Introduction: As previously mentioned on this blog, after over 30 years experience of running adventures, I've taken my first tentative steps into the world of professional GMing! I've only been offering the service for a few weeks and since then there's been some exciting developments, namely that I am running Judge Dredd games for two groups now! With things getting up and running, I thought it might be a good time to share a little more about how things have been progressing and what my plans are for running the Judge Dredd roleplaying game!
Judge Dredd: Illustrated by Brian Bolland (c) Rebellion 2000AD
Discord Server: I host my games on Roll20 and use Discord for voice chat. One of my new players suggested that a general server be set up on Discord for Judge Dredd gaming, but it quickly became apparent that a server for all 2000AD related RPGs and Tabletop Games would be more desirable...so I've set one up! In the space of a day, we have grown to a community of 28 members, including at least one of the writers on the recent EN Publishing Judge Dredd RPG! Please join us to connect and share your thoughts with fellow 2000AD RPG and Gaming enthusiasts by clicking on this text!
Zero Sessions: For anyone unfamiliar, before embarking on an adventure or campaign, I run a free Zero Session which allows the players a chance to get to know who I am and introduce themselves to their fellow players as well as running through character creation. What was really interesting was that we were all of a similar vintage, all with similar backstories, namely that we grew up with 2000AD in the 80's but fell away from the prog in the 90's, rediscovering our love for 2000AD/Dredd to varying degrees later in life! Most importantly, every one of the players have been lovely to deal with, all as thrilled to hit the streets of Mega-City One as I am to take them there! It probably was never in doubt, but my experience is that 2000AD attracts a passionate and fun-loving community of great people!
Both groups opted to play the Games Workshop version of the game, something which was very pleasing to me as the GW version was the game that introduced me to the world of RPGing (which later led into wargaming as well). I had a wave of nostalgia revisiting the old books and Citi-Block maps, and remembered a lot about my teenage years growing up in the late 80's and early 90's!
One of the things that I really love about the system is that the stats and game mechanics are very clear: all stats are based on percentages which the players must equal or get less than when rolling a D100. Rolling up Judge characters is a pretty fast process, and this simple percentile system provides a clarity to players which few other systems I've ever played have. When running a game for a group of players who don't know me (or, for the most part, each other), this is a massive bonus as it means no one has to worry much about the system and can focus on the action and story, as well as interacting with the environment, nefarious NPCs - and each other!
Finally, it was in the first of these sessions that the time setting was decided (I was willing to set the game in any period covered in the 35 Case Files currently published). One of the players suggested that setting the game in a time post-Cal was a good idea because there were a few years of relative stability in Mega-City One during that time. It got me thinking and gave me a great idea - to start the game literally hours after Cal's demise! It isn't really explored in the comics at all (other than in the brief Cosmic Punks storyline), but there would have been absolute anarchy on MC-1's mean streets after the civilians narrowly escaped being wiped on Cal's "Death Day"! What better place to start? And so the "Order Out Of The Chaos" Campaign began to take shape in my mind...
Session One: The two groups are looking to play on different timescales, the first group on a monthly basis, while the second group has requested play on a weekly basis. I'm here to offer the service as often or infrequently as desired (scheduling permitting) so I'm delighted to be able to accommodate both groups in their preferred time slots! The group requesting weekly play have also indicated that they'd like me to deliver a campaign in the weeks running up to Christmas, something I'm incredibly excited about because it means that I can focus on delivering a more complex narrative. I'm certain that this will make it a deeper and more rewarding experience for all and I'm certainly excited to create the story and world for them to explore!
I won't be revealing many plot details here or in future posts because I don't want to spoil things for my players (or for future players who want to play the same campaign), but I will post a few items on this blog soon, relating to the campaign background, setting and some of the Sector House staff - so watch this space!
What I will say is that both sessions were a lot of fun! Thrown in at the deep end - though "it's all a deep end" - the Judges found themselves in the unusual position of the city's citizens having the upper hand. Before long, both their courage under fire and devotion to the law were both put under pressure and the teams were forced to figure themselves an escape route from a horrendous situation! What was very pleasing was that both teams identified and decided to pursue different methods of escape, something which is always pleasing as a GM when players have been provided with a block-sized sandbox to explore!
Another thing that delighted me were just how many laughs there were during the sessions. Totally engaged with the setting, everyone seemed to gel well together and shared a similar sense of humour (you have to have this to be a true Dredd aficionado, of course!). It made the sessions an absolute pleasure for me to run and it was satisfying that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, all expressing a commitment to play again and an excitement about the next session! Note: I offer a taste and try first session where you only pay for the session if you enjoy yourself and want to continue, so although I have confidence in my Game Mastering abilities, this was by no means a given!
We've had a few fumbles and a few huge successes in both games - in the first group, one Judge rolled 100 when about to throw a Stumm Grenade and almost took out the whole team! Fortunately, one of the Judges passed an Initiative test to snap down his respirator and haul his teammates to safety, but it was a close thing! When pulling up information from a block terminal, another Judge managed to hack into the system and take control of the cite-block, while another barked an order that had perps quivering in their boots and throwing their guns down (not everything ends in a gunfight)!
I've seen some criticisms of the GW system where some have said it delivers Judges who are lacklustre and barely capable of holding their own. It's true that it will take some time for the Judges' skills to rise to a level where they will be successful most of the time, but there was no problem at all in them holding their own! The teams worked well together in dealing with various threats and there was plenty of variety in terms of the famous Lawgiver ammunition used: General Purpose, High Explosive and Incendiary bullets were flying! If anything, I think I'm going to have my work cut out in delivering opposition which will sufficiently challenge the awesome firepower at the fingertips of the Judges - which is as it should be! I would be open to groups requesting their characters begin with higher stats, but it really is more interesting having characters who start off relatively weak (though not compared to typical citizens) and slowly become more proficient as their career progresses and hours on the street rack up!
The freedom to explore that I've built in to the first adventure is harder to offer longer term in a game like Judge Dredd as the investigative side of the game tends to favour railroading, with the perps leaving behind clues like pieces of cheese for the Judges to follow up on. That said, I've been formulating strategies and putting gaming materials in place to deal with the situation of the Judges deciding to pursue their own agenda and go exploring Sector One! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with them!
On this evidence though, I'm going to have a huge amount of joy devising and delivering interesting, engaging and varied adventures in Mega-City One! And for any other potential players out there, please don't hesitate to reach out if you want to ask anything at all about my service! You can either contact me on the Discord group, my Judge Dredd GM Collective group on Facebook, find me on twitter @thebissler or email me at thebissler@gmail.com - I look forward to hearing from you! As mentioned previously, watch out for more details on the Order Out Of The Chaos campaign coming soon on this blog!
Update: Since I originally posted this blog entry, two groups have asked me to run a Judge Dredd campaign for them! As a result, I can now offer to run this completely home-brew campaign for the cost of £10 per player for a 3 hour session.
Introduction: In 1987, I picked up a copy of 2000AD (Prog 510). I knew nothing about it, but was instantly hooked by this comic which took me to a variety of grim and violent futures! It wasn't long before I was buying Titan Book collections and attending signing sessions at comic shops across Glasgow! That 2000AD fandom has carried on throughout my life (as the numerous Strontium Dog Miniatures Game articles on this blog will evidence), as has my love for Judge Dredd and Mega-City One - and no wonder! It is an incredibly rich environment which can deliver a whole range of stories, comic to tragic, from the personal to the epic! As I embark on my own adventure of becoming a GM for hire, I'm looking forward to sharing that love for Mega-City One's mean streets with new players online! This post sets out some of the options to give prospective players an idea of what they can play and an idea of what to expect.
First of all, here's me chatting about this service, but please read on if you want to know more!
The System: I'm happy to run Judge Dredd using either the recent system by EN Publishing or Games Workshop's system. I feel that the GW system is slightly simpler and more intuitive, but I'd be delighted to to run either!
The Action: The action is centred in the Judges'/Perps' own patch in Sector One, but occasional visits to the Cursed Earth, other Mega-Cities and even space are possible! As you'd expect, Judges will have access to the Lawgiver and Lawmaster and other Justice Department backup (Sector House resources allowing). Judges should expect to have to deal with the lowliest of crimes such as littering and jaywalking, all the way up to mass-murder! The city is packed with bored, half-mad citizens who often distract themselves from the crushing tedium of life in Mega-City One with the latest crazies, or worse still, fall into a life of crime! Very much mirroring the strip which had a lot of Dredd tales that only ran for a few episodes, but then a number of notable mega-epics, players should expect some cases to be low-level affairs, dealing with petty criminals, but others will be far more epic in their sweep! While perp player characters will start with far fewer resources and will have to find ways to get their hands on powerful hardware, they will often find themselves at the centre of some of the epic catastrophes which have struck Mega-City One throughout the years! My central aim is to deliver the gritty tone of the Dredd 2012, but with more of the madness - and certainly the Mega-City One - of the comics, but this can be tweaked to best suit your group's needs.
My collection of Case Files! I also own the Judge Anderson and a few other Dredd books, including Origins and Day of Chaos
The Platform: Discord will be used for chat, text and images, while Roll20 will be the platform for maps and tokens to resolve combat. Note that there may be occasions where the action is resolved in the theatre of the mind, but, in general terms, I prefer to provide players with map environments in order that the action is clear and easy to understand. Music, including the Dredd 2012 soundtrack will be available to players to listen to along with other handpicked tracks from my music collection which have a similar electronic and/or guitar futuristic feel to compliment that soundtrack (can be switched off if desired).
Characters: Players have the option to play as Judges or perps. As Judges, they can be Street Judges, or take a more specialised career as Med, Tek or Psi Division*. Perps can literally be anything the player can imagine!
*Note: The Games Workshop made taking a specialist Judge difficult, but, so that specialising is easy if a player wants to go down one of those routes, I have a workaround for this to ensure players can take the type of Judge they want (assuming players would prefer to use that system over EN Publishing's system).
Game Options: Due to the heavy lifting that has to be done by a GM to run Judge Dredd - most notably in creating Perp Sheets that the Judges will almost certainly request from MAC - I am regrettably unable to offer JD at a Casual Play level. I'm excited at the prospect of creating an immersive Mega-City One experience, so this is a challenge I relish rather than fear!
Campaign Play: My Order Out Of The Chaos Campaign is fully written, realised and ready to run! Set in the immediate aftermath of Judge Cal's demise, the players take on the role of new Judges being flown into Sector One as backup - but quickly find themselves embroiled in utter chaos! With each session unfolding in real time in Mega-City One, the campaign follows the Judges' baptism of fire as they fight to bring furious citizens under control in a ferocious 21-30 hours* on the streets! Incorporating elements of action, investigation and humour, this is a campaign designed to provide a challenge to both the Judges' brawn and brains!
*Depending on many elements, the campaign is expected to take 7 - 10 sessions to run and therefore 21-30 hours in game time.
Please check out these videos for more information on the Order Out of Chaos Campaign and details of rates to book sessions follow below...
Campaign Trailer outlining the premise and introducing the Sector House staff...
And take a tour of your patch in Sector One...
Rates:
£10 per player to participate in a session. Service Charges are to provide a three hour session, and all associated preparation and writing, with charges on a per-player basis with groups consisting of a minimum of 3 players. Payment of a session via Paypal is required before the next session is played.
Taste & Try Guarantee: If players do not enjoy themselves in the first session and do not wish to continue playing, that session is free - otherwise, payment for the first and subsequent sessions is expected.
Immortalise Option: For an additional £2.50 per player on top of the chosen Tier pledge, a full write up of your session will feature on my blog along with a PDF copy for each player. See Green Vipers posts on this blog for examples of what you can expect.
Introduction: When I was taken to see the original Star Wars film in the cinema at the age of two, I was so amazed that I got out of the seat and toddled down to the front of the cinema where I sat completely entranced for two hours! Soon after, I had a collection of the Star Wars figures and a copy of John Williams' double LP score which I'd listen to as I played with my figures. And so a love of storytelling and science fiction began. Forty three years later, I still love visiting a galaxy far, far away as I run Star Wars adventures using West End Games' D6 system. As I embark on my own adventure of becoming a GM for hire, I'm looking forward to sharing that love with new players online. This post sets out some of the options to give prospective players an idea of what they can play and an idea of what to expect.
First of all, here's me chatting about this service, but please read on if you want to know more!
The iconic film poster where my love of all things Star Wars began. West End Games used the same image for the cover of the 1st edition of their roleplaying game.
The System: I'm using the Star Wars REUP system which is the fan version of 2nd Edition Star Wars by West End Games. The reason I love this system is that it is simple to learn, yet can offer crunch should the GM require it (though my preference to to keep things as simple as possible).
The Setting: The Star Wars galaxy. Expect to visit planets, some familiar, some less so from the Star Wars universe with extreme climates and full of exotic aliens and strange creatures! My preferred setting is the Galactic Civil War as this is the period that most of the published game materials are designed for.
Please note that, for the purposes of home-brew games, I only consider the films as cannon. I do use Wookieepedia as a tool for designing my universe so I do try to avoid anything which clashes with anything in the EU, but some dramatic licence may be used from time to time. Some published adventures may also have elements which have been altered since Disney jettisoned the EU (which West End Games began with their game and supplements).
The Action: This can range from personal one on one gunfights up to major battles! Star Wars routinely sees Player Characters wielding blasters and lightsabers, battling on foot or in walkers or speeders, and piloting fighters and freighters into battle - even occasionally involving capital sized ships - should be expected also!
The Platform: Discord will be used for voice chat and to add text/pictures while Roll20 will be used for maps and tokens. I own all of John Williams' scores for Episodes IV-VI as well as some select tracks from Episodes I-III and curate a playlist of tracks for each adventure to set the appropriate mood! Please have a look at my Green Vipers posts which show examples of "Music Cues", giving an idea of how I select tracks to best fit the mood of the adventure. Finally, every adventure (though not necessarily every session) will have an opening scroll which, in campaign mode, can be tailored to mention particular group members, their ships and settings. You can click on this text to view all of the existing examples of opening scrolls on my YouTube channel.
Characters: The Star Wars REUP system has 26 character templates, including the following:
Bounty Hunter Brash Pilot Gambler Minor Jedi* Smuggler Tongue-Tied Engineer
*Note: To keep play balanced, I don't recommend there being any more than one Jedi character in the party. Also, Jedi characters should expect to gain their powers extremely slowly, literally over a period of months, if not years. Becoming a Jedi is not a quick and easy path.
These are just a sample, and, if you don't like any of those in the REUP book, there are literally dozens of other options available from other supplements! In addition, if Campaign Play is desired, I will happily guide players through the process of designing a character from the ground up! The character YOU want is what will be delivered!
Game Options: I am delighted to offer Star Wars at all three tiers, meaning that prospective players can opt to play Casual, Campaign or Unique Campaign play. More on each follows:-
Casual Play: Casual play offers the running of classic adventures by West End Games. There are too many to list, but the following adventures are among those available to run:
Tatooine Manhunt Strike Force Shantipole Battle for the Golden Sun Starfall Scavenger Hunt Riders on the Maelstrom Crisis on Cloud City
Black Ice
If there is another adventure players would like me to run, please do not hesitate to contact me as I am able to run most, if not all of the adventures!
Campaign Play: The published adventures are "one shot" in nature, unconnected stories which are fun in their own right, but if you're looking for a deeper experience, then campaign play might be for you!
During "Session Zero" character creation, players will be encouraged to come up with backstories to provide me with potential storyline hooks to thread into the campaign. Once the sessions get underway, the team will be provided with a home base where they will meet a group of allies who will be recurring characters in the campaign. A PDF of this will also be provided. Recurring villains should also be expected, and the aim will be to provide a series of adventures which tell a bigger story. This does not mean that the one-shot adventures will not be used, but they will be incorporated into the tapestry of a wider tale. There are some adventures too which have been partially sketched out in some of the campaign packs that I will adapt and expand upon to fully realise for play. A good example of this is The Long Shot campaign which, with the exception of Trials of the Godking which already existed as a full adventure, has now been fully realised for play. Campaigns which are currently available for play are as follows:-
The Long Shot (from the Classic Campaigns supplement): Rebel Campaign
The Minos Cluster (from Galaxy Guide 6): Trader Campaign
Elrood Campaign (from Operation: Elrood and The Planets Collection): Rebel Campaign
The Darkstryder Campaign (from the starter set and all three supplements): New Republic Campaign
Note: The Minos Cluster and Elrood Sectors are adjacent, meaning that one campaign can easily flow into another.
Further details about any of the above can be provided for interested parties, please do not hesitate to enquire!
Unique Campaign Play: Unique campaign play means me writing a campaign for your team of players and that it will be designed with all of your needs and wants catered for! You want to play as Imperial Agents trying to infiltrate Rebels, no problem! Stormtroopers in the 501st, sent for missions across the galaxy, you got it! Or maybe a team of bounty hunters, pursuing the galaxy's most desperate and despised? If you can dream it, I can't see a problem accommodating it!
For the really adventurous, I do have a complete 50 episode campaign called Rise of the Rebellion which charts a Rebel group's exploits running from 5BBY to 0BBY (5 years before A New Hope right up until just before the events of Rogue One). The campaign has been fully play tested with a group of 7 regular players already.
Plot Armour: I am pleased to be able to offer Plot Armour to be set "on" or "off". This means that adventures can occur within the established timeline of the films, dovetailing, but not changing anything established in canon, or, alternatively, the characters can take on the likes of Jabba or even Vader and the Emperor in their own alternate version of the saga!
Rates:
Service Charges are for a three hour session, and all associated preparation and writing, with charges on a per-player basis with groups consisting of 6 players.
Tier One: Casual Play. £7.50 per session running pre-published adventures.
Tier Two: Campaign Play. £10 per session running a mixture of pre-published and home-brew adventures with play tailored to the specific characters in the group. An introductory post will be put up on this blog and players will be provided with a PDF of the same document.
Tier Three: Unique Campaign Play. £15 per session running home-brew adventures only, tailored to your group's needs and wants for the campaign.
Immortalise Option: For an additional £2.50 per player on top of the chosen Tier pledge, a full write up of your session will feature on my blog along with a PDF copy for each player. See Green Vipers posts on this blog for examples of what you can expect.
Rules: For anyone not familiar with the system, here's a few quick basics: all attributes and skills under the attributes have a dice code, e.g. 3D, 4D which simply indicates how many six sided dice the player rolls, the totals of which are added together when rolled. Some dice codes have +1 or +2 after them, e.g. 4D+2, which would mean that you roll 4 six sided dice, add them up and add 2 to the result. Note: Roll20 automatically tallies the dice rolls so you don't have to worry about the arithmetic!
When asked to make a skill or attribute roll, the GM will set a difficulty for it. If the roll equals or exceeds the difficulty, the character has passed the test, while, if it is lower, they fail. The difficulties are as follows:
Very Easy: 1-5, Easy: 6-10, Moderate: 11-15, Difficult: 16-20, Very Difficult 21-30, Heroic 31+
When rolling the dice for any skill check, you have a single "Fate" dice which adds extra excitement to proceedings: roll a 6 and the dice "explodes", allowing you to roll another dice to add to your result - if another 6 is rolled, the dice explodes again and will keep rolling until a player fails to roll a 6! A roll of a 1 means that you will either be asked to subtract the 1 and the highest result from the total or, alternatively, the GM will tell you that a complication has happened and something interesting and unexpected happens!
You gain Character Points at the end of an adventure and can spend these either to increase your skills or can use them in-game to boost rolls if desired. Force Points also allow players to double all of their skills for one turn!
If all of the above seems straightforward enough, you shouldn't have any problem entering a galaxy far, far away! Join me! With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy!
For those unfamiliar with this blog, my name is Gordon Bissell. I'm a Game Master, role-player and wargamer from Glasgow, Scotland, who has a particular interest in science fiction. I have 33 years experience of GMing roleplaying games, going back to 1987 when, at the age of 12, I discovered Games Workshop's Judge Dredd: The Roleplaying Game. A huge 2000AD fan, I was instantly hooked and a lifelong love of roleplaying ensued! As well as GW's Judge Dredd, I have run the following games: Star Wars (West End Games' D6 system), Cyberpunk 2020, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and EN Publishing's Judge Dredd game. On the other side of the GM screen, I've also played Star Wars D6, Paranoia, GURPs, AD&D, GW Judge Dredd, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Star Trek and, most recently, Alien.
I've always loved GMing and have run more home-brewed more games than pre-published adventures. I have run a Star Wars Campaign which was entirely written as a home-brew and designed for my group of players which ran for over 50 sessions - so I'm able to deliver a deeper gaming experience if players are looking for something more than just casual play! I like to encourage players to think about what their characters are up to in downtime in between adventures (some of the best adventures I've run have arisen out of such details), but, equally, I do not insist upon this; casual play is equally valid!
Available Games:
I am currently available to run West End Games' Star Wars D6, Judge Dredd (either by Games Workshop or EN Publishing, whichever is desired by the group) or Alien by Free League Publishing. More information about what I'm offering on each system follows further down this article. More expansive descriptions of what is available will follow on posts dedicated to each setting.
Sessions:
Sessions will be run on Roll20 for maps and tokens, with either Discord or Google Hangouts used for voice chat (whichever is preferred by the group). My preference is to use maps where possible, but there may be occasions where the action unfolds in the "theatre of the mind".
A session will last 3 hours and ideally will be run on a weeknight (Mon-Fri) 7pm - 10pm or 8pm - 11pm GMT. Weekends really would only be the only times where I could offer more flexibility on time-scheduling (which may be necessary if group members are playing in different parts of the world).
Group Size:
Games will be run for a group of 6 players. Costings (found further down this post) are based upon this being the number of players in any given session.
Zero Session:
To ensure that all players are comfortable, a Zero Session will be run with all prospective players, free of charge. During this session, all introductions will be made, character sheets created, and we will have discussions about expectations and try to nail down the specific experience everyone is looking for. It'll be my job to deliver the game everyone is looking for in Session One - and for as long as desired! If the group cannot reach a consensus, then there is no obligation to proceed any further. Assuming that everyone gets along well and is willing to play the game...
Session One:
With the groundwork having been completed in the Zero Session, Session one will jump straight into the action! Whether that action is in a galaxy far, far away, in Mega-City One, or even a space station in the outer rim in Alien, Session One will be a taster of what players can expect on a regular basis. If players do not enjoy the experience, they may drop out at this point, without charge, no harm, no foul. However, the fee is anticipated and very much welcomed for Session One players who do enjoy the experience and wish to continue playing!
Casual Play or Campaign Play:
Players can opt to request sessions on an ad hoc basis, when I will host as and when required (subject to availability). Such an arrangement will mean that only casual play - adventures which only last a few sessions - can be accommodated.
Alternatively, if players want to play a campaign, I can create a campaign which will run for a desired number of sessions which will be run on a schedule agreed by all players. To provide the immersive feel of a campaign, weekly play is recommended, but the scheduling will be determined by the group (subject to my own availability). In a campaign, players can expect to meet recurring NPCs, both allies who set them missions (such as a General on the Rebel Base or a Sector Chief and associated personnel in Judge Dredd) and enemies who will make their lives as difficult as possible! My campaign style is to run a series of individual adventures which weave together to tell a larger, hopefully epic, tale. I also like to delve into character backgrounds where possible to give some added depth to the adventures.
Whether in Casual or Campaign Play, there may be times when members have to miss or reschedule sessions due to life commitments which I will try to accommodate as much as possible, but if there is a player who is regularly finding it difficult to make sessions, then it is possible they may be asked to leave the group and allow another player to join. None of the above is set in stone however, I will be as flexible as I possibly can with a group's requirements - life does get in the way sometimes, it's to be expected!
More information on the differences between both will be further detailed in separate posts on this blog.
What You Can Expect From Me:
A friendly, approachable GM who always tries to accommodate players where at all possible. My priority is to ensure everyone is having fun around the virtual table! I am always open to feedback if there are areas where players think I can improve. I'm also open to adapting play to be more focussed on action or roleplaying if there is a feeling of there being too much emphasis on one and not enough of the other! I recommend reading some of the Green Vipers posts on this blog to get a sense of what type of game I run for Star Wars. I'd be aiming to strike a similar balance between roleplaying and action when running Judge Dredd or Alien.
Options:
Star Wars West End Games D6 System: Rebellion era, Rebel Forces (Tiers 1-3 available)
Judge Dredd EN Publishing / Games Workshop, whichever system preferred: 2099 onwards (Tiers 2-3 available)
Alien: Free League Publishing (Tier 3 only)
Services Charges are for a three hour session, based on a per-player basis with groups consisting of 6 players:
Tier One: Casual Play. £7.50 per session running pre-published adventures.
Tier Two: Campaign Play. £10 per session running a mixture of pre-published and home-brew adventures with play tailored to the specific characters in the group. An introductory post will be put up on this blog and players will be provided with a PDF of the same document.
Tier Three: Unique Campaign Play. £15 per session running home-brew adventures only, tailored to your group's needs and wants for the campaign.
Immortalise Option: For an additional £2.50 per player on top of the chosen Tier pledge, a full write up of your session will feature on my blog along with a PDF copy for each player. See Green Vipers posts on this blog for examples of what you can expect.
Settings: A brief synopsis of what is on offer for each system follows, but individual posts detailing more information about I can run for each system will follow in due course on this blog.
Star Wars: I have a whole host of adventures and campaign settings I can offer here! For casual play, I have all of West End Games published adventures and can run any requested! On the campaigns front, I can easily run the Long Shot Campaign as I've done so recently as recorded on this blog, but there's also the Darkstryder Campaign or the Minos Cluster Campaign. The first two are Rebel Campaigns, while the latter focusses on a group of traders/smugglers struggling to make their way in the galaxy. With the current popularity of The Mandalorian series, I'd be willing to go to work on a "scum" campaign, though this would be fall under the home-brew campaign category.
In terms of the setting, expect to encounter strange creatures and bizarre aliens, travel to far-flung corners of the galaxy, visiting iconic worlds with extreme climates - and getting to pilot all of the iconic ships you know and love! Oh, and the action can range from personal one on one gunfights up to major battles - just like the films!
I'm most comfortable running adventures set during the Galactic Civil War, but have run a campaign which covered the period 5BBY right up to the events featured in Rogue One. Please note that I only count the films as cannon, so there may be elements in the games which contradict events in Star Wars Rebels and other expanded universe media. There is an option also to switch plot armour on or off, depending if the PCs wish to dovetail with the events of the films or if they fancy changing the whole story and taking on Vader and the might of the Empire themselves!
Star Wara RPG Books
Judge Dredd: My love of Judge Dredd doesn't go back quite as far as my fandom of Star Wars, but,as mentioned in the introduction, I've been a fan for well over three decades! I can run any setting covered by The Complete Case Files, but I'm most familiar with the early years of Judge Dredd, from 2099 up to Necropolis.
Players will have the choice of playing Judges or Perps - or, for the ultimate experience, alternate between both, some weeks playing as Judges trying to take down the perps, others trying to build a criminal empire right under the Judges' noses!
If, playing as one faction or the other, most of the action will take place in Sector 1, but, as with the strip, the players can expect forays into the Cursed Earth and beyond! As with Star Wars, plot armour can be turned on or off - as Judges, the players can take Dread's place in some of his most famous adventures- or as perps try to kill him! In the case of playing both factions, the action will be set in different sectors (to avoid the players finding themselves in the strange situation of building a criminal empire with perp PCs that their Judge PCs are actively trying to tear down).
My collection of Complete Case Files (I do own more Dredd and Anderson books!)
Alien: Enter a dangerous, uncaring galaxy full of slimy, deadly creatures - and that's just the company that employs you! Whether you want to part of a team of frontier colonists, travel the galaxy as space truckers, join the colonial marines or help the company expand across the galaxy, I'm confident that I can create a campaign for you!
Testimonials: There are currently four testimonials that I have here, but please watch this space, I will add more soon!
Brian R.: Gordon is an exceptional GM, Not only is he well-versed in many systems, but his ability as a storyteller is outstanding. I have been a player in many of his games from Cyberpunk 2020 to Warhammer Fantasy Role-play. Each time he found creative and fun ways to keep his players interested and engaged. I have always greatly enjoyed participating in games run by Gordon and hope to do so again in the future.
Please see comments below for more testimonials from Robert M, Craig M and Tom W (aka One Man Banned).
The Long Shot campaign continues with The Battle of Lorimax, a scenario I've developed myself for my players' adventures in the Fakir Sector. I wish to acknowledge the input of Mr Nexx, Garhkal, Grimace, KageRyu, and Raven Redstar on the Rancor Pit - with a special acknowledgement to CR McNeill whose rules allowed me to run the sprawling space battle at the heart of this adventure. CR's rules have been published on this blog and are available here. Please also visit The Rancor Pit to join the excellent community there (unless you're one of my players, in which case stay away)!
As usual, I own none of the images, all of which with the exception of one were sourced from google images. The exception is an image of Green Squadron X-Wings which was created by Rendered Sci-Fi Art on Facebook - please give their page a like! Please note that this is an advert free, not for profit blog.
Captain Hannah
Blue Lightning's Triumph:
Music Cue: Rebels at Bay
Before touching down on Nowhere, Tala confronts Captain Hannah on board the Yindao. Her thoughts are very much on their recent mission on Callonia, and their infiltration of the Imperial Base there.
Tala: Do you think you could give us some warning next time you are going to set off thermal detonators? You could have killed us all!
Hannah: I did warn you! I told everyone to run!
Tala: Yeah, except that some of us were caught in the middle of a firefight with Stormtroopers!
Hannah: The mission required us to move with haste....but I'm sorry if my actions risked harm to any of you. It was not my intention...
Tala: Sure, just remember we're not expendable, that's all...
Tala leaves a dejected Hannah as Corr brings the Yindao out of hyperspace alongside Nowhere. As he does so, he sees a Tsukkian water tanker beside their ship. As he glides the Yindao into the hangar, he sees that there are a large number of old droids from the Clone Wars in the hangar bay - and that many of the Rebels on board are in a celebratory mood!
Tsukkian Water Tanker
Corr: Oh aye, somethin's afoot here! Don't hold yer breath for a heroes welcome!
As the team exit their freighter, they see members of Blue Lightning are at the centre of the excitement. Kaleban waves over a Rebel engineer and points to the commotion.
Droids in Nowhere's hangar (minus the guns and defeated droids)!
Kaleban: What's all this fuss about? What's going on?
Engineer: It's Blue Lightning! They found a decommissioned factory from the clone wars. The droids had just been switched off! At at the flick of a switch, suddenly they've got us a crew able to make Nowhere fully operational! They brought them here in that old Tsukkian water hauler! Thank the force for Blue Lightning, eh?
Blue Lightning (l to r): Janaos Sobari, Captain Uldrir Gonibar, Zuel Zeemor & Krenan Soulreaver
As their rivals are raised aloft for their successes, their engineer and X-Wing pilot, Janoas Sobari catches the Vipers looking his way. He casts them a very smug grin and makes a mocking salute.
Kaleban: I don't care if everyone else around here loves them, Blue Lightning's still a dumb name.
Corr: Aye, ah cannae stand that Blue Lightning bunch!
Tala: Watch it! That's my old team you're talking about!
Bots: Mine too.
Captain Hannah: All right, that's enough! Let's go and debrief the General.
Once the debriefing has ended, General Reekeene thanks the Green Vipers for their efforts, but she too seems excited by the arrival of the new droids. She hints at another important mission being planned, and instructs the team to work on their fighter-piloting skills. Bots declines to do so, while Hannah, interested in Nowhere's operations, requests he work with Mikka Reekeene on the Command Deck. Corr and Tala perform drills on the X-Wings, while Kaleban trains on a Y-Wing.
Mission Briefing:
Music Cue: Rebel Briefing
General Lens Reekeene calls her entire Roughnecks to the command deck. Also in attendance is her husband Mikka and her advisor Santhou.
Lens: Thanks to the efforts of our Green Vipers, we've learned that Moff Lorin, Fakir Sector's new replacement after we captured Dixton, has requested additional resources. It seems we've been ruffling a few too many feathers!
Santhou: The reinforcements consist of a Troop Transport and two Imperial Raiders. We understand that the Troop Transport is carrying over a hundred veteran Stormtroopers from the 501st, Vader's own.
Santhou
Lens: While that speaks volumes of our successes, were these reinforcements to reach their destinations across the sector, it would be bad news for our operations...
Santhou: ...but the intelligence we've gathered indicates that the convoy will be stopping off at Lorimax to dock with a refuelling vessel. The Imperials won't be expecting us. However, that Troop Transport and those Raiders are well armed. A fighter assault could expect to suffer significant losses...
Lens: Which is why we're going to be throwing everything we have at it. Thanks to Blue Lightning, Nowhere is fully operational and can join the attack. We need pilots for the X-Wings and Y-Wings. Every ship - that means fighters, freighters and pleasure boats alike - and every member of the Roughnecks needs to play their part.
Santhou: The strategy will be for Nowhere to close in on the Transport and Raiders and hit them with everything we've got - but each Raider has four TIEs each. The priority for X-Wings will be to keep those TIEs in check and cover our Y-Wings too. Y-Wing ion cannon will be key in knocking down the Transport and Raiders' shields. Both Y-Wings and X-Wings will be fully loaded with Proton Torpedoes. They will be more effective against unshielded targets, but use your own judgement as to when to launch these. Make sure that you're right on your target when you launch those missiles - the range is poor and they're difficult to use even at medium range. The nav computers on every ship have been programmed with the astrogation for both for the jump to Lorimax and the jump to the rendezvous point after the assault - so all ships can escape at any time if the heat gets unbearable.
Lens: That's right, so we get in there, take out that transport, and then jump out again. I want all Roughnecks to inform their Captains of what role they'll be playing and then for the Captains to liaise with Santhou in order that we can plan our attack. That convoy is already on its way to Lorimax and our hyperspace jump will take a few days, so we have to be rolling within three hours. That's tight, but doable - plus we can refine our plan during lightspeed. You don't need me to tell you how critical this mission is. Everything is on the line. But we have the advantage - and for once, superior firepower. Let's get to it! Captain Hannah, a word if I may?
As the briefing room empties, Hannah approaches the General.
Lens: You once Captained a Star Destroyer...
Hannah: Yes. I'm trying to make amends for the things I had to do on that ship.
Lens: Then there's never been a better opportunity. My husband Mikka, he may be Nowhere's Captain...but we've never been tested in battle. I know you took the opportunity recently to familiarise yourself with Nowhere's Command Bridge. And you have experience of capital ship engagements like this. There's no one better qualified to lead this mission.
Hannah: I'm flattered. The droids certainly would provide a more agreeable crew than my own...
Tala: You're going to entrust the entire operation to him?
Lens: You have something to say about Captain Hannah's leadership? Last I checked, there'd been no fatalities in the Green Vipers since he took charge. That's quite the turnaround for a team who'd had member dying with alarming regularity. Some of the more cynical members of our crew on Nowhere had even been taking bets on who would die next.
Tala falls silent under the General's withering gaze and Captain Hannah nods appreciatively.
Lens: That's settled then, please take the bridge...Captain Hannah.
The Vipers are reassigned to four-ship squadrons - Corr remains in Green Vipers with R3-FU as his personal astromech, but Tala is assigned to Purple Squadron and Kaleban to Gold Squadron.
Having little aptitude for space combat, Bots volunteers to coordinate the remaining Roughnecks on Nowhere to set up defences on the off-chance that any boarding parties touch down on their vessel. Identifying the main corridors (marked in red on the image below) that a boarding party might seek to exploit, Bots has six E-web guns set up (marked in yellow), with an emphasis on defending the hangar bay and the lengthy corridor which leads to the Command Bridge.
He positions himself by one of the E-Webs on the edge of the hangar bay, while the others make their way to their fighters to make pre-flight checks. Much to Captain Hannah's annoyance, C4-S0 stays on the bridge with him and his mistress, General Reekeene. To protect the fighters, Hannah wants them to stay in the hangar bay until he has sufficiently drained the troop transport's shields and left it open to attack!
Janaos Sobari, one of Blue Lightning's pilots, shouts across from his X-Wing.
Sobari: Just remember we're in this together, Vipers! I don't want to die out there because you didn't have my back! We all know that getting Rebels killed is what you're good at! If I don't come back, I expect questions to be asked of your actions during this engagement!
An alarm sounds as Nowhere makes the jump to hyperspace...
Arrival at Lorimax:
Music Cue: Into the Trap
As Nowhere drops out of hyperspace, it spots the Troop Transport and Imperial Raiders ahead of them - exactly where they should be. What they are unaware of however, is the presence of a nearby Star Destroyer - Moff Lorin's vessel, the Clenched Fist - and an Interdictor frigate!
Cut to:- the bridge of the Transport where an officer shouts to his Captain.
Assault Transport
Officer: Captain! Sensors picking up ships in sector 7! Readings suggest a Providence-class Dreadnaught and fighters moving to attack position!
Captain: Just as Moff Lorin had foreseen! Sound the alarm! Prepare for battle!
As Hannah orders the gunners to open fire, Nowhere's Ion Cannon and Quad Turbolasers hammer the Troop Transport and strip its shields! The Troop Transport and Raiders return fire, but their fire fails to inflict any damage on the Nowhere.
Nowhere arrives over Lorimax
Key: Green box shows Nowhere and its fighters. Each fighter represents a "flight" of four fighters. The Yindao also represents four freighters which have been tasked with keeping Nowhere safe from attack.
Red box shows the Clenched fist and beyond it the Interdictor. There are also groups of four TIEs and five single Lambda shuttles...
Finally, in the Blue box, are the Raiders, the Troop Transport, and more TIEs!
Cut to: fighters in Nowhere's hangar bay.
Hannah (over radio): All wings launch for battle!
The fighters blast off and spew out of Nowhere's hangar bay.
Gold Leader: All wings report in!
Tala: Purple Three standing by!
Kaleban: Gold Two standing by!
Corr: Green Five standing by!
Sobari: Pah! Never mind those Green Vipers - Blue One standing by!
Blue Leader: Cut the chatter Blue One! Lock s-foils to attack position!
Tala: Wait, off to the right, we've gotta Star Destroyer on Nowhere's tail!
Cut to:- Command Bridge. Captain Hannah rushes over to the sensors suite.
Hannah: Status report!
Crewman: Sir, our sensors are being overwhelmed with static! We're being jammed!
Hannah: How can they be jamming us if they don't know we're coming...
Crewman: ...picking up readings now, two Star Destroyers, one Imperial-class, one frigate - behind us!
General Reekeene: Abort the mission!
Hannah: We're already engaged with the troop transports! Finish them and go as planned! We only need to hold our nerve for a few more seconds, General, and we'll succeed in doing what we set out to achieve!
General Reekeene looks anxious, but nods in agreement.
Hannah: Fighters - proceed on mission! Gunners - hit 'em again!
Droids all over Nowhere fire their cannon.
New droids operating Nowhere's Cannon!
This time explosions tear across the Troop Transport's hull! It's severely damaged, but not gone yet! TIE fighters drop off from racks on the Raiders and swoop to intercept the X-Wing and Y-Wing squadrons, exchanging fire as they close in!
Tala: Purple squadron, ignore those TIEs - hit that transport!
Following Tala's lead, the squadron concentrate fire on the Troop Transport - and destroy it!
Tala
Corr: Whoa! That got 'em!
Cut to:- the bridge of the Clenched Fist. A Captain glances anxiously at Moff Lorin as the Troop Transport explodes ahead of them.
Captain Unsa: What are we waiting for? We must open fire!
Lorin: Calm yourself, Captain. Remember we lured them here to take them and their vessel. I want those shuttles to close on their target - once the 501st are on board, they're doomed.
Moff Lorin
The Imperial Raiders start laying down fire, but their shots fail to trouble Nowhere! They do trouble the X-Wings - but, despite getting a little cooked, the squadrons manage to survive their wrath!
An Imperial Raider fires at the X-Wing Squadrons
Cut to:- bridge of Nowhere. Captain Hannah calls upon all of his experience - and pulls off a tactical masterstroke! Both of Nowhere's front and side arcs catch the Imperial Raider and pound it with everything they have - destroying the frigate in the briefest of exchanges!
The Clenched Fist devastates the Raider
Hannah sneers with satisfaction at his triumph and nods to General Reekeene.
Hannah: Mission accomplished, General! Crew, get us out of here!
As the crew activate the hyperdrive, Nowhere shudders and the engines make a horrible sound!
Hannah: What the blazes? Sensor team - status report!
Crewman: Sir, I don't understand! It's as if we're caught in a gravity well!
Hannah: An Imperial Interdictor!
Lens: It's a trap!
Hannah: It's the smaller of the two Star Destroyers, it's laying down gravity wells to prevent our escape! We need to outrun it!
Music Cue: The Final Battle
Cut to:- X and Y-Wing fighters. Fire from the TIEs and the Raider lights up space around them!
Kaleban: The only way to escape is to take down that Interdictor! Nowhere'll never outrun it!
Corr: Captain Hannah, bring Nowhere around, we need cover tae take down that Interdictor!
Hannah (radio): Negative. I need to protect the lives of everyone on this ship. The best way to do that is to take Nowhere clear.
Corr: Yer abandonin' us! We'll be smoked like we were tae be the main course at a Barabel feast!
Sobari: I'm getting a reading on Lambda Shuttles closing on Nowhere! I'd bet that there's a boarding party on board - the 501st! All wings turn around and engage!
Corr: Negative! That Interdictor is our target! Follow my lead!
Sobari: Damn you Vipers! You don't care if anyone on the ship lives or dies! I'm taking out these shuttles!
The other wings agree with Corr's assessment and launch an attack run on the Interdictor, while Sobari engages the shuttles!
One of five shuttles headed for Nowhere!
Sobari's flight comes under heavy fire and two X-Wings are destroyed under a hail of supporting fire from the nearby Star Destroyer! They inflict damage on one of the shuttles, but Sobari's own fighter suffers serious damage too! He spins his ship around and returns to Nowhere's hangar bay for urgent repairs to his ship...
Meanwhile, as the other squadrons Rebels approach the Interdictor head on, Tala winces!
Tala: I don't like the idea of engaging one of these things head on! Feels like...suicide!
Corr: Don't worry, we're so small that we can easily evade their weapons!
Tala screams and pulls at her controls as a barrage of heavy fire tears through her flight, destroying one of the accompanying X-Wings!
Tala: You were saying?
Corr: Aye, well, they can get lucky too! Hit 'em wi' yer Proton Torpedoes, light 'em up!
The combined might of the X-Wings drop a payload of torpedoes on the Interdictor but the ship soaks up the attack with ease!
Corr: Ah cannae get through their shields!
Kaleban: Maybe I can help there! We're starting our attack run! Hit that Interdictor with Ion Cannon, Gold Squadron!
The Y-Wings pummel the Interdictor with their Ion Cannon and blow the ship's shields!
Kaleban: I've cleared the way! Hit 'em again!
Kaleban
Tala: I'm coming around again. Corr, are you with me?
Corr: With ye, and way ahead of ye, Tala!
Corr's wing has already spun around and is making another attack run!
Green Squadron launch their attack - image courtesy of Rendered Sci-Fi Art on Facebook.
As they pass over the Interdictor's bridge, they drop another salvo of Proton Torpedoes! The torpedoes slam through two gravity well projectors and tear up the surface of the hull! As the explosions intensify, Corr and his squadron desperately outrun the fireball and clear the hull as a climactic explosion tears the Interdictor apart in a spectacular explosion!
Interdictor incinerated!
Corr: Woo-hoo! All wings and Nowhere - we've just tanned that Interdictor! Hit yer hyperdrive an' ah'll see youse on the other side!
Corr Alden
As the Lambda shuttles approach Nowhere's hangar bay, it and all the fighters and frieghters engage their hyperdrives and make their escape!
On their return to Nowhere, the pilots emerge from their vessels to a hero's welcome. Hoisted on to the shoulders of other jubilant Rebels, the Green Vipers finally seem to have won around their fellow Roughnecks and they bask in the glory of their victory. Remembering Solari's earlier actions, Kaleban grins smugly and returns a mocking salute. Judging by the look on his face, Sobari's pride is even more badly damaged than his smoking X-Wing.
Once the celebrations die down, the Vipers are asked to report to General Reekeene on the Observation Deck.
Music Cue: A Princess Appears
Lens: Thank you all for your heroism in our battle today. However...it seems obvious that we dropped into a trap. That would mean that the Imperials fed us deliberate misinformation. The question is how?
Tala: Was it possibly JiBa? Is it possible he defected to the Empire?
Lens: While I don't doubt his ill intent, this doesn't seem like JiBa's style. If he's to have his revenge, I'd expect him to lead the attack against us, not get the Imperials to do his dirty work. Was there anything that went wrong on Iyuta on your mission to plant the listening device? Please search your minds, anything that was out of the ordinary, even the littlest detail.
Corr: The contact...Chilla, wasn't it? When we arrived on Iyuta, her bar had been burned down.
Lens: Burned down? Continue...
Corr: Aye, well... We went looking for her and found someone claiming to be her. I tried to be careful but Hannah just told her everything, that we were Rebels'n that...
Kaleban: Talk about throwing him under a sandcrawler...
Tala: Can you confirm if the person we spoke to was Chilla?
Lens: I will send agents to investigate, but was there anything else you can think of about that mission that was suspicious?
Corr: We did see what looked like a dead Rebel in the sewers...
Lens: Did you check the body for I.D.?
Corr: Naw, there was a one-eyed tentacled beast thing in the water. We had tae get oot of there!
Music Cue: Finale (Empire Strikes Back)
Lens: ...I think it's fair to say that the body may have belonged to Chilla and that the person you met was an Imperial agent. I suspect she sent you to plant the bugging device to feed us with misinformation to draw us out, and destroy our cell in one fell swoop. We're fortunate to still be alive. This will not be discussed outside this room - but your failure at Iyuta could have been the end of us all. You Vipers can't afford to keep making mistakes. Every life lost brings the Empire's final victory ever-closer. We need to assume that the 501st were on those shuttles. That means we can expect to run into them in our operations across the Sector. To everyone else on this ship, this will be celebrated as a famous victory...but don't get carried away with your newfound celebrity. We all know the truth. Dismissed.
Closing Reflections:
The Tsukkian Water Freighter shown at the start of this episode is a nod to the original campaign setting as outlined in "Classic Adventures" module. That ship was called "Home" and was where the Roughnecks operated from. I rejected it for two reasons: I didn't particularly like its design, but, more importantly, I wanted a ship that could have some fighting capabilities so that I could run an adventure along the lines of this one at some stage. I thought a relic from the Clone Wars - a ship like General Grevious' Invisible Hand - fit the bill perfectly.
I couldn't remark on it here at the time, but obviously Episode VII: The Plant was a mission the team failed. I felt bad about taking the good out of what they'd done, but the truth of the matter was that this wouldn't have happened had they realised the problem during The Plant mission. They'd been Conned by the Imperial Agent (I got them to make Perception rolls at the start of the session) posing as Chilla and planted their device with the Empire's full knowledge. Had they fished the body out of the sewer, they would indeed have discovered that it was Agent Chilla. Once he knew the device was in place, Moff Lorin deliberately planned to trap the Rebels and capture them with the boarding party. I did take some satisfaction from the realisation afterwards that Lens' exchange with the team shared similarities with Leia's conversation with Poe in the destroying of a Dreadnaught ship at the beginning of The Last Jedi.
Despite the failure and General Reekeene's final remarks, the team did well here! Nowhere is a powerful ship, but I hadn't quite realised just how easily it could deal damage to the smaller frigates! I asked the players what they thought about the Capital Ship Rules and they said they enjoyed the battle - and that they'd be pleased to be involved in another one again!
There's no doubt that the team got lucky with the Y-Wings blowing the Interdictor's shields and that, as a consequence, the Proton Torpedoes were able to finish the job. I'd allowed the players to spend Character Points to add to damage, but, in retrospect, I don't think I'd allow that again. We'd already banned it at character level, but I did want a certain amount of lethality in the combat for this encounter, so allowed it on this one occasion. While I don't regret it being used in this adventure - as it provided an excellent climax - I do think, in general, that it's too powerful a mechanic to throw into the mix.
Special thanks to CR McNeill for all of his help with these rules which, when we collaborated together, were designed with this one adventure in mind! I look forward to putting them to use again at some point in the future!
