly began to grow at a rapid, near-exponential rate and dominated the north-east of America. With such a huge expansion crime soon spiralled out of control with criminal gangs growing strong enough to attack the White House itself. This lawlessness prompted the roll-out of the Judge program in the Year 2031 and the foundation of Mega-City One not long after. The success of the Judge program helped prompt the American government to proclaim that the huge conurbation, now stretching even further, would be the first of the Mega-Cities and it officially took the name Mega-City One. Unfortunately it was a victim of its own success and even as two other Mega-Cities were instituted the growth in Mega-City One showed no signs of slowing down. Immigration to the Mega-Cities and huge technological advances led to massive population growth, however with the unstoppable rise in automation jobs were becoming difficult to get for the average citizen as robots took over, leading to ever more rampant crime. By now the Justice Department had split with three autonomous branches to cover each of the mega-cities — the expanding populace grew again and in 2052 the city was given sweeping powers under an Autonomy Act. With this act only the military and foreign affairs were outside of the cities’ remit. In 2055, with another population explosion, Mega-City One felt forced to use its new powers to impose harsh immigration limits on American citizens who wanted to move to there. Even with the change in law by the Atomic Wars in 2070 the population of the mega-city had reached a staggering 800 million inhabitants. The war, which devastated most of America, largely spared Mega-City One due to experimental laser defence screen technology — although many did die it was not long before the city reached its pre-war population again. Since Mega-City One was planned to support roughly 350 million citizens it was drastically over-crowded, and vast new housing blocks began to be constructed to try and deal with the situation. With most of America now in ruins the Judges discovered President Robert L. Booth, the man most responsible for starting the Atomic War, was only re-elected and able to remain in office by using massive election fraud. As they investigated deeper it became obvious the President was behind several murders to cover his trail. Citing the Declaration of Independence they removed the man, garnering huge public support. A brief civil war followed, with the President fleeing but his forces were eventually defeated at the Battle of Armageddon in Death Valley. Desertions from the military meant Booth relied on his robot armies but they were not enough; he was arrested and tried and the Judges took over full power in the three Mega-Cities. Peace was not to last though and a bitter civil was fought against Texas City, with the latter breaking away from the union with the other Mega-Cities. Eventually a truce was declared and peace returned, although the union was shattered. As part of the reconciliation process the three cities began to build a colony on the moon – Luna City One. In the years that followed a period of relative prosperity returned, although most citizens remained reliant on welfare due to the ever greater use of robots. By 2099, the present year, Mega-City One has stabilised at 800 million citizens, encompassing a huge landmass that stretches all the way down the east coast to Florida. CH/6: MEGA-CITY ONE
157 Crime figures are higher than ever and mutants are banned, having to remain outside city limits, eking out a pitiful existence in the Cursed Earth. The Judges maintain control, even if they struggle to contain the massive levels of crime. New Judges continually graduate from the Academy of Law, replacing those lost in the line of duty. With their strict regime they are able to keep order. For now… The City Mega-City One is the largest of the three American mega-cities that survived the Atomic War. It is a huge place, rife with crime, packed to the brim with citizens of every stripe. The vast majority are unemployed, and their education is focused on that very fate — a life of unemployment. The teeming millions are frustrated, bored and downright belligerent. The tiniest thing can send a Mega-City One resident over the edge, and the results can often be fatal. Standing between the citizens and themselves are the Judges, an elite force of peacekeepers, far more than the mere police they replaced as they have the power to act as judge, jury and executioner. Despite being equipped with high tech weapons and equipment, such as the fearsome lawmaster motorbike and the highly accurate lawgiver pistol, even the Judges struggle to keep the streets of Mega-City One safe. The city boasts many fantastic locations to visit for citizens and tourists alike. Immigration centres handle the vast numbers coming to, and leaving, the city. Here the laws against mutants are vigorously enforced, with all detected mutants prevented from entering the city. Mutants discovered within the city’s limits also find themselves exiled in short order. The use of robots in all employment sectors means there is little work for the human population. Citizens who desire work and who cannot adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle can become insanely bored. Sudden crazes develop, where citizens will latch onto some new fashion or activity, only for it to die out days or weeks later (often due to new laws banning the craze). A few crazes have proven to have had staying power over the years, such as the kneepad fashion accessory or batgliding, which allows participants an element of freedom when soaring high above the streets. The youth of the city, juves, live in a decadent culture centred on juve gangs who engage in petty crimes. The endemic vandalism found across the city is mostly caused by these bored youths and they indulge in a variety of proscribed items such as illegal comics, music and, of course, drugs. The Judges are as vigorous at cracking down on youth crime as they are in dealing with adult perps - the city is well stocked with juve cubes that deal with the near endless supply of these petty criminals. There are also uplifted animals in Mega-City One, the most common are genetically modified apes who have been given greater than natural intelligence, becoming as clever as any other citizen. Most live in Apetown (also known as the Jungle) where they live in sordid conditions. Crime here is as endemic as elsewhere in the city with ape gangs running the local rackets. These gangsters take their mannerisms from twentieth century vids, causing them to dress and talk like prohibition era gangsters. Mega-City One is a dystopian society, the Public Surveillance Unit watches the citizens continuously from their headquarters, using millions of cameras to catch any criminals in the act. Meanwhile Psi Division monitors for aberrant behaviour and can read the thoughts of citizens and perps, often preventing offences before they happen. Millions of road vehicles clog the overcrowded highways; slipzooms and meg-ways twist through the city, often suspended hundreds of feet in the air. Numerous private cars and motorbikes streak along these roads, competing with massive trucks, hover buses and mopads. With so much traffic on the streets the Judges pay special attention to potential trouble, if a traffic jam occurs it can take days for it to clear if they are not careful. You can find all sorts of diversions in Mega-City One from the mundane to the bizarre. Businesses cater to every whim, as long as you have the credits to pay for it. If you do not like your face you go to a face change parlour. If you want to have a great dream you can remember vividly you go to the Dream Palace. There are near endless opportunities for leisure. Unfortunately many are out of reach for the average citizen’s pocket.
158 Crime occurs continually on the streets, in the blocks, in homes, on wasteland, in offices. Even with a city as massive as Mega-City One there are very few who have not fallen afoul of some obscure law or another. The Judges rule with an iron fist and the plethora of laws makes it almost impossible to be totally law abiding. And if you break the law, and you will, then there is a good chance the Judges will come after you at some point. Welcome to Mega-City One. Welcome to the future! Gazetteer The world of Judge Dredd is full of memorable locations, both in and around Mega-City One. From the Statue of Judgement to the Academy of Law, the city is an incredible place. This short gazetteer shines a light on the most notable places in and around the Big Meg. /// Unique Locations The following locations are unique, with only one in the city. Each entry includes a brief description of the place and its function, with ideas on how to use it in play. Academy of Law It takes fifteen long and hard years to transform a raw cadet into a Judge and the Academy of Law is where this training occurs. The Academy boasts it is the ‘Toughest School on Earth’ for good reason and has turned out thousands of superb Judges who patrol the streets of MegaCity One. Cadets can expect to attend regular classes and must take repeated tests, some in their classrooms while others may be more practical, on the firing range or in the applied violence hand-to-hand combat classes. Discipline is harsh and many fail to make the grade. However the Judge Tutors, consisting almost exclusively of older Judges too badly injured to be able to continue patrolling the streets, do their utmost to ensure the best candidates are prepared and ready for what awaits them after graduation. Those who graduate gain rookie status and their half-eagle badge with the traditional white helmet. They will then face their final test where they will be assessed by a senior Judge, who will determine whether they are suitable to become Judges based upon how capably they perform their duties under the senior Judge’s eye. Using the Academy of Law. Judges can be called in to help supervise cadets in their education. An entertaining scenario could involve taking a group of Hotdog Run cadets out into the Cursed Earth for a mission. Perps may try to infiltrate the Academy and it is a prime target for spies and terrorist groups. Highly sought after Justice Department equipment is stored at the Academy and a group of especially ambitious perps may attempt to break in and help themselves to some. Citizens may visit the Academy on rare occasions, normally on induction days when new cadets may be enrolled. Black Museum If you want to see mementos of the most infamous criminals of Mega-City One you need look no further than the Black Museum. The Black Museum is where the Judges keep evidence and displays of some of their most notorious solved cases and regular tours make this a money spinner for the city’s coffers. The museum is also a testament to the power and past victories of the Judges over the most dangerous criminals the city has known. Using the Black Museum. Judges can be called in to the museum to investigate the theft of important items. This could be a mundane theft for profit or there could be a supernatural element to the theft, depending on the kind of artefact that has been taken. Judges could also investigate a murder at the museum of an on-duty Judge, he has been killed by a murderous robot hiding among the ‘Rogue Robots’ section of the museum’s displays.
159 Botanic Gardens Along with the normal collection you would expect of fairly mundane and regular plants, the Mega City Botanic Gardens host a slew of other alien species. Many of these are dangerous (and some that are mobile!) and the alien plants are kept in an area separate from the rest of the exhibits. The most dangerous are contained in various special areas mostly sealed from the public, who can gaze at them through toughened plastiglass. Plants such as the highly carnivorous Bloodplant are considered so rare, and so dangerous, that they are kept in a soundproof tank. The Bloodplant’s call is hypnotic and if anyone hears it they are drawn towards the plant to be consumed. Using the Botanic Gardens. With all the dangerous alien plants kept at the gardens there are plenty of things to attract Player Characters. Judges could have to deal with a situation where dangerous, mobile plants escape, perhaps due to the activities of some bored juves. Perps could have to survive in the gardens when a rival gang, with better weapons and superior numbers, chases them in there. Citizens are likely to find themselves in some difficulty if either of these occurs while they are visiting the attraction. Central Mega-City Library The use of this large building is open to the public and is free of charge. It holds all knowledge as it pertains to Mega-City One’s past and present and is a vast storehouse of human knowledge. All content has been thoroughly vetted by the Justice Department and any dubious materials (including many philosophical and political works that might show the Judges for what they are) have been taken out and stored in a secure location in a Justice Department vault. Late fees in this particular library are extremely high, with an iso-cube sentence a possibility. Most of these records are stored in computer data storage devices; however there are shelves upon shelves of old books, magazines and other documents. There is even rumoured to be a copy of the old United States of America’s Declaration of Independence somewhere in the building, if true there can be little doubt that it will be in the Justice Department restricted access vault. Using the Central Mega-City Library. The restricted sections of the library would be of interest to perps, Judges and citizens alike. Perps may wish to steal them for their intrinsic value; plenty of collectors would be willing to pay a hefty price tag for them. Judges would want to ensure they remain safely locked up. Finally citizens may want to find out exactly what the Judges are hiding and these old books and documents may well show their lies for what they are… City Hall Location of the offices of the mayor of Mega-City One and the city councillors. Although the Judges hold most of the power in the city without cooperation from the civilian authorities it would prove a far more difficult task to maintain their grip. City hall is also the home to Barney, the citywide computer network. Like all such facilities it is closely monitored by the Judges for evidence of criminal or subversive activity. Using City Hall. Judges protect the building and its occupants from angry constituents and rival political groups who failed to get elected. They also investigate potential cases of graft and electoral fraud, for the various council members have a lot of influence on where their budget gets spent. Perps may wish to try and gain influence with councillors. Perhaps they have been asked by an associate to ensure his company gets the contract for a major public works project. Citizens may have many grievances to take up with the politicians and civil servants at City Hall. Perhaps they want to discover why their block has been neglected so badly for so long and uncover a political conspiracy that effects their everyday lives. Devil’s Island Only some of the most dangerous perps get sentenced to Devil’s Island. Accessible only via hover vehicles, the usual defences of an iso-block are supplemented by the fact the building is a traffic island, with vehicles travelling non-stop at high speed twenty four hours a day on the surrounding meg-ways.
160 Prisoners are incarcerated on the island and the prison is almost inescapable. Devil’s Island has additional defences and guards that make the place even more formidable, it would take a determined effort for anyone to escape from the facility. Using Devil’s Island. Obviously having a nearly inescapable prison is a challenge, and someone is bound to try and escape sooner or later. Judges can be sent there to interrogate inmates or drop off prisoners. They could escort a dangerous perp to Devil’s Island who then escapes en route and they must work to recapture the perp and take them to the Island. A perp campaign involving this location needs to be carefully designed, since the Player Characters could be prisoners who have a plan to escape, or perps trying to break out a gang boss or other criminal. Empire State Building Most of old New York, including Times Square, was concreted over and became part of the Undercity. The Empire State Building, however, was preserved for posterity, being moved so that it would remain part of the new mega-city. After many years, however, the grand old building is now a pale shadow of its former self and lies as a derelict reminder of the past. Using the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building, in its current state, is an excellent location for a group of Judges to chase down a particularly wicked Perp. The unstable and derelict nature of the building could make for an exciting gun battle, punctuated with a frenetic chase inside the Empire State Building’s corridors, lift shafts and rooms. Perps could use the place as a base of operations or somewhere to meet other perps while staying out of view. Citizens might visit the old building for a variety of reasons. Jaegers may want to climb its ageing façade, some architectural students may merely wish to wallow in what remains of its grandeur, still others may want to see what ‘souvenirs’ they can find and take home (and if they find little in the way of souvenirs they may decide to strip some wiring for scrap value). Grand Hall of Justice An impressive building that dominates the local skyline, the Grand Hall of Justice is the headquarters of the Justice Department of Mega-City One. This is where the Chief Judge and the Council of Five normally reside and where all laws are decided. The Grand Hall has several secrets and beneath the tomb of Judge Fargo there lies a secret door, a door leading to a passage that in turn leads to a secure location outside the walls of the building. Designed to be used in the case of an attack, so personnel can be spirited out of the hall in safety, or allowing forces to enter the building in an emergency — the passage has yet to see use and only a few key personnel even know it exists. Using the Grand Hall of Justice. The Grand Hall can be used in a number of ways, these include using it as a base of operations for a group of Judges as they respond to a growing threat in Mega-City One. As the headquarters of the Judges the Grand Hall is a prime target for perps. They may wish to get into the holding cells in order to free, or perhaps just get a message to, someone held there. The theft of information, evidence or equipment from the Hall are all possible motives for perps to try their luck, although they will have to be extremely proficient to stand even a small chance of success and the payoff would need to be impressive.
161 Heroes’ Bowl Once the stadium where the Harlem Heroes used to play aeroball, it is now a museum and has a steady throng of visitors day-in and day-out. The museum features displays covering the history of the team, with a hall of fame featuring the greatest players with statues and effects. At the Louis Mayer stand not only is his statue present but also his preserved brain! Using the Heroes Bowl. As a major tourist attraction there are always crowds who visit here during opening hours. And where there are crowds there will be perps. Perps could be out to steal memorabilia which can fetch a fantastic price on the black market, perhaps even Louis Mayer’s brain! The old play area is still used for special events and exhibition games so there is the chance for citizens to watch a favourite team play there. Or even to become involved in a pro-amateur match… Judges will as always be on the lookout for crimes and handling crowd control at major events or games. Kennedy Space Port The major space port in Mega-City One, dealing with very large volumes of space traffic. This includes regular shuttles to the Luna-1 colony, prisoner transfers to the penal colony on Titan, colony ships that depart for distant star systems and luxury liners that take the mega-rich on year long cruises to see the sights on alien worlds. There is always a contingent of Judges on duty here, both to investigate the normal day-to-day crimes occurring there and customs officers, since the port is an ideal place to smuggle contraband into and out of the city. Using Kennedy Space Port. Kennedy Space Port often becomes a target for criminals, perps of all kinds come here to ply their trade, especially smugglers. Judges can search for contraband of all kinds, employing high-tech equipment to try and stop the flow of illegal goods into and out of Mega-City One. Perps can try to avoid the law and circumnavigate the Judge’s watchful eyes, taking goods offworld or ensuring an important cache of smuggled goods makes it to their boss. Citizens caught aboard a hijacked Luna-1 shuttle makes for an exciting scenario. If you want to throw a spanner into the works, make the hijack part of a new program of tests Justice Department has devised to see how citizens respond to elevated danger. Mega-City Art Gallery The most important art gallery in the city, the Mega-City Art Gallery hosts such grand pieces by artists such as FDK Bellini. Bellini was an early 21st Century sculptor of some note, his most famous works included Staplers at Attention and E=MC2. The gallery sees a regular influx of visitors and puts on regular exhibitions of noted artists’ work. Using the Art Gallery. The Player Characters could be Judges assigned to investigate a series of bizarre thefts linked to the murder of a high profile artist. Perps could easily prey on the Art Gallery as part of a gang replacing the original artworks with carefully perfected counterfeits while attempting to keep things concealed from the eyes of the Law. Mega-City Chamber of Horrors With so much time on their hands the citizens of MegaCity One have many places where they can go to spend it. Numerous museums and galleries can be found throughout the city and one of these is the Mega-City Chamber of Horrors. The museum is a large building with many vignettes inside all portraying some of the most horrific criminals and their acts in history and fiction. All this is played out by robots who act the grisly work of these infamous villains. The robots are well maintained and are unlikely to malfunction but there is a first time for everything. A small, highly-trained team of technicians is on hand to repair the robots to make sure they do not break down.
162 Using the Mega-City Chamber of Horrors. One of the robots malfunctions in the worst way possible, and begins to act out the crimes of the villains featured in the displays. Initially targeting the other robots it soon begins to prey upon the technicians and visitors. The Judges are called in after dead technicians and dismembered robots are found by the cleaning robots, which clear everything up after the museum closes for the night. The Judges will have to hunt the robot on its own ground, while it hunts them. To make things worse it may have several of the other villainous robots are helping it out and may have kidnapped some of the technicians and visitors to slaughter later. Citizens could be caught up in this scenario and will need to escape the clutches of the villainous robots… Mega-City Museum As one of the tallest structures in Mega-City One, the MegaCity Museum towers over those buildings surrounding it. It is packed with displays that chronicle the history of the city, it also has the most complete records of Pre-Atomic War life in North America that have ever been collected in one place — this makes them incredibly valuable. Justice Department keeps a close eye on many of the exhibits, with those featuring the democratic government of the time regulated; those available to the public show much of that part of history in an unfavourable light. The museum also has a transceiver beacon atop it for use by the Justice Department. Using the Mega-City Museum. The Judges are brought in to deal with a Sov-City saboteur who intends to blow the Mega-City Museum sky high. The Sov agent believes that they will deal a crippling blow to the morale of the city, and the Judges in particular, by demolishing this beloved landmark. They hope this will end up destroying much of the recorded history of Mega-City One and the Mega-City Judges’ role in shaping society as it is today. By doing so the Sovs hope to subsequently sow disinformation using propaganda about the city’s rulers and life outside its borders, enabling them to recruit spies and a fifth column. The incredibly valuable historical exhibits are a prime target for gangs of perps, and many of the items are easily portable. Mega-City One Exhibition Dome Lying beneath an air-conditioned dome, the Mega-City One Exhibition Centre has 99 gated entrances to control the flow of the huge crowds that gather here. It hosts many different events and the Robot of the Year Show is a regular hit. Using the Exhibition Dome. Perps could have a field day, with many minor crimes being committed amongst the crowds that gather for such a show. With any such venue there could be someone cooking the books – perhaps they kill someone who discovers what is going on and the Judges have a murder mystery on their hands… Citizens could be caught during a sudden hostage situation, working together to escape and perhaps alerting the Judges to the crime in progress. They can also come visit any of the shows and exhibitions there, where there is always a wide variety of things to do and see. Nothing could possibly go wrong if an average group of citizens are given some basic training on how to use the latest range of programmable robots… Movie Special Effects Museum With the advance in robot designs it became inevitable that vids would be made using them, especially giant sized creatures for use in a variety of space and horror programs. The fad did not last and many of these creations ended up at the Movie Special Effects Museum. The curator is an expert with these kinds of electronic and mechanical designs. Old creatures from the past, such as the giant robot gorilla Krong, have pride of place in the collection and displays. Using the Movie Special Effects Museum. It is possible that an individual would want some of these old robots for his (or her) private collection. This could represent an opportunity for a group of perps to carry out a major criminal act, while for a group of Judges they could be on the trail of a dangerous gang and a potentially even more dangerous stolen robot. Citizens could visit the museum and find themselves at the centre of a disaster should any of the robots go haywire for some reason. Or they could find themselves as unwitting actors in a new vid using the robots – perhaps the director wanted to capture their genuine terror for the big screen. Power Tower The Power Tower is a major geothermic electricity generating station, providing much of the city’s power. It is built around a central bore hole descending many miles beneath the Earth’s crust where it taps power from the planet’s molten core. A team of dedicated robot workers keep the tower functioning and makes sure it provides enough power to keep Mega-City One glowing day and night. Using the Power Tower. The tower is a potential volcano in the heart of the city should someone sabotage it. Less serious events could cause black outs over much of the city. Terrorists, rogue Citi-Def units and regular perps may all attack the plant in this way, in less dangerous acts of sabotage the resulting darkness can be the cover for more criminal acts. There are regular tours of the tower that citizens could join, allowing them to be caught up in the fun.
163 Statue of Judgement A massive feature of the city in the form of a Judge gazing out across the city, the Statue of Judgement rises hundreds of feet above the old Statue of Liberty, which now sits in the shadow of the newer monument. The statue dominates the immediate skyline and is a popular tourist destination as an impressive landmark. The statue’s domination of the Statue of Liberty is deliberate, a statement of the Judges’ power and in the belief that they alone can control the city. Using the Statue. The statue is an icon and is visited by many citizens and tourists every day. For civilian characters going to the statue could be a day out and they may become embroiled in all kinds of misadventures there. Perps will be attracted to the crowds as they seek out easy pickings. Taps and dunks work in the vicinity and wreckers and red light gangs have been known to target tourist buses en route to the landmark. Meanwhile the Judges have to keep the crowds under control while dealing with the various perps they may find operating there. In addition the two statues are both potential targets for terrorist groups who wish to strike at one the great symbols of Justice Department. The Jungle / Apetown The Jungle is that part of the city dominated by apes whose ancestors were subjected to scientific experiments which greatly increased their intelligence. It is a slum and even the Judges do not bother with petty offences such as vandalism and littering here. The apes prefer their own company to that of their human cousins but suffer pretty much the same problems in their lives; unemployment, boredom and crime being the most common. Like other slums crime is rampant and the ape gangs rule the roost. They have total dominion and human racketeers have to make alliances in order to operate in the area. The Judges try to crack down on the gangs but, as elsewhere in the city, the criminal networks are too numerous to be completely defeated. Using the Jungle. The Jungle is a good backdrop for scenarios that introduce Judges to the stranger sights of MegaCity One. They can be ordered to hunt down a perp who has gone to ground in the Jungle, most likely a member of one of the ape gangs. The majority of the uplifts are law abiding citizens, so the Judges should not have too much trouble to begin with — later on they can cross the gangs that operate within the Jungle as they try to take their quarry down. Perps could be sent to act as bodyguards on a deal with Don Uggie Apelino or another top ape mobster. The delights of a day trip to Apetown for a group of citizens could be many. Of course the apes are not too pleased at being reduced to mere objects to be gawked at, which could lead to run-ins with the local street gangs.
164 The Maze The F. Lloyd Mazny Housing Scheme was going to be a paragon of city design, housing some two million people in a vast complex. Within days all the signs, robot staff and help consoles had been vandalised and those poor citizens inside had no idea how to get from A to B. The result was a disaster, many failed to emerge at all and the building was abandoned and fell into dereliction. Now it is justly called The Maze and is a run down mess of deserted pedways, hallways and apartments. Only a few people now call this labyrinth a home, and most of these are perps and other outcasts who are hiding from someone (most often the Judges). Using the Maze. The Maze is home to some very dangerous criminals and, from time-to-time, a Judge will enter it to track down these perps. Sometimes the Judge in question will fail to return and no sign of them is found, despite the use of search parties. The missing Judges are victims of a particularly nasty serial killer who has a penchant for killing Judges in horrific ways. The killer in question uses the Maze as his hunting ground and has several grisly trophies of gang members, citizens and the lost Judges. Parties consisting of perps could be involved in guerrilla warfare versus a rival gang as they vie for territory throughout The Maze. Citizens could use the maze for training, they can be either members of a block survivalist club or a Citi-Def unit. Trans Atlantic Tunnel This tunnel joins Mega-City One to Brit Cit, running beneath the Atlantic Ocean. There are numerous stopping points under joint Justice Department and Brit Cit jurisdiction, the most notable being the Atlantis stop, a large underwater town catering to travellers. A major route for trade and tourists it is also a smuggling hotspot, with so much traffic it is inevitable that many prohibited items pass into Mega-City One every day via this route. Using the Trans Atlantic Tunnel. This is a perfect place for a group of Judges to attempt to thwart a terrorist bomber. As a major trade route it would present an inviting target for any number of groups. Perps could use the tunnel as a smuggling route or as a chokepoint where they can spot and ambush rivals going about their business. /// City Locations The following locations can be found duplicated throughout the city. They represent various commercial establishments as well as Justice Department buildings. Aggro Domes Aggro Domes are supposed to make the city safer by being somewhere citizens can go to vent their anger and frustration. These huge recreational centres are places where such legal violence is aimed towards robots and machines. Aggro Domes are big business, allowing many citizens to work out their aggression safely in a controlled environment. Among the attractions are assault courses that patrons can complete, with pop-up targets and robot opponents, and rooms where a robot can be attacked for a period of time. There are those in Justice Department who worry about the effects Aggro Domes will have on those that use them, but for now the extra tax credits they provide seem to more than make up for any potential risk. Using Aggro Domes. A nark informs the Judges that there is a secret attraction where high paying patrons pay to smash up robots dressed as Judges. This is something the Judges should take seriously, but as it is just a rumour they will need to check out the Aggro Dome in question to eliminate this activity. Perps can have a field day at an Aggro Dome, especially if they manipulate events to start a full scale riot distracting the Judges while the criminals use the chaos to rob everyone blind. They could also go after the ticket office which might be the safer option. For citizens an Aggro Dome provides an opportunity to face ‘real’ combat. However should one of the attractions be sabotaged, perhaps by someone from a rival block, then suddenly the fake fight could become very, very real. Alien Zoos and Menageries There are a number of alien animal exhibits across the city where citizens can stand gawping at the animals from other worlds. The finest collection is at the Mega City Zoo, which includes the magnificent Mercurian Dragon and the Wurlitz Wooflebest amongst its exhibits. Smaller collections can be found elsewhere and they remain a popular day out for many. Using Alien Zoos and Menageries. Citizens could get up to some mischief by playing ‘touch the alien’, putting themselves in danger and risking causing distress to the animals. This game is won by the player who touches the largest number of animals in the zoo. Of course bonus points are rewarded for touching the more dangerous creatures… Animals might be stolen, either for trophies or for private collectors. Perps could steal an exhibit, while a party of Judges could be ordered to bring the thieves to justice. Of course all three types of parties could find themselves facing difficulties should one (or many) of the exhibits escape from their pens…
165 Banks Despite a huge majority of citizens having to survive on benefit payments there is still a vast amount of wealth in Mega-City One. Most citizens have bank accounts and use electronic methods to pay their bills and day-to-day expenses, but there is still a need for cold, hard cash. Petty cash transactions are more often than not paid for by a handful of credits, and in the criminal blackmarket cash is the most frequently used method of payment. Banks, therefore, hand out and receive large sums of cash every day, making them a prime target for armed robbers. Although technology means that most of these robberies are thwarted, many robbers now use powerful weapons or high tech equipment to try and overcome this, making these gangs very dangerous indeed. Banks can also store personal valuables in safety deposit boxes, or large amounts of valuable substances, such as gold and platinum, in their vaults. Bullion vans transport gold around the city, the material more valuable than ever with banks holding large amounts and shipping truckloads to electronics companies who need the metal for their products. These are always well protected but are a prime target for perps who will strike hard and fast, attempting to be long gone before the Judges arrive. Using Banks. A bank heist is a severe test for a group of Judges. Anyone who goes after one of these secure premises is going to be heavily armed — packing the latest equipment while being ready to kill to avoid capture. As for perps pulling off a successful bank heist in MegaCity One can set a criminal up for life. Of course, should the perps have the means to steal the entire vault they can then go through their spoils at their leisure… Crock Blocks Just as there are regular blocks where most citizens live there are also crock blocks — huge facilities dedicated to housing the vast population of eldsters in Mega-City One. The old folks here have access to the medication and medical services they require, and the provided amenities are tailored to the inhabitants’ needs. The medical facilities tend to take up larger areas of the block, for example, and there are no schools. Crime tends to be a lot lower but not non-existent, due to the absence of juve gangs. Using Crock Blocks. When a game of shuggy goes the wrong way and pension credits are lost Mervin Thornbuckle, one of the eldsters in the crock block, takes a cue to the back of his opponent’s head. He never intended to kill the mutt — now he is wanted for murder and the Judges will be out to apprehend him. The Judges will have to track Melvin down in unfamiliar territory, the local citizens are not too forthcoming (after all, they do not expect to survive long enough to serve out any sentence for obstructing Justice in many cases). Melvin ultimately decides to make for to the top of the block to take one last Boing® before he goes to the cubes forever. The Judges need to stop him before he kills himself or anyone else. The Boing® should be a real surprise and may force the Judges to chase a crazy old man across part of the city as he boings for one last time. A scenario for perps could revolve around a bunch of burglars plying their trade on the old and infirm, or they have a relative in the block they need to protect from a rival gang. A group of citizens could go to visit their elderly relatives, but then lose them while out on a day trip (perhaps within the block). They then have to try and find them without the Judges being involved in case they get charged with endangerment.
166 Dream Palaces In a city where most citizens have little to look forward to in their lives the Dream Palaces allow them to visit other Mega-Cities, travel to distant stars and to become heroes – all within the city and only for a few credits. The Dream Palaces sell dreams for a price and use machines that deliver the dream the customer desires via the use of a specialised sleep machine. The central computer in a Dream Palace monitors and records all dreams, it logs certain dreams for attention of the Justice Department and flags them for workers to check. Justice Department can then be prepared for any criminal activity that the dreaming customer may be involved in, since the dreams more often than not reflect the user’s character. There is also a Nightmare Zone setting used to treat certain medical conditions but this too can be abused, with subliminal suggestion leading to brutal crimes and murders. Using Dream Palaces. A group of Judges who are captured during an adventure could be kidnapped and put into Dream Palace machines. Here the perps monitor the dreams in the hope they can learn from the Judges what they know about their activities and, therefore, to avoid Justice Department locking them up. The Judges do not know they are in a dream to begin with and must piece together clues as the dreams become more violent and dangerous. Once they break out of the dream they are able to bring the perps to justice and shut down the palace. The records of people’s dreams stored on the computer could allow a group of perps to discover a great many things about the customers using the place. Perhaps they will uncover some juicy secret they can use for blackmail? Citizens could apply for a group dream adventure of some sort, living out their fantasies in a degree of safety. But what happens if one of the safety protocols fail and the dangers they find in their dreams begin to affect them? Education Facilities (Schools and Universities) Universities in Mega-City One are large complexes housing classrooms and laboratories where tutors impart the necessary skills to survive Mega-City One. A small number of the best universities take the most brilliant students from across the city and produce graduates with the skills and abilities to find jobs. Then there is a second group of universities that produce well rounded graduates who mostly do not find permanent work are at least well qualified in their fields and able to get jobs on occasion. The third, and by far the largest, tier produce graduates who are no better off than the rest of the city in being able to get work, however they are better educated to be able to deal with their unemployed fate. Most school classes are based on the need to educate the populace and prepare them for a life of unemployment in the Big Meg. Both schools and universities employ robot tutors and speed learning machines to quickly increase the knowledge of students. There are normally cramped learning conditions with overflowing classrooms, although the wealthier blocks tend to have better schools. Flesh and blood teachers can be highly prized and whilst they lack the efficiency of the speed learning machines they still benefit from advances in teaching methods and technology.
167 Using Education Facilities. A series of terrorist attacks strike the city, most of which are in the local sector. They are centred on the area around the Carter Johnson Education Faculty, a small, minor university. Here a Sov agent has been appointed as a tutor and has put into motion a long term plan to undermine Mega-City One. She has reprogrammed the speed learning machines to brainwash the students at the school and hopes to build a sleeper-cell cadre to oppose Mega-City One and its ‘corrupt’ Justice Department. Things start to go wrong when some students randomly begin their covert campaign with bombings and other attacks on Justice Department targets. The Judges need to connect the attackers and discover the cause of the problem. Perps can find schools rich pickings, especially if they can find a market for the teaching computers. The laboratories and workshops at many schools and universities could provide a perfect cover for the manufacture of illicit substances, such as a variety of designer drugs. If perps manage to gain ownership of a privately run university they could then use the laboratories for their own benefit, perhaps having one permanently out of order due to a ‘refurbishment’. It is possible to run a citizen based game where the Player Characters are students or staff at a school. Face Change Clinics (New You) In plastic surgery, as in many other fields, technology has advanced enormously. Face change clinics exist across the city with the ability to change one’s features so that you can literally take on the appearance of someone else entirely. These procedures are carried out at various establishments, the New You face change parlours currently being the most popular franchise. There are limits to this process, both legal (you will need a permit to both perform the work on someone else and to have a face change) and physical (there is a limit to how many times the procedure can take place before your features are not able to be altered any more). Some perps have used these clinics in the past to commit crimes as someone else and then get their original face restored. The Judges keep a close eye on face change clinic use and perps using this method to hide their crimes do not often remain unpunished for long. Using Face Change Clinics. A face change clinic is a great place to set a short scenario involving a perp on the run from the Judges. The Judges can track the criminal to the New You and investigate what they now look like, then chase them down in a finale that could lead to the perp’s capture. Perps could be involved with Face Change clinics in a number of ways, including the obvious need to change one or more of their appearances to avoid the Judges’ scrutiny or infiltrate a rival gang. With a group of citizens one of them notices someone who looks identical to them coming out of a face change parlour. The same thing happens to another of their party. What is going on? The Judges will seem uninterested if they are approached so they will have to investigate themselves and hope it is nothing too serious… Hospitals There are numerous hospitals and medical facilities around Mega-City One and these are mostly staffed by robots. Those who receive medical treatment in these places are healed and then sent away with very little in the way of bedside manner. Most flesh and blood staff in hospitals hold senior positions or are technicians and nurses who are trained to take over if the robodoc fails. Most blocks have a medical facility that can deal with day-to-day health issues, some have small hospitals within them – this tends to be more prevalent among crock blocks where the need for urgent medical care is more common. There are also hospitals and clinics that are purpose built, with some of the largest being the size of a small block. Hospitals will be connected to a back-up electricity generator in case of a sector-wide power failure. Using Hospitals. The Judges are called in when there are incidents of malfunctioning robodocs performing fatal operations on patients. They are carrying out the wrong procedures and killing people in what seems to be a random pattern. As the Judges investigate they will learn it is far from random and the people the machines are butchering are on a particularly vengeful individual’s hit list — working with his accomplice he has reprogrammed the robodocs to kill specific targets. To try and throw the Judges off he
168 has also added a list of random names from the patient list to provide a smokescreen. The perp can be a staff member or a citizen who has hacked into the hospital’s computer systems in order to carry out his grisly work. Perps can raid a hospital for the valuable equipment it holds, to get treatment by stealing a robodoc for one of their injured colleagues or to raid the pharmacy for drugs. Citizens can visit the hospital for treatment or to see a patient there. Perhaps one of their number will be mistaken for a patient and whisked off to surgery and the group will need to rescue them from this fate. I-Blocks Scattered throughout the city are a number of heavily protected strongpoints known as I-blocks. If an informer needs to vanish for a while so he can be debriefed on his criminal associates then an I-block provides a secure interrogation facility. Able to withstand an assault by almost anything short of a nuke they are the last word in safe houses. I-blocks are also mini-fortresses, able to help keep the city secure from major threats. With an emergency command and control centre at its heart there is always a strong detachment of Judges on duty, although most of these will be from Tech division or auxiliaries. Using I-Blocks. Being part of a detachment stationed at an I-block should be a safe, if potentially hectic, assignment. However if a high level informant comes in to be questioned perhaps the strength of the building will work against the Judges if there is a traitor in their midst… Taking out an I-block would be a supreme criminal act. If the players can successfully achieve this then their names will become legendary among the underworld. Iso-blocks Iso-, or isolation, cubes, are prison cells used in Mega-City One. They are found in iso-blocks, each of which contains hundreds upon hundreds of iso-cubes. They are similar to a small apartment, although they have less furniture and amenities. Many also include a large durable glass panel, which is used for suicide watch and to convey the sense that the perp is always being observed. Iso-blocks are considered to be nigh-on impenetrable and escape is almost impossible. Using Iso-blocks. Judges could encounter iso-blocks in numerous ways. They could have to help a prisoner transfer, quell a riot, hunt down an escaped prisoner or interrogate a perp held in one to aid an investigation. A mass breakout of prisoners is very rare, but has happened in the past. In this case an emergency will be declared and all available resources will be rushed to the scene in order to recapture the escapees. Perps could make an attempt to free one of their associates; alternatively if they all have been captured by the Judges there could be an opportunity to run a prison based scenario. If the perps imprisoned for a lengthy sentence then a scenario where one of the regular disasters that befall the city could see their iso-block damaged, giving them a chance to flee into whatever chaos reigns on the streets. Palais de Boing® The Palais de Boing® is the place to go for citizens who want the ultimate legal thrill-ride. These are huge custom built structures that serve to handle the many boingers who come to enjoy being sprayed in Boing® and rocket around the various indoor areas at high speeds — the facilities provided include a variety of games and there is an area designated for more sedate users of Boing®. Boinging is highly illegal outside the Palais De Boing® and the Judges have recently increased their scrutiny of the pastime. Using the Palais de Boing®. The Judges are called to investigate a disturbance at the sector’s Palais de Boing®. When they get there they find a punk gang boinging between the extreme Boing® area and the sedate area used for people new to boinging and eldsters. These criminals have not done anything too dangerous yet, but it is only a matter of time before someone panics as the Judges show up and things escalate. Perps can use the Palais as a place to scam others or to steal a quantity of Boing® for a job they need to pull off. Citizens could just be there enjoying a day of mindless boinging, or perhaps they wish to enter a boinging competition. Psycho-cubes Colloquially known as kook cubes, these are a variant of the iso-cube but instead of holding regular perps the psycho-cube is reserved for those suffering from serious mental disorders who have committed a crime. The psycho-cube is packed with equipment and systems to bring a felon under control should they suffer a psychotic episode and become overly dangerous whilst in confinement. Using Psycho-cubes. Psycho-cubes have a similar potential for perps and Judges as regular iso-cubes, but with the added problems of many of the citizens resident in them are clinically insane. There are more civilian employees in the psycho-cubes and many residents are not criminally insane, just suffering from an illness and receiving treatment. However there are more secure areas that hold
169 those deemed dangerous, including futsies as well as those who are as great a danger to themselves as to others. Civilians may find employment at the psycho-cubes; there is always a quite high turnover of staff and the patients tend to respond better to real humans than robots (although this is not a universal rule). Perhaps a group of citizens applying for work there get misdirected to a secure level where they have to deal with all sorts of problems while the facility is in lockdown due to ‘their’ security breach. Sector Houses Sector houses are self-contained building that include Judges’ accommodation, cells, armouries, forensic units, vehicle bays and more. They are akin to heavily fortified police stations and have small teams of Judges who fulfil all the functions of Justice Department. There will be Tek and Med Judges, as well as a couple of SJS officers to watch over those stationed there. Sometimes there might be a Psi Judge as well, but due to the relatively small numbers of Psi Judges this is far from universal among sector houses. Using Sector Houses. A sector house is likely to be the headquarters of any group of Judges and will play a large part in any campaign. How the party interacts with their fellow Judges will be a main feature of anything they do here. For citizens they may need to come here to report a crime or be interrogated for some reason, which could be a worrying time for them… for perps it is likely to be worse! The evidence lock-up could be targeted by perps, perhaps with the aid of an inside man (either a Judge or an auxiliary working for them). This could be a dangerous scenario for a group of perps, and a challenging one for a group of Judges. Shoplexes Although there are many retail outlets within regular city blocks and scattered everywhere on city bottom, the true centres of conspicuous spending are the shoplexes situated throughout the city. These massive buildings are packed with shops, bars, restaurants and banks. They see to the needs of every shopper who comes through the doors, from those with few credits who visit the budget stores on the lower levels to those who spend a fortune on luxury products in the more exclusive establishments higher up. Security is good, with a well trained private force plus robot back-up, and these complexes usually have several Judges stationed there, patrolling the various levels. Using Shoplexes. A kidnapping by an angry shopper occurs where they take umbrage when another citizen cuts in line to ‘steal’ their prize bargain and the Judges have to rescue the victim. Whenever there is a major sale or new store opening in a shoplex the crowds can quickly turn into something akin to a riot. For criminals there are plenty of opportunities to enrich themselves. Robberies and burglaries of commercial establishments can be lucrative if successful. Protection rackets are a more long term crime, with the benefit of having a regular income being a real draw for perps. Citizens can visit the mall for a shopping trip or they could be there for a major sale. Getting that one item at a huge discount, while pushing back hordes of equally determined rival shoppers, could provide a real challenge. Shuggy Halls Many pastimes in the city are refinements on what has gone before and shuggy is no different, being derived from the game of pool. Shuggy is played on uneven tables with holes placed within the playing area as well as in the corners and sides of the tables. Although shuggy tables are often found in bars there are also specialised shuggy halls that can accommodate a lot of paying customers. These shuggy halls are often also prime hangouts for punks and criminal gangs. Shuggy games are a big draw for such groups due to the huge side bets that can be placed on games, even the non-professional players of shuggy can draw a crowd and when the betting starts the perps take notice. Using Shuggy Halls. Two rival blocks face off in a league game of shuggy and tempers are running high. The Judges are called in as the tension over the game reaches breaking point and the participants turn to violence when one side accuses the other of cheating. As supporters from both blocks converge on the hall this could escalate into a block war (they have started for less) if the Judges do not quickly nip things in the bud.
170 Perps can use a shuggy hall for a number of confidence tricks, or use it as a base of operations or meeting place. Rival gangs may target a hall used by a criminal outfit and gunfights are not unknown. Citizens also like to play shuggy, so a citizen party could find themselves challenged by a local shuggy team and pressured into making bets as a gang of perps look to make some easy credits from the Player Character marks. Smokatoriums Tobacco is a controlled substance in Mega-City One, with the smoking of tobacco only allowed in buildings known as smokatoriums. Use of tobacco is even banned in private residences, while the smokatoriums require all patrons to don specially designed hazmat suits which are fitted with a helmet to facilitate the smoking process. Without this equipment the patrons would suffer since the atmosphere within the smokatoriums is so polluted as to be toxic, going into the place without some sort of respirator will quickly cause the unfortunate individual to be overcome by the fumes. Using smokatoriums. When an explosion rocks a nearby smokatorium the Judges are sent to investigate. After dealing with the immediate aftermath they find the immolated body of a man who may have been responsible for the explosion. They will later link this man to an antismoking group who are trying to force the smokatoriums to shut down. Unfortunately others in the terrorist group are planning to carry out more attacks and the Judges have to track them down before they strike. Perps could also use smokatoriums as a good cover for a meeting place or as a hideout, with a specially designed area of the building that is protected from the toxic smoke. Alternatively if they are given specially fitted helmets they may be able to speak to each other in private while the smoke in the place is so thick as to make covert observation by the Judges all but impossible. This would eliminate the need for a private room somewhere in the building for their meetings. A day in the smokatorium may be something a group of citizens may decide to enjoy, but when the group gets split up how will they find everybody else in the thick smoke? Sus-An Homes If you have the money and you are sick or old enough you can enter one of these suspended animation homes. Facilities such as The Forever Towers Home for the Semi-Dead are extremely popular for people with terminal illnesses and the funds to afford the services provided there. Here they enter into a state of suspended animation until they can be revived later on, once a cure for their ailment has been discovered. Most inhabitants of these premises hope that medical advances will cure them of whatever condition they are suffering from, in the meantime they sleep through the years, paid for by any savings they have. Should they run out of cash at any point they will be thawed out and escorted off the premises, probably straight into a hospital where they will spend their last few days. Using Sus-An Homes. Being cooped up in a sus-an home could have all sorts of strange affects on the mind. Of course nothing much happens for most people but for someone with psionic potential it could awaken their powers with potentially disastrous consequences. Judges could be called to the building to investigate strange goings on and have to work out who the culprit is. The psychic projection could be relatively benign and not harming anyone or it could be murdering fellow susan clients, or even staff and visitors. Citizens visiting family here could find themselves the victims of such a phenomenon. They will need to awaken the person responsible to stop the attacks, but how will they find them with so many possible culprits? The Vaults A variant of sus-an homes, these are for critically injured criminals who would die of their wounds. Most are here due to the injuries they suffered while they were being arrested. At the vaults Judges can put the perps on ice until technology advances enough so they can be healed and made to serve out their sentences. The vaults in any given sector could be a separate Justice Department facility or part of the local sector house. Using the Vaults. With a remote, lightly protected facility, a group of perps may enter the vaults in order to retrieve one of their gang. They would then look to use illegal methods to get their comrade to recover from their injuries, possibly using spare parts from an organ legger operation. Breaking into any Justice Department facility is not easy and they will need to hide their tracks well. Alternatively the players could be Judges sent to investigate the break in and the missing perp(s). Weather Control Weather control consists of a number of flying weather stations and ground based facilities that can ensure the weather is what is required, rather than having to rely on nature for good conditions. As a result Mega-City One does not suffer from blizzards, major floods or other severe weather events, with almost every day being balmy with
171 regular showers of rain occurring at night to help clean the streets. The weather is normally determined by the Weather Congress, who program the next day’s weather to coincide with the wishes of the citizens. This can be overridden by Justice Department, such as creating a downpour over the site of a riot, demonstration or major fire, which helps control these situations. The controllers at the Weather Congress also grant the city light snowfall at Christmas as part of their traditional service. The stations can malfunction now and then; when this happens it can cause adverse weather to batter the city for a time. Using Weather Control. The Judges are sent to the Weather Congress when a group of terrorists manage to take it over. They are ordered to bring the building back under city control, until then the perps use the station to make life miserable and downright dangerous for the citizens of Mega-City One by causing freak storms in the nearby sectors. They demand a large sum of credits or the weather will keep getting worse. With this going on a party consisting of perps might try to take advantage of the situation and carry out an audacious crime. Meanwhile a group of citizens might be left stranded a long way from home and have to try and make it back home with extreme weather turning a simple journey into an epic endeavour. /// Beyond the City Limits Beyond Mega-City One there are other mega-cities and dangerous areas such as the Black Atlantic and Cursed Earth. There follows some of the more notable areas that make up Judge Dredd’s world. Atlantis Situated beneath the Black Atlantic is the underwater city of Atlantis, midway along the Transatlantic Tunnel. It is jointly overseen by Judges from both Mega-City One and Brit-Cit. A stopping off point in the long journey between the Mega-Cities it has become something of a tourist destination in itself, with visitors often keen to see the mutated, deepwater wildlife that flourishes in the vicinity. Using Atlantis. Atlantis has a small force of Judges and support staff, so a team of Judges sent here would make up almost the entire Mega-City One contingent. Deployment here also allows the Judges to make acquaintances among a foreign Judge force. With the population largely transient crimes committed there can be difficult to solve, although there are perps based in the city who prey on visitors, hoping any thefts they make will remain undetected until their victims have left Atlantis long behind. A criminal group is using Atlantis as a meeting point to transfer goods for delivery into Mega-City One. They transport their contraband from Brit Cit and once in Atlantis meet a contact who works as a civilian staffer for Justice Department, one who is responsible for shipping supplies to the outpost and then sending back the empty vehicles to the city, where confederates can empty the illicit goods once the Justice Department vehicles pass through customs without being searched. A group of Judges could be trying to discover how these goods are making it to the market and need to uncover the entire smuggling route. A perp group could be out to disrupt their rivals’ smuggling operation, perhaps hoping to take it over for themselves… Black Atlantic The Black Atlantic is the nickname given to the hideously over-polluted Atlantic Ocean. A swim in the Black Atlantic risks severe injury and death from toxic chemicals, radiation poisoning and mutated sea creatures. Using the Black Atlantic. There are multiple problems that can plague Judges coming from the Black Atlantic. The two most common are smugglers bringing proscribed products into and out of the city and dangerous, mutated creatures trying to enter the city, normally to feed. Tracking down a smuggling ring in the docks area could provide a real challenge to a task force of Judges.
172 In addition to smuggling items into the city there could be things going the other way. A gang of perps may be involved in a perp running trip to a ship outside the nautical limits of the city, how they organise their racket. For citizens the prospect of a fishing trip for one of those mutated creatures could provide a thrill. Of course it could turn into something resembling Jaws, but with tentacles. Brit-Cit Situated across what was southern England is Brit-Cit. Like Mega-City One the city also has overcrowded city blocks and suffers from startling levels of crime. Brit-Cit enjoys a close relationship with Mega-City One and they cooperate in many policy matters, with trade between the two boosted by the Transatlantic tunnel. Quite a few examples of England’s previous classical architecture remain alongside the modern buildings that surround them. Many of the lower classes of Brit-Cit live outside the main city, in the decaying shambles of twentieth century housing estates. The city, like Mega-City One, is split into sectors with each given a unique sector number. Many of them also retain the original name after the area they were built over, such as Oxford Sector. Brit-Cit Judges use the lion and Union Jack as their motif. They live less regimented lives than Judges in MegaCity One, such as being allowed to marry. This is indicative of the more relaxed attitudes shown in the laws of the city, with many items, such as tea, not being banned. Cursed Earth In the wake of the Atomic Wars of 2070 a large portion of the United States was turned into a radioactive wasteland. The three Mega-Cities in Texas and on the east and west coasts were left standing but the rest of the country was reduced to a terrible hellhole, high in radiation and unfit for habitation for the most part. Nowadays this wasteland is home to mutants, monsters and hordes of scavengers who make the area their territory. Many have been forced to seek shelter and comradeship in the Cursed Earth by banding together to form communities and often turning a hateful eye to Mega-City One and the people who shun them. In the north there are still areas of forest and woodland, with the Cursed Earth seemingly in the processes of an environmental recovery — albeit at a very slow rate. Of the old cities Las Vegas still stands and there are farms, ranches and other settlements out there for the avid explorer to find in one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Using the Cursed Earth. The Judges are sent to track down a dangerous felon from Mega-City One in his Cursed Earth hideout. He has teamed up with some Texas City outcasts and they are creating havoc by raiding various plantations and ranches that provide much of the food to both cities. Alongside a Texas City Judge they have to eliminate the group and any allies they have made in the Cursed Earth.
173 Perps can set up criminal operations beyond the eye of the Judges. Perp runners and stookie glanders might have bases there and there are garbage mines run by gangs that often use slave labour from nearby mutant settlements. Citizens rarely visit the Cursed Earth, although there are adventure holidays taken there, others find dangerous work in the farms and mines scattered outside the city limits and there are always groups of survivalists who dare to explore the safer parts of the Cursed Earth closest to the city. East-Meg One The foremost of the Sov block mega-cities, and closely allied to the others. The Sovs are opposed to Mega-City One and have acted against it on numerous occasions, with no sign of this ending anytime soon. East-Meg One Judges are fanatical in their beliefs and uphold their law, the law is usually not to the benefit of its citizens despite their claims otherwise. Their practises are often criticised by other mega-cities around the world, being even more severe and totalitarian than the others. Hondo-City Hondo-City is a massive mega-city covering much of what was Japan. Like Mega-City One it packs its population into city blocks, but has a more aesthetic design to buildings and construction; ultra-modern blocks exist alongside traditionally made Japanese wooden and rice-paper houses. HondoCity is the most technologically advanced of the Mega-Cities and its power is supplied by orbiting nuclear power satellites. Hondo-City has Judge-Inspectors who act as police force, judge, jury, executioner and government to the population. They use a variety of high-tech equipment to enforce the law, including energy swords, although they also use traditional weapons such as the katana. Hondo-City Judges eschew putting their names on a badge and print them directly on their uniforms on the rising sun symbol — this symbol is only visible to another Judge through the technology filter in their helmet. Hondo-City has good enough relations with Mega-City One, with each having a mutual respect for the other. The two cooperate on some matters, although Mega-City Two is a closer ally due to more extensive trade links across the Pacific. Luna One (Luna-1) Luna One was founded in an attempt to create greater cooperation between the three North American megacities after Texas City had fought for and gained its independence after the Atomic War. The city is protected by oxy-domes constructed from a selfrepairing cellular-foam, with oxygen supplied by a government run board, known as the Oxygen Board. The city borders the Eagle lander from the Apollo 11 mission, which remains as a prominent landmark on the moon. Every six months a senior Judge is sent from one of Mega-City One, Two or Texas City to become the Judge-Marshall, the chief law officer of the colony. Mega-City Two Mega-City Two covers an area that roughly corresponds to what were the states of California, Oregon and Washington. It also has access to an unpolluted ocean along its coastline and this attracts tourists from the other American mega-cities. Not far from the border of Mega-City Two is Death Valley, the site of the Battle of Armageddon which pitted the Judges against President Booth’s Presidential Iron Guard. Like the other mega-cities it still suffers from overcrowding and overpopulation. The city has close diplomatic ties with Mega-City One and has a mutual defence pact, although with the massive irradiated Cursed Earth lying between them the links are not as strong as either city would wish. Oz A mega-city in Australia, the Sydney-Melbourne Conurb is known to most as Oz. The Judges and legal system in Oz is far more laid back and works on having as good a relationship with their citizens as is possible. While the Oz Judges are considered to be undisciplined by some other Judge forces this is an unfair stereotype. Their approach to law enforcement appears to keep the citizens in a far more happy state than elsewhere. While there is still crime and corruption in Oz it is a far more pleasant place to live, and to be a Judge, than those mega-cities that criticise it. Radback An area which is similar in its environment to the Cursed Earth, it teems with mutants and strange creatures and animals. The Oz Radback is mostly a vast irradiated desert that makes up much of the country, but includes areas that are quite fertile as well with wetlands and tropical forests in the far north (where there are many dangerous, mutated beasts). It has many small settlements, such as Drongo Springs, and dangerous locales, like the infamous and extremely lethal Electric Canyon. Sino-City (One and Two) Separated from East-Meg Two by a massive nuclear desert, Sino-City One and Sino-City Two are located in what was eastern China. The two cities are reclusive but work together as a single political entity. Sino-City Judges have dragons that replace the MegaCity One Judge’s Eagles. They are often at odds with Mega-City One and its allies.
174 Space Condos To help in the fight against overpopulation space condos were constructed, most of which orbit the sun at a much closer distance than Earth does. These giant space stations can each house up to a quarter of a million citizens. While life in space has its own difficulties, life on the condos is generally more pleasant than in the city. The amenities are extensive and security teams generally handle most of the petty criminality that occurs, however Judges can be called upon whenever there is a serious offence. Many are constructed with the rich and famous in mind, here they can escape the day-to-day horrors of the city and their fellow citizens. Many entertainers pay through the nose for a place amongst the stars. Titan Penal Colony The penal colony on the moon of Titan is one of the deadliest and most inhospitable of prison colonies. Here inmates face hard labour, working a mine that ships back rare minerals to Mega-City One. Most prisoners are former Judges who have fallen foul of the law, and they have had to undertake surgery so they can survive without additional equipment. The conditions are so harsh few ex-Judge inmates survive their lengthy sentences. There are also non-Judges serving their sentences at the colony, although they make up a minority and are not subjected to the same treatment. These latter inmates are slowly being phased out and few new prisoners who are not former Judges are now being sent here. Undercity Beneath many of the sectors of Mega-City One are the former cities of America along with many of their old buildings. While the Empire State Building was one that was saved, most were just sealed over and built upon. This underground region became known as the Undercity. The Undercity is a lawless region, home to fugitives from the city above, many of whom have banded together to form a new racial group known as troggies. In addition to the troggies, mutants make their homes in the permanent darkness, eking out an existence. Judges rarely come into the region, although a few have taken the Long Walk here to try and bring some order to the chaos below. Using the Undercity. The Undercity provides a way to escape the Judges and their surveillance. A group of perps could flee here and the Judges need to hunt them down. For a party of perps the Undercity makes a potential base of operations, safe from the attention of the Judges (although other dangers lurk there). Citizens are unlikely to visit unless an accident isolates them in the darkness or they are on a survivalist jaunt.
175 /// Events The following are some of the regular events occurring across the city. Justice Day Parade A celebration of the founding of the Judge system; this is a massive parade that emphasises the might of Justice Department. The Judges are always vigilant at this time of year as the event can attract terrorists eager to strike at the symbolism of the parade. Using the Justice Day Parade. Judges can work crowd control, be involved in the parade itself or have to track down a group of dissidents who may be planning an attack. For a group of perps the parade can offer the opportunity to strike elsewhere. With so many Judges involved one way or another it can leave opportunities for perps to carry out crimes unhindered. Civilians can enjoy a day out and watch the floats and latest Mega-City One weaponry. Of course the adventure might be in getting to the event – with so many people travelling to the parade the trip could turn into a bit of a saga with unexpected congestion, closed off roads, prebooked public transport and a Judge crackdown on speeding all conspiring against making it on time… Mega-City 5000 This is an illegal motorcycle race with a course running through the streets of the city. The Mega-City 5000 has a hardcore following among various biker gangs and their hangers-on, and recordings of the race are among the best selling illegal vids sold through criminal outlets. The race itself has few rules, with competitors gleefully trying to sabotage one another (often fatally), as a result the entire membership of biker gangs frequently enter the race together. The lawlessness in the race and the danger it represents (dozens of innocent citizens are killed by the actions of the competitors) leads to the Judges clamping down on the event as soon as they become aware of it. Using the Mega-City 5000. The Judges are always keen to crack down on this road race, so when information about the next event comes into possession of the party they have a chance to halt it before it begins. Starting with a normal street bust the Judges follow a trail to identify not only the competitors planning to enter the race but those who organise and promote it. Mayoral Elections When Mega-City One needs a new mayor it goes through a vast election choose a new figurehead. The mayor has some powers but these are mostly of a minor nature; the ability to make laws, and enforce them, resides with the Judges and they ensure the mayor holds no real power. The Mayoral Election is fought between different candidates from an assortment of parties, has political (and sometimes physical and fatal) backstabbing — along with an increase in crimes, especially violent assaults and riots as supporters from all sides take their frustrations out on each other. Using the Mayoral Elections. Judges are often called into action to police the elections, having to deal with violent confrontations between the supporters of rival candidates. A Judge (or several) may have to act as a bodyguard for a candidate until the election is over. Perps could find themselves involved either by trying to get their candidate elected or being hired to eliminate a candidate by one of the rival parties. Citizens could be members of a party and try to drum up support for their chosen candidate. This could involve marches, helping to marshal events or acting as advisors to their candidate. Perhaps one of their party will be foolish enough to allow themselves to be put forward as a candidate for mayor!
176 Robot of the Year Show Held at the Mega-City One Exhibition Dome the Robot of the Year show focuses on showcasing the latest in personal, military and industrial robots. Attendees can expect to see the most advanced models of roboservants, witness the awesome might of the Heavy Metal Kid demolition robots, and be awed by the Bloodhound, a machine that can scan, follow and track a scent trail. For those too infirm to walk, the Robot of the Year Show also reveals the latest robochairs, robots that can transport their owner around their block and even onto the city’s roads! Using the Robot of the Year Show. Like any trade show with large crowds there will be plenty of opportunities for perps to try and enrich themselves. From the everyday dunks and purse snatchers to highly paid agents sent to steal the latest prototypes on display in acts of industrial espionage. Judges, of course, will have to prevent any criminal activity if they are assigned to the show, while civilians will probably be trying to avoid the attentions of both Judges and perps. There will be interactive displays at the show and these attract the largest crowds – perhaps the civilians can be testing the latest prototype when something goes wrong with its programming. They will have to try and avoid damage and injury, since the waiver forms they signed before trying out the machine appear to make them responsible for anything going wrong… Glossary of Mega-City One Terms 59c. The legal code allowing a Judge to enter a home or place of business in order to search it for evidence of any criminal wrongdoing. Aeroball. A violent sport using personal backpacks that was once extremely popular. There are still hundreds of professional and semi-professional teams across the city, with many blocks having their own teams and stadiums. Andean Conglom. South American mega-city. ARV. Armed Robbery with Violence. Atomic War. Nuclear war which destroyed much of the world, turning most of the USA into the Cursed Earth, as well as causing similar destruction throughout much of the rest of the world. Auto-key. Electronic lock opener used by Judges. Able to override all standard locks in the city. Barney. The city’s central computer based in City Hall. Bat Gliding. A popular pastime similar to hang gliding but using a batgliding suit. Very popular among residents of taller blocks, many of which are now built with platforms from which bat gliders can launch themselves into the air. Belliwheel. A wheel used by the excessively overweight to keep their bellies from touching the ground while walking. Big Mo. Giant service stations that constantly travel the major roads, providing services for mopads. Birdie. A Judge’s handheld lie detector. Bisoon. A very large meat producing animal found in ranches in the Cursed Earth. A cross between cattle and buffalo the vast herds are targeted by both rustlers and mutated predators. Black Atlantic. The Atlantic Ocean, but now so polluted over much of its area that it is fatal to any who swim in it without proper protection. Bleeper. A tracking device, used by Judges to follow perps from a discreet distance. Blitz. A professional, contract murder. Blitzer. A professional hitman. Blitzers are members of organised crime syndicates who have explosive devices fitted in their skulls; these explode when capture is imminent, silencing the blitzer. In this way their employers are thus protected from being implicated in their crimes. Block. Giant building that can house tens of thousands of citizens. These huge buildings have all the facilities a citizen might need to be able to live their entire lives without ever leaving. Block War. A conflict between rival blocks. Often led by Citi-Def detachments the Judges will crack down on any block war with maximum resources, heavily sentencing all participants. Body Sharking. An organised crime loan operation where a loved one is placed into suspended animation as collateral. Should the borrower not be able to pay interest the body is then used as spare parts in organ legging. Boing®. The miracle plastic. Envelops the user in a rubbery bubble allowing them to participate in games within a Palais-de-Boing®. Outside such a designated building its use is both highly dangerous and illegal. Brit-Cit. English mega-city.
177 Chump-Dumping. Perp runners often entice susceptible aliens to Earth with cheap flight deals. The aliens are then jettisoned during the space flight, killing them all. As there are no records kept about the aliens this crime often goes unnoticed. Citi-Def. Volunteer militia that has detachments in most city blocks. Supposedly a last line of defence for the city they cause all sorts of problems, with rogue units undertaking attacks on rival blocks or leading block wars. Cling-Net. A net used by Judges to throw over fleeing perps. They are self constricting and are highly effective in constraining any within them. Con-Apt. Low rise housing complex. Although they have fewer facilities than a block they tend to provide higher quality housing for most of their residents. Condo. A Space Condominium, a self-contained, housing facility normally found orbiting the sun. These can house hundreds of thousands of citizens. Credit. Mega-City One’s currency. Cursed Earth. Radioactive wasteland that covers most of the former USA outside of the mega-cities. Highly dangerous it is home to many criminal gangs and mutant bandits who prey on the inhabitants trying to eke out a life in the blasted lands. Dok, Drokk. Legal expletives. Dult. Juve slang. Meaning, and derived from, adult. Dunk. A pick pocket. Dust Zone. Industrial area of Mega-City One. As almost all manufacturing is entirely automated there are very few citizens normally to be found in these areas. East-Meg. Rival mega-cities to Mega-City One. Located in the ruins of the old USSR the inhabitants are known as Sovs. Eldster. An old aged citizen. Electro-Cordon. Electrically generated force field, used by Judges in crowd control by sealing off areas. Fattie. An individual whose hobby is eating. Many eat professionally in a variety of different events. Futsie. A victim of ‘Future Shock Syndrome’; where the strain of living in Mega-City One turns them into a homicidal maniac. Graveyard Shift. The night shift when many serious crimes occur, from late evening to early morning. Grud. Legal expletive. Hab. An apartment. Heister. An armed robber. Holding Post. Holding posts are used by Judges to secure arrested perps so they can be picked up later by catch wagons. This allows Judges to continue on patrol without having to return to their sector house every time an arrest is made. Holocaust Squad. Unit of Judges trained to deal with disaster scenarios. The work they do is extremely dangerous and whenever they are called upon fatalities are expected to be high. Hotdog Run. A practical test for Academy of Law cadets where they embark upon a patrol into the Cursed Earth. Hotshot. Slang term for a Lawgiver’s heatseeker round. H-Wagon. Hover wagon. These are Justice Department vehicles with a wide variety of designs, including heavy gunships. I-Block. Secure, heavily fortified buildings that are mostly used to debrief informants, protecting them from their former criminal associates. Indo-Cit. Indian mega-city. Iso-Cube. Prison cell. It is here perps serve out their sentences. Prisons are comprised of many hundreds of isocubes and are called iso-blocks. Jimp. Judge Impersonator. Impersonating a Judge, for whatever reason, is a serious criminal offence. Jugger. Massive truck. Klegg. Carnivorous alien race; large, fearsome and reptilian. Many are employed as mercenaries. Kneepad. Item of fashionable clothing, popular among Juves and young adults. Kook Cube. Slang term for a psycho-cube. Lawgiver. Pistol carried by Judges. Able to fire six different kinds of ammunition. Lawmaster. A Judge’s heavily armed and armoured bike. Leaper. A person who attempts to commit suicide by leaping from a high building or elevated roadway. Long Walk. At the end of a Judge’s career, rather than taking a desk job or teaching at the Academy of Law, they can choose the option of going into the Cursed Earth or Undercity. There they will administer justice, hunting down various criminal gangs and fugitives. MAC. Justice Department central computer. Name is acronym for Macro Analysis Computer. It has multiple functions including surveillance, criminal records and analytical programs designed to aid in the solving of crimes. Meat Wagon. Justice Department vehicle for collecting corpses. Med Wagon. An ambulance. Meg-way/Mega-Way. A Mega-City motorway. Mo-Pad. A mobile home, most of which are cramped and less than ideal, although a minority are luxury models. Millions of these vehicles permanently travel on the streets of the city, stopping for servicing or to allow the inhabitants to visit somewhere on foot. Mouth. Slang term. Short for loudmouth. Munce. A plant grow on Cursed Earth farms. Munce products provide the base of most citizens’ diets. Processed into a revolting paste it is then refined to make many different foodstuffs. Mutie. Slang term for a mutant. Nark. An informant who provides information to the Judges on crimes and criminals in return for financial payment. Norm. Slang term among mutants for untainted humans. Organ-legging. An organised crime racket where human body parts for transplant are sold to wealthy individuals. Often no donor can be found for the customers, so perps will attempt to find one and kill the victim in order to get their parts. Sometimes an entire body is used and there is a brain transplant, with the victim’s brain disposed of as medical waste. Overzoom. A flyover; the opposite of an underzooom. Palais-de-Boing®. A large Block-sized building, the only place Boing® can be used legally.
178 Pat Wagon. A Justice Department Patrol Wagon. These can be either ground (wheeled) or hover vehicles. Normally heavily armed to assist Judges dealing with major criminal situations (riots, block wars, etc). Perp. Slang term for a criminal. Perp Runner. A criminal involved in perp running. Perp Running. A crime where perp runners aid wanted perps escape from the city, usually to an off-world location. Plas-crete. The most widely used building material in Mega-City One. Polypropylop. A wonder plastic. Distilled from the city’s waste and used to make a huge array of products. Pongo. A confidence trickster. Power Tower. A geothermic power station using red hot lava; provides much of the electricity needed by the city. Psycho-cube. Similar to an iso-cube, but used to hold psychologically disturbed criminals. Medical treatment is provided and once (if) the patient is cured they are released. Psyker. Criminal with psionic powers. Psi-division: Part of the Justice Department. These Judges have psionic powers allowing them to defeat criminal psykers and supernatural threats, as well as ordinary perps. Punk. Young criminal, normally the older members of juve gangs. Radorak. A light cape or cloak which protects against radiation contamination. Essential in many areas of the Cursed Earth. Rad-pit. A pond, lake or marshy area full of deadly, radioactive contaminants. Normally found in the most contaminated of areas in the Cursed Earth. Resyk. Mega-City One’s giant recycling centres. These huge buildings ensure the city’s waste is kept to a minimum, with even corpses being broken down into usable chemicals. Riot Foam. A highly effective weapon for use in crowd control, riot foam can be sprayed over crowds where it rapidly dries into a solid mass, encasing all those hit by it. Specialised cutters then have to be used to free those so trapped, who are all left unharmed by the foam and can then be sentenced. Preferred weapon for use in riots, rumbles and block wars. Roadster. A sports car. Far beyond the budget of most citizens. Robo-doc. A robotic doctor. Found in most hospitals and medical centres. Rockcrete. Common building material used in Mega-City One. Rumble. A fight between two or more rival juve gangs. This can be a pre-arranged skirmish or an ambush. Scrawler. A graffiti artist or individual who sprays their tags on buildings. Sector House. Judge headquarters for a sector. The facility has a wide array of facilities, including sleep machines, cells, interrogation suites, armouries, forensic labs, medical facilities, garages and more. Shoplex. A shopping complex. A huge building that has many hundreds of different stores, some of the largest are the size of city blocks. Shuggy. A variant of pool played in Mega-City One. The game uses a ‘hilly’ table and is often gambled upon. Usually played in specialist shuggy halls. SJS. Special Judicial Squad. Specialist Judges who hunt down corrupt Judges. Many of the toughest Judges can be found among their number since they have to deal with the most dangerous of perps – Judges gone bad. Sked-way. Minor roadway. Sleep Machine. A machine where an individual can get a full night’s sleep in only a few minutes. Extensively used by Justice Department, although Judges are required to have a full night’s rest on a regular basis, every week or so. Slipzoom. a side road or sliproad. Slowster. A driver moving at a speed lower than the legal minimum. Sov. Inhabitant of one of the East-Meg mega-cities. Spont. Spontaneous Confessor. Individual who claims to be responsible for the crimes of others or even nonexistent crimes. Spuggy. Term of abuse. Spug Off. An illegal expletive. Statue of Judgement: Huge statue of a Judge; dwarfs over the old Statue of Liberty. Stomm. A legal expletive. Stookie. Small sapient alien and also the name of the anti-ageing drug processed from its adifax glands. The drug stops, and can reverse, the ageing process but the user needs regular doses otherwise rapid ageing sets in. Highly illegal, due to the mass slaughter of the aliens by stookie glanders, there are heavy sentences for possession and distribution of the drug. Stookie Glander. Perp involved in the illegal trade of the drug stookie, such as a smuggler, distributor, or a perp who farms and kills stookies to process their adifax gland. Strut. Term for going for a walk. Most commonly used by juves. Stumm Gas. A knockout gas that can be used to incapacitate perps. It can prove especially useful in hostage situations. Because it can prove fatal in a small percentage of cases its use is usually banned in open spaces; will only be used in extreme circumstances as a method of crowd control. Sus-an. Suspended animation. Allows the sick and dying to be kept alive by being cryogenically frozen, until a cure for their condition can be found. At this point they can be treated and can leave to continue their lives. Synthi-caf. Refreshing drink similar to coffee which was banned for health reasons. However synthi-caf was itself banned for similar reasons and has itself been replaced by Synthi-synthi-caf. Synthi-flakes. Mega-City One’s most popular breakfast cereal. TAD. Total Annihilation Device. A very powerful nuclear weapon. Tap. To mug someone or a mugging.
179 Tech Division. A specialist department of Judges. The division carries out forensic work, maintenance and research and development among other activities. Tri-D. The prevalent form of entertainment in the city. A wide variety of shows are broadcast into homes across the city by a myriad of channels. Troggie. Derived from ‘troglodyte’. Inhabitant of the Undercity, strangely deformed from living underground for so long. Umpty. Candy. Due to the prohibition on processed sugar, artificial sweeteners are used in all umpty products. Undercity. When Mega-City One was built the old, decayed cities it replaced were concreted over. These now form an underground realm, with much of the old cities that predated Mega-City One lying intact beneath the streets. The Undercity is now inhabited by mutants, troggies, fugitives and worse. Underzoom. An underpass, usually beneath a major meg-way. The Vaults. Where severely injured perps are kept in suspended animation until technology advances to such an extent they can be healed in order to serve their sentence. Such a facility can be found at most sector houses. Vidder. A person who watches Tri-D shows. Vid-phone. A phone with an integral screen, allowing individuals to see one another when making calls (should they wish to do so). Vid-slug. A small storage device that can hold data, similar to a flash drive. Most books and newspapers now come in this format and it is also used for film recordings. Illegal vid-slugs abound, often ones featuring violent acts created by organised crime. Political or historical films or records are often distributed by dissident groups who oppose the rule of the Judges. Watching Bay. A lookout post at the side of roads. Here a Judge can watch out for perps while seated on their lawmaster. Weather Control. A number of aerial weather control stations hovering over the city. These can be put to use by the Judges in order to help ongoing situations (heavy rain can aid in fighting fires or drive protestors from the streets, for example). White Stuff. The street name for processed sugar, a proscribed product. Zipper. Hover version of the lawmaster bike, used extensively by the Judges of Luna-1. Zipstrip. Access road running between a block and skedway or meg-way. Enclosed zipstrips are called pipeways. The Law (Crime and Punishment) Mega-City One deals with crime on a day-to-day basis, the Judges have a complex system of codes that they use to identify crimes in progress around the city. Being granted powers of full control over judgement, sentencing and punishment, the Judges can issue fines, iso-cube time and in extreme cases death. The vast array of crimes and the sentences available to Judges could fill several books (and the Mega-City One penal code literally does this). The following list compiles many of the more common crimes Judges may deal with and appropriate sentences. Crime Punishment Aiding and Abetting 1 to 5 years Armed Robbery with Violence 18 to 30 years Arson 25 years to life Body Sharking 30 years to life Brawling 3 months to 5 years Bribery 1 to 10 years Burglary 1 to 25 years Chump Dumping Life Common Assault 3 months to 3 years False Imprisonment 5 years to life Fighting in a Block War 12 years to life Futsie Murder Life, or until cured, in a Psycho-Dube Gambling 1 to 5 years Hostage Taking 10 to 20 years Illegal Boinging 10 to 20 years Illegal Parking 500cr fine to 1 year Incitement 1 month to 2 years Jaywalking 1000cr fine to 2 years Kidnap 30 years to life Manslaughter 8 to 25 years Multiple Murder 30 years to life Murder 18 years to life Murder of a Judge Life Obstruction 6 months to 3 years Organ Legging 30 years to life Overdue Library Slug 500cr fine to 3 months Peeping 6 months to 2 years Perp Running 10 to 30 years Possession of Burglary Tools 6 months to 1 year Resisting Arrest 1 to 8 years Robbery 8 to 20 years Scrawling 1 month to 2 years Smoking in Public 6 months or 10 minutes in Smokatorium (without hood) Stookie Glanding 15 years to life Tap 3 to 15 years
180 The previous chapters guided you through the process of building places and creatures for 2000AD settings. This section concentrates on creating adventures and running the game. As such, it is made up of advice, suggestions, guidelines and ideas. CAMPAIGNS A campaign is a sequence of adventures designed to last many sessions of play. Some take a month or two to complete; others can take years. The heart of every campaign is an adventure – or a series of adventures. The GM designs and runs adventures for the party and the level of preparation will vary. Some GMs use a collection of notes on scrap paper, while others prepare detailed folders covering every contingency. Some GMs are comfortable with improvisation, others enjoy planning and preparation. An adventure, in its most basic form, is a plot or environment in which the PCs can take part. As an analogy, an adventure might be an episode of a television show. A number of adventures, strung together, form a campaign, which is roughly analogous to a season of a TV show. There is no strict rule on what might constitute an adventure. The PCs need a goal or objective. This can be to simply survive a haunted sector house, find a stolen masterpiece, rescue a kidnapped heiress or defeat an evil mutant warlord. The length of an adventure may also vary. Some are “one-shots”, to finish in a single session of a few hours, others may take multiple game sessions. It is up to you whether you want a long, overarching plot or to focus on individual “episode of the week” style adventures. Both styles of game (or, indeed, a mix of each) can be very rewarding. Published Adventures At the back of this rulebook, you will find a short adventure. This is an example of a published adventure. Designing adventures can be very rewarding, but it can also be a lot of work and published adventures are there to save time and provide ideas. There are numerous adventures available for the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD roleplaying game for you to use. Creating an Adventure Creating an adventure is part art and part science; the GM will need to devise a plot, create antagonists and prepare locations. The process is somewhat akin to writing a novella, except that the GM only controls most of the cast. CH/7: Games Master Advice
181 Start by outlining the basic premise or plot. This is the most important step, because everything else springs from there. This can be your entire preparation. There are resources available in this book to help you run things on the fly, but it can help to detail important NPCs, locations and events. NPCs and creatures can be created from scratch or you can use ones already published. You do not need to design every mutant or juve gang member, a standard stat block will do. You should, however, take the time to create important, named NPCs. You can do this by modifying an existing stat block, or by creating an NPC from scratch using the character generation process. Locations also form an important part of adventure design. Whether it is a space condo, a decaying city block, a dusty Cursed Earth town, an exotic alien bar or a mobster’s mansion, it often helps to prepare a map of important locations in advance. You do not need to map out every shop and house, but notable locations can benefit from this treatment, especially if you expect combat to take place there. /// Locations The panoply of potential locations available in Judge Dredd’s world for the discerning GM is vast indeed. This list is merely a few examples designed to fire your imagination. » A ramshackle trader town in the Cursed Earth » A mobster’s penthouse fortress » A deserted and seemingly haunted space station » A ruined city, destroyed by the Atomic War » A mining facility run by a corrupt corporation » A part of old New York City in the Undercity which hold secrets of the past » An alien circus or zoo » A derelict dinosaur theme park » An underground market where anything can be had for the right price » The underwater sea fortress now inhabited by pirates » The Jungle, the area where intelligent apes live » An upmarket night club » A great university and centre of learning » A zero-G three-dimensional sports field /// Events A setting is a living, breathing thing, and you should consider events to be as crucial to your adventures as locations are. They can provide a colourful backdrop, or they can be the focus of your adventure. » A secret meeting of Mega-City crime bosses » The conflict between Mega-City One and the Sovs » A great science conference » The trial of an infamous criminal » Vital treaty negotiation between hostile powers » A great threat which unifies previously hostile megacities » The sudden destruction of a block or sector » A sector wide electricity blackout /// Weird Science There are many more fantastical concepts which have appeared in the pages of the Judge Dredd strip which can help inform an adventure. Here are some possibilities for your own games. » An illegal cloning operation creates a dangerous, closely knit gang of perps » Time travel » Alternate universes » Ancient horrors at the edge of the universe » Magic » Ghosts and hauntings STARTING THE GAME When beginning play, it is important to establish why the PCs are working together. Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD is a game which very much encourages teamwork and cooperation. The assumption should be that they already know each other and have worked together before. If your characters are a group of Judges this task is easily resolved as they can all be assigned to the same task force or patrol. Otherwise, the players should all agree on their recent history and reasons for being together. The One-Sheet You should design a single-page summary of your setting for your players. Your “one-sheet” should provide short, pertinent details which are enough to convey the premise and any rules or materials in use. An eye-catching name and piece of art can round this off very quickly. The one-sheet engages your players and provides them with enough, but not too much, information to start with. Try to include information on key setting information: where and when, technology (especially travel, transporters, communication, weaponry, robots), aliens and/or psionics. You should keep it to a single side of paper, and ensure that you have a copy for each player. For a game set in Mega-City One the one-sheet should incorporate the information that the Player Characters would know. The date and timeline at that point should be set out, so the players will have some idea where they will be situated in the comic’s forty-year history. For Judges information about local perps, colourful characters and crime blackspots would be necessary. For perps, knowledge of local Judges, rival or notable criminals, contacts, PSU camera blind spots and places where scores can be made should be of interest. Citizens will want to know about their local block, its facilities, local rivals, the juve gangs who plague the area, local patrol Judges, and places and events to visit where they can fill their otherwise empty lives.
182 /// Descriptors Before play commences, each player should read his character descriptor out loud to the rest of the group. The descriptor forms a succinct summary which describes what is immediately obvious about the character and helps the players to quickly grasp who is in their group. Organisations If the Player Characters and GM agree they can all be part of an organisation. For Judges this is automatic, as all will be members of Justice Department. Perps can be part of a larger gang while citizens could be residents of the same block or members of a club. An organisation can provide equipment for the Player Characters; this will be appropriate to the organisation and the GM will decide what, if anything, will be available. Belonging to a group can also provide the initial background to an adventure. A team of Judges can be directed to run an investigation, a group of criminals might be ordered to carry out a raid on a rival gang or a party of citizens may be their block’s representatives in an inter-block competition. As well as being a launchpad to adventures an organisation can have its own enemies and allies who can have an impact on the PCs’ lives. The GM can provide the details for the organisation, possibly with the help of the players. Advice for games in Mega-City One /// Judge Dredd’s World This section focuses on ways to make games of Judge Dredd come alive for the players. How do you bring Mega-City One and 2099 to life for the people in the same room as you? /// The Atmosphere of Mega-City One Adventures in Judge Dredd focus around Mega-City One for the most part and it is here that you can really bring things to life. Do not bog the players down in every detail, but describing the city and its citizens is a great way to immerse players in the setting. Crime is rampant in 2099 and so making sure that you point this out when describing the sights and sounds of the city. Judges roaring past on their Lawmasters, distant gunfire and screams all add to the feeling of a city overrun by criminals. Describe the immense architecture of modern blocks while nearby the older, decrepit buildings of the twentieth century lurk in the shadows. Invoke the smells of mobile street traders selling hotties or freezy whips. Highlight the sound of hovercars zooming past on the meg-way and the shouts and yells of juves as they get up to their usual mischief. Engage the senses of the Player Characters to help bring Mega-City One to the table. Bombard Judges with continual messages from control. Reports of crimes, traffic and weather warnings, and latest crime figures round out their experience. Citizens will gossip with their friends about the latest news, rumours and information about the latest celebrity scandal. Perps will find themselves drawn into discussions about local Judge activity, arrests of associates and the crimes committed by rivals. /// Props When playing a game of Judge Dredd, you might wish to use props to help the players visualise what is going on. These could take the form of clues for the Judges to hunt down to successfully solve an investigation. Printed handouts can include forensic reports, eyewitness statements and criminal records of suspects. In addition, physical clues can be used. With so many items proscribed by the law you could have some examples for the party to find in their investigations. Small sample bags of sugar of coffee, for example, or a banned novel or two (1984 would be an obvious example). A bingo card could show evidence of an illegal bingo ring or poker chits could be enough to sentence a perp for gambling offences. Using props for perps and citizens will also add to a game. Tickets to the latest concert by Pug Ugly and the Bugglies or live dinosaur exhibition can make a game session a little more immersive. Having illicit material (such as coffee, sugar or even (horror of horrors!) tea) on the characters when a Judge starts strip searching nearby pedestrians could cause players to panic. For perps having illicit material is part of their everyday lives and often their livelihoods. Perhaps hand them a small baggie of salt, claiming it to be primo sugar. If they get into the habit of not testing the product when they pay for it could be the start of an adventure. When their customers start to complain that they are passing off fake product and their reputation on the streets slumps the adventure will begin. /// Music While not essential, music can help create a good gaming atmosphere. Orchestral pieces can work well in some situations. If the Player Characters encounter an old school mob boss then playing the theme from The Godfather helps set the tone. If the come under air attack then Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries is appropriate. Having themed music for certain encounters can be worthwhile. Hip-hop music for when the party is entering the territory of a Juve gang and hard rock for an outlaw biker gang are both examples you might use. When dealing with some of the more lunatic members of Mega-City One you might play the theme to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Is there an allosaur on the loose
183 and is it sneaking up on the group? The Jaws theme tune might be appropriate, or perhaps that music might be better for when the party is about to encounter dune sharks... If there is an NPC who the Player Characters are likely to keep meeting then you may wish to give them their own theme tune. Having a musical cue will make the NPC more memorable and you will be less likely to have to explain to the party where they have met them before. Finally, you can use music to dramatise events. A quiet peaceful tune can help players relax and feel their characters are safe. Of course, this could just be you luring them into a sense of false security. Dramatic music can help bring across a battle scene or some ongoing disaster. Music is a tool that can help bring your game alive, so do not be afraid to experiment with it. /// People of the City Whenever the Player Characters interact with the denizens of Mega-City One it is up to the Gamemaster to bring them to life. The city has an inexhaustible supply of oddballs and characters and it pays to try and make each character a little unique. When doing so describe how they look. For most this should be a short description with perhaps one or two characteristics which stand out. Describe their approximate age, gender, height, weight, clothing. If they are encountered in their home then a brief description of this can highlight how (extra)ordinary the individual is. Unique or unusual traits can be physical (for example has a large wart at the tip of their nose, a jewel studded nose ring, purple hair cut very short or unusually small hands). They could be wearing an odd piece of clothing (such as a top hat, a kneepad with a clock on it or a t-shirt with an advertising logo that changes every thirty seconds). Their voice could be unusual (examples could include a Brit Cit accent, barely talks above a whisper, very deep, sibilant). They could smell strangely (body odour (a minor offence against the city’s health regulations), perfume or incense). They could walk with a limp or have a tic that causes their mouth to twitch every so often. They could have a notable mannerism (such as always wringing their hands, scratching their nose, pulling their earlobe, walk with a limp). Hopefully the description should be enough that if the NPC is encountered again it will help the players remember the individual. Their characters will thus be part of a more realistic world.
184 Types of Campaigns Judges The different types of games in Judge Dredd will require you to run them at different paces. Judges will be non-stop crime stoppers. Even if they are not already on a case they will be on the lookout for perps on the streets or breaking down doors to carry out crime blitzes. Control will direct them to nearby offences; once they are at the scene of a crime they will have to deal the situation there before investigating it. If the perps have fled they will need to find clues, question witnesses and call in technical support. Judge scenarios are likely to be a mix of shootouts, investigation and high-speed chases. After all, they have Lawmaster bikes and Lawgivers, and will not hesitate to open fire if necessary. Do not be afraid to adjust the pacing for Judge campaigns. If things slow down then hit them with something to keep their attention. They can always be directed to some new crime by their sector house, there are plenty of dangerous perps who will always be committing crimes. Keep a few small encounters in reserve and then throw them at the players when it feels right. Perps Perp campaigns will see plenty of planning to commit the perfect crime. Concealing evidence of their involvement is as important as successfully carrying out a criminal act, for if they attract the attention of the Judges they are likely doomed. Events might also be forced upon them. A local mob boss might ‘ask’ a favour, a rival gang might try and muscle in on the Player Characters’ territory or a citywide event could cause chaos on the streets and unforeseen opportunities. Perp gangs are likely to begin with petty crimes, picking on a small number of victims and working their way up the criminal ladder. If they can get close to the top they will be doing well — if they can avoid any Judge entanglement then they are going to be doing REALLY well. Draw upon film, television and books, as well as the comics, to see how crimes are presented there. If the players look to copy the antics of a gang of criminals in a heist movie allow them, but look to throw in a twist or two to keep them from becoming complacent. For perps, if things get too quiet, have them be approached by a defector from another gang. Alternatively, a citizen, fed up with his treatment from the local criminal element, could come seeking aid and hoping the Player Characters will be less wicked in their treatment of them (fat chance of that!). Alternatively, a rival gang could test them out by roughing up one of their associates or a local mob boss may order the party to carry out a contract killing. Again, having several prepared side encounters can liven up a gaming session should you feel things are slowing down too much. Citizens For citizens things might appear to be less exciting. Although they might find themselves caught up in the great events they will look to plan their lives to run as smoothly as possible. They could go on an outing or holiday, get involved in the block committee and local politics or represent their block in a game show or sporting event. Of course, this being Mega-City One, it is unlikely any of these activities will go as smoothly as the citizens had planned… A campaign based around the life of ordinary citizens may seem to be dull when compared to Judge and perp based campaigns. However, the life of an average citizen is anything but dull, with robot rebellions, war, terrorism, mutant incursions and, of course, the ever-present threat of crime all affecting their lives. A citizen campaign will require a little more thought but Mega-City One has plenty of challenges even for law abiding citizenry. In addition to having to survive the various disasters thrown at the city your average group of citizens may become involved in many of the crazes that occur. A trip to
185 the mall can be so much more than just a shopping trip, having citizens deal with life in Mega-City One can lead to a great campaign. Be prepared and have something you can throw at them to enliven the Player Characters’ lives. They might end up committing some crime or other, but who can avoid doing this in the Big Meg with its vast array of punitive laws and petty regulations? Types of Scenarios /// Investigations Although this type of scenario is likely to be a mainstay for Judge campaigns they can be an important part of perp and citizen based campaigns as well. For Judges there will be a constant supply of crimes that need to be solved. Although many crimes require little more than asking PSU to identify a perp from their camera footage others will be a much more formidable challenge. Judges do have a huge advantage over any perp they investigate. The forensic expertise of the Tek Judges is superb. They can gather clues from the smallest of physical traces and any one of these might lead to the culprit. Interrogations have the advantage of lie detectors. Perps may be able to hide their guilt from the birdie lie detectors all Street Judges carry. However, if questioned in an interrogation suite at a sector house, with its vastly more accurate equipment, they are likely doomed. Psi Division’s telepaths have obvious advantages as well; being able to read minds means the guilty are unlikely to be able to hide their crimes. Fortunately for the perps of the city very few Judges are telepaths! When creating an investigative scenario provide sufficient clues for the players to be able to identify and locate the perps. While there will be some clues that are red herrings no single clue should be absolutely key to solving the case; if such a clue exists and the players miss it then it will leave them frustrated in their efforts. There should be multiple different clues that can lead to a successful conclusion. Also, if players come up with a clever idea to identify the villain then allow them to succeed if what they are doing is logical. Perps and citizens have few, if any, of the advantages of the Judges when tracking down the solution to any investigation they carry out. Perps and citizens are unlikely to be investigating crimes (although this might be possible). Instead they could be trying find out who in their boss’s gang has been passing information to his rivals or trying to work out why the local juves are spending so much time hanging out by the eldster home… /// Disasters Mega-City One is regularly struck by disasters. Some are citywide while others are more localised. All pose a real threat to whatever type of party a campaign is based around.
186 How different groups react to disasters is likely to be very different. Judges are going to want to end the disaster with a minimum loss of life. Defusing the bomb, halting the lava flow, containing the disease, defeating the invaders – all these are tasks groups of Judges are well suited to. For perps there are more options to how they may deal with a disaster. They could, like Judges, try to halt it; they may even cooperate with Judges to do so. However, they are just as likely to try to profit from a disaster. In a citywide catastrophe who will notice that their biggest criminal rival was gunned down? Also with the Judges’ attention elsewhere there will be the opportunity to commit robberies or smuggle contraband into or out of the city. Citizens, for the most part, may have only one objective when faced with a disaster – to survive it! Although they might aid the Judges in ending a catastrophe or join in any looting going on their primary aim should be self-preservation. Given the skills and resources of most citizens mere survival may be something very difficult to achieve. Not all disasters are citywide; some only affect a block or two, or even a smaller area. A spaceship crashing on landing, a block war, a major megway vehicle accident or a collapsing building all will stretch the local Justice Department sector house. Each can provide the backdrop to an exciting adventure even if the Player Characters are not directly involved. /// Exploration There is a lot to explore in Mega-City One. For Judges entering every nook and cranny of the city to track down perps is part of their job. Going beyond the city limits is also something that can happen with regularity. Punitive expeditions against mutant raiders in the Cursed Earth, protection for trade delegations to other Mega-Cities, capturing felons on alien worlds or hunting dangerous pirates and sea creatures in the Black Atlantic are all examples where a Judge may have to travel. For perps there are also multiple opportunities to explore. Perhaps checking out a ruined building devastated by war or fire to see if there is anything valuable to steal or having a meeting in a devastated city of old America with another criminal group could cause perps to travel outside their normal territory. Citizens can also travel. Visiting a neighbouring city block could be something new and thrilling for them (and potentially dangerous if the locals recognise them as coming from a rival block). Trips to the various entertainment facilities could be exciting. Club Mutie holiday excursions to the Cursed Earth are bound to be dangerous. A trip across the Cursed Earth as part of a helltrek could form a campaign, as could being settlers on a newly colonised, alien world. Plots and Railroading For most players being forced to go from pillar to post, with major plots and events happening no matter what they do, is not much fun. The decisions they make should have important consequences. When investigating a crime, a party of Judges will have to follow the clues to solve it. However, it is possible they will come up with potential leads the GM never considered. If they do this allow them to pursue the leads and the investigation to progress; if it could logically lead to the culprit it does not matter. Railroading can a problem when running a game. Players want their characters’ actions to influence events. If they feel this is not the case they are unlikely to enjoy the game as much. Pushing Player Characters down a predetermined route is something to avoid. If players go off the beaten track embrace this, you might just create an amazing adventure from their wandering. It is important to be flexible as a GM. Opponents There are two main types of opponents. There are those who will make a brief appearance, be defeated and then will never be heard from again. Then there are those who will return again and again to plague the Player Character’s lives. For Judges most opponents will be perps. There will be little need to worry over most day-to-day criminals since they will offer little to challenge a group of Judges. The perps they will encounter in adventures will often consist of the most dangerous adversaries in the city. When creating opponents, it is important for them to have a motivation for what they are doing and act accordingly. Most are not going to get involved in a fight to the death with a group of Judges. There are, of course, exceptions. Futsies are individuals on a murderous rampage who will not willingly surrender. While attempting to capture them for psycho-cube treatment is preferable but this is often impossible. Terrorist groups and agents for hostile powers are unlikely to ask for, or give, any quarter. If they can escape they may attempt to do so, but often this may be impossible. Blitz agents cannot surrender, to do so would mean instant death so they will try to fight their way past any Judges if there is no clear escape route. For most perps their main aim will be to survive an encounter with the Judges. Some may fight to gain a temporary reprieve, others will flee and more will surrender. Given the deadly effectiveness of the Judges few perps will survive contact with the forces of law and order should they resist arrest.
187 Not that this is always a bad thing. Killing or capturing perps should be the most common outcome to any given encounter, but it is always useful to have recurring enemies. This is as true for perp and citizen characters as it is for Judges, but in the latter case it is more difficult to achieve due to their prowess. Keeping an enemy of a party of Judges alive for more than a couple of sessions can be challenging but there are several ways to achieve this. Rather than having a single enemy the party could have a group of foes that work together. Examples include a street gang, the residents of a particularly troublesome block, a family of miscreants, a mobster’s criminal ‘family’ or a tribe of mutant raiders from the Cursed Earth. Other enemies will act behind a shield of deniability. A corrupt industrialist could have their underlings take the fall, especially if the corporate headquarters is in another megacity. A criminal could have a team of expert lawyers with them day and night, to ensure that they never accidentally break one of the myriad of minor offences that could see them go to the ‘cubes. Then there are perps who can cheat death. The most obvious example from the Judge Dredd comics is Judge Death. Other supernatural entities could also plague a group of Judges, returning again and again to wreak havoc. A robot foe could download its programming into multiple versions of itself, allowing it to return once destroyed. Personality chips, technological hardware that can allow an individual to download their personality and then be inserted into another person, offer another form of immortality for an enemy. Such enemies can lure a group of Player Characters into a sense of false security. They may have thought they had defeated their opponent permanently only to find that they must, once again, face the same deadly threat. For parties consisting of citizens or perps their enemies are likely to be less powerful. Citizens could be plagued by a gang of juves or corrupt members of their local block committee. Perps will have rival gangs to contend with. Both groups could easily have a nemesis in the form of a local Judge who targets them for special attention… Rewards Rewards for Player Characters help drive a campaign. Gaining experience and improving characters is one thing that will exist for every group. Unlike many roleplaying games Player Characters in Mega-City One will have differing rewards depending on the type of campaign you are running. Judges do not expect a reward when they uphold the law, they do not expect anything. It is nice to be told they are doing a good job by their peers, of course, but they do not generally crave that kind of recognition. Judge rewards are promotions, ever increasing levels of responsibility and having to deal with ever more lethal situations. They might even get better equipment, be able to secure better support and access to new technology, as their superiors trust them more and more. Perps are usually driven by gain. Perp scenarios should reward Player Characters with money, power, influence and all sorts of material goods. They should move up the ranks in their chosen criminal gang, if they have one, and gain new contacts in the criminal underworld. As their competence increases their contacts may be able to point them in the direction of crimes with greater payoffs, albeit with greater risks. For citizens rewards can be monetary. Getting a reward from Justice Department for coming forward and identifying the hideout of the Kramer Gang or a reward from the Kramer Gang by letting them know the Judges are looking for them are both satisfactory. Getting on the block council, an apartment on the upper (non-slum) levels of their block, winning a game show on a vid channel, a visit to the alien zoo without getting eaten by the escaped monsters would all be good rewards for the average citizen. You should tailor the reward to the group, though, as citizens are likely to have a lot more variety in their desires than the average Judge or perp.
188 CH/8: Crime blotter The Munce Bunch /// The Setup This scenario revolves around the generic foodstuff known as munce. Grown on farms on the Cursed Earth, Munce is a highly nutritious foodstuff and can grow in poor soils, even mildly radioactive ones for it will not absorb the radiation. Raw munce has a foul taste and smell and it needs to be processed to become edible. Many munce products taste rather bland and the various forms of food are tolerated, rather than liked, by the citizens. In this scenario a group of food scientists have found a way to flavour munce so that it tastes extremely good. This is a potential goldmine for corporations as the process is worth billions. They would be willing to pay a group of perps to steal the secrets in an act of industrial sabotage. A group of Judges will be called in to investigate a break in at the scientific labs where the munce products are being tested. Perps have a chance to make a quick killing if they can get past security and grab the NuMunce. What is NuMunce? NuMunce is processed munce with a flavour enhancer developed by the FlavULike Corporation. What is the FlavULike Corporation? The FlavULike Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Doctor Mog Vagabundo’s Munce Bunch, itself privately owned by the doctor. For Judges (The Crime) The Judges will be called in to investigate a theft at one of the corporation’s research facilities. Here they will meet a representative of FlavULike and look into the crime. In addition to looking for clues to help solve the crime, it is possible the Judges will be on the look out for all kinds of health and safety violations at the warehouse where the NuMunce has been stolen. If they do so they will find that the site is run according to the strict laws laid down for such a facility, FlavULike is very keen not to run afoul of the law. Welcome to 2099, welcome to Mega-City One and welcome to Judge Dredd. These Case Files are short vignettes that provide the Game Master with various Judge Dredd scenario plots for their players. Where possible we have tried to give you guidelines to run these adventures for Judges, Perps and even Citizens — some of them are better suited for some types of groups than others. Judges investigate crimes and chase down perps. Perps commit crimes, but these crimes can often attract the attention of Judges — Perps who cross paths with Judges tend to end up in an Iso-Cube or dead — so be mindful of just how dangerous NPC Judges can be to fledgling and established criminals. Citizens are bored most of the time in Mega-City One so they get involved in all sorts of events that most sane people would avoid.
189 /// The Rep Sally Salon is a breezy, cheerful and an all too helpful public relations employee of Vagabundo. She is only too happy to show the Judges around and her friendly nature might put them on edge. One of her blond hairs is found as a clue at the scene of the crime — she snuck in there during a quiet moment and ate some NuMunce. Sally is in the early stages of pregnancy and ate some of the NuMunce during a tasting. She now has a craving for the food; Judges might see her behaviour as indicative of NuMunce being addictive. Should they investigate this possibility they will soon find no other evidence to support this hypothesis. /// The Clues There are a number of clues that Judges can find that may help them track down the perps responsible: Sally’s hair One of Sally’s blond hairs is found inside the empty NuMunce container. If interrogated Sally will be evasive, eventually she will explain that she sampled some NuMunce a few days ago and she has been sampling it on and off ever since. She does not understand why she craves more each day. While the Judges might wish to arrest her for this petty theft her employers have no intention of pressing charges. They will want to talk to Sally about her cravings; if they can work out why they exist there is a chance of greater profits. Sally’s employee contract actually includes a clause about food tasting. Although this would not normally cover what she has been doing the company lawyers will use it to ensure that she does not face charges. Security Camera Footage The building does have security cameras and the perps’ van is caught on them. The registration of the van and the logo of the hire firm which owns it are both visible with a little enhancement by a Tek Judge. Tyre tracks The perps responsible for this crime have left plenty of tyre tracks that will help the Judges identify the vehicle used. The tyre tracks will match the van in the security camera footage, allowing the Judges to rule out the possibility another van using false plates was used. Forced entry The perps were not subtle, they carried out a smash and grab raid on the NuMunce storage building, stealing the crates they found there. They forced their way through the door and into the building before making off with their booty. Hire Van Dan’s Van Hire was the company that the perps got their van from; they paid off someone there to do it off the books. When the records indicate the truck was not supposed to be hired out that night the Judges will need to interrogate the staff to find what happened. Fortunately there were only a couple of staff on duty and the culprit is not the kind of citizen who clams up when interrogated by the Judges. He will quickly give up the name of perp who hired the van. /// The Who Mick Bricklington is a small time perp, who hangs out with his friends, a bunch of losers who survive on welfare and the occasional theft. When Mick was invited to go on a taster trial at the labs he found he really liked the food. More importantly he heard one of the technicians there boast to another that NuMunce was going to make them all a fortune and clean up the market. While not especially bright Mick realised he could make a major score. He saw how lax the security was and decided to raid the place with his buddies and steal all the NuMunce. If he could find someone who would pay a fortune for the stuff then that he could look forward to a life of luxury. If not he and his gang would at least be set for food for the next six months.
190 /// The How Mick and his gang went for the direct route - a simple smash and grab using a hire van. They took their loot back to their block and have started to ask around to see if they can offload the stuff quickly. Most of the NuMunce is hidden in their apartments, although they have all already sampled some of it. /// Mack McMaccy, Phil Fly, Bob and Don Orlando These are Mick’s gang, lowlife thugs one and all. They are close friends who will willingly fight for one another, should the occasion arrive. The NuMunce job is a major step up in their criminal careers. Mick is more ambitious and ruthless than the others, and will gladly sacrifice them to ensure his own survival. /// Tracking the Culprits If the Judges somehow fail to track the van used in the raid then one of the gang will start selling his share to others in the block. The Player Characters will be informed by control that the local block Judge, Judge Boyd, has arrested one of those behind the theft. If they track the van down but fail to question the van hire firm’s employees then forensics should lead them to a member of the gang. /// Attack the Block Mick and his gang are all residents of Mike Pence Block. How much resistance the Judges face depends on their tactics. Should they approach the gang with little or no caution then the perps will be alerted. Mick will tell his companions to take out the law, while he uses his son’s aeroball backpack to try and escape with some of the loot and any cash the gang has. If they are cautious then they might catch Mick and the rest of the gang in one of their apartments with much of the loot. /// Complications The Holy Rollers Mike Pence Block, like most blocks in the city, has a problem with juve gangs and organised crime. Should the Judges storm the building one of the local juve gangs, The Holy Rollers, are going to take umbrage and make things difficult. This can include misleading the judges and they may even take pot-shots at them. Mob tactics One of the local mob bosses, Vito O’Brien, may have heard of Mike’s attempts to sell his loot and will try to muscle in on the action. His men arrive just before the Judges, meaning that in order to get to Mike’s gang the Judges will need to blast their way through a half dozen well equipped hoodlums. Nobody home Mike may have found a customer in the form of a rival corporation. He and the others may be out when the Judges visit, on their way to a meet. After the Judges raid their apartments in Pence (and having dealt with any stray mobsters and/or juves) they will need to track down the gang. They can do this either through vid-phone records or via PSU. They should then be able to disrupt the meeting, although the corporation’s security team will be a far tougher prospect than Mike and his gang. Hooked on a Feeling One possibility that a Game Master could add to the scenario is if the stolen samples of NuMunce had had an addictive substance added to it. This would, of course, be very illegal and would get FlavULike, Vagabundo and the scientists involved into real trouble with the law if they were found out. It would also explain all the more clearly why Sally Salon was eating all the extra NuMunce whenever she could get away with it.
191 In an effort to hide what they have done Vagabundo might call in some professionals to track down the thieves and destroy the evidence. These will be skilled mercenaries likely to cause even Judges problems. If they are encountered the Judges should wonder exactly why they are interested in the stolen NuMunce. They will then have to prove the conspiracy and attempt to bring those responsible at FlavULike to justice. For Perps NuMunce presents the perfect opportunity for a party of perps to carry out a heist. How the Gamemaster introduces them to FlavULike is up to them. They could be invited as a taster as Mike was and overhear the technician. Alternatively they might be contacted by someone who was a taster to let them know what they overheard. Finally they might have a local mob boss contract the job out to them through an intermediary. In this case they will be paid a straight fee in order to steal the NuMunce. The security at the laboratory can be upgraded to give the party a tougher challenge, with some security robots, robodogs and/or extra sensors. If the Player Characters are tough enough then they may even have to tangle with a Judge responding to an alarm. Handing over the NuMunce could be as straightforward as the Game Master wants it to be. There is the possibility of a double-cross but this is not necessarily the case. The mob boss may also require the Player Characters to deliver the goods to his customer, a rival to FlavULike. Again this has the opportunity for there being a double-cross or perhaps another gang will turn up and try to muscle in on the action. For Citizens Hey Citizens, do you and your friends want to sample the newest flavour sensation from FlavULike? Doc Vagabundo is here to give you a fantastic ONE time offer. Come to the FlavULike labs and test our new improved NuMunce. A flavour sensation that leaves you with smiles on your tongue! Your taste-buds will want to marry your mouth! We will even give you coupons for some of our other great products if you answer a few questions for us afterwards! In this scenario the citizen Player Characters have the opportunity to taste the NuMunce in a consumer trial. However, they will also be approached by a criminal group eager to get their hands on the product. What the citizens will have to do is go through the entire process and try to get some NuMunce to take out with them, past the security. The perps make it very clear their offer is not one that they can refuse. Fortunately there will be a diversion provided by their employers; however the party will be unaware of this. One of their fellow testers (not part of the group!) has been injected with a drug prior to coming to the testing. In a couple of hours, once he is in the testing lab with the party and various NPCs, the chemical will take effect, turning him into a homicidal maniac! Now the chaos this causes should give the Player Characters their opportunity to steal some NuMunce. However, they will also have to deal with the dual threats of a madman and the sudden security alert he causes… When the excitement is over the party will be able to leave the premises and meet up with their erstwhile employer. If they have failed in their assignment then they could be in trouble.
192 Drokk the Block! /// The Setup The perps of Mega-City One are, if nothing else, creative in coming up with new ways to break the law. One such talented criminal is Milton Bilton, part mobster and part wannabe vid director. Milton has been a minor (and undetected) player in the vi-vid scene (vids featuring acts of violence that are often fatal for many of its unwilling stars). Now he has come up with the ultimate in the genre – a block war recorded in all its glory. For several weeks now Peter Fonda Block and Dennis Hopper Block have been staring daggers at each other across the inter block plaza. Both Citi-Def forces are twitchy and the whole situation is on a knife edge. Just one spark would be needed to set a block war raging and pit the two neighbours in a fight to the finish; such rivalry is not uncommon in the city. In this case it is Milton’s efforts that have caused this upsurge in mutual hostility, setting the two blocks at each others throats. Milton’s plan is almost ready. He has already put the pieces in place for his new show which he intends to broadcast over a pirate vid network. Welcome to Drokk the Block! He has spent much of his fortune employing hackers to infiltrate both buildings’ security, especially automated defence controls and cameras. What goes on in both blocks Milton sees, hears and can record. The payoff for Milton’s plan is just about ready. He needs to precipitate the conflict, setting the two Blocks against one another. Then he can film the whole thing, playing it live on his new channel. Drokk the Block! is ready to begin! This scenario is primarily for Judges, but both perps and citizens can find themselves caught up in the block war. The Judges will have to contend with the plans of the mob boss in his headquarters and the two warring blocks as they attempt to restore order. /// Lighting the Fuse Milton has been prepping the blocks for war for some time. He has had acts of vandalism carried out throughout both blocks. Graffiti tags for rival gangs have been sprayed on walls in each other’s territories. Milton had used the blocks’ maintenance robots to paint the tags and ensured the security cameras have not been working. As a result he has avoided being exposed and has ratcheted up the tension. In addition he has used what influence he has to spread rumours and outright lies about the rival blocks. With printed hate ‘zines distributed in each block being highly popular he now has both sides eager for conflict. Milton is ready to start the war and his show. His plan is to assassinate the son of Sandy Rood, the leader of Fonda’s Citi-Def. Sandy is a hothead at the best of times and will blame the Hopper blockers for the death of her son. Within minutes of learning of his killing she will start to mobilise her block’s forces and prepare for a retaliatory strike. Milton has created a drone gun to kill Rocky Rood. This is little more than a high powered sniper rifle held aloft by some scavenged tech, using skysurfing powerboard parts. In the chaos of the block war he hopes to recover it to prevent it being tracked back to him. This will prove extremely difficult to do, but Milton fears the Judges ability to do so despite his best efforts. Milton is well prepared and has got the credits, title screen and more ready for once the fun starts. He hopes the blocks’ security cameras alongside his own mobile units will create a spectacular vi-vid event that the city will long remember. Milton is secure in his penthouse in nearby Jack Nicholson block. He has plenty of security in place in case things spill over from his war and feels safe and secure. There are four security robots waiting to kill anyone who steps foot inside Milton’s lair without his permission. He also has a number of human bodyguards with him.
193 For Judges The Judges will have to deal with three connected incidents one after another, although they will be initially unaware of the link. First of all they will be instructed to deal with a multiple vehicle pile up on the Easy Rider Slipway, close to Dennis Hopper block. There are several cameras indicating the crash began when a sizeable object crashed down into the driver’s compartment of a mopad. This is Milton’s drone, shot down by the trigger happy members of Hopper’s CitiDef, on high alert due to the current tensions with Fonda. As they deal with the carnage they will receive a report of a murder on one of the upper levels in Peter Fonda block. This murder is the killing of Rocky Rood, when the Judges get to the apartment they will find one of the occupants waiting for them. This is Cliff Rood, a fourteen year-old juve who called in the Judges. His brother lies dead near to the window of the lounge area of the sizeable apartment. Preliminary investigations will indicate who the victim is and that he appears to have been shot from outside the window. Judging from the angle of fire the shots seem to have been fired from nearby Dennis Hopper block. As the Judges start to get their investigation underway there is the unmistakeable sound of explosions. Hopper is under fire, taking damage from several salvoes of rockets fired from Fonda. Rocky’s mother has decided to strike back quickly against her hated enemies who (she believes) have murdered her eldest son. As they are already on the scene the Judges are ordered to quell the situation. They can request support from riot squads and other Justice Department assets as needed if they cannot control the situation on their own. How long it takes for this back-up to arrive is up to the GM. Due to their heightened state, Hopper’s own Citi-Def units rapidly return fire and the scene quickly descends into carnage. Both blocks are exchanging heavy gunfire between the buildings. Citi-Def forces from Dennis Hopper have invaded Peter Fonda block and are engaged in running gunfights along the corridors. As of yet, attackers from Peter Fonda have not breached the corridors of Dennis Hopper. Milton is gleefully broadcasting the carnage, complete with a live kill counter and close-up shots of the most violent deaths. He even has sound bites and overlays ready for the action. As the number of viewers climbs rapidly Milton has introduced more ways to make credits from the fighting. He has set up gambling lines where viewers can make bets on different aspects of the block war. They can bet on the total number of deaths, how many Judges are killed and other, similar wagers. A fully automated service takes the calls and the money has started to roll in. It is unlikely the Judges will be able to end this conflict without significant backup. Initially, though, it will be up to them to eliminate the most dangerous participants in the fighting. The closest groups to them are the commandos from Hopper attacking Peter Fonda and Fonda’s rocket batteries. Without help the block war is likely to rage for a good few hours before they can pacify the situation. After the carnage the Judges will need to sentence any captives and call in meatwagons for the dead and medwagons for the wounded. Unless the party have somehow managed to capture her alive, Sandy Rood will be among the fatalities. /// Milton’s Eye in the Sky Justice Department will be aware of the illegal broadcast by now and will let the Player Character Judges know. At this stage they will assume it is an opportunistic hacker but it should quickly become clear that the block war is something unusual. During the fighting the Judges will have opportunities to spot a roving camera drone which flits out of sight the moment that it is discovered. Milton will continue to film the Judges when he thinks it is safe to do so. The Judges are the star of the show. Viewers are paying a fortune to see them in action and Milton already has an idea for a new crime show to continue from where Drokk the Block! leaves off. One of Milton’s camera drones was shot down during the block war and he cannot risk recovery yet. He hopes it will not be discovered until after the Judges have left so he can retrieve the unit. The Player Character Judges should have the opportunity to recover this camera, or they can shoot down one cameras following them. Any camera they get hold of is not a standard issue camera drone; it is a custom, bespoke design and highly sophisticated. Handing over the camera to forensics will discover a number of clues. » It has a custom design, not something you can buy off the shelf. » There are trace amounts of skin and hair which can be tested. These are from one Theo ‘Teddy Boy’ Duntz, a known hacker with links to organised crime. The most recent information ties him to the Bilton Syndicate operating out of Jack Nicholson block. » With a small amount of repair it can start working again and its signal analysed. The signal operates on a wavelength that has numerous other signals using it. They all appear to be sending their signals to an electronics store operating on the edge of the Jack Nicholson block plaza.
194 /// The Murder of Rocky Rood It will become clear that the murder of Rocky Rood is the event which sparked the confrontation between Fonda and Hopper. Interrogating survivors of the Fonda Citi-Def will have them confirm Sandy Rood was incensed by the murder at the hands of a Hopper blocker. Once she let her comrades-in-arms know they all agreed with her to launch retaliatory strikes. Detailed forensics indicates that the shot came from the general direction of Hopper, but not Hopper itself. The shot was from an elevated position, one a little above the suspect block. Hopefully the Player Characters will be able to surmise that the murder of Rocky was a deliberate attempt to start the war between the two blocks. A Judge with local knowledge will know that Jack Nicholson block has always had a rivalry for both Fonda and Hopper. Asking the local sector house for potential enemies of the warring blocks will have Nicholson block as top of the list by some margin. /// Drokk the Bot! The remote drone that fired the fatal shot is currently at the scene of the traffic accident. This will not have been cleared up yet due to the emergency caused by the block war. Traffic has been diverted away from the scene and forensics teams are sifting through the evidence when they come under attack… Milton has sent a couple of his security robots to retrieve the drone as it is still sending out a signal. In an effort to retrieve the drone the robots attack the Tek Judges and the party will have to save them. Once the robots are dealt with the Judges can find more information out from the wreckage of (a) the drone and (b) the robots. » The drone is another bespoke design, same custom detailing, same signed chip and same programming. Only this time there is an active signal. This signal can be traced to the same electronics shop close to Nicholson. » The robots are also modified designs, like the mobile camera and the drone they have trace material leading them to Theo Duntz. /// The Shop Sparky’s is a small retail outlet that has been under suspicion for fencing stolen goods for some time. Local Judges have carried out a couple of raids but have found nothing illegal. Inside the shop there is a secret room that the Judges will have to discover. In it is the control centre for the Drokk the Block! show, Theo Duntz and several members of Milton Bilton’s gang are present. These individuals will resist arrest but Theo, at least, will give up meekly. He will admit that he was paid by Milton to help put together the drones and to modify the robots. /// Milton’s Fall Milton’s penthouse is protected by four security robots and a number of human bodyguards. Milton has always known there would be a risk of being found out by the Judges for his latest criminal endeavour. As a result the robots have been programmed to shoot any intruders, including Judges. Milton does not want to be taken prisoner, so he sends the robots to hold off the Judges as he makes his escape using his top of the range hoverlimo. If the Judges are unable to catch Milton he will escape and go underground. He assume a new identity and then look to rebuild his criminal empire. Even though he has been unmasked and forced into hiding he has made a killing (in more ways than one) with Drokk the Block! When he is ready he will reappear to plague the Judges’ lives once more… For Perps For perps a block war is a dangerous but potentially lucrative event. A gang of perps located near the warring blocks could sweep in during the event, when everybody is too busy to care about them. They could also appear in the aftermath, once the Judges have finished their crackdown. With so many residents injured or killed a cunning group of perps could enter the now empty apartments and take whatever they can find worth stealing. Alternatively Milton Bilton could be looking for competent hirelings to aid him in his plot. The party might be asked to commit various acts of vandalism and petty violence in the run up to the main event. Or they could have a far larger part to play, like retrieving the gun drone from the site of the traffic accident before the Tek Judges can find it. Bilton also has his criminal enemies. With him on the run a group of perps could be sent by a rival boss to hunt him down and relieve him of his newly acquired wealth before he can disappear. As an alternative, with Bilton out of the way there may be room in Jack Nicholson for a new gang to rule the roost. Player Character perps might like to take over the local criminal enterprises, either as allies to an established criminal cartel or as independents. This might involve clashes with Bilton’s former gang members, other mobs moving into the territory and the block Judges.
195 For Citizens There are two main options for Player Character citizens where block wars are concerned. Attempt to escape the carnage or to join the fighting in some capacity. If necessary the GM can relocate the scenario so it includes the Player Character’s block and two of their neighbours. For an escape scenario the party might only be visiting either Hopper or Fonda when hostilities commence. Whether they are residents or visitors the dangers are very real, with murderous groups out to eliminate anyone they perceive as being on the other side. Those protecting their block are likely to see anyone who is not a resident to be a potential enemy. Invaders will be trying to kill anyone they come across. Joining in the conflict can mean one of two things. Either the Player Characters are attacked and have to fight back in self defence or they get involved in the war in a more aggressive manner, targeting the enemy blockers. In the former case perhaps their floor is attacked by a group of commandos and they have to kill the invaders to save themselves. In the latter scenario they may be part of a commando raid, looking to cause as much damage before the rival blockers or the Judges arrive. Finally citizens might stumble upon Bilton’s plot, but are unable to inform the local Judges for some reason. It will be up to them to stop the gangster prior to the war starting, a far from simple task…
196 The Fast-Bank Fakers /// The Setup Corporations are always looking to get an edge on their competitors in Mega-City One and banks are no different. The latest innovation, Fast-Banks, has caught on like wildfire with the citizens. Instead of catching a zoom or hoverbus you can instead hop onto a Fast-Bank and do all your finances en route. This is especially useful if you want to withdraw some credits for your day out. This scenario has options for Judges, perps and citizens. Judges will be tracking down an illegal Fast-Bank operation being run by an ape gang. Perps will be looking to rob a smaller Fast-Bank for some easy cash. Finally citizens will be trying to keep from being shot during a bungled robbery. So what is a Fast-Bank? Fast-Banks are large vehicles, about the size of the more deluxe MoPads. They are hover or wheeled vehicles that zip along the Mega-City One megways at high speed. They stop off at designated Fast-Bank transaction points throughout their journey to pick up and drop off passengers. The robot staff assist the customers with their financial needs in small, private compartments. There will be security robots on board as well as several layers of encryption to protect the customers’ transactions. Corporate Cash-in The Fast-Cash Corporation and the TransACs are, initially, the two businesses that introduce Fast-Banks to MegaCity One. Both are owned by larger financial institutions. Later on a few more banks want to cash in on the business model and the market has become more and more crowded. The Judges, ever vigilant for the slightest abuse of the Law, are watching developments closely to ensure everything functions as it should. Enter the Mob The prospect of robbing Fast-Banks (or even stealing an entire bank) is one that appeals to many criminals. For ape boss Don Oogly Moogly a simple raid like this is a waste of effort, he has set his sights much higher. Using a fake FastBank the mobster hopes to entice rich customers from better off areas to use the facilities on trips out of their block. The gangsters will pay out cash to ‘their’ customers. However, they are also busily gathering details about the accounts, including passwords. The information is transmitted to confederates at another location who then use the stolen data to quickly drain the accounts of funds and into Don Moogly’s pockets. For Judges It is best to begin this scenario with the patrolling Judges on their Lawmasters when they get a call from the local sector house. The call is brief and the rest of the information is transferred to the Judges’ on-board computers. The female controller explains a suspicious Fast-Bank is travelling south on Nevil Shute Megway. This particular vehicle is not registered with Justice Department. While this may just be a glitch in the system it might also be because the vehicle is a front for criminal activity. The Judges need to bring the Fast-Bank to a stop to confirm if it is a legitimate enterprise. If it is not they need to shut down the operation and arrest the perps behind it. /// The Chase on Nevil Shute The fake Fast-Bank appears to those on board to be legitimate, with robotic staff to help customers use the facilities. However, there is a small cadre of perps on board in a small suite of rooms where customers are not allowed to enter. As the vehicle moves from site to site it is making a mint for the criminals. The gang hopes their crimes will remain undiscovered until much later in the day. It is unfortunate for them that they have been spotted by Justice Department cameras. The Judges need to move quickly to intercept the fast moving vehicle. It is almost certain that the apes will spot the Judges unless they come up with a subtle plan to remain out of sight. In this case if they can approach closely and get on the back or roof of the Fast-Bank they will be able to infiltrate the vehicle safely. If they are spotted the perps on board will try to accelerate away to avoid capture. It is more likely that the Judges are going to ride up and demand that the vehicle pulls over. The apes on board will then attempt to escape, leading to a pursuit. The apes will endanger themselves, their clientele and all the other users of Nevil Shute in their attempts to avoid justice. The perps will try and put some distance between them and the Judges if they can. However the Fast-Bank they are in is not capable of outdistancing Lawmasters so the driver will attempt wild manoeuvres to try and get away. Risky undertaking, swinging across multiple lanes, taking turnoffs at the last moment or even ramming pursuers off the road are all things he could try. The apes have security robots with them as well, armed with a mix of laser weapons. Once the apes realise they are not going to escape by outrunning the Judges they will order the security robots to open fire on the lawmen. There are quite a few innocent victims on the Fast-Bank, so the Judges do need to be careful when engaging the speeding vehicle. Simply attacking the Fast-Bank with
197 all the firepower at their disposal is not something they should do; this could end up with a heavy death toll that is likely to instigate an SJS investigation. Shooting back at any perp or robot that opens fire at the Judges is perfectly acceptable, although care should be taken not to endanger the innocent citizens on board. Once the Judges climb on board the Fast-Bank they will need to subdue or eliminate the apes and their robots, arresting any survivors. Judges may wish to check the citizens lured onto the Fast-Bank and see if any have outstanding warrants or are carrying anything illegal on them A few will be carrying unregistered weapons (for self protection from taps) or illegal substances for personal use. /// Softly Softly Judges who approach the Fast-Bank from behind can attempt to board the vehicle without being seen. If they approach carefully enough the traffic is heavy enough to shield the Judges from the watchful eyes of the gang members. If the Fast-Bank’s access doors are breached it is possible to take out the gang in a piecemeal manner, compartment by compartment. The largest number of perps are in the forward compartment, where the Judges will find three apes and at least two security robots. This restricted area has no customers present and is where the account data is transmitted to the gang’s confederates. Moving through the vehicle the Judges will need to be careful to avoid civilian casualties. There are some sixty customers on board who could get caught in the crossfire. Taking out the gang should present major difficulties for the Judges. They will require some back-up if only to call in catch wagons for the perps. /// Following Up With those on board the Fast-Bank in custody (or dead) the Judges should want to uncover what the apes were actually up to. It will quickly become obvious that they were handing out more money than they were receiving as deposits. Interrogating the apes can get some information about what they were doing. However, having Tek Judges go over their operation and equipment will clearly reveal the gang’s activities. After dealing with this part of the gang the Judges should trace and arrest the rest of those involved. They may even try and take down the gang’s boss, who has gone into hiding in the Jungle. For Perps The chance to rob a bank is something many perp based parties are going to want to try at some point, so FastBanks represent an opportunity to do so. They could rob a legitimate Fast-Bank or they may wish to target the ape fake one; in both cases there will be plenty of cash on board for them to steal. Knowledge of a criminal run fake Fast-Bank will be needed in the latter case. This may be discovered through a loose-lipped member of the gang running the fake or via rumours among the characters’ criminal associates. Alternatively the party could be hired by a local mobster to shut down their rival’s operation. The main advantage of attacking the ape Fast-Bank is that the gangsters on board will not call in the Judges in any circumstances. If the players opt for tackling a legitimate Fast-Bank then they will become aware of a good potential target. The TransAC Corporation was one of the first players in the Fast-Bank market. A new route has just started and as luck would have it the Fast-Bank passes fairly close to the Player Characters’ territory. Fast-Bank 03 is TransAC’s newest bank and it only has three robots acting as security on board, one for each of the three banking compartments. This particular Fast-Bank is entirely automated with no human staff on board, just robots. In addition to the robots there will be human customers on board the vehicle and they should be accounted for in any plans the party makes. If the citizens are watched then there should be no problems. However, if left to their own devices they will certainly try and contact Justice Department using their portable vid-phones. If the Game Master wishes to cause additional difficulties then the customers can include a ‘have a go hero’ among their number. If Judges appear then the PCs will be in trouble as even a single Judge is a fearsome opponent. The best way to deal with a Judge is to not encounter one in the first place. This can be achieved by ensuring the alarm is not raised or escaping before the Judges arrive. With the bank being mobile the party could attempt to jam any signals leaving the vehicle or alternatively try to hack into its alarm systems. Both tasks will be difficult to achieve, but allow bonuses should the party come up with any clever ideas as to how to get around the problem. The robot security guards will shoot to kill in response to any threat. This level of deadly security is legal and all the proper licenses have been granted by Justice Department. The party should have escape routes planned. If they can abscond with the Fast-Bank having not raised the alarm they can then rob it at their leisure at some location beyond the cameras of PSU. If they do not simply try to escape using the vehicle they will need to transfer off it into a getaway vehicle or stop and try to flee on foot. If the Judges have been alerted then escape could prove the most difficult part of the heist.
198 For Citizens A trip on a Fast-Bank can play a part in the lives of a group of citizen Player Characters. The party could be unfortunate enough to be travelling on the Fast-Bank when it is targeted by a gang of heisters. If they are on board one of the larger Fast-Bank vehicles then it is entirely possible to have the citizens become embroiled in a bungled heist and sneak through the substructure of the Fast-Bank. In this way they can avoid the perps and try to get to the communications hub so they can call in the Judges. Particularly belligerent Player Characters can break into the security robots’ armoury and fight back. This might be a necessity if the vehicle they are travelling on is targeted by a vicious gang eager to leave no living witnesses to their crime. Another possibility is if the party are involved in or are close to the scene of a road traffic accident involving a Fast-Bank. How they deal with the situation could have all sorts of ramifications. They might try to help themselves to some of the cash that lies strewn across the skedway. Whether they then hand over this cash to the Judges when they turn up, like good citizens, or try to make off with their unexpected windfall is up to them… They could also try and prevent other citizens from stealing the money. Finally they may just concern themselves with helping the injured and calling for help. Of course should the local criminal element decide to rob them as they do so they could become involved in a far more dangerous encounter. Other encounters on board a Fast-Bank might include one or more of the following: » Juves run amok. They get on at the stop after the party and start harassing everyone. One of the Player Characters might have their pocket picked during this diversion. » Robot guard rampage. A security robot short circuits and designates everyone on board as a hostile. It will be some time before the Judges arrive, so the Player Characters will need to keep their heads down or figure out a way to shut down the dangerous guard. » A punk gets bored and decides to spray BOING™ onto a hysterical child. To make matters worse, they start the child bouncing around inside the Fast-Bank. This could get dangerous! » A crazy with a baseball bat starts lashing out at people. What will the citizens do? » An elderly lady thinks one of the Player Characters is their grandson, regardless of gender and regardless of age. » One of the cash machines begins to hand out free credits. Will the Player Characters take advantage of this or report the malfunction? » A failure in the drive module causes the Fast-Bank to skip stops and begin accelerating to dangerous speeds. The Player Characters will need to get into the driving compartment to override the automatic driving system and take manual control. Unfortunately the security robots may need to be convinced of the danger first. If they are not convinced they may try to prevent the Player Characters from saving everybody.
199 Scarred City /// The Setup This action packed scenario is for a group of Judges or perps and involves the Mega City 5000. This is an annual, illegal and deadly motorcycle race that causes carnage on the streets in Mega-City One. The race attracts many of the city’s outlaw motorcycle gangs as competitors. Every year, rival gangs gear up and plough through the streets in a festival of violence and speed, ultimately to prove which gang is the greatest. It is an event that strikes fear into the hearts of citizens and always stretches Judges’ resources to the limit. While the race violates innumerable laws, the havoc it creates also sets the stage for additional crimes of opportunity. Anyone wanting a diversion has one of the best possible while the attention of Justice Department is otherwise occupied. For a gang called the Scars, this is exactly the plan. Although the Scars will be entering the 5000 they have ulterior motives besides trying to win the race. They hope to bust out their former leader from the infamous prison, Devil’s Island. Needless to say, winning the Mega-City 5000 in the process will score the gang some major street cred to boot. Reputation is everything. If playing this scenario as a party of perps the Player Characters will be recruited by the Scars. They will be using the Mega-City 5000 as a diversion for the attempted prison break and free the Scar’s incarcerated founder, Max ‘Hobo’ Sanchez. A group of Judges will be part of the task force assigned to put down the Mega-City 5000 once and for all, amid rumblings that something else is going down. Sure enough, they will quickly find themselves dealing with a prison escape and a deadly high speed pursuit. What is the Mega-City 5000? The Mega-City 5000 is an illegal and deadly motorcycle race across multiple sectors of Mega-City One. The 5000 involves dozens of heavily armed gang members fighting their way across the route. While it is ultimately a race, not a war, there will be no shortage of violence as the gangs pull out all the stops to slow down, or eliminate, their opposition. What is Devils Island? Devil’s Island is a traffic island which doubles as a prison with its marooned inmates kept from escaping by the surrounding highways of traffic. There is an endless stream of computer controlled trucks that hurtle past at 200mph, trying to cross the roads to freedom is suicidal. The Judges have sent many notorious criminals to the Island, including the Judge killer Whitey. For Judges (the crime) The Judges will be summoned to Justice Central. Here the Grand Judge will explain there have been numerous reports of unusual gang activity in the last few hours. Of those involved the most notable are a number of the most prominent motorcycles ‘clubs’. These gangs have been seen mobilising on their soupedup bikes and heavily armed trucks. To the Grand Judge it feels like a show of force, a façade to frighten the other gangs and make an early statement of intent about what is to come. Since it has been over a year since the last MegaCity 5000 the Grand Judge knows this likely means only one thing, the next race is imminent. For the Judges the task is to cover the route of the race and put an end to it permanently by rounding up those involved. Judges will also be reminded that there is usually a spike of unrelated crime during the 5000. They are warned to remain vigilant for perps taking advantage of the chaos.