Some Judge Dread psionic questions and comments

[Voneth]

I took a peek at the one of two Judge Dread books in my game store and looked at the psionic rules, which seem to be an interesting take on the DND psionics. Here are some of my comments.

Good:
No "Manifestations" of powers such as ringing bells and lights (yeah!)

Everything is based on Cha (No need to have a psion either specialized into a one trick pony [theoreticly -- I'll get back to this] or needing crazy stats to provide a more well rounded set of powers)

Level O power, Mental Sting does 1d6 damage (Wow! I
wonder if that will be errataed into subdual damage. A stamaina save negates this and in JD, save are through the roof! So it might be balanced for that particular game.) Otherwise this power will be great for denting hordes of cannon fodder in later levels

Most JD powers have a sf flavor and names (It may sound lame, but honestly this might go a long way from the "magionics" feel of current DND.)

Could probably use DND psionic hand book for additonal powers. (and until the Rookies Guide for psionic comes out it one may have to use the PsiHB! See the Bad section.)

Bonus feats slots are offered in the place of psionic combat feats, which don't exist (I assume and *small happy dance*)

Bad:
A little tweaking is needed to trasfer over the clases A psi judge starts with d8 hit points, fighter BAB and crazy saves. A rouge psiker has d6 hit points and clerical BAB. (To utilized the JD varient in other more traditional games, a class with weaker saves and lower hit points will make GMs feel comfortable, but I could live with the "clerical" psion.)

They only supply enough powers in the basic JD that one could play up to 20 level with no additonal choices i.e. the book offers 7 Level0 and one Level 9 powers. So one could barely play 20th level judge but with none of the vaulted flexibilty promised in with these varient rules. The game desiger givieth and he taketh away.

Good and Bad?
The psi power progressin is as per DND psionics but missing the "+d" So the JD psion gets one less power per level, but then agian, they now have a lot more flexiblity if one adds in house rule that all psionic powers can be utiltized as Cha based.

So my questions are:

Is Mental Sting to be errataed?

Will the Rookie Guide reintroduce dependency on other attributes or keep things more flexible.

Tell me the psionic rules were playtested! (dumb question I am sure) They seem cool, but without the Rookies Guide out yet and the loss of a power per level, this kind of leaves it in the air if the assumed flexiblity, improved saves, hit points and new powers make up for it.

I really didn't have an opportunity to check, but does JD psi powers stick to the power point cost in DND, or was it tweaked on a case by case basis for the new powers?

And how come all the reviews glossed over the psionic rules in their reviews grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

Hi there,

A lot of questions and points! I'll start at the top;

1. Ringing bells and lights were the first things to get axed

2. In the Rookie's Guide to Psi-Talent, you can indeed specialise in certain areas (Dimensional, Pre-Cog, Pyrokine, Telekine and Telepathy) and while you need different stats to actually gain the specailisation (high Wis for Pre-Cog, for example), the entire system is still Cha based and remains flexible. Oh, and if you are a specialist, you get the +1 power, as the Psion.

3. No, we dropped psionic combat, for two reasons. Firstly, as the SRD stands, we would have had to make players use the Psionics Handbook, and we wanted a stand alone system. Second, it just didn't 'feel' right - you can get much the same effect with powers, and without the additional complication. And, In Dredd, that works.

4. Psi-Judges vs. Citizen Psykers - No, they are not balanced. They are not intended to be. Don't mix the classes in the same player group unless you have some really good roleplayers, as Judges are powerful. As for the ability to port such characters to other games, well, that is not our primary concern with this game - we want our judges to _feel_ like judges!

5. Power Selection - you are right, things are limited in the main rulebook. However, you have enough material to take a psyker up to 20th level which, really, is all the rulebook needs to do. If you want to expand things out further, take a look at The Rookie's Guide to Psi-Talent. It has over 100 new powers, as well as feats, equipment and prestige classes.

6. Mental Sting will not be errated at this time. My only mild concern with it is in a Citizen campaign, but it is very quickly over shadowed by mundane weaponry. And citizens need all the help they can get. . .

7. Heh Yes, the entire set of Judge Dredd RPG rules were playtested, including psionics - this was our most heavily playtested product by far.

8. A lot of tweaking goes on, not just in terms of power points and levels, but also in effects, to better suit the Dredd universe. However, the powers in the rulebook are just to get you started - there is a whole slew of new material (straight from the comic strips!) in the forthcoming Rookie's Guide!

Hope that helps,

 

[NemesisPress]

"errated"?

 

[Ranger REG]

I'm having trouble digesting and understanding your reason statement #3. I mean if you have a different approach to psionics then please offer us a different system.

 

[Voneth]

The system is a varient of DND psionics. But I think what he what he meant to say is that the psi combat subsystem didn't fit the comic book. But the use of fligning the JD psionic powers was accuarate.

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

I'm having trouble digesting and understanding your reason statement #3. I mean if you have a different approach to psionics then please offer us a different system.

We just found them an unnecessary complication within Judge Dredd - you can get far more flexibility with powers alone (though you will really have to flick through the rulebook to get what we have done).

 

[Voneth]

Hi there,

As for the ability to port such characters to other games, well, that is not our primary concern with this game - we want our judges to _feel_ like judges!

As it should be!

getting to use your varient rules in other d20 games would be icing on the cake.