Strontium Dog - PDFCOFFEE.COM (2024)

LANGWORTHY, PEARCE, WHITE FOR USE WITH

& The Worlds of 2000 AD

Writing: Darren W. Pearce, Marc Langworthy, John White System Design: Russ Morrissey | Line Manager: Marc Langworthy Editing: Marc Langworthy, Russ Morrissey | Layout and Graphic Design: Andrew O’Hara Publishing Administrator: Jessica Hanco*ck The Judas Operation by Gareth Hanrahan Special Thanks: Steve Green, Gav Thorpe Playtesters: Ben Rogers 2000 AD® is a registered trademark © 2020 Rebellion 2000AD Ltd.. All rights reserved. All imagery and characters © 2020 Rebellion 2000 AD Ltd. Artwork used with permission of the copyright holder. www.2000AD.com The game contains no Open Game Content. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom and of the United States. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organisations, places or events is purely coincidental Published by EN Publishing under license by Rebellion EN Publishing, PO Box 1858, SOUTHAMPTON, SO18 6RX Printed by “Standartu spaustuve” www.standart.lt Vilnius, Lithuania. Version 1.2 ISBN: 978-1-912007-60-8

SKU: ENP2101

CONTENTS // FOREWORD......................................................4 // CH/1: A DOG EAT DOG WORLD.............................. 6

/ CREATING AN S/D AGENT............................................................................................... 8 / MUTATION TABLES............................................................................................................10 / CAREERS IN STRONTIUM DOG.................................................................................... 20 / CIVILIAN & OUTLAW CAREERS............................................................................. 22 / MUTANT CAREERS..................................................................................................... 33 / S/D AGENT ORIGINS AND CAREERS................................................................... 35

// CH/2: GET YOUR GEAR ON!................................. 42 / / / / / / /

A DOG’S WAGE................................................................................................................ 42 EQUIPMENT FOR AN S/D AGENT............................................................................... 43 MELEE WEAPONS / RANGED WEAPONS............................................................... 44 BOMBS, DEVICES AND GRENADES........................................................................... 48 GEAR......................................................................................................................................51 ARMOUR / SHIELDS ...................................................................................................... 53 VEHICLES ......................................................................................................................... 54

/ / / / /

WELCOME TO THE 22ND CENTURY........................................................................ 55 PORTRAIT OF A MUTANT’S WORLD.......................................................................... 57 TRAVEL IN THE 22ND CENTURY.............................................................................. 60 22ND CENTURY PLACES TO GO.................................................................................61 THE THRILL OF THE HUNT ........................................................................................ 64

// CH/3: SETTING THE TONE...................................55

// CH/4: ALPHA’S WORLD...................................... 69

/ STRONTIUM DOG THROUGH THE AGES / TIMELINE............................................ 69 / THE GALACTIC GAZETTEER PART 1: KNOWN WORLDS & LOCATIONS ..... 72 / THE GALACTIC GAZETTEER PART 2: EN WORLDS ............................................81

// CH/5: BOUNTY CONTRACTS................................88 / / / / / / /

BOUNTY HUNT 01: CARELESS WISPA’S................................................................. 88 BOUNTY HUNT 02: TAKE ME OUT IN PARADISE CITY....................................... 93 BOUNTY HUNT 03: THE TASTY OPTION................................................................. 98 BOUNTY HUNT 04: NIGHT OF THE PREYING ZORG..........................................103 BOUNTY HUNT 05: THE MALEFICENT SEVEN....................................................109 BOUNTY HUNT 06: BOUNTY DOGS 2180 ............................................................. 115 BONUS BOUNTY BOARD:THE JUDAS OPERATION .............................................123

/ / / / / / / /

S/D AGENTS.....................................................................................................................125 ROGUE AGENTS AND BOUNTY HUNTERS..............................................................134 CRIMINALS / OUTLAWS................................................................................................. 141 GENERIC OUTLAWS .....................................................................................................148 MUTANTS AND NORMS ................................................................................................. 151 ALIENS AND ROBOTS ..................................................................................................156 THE SUPERNATURAL ...................................................................................................164 COMBATANTS FROM OTHER ERAS...........................................................................166

// CH/6: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE ALIEN.......... 124

// INDEX......................................................... 168 // CHARACTER SHEET......................................... 172

FOREWORD STRONTIUM DOG: JUDGE DREDD & THE WORLDS OF 2000 AD I have some pretty big shoes to fill, because I have to do justice to a long-running quirky, bizarre, and totally amazing comic strip first created in 1978 for the long-cancelled Starlord comic. I’m talking, of course, about Strontium Dog, crafted by the writing talent of John Wagner (writing as T. B. Grover) and the mighty, muchmissed art pen of Carlos Ezquerra. I say pretty ‘big’ shoes, because now I get the chance to create a plug-in RPG supplement that lets you play as Johnny Alpha and his Strontium Dog bounty hunting mutant companions like Durham Red and Middenface McNulty. Strontium Dog transferred to 2000 AD in 1980, where Wagner was joined by Alan Grant, as co-writer. Grant was responsible for the strip’s solo run from 1988 to 1990. When Carlos sadly passed away in October 2018, the title was put on hiatus indefinitely. I lived through this, including Starlord going the way of the DoDo and 2000 AD picking up the strip instead. If you don’t know anything about Strontium Dog, this is going to be a good point to jump in. We look at Alpha’s early career, all the strange worlds that you might visit, and much more in this book. You’re also going to be able to team up with Johnny, Wulf and the Gronk to forge your own career as a mutant bounty hunter, bringing down the worst that the Galaxy (and other dimensions) has to offer. In his career, Johnny has gone back in time to arrest Adolf Hitler in 1945, entered a dimension similar to Hell, seen the Great Nuclear War of 2150 and so much more. You’re also going to learn about the HQ of the Strontium Dogs, the Doghouse, and we even visit Earth and New Britain. Want weapons? I’ve got you covered there. How about the electrically charged knuckle-dusters known as Electro-Nux? Or you can pick up a Variable-cartridge blaster and shoot some mutant bad guys in the faces. All this and more await you in the pages of one of the strangest rides you’re going to encounter. Don’t forget, since this isn’t a stand-alone supplement, you’ll need our Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD Rulebook to play. So what are you waiting for Agent? Get ready to jump back, forward, sideways, up and down in time and prepare to bring in the likes of Bad Rhyss Jotun and Nagler Fromage. The Doghouse needs you!

Darren W. Pearce

CH/1: A DOG EAT DOG WORLD Strontium Dog thrusts the players into the murky world of the Search/Destroy (S/D) Agency, relentless bounty hunters often affectionately known as Strontium Dogs. Operating from the massive orbital space station known as the Doghouse, S/D Agents have access to unique equipment and weaponry, which is just as well because their missions can often take them across space, time and even other dimensions. Almost every S/D Agent is a mutant. Even their nickname, Strontium Dog, attests to this fact. Much like the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD Rulebook, however, there are also options to play as a normal human (norm) or even a robot. While there’s a lot of anti-mutant sentiment from a great percentage of the population in the time line of renowned S/D Agent Johnny Alpha, there’s also plenty of support and there’s always room for human characters in these stories. Alpha’s bestknown sidekick is the huge norm, Wulf Sternhammer. Grab yourself a variable-cartridge blaster and prepare for an over-the-top spaghetti western sci-fi adventure. Welcome to the S/D Agents. And remember. Trust no-one!

THE RISE OF THE S/D AGENTS

Unless they choose to play another species, most players will play a mutant. It’s important to note that not all mutants are created equally. The Great Nuclear War that wiped out seventy percent of Britain’s population also bathed the island in nuclear fallout. Many mutants in Johnny Alpha’s time line were affected by the element know as Strontium-90 while still in the womb. This fallout led to an incredible increase in mutant births and many of the new mutants were born with deformities, and lacked any kind of special ability. As time passed humans grew increasingly wary of mutants and passed laws that forbade mutants from owing businesses. Massive ghettos were eventually created, including a huge one at Milton Keynes, to house the ever-growing mutant population. Mutants became an easy target as population numbers once again began to rise, leading to even deeper separation between mutant and norms.

JOHNNY ALPHA AND TIME TANGLES Johnny Alpha’s story first began in the long defunct Starlord comic before continuing in the pages of 2000 AD. Titled Strontium Dog, the series follows the legendary mutant bounty hunter, Johnny Alpha, as he blazes a trail across the galaxy, alternate dimensions and even distant timelines. Alpha is a mind-reading mutant whose eyes allow him to see through walls; innate powers that have frequently saved his life. Often drawn and scripted in a style that harkens to spaghetti westerns, Johnny’s gun-toting antics have been a regular feature in 2000 AD for many years. As with any zany, thrill-packed rides that involve time travel, however, a few discrepancies managed to creep in. Several events that take place, including the first Strontium Dog story in 2180, are hard to make sense of chronologically. The Final Solution, the death of Johnny Alpha and the destruction of the Doghouse mix things up even more. As a roleplaying supplement designed to kickstart galaxy-spanning adventures, this book keeps to a timeline set in 2180 where specific events haven’t happened yet. They can still take place if your GM really desires it, but this book will only touch upon them lightly, if at all. The comic storyline involved time travel and dimension hopping, which even included several meetings with Joe Dredd, so this supplement draws on those premises as inspiration to keep Alpha alive. After all, you can’t really be an S/D Agent without the Doghouse in 2180. Time to hunt down the scum of the galaxy!

Alpha Speaks Listen, it’s dangerous out there in the galaxy, which includes Earth and a hundred other worlds. You’re going to need an edge, but you don’t have to have one if you really have your heart set on being one of those mutants who’re not gifted like me. My powers are useful, yeah, but you might just want to play one of the mutants who just has an extra set of arms on the side of their head, or three eyes, or lumps like my pal Middenface — whatever you want, you’re the hero, go do it.

This all led to a massive Mutant Army uprising in 2167. The mutants lost, and in 2180 there’s only really one job left for them to do. The job the players have signed up for—a highly dangerous and often short career as a Search/Destroy Agent, otherwise known as a ‘Strontium Dog’.

WHO ARE THE S/D AGENTS?

You are a bounty hunter who works for the Doghouse. A rough, tough, no-nonsense enforcer who travels to other planets on the trail of the worst mutants and criminals that the galaxy has to offer, which even includes other dimensions and timelines! If all goes well, which it rarely does, you’ll be able to make some money before someone blows your head off with a variable-cartridge blaster. The likes of Johnny Alpha and his crew are legends you might seek to emulate, aspire to be better than; or maybe you just plain resent him, since he’s the best your organisation has to offer. Love or hate him, though, he gets the job done and you have to admire that. In Strontium Dog you’ll take on the role of an S/D Agent who is a mutant, human or something else. If you choose the former, you’ll be blessed with a mutant ability just like Johnny. After all, you’re a Player Character and, just like the stars of the comics, you need to be one of a kind and a bad-ass. Maybe you can turn invisible, or you need to drink blood to heal, maybe you can vibrate things apart with your voice. Whatever the case, you’ll get a gun, a lovely S/D badge and a license to find and capture (or kill) the scum of time and space.

Oh, and if you really want to play a Gronk, sure, you can do that. Just don’t expect me to babysit you when you get scared easily and suffer one of your trademarked heart attacks! So now you know, you’re ready to jump head first into the fray. Grab your copy of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD and use the chapter that follows to create your very first Search/Destroy Agent!

CHAPTER 1 PAGE REFERENCES » Creating an S/D Character 8 » Species 8 » Manifestation Table 10 » Corporeal Mutations 10-12 » Metabolic/Metaphysical Mutations 13-15 » Cosmetic Mutations 16-18 » Careers by Robot Type 19 » Civilian and Outlaw Origins 21-22 » Civilian and Outlaw Careers 22-33 » Mutant Careers 33-34 » S/D Agent Origins 35-36 » Rookie S/D Agent Career 37-38 » S/D Agent Careers 38-40 » Veteran S/D Agent 40-41

CREATING AN S/D CHARACTER

Players in Strontium Dog take on the role of a character who is an S/D Agent, the ragtag bounty hunters who tour the galaxy to close contracts on criminals, or as a lawbreaker trying to stay one step ahead of those trying to close out the bounty on their head. With several career paths on offer as a Stront, a player begins as a Rookie Agent, then moves on to becoming a fullfledged S/D Agent before finally becoming a Veteran. Though this chapter minimises the need to flick between books, you will need to refer to the Judge Dredd & the World of 2000 AD Rulebook at some points to finish creating your character, so grab some paper, a character sheet and a pencil, and get ready to travel the galaxy.

CHARACTER CREATION STEPS In terms of the character creation walkthrough on p. 18 of the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD Rulebook, this sourcebook will take characters through step 2 (choose a species), step 4 (choose five careers) and step 9 (equip your character). Follow the character creation process as normal, referring to Strontium Dog for the steps mentioned here.

Other Careers Some groups may prefer to play criminals or official law enforcement roles—both of which could lead to them directly supporting or contending with S/D Agents. While much of this book focusses on the gun-slinging adventures of the Strontium Dogs, plenty of opportunity is also provided to approach a campaign from an alternative perspective.

SPECIES

Choose a species to play. If you plan to be an S/D Agent, that will most often mean mutant, although you could play a human or even a Gronk if you really wanted to. Drawn directly from the comics, a few other races are also included.

// GRONK You’re a timid little metal-eating alien who hails from the Gallego system, from a planet known as Blas. You’re usually great at doing medical things, and while you get scared at the drop of a hat, and suffer from potential heart-attacks due to your ‘poor heartsies’ you’re a scrappy little creature who provides much needed support in the squad. Again, there’s only really one Gronk in Strontium Dog who joins Johnny for most of the time – so ask the GM about playing one and how many they’re willing to allow.

» Size: Small » Attributes: +1 AGI, +2 LOG, -1 WIL » Skill Choices: Any. EXPLOITS » Intrepid Gronk. You are fearless - in comparison to other Gronks at least - and are considered something of a legend amongst your kind. Gain +1d6 to social checks with other Gronks. At any time, you can spend a LUC die to ignore the effects of Poor Heartsies for the remainder of the scene. » Medic Mr. Wulfsies. Exceptionally good medics, Gronks have a natural aptitude for medical skills and techniques. Gain the biology, genetics, and medicine skills at one rank (this does not increase a skill above one rank). You can also use basic medical equipment to restore 2d6 points of HEALTH to any adjacent creature as a single action outside of combat. A given creature can only benefit from this healing once in a 24 hour period. » Poor Heartsies: Gronks are anxious creatures who scare at a moment’s notice. Make a Difficult [16] WIL check when in distressing or tense situations. Failure automatically applies the Afraid condition to your character. » What’s Wrooong? Gronks are great at working out what is ailing someone. You gain a +1d6 bonus to any checks made when using a medical scanner or any checks to identify and treat diseases. If you succeed at a Difficult [16] LOG check on a patient, you discover a new form of treatment and can apply a further +1d6 bonus when treating it. This stacks with any other bonuses you gain.

// HOWLER The Howlers are a race of aliens hailing from the planet Kunghung. Naturally aggressive, Howlers often tend towards banditry to get what they want, although some do also turn to bounty hunting as a means to survive. Their features are distinctively baboon-like, complete with shaggy mane, angular sloping face and sharp canine teeth. » Size: Medium » Attributes: +1 STR, +1 AGI, +1 END, -1 INT, +1 WIL » Skill Choices: acrobatics, bite fighting, brawling, climbing, fortitude, perception, thievery EXPLOITS » Great Leap. Howlers gain +5’ to both horizontal and vertical jump distances, and are able to use their full jump distances from a standing start. » Natural Aggression. Howlers gain one bonus [combat] skill. » Thick Fur. A thick mane and fur mean that Howlers are immune to cold-based environmental effects and gain natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

// HUMAN A large majority of those living in the cities and colonies of the galaxy are humans. They can be found in all walks of life. There is a fair amount of intolerance towards mutants from those living on Earth, resulting in segregated communities and plenty of mistrust. Communities on other planets tend to intermingle much more freely, although there is still a fair amount of misunderstanding between mutants and norms. Humans are a rarity within the Search/Destroy Agency, so the GM should consider limiting their number in a group of Strontium Dogs. As a player, make sure to discuss this with your GM beforehand. Apart from that, you’re a regular human in a very dangerous galaxy. » Size: Medium » Attributes: LUC +2, +2 to any one other attribute and +1 to a third attribute » Skill choices: Any. EXPLOITS » Varied. Humans boast more variation within their species than most. Add 2 to any attribute, and add a further +1 to one other attribute (noted above). » Learners. Gain one additional free Universal Exploit. » Enduring. Humans may not be the fastest or the strongest, but they are known for their resilience. Humans get +1 to their 1d6 die roll to shake off a temporary condition.

MUTANTS EVERYWHERE Rules for mutants appear within both the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD rulebook and the Cursed Earth supplement. In particular, there are a number of mutant species listed within the latter that would serve as an excellent choice for a fixed type of mutant. Although there are a few tweaks and twists, some of the information in the mutation tables repeats mechanics from the other two books. This is by design. Rather than send players to multiple sources, it is our intent to offer as full a character creation process as possible from within this one book. Despite offering variations on a theme, any of the mutation tables from the sourcebooks can be used with the GM’s permission. After all, it is your game to enjoy.

// MUTANT Mutants are a varied group of people who have suffered genetic abnormalities. A number of nuclear wars over recent centuries have led to a rise in mutations, but the most recent, the Great Nuclear War of 2150, devastated the population of Great Britain and released huge amounts of Strontium-90 into the atmosphere. The fallout from the war seeped into soil and human beings alike. The end result is that there are people born with genetic abnormalities, extra appendages, a dependency on blood or numerous other mutations. Mutants on Earth lead a harsh life. They’re often separated into underprivileged communities and are treated as secondclass citizens at best. Although extremely dangerous, life as an S/D Agent is a blessed release from the harsh existence on humanity’s home and other dangerous planets. Although life can still be harsh away from Earth, mutants are able to take control of their own destiny a lot more. Most are law-abiding citizens, some become S/D Agents, but more than a few turn to crime; groups of mutant marauders are a real menace to peaceful folk trying to live out their existence in the oft-harsh climes of the galaxy’s inhabitable planets. » Size: Medium (unless a mutation indicates otherwise). » Attributes: END +2, WIL +2, REP +1 » Skill choices: bluffing, disguise, running, stealth

EXPLOITS » Radiation resistance. You are immune to radiation damage. » Mutation. You’re one of the few mutants who lucked out. You have an edge compared to your friend, who was graced with a third eye poking out of his left elbow. You have ended up with superpower. Not only is that cool, it has also marked you as a perfect candidate for the Doghouse or a kingpin amongst criminals. Roll on the Manifestation Table, below, and then again on the resultant Mutation Table to determine the twist in your genetics. S/D Agent mutants don’t spend their lives in ghettos like Milton Keynes. They also don’t suffer at the at the hands of mutant hunter squads. They live fun times in the Doghouse with all the other “muties” and enjoy the perks of being an S/D Agent. They still have to deal with the ugly aspect of human attitudes towards mutation, but not the dangers of being locked away until a new sun is born in the galaxy. Those who prefer to make their own fortune on other people’s misery become rogues. They are often the ones hunted down by S/D Agents for pay. Although most of this book is all about being a Bounty Hunters and having time/ dimension-hopping adventures, you can certainly try your own hand at staying one step ahead of the Stronts. The following table can be used to randomly generate mutations. Roll 1d6 and consult the Manifestation Table, then roll d66 on the indicated sub-table – roll two six-sided dice and read them off as “tens” and “ones”. For example, if you roll a 4 and 1, you have rolled 41. This gives 108 possible results across all of three tables. Mutations marked with an asterisk (*) are cosmetic and have little or no game effect. If you roll a cosmetic mutation, you may roll a second time on the Manifestation Table. You must keep both mutations. If you roll another cosmetic mutation, you may continue to roll new mutations until you roll a non-cosmetic mutation, but you must keep all mutations rolled.

CORPOREAL MUTATIONS Corporeal mutations affect a mutant’s physical prowess to some degree. More than just cosmetic, all of these mutations offer benefits that are the envy of mutants who lack them.

d66 » 11

CHAMELEON Your skin has an unusual chemistry enabling you to change your skin colour to match your surroundings. You gain +2d6 to stealth checks provided not too much clothing or equipment will be in view.

» 12

PHEROMONES You emit powerful pheromones that can affect the mood of others. Each round, you can choose to gain +1d6 to either flirting or intimidate checks with any individuals within 15’.

» 13

TRANSPARENT SKIN* Your flesh is transparent revealing your skeleton and internal organs. You gain +1d6 to intimidate checks if your target can see you but anyone targeting parts of your anatomy for extra damage gains +1d6 to make a CALLED SHOT.

» 14

BOILS OR WARTS* You are coated with pustules. You gain a natural SOAK 5 vs. fire damage.

» 15

CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE Your body is made of crystal. You gain 5 natural SOAK but are Vulnerable (1d6) to sonic damage. You are also immune to the Bleeding condition.

» 16

HARD SKIN Your skin is hard and tough. Roll 1d6. On a 1-4, your skin is like bark - you gain 3 natural SOAK, but are Vulnerable (1d6) to fire damage. On 5-6, your skin is like steel - you gain 5 natural SOAK, but are Vulnerable (1d6) to electricity damage.

MANIFESTATION TABLE d6

MANIFESTATION TABLE

» 1-2

CORPOREAL MUTATIONS TABLE

» 3-4

METABOLIC / METAPHYSICAL MUTATIONS TABLE

» 5-6

COSMETIC MUTATIONS TABLE

MUTATION

d66

MUTATION

» 21

DWARFISM You are born smaller than the normal Human and might be mistaken for a child. You are considered Small-sized.

» 22

TALLER THAN NORMAL Your height is greater than normal, possibly even taller than the tallest member of the Human race. Roll 1d6+6 to determine your height in feet. You are considered Large-sized.

» 23

» 24

» 25

» 26

RUBBERISED BODY Your stretchy skin and bone mean you can elongate parts of your body. You take half damage from falling, half damage from attacks which do blunt damage, and gain +2 to AGI. LIVING WEAPON You can transform parts of your body, usually hands or feet, into sharp blades. This is often done by extruding the bone from underneath the skin, and thanks to the mutation the bone is as strong as steel, sometimes stronger. You can manifest any one-handed bladed melee weapon by spending two actions. DISPLACED ORGANS You might look human (or not), but your internal organs are not in the same place as non-mutants. You gain 2 natural SOAK, and you are immune to any exploits that rely on the attacker targeting your anatomy for extra damage. However, anybody attempting medical assistance on you suffers a -2d6 penalty to their check. ANIMAL FEATURES You have a variety of animal features. You could have cat’s eyes, a dog’s tail or sharp bear claws, for example. These features may give you additional abilities - cat’s eyes could give you the ability to see at night, bear claws could give you an extra +1d6 to unarmed damage, a dog’s muzzle might grant you benefits to scent-based perception checks. Work with your GM to finalise the benefit, if any.

d66

MUTATION

» 31

STRONG ODOUR You give off a particularly strong odour that gives you a -1d6 penalty to stealth checks and social interactions with non-mutants. You gain +2d6 to attribute checks made to deter predators from attacking you.

» 32

STEEL TEETH Your teeth are as strong as steel and can bite through things that others simply cannot. Your teeth ignore 5 points of SOAK.

» 33

TENTACLES Part human, part ‘something’ else. Some part of you has been replaced by tentacles rather than hands, or feet. Perhaps your whole lower body has been replaced in this way and you have an unusual form of locomotion. Roll 1d6. On a roll of 1-3, your arms are replaced and you gain +5’ reach; on 4-6, your legs are replaced and you become immune to the effects of difficult terrain.

» 34

UPLIFTED ANIMAL A talking raccoon, a humanoid bird hybrid, a large lizard-like woman; these mutants are the result of a combination of human and animal DNA. Like Animal features, above, the Game Master may agree to allow an appropriate bonus for the character.

» 35

ELONGATED APPENDAGE Roll 1d6. On a 1, your neck is 5’ in length. On a 2, you have elongated legs that increase your stride; gain +2 SPEED. On a 3, you have long arms, increasing your reach by 5’. On a 4, your torso is an extra metre long, which increases your size by one size category. On a 5, your extremely long and thin fingers mean that using some equipment might incur a -1d6 penalty but allows them to serve as lockpicks. On a 6, your eyes can extend on stalks and rotate independently, granting you +1d6 to INT checks related to visual perception.

d66

MUTATION

» 36

FANGED MAW You have a wide maw full of sharp teeth. Your unarmed attack increases by +1d6 and becomes piercing. You automatically apply the Restrained condition twice when using grab.

» 53

PUFFER MECHANISM You can inflate your body to protect internal organs. You gain +3 SOAK but reduce your MELEE and RANGED DEFENCE by an equivalent amount (minimum 10).

» 41

SUCKER HANDS You add +2d6 to climbing checks and cannot be disarmed.

» 54

» 42

ARM SPIKES Sharp extensions of the elbows provide your unarmed attacks with +1d6 slashing damage.

MORE THAN TWO EYES You have extra eyes; they might be on the back of your head, in the palms of your hands, or somewhere else. You gain all-around vision and cannot be flanked.

» 43

LARGE FEET You gain +1d6 damage on unarmed attacks made with your feet.

» 55

» 44

PREHENSILE TOES You gain +1d6 on climbing checks if bare-footed and can also pick up objects with them.

ROTATING HEAD Your head can rotate 360 degrees. You gain +1d6 to INITIATIVE and perception checks.

» 56

» 45

ECHOLOCATION You use sound to orient yourself. So long as sound can be created and you are not overloaded by sound, you can locate everything around you within 30 feet, regardless of light conditions.

EXTRA APPENDAGE You have more than the normal set of appendages - extra arms, legs, more than one nose, or four ears. Arms give you +2 STR, legs give you +2 AGI, and noses or ears give you +2 INT. However, you also suffer -1d6 to CHA-related checks with non-mutants.

» 61

BONELESS You gain +2d6 to escape artist checks or attempts to squeeze through narrow apertures.

» 62

BONE PLATES You have bone plates and nodules that give you +5 natural SOAK.

» 63

VOICE MIMIC You can mimic the voice patterns of others. You gain +2d6 to bluffing checks where only your voice is involved.

» 64

GLOWING SKIN* You are luminous and emit a faint light that illuminates everything, like a chemical light stick.

» 65

HOPPER You have frog-like legs that double your JUMP distance.

» 66

MONSTROSITY You have 1d6 mutations. For each mutation, roll 1d6 on the Manifestations Table and consult the relevant sub-table. If you roll a 66 again, reroll the result.

» 46

» 51

» 52

MUTATION

BURROWING You have shovel-like hands and feet that each sport tough claws. They can be used as natural weapons that inflict +2d6 slashing damage. They also count as shovels with the mastercraft quality for STR checks related to digging. WINGS Roll 1d6. You can fly in short bursts with wings resembling those of a (1-2) bird, (3-4) bat or (5-6) insect. You can fly at a speed equal to your regular SPEED for a number of rounds equal to three times your END attribute score. You must rest for the same number of rounds that you flew before being able to fly again. Rolling this mutation a second time allows you to fly until you tire naturally. HALF & HALF You are two people in one: one in front and one behind. These people might have differing views, but thankfully only one of you has control. Usually the front-facing body is the one that makes all the decisions. Gain +5 MENTAL DEFENCE and +1d6 to perception checks.

METABOLIC / METAPHYSICAL MUTATIONS Metabolic and metaphysical mutations affect the internal makeup of a mutant to some degree. These are powerful mutations that fall into the realm of superhuman abilities. A lot of mutants would kill to be able to have even one of these abilities. Many Strontium Dogs—such as Kid Knee, who lacks a head but does have a face on his knee—would really have loved the gold standard as opposed to the bronze prize.

d66

MUTATION

» 11

INCREASED METABOLISM You move a lot faster than normal. Your reactions are increased and the world seems run at a slower rate for you. You must consume twice the normal amount of food and drink to remain alive. You have three actions per round, although you may not perform any given action (attack, move, etc) more than twice.

» 12

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Being exposed both to intense radiation and chemicals has made you into a walking firebug. Your internal chemistry is such that it will combust in open air. Fortunately, you have control over this and an inferno can be unleashed from your body for up to one minute by spending two actions, covering your skin in flames. You are immune to fire damage. While you are aflame, any creatures starting their turn within 5’ of you will take 1d6 fire damage.

» 13

ACID BLOOD Your blood is a strongly acidic. When hit by a slashing weapon, the attacker, if within 5,’ takes 1d6 acid damage. This acid seeps through armour, but not natural SOAK.

» 14

ICEMAN You are freezing cold. You are immune to cold damage, and Vulnerable (+1d6) to fire damage. Your natural attack does cold damage and causes the target to suffer the Slowed condition.

» 15

REGENERATION You can heal wounds that would kill a normal man, and re-grow body parts even if they have been severed. As long as you are above 1 HEALTH, you automatically heal 1d6 HEALTH per hour.

d66

MUTATION

» 16

ATMOSPHERE PROCESSOR You can breathe in a variety of gaseous atmospheres, surviving in areas that would normally kill humans. You are immune to all gases as long as there is enough oxygen in the air to survive (in an atmosphere without any oxygen you would still suffer like a non-mutant).

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VAMPIRE You require blood for nourishment. You also have a greater than normal sensitivity to light/UV. Any day you do not consume one pint of blood moves you suffer the Fatigued condition. This is a permanent status and cannot be shaken off. The only way to remove it is to consume a pint of blood. Additionally, you suffer -1d6 to perception checks in daylight.

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ELECTROSTATIC GENERATOR You can generate your own internal electricity, which you can then unleash as a burst of energy. The attack has a range increment of 5, and does electricity damage equal to your END dice pool.

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GLOWING EYES You are able to see in darkness as though it were daylight. Roll 1d6. On a 1-2 you get x-ray vision as part of the package, which grants you +1d6 to perception checks and allows you to see through cover. On a 3-4, you gain thermal vision, which works like x-ray vision but instead uses heat. On a 5-6 you can see electromagnetic fields and waves, granting you +1d6 to pilot checks and to perception checks to spot Robots and other electrical or mechanical devices.

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RADIOACTIVE EMISSION You can fire a beam of radiation from your hands (1-3) or eyes (4-6). This does 3d6 heat damage, with a range increment of 3.

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TOXIC GLOB You can spit a toxic glob. This does 3d6 poison damage with a range increment of 2.

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FIREBREATHER You can spit out a venom that ignites in the air. The attack is treated as a flamethrower. You must wait 1d6 rounds between each use.

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TOXIC CLOUD You exhale a cloud of gas in a 10’ radius that stays in effect for 1d6 rounds. The cloud inflicts 1d6 poison damage to anyone else inside it. It also inflicts a -1d6 penalty to ranged attacks made from outside the cloud against targets within.

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MUTATION

ORGANIC FILTERS You can filter out large amounts of toxins from your body. Gain +5 to your VITAL DEFENCE when subjected to illness, poison or disease. Gain +2d6 bonus dice to your initial countdown pool to fight the disease. ANTENNAE Antennae sprout from your head. Roll 1d6. You count as having a (1-3) military scanner or (4-6) scientific scanner at all times.

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FACE CHANGER You can alter your facial features to mimic another individual, adding +2d6 to disguise attempts.

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INFRARED VISION You have infra-red vision. Treat it as wearing infrared goggles.

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DARKSIGHT You can see in the dark as though it were normal daylight

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INNATE RESISTANCE You have a SOAK value of 5 against (1) heat damage, (2) cold damage, (3) poison damage, (4) sonic damage, (5) electricity damage, (6) psychic damage. Rolling this a second time provides INVULNERABILITY (see below).

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INVULNERABILITY You have a SOAK value of 10 against (1) heat damage, (2) cold damage, (3) poison damage, (4) sonic damage, (5) electricity damage, (6) psychic damage.

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FLOATER You can metabolise gas in special floatation organs that allow you to levitate up or down by 5’ per round. You can levitate for a number of rounds equal to three times your END. Levitating longer than this requires a Challenging [13] END check with a -1d6 penalty for each round after the first. You must rest for the same number of rounds that you levitated before using this ability again.

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SONIC BOOM GIRL You can produce a sonic shout that can shatter bone and vibrate structures to pieces in a sonic wail. Your sonic attack does 2d6 sonic damage in a 15’ cone.

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DAZZLING A chemical you secrete causes your skin to constantly shimmer. Sighted attackers reduce attack rolls by -1d6 unless protected by something like an anti-dazzle visor.

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CHEMICAL SECRETIONS Your pores secrete a substance that equates to a specific drug, generating about one dose a day (agree the particular drug with the GM). If the drug is expensive, you might find yourself a target for exploitation.

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OVERSIZED CRANIUM You have an oversized head and brain. You gain +1d6 to LOG checks and gain one psionic power for which you qualify.

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LINGUIST You are able to converse with any creature in its language. In a nonsentient creature, this does not grant it intelligence it would not normally have.

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MUTATION ENHANCED SALIVA You can lick wounds on humans and animals that provides the benefit of a powerful antiseptic. Your treatment counts as a spray dressing (core rulebook p. 93) with as many doses per day as your END.

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STICKY You can exude a sticky solution through your palms that enables you to automatically climb up most surfaces at your regular SPEED with no checks needed.

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DEATH-TOUCHED You have an affinity for death and negative energy. You gain +1d6 to all checks involving anything relating to the dead or undead (including attacks and resistances).

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EVIL EYE You can hex people with you evil eye. Make a Challenging [13] LUC check against any target you can see within 30’. If you succeed, they cannot use their own LUC pool for the remainder of the scene. You cannot affect the same target more than once in any twenty-four hour period.

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ALL SEEING EYE You have a third eye in the middle of your forehead. This eye is immune to illusions, and can see even the most perfect holograms for what they are.

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LUCKY Increase your LUC by 3. You can recover LUC dice at a rate of one per hour.

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PSYCHIC POWERS You have a range of psychic powers. You gain +2 PSI and one psionic power for which you qualify.

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PSYCHIC NULL You have a PSI of 0 and cannot develop PSI powers. You cannot be detected or your mind affected by any PSI abilities.

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JINX Your LUC score is zero. Nobody within 30’ of you can spend LUC.

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MONSTROSITY You have 1d6 mutations. For each mutation, roll 1d6 on the Manifestations Table and consult the relevant sub-table. If you roll a 66 again, reroll the result.

COSMETIC MUTATIONS Some mutations are simply cosmetic, giving the Player Character no real advantage. There is no requirement to make all mutant PCs superhuman, or even as ugly as Middenface, but the options exist for characters to be gifted, rather than cursed. The mutations in this table change the look of the character but are often of no mechanical benefit. Regardless, each mutation in this table is classed as cosmetic. Remember a PC can always choose to roll on the Manifestation Table a second time if they roll a cosmetic mutation, keeping both results.

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SLIME-COVERED SKIN You have a slime problem; you exude a thick and often foul-smelling substance from your skin. It is often advised you wear an encounter suit or some kind of protective covering.

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SKULL FACE You have a skull for a face and are often confused for some kind of real monster. If you ever go to Mega-City One via a portal or some other contrivance, expect people to think you are a Dark Judge. You gain +1d6 to intimidate checks but –1d6 to other social interaction checks.

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MUTATION

PATTERNED HIDE You have striking patterned fur or skin, such as stripes, spots, leopard print, zebra lines, or another pattern entirely like multi-coloured zig zags. You gain +1d6 to CHA-related checks with other mutants. DISCO SKIN Being bathed in Strontium-90 changed the way the pigments work in your skin. Only problem is, you are not like a chameleon. You are straight up disco fantastic, often glowing as your skin cycles through a bewildering amount of colour permutations. You gain +1d6 to social interaction checks and -1d6 to stealth checks. GIANT EARS You have enormous ears. You gain +1d6 to hearing-related perception tests. They also flap about, however, and generally get in the way if you put a helmet on.

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COVERED IN FAKE EYES Rather disturbingly, your whole body is just a mass of bloodshot and unseeing eyes. They look really creepy and most folks actively take steps to avoid you. You gain +1d6 to intimidate checks but –1d6 to other social interaction checks.

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SECOND HAND SMOKER You emit a very light layer of dark smoke from your body that is fortunately not toxic and has very little odour. It could be worse. A lot worse. Just ask Gassius Clay (Deceased), who lit up a cigar one day and blew up half his block.

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ONE BIG LEG One of your legs is massive. So much bigger than any others that it looks like it might actually have come from someone else. Although it doesn’t affect your statistics, the leg makes you move with a clumsy gait.

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REVERSED VOICE Your voice box mutated badly, changing your vocal chords and ensuring that your mouth grew upside down. You can communicate with others with the aid of a recorder and a reverse playback function or someone who actually understands speech in reverse, such as a mutant gifted with Linguist.

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REVERSED TORSO Your legs point one way, and your torso the other. You sometimes have a problem coming where you are going. Although you have gotten used to this foible, others can find the phenomenon a little odd.

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LOOKING GLASS You appear to be made out of glass. Your skin is transparent, your opaque and even your blood looks seethrough. A work of art to some, you are extremely disturbing to others. Finding work in a biology lab should be a cinch.

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UNSTABLE FEATURES You have an ever-changing face that is nigh-impossible to control. Your features shift, alter and continually move around on your face. Anyone attempting an insight check against you suffers -1d6.

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STRANGE COLOUR Your flesh or fur is an unusual colour. Roll 1d6: (1) pink, (2) purple, (3) orange, (4) green, (5) yellow, (6) red. You gain +1d6 to social interactions with other mutants. SOLID COLOUR EYES Though they offer no other benefits, your eyes are all one colour. If you choose white, they look spooky and you can pretend you are some kind of ghost. Opt for red or black, however, and you might be mistaken for a demon. GEOMETRIC HEAD Your head might look like a cube, a sphere, a pyramid or any other geometric shape. The good news is that you can still see and your vestigial mouth allows you to speak and eat.

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TOPSY-TURVY HEID Turn that frown upside down! Your head is on the wrong way compared to most other folks. Try not to drown when you take a drink.

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BIG ARM Just like Big Leg, one of your arms is so massive that you have trouble finding the right tuxedo to fit. Getting into normal space suits also poses problems. Although it does not affect your statistics, the arm is really heavy and tends to drag around a lot.

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HOLEY MOLEY Your mutation has created a lot of holes in your body. Although nothing comes out, it looks like you stood right in front of a machine gun and let the owner ventilate your form until they could see the light come through. You are really good at making polka dot patterns on walls when someone shines a torch at you.

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VEINY Your body has false veins crisscrossing the exterior of your skin. They lack fluid and do not cause you harm if you are injured. They just look really odd and make people stare.

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REVERSE JOINTS Your joints mutated at birth, giving you digitigrade legs or causing a reversal of your arm and elbow joints. It looks strange, but you got used to it.

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BLOBBY Your mutation turned you into an amorphous blob, complete with tyre-like shapes all over your body and balloon-like arms. Strangely, the mutation also made you buoyant and low in gravity, meaning that it barely affects your movement and agility.

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TEETH FACE You have a maw like a leech, which means that much of your face is a teeth-filled cavity.

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SKIN CLAWS Claws have a tendency to poke out of your skin at random. They move and wriggle, causing people to have a hard time talking to you as they watch your skin and claws shift around.

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MINI-YOU Somewhere on your body, out of your shoulder perhaps or at the midpoint of your back, there is a miniature version of yourself. So cute. Sculpted of your own flesh, it is an eerily exact replica.

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BLOCKY LIMB Sort of like Geometric Head only the limb in question is cube-like in shape and stands out from your other limbs. May also incur a penalty if you are trying to do manual dexterity based tasks depending how the GM rules.

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SMALL SWEDE You have a tiny head. A very tiny head. You gain +5 to VITAL DEFENCE against Called Shots intended to disable you.

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ALIEN You have a truly alien visage, like something out of classic abduction stories and the archives of tin-hat theorists. This is not simply an alien appendage; your whole body is like an advert for a twenty-first century UFO story.

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METALLIC PIGMENT Your skin resembles a metal, such as silver, gold, copper, bronze, and so on. It is not actually made of metal, however, so while you might look like you are an amazing titanium statue, you still bleed like anyone else. WIZENED You might only be twenty-five in real terms, but you look to be one hundred and twenty-five. You use your true age to determine any effects due to aging, but your physical appearance on the outside resembles the older version. INFINITE YOUTH The opposite of the Looks Real Old mutation. You might be eighty in real years, but you look so much younger. Use your true age to determine any effects due to aging. ANIMAL-LIKE BODY You have a perfectly human head atop an animal-like body. You may gain some bonuses for your character from your GM based on the type of animal you choose.

// ROBOTS Although there are no robots depicted as an S/D Agent within the pages of the comic strip, it is entirely feasible that a robot with adequate skills could become a bounty hunter for the Doghouse. Perhaps the robot hails from a decommissioned theme park that once offered thrill seekers a chance to return to the wild west, or maybe they are a war droid who somehow earned their freedom. With the GM’s permission, there are plenty of backgrounds to consider that might lead to a robot gaining employment as a Strontium Dog.

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TWO-DIMENSIONAL You look fairly normal when you are facing a person, but if you stand to the side you appear to be only a few inches thick. You can sometimes get into places no one else can. Just be careful to avoid strong winds and falling through cracks.

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WILD HAIR DAY You are covered in fur. You probably catch fire really easily but at least you keep warm in winter. You are the mutant example of a ‘bad hair day’ and people often mistake you for a yeti. You can also go to parties and pretend to be a Smiling Chuckwalla.

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LUMPY SKIN Just like Middenface McNulty, you have lumps on your body. He only has them on his face, so roll 1d6. On a 1-3, they are in one location. On a 4-6 they cover your body.

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ROTATING EYES Your eyes rotate slowly around in your head. An odd and disturbing sight for most norms, your fellow mutants are often unsettled by it as well. You get a really good view of your skull every so often as your eyes rotate into the back of your head.

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LUCKED OUT! Apparently, you got lucky. You do not get to roll twice, but you do get to roll on the Metabolic Table!

Robots come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, each specifically designed for a particular role. Most robots are effectively slaves, they have no rights other than those other property enjoys. It is possible for robots to be free; the robot in particular must have a sponsor (almost always its current owner) and be advanced enough to be sentient. The legal process is normally quite lengthy except in cases of service to humans that goes above and beyond, although such cases are extremely rare. Robot PCs will normally be free robots of this type, or androids that can pass for human and keep their true nature hidden.

The mechanics for robots presented here offer a variation for those presented within the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD Rulebook. Again, the intention is to provide a character creation process that minimises the need to consult multiple books. Although both the rules presented here and within the main rulebook are entirely sufficient to support a robot character, rules for robot creation are greatly expanded upon in the Robot Wars supplement. So long as the GM agrees, players wishing to create a robot character can use the rules contained within any of the sourcebooks listed here. » Size: Small, medium, or large; mechanoid » Attributes: STR +2, END +2, PSI » Skill choices: computers, engineering, running, linguistics, [technical]. EXPLOITS » Mindless. Robots are immune to any attacks which target MENTAL DEFENCE. » Deterministic. A robot’s PSI attribute cannot rise above zero. A robot can have a LUC attribute, but cannot spend LUC dice to gain bonus dice when making attribute checks. » Electronic Vulnerability. Robots are vulnerable (1d6) to electricity damage and vulnerable (2d6) to ion damage. » Automaton. Robots do not need to eat, sleep or breathe, and weigh 150% normal. Choose one of the following modification exploits: » Organic Appearance. The robot’s appearance is uncannily like that of a human (or other species) although not so alike that it would fool anyone. » Wheels. The robot moves on wheels instead of legs. This reduces its SPEED to 2 across difficult terrain, but increases its SPEED by 2 on normal terrain. » Armour. The robot is plated with armour, giving it SOAK 5. The robot’s weight is 200% normal instead of 150% and it suffers a -1 penalty to its SPEED score. » Database. The robot has a database of known criminals, renowned law enforcers and significant crime scenes. It gains +1d6 to criminology checks. » Scanner. The robot has an inbuilt scanner (equal to a hand scanner) which it is always considered to be carrying. This scanner might be part of its body, or simply part of its sensory equipment, and may or may not be visible. » Companionable. The robot has received extensive programming in reading emotions and soothing egos, gaining +1d6 to social checks. » Weapon. The Robot has an integrated melee weapon. Choose one weapon worth 100cr or less.

CAREERS BY ROBOT TYPE

Careers marked with an asterisk (*) can be found in the Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD rulebook careers, beginning on p. 30. Careers without an asterisk can be found within this book, beginning on p. 21. SERVICE ROBOTS Ranch Hand, Space Crew, Theme Park Staffer HEAVY LABOUR ROBOTS Mutant Railroader SOCIAL ROBOTS Host/Hostess, Journalist*, Star*, Vid Presenter, Xenodiplomat PROFESSIONAL ROBOTS Bureaucrat, Corporate Executive, Employee*, Journalist*, Peeper**, Private Investigator* **Actually a Surveillance Robot, may not take Blackmailer or Star Child EXPERT ROBOTS Boffin*, Fence**, Habitat Technician, Interplanetary Pilot, Planetary Shuttle Pilot, Scientist* **If working legally this Robot is an Appraiser COMBAT ROBOTS Citi-Def*, Henchman*, Hitman*, Hired Gun, Law Enforcement, Scout/Special Forces, S/D Agent** **Only if the GM allows this ILLEGAL ROBOTS Bandit, Burglar*, Chop Shop Mechanic*, Coyote, Fence*, Gunslinger, Hacker*, Heister*, Henchman*, Hitman*, Mob Boss*, Muscle*, Scavenger*, Smuggler, Space Pirate

// STIX The enigmatic Stix are a clan of virtually identical mutants who are seemingly indeterminate in number. Callous and ruthless, the Stix are prepared to go to great lengths to honour the tenets of their father, Silas, who is himself a merciless, unprincipled, stone-cold killer. They dress identically, with everyone of them wearing garb reminiscent of gunslingers from the wild west, and most often work in pairs. The fact that all Stix are indistinguishable from each other seems to be part of their mutation, but they are also graced with superhuman strength and extremely durable skin. These powers also seem to make them slow and implacable, however. Their effectiveness at intimidation has led many to suggest that they also have some minor form of psychic power in that regard. Despite having several run-ins with the Stix Clan, Johnny Alpha has also worked beside two Stix brothers who seemed able to hold their ruthless natures in check, proving that not every Stix needs to betray their colleagues (although other Stix would say they are betraying their own natures). » Size: Medium. » Attributes: STR +2, END +2, AGI -1 » Skill choices: bluffing, fortitude, insight, interrogation, pistols EXPLOITS » Fists of Stone. Your unnatural strength and tough skin mean that you can inflict powerful blows. You deal an additional +1d6 damage in unarmed combat. » Slow and Implacable. You gain +2 MENTAL DEFENCE, and your SPEED is reduced by 1. » Steely Gaze. Your soul-searching stare can unsettle even the most resolute of minds. You gain +1d6 to intimidation checks. » Tough Skin. All Stix have extremely tough skin that is resistant to harm. You gain a natural SOAK of 5.

CORE BOOK CAREERS

With a little work, the civilian and perp careers between pg. 31 and pg. 53 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD work equally as well within Strontium Dog. Some careers from the Cursed Earth, Luna-1 and Robot Wars sourcebooks will also work well within this setting, and these are included in the following list of careers.

CAREERS IN STRONTIUM DOG

Strontium Dog careers are divided across civilian, outlaw and S/D Agent careers. Although the civilian careers might seem a little pedestrian purely by dint of the terminology used in the title, they serve as an excellent jumping off point for a thrilling career as a criminal mastermind or grizzled mercenary. Of course, the S/D Agent careers all represent great opportunities for a mutant to enjoy a fun, thrilling and zarjaz career as a bounty hunter for the good of all!

CIVILIAN AND OUTLAW ORIGINS

It goes without saying that the galaxy is an extensive and often dangerous place. The type of planet that a character can hail from is limited only by a player’s imagination. Many of Johnny Alpha’s adventures—those that don’t hop across time lines and dimensions at least— take place on dusty backwater planets that are reminiscent of the frontiers of the wild west, but there are plenty of other planets out there in the galaxy. A character could hail from a steampunk metropolis that encompasses an entire planet, an ocean planet with tranquil waterborne communities or even a planet that has been entirely turned into a real-life theme park for wealthy thrill seekers. A character’s upbringing could also be wildly different depending on their species. The civilian origins here offer a broad base for a character’s background. GMs are encouraged to work with the players to tailor them for each character. Civilian and perp origins from the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD are also valid, as are any of the origins from the Cursed Earth supplement. An origin career can be taken multiple times during character creation, but a character can never go back to one once they leave it.

GHETTO-RAISED (2d6+6 years) » Prerequisites: usually mutant » Attributes: STR +1, INT +1, LUC +1 » Skill Choices: brawling, escape artist, fortitude, gambling, local knowledge You were raised in one of the mutant shanty towns, perhaps even the great ghetto at Milton Keynes. Whether you knew your parents or not, growing up in the ghetto was an odd mixture of hardship and wild, colourful life. If you are a mutant or alien, you had no choice in the matter, otherwise you somehow slipped through the net and never managed to find your way out. You sometimes tell yourself you can see the lights of the Doghouse in the skies above you. You also know it’s only a short step from your current circ*mstances into a life of crime.

EXPLOITS » Ghetto Speak. Growing up, you quickly learned to speak the language of the ghetto. You have an uncanny knack for understanding many languages because of this. Gain one rank in either insight or linguistics. (This does not increase the rank of an existing skill.) » Tastes Great. You are a self-professed miracle worker at making meals from anything you can find. But then, you just keep telling yourself it all tastes like chicken. Gain one rank in survival. You also gain +1d6 to your countdown pool when resisting illnesses and diseases. » Vibrancy of Life. Despite your downtrodden existence, life could never keep yourself and your mutant friends down. You always manage to find a way to ride out the storm and find fairer weather. You gain +2 MENTAL DEFENCE.

STREET RUNNER (2d6+6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: STR +1, AGI +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: brawling, gambling, knives, local knowledge, running, [trivia] You were one of the unlucky ones, kicked out of your home or driven from it by people who just did not understand; or perhaps your parents are long gone. Whatever the reason, you’re out on the streets and you can only look at the S/D Agents with their flashy guns and badges with a grudging, somewhat envious respect. Your natural street training makes you similar to a Juve Ganger from Mega-City One and you ran with gangs to learn your street smarts in the mutant ghettos like Milton Keynes. You want to join the Strontium Dogs or a local criminal outfit. Either way, you’ll fight every step of the way to get there.

EXPLOITS » Urban Runner. You were born to those streets and no rooftop is out of reach. You are a natural urban runner, and you automatically gain one rank in climbing, jumping and stealth at one rank. (This does not increase the rank of an existing skill.) » Take a Licking. Your body is so used to beat downs from the mutant haters, or the other gangs, you’ve gained a natural kind of toughness which means you can take superhuman levels of punishment. You gain +2 natural SOAK. » Who’s Who? Your knowledge of your local area is impressive. You know all the movers, shakers, troublemakers, and petty criminals within the zone. You gain +1d6 to all checks applicable to knowledge skills including local knowledge.

UPPER CRUST (2d6+6 years) » Prerequisites: usually human » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: [academic], bureaucracy, computers Your family are wealthy and you have grown up eating with a silver spoon. Having lived a life of privilege, some would consider you lucky. You have always wanted more from life, however; something to take you away from the dreary boredom and closeted boundaries, whether from an elite norm family or a respected mutant household. You have left your sheltered life to make a name for yourself amongst the bounty hunters and scoundrels of the galaxy. After all, their lives are much more glamorous than yours, right? EXPLOITS » Educated Upbringing. You enjoyed a healthy and varied education. Unfortunately, that also included sports. You gain +1d6 to [academics] checks and one rank in either acrobatics, boxing, basketball, sailing or tennis. (This does not increase the rank of an existing skill.) » Inheritance. Although you have since been cut off, you managed to leave with a small part of your intended inheritance. Gain 500cr. » Social Pariah. You know how to act within higher social circles but never consider yourself above others. You gain +1d6 to social attribute checks while mixing with the elite. You have, however, been ostracised from your home and suffer a -1d6 penalty whenever you interact with anyone from your familial circle.

CIVILIAN AND OUTLAW CAREERS

As vast and varied as the galaxy is, there are plenty of career paths for civilians to follow. From law enforcement to politics and administration to manufacturing, the possibilities are once again only limited by imagination. The careers of outlaws are less glamorized than those of S/D Agents but are arguably just as important, to their minds at least. After all, if there were no outlaws there would be little need for the S/D Agency. Of course, their blinkered opinion tends to neglect the fact that the S/D Agency now trawls both time and other dimensions to bring criminals to justice. Mutants are banned from owning businesses on Earth, but that is not necessarily the case elsewhere in the galaxy.

ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: none. » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, LOG +1, WIL +1 » Skill choices: law, journalism, politics, botany, zoology, stealth, bluffing, persuasion In addition to campaigning for the protection of animals from incarceration and experimentation, some organisations also advocate for their release back into the wild. Most groups restrict themselves to legal means. Others are more violent, however, even going so far as hiring mercenaries if their personal pacifism prevents them from directly bloodying their own hands. Some few Strontium Dogs have traced bounties back to these grass roots organisations. EXPLOITS » Animal Attorney. Vehement in the defence of animal rights, you have gained confidence and expertise in coherently stating your case. You gain 3 ranks in persuasion. » Fervent Defender. You gain +2 to your MENTAL DEFENCE.

ANTI-MUTANT ENFORCER [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: human. » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, WIL +1, CHA +1 » Skill choices: law, perception, genetics, interrogation, intimidate, bureaucracy In the wake of the Atomic Wars and the Great Nuclear War, there a number of paramilitary outfits that use the fear of mutation to drive their agendas. Whether fully recognised, such as the Gene Police in Dredd’s reality, or only semi-official, such as the anti-mutant “peacekeepers” known as the Kreelers in New Britain, there are a number of outfits ready and willing to demonize and ostracise the mutant populations of the galaxy. Of course, this type of career is mainly suitable for nonmutants. If you are a mutant, however, how did you fit into one

of these organisations? If you move on to become a Strontium Dog, will you keep your past hidden? If not, what will your fellow Agents think of your previous career choice? EXPLOITS » Anti-Mutant Politics. You gain +1d6 to REP checks against mutants and parents of mutants. » Flint Hearted. You are immune to the Charmed condition. » Mutant Hunter. You are always able to identify a mutant as such, even if their mutation is not obvious or visible.

BANDIT [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: STR +1, AGL +1, END +2 » Skill choices: [combat], stealth, intimidate, driving, riding, survival Rather than endure back-breaking toil trying to coax a living from the hard soil of some backwater planet, you chose a life preying on travellers and townsfolk. The periods of excitement and gratification when you manage to live on the spoils of your raiding are often followed by extreme privations as you hide out in some of the worst territories known to the galaxy. EXPLOITS » Dead or Alive. +1 REP. You are notorious enough to have a bounty placed on your head by the Doghouse. You gain +1d6 to intimidate checks against anyone that has heard of your reputation. » Haul. Your raiding has netted you an extra 2d6 x 100 credits. You may repeat this exploit, gaining another roll of the same amount each time. » Hideout. You know a sheltered area in a remote location of the planet that you terrorise.

BANDIT CHIEFTAIN [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: REP 7+, [combat], leadership » Attributes: INT +1, CHAR +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: [combat], intimidate, leadership, driving, riding Any bandit or mutantchero gang will require good leadership if it is to thrive. Bandit chiefs are often intimidating warriors who have had the patience and cunning to bide their time. They often recruit allies within their own fractious band before finally assassinating their superior or defeating them in a contest of arms. Once you have established your leadership, you find that the ability to settle disputes quickly and weed out potential competitors is vital to your survival. Yet, despite a supply of scapegoats within your band, there is a constant pressure

to supply a regular stream of booty and a replenishment of the losses incurred by raiding and exacting tributes. Fame attracts more followers to your band, but with the power is the nagging thought that you are making yourself a bigger target for a confederation of other bandit gangs and the best of the Doghouse. EXPLOITS » Notoriety. Gain +2 REP. You are notorious enough to have a considerable bounty placed on your head by the Doghouse. You gain +1d6 to intimidate checks (this bonus does not stack with the Dead or Alive exploit). » Backup. Once per day, within your gang’s territory, you can summon 1d6 henchmen to back you up. They arrive within 1d6 minutes and follow your orders for one hour. » The Boss’s Cut. You have been especially successful in your plundering and extortion. Gain 1d6 x 1,000 credits. » Get Him, Boys! (requires Backup). An additional 1d6 henchmen arrive. All henchmen that arrive from these exploits gain +1d6 to their damage rolls. » Stronghold. You have a lair within a remote location that includes a strong room or secure cave.

BIKE GANGER (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: riding (motorcycle) » Attributes: AGL +1, INT +1, WIL +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: brawling, clubs, intimidation, knives, riding, pistols All too often, the highways and bars on the outskirts of civilisation are the playground of gangs of lawless, thrillseeking hovercycle or motorcycle riders. Besides reckless driving, many clubs are involved in peddling and protection rackets, often hiring themselves out as couriers or muscle for other criminals. Bitter rivalries with other bike gangs often lead to violent fights over honour and territory. Membership of a bike gang is typically shown by the proud wearing of a jacket that bares the chapter’s name and symbol. Thanks to sponsorship deals that also provide access to skilled teams who handle public relations and legal problems, some biker gangs actually manage to operate for long periods under a cloak of legitimacy. Races are a popular way to win status or resolve disputes, with the spectators often making wagers on the winner. Sponsored races include large cash prizes, while violent, bloody races in which the participants attack each other and run down unfortunate pedestrians are popular events for pirate broadcasters.

EXPLOITS » Emergency Stop. As an action, you can stop your motorcycle safely and almost instantly. » Evasive Driving. A vehicle you are driving gains additional SOAK equal to your AGI attribute dice pool. » Evasive Manoeuvre (requires Evasive Driving). As an action, you may designate one incoming ranged attack per round and gain an additional +5 DEFENCE against it. » Pedal to the Metal. Increase the Acceleration rating of a vehicle you are driving by 1 point. » Push the Limits. You can increase a vehicle’s SPEED by 2. » Road Gunner. You halve the DEFENCE any target vehicle gains due to its current speed. » Sideslip. You can move your vehicle in a sideslip manoeuvre. Once per turn, you can move your vehicle one square directly sideways for free as long as your vehicle is moving forward.

BUREAUCRAT (1d6 years) Bureaucracy seeps into every aspect of life to some degree. The S/D Agents need to file reports when their creds are due and even outlaws need to understand how much ammunition they have left before the next big heist. Whatever your background, you have a fairly good head for organising everything into its place and can always put your hands on the right paperwork. If not, you know the exact person to see for the correct form. » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +2, WIL +1 » Skill Choices: accounting, bribery, bureaucracy, economics, forgery, politics EXPLOITS » Form XYZ. You also seem to know the right form to fill in and rarely make mistakes when doing so. You can spend one LUC die in place of making a check relating to administration or bureaucracy. You automatically pass the test if you do so. You can spend two LUC dice to provide a critical success. » Red Tape. You easily spot red tape and can quickly cleave through it with you administrative skills. You halve the normal amount of time required for a check related to administration or bureaucracy. » System is Everything. A system underlies everything. You just need to work out the order to the chaos. Fortunately, you know how to play the system. You gain one rank in computers, cryptography, insight and surveillance. (This does not increase the rank of an existing skill.)

CORPORATE EXECUTIVE (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: Employee; REP 6+ » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, REP +1, CHA +1 » Skill choices: accounting, economics, law, insight, bureaucracy, surveillance, bluffing, carousing, negotiating, computers It’s harder to climb the corporate ladder when the bottom rungs have been broken off. But you’ve served your time in the filing room and are on your way to the top. You don’t run a company of your own yet, but you will one day. You do get to tell other people what to do, and can threaten to fire them if they don’t comply. You’ve had to make yourself indispensable to acquire this kind of authority, and get close to the power brokers that run the company. Sure, you had to do a few things you weren’t proud of to get there, maybe stamped on a couple of people’s head to get that step up now and again. But it’s all been worth it for the corner office. Now you can learn all the dirty secrets that make this company what it is. Tomorrow, it’ll be all yours. EXPLOITS » Hidden Files. Working among the big shots lets you get to know them very well. You can spend a LUC point to have the Game Master tell you one secret from another corporate executive or corporate lord that they would rather no one knew. » Red Tape. You know the system well enough to make the paperwork flow in your favour. You can halve the time it takes for you to get a file, permit or license or make sure you never need one in very special cases. » Hey Guys, It’s Only Me. You are so well known or highly placed in your company that you can ignore all the security measures for gaining access. You don’t need to show a badge or get searched. You can take anything in at any time. However, if there is a security breach you may lose this ability for the duration of the clampdown.

CORPORATE LORD (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: Corporate Executive; REP 10+ » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, WIL +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: accounting, economics, law, politics, insight, bureaucracy, surveillance, bluffing, intimidate, computers You climbed the corporate ladder and now you’re at the very top. You control a whole company. You’re the boss. Unfortunately, that just gives you a new set of enemies. From lower grade executives looking to unseat you to corporate rivals looking to destroy the company around you – there were always knives at your back, now they’re at your front too. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, but you’ll be damned if anyone is taking it away from you. You’re going to take your

company to new heights, expand its markets and make yourself wealthy beyond imagining. EXPLOITS » Main Shareholder. You own and control a corporate company, which obviously produces something. The size of the company depends on your REP score. You gain +2 REP. You can take this exploit multiple times. » New Markets. Each time you pick this exploit, your company expands into a new market to add a new product type. The product type might be cars, spacecraft parts, clothing, weapons etc. Whatever this product is, you can expend a LUC die to access it within one hour if practical. You cannot have a submarine delivered to you in prison, for instance. This doe not make them legal if they would not normally be, however; you might make tanks but you still cannot drive one around a city without getting arrested. If you don’t pick this exploit at all you still own a company, but it produces a variety of products that aren’t especially useful like paper clips or souvenirs. » Goons. You always have a small security group at your beck and call. You can summon a group of 1d6 private security officers to your location (each are the same as a Mob Enforcer). They arrive one minute after you call them as long as you are at your residence or corporate property.

COYOTE (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: bureaucracy, local knowledge, bribery, stealth, driving, bluffing, carousing There are plenty of citizens out there who think life on any other planet is a bowl of cherries. Unfortunately, most colonies keep a tight control on immigration. Anyone looking to skip the queue and enter their preferred location illegally will definitely need help from someone who knows the back routes, which is where a “coyote” comes in. They have the skills that are needed to get you across the border, but will leave you under no illusions that you’re on your own once there. Each coyote has at least one route they know to get people in. This means, however, that they tend to make the journey uncomfortable by squeezing as many clients in as possible on each trip. EXPLOITS » Way In. You know a route from one place to another that you use to avoid any form of check on your paperwork, such as a gap in security or some well-bribed guards. You can take this exploit several times specifying a new route

each time. You might take the same route more than once, just in case one of them gets discovered. » Not Me, Officer. You are good at looking playing innocent. Exploits or abilities that would automatically reveal your attempts at deception instead become opposed checks. All checks to reveal your deception suffer -1d6. » I Got You Covered. Because you make life across the border seem so much nicer than the one they have, people trust you with their money and their lives. When trying to persuade someone to do something against their better instincts, you may add +1d6 to any appropriate dice pool.

ECO-HERMIT [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: your previous career must have been Social Elite. » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, CHA +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: [artistic], [miscellaneous hobby], carouse, horticulture You chose to use your wealth and influence to escape the unpleasant aspects of life in one of the many metropolises spread across the galaxy. Joining a hedonistic, isolationist community in an artificially created bio-dome environment located far from any urban centre seemed an obvious choice. A bio-dome’s interior usually recreates a stereotypical arcadia or tropical rainforest landscape. Sadly, the self-styled elites usually find that they have cloistered themselves in an environment even more claustrophobic than a ghetto. As jealousness and squabbles quickly escalate into insanity and violence, the residents realise only too late that they have avoided the perils of future shock syndrome only to succumb to classic cabin fever. EXPLOITS » Free Time. You engage in a variety of activities to pass the abundant spare time. Choose three skills from amongst [artistic], [gaming], [hobby] and [performance] skills. You gain one rank in two of these three skills, and three ranks in the third. » One with Nature. You are most comfortable and confident when naked. You gain +2 to all your DEFENCE scores when not wearing any clothing.

FRINGE CULTIST [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, LOG +1, CHA +1 » Skill choices: astrology, knives, meditation, [social], religion The pressures and boredom of 22nd Century life leave many citizens susceptible to new experiences and unorthodox

teachings. Bizarre religious practices are slowly becoming increasingly popular with the jaded elite of New Britain, who find easy prey amongst those in search of new experiences. Sustained by the wealth brought in by their converts, such cults ensure their new members sever all ties with their former family and friends. You have been initiated into the inner mysteries of one such cult. While you likely remain largely oblivious to the nefarious deeds of your organisation, outsiders regard you with scorn and you remain ready to guard the sanctity of your religion with words and deeds. EXPLOITS » Devotion. You are utterly devoted to your cause. Your single-mindedness grants you +4 MENTAL DEFENCE. » Fanatic. You may be slightly unhinged; you are completely immune to the Afraid condition. » Sacrificial Dagger. You start play with a high-quality curved dagger that was given to you by your cult’s leader. When you strike with it, you can spend a LUC die to inflict the Bleeding condition.

GUNSLINGER (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, WIL +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: pistols, rifles, insight, perception, tracking, local knowledge, bribery When law enforcement is thin on the ground, the law on the frontier can often become the law of the gun. You’re a gun for hire, and business is good. You stay clear of the official law enforcement, but there are plenty of places where folk need protection, or someone needs to be reminded to leave town. If pointing a gun at someone gets the job done, you are the one they hire. Sometimes you prefer not to have to pull the trigger, but only sometimes. The problem is that what your choice of employment is not exactly considered legal. You have a permit for your guns, however, and take care not to get caught. The real law likely knows what you do, but they have to catch you doing it and you’re too careful for that. Still, you have a sneaking suspicion that some of them don’t mind you taking down the odd low life so long as you don’t go crowing about it afterwards. EXPLOITS » Got My Rights. You have the right permits and licenses for carrying a gun on the frontier. You can’t shoot just anyone, but you are allowed to be armed for self defence. » Gunplay. You know a few tricks and moves with a pistol that let you show off. This may be spinning it around your

fingers or twirling it in and out of a holster, like something from an old film you saw one time. You might not be great at shooting it but you can sure look cool with it. If you get a chance to perform your skills you get a +1d6 bonus to any subsequent intimidation attempts. It might also get you work in a circus. » Trick Shot. You are an exceptionally accurate shooter. If you attempt to make a called shot, shooting a particular part of a target or an especially small one, you get a +1d6 bonus (reducing the standard -2d6 penalty to a -1d6 penalty), and can make called shots with just one action. » Fan the Hammer. If you use both your actions to fire your gun, and your gun does not have the Single trait, you may fire it a third time as a free action. » Between the Eyes. You are adept at placing a single shot exactly where it needs to be. You can use both your actions and expend a LUC die to fire one shot, which does maximum damage if it hits. You cannot add extra damage with LUC dice or by exchanging attack dice for damage when using this exploit. » Hidden Shot. You are adept at surreptitiously drawing your gun and shooting your target, whether this be under the table or from inside your coat. Your first shot in a combat goes unnoticed by all except the target.

HABITAT TECHNICIAN (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, END +1, INT +1, LOG +1 » Skill choices: concentration, climbing, computers, electronics, engineering, maintenance, scanners While you rarely get the kudos your job deserves, plenty of people would be dead without the service you provide to the environmental habitat that you tend to. Whether it’s an orbital or planetary habitat, you’re fully aware that people take breathing for granted—that is, until they can’t do it anymore. And out here in the colonies, it is you that keeps them doing so. Creating and maintaining a breathable and comfortable environment is not just a case of pumping more air in. The quality of the air and its constituents need to be delicately balanced and carefully maintained. That’s to say nothing of temperature, gravity and a host of different technologies that allow people to feel at home in the cold blackness of space. It is a full-time job, and you never get the resources you need. But if you get it wrong people can die. So any minor problem needs to be checked out before it becomes a major one, which is a pain because many of the systems are in pretty awkward places. Given that they are also everywhere, this means you know every nook and cranny like the back of your hand.

EXPLOITS » Back Ways. Via access tunnels and crawlspaces, you can get around any habitat without needing to enter public areas. » Sniff The Air. You automatically know when any environment you are in is not quite at Earth normal. You never need to roll to notice such things as the air being low in oxygen or the temperature getting colder. » Work Live. You don’t often get the option to shut down a habitat processor when you want, so you are adept at working on machines while they are still running. If the machine you need to repair can still operate (albeit badly) you need not shut it down to make repairs.

HIRED GUN (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, WIL +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: fortitude, intimidate, pistols, rifles, survival, thievery Hired gun is an all-encompassing term for the mercenaries and outlaws that gravitate towards the charismatic leaders who run the organisations and gangs that operate on the limits of the law. Whether part of a pack of Howlers tearing through rural neighbourhoods or members of a tight-knit gang seeking to travel through time in the hopes of righting previous wrongs, hired guns are always needed to fill out the ranks. Far from making up the numbers, however, hired guns are a deadly menace in their own right. You are part of an outfit that has been enjoying success. You should work with your GM and the other players to flesh out the details. No matter how hard you try to stay under the radar, you can guarantee that the Strontium Dogs will come calling at some point. EXPLOITS » Ambush Tactics. You prefer to set up deadly ambushes to deal with your foes. You gain +1d6 to rolls made to access the ambush turn. Any attack you make during the ambush turn gain +1d6 to the attack roll. » Nothin’ But a Scratch. You would rather die than show weakness in front of your boss and their other minions. You

gain +3 SOAK while within 30’ of your boss. This stacks with any other SOAK you may have. » Rapid Hammer. You have a knack for squeezing extra shots from your weapon. If you hit your target when attacking with your gun, which must not have the Single trait, you may immediately make a second attack. This is a free action that applies a cumulative -1d6 penalty to any subsequent shots taken in the round. For example, a Hired Gun hits takes their first action in a round and hits with a shot. They resolve the attack and then immediately take a second attack at -1d6 as a free action. They then make a third attack as their second full action at -2d6. This shot also hits, allowing them to make a fourth attack, albeit at -3d6. » Trick Shot. You are an exceptionally accurate shooter. You reduce the penalty for a called shot to -1d6, instead of the normal -2d6. A called shot is also a single action for you.

INTERPLANETARY PILOT (1d6 years) The galaxy is filled with colonies, backwater planets and intermediary space stations, all of them with their own wants and needs in terms of supply and demand. The constant flow requires an almost infinite number of spacecraft to maintain it, which equally requires a huge amount of personnel to operate and maintain. Long distance space hauling is a lonely and often dangerous affair but the return can be extremely lucrative. You have spent time as either a pilot or co-pilot for one of the long-haul companies that ply the galaxy. Although you sometimes draw strange looks due to your penchant for talking to yourself, you are comforted by the fact that you have survived space pirates, solar storms and rival hauliers. » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, LOG +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: astrogation, computers, economics, gunnery, piloting, starship tactics, zero-g EXPLOITS » Best Route Finder. You can find the quickest route for your flight, reducing the chances of encountering problems during the transit. You reduce journey times by 25%.

» Company Benefits. Your employment with a commercial company has certain benefits. You can always gain passage for yourself and your group on civilian or commercial flights. » Evasive Flying. Any spacecraft you pilot gains a static DEFENCE bonus equal to the number of dice in your AGI attribute dice pool. » Hammock Time. You know where to find the best nooks and crannies to gain a little respite. You gain +1d6 to stealth checks while on a spacecraft. » Sale of the Century. You worked hard on a great deal that netted you 1,000cr. You may repeat this exploit, gaining 1,000cr each time it happens.

LAW ENFORCEMENT (1d6 years) Most planets have some form of law enforcement. Even the Doghouse is operated by an agency that hands out missions to bounty hunters and oversees the criminals that are hauled in. Unfortunately, not every law enforcement agency is competent enough or staffed adequately enough to cope with the various criminal elements that operate across the galaxy, which is where the Strontium Dogs step in. » Prerequisites: human » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +2, WIL +1 » Skill Choices: accounting, bribery, bureaucracy, economics, forgery, politics EXPLOITS » Beat Hardened. You had a particularly hard beat that toughened you considerably. Gain +2 VITAL DEFENCE. » Call in Support. When you are within your old area of jurisdiction, you can call in 1d6 other Law Enforcement agents (see Police Officers, p.155) to help. They arrive within one minute. » On Target. You have spent a lot of time at the firing range, making your shots fast and accurate. You gain a +1d6 bonus to the second shot if you use both actions to fire your gun. If the second shot hits, and so long as your gun does not have the Single trait, you may immediately make a third attack as a free action. » Sense Trouble. You are easily able to spot trouble before it happens. You gain a +1d6 bonus to INITIATIVE checks.

MUTANT RAILROADER [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: Bluffing or Stealth » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, CHA +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: bluffing, disguise, forgery, stealth, bureaucracy, law Within New Britain and other places, some individuals like yourself are resolved to helping mutants gain equal rights and

citizenship. Some are motivated by individual experiences that have happened to relatives while others have their consciences stirred by pro-mutant leaflets and broadcasts. Many campaign within legal parameters—running help lines, charities and contesting medical reports—but a brave few risk imprisonment by actively running an underground movement to contact mutants that are on the run to provide them with shelter, money, food and false identities. EXPLOITS » Dedicated to the Cause. You gain +5 to your MENTAL DEFENCE when helping mutants. » Legal Loop Holes. You gain +1d6 to any LOG checks for legal issues. » Safe House. You know of a safe location where mutants and those assisting them can hide. It could be a residence, a business or a derelict area in a city. Attempts to track you to the hideout or discover its location suffer a -2d6 penalty.

PLANETARY SHUTTLE PILOT (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, LOG +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: astrogation, computers, gunnery, piloting, starship tactics, zero-g With so many cities, colonies and space stations out in the black, there is always a need for pilots to shuttle people from place to place. Most shuttle runs are comparatively quite short, taking people planet to orbit and back, but short is still quite a long journey compared to most. As a pilot, you may not get to join the more glamorous deep space missions, but the work is plentiful and you spend most of your time up in space. Shuttles come in all shapes and sizes, some for cargo, some for passengers. When it comes to cargo it is often just you and a co-pilot. A few times you get asked to slide another package aboard and not add it to the cargo manifest. Whether you agree or not may depend on who it is doing the asking, and some don’t easily take no for an answer. EXPLOITS » Done This Before. Unless something out of the ordinary occurs, you do not need to make astrogation or piloting rolls for any shuttle run you have done. » Black Market Contacts. You might not have friends in the underworld, but you have a couple of contacts. You know a name or two of someone to ask if you need something illegal. They might not give you a special deal or be especially trustworthy, but they usually get what you want. » Pedal to the Metal. You are confident in pushing a spacecraft just a little harder, cutting 25% off journey times.

POLITICIAN (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: human, REP 6+ » Attributes: LOG +1, WIL +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: bluffing, bribery, disguise, flirtation, negotiating, politics Having taken the plunge into politics, you have made something of a success of yourself. You are likely in the outer fringes of your local government, though you might just as readily be part of the inner tiers. Officially, you are meant to represent the will of the people and help decide on policy. Whether you actually do this or just freeload and enjoy the benefits of your status is entirely up to you. With your GM’s approval, you can decide what political party you are aligned to and what their broad policies are. This should be undertaken with a note of caution, however, as many of the political bodies at the tail end of the 22nd century are filled with borderline or hard line fascists who trade in anti-mutant sentiment. As with any time period across human history, delving into politics can sometimes be akin to traipsing through oily water and finding yourself unable to entirely remove the resultant stains; if you’re human and hail from Earth, you may have trouble explaining your career choice to any non-mutant or alien companions. EXPLOITS » Bolthole. You have a place to hide from media backlashes and riled citizens. No location discerning checks or abilities can find you there unless you want them to. » Lucrative Bill. You have managed to slip a bill through your government’s system that proved to be a financial windfall for yourself. Gain 1000cr. You may repeat this exploit, gaining 1000cr. each time.

» Pressure Point. You may designate an enemy once per scene. The first time you succeed at a social check against that enemy, they suffer the Disarmoured condition to their MENTAL DEFENCE for the remainder of the scene. You can only apply this exploit once (multiple uses will not stack). » Silver Tongue. With slick oratory and well-timed pressure, you can talk anyone into giving up their secrets. Make a REP attack against a target after one minute of conversation with them. If you succeed, you gain a crucial piece of information from them related to your questioning. You can only use this ability once per scene.

RANCH HAND [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: riding or animal handling » Attributes: STR +1, AGL +1, END +1, INT +1 » Skill choices: brawling, lasso, low-g, pistol, driving, perception, riding, animal handling, survival, tracking You are employed to herd the cattle on the ranch of a frontier planet. Dressed like a cowboy from the days of yore, you use classic skills such as lassoing and herding to manoeuvre the herds from the back of your Mork. Hardworking like all your companions, you party hard when off duty and don’t take too kindly to spoil sports who try to stop you enjoying yourself. EXPLOITS » Blow Off Steam. You gain a +1d6 bonus to attack rolls when you are in a saloon or bar. » Carouser. You know how to handle your drink. You are immune to the Drunk condition. » Cow Poke. You can talk to cattle, although this does not grant them any special intelligence. » Two-legged Friend. You gain a two-legged Mork as a steed (see p.161). When riding it, you gain +1d6 to melee attacks against unmounted foes.

SCOUT/SPECIAL FORCES (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: stealth or [combat] » Attributes: STR +1, AGI +1, END +1, INT +1 » Skill choices: acrobatics, climbing, [combat], escape arts, running, stealth, survival, thievery, tracking The pinnacle of special operations; either police, military or freelance. Special forces have to infiltrate enemy locations and accomplish dangerous missions, while specialised soldiers are able to operate alone and perform reconnaissance. A scout needs a range of skills beyond the mere ability to kill that is the hallmark of the assassin. EXPLOITS » Climber. You gain a CLIMB speed equal to your regular SPEED. » Hostile Terrain. You do not suffer penalties for moving across difficult terrain. » Hustle. Your SPEED increases by 2. » Quick-hide. You are able to disappear while in plain sight. You can make a stealth check even while under observation to move your speed and become effectively invisible for a round. You may then make regular stealth checks as normal but cannot repeat this feat against the same observer. » Swimmer. You gain a SWIM speed equal to your regular SPEED.

SETTLER (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: None » Attributes: STR +1, END +1, INT +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: brawling, rifles, [developmental], [outdoor], driving You went out into the galaxy and made a new life for yourself and your family. It might not quite be what you meant by getting away from the grind, but out here on the frontier you can claim your own piece of land and maybe build something to last. As long as you can hold on to your claim, that is. Unfortunately, the first thing you have to do is make a claim. That means waiting for a land race in a newly opened territory. Competition is fierce to be the first to reach a claim post, and there are plenty of folk willing to cheat, or even kill to get there. But you’ve got a fast mount and a decent gun—this time that sweet claim you have an eye on will be yours. EXPLOITS » Settlement. You gain a home. This is usually somewhere distant, such as a small community on the lunar surface. » My Land (requires Settlement). You staunchly defend your land. Gain a bonus 1d6 to any combat roll to defend it.

» Frontier Community. If you’re in trouble, you can rustle up folks to help you with some frontier justice. It takes an hour to get them together, but when you do you have a gang of 2d6 frontier folk looking to help you with some payback. Each of these folks are treated as a Juve Gang Member. » Prospector (requires Settlement). Whether a vein of gold or a source of oil, you are good at spotting hidden treasure. The value of your land increases. You gain +3 REP. » Saloon Regular. Life on the frontier is tough. Luckily the local saloon helps ease that burden, and after a few drinks you become more charming, more competent, and more clever (at least that’s what you believe). When you have the Drunk condition, you gain +1d6 to all checks.

SMUGGLER (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: piloting » Attributes: AGI +1, CHA +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: thievery, astrogation, carousing, piloting, engineering, bluffing, concentration You play a dangerous game with the law, smuggling illegal goods past them at every opportunity. It is easier to smuggle into systems with a high crime rate, and from there see them sold legally throughout the planets. But it is far painless. Every day the law shakedown and arrest another one of your colleagues. How long before it is you they come knocking for? EXPLOITS » Smuggle. You know how to hide objects, either about your person or in a location. You gain a +2d6 bonus to attempts to hide items. » Secret Routes. You know all the secret – if dangerous – trade routes. If you navigate a starship, you may reduce the journey distance (in parsecs) by 2d6%. » Haggler. You’re a born haggler, and can reduce the cost of any purchase by 3d6%. This does not stack with any other exploits which reduce purchase costs. » Fence. In an urban environment, you can sell goods for 75% of normal cost rather than 50%. » Seat of your Pants. Smugglers rely a lot on old-fashioned luck. They can recharge their LUC an extra time per day.

SPACE CREW (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, END +1, INT +1, LOG +1 » Skill choices: astrogation, computers, gunnery, starship engineering, starship tactics, zero-g You don’t often get to see the stars, but you are closer to them than most. Space travel for you is being locked in a small room that shakes while you desperately try to keep an

unreliable engine going. Sometimes you get to visit the bridge to make a report, but otherwise you rarely get to see out of a window. Once the ship lands you don’t usually get to see much of the destination either. You only have time for a very quick refit and check before the ship is off on another run. But watching the stars is for pilots and passengers. You got into the job so you could work with the most complicated engines and machines known to humanity. There is always a new mystery with these devices, always a surprise, and you’ve learned so many tricks over the years to make them work far better than even their designers expected. EXPLOITS » Ship Rat. You gain an overall familiarity with starships, and get a +1d6 bonus to checks related to them. » Familiar Decks. Your familiarity with starships is such that you can automatically navigate to any location inside one. » Brace Yourself. You are so accustomed to the starship environment, instinctively knowing how to brace yourself, that you never take damage from external starship fire. » Hitch-hiker. You can get free passage for yourself and your party on civilian or commercial vessels.

SPACE PIRATE (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: acrobatics, astrogation, brawling, carousing, clubs, dodging, gunnery, intimidate, knives, piloting, pistols, swords, survival, zero-g Just as seas and oceans have been plagued by pirates in the past, now the space-lanes are beset by them; rapacious, predatory groups of men, women and all manner of aliens infest the lawless regions of space. Chancing on solitary vessels in the vastness of space is unlikely and the regions near space ports are usually too well-guarded; consequently, space pirates usually rely on informants to give them suitable co-ordinates to lurk in wait for defenceless merchant vessels. Some space pirates with Earth ancestry choose to ape the stereotypically maritime pirates of ancient movies, complete with outlandish costumes, comical accents and small pets. EXPLOITS » Maimed. You lost a hand, arm, leg or eye in an epic fight. You gain +2 REP. » Pirate Swagger. If you are not Restrained and spend an action boasting, brandishing weapons and flaunting wounds you can make a REP mental attack against a target within 30’, inflicting the Afraid condition on a success.

» Robo-Companion. You gain a miniature Robot with an animal form as a companion (see The Robot Wars). » Space Tough. You have taken plenty of beatings and brutal punishments. You gain a natural +2 SOAK. » Treasure Map. You have some type of chart or clue that is meant to give the location of remote treasure.

THEME PARK STAFFER (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: LOG +1, WIL +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: acting, historical period, hunting, perception, riding Adventure theme parks, exotic reservations and themed playgrounds for the rich and elite serve as hotspots for the rich and elite who are seeking a diversion from their daily doldrums. Either that, or they are using the theme park as an excuse to indulge in their less savoury habits. You are a member of the theme park’s staff. You are essentially employed to cater to the whims of the rich and powerful as they hunt dinosaurs or practice their gun-slinging skills. You might also hail from a theme park that fell onto hard times and had to subsequently close. EXPLOITS » Always a Way. You have always used your talent to make extra money away from your day job. You can automatically make an amount equal to a CHA check x 10cr per day by doing this. This exploit cannot be used during downtime. » Gunspinning. You know a few tricks and moves with a pistol that let you show off. This may be spinning it around your fingers or twirling it in and out of a holster, like something from an old film you saw one time. You might not be great at shooting it but you sure look cool. If you get a chance to perform your skills, you get a +1d6 bonus to any subsequent social checks. » Tour Guide. You learned your role by rote, which included learning the specifics of both the period and setting. Gain +1d6 to any skill checks whenever you find yourself in a similar setting. » Unseen. You know how to blend into the background so that nobody pays any attention to you. You gain a +1d6 bonus when attempting to do so.

VID PRESENTER (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: Journalist, Star, or Sportsperson » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: journalism, concentration, insight, perception, [performance], [sporting], carousing You have made a name for yourself as one of the voices or faces of entertainment. It might be as a sports commentator, music jockey or a game show host. For those who style themselves as dignified, maybe you have your own show as an investigative reporter or documentary maker trying to inform the masses. Some people come to presenting to inform and educate, some are after the money and fame. It’s up to you which one to choose, but it’s rare to manage both. EXPLOITS » Fame. People know who you are, usually. You can make a REP roll at a difficulty dependent on how well disposed the nearby people are (easy at a celebrity event, very hard if perps are trying to rob you). On a success it turns out the group not only recognises you, but are good fans. With a quick autograph, they will either stop harassing you or grant you a favour. » Talk About Nothing. You know how to fill in the gaps in airtime when you run out of things to say. You can go on for hours saying nothing of value at all but keeping the conversation going. While you talk (which takes an action), those within 30’ of you who can hear you are distracted, and suffer -2 to all DEFENCES. » Star Contacts. You’ve been around, and you’ve met a few people. Some of these are huge stars that are more than happy to hang out with you or help with one of your infamous madcap schemes – anything to stay in the public

eye. Once per adventure you can spend a LUC die to call on your contacts to get pretty much anything: tickets to an exclusive event, an expensive item, first class travel etc. However, if the Game Master rules the favor is too big, the opportunity for that adventure is still used up, so don’t push your luck.

XENODIPLOMAT (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: INT +1, LOG +1, CHA +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: [academic], bureaucracy, appraisal, computers, interrogation, [social] With the galaxy home to all manner of species, there is a clear need for people who can facilitate communication between each race. After extensive training in subject matters such as business transactions and tourist information, xenodiplomats can find themselves stationed across the galaxy in roles that range from trade negotiation to diplomacy. Given the variety of alien species, many Xenodiplomats work as part of a team, with no single person having all the knowledge, skills and experience required. The job requires infinite patience, as it is very hard to determine if any problems at the negotiating table are due to language or cultural barriers, or just that the other envoys have chosen to be difficult! EXPLOITS » I Get You. You automatically know if a phrase or action will cause offence to a member of an alien culture. » Alien Etiquette. Having dealt with a lot of aliens a Xenodiplomat knows how to interact with a variety of different species. They gain +1d6 when dealing socially with any and all aliens. » Sign Language. Skilled in body language and alien customs, you need not know the language a character is speaking to be able to communicate with them.

MUTANT CAREERS MUTANT CULTIST [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: mutant, theology » Attributes: STR +1 AGI +1, END +1, WIL +1 » Skill choices: [combat], intimidate, survival, track You are a mutant who follows the teachings of an inspiring leader. Some call them the mutant messiah. The cult’s doctrine preaches hatred of the “norms” and the technology that has been devised by their hands. Many of your fellow cultists arm themselves with large hammers and axes to smash up technology, though they are prepared to use firearms and explosives in their cause. Even trading outposts suffer their wrath and are put to the torch. EXPLOITS » Destroy the Cursed Machines. You receive +1d6 on any melee damage you inflict on machinery, including robots. » Mad Dogs. You gain +2 MENTAL and VITAL DEFENCE when engaged in a holy mission for your spiritual leader. » Tough! You have taken your beatings and have shown that you are tougher than most. You gain +2 SOAK, which stacks with any other SOAK you may have.

MUTANT IRREGULAR [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: mutant; tracking or perception » Attributes: AGI +1, END +1, INT +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: knife, rifle, perception, climbing, stealth, tracking, survival, local knowledge You were able to find employment serving as an irregular within an armed service engaged to protect a city or planet. You are used to being expendable and have little in the way of official uniform, but have learned to make yourself useful. EXPLOITS » Mutant Hunter. You have a penchant for tracking your own kind. You gain +1d6 on hunting, perception and tracking checks related to mutants. » Secrets of Survival. You gain a +1d6 bonus to INT and WIL checks relating to your chosen terrain, which is selected from Desert, Mountain, or Marsh. You may choose this more than once, selecting a different terrain type each time. » Vigilant. Constantly vigilant, you are hard to surprise. You gain a +1d6 die bonus to the ambush turn.

MUTANT STALKER [1d6 years]

WALL HOPPER [1d6 years]

» Prerequisites: mutant, riding » Attributes: STR +1, AGI +1, END +1, INT +1 » Skill choices: [combat], perception, intimidate, riding, tracking Not every bounty hunter operates out of the Doghouse. Some hard-bitten mutants track down others of their kind for more unsavoury paymasters. Though they can rarely afford to be picky, most mutant stalkers find work tracking down indentured servants who have escaped from unscrupulous masters.

» Prerequisites: mutant » Attributes: END +1, AGI +1, INT +1, LUC +1 » Skill choices: climbing, jumping, running, stealth, bluffing The comparatively clean living of the cities remains a lure for the starving, downtrodden mutants of the ghettos and wastelands outside of their walls. In places where they’re barred entry, some seek to enter via freight vehicle, while others risk scaling the walls or crawling their way through tunnels. The truly desperate try to build escalading or flying machines, most of which provide great target practice for those stationed on watch. Some of those lucky enough to evade detection opt to move in and out of the guarded conurbations, stealing food and other commodities from its citizens, shopping malls and warehouses. Others try to reside in derelict areas, unable to claim any welfare benefits, ever watchful for the law enforcement that would summarily throw them out of the city. Your existence in the city is precarious, but for the moment it is better than your life outside the walls.

EXPLOITS » Rugged Rider. Add +1d6 to all riding checks when riding an animal. » Mounted Pursuer. Increase your SPEED by +2 when chasing someone while mounted. » Stalker of Mutants. You gain +1d6 when tracking and intimidating mutants.

SIDESHOW FREAK [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: mutant. » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill choices: [development], [performance], disguise, escape artist, intimidate You are a figure of entertainment and amusem*nt, earning your keep as a novelty act at an amusem*nt park or travelling show of some size. It’s a hard life, but you have an extensive family that will literally jump to support you. EXPLOITS » Are You Not Entertained. If you spend an action performing your trademark stunt, you can make a REP mental attack against a target within thirty feet, inflicting the Afraid condition on a success. » Extended Family. While in the same city or region as your show, you can summon 1d6 circus members to rapidly back you up. They arrive within 5 minutes. » Full of Tricks. Choose any three skills from [performance]. You gain one rank in these skills.

EXPLOITS » Hidden Ways. You know a way in and out of the city, not necessarily pleasant or safe, but one currently unknown to the local law enforcement. » Hideout. You know and use a rundown building with a well-hidden cellar or secret room in a remote area of the city that is free of surveillance and off the patrol routes of the law. » Haul. Successful raiding has needed you a cache worth 2d6 x 100cr. » Law Radar. You gain a preternatural sense for when the law is near. You gain +1d6 on perception rolls to detect the presence of law enforcement, even those in plain clothes or vehicles.

S/D AGENT RECRUITMENT AND CAREERS

There are certain steps to follow before being licensed as a Strontium Dog, represented through the S/D Agent career path. The following walkthrough is used for creating Grade 5 agents.

» Step 1. Choose an origin from the core rulebook, or one of the new civilian and outlaw origins on pages 21 or 22 of this book. » Step 2. Choose a recruitment career from pages 35 or 36. This describes how you first became an S/D Agent. » Step 3. Complete the Rookie S/D Agent career on page 36. » Step 4. Move on to choosing two Search/Destroy Agent careers (or one career twice) from those listed on pages 38-40. » Step 5. Complete the character creation process as described in the core rulebook.

S/D Agent Career Path

S/D AGENT RECRUITMENT

ROOKIE S/D AGENT

DIMENSIONAL AGENT

The origins of a Strontium Dog are as varied as the different mutations that they bear. Not every Agent comes into the Doghouse from the same walk of life. A starting S/D Agent must take one of the following recruitment careers before moving on to their S/D Agent career proper: Born to It, Mentored by an Older Dog, and Score to Settle.

BORN TO IT (1d6 Years) » Prerequisites: none » Attributes: STR +1 AGI +1 END +1 WIL +1 » Skill Choices: pistols, brawling, knives, tracking, interrogation Like a parched desert nomad stumbling towards an oasis, some folks fall headlong into bounty hunting. But not you. You were born and raised to be a bounty hunter. Most of your family are, or have been, S/D Agents. You wanted nothing more than to be like them, and the moment you got the chance you begged mum to train you to shoot a Westinghouse VariableCartridge Blaster and toss a T-bomb with the best of them. You are likely to have friends who are bounty hunters, and numerous contacts in the profession as well as family. EXPLOITS » NUX for All! You know your way around a pair of electronux; you know just how to hit hard with these shockingly effective weapons and can cause extra damage with them. When striking with electronux, you do an extra +!d6 damage. » Pack Backup: You’re not a Lone Wolf; you know the value of trusted allies and teamwork. When you make a REP mental attack against a target, not only do you affect the target with an Afraid condition on a success but you can also affect one extra target within 30’ for each member of your party also within 30’. » Extra Clip Trick: If you run out of ammo, you can make a Challenging [13] LUC check to bring out another ammo clip. Whether you pass or fail, remove a LUC die from your pool. You can use this ammo yourself, or toss it to a friend in need—if you have any left alive.

ORIGIN

AGENT IN TIME

S/D AGENT RECRUITMENT

S/D AGENT

VETERAN S/D AGENT

MENTORED BY AN OLDER DOG (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: usually mutant » Attributes: STR +1, AGI +1, LOG +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: law, perception, pistols, rifles, tactics, interrogation Some folks are born to it, some are pulled onto the streets and thrown to the proverbial wolves to get where they are, and

» Old Dog, Same Tricks. If they’re not dead, your mentor can sometimes give a helping hand. If they are close by, you can request direct assistance. Otherwise, you can contact them and request a favour, such as the delivery of a T-Bomb or access to their contact network.

SCORE TO SETTLE (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: usually mutant » Attributes: STR +1, AGI +1, END +1, LUC +1 » Skill Choices: brawling, pistols or rifles, knives or swords, fortitude, tracking, intimidate You have a few targets in your sights, ever since you survived a slaughter that would put most psychopaths to shame. You’re out for revenge, and you have a big score to settle. You’ve spent years training up, working through minor targets and finally you’re going after the big one. You’re going to show these folks that you don’t have to be an S/D Agent to get your marks. Though honestly, when you deal with these scumbags this is exactly what you’re going to do—join the Doghouse and put these perps in the ground where they belong.

others need to shoot some folks to settle a big score. You, on the other hand, made an impression on a Veteran S/D Agent. Enough of an impression that they took you under their wing, honed you to be more than just a machine of the Doghouse and gave you a firm grounding in how to apply the law and bullets in equal measure. You trained with them for years before you struck out on your own and became an S/D Agent hoping to make your mentor proud. EXPLOITS » Trouble Eh? You know trouble, you know the signs, and you can read a situation better than most. You instinctively know when something is up and are always able to act in the ambush turn. You’ll need to talk to your GM and make sure they can give you some clues about the current scene, and especially if things are about to turn nasty. » LAW, Schmaw. You know the law, you know the loopholes and you’re really good at dealing with law enforcement. When you’re in a scene with other law enforcers, including fellow S/D Agents you can leverage this to gain a +1d6 bonus to all checks which involve the law skill. » Make Me. You have a greater than normal WIL, which grants an automatic +1 bonus to your WIL attribute if you take this recruitment option. You can also spend LUC dice to re-roll WIL checks.

EXPLOITS » The Good, the Bad, and the Mutie. You have an aura about you, one which really puts folks on edge and intimidates the heck out of them when you walk into a room. Maybe it’s the sight of a blaster on your hip, or the way you swagger, but you can pick a single target in 30’ of you and inflict the Afraid condition on them as long as you perform a successful CHA mental attack. Even if you fail, you still unnerve them enough for them to be wary of you. » A Few Credits More. You always get paid a bonus when you do a job. You’ll always have just enough money for a hotel room, a drink, or any purchase which might further the story along. You want to buy a communication satellite, nope, but if you want to buy a drink for that red haired vampire mutant lady at the bar so you can find out some info which leads you to a mark – sure, go for it. » Drink Em Down. Booze doesn’t affect you one iota. In fact, as long as you drink some you’re going to gain +1d6 to any skill check which involves shooting that pistol of yours. Think of yourself like a Drunken Master, only with guns. » High Noon. Once per day you can always beat the bad folks to the punch, especially in a standard spaghetti western style stand-off. The only requirement: stare down your opponents, lock eyes with each and every one while slowly tapping your fingers near your gun. When the fight starts, you and and any allies within 30’ gain +1d6 to your INITIATIVE checks.

ROOKIE S/D AGENT

You have made it to the Doghouse. Now it is time to get your gun, badge, and a warrant to arrest/terminate the scum of the galaxy. S/D Agents do the dirty jobs that no norm ever wants to do, hunting down the most dangerous scum galaxy has to offer. The money is good, but the chances of survival are slim. Regardless of the path you chose that led to you earning your spurs, you must choose the Rookie S/D Agent career before advancing on to become a more experienced agent.

ROOKIE S/D AGENT (1d6 years) » Prerequisites: Born to It, Mentored by an Older Dog or Score to Settle » Attributes: Choose any four attributes at +1. » Skill Choices: law, brawling, pistols, tracking, throwing, riding, piloting, stealth You joined the Doghouse only a short while ago, but you are already making a name as a rookie and turning heads in the organisation, for good or bad. You brought in Dirk Bungle last week and Trish Trash the week before. Not exactly Grade A threats, but you did it without help. Having just started, Rookie S/D Agents are not expected to survive for long. The Doghouse recollects the badges of fallen rookies almost daily, which has so far not included you. Lacking the skill, training and experience to be really good yet, you are on the road to greatness but just need one big mark to bring in. Who knows, you might even impress the likes of Durham Red

or Johnny Alpha. If Red does not shoot you with a stun gun first and steal your bounty—ask Johnny about that one. EXPLOITS » Rookie Mistake. Hey you are a rookie, and rookies make mistakes. Sometimes they get killed by those errors, but not today. Through luck or judgement, you can spend a LUC die to ignore a single complication that would normally affect the next check you make. No more than one LUC die may be used per check. » Opportunistic. You are sneaky in a fist fight; you can land a punch and often get a shot in just when your opponent is really not paying attention. A feint with one hand, and a sucker punch with the other – that is just how you like it. If your attack roll beats your opponent’s MELEE DEFENCE by 5 ore more, you can inflict double damage with a punch. » Making a Name for Yourself. You are making waves as a rookie. You impress folks quickly and can usually be counted on to get the job done, which stands you in good stead with those you meet. Gain +1d6 to REP checks. » I Always Get Shot. You have seen the vid slugs where the newbie takes a bullet because they are in the wrong place. They are never fatal unless it is the series finale. In your case, you have an amazing habit of attracting attacks meant for your allies. If you are within 10’ of an ally who has been hit with an attack, you can spend a LUC die and choose to stand in the way to take the hit yourself. If

the attack would kill you, you instead gain the Downed condition and drop to 1 HEALTH. » Lucky Shot. You are really lucky when it comes to shooting that variable-cartridge blaster of yours, so lucky that you can turn a failed attack into a successful one by spending a LUC die. Your luck always manages to strike the most vulnerable part of the foe too, inflicting the Bleeding condition when you trigger this exploit to shoot someone.

SEARCH/DESTROY AGENT CAREERS

Of course, having taken the Rookie career you are eventually going to get skills and experience to become an S/D Agent proper. Likewise, if you are an S/D Agent with a string of arrests and contracts under your gun-belt then you are definitely going to become a Veteran. These careers are stepping stones to help you get to where you want to go, or packages that define a build at the start and evolve over time. Unless Max Bubba blows your head clean off, which is considered by many as a career ending move.

AGENT IN TIME [1d6 years] Time travel and dimension hopping can have all sorts of funny side-effects on a bounty hunter. Not everyone can handle the strange disjunction that hits them at the moment they rip through into a different time period. Some need only seconds to orientate, others need to take a moment to get over the disjointedness. And though they are never spoken about, a few become completely unhinged.

A seasoned time traveller, you have always felt as though it were nothing more than a stroll in the park. You never experience any issues stepping from one time period to the next, and are usually always prepared to fit right in with the local situation. You might even be one of the rare time travellers who has transitioned from the past into the future, like Wulf. It matters not. Other than striving to enjoy your existence while you can, time has little meaning for you. » Prerequisites: Rookie S/D Agent » Attributes: AGI +1, INT +1, WIL +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: [combat], concentration, disguise, escape artist, history, law, running, stealth, tactics, tracking EXPLOITS » Energised. Time travel energises you, honing your instincts to apparent danger. Anyone attempting to ambush you suffers a -2d6 penalty to their check and you never suffer any disorientation when time travelling. » Fallen Angel. You seem to have picked up an ageless, ethereal quality that you are able to use to your benefit when time travelling. When in any other time period, you can make a CHA mental attack against a target within 30’. If successful, the target gains the Dazed condition. If you fail, the target cannot be affected by your use of this ability in the future. You may take this exploit a second time, which allows you to use it in your own time period. » Internal Compass. You always seem to know which direction you are facing, no matter which time period you end up in. You are always aware of the cardinal directions and never get lost in outdoor environments.

» I’ve Seen This Before. It might be déjà vu, or you might literally have seen this before. Whatever the case, you’re prepared; you can spend a LUC die to gain an extra turn which you can insert before somebody else’s turn. You can only do this once per round. » Shock Absorbent. Your mind weathers the distortion of time travel exceedingly well. Gain +2 MENTAL DEFENCE.

DIMENSIONAL AGENT [1d6 years] Though rare, some missions require S/D Agents to step into alternate realities and alien dimensions. Only the hardiest of Strontium Dogs are offered the task, not least because the mortality rate is understandably high. Reported alternate dimensions run the range of galactic utopias to horrendous alien hells, which means that an S/D Agent should be prepared for any and every eventuality. If you are on this career path, you have spent some time closing out contracts in other dimensions. Although few and far between, these bounties are always extremely lucrative. Hopping between dimensions and facing what you have faced has left you kind of numb, but this also means you are even less fazed each time you hop through a portal. » Prerequisites: Rookie S/D Agent » Attributes: END +1, WIL +1, LUC +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: [combat], bravery, high-g, law, local knowledge, running, stealth, survival, tactics, tracking, xenology, zero-g

EXPLOITS » Dimensional Demons. You have taken down some of the worst creatures to inhabit other dimensions. When you are fighting any creature of size large or larger, you can spend a LUC die to inflict double damage to it. » I’ve SEEN Things. In any 24-hour period, the first time you suffer from the Afraid condition you may ignore its effects. » Multiple Exposure. Dimension hopping has exposed you to all sorts of environments and toxins. Gain +2 VITAL DEFENCE. » Read the Room. Even in alien dimensions, you have an instinct for knowing when things are about to go down. You can perceive tell-tale tics, read a room like a book, and get an idea of what’s going to happen before it really does. Once per scene, you can make a Challenging [13] INT check in order to ask the GM a question about what is going down, what is going to happen, who might start a fight and who is going to make a run for it? If you use this information against them, you will gain a +1d6 bonus on any skill checks made against the perp or in the situation.

S/D AGENT [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: Rookie S/D Agent » Attributes: STR +1, END +1, INT +1, REP +1 » Skill Choices: climbing, [combat], conviction, hardy, interrogation, intimidation, jumping, law, local knowledge, riding, piloting, running, tactics, stealth, tracking

You know the ins and outs of the S/D Agency. You remember being a rookie, but those days are behind you now. You get big jobs to hunt down rogue killer servant robots and murderous rampaging three-headed mutant dogs with halitosis. You are the kind of S/D Agent who everyone wants to hire to bring in the bad guys, your rep is solid and you know which end of a variable-cartridge blaster to point at the bad folks. You have the skill and training to stand tall with your peers, and possibly even have the grudging the respect of the likes of Durham Red and Middenface McNulty. You are an S/D Agent with a pocket full of credits, a hefty swagger, and a T-bomb for any unlucky sod who gets in your way. EXPLOITS » Bait the Line. An S/D Agent has to be ready to play possum, set traps, act as bait and pull in a mark when they least expect it. If you succeed at a CHA mental attack against a mark and convince them that you are not the one hunting them, you gain +2d6 to any check made to access the ambush turn against them. You also gain +2d6 to any attack made against them during the ambush turn. » Catch the Mark. Rule 242 of the Galactic Bounty Hunting Guide states that unless your warrant specifically requires you to terminate your target, you should bring your bounty in alive. You are practised at dropping opponents without mortally wounding them. Should your target take damage enough to kill them, you can make a Challenging [13] LUC check to instead render them unconscious and ready for transport to a prison shuttle or holding pen. In other words, you can let rip with your biggest gun and take your opponent down in the hopes of still bringing them in alive. » Lock the Target. You are really good at shooting, so good that you get a +1d6 bonus to all checks that involve shooting firearms. Not only that, but your eagle eye way with a shooting iron also grants you an automatic re-roll once per adventure if you miss with your pistol. » Spread the Net. When working with other S/D Agents or allies, you can use a communicator or other form of comms and spend a LUC die to provide one of them with +1d6 to any checks used in the pursuit of your mark. This bonus lasts until the end of the current scene. An S/D Agent or ally can only benefit from this ability once per turn. » Steely Mind. S/D Agents have to deal with all kind of scum, and they have to be tough. This includes mental fortitude. Once per adventure, you can trigger this exploit to gain a +2d6 bonus to a WIL check, allowing you to face down the worst the galaxy has to offer. You also gain +1 rank to your intimidate skill.

» Eye of the Tiger. S/D Agents like you have been in brawls and you know your way around a fist-fight. So, you increase your unarmed damage by +1d6. You also gain +1d6 to INITIATIVE checks when engaging in fist to face action.

VETERAN S/D AGENT [1d6 years] » Prerequisites: At least one career as an Agent in Time, Dimensional Agent, or S/D Agent » Attributes: STR +1, END +1, INT +1, Any other at +1 » Skill Choices: brawling, climbing, conviction, hardy, interrogation, intimidation, jumping, law, local knowledge, pistols, riding, piloting, rifles, running, tactics, perception, insight, tracking You are an S/D Agent through and through; you have trained Rookies, worked with partners, buried your fair share of folks and shot those who double-crossed you. You are at the top of your game, and you are on the clock. You know there is always someone bigger, toughermore dangerous and lethal out there and they might just be gunning for your hide. You have spent years in the S/D Agency and you have an impressive track record of warrants completed, perps caught, and folks killed. You gained the respect of the likes of Middenface, Durham Red, Johnny Alpha and Wulf. You know how to spot a trap, can work out when a deal is about to go south, and have a keen eye when it comes to lobbing a wellplaced grenade into a mutant ganger’s bunker. They call you Veteran for a reason: you are still very much alive. EXPLOITS » Requisition. You can call in a favour from the Doghouse to receive a piece of gear, equipment, a vehicle or any kind of explosive. Want that T-bomb? Yep, you can ask for one. Need more ammo? It will be sent express delivery. Of course, you can only ask for this once per adventure, but every little helps, right? » Pick Yourselves UP! You have an air of command, a kind of presence that does wonders for those around you. You are a Vet of the Doghouse, someone who has seen all kinds of Grud that the galaxy has to offer. Your inspiring command and your nature has a near supernatural effect on those around you. Use this ability as an action. All allies within 30’ heal +1d6 HEALTH. No creature or mutant can benefit from this ability more than once per day. » Coordinated Assault. As an action, you provide a bonus to anyone within 30’ of you, or over communications to any tactical situation. This bonus is usually used when working with other S/D Agents to take down a mark at the same time. You need to specify which particular skill you give this +1d6 bonus to, though everyone also gets an automatic

+1d6 to the tactics skill as well. This bonus can only be gained in any round in which you use an action to apply it. » Inkling for Badness. You have survived for this long because you know people, you know what they are capable of and you can smell someone who is dodgy in an instant. Make an INT mental attack, if you are successful and the target has ulterior motives, is corrupt, or just a plain bad person you know it – you do not know exactly what is wrong with them, but you will be wary of them from then on. Also, if you enter combat with this target you will gain +1d6 to INITIATIVE. » HUH, Really. You are tough as nails, as rough as the galaxy is; you have punched it in the face more times than you care to count. You gain +4 MENTAL DEFENCE. » Old Leather. Your hide has a lot of scars. You have been shot, stabbed, and beaten more times in this job than you care to count. You gain a natural SOAK bonus of +3.

» Variable-Cartridge Blaster Master. You know this weapon like the back of your hand, you feel the weight of the stock, the amount of ammo in the clip, and you know it intimately. You gain a +1d6 damage when firing your trademark S/D Agent weapon. » One Last Breath. You have not been killed yet, and you are damned if you are going to die like a punk. Your death has to have meaning, so if you are going to die you will not actually expire until it is totally thematically appropriate— discuss this with your GM. Otherwise, the first time that your last die would be taken from your death countdown pool, you instead wake up later with a nasty injury, are out of action for a while, or get KO’d and captured by the bad folks. Start humming that revenge theme! Also, talk with the GM in secret and decide if you are going to come back later on when the other players think that you really are dead. After all, the galaxy is a magical place and you never know what might happen!

CH/2: GET YOUR GEAR ON! The job of an S/D Agent is fraught with danger, so the Galactic Crime Commission (GCC) make sure to outfit their Strontium Dogs with the best that money can buy. This chapter provides a sample of the weapons and gear available to S/D Agents operating in the field across any number of lawless planets in an unforgiving and often deadly galaxy. From the Westinghouse variable-cartridge blaster to the iconic time-bomb (t-bomb), a Stront’s every need is catered for where bounty hunting and mayhem are concerned. Characters can grab themselves a blaster, load up on cartridges and get out there to dispense some much-needed justice!

A DOG’S WAGE

Credits, cash, moolah, money. Characters are going to need some form of currency as payment for their dangerous job. Bounty hunting can prove to be a lucrative enterprise for a mutant. The Galactic Crime Commission make payment in credits for each mark or contract, which can specify alive or dead depending on the mission in the brief. Termination Warrants—also known as Kill Warrants—are the most profitable contract an S/D Agent can get. Unless they are due to be sent back in time so that Hitler can be kidnapped and placed on trial, of course.

Starting Credits To determine their starting funds, Strontium Dogs roll REP and LUC dice pools as usual. A modifier is then applied dependant on their current status within the Doghouse. » Rookie S/D Agent: Multiply the total of the dice pool by 15, then add 100cr. » S/D Agent: Multiply the total of the dice pool by 20, then add 150 cr. » Veteran S/D Agent: Multiply the total of the dice pool by 25, then add 200 cr. Characters who are not S/D Agents begin play with the standard amount of credits defined in the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD (total of REP plus LUC dice pool multiplied by 20, raising to 100cr minimum if lower than this). As noted earlier, the Galactic Crime Commission outfit their bounty hunters well. Most civilians and criminals simply do not have a powerful law enforcement agency backing them. Note: All Strontium Dogs bear some kind of mutation. An unfortunate few, however, gain little more than a cosmetic alteration for the Strontium 90 that has altered their DNA. To offset this, players with an S/D Agent that has only cosmetic mutations will automatically get more creds to spend. Such characters with non-beneficial mutations begin play with an additional 100cr.

TAKE HOME PAY Bounty hunting can be a lucrative business, which is often exactly why a mutant takes on a career that is no less dangerous than herding chuckwallas into a starship’s hold. Of course, no Strontium Dog scores the big one on their first mission. And rarely do they get to retire. Despite big scores on multiple contracts, S/D Agents keep returning to the Galactic Crime Commision for more warrants. The purpose of this sidebar is to offer advice for contracts that provide a large credit incentive without their fulfillment necessarily breaking the spririt of the game. First and foremost is GM transparency. GMs should be clear with the players from the start that while banking credits is an incentive for every bounty hunter, the spirit of the game is to also enjoy multiple crazy adventures that keep their agents hungry for more. Earning a million credits and entering early retirement will bring the game to a sudden and unsatisfying halt for everyone. To that end, GMs should discuss exactly what might bring a player’s character back to the GCC in search of more credits. Perhaps they are squirrelling their money away and always promising themselves that the next one will be the last or they cannot rest until one particular criminal is brought to justice, or maybe their hard-earned cash can be found at the bottom of a bottle of Mac-Mac or in the nearest casino’s vault. Beyond this, the GM and players should agree that the reward offered is not necessarily the final amount of credits a bounty hunter will receive, as a number of payments are required to various egencies before an S/D Agent receives their final cut. A few examples include the GCC wanting their cut for deigning to allow an S/D Agent the opportunity to handle the bounty, travel expenses between Systems and planets, renumeration for any damages incurred and special operational needs such as time or dimensional services. Rather than offer hard mechanics for each aspect of this, players should operate on the understanding that their final credit tally will be around fifty percent of that offered. With any remainder split between all involved.

EQUIPMENT FOR AN S/D AGENT

With a whole galaxy to explore, there is a lot of gear available for denizens of the 22nd Century. Although there are a few notes, equipment from both Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD and this chapter is readily available to characters within the Strontium Dog setting. In terms of availability, the codes on p. 91 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD remain largely unchanged. As there are a vast number of planets and races to encounter across the galaxy, Game Masters will sometimes need to make judgement calls on which items are considered Legal, Restricted, Proscribed, Military or Alien at any one time. The only availability code that is definitely not available to characters within the Strontium Dog setting is Judicial. These special items of Justice Department equipment are reserved for Judges only - unless the GM is running a crossover event featuring both Judges and Strontium Dogs, which has happened within the comics and is entirely feasible. There are no Judicial code items within this sourcebook. Instead, Judicial has been replaced with Galactic: Galactic. This technology is highly classified and only dispensed by the Galactic Crime Commission. It is authorised for use by Search/Destroy Agents within the remit of the bounty hunting role. Unless authorised by the GCC, use outside of this is strictly forbidden.

Variable. Variable weapons use ammunition or settings that provide different effects. It takes an action to switch the weapon’s ammunition or setting. Most variant models use a switch to vary the setting. Voice recognition variants can often be purchased, though this adds 50cr to the weapon’s base cost.

Damage Types Humanity has had a penchant for finding newer and deadlier ways to vaporise itself across the centuries. The march of decades from Judge Dredd’s timeline has facilitated this trend towards even greater means of doing so. The following new damage types are associated with the weaponry of Johnny Alpha’s timeline. Disintegrate. A type of heat damage, this powerful beam leaves nothing after killing a victim. The target’s body blazes out of existence and totally disintegrates when their HEALTH is reduced to zero. There’s no coming back from that unless you are caught in a Time Drogue bubble. Also applies ANTI-VEHICLE 3 to the target when used against inorganic matter. Flesh. This variable beam is particularly effective against organic targets. Anything biological is considered to have vulnerability (1d6) against this damage type.

Special Traits Stasis. A beam variant which projects a stasis bubble around a target, completely incapacitating them until the effect wears off. This is a non-lethal attack which inflicts the Restrained condition (Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD p. 147).

Melee Weapons

Pistol Variants

A brutal array of melee weapons exists in the 22nd Century. There are knives and las knives, electronux and the massive warhammer known as the Happy Stick used by Wulf Sternhammer. Barring any Judge-specific weapons such as the Lawgiver, characters are free to use any of the weapons from Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD in addition to the weapons presented here. Las-Whip. The laser whip, or las-whip is a nasty weapon which can be controlled by variant pressure on the device’s grip-like handle. The ability to toggle the whip on or off, harden the beam to block enemies’ attacks and duel with other las-whip wielders creates quite a spectacle in battle, allowing experts in this weapon to create a majestic display in combat. Las-Staff. When you take a quarterstaff and add laser enhanced blades on either end, you get a las-staff. This brutal and effective weapon is mostly used by criminals and outlaws. Electronux. An old weapon that dates back to the brawls of earliest civilisation, the addition of a power-pack and 20,000 volts turned the knuckle-duster into a favoured weapon of the S/D Agents: the electronux. Der Happy Stick (Warhammer). Brought through from another timeline by Wulf Sternhammer, the design of this weapon has not changed much across the centuries. Wulf’s Happy Stick is a variant Warhammer that hits like a freight train thanks to a heavier head and better balance in the handle.

Blaster (pistols). A reliable pistol found all across the galaxy. Apart from the fact that they come from hundreds of manufacturers and virtually anyone can get hold of one cheaply, it really does not have anything special going for it. The standard blaster is the modular base from which all other blasters are formed. More expensive custom variants can be fitted with extra options and effects which range from stasis, flesh, disintegrate, and more. Blaster Rifle (rifles). Webley, Krupps, Westinghouse and various other providers of quality weapons all produce longer range variants of their blaster designs. While there are not as many rifle versions as pistols, these are the most common type in use with both S/D Agents and criminals alike. Blastinger (pistols). Thanks to certain mutations, some Strontium Dogs aim to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. With the plasma beam stinger - the Blastinger - every S/D Agent can do exactly that. Small enough to keep hidden away, this concealable blaster pistol packs the same damage as a regular hand blaster. What it retains in power, however, it loses in range. Blastingers automatically have the miniaturised trait (Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD, p. 111). Blatling Gun (heavy weapons). Unless the user has enhanced strength, robotics, or some other means of wielding one, these heavy weapons are often stationary or mounted on a gimbal. A Blatling Gun is essentially a rapid-fire Gatling Blaster that is optimised for a longer range than other weapons of its kind. Blazooga (heavy weapons). The genius weapons guru known as Marvey Hellbanger floated this design to techs at several manufacturers before Krupps agreed to develop the concept of taking an old school bazooka and combining it with the effective nature of laser weapons. The Blazooga was born shortly after and has remained a top-notch, deathdealing instrument for discerning hunters since 2153 AD. Compact Stormer (pistols). Not be to be outdone by Krupps, Webley decided to offer a Stormer variant to the consumer market. They created the Compact Stormer and soon copies of their design were everywhere. It is basically a pistol-sized version that can be fired one-handed but loses none of the Stormer’s power. Crackler (pistols). Complex electronic systems allow up to three separate enemies to be targeted with this weapon, which sends beams of death directly arcing toward them once the trigger is pulled. It is named so due to the signature sound the weapon makes as the beams sizzle through the air. To make an attack, the wielder nominates one target and up to two others within ten feet of the original target. A ranged attack is then made against the VITAL DEFENCE of each target as normal.

Ranged Weapons With the likes of Westinghouse, Webley, Krupps and thousands of other manufacturers spread across the galaxy, S/D Agents often find themselves becoming familiar with all manner of ranged weaponry—sometimes thanks to the recommendations of fellow S/D Agents, other times at the insistence of the bounty they’re tracking. Unless otherwise stated, many of the weapons used in the 22nd Century are beam based. Also, Judge-specific weapons from Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD are not available in Johnny’s timeline. (Unless the S/D Agents have undertaken some time-hopping themselves, of course.) As with the rules in Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD (p.101), ammo is optionally tracked for most weapons. The Westinghouse Variable-Cartridge Blaster has its own special ammo rules described further on. A clip or power pack is good for 20 shots and costs one twentieth of the cost of the weapon. With so many potential manufacturers, several weapons are included that have not necessarily been seen within the comics. In order to add flavour to their games and setting, GMs are encouraged to create their own providers of quality ranged justice beyond the regulars presented here.

Firepak (heavy weapons). A heavy, cumbersome weapon that uses a large fuel cell mounted in a backpack to create a mix of beam energy and specialised fuel that creates a lasting effect. Essentially a flamethrower powered by beam technology, the highly intense plasma is directed through a specialised hose and nozzle. High-Power Blaster (pistols). In the late 22nd Century the likes of Webley, Krupps, and Westinghouse became the top tier manufacturers of firearms. The High-Power Blaster variant overcharges the blaster housing and allows for a more coherent and powerful beam to be shot from the weapon. High Power Blasters sacrifice a little of the ammo size, meaning that clips contain only 10 shots. High-Power Stormer (rifles). Much like its blaster cousin, overcharged power packs give this weapon a bugger punch. Because it is bigger than a pistol, however, it sacrifices nothing in the way of ammo. Hunting Las Rifle (rifles). Barnetta, Sharpshot, Krupps, Webley, Westinghouse, all of these manufacturers provide some form of rifle for the discerning hunter. With this weapon, sharpshooters benefit from an extended range, a stylish carry case and a choice of classic finishes. Each hunting las rifle also comes fitted with an advanced scope, because unless the wielder has REALLY good eyes, they will definitely need one. (The cost for an advanced scope has already been factored into the weapon’s price.) Mortar (heavy weapons). A long-range delivery system that does no damage by itself but can be used to project various explosives a fair distance. While updated slightly, this simple and effective system remains a staple of military outfits across hundreds of worlds. A mortar has a minimum range, with attacks unable to be made inside this. Mortars generally require two personnel to operate effectively. Napalm Blister Blaster (pistols). Some folks just want to fire a beam at other people with the intent of setting their target and everything nearby on fire. Thankfully, the weapons manufacturers of the 22nd have them covered. Enter the Napalm Blister Blaster, a gadget constructed to cover every pyromaniac’s need. This weapon shoots a beam of energy that not only ignites the target, but also combusts nearby enemies and objects as well. Repeater Blaster (pistols). By the time the Krupps corporation decided to enter the arms race, the big companies such as Westinghouse and Webley were already sprinting for the finish line. After considering options, Krupps opted to provide lots of firepower in a compact package. Rather than offer a big gun like the Variable-Cartridge Blaster or a custom like the Webley, they opted for a blaster with a high rate of fire that would send opponents running for cover once the beams started flying.

Alpha Speaks: GUNS GUNS GUNS Not all ranged weapons are made to the same 3d printed template, some are different, and you can modify them by altering the special tag at the end of the list. If you want a Krupps .35 which fires a blast beam that sets things on fire and electrocutes them – then there’s nothing stopping you, except for common sense. But when has common sense ever stopped criminals from bolting on new and deadly ways to kill S/D Agents?

MELEE WEAPONS DAMAGE

TYPE

COST (CR)

SIZE

WEIGHT (LB)

AVAIL.

LAS-WHIP

2D6

HEAT

200

REACH

LAS-STAFF

2D6

HEAT

230

ELECTRONUX

2D6

ELECTRICITY

160

STUN, IGNORES ALL SOAK

3D6+2

BLUNT

N/A

WEAPON

DER HAPPY STICK (WARHAMMER)

SPECIAL

RANGED WEAPONS WEAPON

DAMAGE

TYPE

RANGE

COST (CR)

SIZE

WEIGHT (LB)

AVAIL.

BLASTER

1D6+4

HEAT

100

SIDEARM, BEAM

BLASTER RIFLE

2D6+4

HEAT

300

BEAM

BLASTINGER

1D6+4

HEAT

SIDEARM, BEAM

3D6

HEAT

125

21,000

200

ANTI-VEHICLE 3, BEAM, AUTO

2D6+2

HEAT

2,200

ANTI-VEHICLE 4, BEAM, BURST 2, HEAVY

2D6

HEAT

150

SIDEARM, BEAM

2D6+3

HEAT

1,000

BEAM

2D6

HEAT

210

BEAM, COMBUST, BURST 3, HEAVY

HIGH-POWER BLASTER

2D6+2

HEAT

200

SIDEARM, BEAM

HIGH-POWER STORMER

2D6+4

HEAT

170

BEAM

HUNTING LAS RIFLE

2D6+4

HEAT

1,750

BEAM

200

2,000

HEAVY, MINIMUM RANGE (25)

2D6

HEAT

500

SIDEARM, BEAM, BURST 1, COMBUST

REPEATER BLASTER

1D6+3

HEAT

250

SIDEARM, AUTO, BEAM

REPEATER BLASTER RIFLE

2D6+4

HEAT

280

BEAM, AUTO

REPEATER STORMER

2D6

HEAT

250

BEAM, AUTO

BLATLING GUN BLAZOOGA COMPACT STORMER CRACKLER FIREPAK

MORTAR NAPALM BLISTER BLASTER

SPECIAL

RANGED WEAPONS (CONTINUED) DAMAGE

TYPE

RANGE

COST (CR)

SIZE

WEIGHT (LB)

AVAIL.

SCATTERBEAM STORMER

2D6

HEAT

190

BEAM

STORMER

2D6

HEAT

150

BEAM

2D6+4

HEAT

275

BEAM

300

SIDEARM, BEAM, VARIABLE

» STANDARD

2D6

HEAT

BEAM

» DISINTEGRATE

3D6

HEAT

ANTI-VEHICLE 2, DISINTEGRATE, IGNORES ALL SOAK

» FLESH

2D6

HEAT

BEAM, FLESH

» STASIS

1D6

BALLISTIC

BEAM, STASIS

» STUN

2D6

ELECTRICITY

STUN

2,500

SIDEARM, BEAM, VARIABLE

» NO.1

2D6+3

HEAT

BEAM

» NO.2

1/2 NO.1

HEAT

BEAM, IGNORES 10 SOAK

WEAPON

THWUP GUN WEBLEY

WESTINGHOUSE VARIABLE-CARTRIDGE BLASTER

SPECIAL

» NO.3

1D6

HEAT

BEAM, COMBUST, DOUBLE DAMAGE TO ROBOTS AND INANIMATE OBJECTS

» NO.4

2D6

HEAT

BEAM, BURST 1

Repeater Blaster Rifle (rifles). After the success of their sidearm, Krupps added the repeater blaster rifle to their catalogue. On the surface, this stylish weapon appears to resemble an upmarket version of any other battle rifle on the market, only it throws out a hellish amount of beam fire for the price tag. Repeater Stormer (rifles). Anyone looking to really drop the Hammerstein needs to use a Repeater Stormer. The D13 Krupps Repeating Stormer is the first, last, and only word needed when seeking to make a statement that begins and ends with kascrackle. Scatterbeam Stormer (rifles). Crossing a beam-splitter with a Stormer creates a dangerous variant known as a Scatterbeam.

These weapons are great for throwing indiscriminate fire into crowds, which is perfect for anyone who does not care about collateral damage. Anyone attacking with a Scatterbeam rolls 1D6+1 for the number of targets they can attack with the weapon in a round. Each target must be within 5 feet of each other. Only a single attack roll is made, which is then compared against each target’s RANGED DEFENCE as normal. Stormer (rifles). Although they need to be held in two hands, Stormers were designed for close quarters combat (CQC) and boarding actions. S/D Agents and criminals both make effective use of the weapon, though it is a particular favourite of pirates. The weapon is essentially a shotgun that fires plasma beams and melts faces.

Thwup Gun (rifles). A variant of the Stormer, this quality design features higher power, longer range and increased beam coherency thanks to the focussing crystals and arrays deployed in the barrel. Westinghouse may have had a hand in this weapon’s construction, as several of their techs are credited with adding better quality components to the firearm. The distinctive ‘thwup’ noise made when the weapon discharges provides its name. Webley Custom Hand Blaster (pistols). Not for lack of trying, Webley just could not match the sheer design genius of Westinghouse. They opted to create the bounty hunter’s next best choice and crafted their Custom Hand Blaster model instead. With a few features that set it apart from the Westinghouse, criminals have no chance when a Webley is paired with the S/D Agent’s iconic blaster. Durham Red uses a custom voice-activated multi-round hand blaster: the Shrecks NOS-4-R2. » Standard. Like the Westinghouse No. 1, standard ammunition with no surprises. » Disintegrate. Ammunition that literally disintegrates the area struck. Clothing and armour, flesh and bone, everything disappears. » Flesh. A round that attacks organic matter, sloughing flesh from bone. The damage can rapidly spread if not contained. » Stasis. This ammunition pops a stasis bubble around the target (see Stasis, p. 43) » Stun. A static discharge designed to incapacitate a target. Westinghouse Variable-Cartridge Blaster (pistols). In the world of the S/D Agents there is no more iconic hand weapon than Johnny Alpha’s gun: the Westinghouse Variable-Cartridge Blaster. Packing the firepower of a variable weapon with a high-quality design and longer range, Westinghouse is the preeminent name in bounty hunting enforcement across the galaxy. With a custom grip, voice activated ammo selection, and a variety of specialised cartridges on offer, there is really only one gun a bounty hunter will need during their lifetime. The Westinghouse can be loaded with a mix of 20 cartridges, with ammo voice selected from the intelligent mag system. » No 1. A standard shot, nothing special about this one. » No 2. Armour piercing beam designed to bypass all but the strongest armour. » No 3. These rounds produce a high intensity, heatenhanced plasma beam designed to create an incendiary effect. They ignite combustible materials and can also be used as a cutting torch, which is why they are often called a tunnel round, or tunneller for short. » No 4. This cartridge overloads the plasma beam to create a sudden explosion at the point of impact. These beamlaunched mini grenades are great for ending boring conversations or taking out a room full of bad folks.

» Electro-Flare. See the grenade entry, p. 49, for the ElectroFlare variant cartridge.

Bombs, Devices and Grenades S/D Agents have a variety of bombs and other means to make life hell for criminals, from the vicious Frag Bomb to the temporal warping Time Bomb, there is always something to toss at the bad folks and ruin their day. An attack with a bomb or grenade in Strontium Dog follows the same rules as Hand Bombs - see Judge Dredd Rulebook p. 103. Beam Polarizer (throwing). A flying saucer-shaped innovation from the same minds that conceived the Time Bomb, the Beam Polarizer is a gadget that will float via anti-grav circuitry once tossed into the air. Any beam-based weapon— laser or otherwise—is drawn into the field projected by the disc and neutralised, which also includes weapons used by the Strontium Dog deploying the device. Only total destruction of the disc by non-beam weapons will ensure the field is terminated. A Beam Polarizer projects a 30-foot sphere that provides total invulnerability against weapons with the BEAM trait to anyone within its envelope. Blackout Grenade (throwing). For shock value, the next best thing to deploy besides an Electro-Flare is the Blackout Grenade, a device an area that is completely impenetrable to every aspect of the visual spectrum—which includes the electromagnetic range. Once deployed, the grenade creates a 10-foot sphere of impenetrable darkness that remains in effect for 5 minutes. The area within is considered total darkness. Dimension Warp (throwing). A dangerous and highly sought-after device, the Dimension Warp opens a rift and permits travel through to another dimension. These devices are usually deployed as a quick get-away or means to trap someone in another dimension entirely. Considered highly illegal for anyone other than Search/Destroy Agents, these devices are rarely sanctioned for use by anyone other than Stronts. Anyone caught within its 10-foot blast when triggered is immediately sent to another dimension. The rift remains active for a further 3 rounds, providing others with the opportunity to follow the unfortunate souls if they so wish.

BOMBS, DEVICES AND GRENADES DAMAGE

TYPE

COST (CR)

SIZE

WEIGHT (LB)

AVAIL.

BEAM POLARIZER

1,000

BLACKOUT GRENADE

500

DIMENSION WARP

25,000

ELECTRO-FLARE

1D6+2

HEAT

100

BLAST 2, STUN

FRAG BOMB

2D6+2

PIERCING

BLAST 2

2D6

POISON

BLAST 2, STUN

25D6

75,000

HEAT, RADIATION, IGNORES ALL SOAK

5,000

STASIS

2D6+4

HEAT

500

BURST 3, COMBUST

TIME BOMB

50,000

TIME WARP

TIME DROGUE

25,000

TIME REWIND

TIME SHRINKER

75,000

TIME TO DIE

TIME TRAP

75,000

TIME WARP

WEAPON

GAS BOMB POCKET NUKE STASIS GRENADE THERMO BOMB

The dimension that the rift leads to is totally random in choice. GMs are advised to allow careful use of these devices. Their activation should normally serve as plot devices for exciting dimensional escapades. Electro-Flare (throwing). These can be purchased as grenades or cartridges that can be loaded into variable weapons, meaning the Westinghouse can deploy these bombs as effectively as the Webley, for example. The electroflare emits a magnesium bright flash of light which blinds and disorientates enemies. Grenades explode with burst 2, cartridges with burst 1. Frag Bomb (throwing). The standard fragmentation device has not changed much throughout the years; they detonate and send shrapnel to flying randomly in an area. Deadly when used in close quarters or when thrown into groups. Gas Bomb (throwing). These bombs emit a debilitating gas cloud within the area of effect. Any victim without a sufficient way to fend off the gas—such as a mask or mutation—will begin to suffer the effects almost immediately. The gas inflicts

SPECIAL NULLIFIES BEAM WEAPONS CREATES A GLOBE OF DARKNESS INSTANTLY SENT TO ANOTHER DIMENSION

damage 2D6 poison damage with the stun trait, plus the same damage for each round a character remains within the affected area. Unless dispersed by some other means, the gas cloud covers a 10-foot area for 1 minute before dissipating. Pocket Nuke (throwing). Highly restricted and illegal on numerous worlds, these devices should only ever be used as a last resort. The p-bomb, or pocket nuke, is the first, last, and ultimate word in destruction. Using the very best in microdestruction tech, a p-bomb can level a whole city in an instant and leave nothing standing. These items cannot be bought and are only handed out at the GM’s discretion—if they dare. Stasis Grenade (throwing). A larger variant of the stasis effect deployed by variable-custom blasters, the stasis grenade projects a localised stasis field in an area around the point of impact. Anything caught in the blast is frozen in place by the powerful energies that have been unleashed, which remains in effect for 1 minute. Anyone caught within the reach of the initial blast is completely immobilised, as is anything that enters the envelope before the effects dissipate.

PLOT DEVICES A large proportion of the devices listed in this section are game-changing items. After all, anything that can open dimensional rifts or tinker with time is going to have immediate and unprecedented effects. GMs should think carefully about their inclusion and allow their use only sparingly, as their effects can serve to quickly derail a game - even Johnny Alpha refrained from throwing Time Bombs around with any great frequency. With that said, the devices presented here are known to be used by, and have even been specifically designed for, Strontium Dogs. Banning their use completely could suck the fun out of the game quicker than moisture evaporates from the Desert of the Living Dead. Search/Destroy Agents running amok and taking down every big bad with ease thanks to their doomsday devices would soon get stale, but allowing the players to use them as plot devices that drive the story forward would serve to increase the fun and high-jinks. GMs are therefore encouraged to work with the players in balancing their use within the game. Perhaps they could instead be thought of as realworld tokens that allow the players to tinker with the strip’s script outside of the game. GMs can also use the items listed here as plot devices of their own, of course. Johnny and his friends have endured some bizarre adventures thank to the equipment granted by the GCC. Perhaps the PCs can fall into fantastical tales of their own thanks to some dimensional rift or temporal event. Yes, their use will likely need a little prep and thought, but any Strontium Dog worth their salt will state that each also needs a little planning. Which includes an inventory of the latest time manipulation and dimension warping technologies available. Thermo Bomb (throwing). Without exception, all thermal bombs are nasty weapons that projects a large ball of plasma around the point of impact. Anything caught in the explosion is likely to be melted or set aflame, or sometimes both. These devices are good for dealing with Portabella Mega Wasps. Time Bomb (throwing). One of the most innovative and decidedly twisted ways to dispatch a group of enemies, the

Time Bomb is a one-shot device that is thrown just like any other grenade. The disc-shaped device can be set to minutes or days both forward or backward in time. In terms of the game effect, the Time Bomb creates a temporal rift (not spatial) in a 10-foot burst. Anything or anyone caught in that area is catapulted back or forth (but not space) to the predesignated time. The whole area, including people, robots, dogs, cats, hamsters, vehicles and surrounding matter is thrown forwards or backwards. Most S/D Agents set these devices set to one or more days, because by then the planet, asteroid, or ship has moved on and the victims pop out into space where they have a few short moments to realise they are up Creve’s Creek without a turbo paddle. The only way to avoid this is to not get caught in the area of effect when the bomb goes off. These devices are highly restricted and regulated by the GCC. Time Drogue. S/D Agents tend to shoot first and then wonder what would have happened if they had asked their questions earlier. Thanks to the Time Drogue they can do just that, plus they get to watch the target die a second time. Early Time Drogues are one-shot devices that can be activated to rewind time in a bubble focussed on a target, who comes back to life and can be questioned for as long as the drogue is active. Drogues do not remain active for long. They last only a few minutes before the time field collapses and the victim dies a second time. In game terms they can last for the length of an interrogation scene, or up to 10 rounds before shutting down if used in combat.

Time Shrinker (throwing). This saucer-shaped device (as most time gadgets are) projects a bubble of temporal energy over a target that rapidly advances time in the localised area. The net result quickly ages the target to death and beyond, or perhaps infirmity if the field is shut off sooner. This also works on inorganic matter, which means that robots can be turned to rust and so on. If used in combat, the target ages 2d6 years for each round the device remains active. Time Trap (throwing). A variant of the time-bomb, this ingenious device projects a field of chrono-particles that destabilises time around it. Anyone stepping into the field is hurled back a few seconds to mere nano-seconds before they took the step that trapped them. Rinse and repeat, no escape. Those caught by the effect cannot simply decide to not take the fateful step. They are now in a temporal loop that repeats until they die of starvation or thirst—just another way that Strontium Dogs have been dealing with bad folks in style since 2180 AD. In game terms, whoever gets caught in this is going to relive those final few steps over and over again until they die. In combat, the victim continually repeats the actions they took in the final round that trapped them. At the GM’s discretion, an overlapping field or temporal effect may free someone who is trapped. However, the ripples or effects that such a course of action might induce are anyone’s guess.

Gear The 22nd Century brought innovation after innovation into private law enforcement, providing Strontium Dogs with equipment that puts the fear of the Doghouse into the likes of criminals and the public alike. With devices such as the Time Drogue in their armoury - a hand-held temporal device that rewinds time in a bubble around a victim to allow S/D Agents a second chance at dropping their mark - what chance does the regular criminal have? Anti-Grav Chute (200 CR). A hand-held device that can be deployed to stop lethal fall damage, an anti-grav chute uses micro-computers to calculate the gravity displacement field it needs to project in order to provide the user with a safe landing. In game terms, this is a parachute-style gadget that totally prevents fall damage from any height. Anti-Grav Globe (250 CR). A spherical device that can be tossed a short distance, the globe automatically nullifies the gravity in a 30-foot sphere when activated. Any object or person caught within the globe’s effect that is not fitted with a gravity belt (see below) is subject to the rules for Zero Gravity. Unless trained to operate in such, they will find it difficult to do anything except fire a blaster. Of course, aiming can be tricky even then if you are upside down or bouncing from the ceiling. Chameleon Cloak (5,200 CR). An advanced form of camouflage in the 22nd Century, a Chameleon Cloak renders

the user virtually invisible, making target acquisition by opticbased systems, ocular devices and the good old Mk. 1 eyeball almost impossible. Only eyes like Johnny Alpha’s stand any chance of spotting targets hidden by this garment. While it does not stack with other camouflage properties or cloaking, it is still highly effective. The nanotech in the cloak confers a +2d6 bonus to checks made to hide while wearing an active cloak. Gravity Belt (120 CR). Anyone seeking to avoid the effects of any kind of Zero-G, especially the above-mentioned Anti-Grav Globe, will certainly want to purchase and equip the standard gravity belt. This belt nullifies the effect of Zero-G, allow the user to move normally and operate in this environment without any kind of movement penalty. Handcuffs (30 CR). Available in a variety of designs, these durable cuffs for securing prisoners and preventing them from doing anything with their hands. A Strenuous [25] STR check or Demanding [21] AGI check can free a person from a pair of handcuffs. Every level of quality a pair of handcuffs has increases the difficulty to break out of or escape from them by one benchmark. Slightly more expensive versions exist with voice-print locks and built-in electro-shock devices. For these variants, add 100 CR onto the base price for each feature that is included. Handheld Tracker (200 CR). A tracer is only as good as the device used to read the signals, and fortunately for you, the 22nd Century manufacturers of the best devices use the highly specialised D-0g Bounty Hunter chips to power their tech. The tracker picks up the slightest signal even after a decay period, and confers a bonus of +1d6 when you are trying to track a tracer ping. Infra Torch (100 CR). Sometimes you do not have eyes that can see the infra-red part of the spectrum, this hand-held torch lets you mimic that mutation and follow the footprints of bad folks where ever they might go (unless they take a dip in hot lava or water). The brighter the footprint the closer you are to the source of the tracks. It cannot be used to follow tracks if they have been left over a few hours ago. Life Wire (80CR). This can be deployed from a custom blaster weapon, especially the Webley and/or the Westinghouse. It is a long steel cable that is as thin as a razor’s edge, but extremely durable and capable of taking a lot of weight. The thinness of the cable makes it a dangerous device and it will cut the fingers off anyone who holds onto it, thus special handles are included in the package to allow an S/D Agent to safely use the cable to climb or slide down. Anyone who comes into contact with the life wire without the handle and tries to hold onto it will take 2D6 Slashing Damage automatically, no SOAK. Roll a D6, on a 1-3 they lose 1 finger, on a 4-6 they lose 1D3 fingers. It could also be used as a trap to slice someone’s head off.

GEAR COST (CR)

WEIGHT (LB)

AVAIL.

ANTI-GRAV CHUTE

200

ANTI-GRAV GLOBE

250

CHAMELEON CLOAK

5,200

120

HANDHELD TRACKER

200

INFRA TORCH

100

LIFE WIRE

MORK TACK

200

RANFE FINDER

100

23,000

100

500

WEAPON

GRAVITY BELT HANDCUFFS

SHORT RANGE TELEPORTER TRACER WRIST COMPUTER WARRANT SCANNER VID SLIG + CAMERA

Mork Tack & Harness. The gear required to successfully use a Mork as a riding or pack animal: saddle, stirrups, reins, and various straps to attach cargo. You can expect to pay 200cr for a decent set of tack and harness. If you want extra things like saddle bags and so on, you can expect to pay around 400-500cr for the top end gear. Range Finder. For 100 CR extra onto of the cost of the weapon, a range finder is added. The Range Finder is a custom module which allows the S/D Agent to fine-tune the range of the blast up to the max range of the weapon. The blast can be set to detonate at any point within the range limit, passing harmlessly through organic and inorganic matter until it reaches that detonation point. This weapon acts similar to the Phasing customisation in the core rules in the way it ignores any cover penalties.

Standard switch and voice variants exist for Webleys. Voice variants synergises with the voice recognition system on the Webley if one exists. If no voice variant exists then the user must use a manual range calibration setting. If using voice the wielder vocalises the range and the gun automatically calibrates to that desired point. Thus the S/D Agent can shoot through the body of a hostage with no effect, and strike the target with pin-point accuracy. The Range Finder can be used with the Aim Action or Called Shot. Short Range Teleporter (23,000 CR). A box-like device which attaches to a bandolier or belt and can be operated to zip the user through space a short distance to reappear elsewhere. Essentially functions as a personal transmat from the core rules with a reduced distance to 25’ and a recharge time of 1D3 Rounds. Tracer (50 CR). Being able to follow a perp back to their hideout is something that most Bounty Hunters prefer, rather than full-scale wars in seedy space bars; it is often easier to get a bigger Termination Warrant list when you have all the bad folks together. This little device pops a tracker or tracer on the target and lets you follow the signal. Unless the signal is blocked by some form of signal damper or blocker, it will lead you to the target within 100’. Wrist Computer (100 CR). A useful device which is mounted in a gauntlet attached to wrist armour. The wrist computer mimics all the functions of a personal hand-held computer and projects a holo-screen full of information. It can be used as a replacement for the Warrant Scanner and synchs to the camera in a helmet or other rig. Warrant Scanner (50 CR). A Warrant Scanner can be obtained for a very nominal fee, which usually covers costs if stolen or broken. This hand-held device is a database of all bounties issued by the Galactic Crime Commission, plus their pertinent information; credit fees, alive/dead status and Termination Warrants all appear along with the correct security IDs and information to successfully complete the bounty. No S/D Agent should leave the Doghouse without one. Vid-Slug + Camera (500 CR). These low-cost (relatively) devices are bought as a pair and there are numerous manufacturers in the 22nd Century. The camera can attach to a harness or a helmet and with the aid of a vid-slug and connection to either a helmet or wrist mount system, can record several hours of footage or be set to take footage by user control in 30 second to 5 minute bursts. This footage is protected by secure-lox systems and can be used as evidence of a successful termination or even a firefight. This combination should be standard issue for all S/D Agents on the job.

ARMOUR ARMOUR

SOAK

COST (CR)

TYPE

WEIGHT (LB)

INEFFECTIVE

HELMET

300

LIGHT

LEATHERENE ARMOUR

LIGHT

MESH SUIT

LIGHT

PIERCING

AVAILABILITY

SHIELDS SHIELD

COST (CR)

TYPE

WEIGHT (LB)

AVAIL.

STRONT FORCEFIELD

2,000

+4 DEFENCE

TELKIN SHIELD

2,500

SPECIAL

Armour Although Leatherene is the armour of choice for most S/D Agents, they generally refrain from wearing too much of it. Armour is only good when it can block shots, and when you have variable range weapons which can be set to detonate after harmlessly passing through a hostage, regular armour is next to useless. Preferring to get the heck out of the way when the blasters start blazing, S/D Agents normally trade protection for mobility and opt to use a combination of mesh suits and pauldrons to protect themselves. Whether due to their mutation, a style choice, or operational factors, most S/D Agents choose to go without a helmet or other forms of head protection. Not so Johnny Alpha, whose helmet provides state-of-the-art projection with built-in features such as a camera and vid-slug socket. All so he can ensure that he always has backup evidence on hand when enforcing a Termination or Arrest Warrant. Helmet. A protective helm with disc-based vid-slug recorder built in, the visor also projects a display for data and camera feeds. Variant designs exist, but Johnny Alpha’ is the most iconic by far. Many S/D Agents using a helm customise theirs so they stand out from the crowd. For game purposes, a helmet like this comes with a holo-screen visor control linked to the builtin vid-slug and camera rig. Leatherene Armour. Pauldrons and other parts of an S/D Agent’s armour can be constructed from Leatherene. This durable leather-like material can soak a little damage from blasters and protect the wearer where fitted. Mesh Suit. A body glove made from mesh armour that offers a little protection while maintaining full freedom of movement. Lightweight and durable, mesh suits offer fair protection

SPECIAL

against clubs and blunt weapons but offer little resistance to sharp implements and blasters.

Shields This section provides two shields, one a variant of the protective barriers known as a Forcefields, the other an impressive psi-defensive barrier called a Telkin Shield. Stront Forcefield. Slightly more advanced than the standard version of the forcefield (Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD, p. 107), this variant lasts a little longer. This stationary field remains in place for two hours and has a recharge time of 30 minutes. Variants which also block environmental hazards and move with the operator exist, but each benefit requires paying the listed price again. Stront Forcefields are deployed from a stand-alone device that can also be modified to attach to a belt or rig. Telkin Shield. If you ever get tired of psychic enemies turning your mind into jelly or tricking your partner into thinking that you are a giant mantis-like bug alien who wants to chew their head off and chomp on their brain, a Telkin Shield is exactly what you need. This one-stop shield device is utterly useless at blocking blaster shots, but great at nullifying any psychic activity within the spherical field it projects. This also counts for any psychic powers the operator might possess, so they should not expect to be able to use them when it is deployed. This device produces a 30-foot sphere of energy that acts as a psychic nullifier. Anyone within the field is considered to have a PSI attribute of zero whilst it is active and psychic powers and effects cannot enter or be manifested within the field. A Telkin Shield will run for 1 hour before it needs to be recharged for 30 minutes.

VEHICLES VEHICLE GRAV BIKE GRAV CAR

COST (MCR)

WEIGHT (LB)

OCCUP.

SPEED

ACCEL.

HAND

HEALTH

SOAK

600

+12

3,500

+10

Vehicles With hundreds of worlds to tour and thousands of manufacturers, there are lots of possible vehicle combinations in the 22nd Century. Although the galaxy is wide and varied, Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD will cover vehicles for most situations. There are two hover vehicles in particular, however, that are a favourite amongst S/D Agents: grav bikes and grav cars. Every Stront will need a vehicle at some point. What better place to start than two vehicles that are considered iconic amongst your fellow Agents.

DEF

Grav Bike/Skimmer. Sleek but ugly, these vehicles are just as you might expect: they get you from A-B without frills, bells or whistles. Grav bikes hover just above the ground and chew through fuel cells like there is no tomorrow. Still, they make a quick and reliable stop-gap if you need to chase down a bounty and you don’t have your Mork at hand. Grav Car. Wulf and Alpha have used these vehicles from time to time. These sedate vehicles trundle along at ground level suspended from the floor on a grav field. Much like their twowheeled counterparts, grav cars do not look pretty; they are often quite box-like in appearance and also devour fuel cells at an unhealthy rate.

CH/3: SETTING THE TONE WELCOME TO THE 22ND CENTURY

Johnny Alpha, Wulf, the Gronk, Durham Red and more all live in a place which is downright hostile to mutants—or muties as they are commonly known by the normal humans. There is little or no respite for mutants travelling from place to place and they do not get to travel in style. Comfy cabins are meant for the normal folks, and mutants are anything but normal. A mutant aboard ship can expect a lower-deck, steerage cabin, tool cupboard, or a place on the floor in the engine room if they are lucky. If they have contacts,maybe they can get a cargo crate all to themselves. Then again, maybe not. An ingrained abhorrence driven by years of intolerance mean that a mutant walking along a street will see norms react with horror at their mutation, no matter what it is. They will be treated with loathing, fear and revulsion. Mutants need a thick skin (not necessarily the mutation) to withstand the comments. “Stinkin’ Stront.” “Go back to where you came from, Mutie!” “Bounty hunter scum. Only mutants are low enough to hunt down their own kind!” These kinds of jibes and snide comments are just some of the more printable phrases mutants and S/D Agents are subjected to. Mutants are lower than second-class citizens to normals. Unfortunately, unless they are the likes of Johnny Alpha—a hero from the mutant uprising who often donates his creds to mutant causes—mutants also readily pour scorn on each other. Thanks to laws passed by the likes of Nelson Bunker Kreelman and others, a mutant cannot own a shop, a business, or even own property. All-too often they are left with only one job, the dirtiest, low-down and most vulgar job in the galaxy: bounty hunting. The following general advice is aimed at someone new or someone who is not overly familiar with the comic strip, though aficionados will also find inspiration. It is designed to help a GM absorb the setting’s flavour and give the players a blast as they battle against the worst the galaxy has to offer. Have fun bounty hunting!

TOURING THE GALAXY

As previously mentioned, the best way to approach Strontium Dog is to think of it as a sci-fi Spaghetti Western before the likes of a certain fiery fly ever touched down on another planet. Or interstellar bounty hunting before Killjoys ever set off across the stars. There is no harm in taking inspiration from either, however. Western themes such as music by the incredible Ennio Morricone, for example, and even video game soundtracks like Starhawk, Starcraft 2, Lost Planet 3, and Rebel Galaxy all have that space-Western feel that can serve to fuel the tone for all kinds of bounty hunting antics.

Alpha Speaks

We aren’t talkin’ about the timeline yet, that’s later on. But the 22nd Century where me and Wulf hunt is different to what you might be used to with Joe Dredd’s world. I’ve been there, remember. I can tell you right now that our time is pretty bad for muties. And while Mega-City One has its fair share of perps and dangers, we’ve got a whole galaxy of troubles ready to come kicking down your door at any moment. But what does that whole thing feel like? How different is it to Dredd’s world? This is why you’re here. Let us tell you right now how to set the tone of the 22nd Century and become one of the top Strontium Dogs. Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2 have really good soundtracks that have just the right feel for this kind of setting. Plus maybe even the Borderlands OSTs. The Strontium Dog fan-film, Search/Destroy, is definitely worth a watch for inspiration. Lastly, of course, the excellent comics and collections are available digitally from Rebellion. Strontium Dog S/D Agency Files 01 – 04 provide everything you need to know about the adventures of Alpha & Wulf and are directly related to the time line that this roleplaying game is set within, although there are some oddities about the time line that are touched upon in the gazetteer section.

TOP DOG

Bounty hunting is where the Strontium Dog universe really comes alive. This is where inspiration from classics amongst the Spaghetti Western style of movies shine. Bolstered by Carlos Ezquerra’s unmistakeable aesthetics, Wagner’s original storylines draw heavily upon this genre of film themselves. S/D Agents are tasked with bringing in the worst outlaws and scum that normal folk are often unable to handle. Thankfully, mutant powers and powerful tech can make these warrants light work. Which can just as easily lead to jealous norms. As seen in the previous chapter, Strontium Dogs have access to some amazing tech. A common human criminal gang with Termination Warrants on their head have little chance of standing up to an S/D Agent, especially when said Stront can end the fight simply by tossing in a Time Bomb and zapping the perps into next Wednesday. Of course, the planet will have

shifted around to a new location in space by then, meaning disbelief and death soon follow. Everyone knows who the Strontium Dogs are. They are famed, feared and derided in equal measure throughout the galaxy. Selecting the right response for an NPC to an S/D Agent’s presence will really help with the tone. Their tech is known to be bizarre and dangerous. People react to that and human police forces often exclaim things like: “How can we be expected to keep up with the Stronts and their gear?” or “No one stands a chance against technology like this.” People covet this powerful tech but cannot get their hands on it. They also fear the mutants that use it. The average human law enforcer is a fallible creature who will not think twice about foisting their failings on the target of their anger, which is likely to be the Strontium Dog who made them look inept. Imagine a lawman who has been trying to take down Wicked Joe Boogie for a while. They have lost three or four deputies to the criminal scum when Durham Red suddenly rolls into town on her bike and prompt;y puts Joe and his gang down as though they were amateurs. That would certainly make them resentful to say the least. Or worse if they were pretty anti-mutant to begin with. There is no harm in occasionally mixing this up with thanks and praise. As it is often out of place, however, just be sure to leave the PCs wondering whether the acclaim is sincere or not.

“They give you mutants a badge and then you expect to be able to do whatever you want. As if becoming a Stront somehow places you above the law? No siree, not on my watch. Stinking mutant!”

Trust Me! Bounty hunting is a lucrative trade. While GMs will want the PCs to work together as a harmonious group of S/D Agents, money is a big lure in the universe of Johnny Alpha. There are numerous other bounty hunters who will not take kindly to someone taking a bounty they consider to be rightfully theirs. S/D Agents should get used to watching their backs every step of the way. As an example from the strips, Durham Red will often jump into someone’s bounty and finish it for them—especially if she is hungry. She has few morals when it comes to making money. While she did have a relationship with Alpha’s during their time together on the page, they walked their separate ways for one very good reason: Red just could not be trusted.

“Trust, now that’s a fine thing coming from you,Red.” Just like many of the classic Spaghetti Westerns, one of the big themes of Strontium Dog is that of trust. Just how much can an S/D Agent trust the other bounty hunters they know? Their own team? Long-term partner? What price is enough for them to shoot the PC in the back and take the creds for their own? GMs will benefit from discussing this beforehand with the players, particularly with a view to understanding what kind of tone of trust they want to take. Although a very rare case, working as a close-knit group of S/D Agents is noble. After all, Johnny and Wulf have an incredible bond and look out for each other with no exceptions. It takes mind-bending powers to get them to face off against each other, or situations where Alpha sees no other way than to make his friend mad so they can escape later on. Establishing the theme of trust at the outset can really help inform the shape of a campaign. GMs and players should keep in mind, however, that just because their Dogs are all working as a pack, the S/D Agency is full of the likes of Durham Red and the Stix. So there is nothing to stop GMs from creating a few bounty hunters who are money-grubbing enough to pull a caper on PCs. It can even set the tone from the outset if the PCs are swindled out of their creds by another unscrupulous Stront nabbing their bounty first. All it takes is a location, a Warrant Scanner and the jump on the target and suddenly the PCs are after the S/D Agents who ran off into the dusty sunset with their guy!

What is their Angle?

PORTRAIT OF A MUTANT’S WORLD

It bears stating again that immersing oneself in the Spaghetti Western genre will really help inform the tone of this setting. Watching some of the old movies, playing games like Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 or even Gun if it can be sourced. Soak up the themes and atmospherics of such sources are a great aid to planning confrontations for the PCs within the universe of the Strontium Dogs. The aim of world crafting here is to present this science fiction galaxy as something different. It is not a setting full of shiny ships, flashy technology and beautiful serene landscapes. There are no elegant mega-blocks reaching up to the sky or lawmen with white hats riding across the endless plains yelling, “Hi-Ho, Silver!” Although there are occasional beauty spots, the PCs will mostly be trudging across worlds that are downright dim, gritty, disgusting and unfair to anyone who is a mutant. There are ghettos and run-down settlements galore, with mutants packed into them like sardines in can. Using Durham Red as a spotlight again, her background revealed that she grew up in the great mutant ghetto at Milton Keynes. To hear her tell it, she paints a picture of a rough upbringing, even tougher people and neighbourhoods on the edge of a knife. Mutant beggars are on every corner of every settlement. They are shunned by the people who live there, which includes other mutants, and driven out from streets for just looking at someone the wrong way. Although if their head is on backwards, that is the only way they can look. The PCs will witness this kind of thing everywhere they go. There is precious little love for mutants amongst the norms. Those norms who are pro-mutant place themselves in danger and get treated with disdain. On the flip side of that, other mutants struggle to trust any human who says, “I love mutants, let them live with us.”

GMs should aim to emphasise the grim and grimy in their descriptions. There are run-down alleys everywhere, each one with a mutant that has four arms or a misshapen face holding on to a little sign that states “Orphaned by Strontium 90.” The fact that humans kick mutants to the curb and shove them to the edge of the frontier settlements should be on every face, behind every forced smile, and written in the eyes of all the normal folks the S/D Agents meet. Norms hate the PCs and are just daring them to interfere. Only rarely should they have an easy ride of it where humans are concerned. (A change is as good as a rest, as they say.) Just the simple act of getting from world to world will present opportunities for strong social roleplaying. Including changes when the S/D Agents board a new ship, such as a young normal girl bringing the PCs a bowl of stew in steerage or the captain of the ship sending an invite to the bridge. will provide a refreshing change of pace. If they are savvy, however, the first questions the PCs need to ask should relate to who exactly these people are and what their angle is.

SAMPLE TONE SETTING The PCs board a ship and are shown to their bunks by a crew member who states: “Here you go muties, your luxury accommodation!” With some laughter in their eyes, they point to a shabby cargo crate full of angular boxes that are not in the slightest bit comfortable. “Try not to stink up the crate too much.” They eventually roll into Dreadwood in the Swearengen System and meet up with Sherriff Rick Dimes: “I want you out of my town in three hours, get your mutant carcasses to the mutie shanty and do what you gotta do.” The Sherriff’s sneering deupties, Bubba and Duke Snook follow this up with: “Stronts got no right coming to decent law abiding towns like ours making trouble.” The PCs get straight on their bounty’s trail. They are constantly hampered by the lawmen, however, who often get in the way by showing up to try and take credit. Their mark eventually slips away, but of course, it is not the lawmen who are to blame. It is all the S/D Agents fault. The S/D Agents get back on the hunt, with their bounty about to have a day that just went from worse, to worst. The PCs manage to get a lead but now discover they are not the only ones hunting down Fudge Henry’s gang. Two more rival Stronts are on the trail in the form of the conjoined twins, Sprockett and Tubbs, and Lewd Mike. The delays mean they have heard about the 20,000 cr. on Fudge’s people and they want in.

When the PCs corner their bounty and are ready to take them down, rivals will often show up to complicate things. This is just a day in the life of a Strontium Dog. Business as usual. The payoff should never be easy for the S/D Agents either. They have hoops to jump through, forms to fill in and vid-slug evidence to provide. It can all take a turn for the worse if they do not have concrete evidence to provide against non-mutant targets. The GCC is hot on that stuff. When the PCs do get paid, the Galactic Tax Division will want to take their cut. Plus there is ammo to replenish, licensing fees to pay, expenses to cover, collateral damage to reimburse, and so on. There is more red tape than a ticker-tape parade. For their part, the GCC reps are often unwilling to help. They sit behind safety glass and make sure to serve non-mutants

first. It should take the PCs some time to get their turn at the glass. When they finally do, they will be faced with an openly hostile clerk who seems hell bent on making everyone else’s life —mutant or not—as miserable as their own.

Rot You, Alpha The 22nd Century is every outlaw’s dream setting. Law enforcement is often lax or non-existent, making the galaxy a dangerous place for everyone. Including the best S/D Agents. There is always some young gunslinger looking to make a name for themselves, especially if they can do it by shooting down a Stront. They travel the frontiers and look to pick fights so they can add to their tally. The PCs might not be Alpha, but there will often be someone ready with an itchy trigger finger.

Showdown Time! Combats in Strontium Dog are full of gadgets and dirty tricks. Though most fights will be straightforward, GMs will want to ensure enemies in the big fights use a few too. They will also not hesitate to blast the mutant scum whenever they can. There are brawls, with clubs, las-knives, electronux and more to look forward to. There is almost always plenty of scenery to break up. If a thug grabs a PC in a bar fight, he is going to want to take them out of the action, and that might mean trying to throw the Stront over a bar or through a window. As mentioned, S/D Agents have a wicked array of gadgets at their disposal. Rather than stifle their use, GMs should aim to make their use as exciting as possible “I throw my time-bomb at the bad guys, ” is a simple statement that still work, but the ultimate goal is to engage and inspire the imagination of the players as much as possible. This may require some leading by example. Instead of “Jock the Roper throws his grenade at you, roll for imitative, “ GMs should keep Spaghetti Westerns in mind and channel them for inspiration: “Jock eyes everyone in the bar before looking you up and down with a thin smile. “Stront, huh,” he says, then spits on the floor. “I got a bag of badges from your kind in my den. One more will be all I need to claim a bonus. Eat this!” he yells, making the first move. Jock is aiming a grenade in your direction as he’s diving for cover behind the jukebox. Roll for initiative.” Players can be rewarded with bonuses—a simple +1d6 will suffice—if they describe their character’s actions in the style of the Strontium Dog universe, especially if they master confrontations by perfecting the art of the standoff and draw. The standoff is the classic dramatic scene for Spaghetti Westerns. Combatants squaring off against each other, one chewing a cigar and both with narrowed eyes. The camera tracks from face to face to show the emotion of the people in the scene, the music gets real quiet, and the atmosphere is so thick it could be cut with a knife. Someone’s finger trembles at the handle of their gun. A nervous person just at the edge of the scene watches as time seems to stretch into eternity for the gunslingers. Beads of sweat rolling down faces. Then there’s a sudden chime, a High Noon clock that tolls like a portent of doom out, and all hell breaks loose. Of course, not every combat will take place in this manner, but that tension and drama is essentially what GMs should be aiming to tap into and convey in the Spaghetti Westerninspired 22nd Century setting of Strontium Dog. The action that follows the buildup is an unchoreographed ballet of violence with revolvers and rifles. Strontium Dogs have access to blasters such as the Webley and the versatile Westinghouse to add even more spice to this.

Beam weapons are great for punchy descriptions and adding a visceral nature to the firefights taking place. “Dirk Wispa gets blasted in the gut with your hand blaster,” is serviceable—but the dangerous and deadly nature of a blaster pistol can be conveyed with a little more narrative: After rolling to hit and calculating damage, Three-Eyes Flint’s player states: “Three-Eyes Flint aims and calmly pulls the trigger. The beam from his hand blaster slices into Dirk Wispa’s gut.” Noting down the damage, the GM responds: “The big man grunts, taking the full force of that blaster to his gut, and falls over with a scream of pain as the beam sears his insides. With their boss down, Dirk’s gang are beginning to look nervous.” If GMs have players who are new or not immediately comfortable with the descriptive nature of this type of narrative, running a few mock fights or simply discussing the concept beforehand can certainly help to inspire them. Gaining a little inspiration from each in terms of the themes and moods within the setting will ultimately help everyone. Combats and narratives will then soon flow naturally at the gaming table. Players, including GMs, should not pressure anyone. Descriptive narrative takes practice and there should always be room to grow.

Collateral Damage GMs seeking to bring the Strontium Dog universe to life need look no further than the comics (including art in this book) for inspiration. Studying the design of each environment often translates that there has been a lot of damage to them. With weapons and gadgets as destructive as those the S/D Agents use being employed, of course, there are bound to be more than a few simple bullet holes. Descriptions within the game can spiced up by highlighting the impact of the crossfire on the environment of the scene; splintering cover, broken chairs, vehicles that are caught by a blaster shot and turned into a fireball as its fuel cells ignite are just some examples. A gunfight in a sci-fi shanty town of corrugated sheeting and flimsy cover will get tougher when the metal sheeting gets turned molten by an S/D Agent’s blaster, or when a Stront knocks a criminal clean through the slatted doors of a packed saloon. Rather than fixate on hard physics, GMs should keep in mind that they are running a game inspired by comics. A bad guy will fall off a roof and spin a few times when shot, while a grenade will create a blast that sends bodies flying left, right, and centre.

TRAVEL IN THE 22ND CENTURY

Travel is expensive but luxurious in the most part for humans. Unless space pirates take over their space liner or mutants are brought up from the lower decks to deal with an escaped Smiling Chukwalla, they have little to worry about. You can assume that their tickets cost 100 CR for a shuttle to/from orbit and 200 CR for one that will take them to a nearby moon. Further distances cost 300 CR to 500 CR upwards of a 1000 CR for the more luxury forms of travel. Mutants very rarely get to travel in style. Their journeys happen in the lower decks only. Steerage relates to the cramped cupboards and dingy cargo containers. In comparison to humans, mutants also pay an extortionate amount to travel. Every S/D Agent can

expect to pay at least twice the standard rate for any journey they undertake. Travel times are highly narrative and not at all based on simulations or real world physics. Interstellar ships are capable of travelling thousands of light years in a very short space of time or meandering along at leisurely speeds. This aspect can entirely depend on the GM and story requirements. S/D Agents can board a cargo ship heading from Earth or the Doghouse to Parr’s World that might take two days to get to the destination. Then again, it might take longer if the ship has a shoddy hyperdrive or that Chuckwalla gets loose... There is absolutely nothing wrong in covering the journey through the use of narrative time. Viewing the journey as a series of dashed lines from A to B keeps the game focussed. Brief scenes can be used to make travelling interesting, such as the PCs getting heckled by the crew as they board the ship or encountering local law enforcement as soon as they arrive. Port authorities have special lanes for mutants entering their stations and S/D Agents are no different. Such lanes are also enforced on planet-based starports, space stations and other areas of human-controlled colonies and settlements. Humans largely have complete freedom of movement. Mutants are highly restricted, which includes being able to access transportation to a bounty somewhere far off.

TIME AND DIMENSION IN SPACE WILD WEST

The comics were amazingly zany and eccentric. “Be gloriously over the top!” is the perfect mantra for this roleplaying game. Strontium Dog has always embraced the unconventional and bizarre, so over the top means really over the top. In one story arc, for instance, Johnny Alpha and Wulf end up in a dimension similar to Hell. They undertake some dimensional travel and face off against all manner of devilish creatures. It is gonzo in all the best ways and inspiring at the same time. In another, a huge bounty leads to all sorts of shenanigans between the S/D Agents as they all try to secure the contract. Johnny and Wulf come out on top and are sent back in time via the time machine at the Doghouse to capture Hitler and bring him to trial. These later strips are the blood and bone of Alpha’s adventures. Referring back to them can serve as inspiration to spice up any Strontium Dog game. It is advised, however, that this is done sparingly—as a seasoning and an occasional treat—as these elements will run the risk of getting old fast. Dimensions that are visited often will hold little to surprise intrepid Agents. There is the also matter of time travel itself. Choosing which model to employ will have ramifications on any game. GMs can delve deeply into the subject by studying theoretical time-travel books and creating dozens of rules for time travel.

22ND CENTURY PLACES TO GO

Chapter 4: Alpha’s World contains a gazetteer and comprehensive time line of the Strontium Dog strip. The sections that follow here are a quick and dirty tour of the settlements and conurbations that can serve to bring to life to every game of Strontium Dog. These descriptions will assist GMs when serving up the ragged and diverse locations of the 22nd Century to the PCs.

Frontier Settlements

Strontium Dog capers, however, should focus on fun and excitement, so it is recommended that GMs not agonise too much about wrecking the time continuum. Time travel will often be dangerous, although S/D Agents have the luxury of shooting first and using a time drogue to ask questions later. The last thing a Stront will worry over is breaking the future by shooting a hole in the past. Two options for handling time travel include: » Non-Destructive: In this version, the time-stream is not altered since everything in the future has already taken place. An alternate reality opens up in response to any historical change that does not break the PC’s own main reality at all. » Elastic Reality: In this variant, something altered in the past does change things in the present. Killing Nelson Bunker Kreelman means that Alpha is never born. In response, the present may actually be worse now, and mutants are now shot on sight because someone nastier than Kreelman took office and Alpha is not around to oppose them. Rather than worry over the specifics, GMs should aim to make the time travel part of Strontium Dog a fun alternate place for your bounty hunters to have great scenes and outlandish adventures. The focus can then remain on taking down the outlaws so the PCs can claim their credits and upgrade to a new cargo crate when travelling to Parr’s World. If the PCs break things, they can hopefully fix them before the GCC finds out.

These are a cred a dozen and are readily found on thousands of worlds. The further out one travels, the more frequently these will be found. They are ramshackle dives and dingy holes plonked down by human colonists, or were perhaps founded by mutant renegades who were seeking to escape from Kreelman and his oppressive laws. Each and every one could be described as a “One Mork Town”. Frontier settlements look dirty and cobbled together, with corrugated iron or metal sheets making up the walls and ceilings of buildings, and half-buried water recyclers and processing units jutting up out of the floor. A fuel station which serves the odd grav truck or skimmer that rarely stops here stands idle and somewhat forlorn. Vegetation is sparse as the ground is cracked and pock-marked with years of environmental abuse. They have a saloon and a motel, both of which offer some form of entertainment. The residents likely have a chip on their shoulder, while the lawmen are often just barely able to do their job and are often found deep in a bottle of whiskey. They truly dislike S/D Agents coming to town. Gangs plague these places like locusts, however, so most folks are secretly thankful when a Strontium Dog shows up to claim on a bounty. They might hate mutants, but they are quietly grateful when a Stront brings down an outlaw and leaves the town a little cleaner.

Mutant Ghettos The most famous and potentially most dangerous mutant ghetto to ever grace a planet is also the birthplace of Durham Red: Milton Keynes. The story is the same in mutant ghettos across hundreds of so-called civilised worlds, however, with mutants crammed into terrible accommodation like threeheaded sardines. So much squalor and so many downtrodden mutants generates a knife-edge atmosphere. Norm-controlled checkpoints restrict movement to almost every mutant except S/D Agents, meaning that ghettos quickly become a hive of scum and villainy, with overpopulation only

adding to the systemic crime environment. Dozens of gangs who all want a slice of the ghetto’s real-estate pie and the crime profits that come with it fight over scraps. Those who have risen to the top of the heap often lord their power over those who are worse off than themselves, forcing members off into their own splinters. Anything that could pass for a shop or service in these places is few and far between. A hidden food vendor in the back alleys will be little more than someone selling slabs of fried mork off the back of a cobbled-together food stand, the bits of leathery hide sizzling away on unsanitary metal and old shopping trolleys gently warmed by a few pieces of smouldering wood. Gangs control almost everything sold in these places, allowing them to restrict goods that might give any rivals an edge. The peace between each faction is tenuous at best. If one suddenly gains an advantage, the others scramble to take it. There are also few bounties, as the gangs make sure that crime is mostly mutant-on-mutant and the norms could not care less about the freaks wiping each other out and decrease the population. Any bounty placed is likely to be a big one.

Towns Spread across colonised worlds like a web of steel, concrete and oppression, the town is often the default population hub for any world, from the communities on Earth to the far-flung worlds of half-colonised garden planets. They rise from the ground or hunker below it, not one of them conforming to any kind of shared design. Some have tall, skyscraper-like buildings that thrust up between the low, slope-roofed dwellings of the rest of the population. Norms with more creds than sense can often be found in the lofty heights. If a norm’s family helped establish the colony or else contributes in some significant way, they are likely to be in a position of power can controlling a share of the town’s profits. Shops and services will be widespread, providing plenty of places for S/D Agents to spend their hard-earned creds; that is, unless they are giving them to mutant causes or homeless kids who can destroy planets with their brains. Many towns have a segregated area set aside for mutants, which ensures they are kept away from the normal folks. The official line states that this is for their own protection, but any

S/D Agent who has been on the job for long enough knows that is just a feeder line for the unending cycle of hatred and oppression of mutants. The few mutant gangs that operate are usually made up of resistance-style fighters waging a guerrilla war against their human oppressors. Alien mercenaries sometimes join in the fun, working for or against the mutants in these situations. Most criminal gangs are usually led by a human or alien. Their activities frequently focus on vying resources and territory in places where over-pressured law enforcement struggle to cope. Towns often provide harbour to outlaws that have had a midrange bounty placed on their heads.

Big Cities! Best described as organised chaos, some cities do maintain a veneer of beauty and pleasing aesthetics—peeling back the flesh and scraping into the marrow, however, will reveal enough rot and stench to assault the senses. With the façade stripped away, these brightly lit, big city places are just as mean and dangerous as any frontier town. They are also far from being anything resembling a mutant haven. The streets are patrolled by police on the lookout for mutants, who act swiftly to throw them out of where they are not supposed to be. Which is mostly everywhere. They also

actively ensure that mutant life is hell. Cities can vary in size from population of a few hundred thousand to labyrinthine sprawls containing millions of souls, though they are likely to contain a starport regardless of size. Almost every type of shop and service can be found, all neatly seasoned with the usual mutant-hating flavours that come with the territory. Unless pushed, some shops flat out refuse to serve S/D Agents. Others close up the moment they see a mutant nearby, which often traps other norms inside. Vegetation can be found inside parks, roadside potted plants or the occasional hydroponics garden. Exteriors range from flat steel, synthetic-concrete and other 22nd Century flat-pack modular designs to building materials and angular architecture that are reminiscent of more Gothic time periods. Criminal gangs are organised, often along multiple levels. Crime lords control districts and regulate activities for subordinate gangs. S/D Agents need to be on their guard in places like this for, regardless of the size, there are too many bullets with their name on. Old families with even older bloodlines will pay a hefty price to end the life of an S/D Agent snooping into secrets best left buried. The GCC and police forces of each city ensure that lives of the residents are as sedate as possible for the most part. They have the power and control to make certain mutants and criminal gangs do not take over the city with their antics.

Big cities offer lucrative bounties but also plenty of danger.

Conurbations A conurbation is best described as an amalgamation of several towns, settlements and cities that have all grown to the point that their borders begin to intermingle. This can happen across a number of years or occur fairly rapidly due to population explosions. The net result is that the various governments, noble houses and representatives get together and hash out the details aimed at forming a huge umbrella community that is able to better support its independent parts. In that respect, of course, a conurbation also takes all the features of its component parts and rolls them up into one big pile of trouble. A famous conurbation in the 22nd Century is made up of Glasgow, Newcastle, Dover, Christchurch and Bournemouth. These population centres are all joined together and provide an incredible sprawling city that comes close to the likes of MegaCity One in Dredd’s verse. Their sheer size and scope mean that Conurbations have a wide variety of things to do, see, and interact with. They also have numerous starports that are heavily patrolled by both security forces and robots. The flow of mutants in and out of these places is heavily restricted, with Kreeler squads always looking the slightest excuse to break some heads, or even just the opportunity to shoot a mutant for no reason.

S/D Agents can expect to find some support from the GCC HQ’s dotted about conurbation zones, but they also need to be on their guard as well. Conurbations are a maze of laws and regulations, along with their own unique hierarchy of crime lords that range from the petty to the downright vindictive. Then there is also the maze of government and politics to take into account, with varying styles and types of control being applied to keep the population in line. Conurbations change from world to world, but the most important to the 22nd Century is the one mentioned previously which sprawls across the country like a giant insect. Bounties posted from these locations are both highly lucrative and dangerous. They are also contested by numerous S/D Agents all vying to be the one who gets the prime job. As they say, it is a Dog eat Dog galaxy out there.

THE THRILL OF THE HUNT

With a handful of place types to explore and a little bit of insight into what takes place in them, an S/D Agent is well on the road to claiming a bounty and getting paid. All they need is a contract. The following pages can be used to create a plethora of places, people and contracts to supplement a Stront’s credit income. These random tables can also be used to add more depth to the sample bounties that can be found within Chapter 5: Bounties and Contracts.

WHO IS THE TARGET? NAME PART A (D66) » 11

Randy

» 41

Salty

» 12

Block

» 42

Lubbo

» 13

Zog

» 43

Quark

» 14

Dog

» 44

Norman

» 15

Mandrake

» 45

Dug

» 16

Storm

» 46

Bilge

» 21

Fergus

» 51

Rad

» 22

Max

» 52

Mike

» 23

Bugga

» 53

Rok

» 24

Ettin

» 54

» 25

Drakkar

» 55

God

» 26

Cassa

» 56

Wagner

» 31

Hellion

» 61

Grant

» 32

Symon

» 62

Lord

» 33

Brick

» 63

Colonel

» 34

Honk

» 64

Platinum

» 35

Noot

» 65

Vile

» 36

Fragler

» 66

Sonny

WHO IS THE TARGET? NAME PART B (D66) » 11

Bubba

» 41

Taffer

» 12

Orange

» 42

Patchford

» 13

June

» 43

August

» 14

Rage

» 44

Lake

» 15

Steel

» 45

Myers

» 16

Jones

» 46

Stonky

» 21

thumper

» 51

Tiny

» 22

Normal

» 52

Biggo

» 23

Hutchens

» 53

Pronk

» 24

Lewd

» 54

Slim

» 25

Dronk

» 55

Greedy

» 26

Droggo

» 56

Horlicks

» 31

Quenelle

» 61

Luminous

» 32

Radon

» 62

Devious

» 33

Argon

» 63

Relentless

» 34

Wednesbury

» 64

Beta

» 35

Wolvo

» 65

Star

» 36

Latchkey

» 66

Savvy

WHAT DID THEY DO? (D66)

» 11

Stole something small

» 41

Leads a band of ruthless pirates

» 12

Blew up a couple of norms

» 42

Rustled Morks

» 13

Stole a norm’s credit wallet

» 43

Sold illegal beverages on a dry planet

» 14

Set fire to an Orphanage

» 44

» 15

Set a P-Bomb off in a (1) Town, (2) City, (3) Starship, (4) Conurbation, (5) Factory, (6) Government Building

Smuggled in robotic parts on a world that forbids robots and cybernetics

» 45

Trafficked in illegal substances

» 16

Sold lewd pictures to aliens who have a strict decency code

» 46

» 21

War criminal

Crashed a (1) car, (2) skimmer, (3) Mork, (4) truck, (5) bus, (6) tank into a populated area and killed a bunch of people

» 51

Drunk while in control of a space vessel

» 22

Robbed a (1) train, (2) bank, (3) Mork farm, (4) civilian, (5) politician, (6) starliner

» 52

» 23

Shot up a (1) bar, (2) house, (3) motel, (4) starliner, (5) police station, (6) diner

Lewd behaviour on an alien planet that forbids such conduct

» 53

» 24

Stole a significant amount of resources

Insulted someone on an alien world where that action carries a criminal penalty

» 54

» 25

Broke a prized possession of a powerful person

Escaped custody for a crime that they (1-3) committed, (4-6) did not commit

» 55

Ate a forbidden food in a holy temple

» 26

Kidnapped a (1) politician, (2) kid, (3), S/D Agent, (4) bartender, (5) Mork farmer, (6) police officer

» 56

Forged currency and destabilised an economy

» 31

Stole a (1) car, (2) skimmer, (3) grav car, (4) truck, (5) bus full of people, (6) space vessel

» 61

Deserted from an army

» 32

Impersonation of a police officer

» 62

Led a coup which then collapsed and now they have a price on their head

» 33

Healed a sick child on a planet where that is forbidden

» 63

» 34

Incited rebellion on a (1) war-torn planet, (2) farm world, (3) industry planet, (4) Earth, (5) alien world, (6) Corporate controlled world

Set off a bomb in a (1) police station, (2) norm housing estate, (3) frontier saloon, (4) fuel station, (5) space vessel, (6) S/D HQ

» 64

Trafficked in antiquities where the sale of such is forbidden

» 35

Assassinated a (1) politician, (2) government lackey, (3) police officer, (4) S/D Agent, (5) alien diplomat, (6) famous media star

» 65

Sold illegal weapons to (1) aliens, (2) mutants, (3) crime lords, (4) children, (5) drug pushers, (6) gang members

» 36

Is a rogue S/D Agent at large

» 66

Wanted for crimes so heinous they are a special bounty (see: Special Bounties)

WHAT ARE THEY? (D6) » 1

Human

» 4

Cyborg

» 2

Mutant

» 5

Robot

» 3

Alien

» 6

Synthetic being

SPECIAL BOUNTIES (D6) » 1

Blackmailing a whole government

» 4

Mass extinction event via tailored virus

» 2

Blew up a planet

» 5

Destruction of a royal palace

» 3

Destroyed a fleet of starships

» 6

Time meddling

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHAT ARE THEY DOING? (D66)

» 11

Hiding out on the same planet where the Bounty originated from

» 41

About to be eaten by Bubo and his boys!

» 12

Fled the planet

» 42

Leading a small criminal gang on a lawless planet

» 13

Fled the system

» 43

Piloting a rickety ship across the stars from world to world

» 14

Working on a starliner

» 44

Plotting a bank raid on a wealthy planet

» 15

Crewing a merchant ship

» 45

Doing sightseeing at a conurbation

» 16

In an alien jail cell

» 46

Selling Gronk fur to make some extra cash

» 21

Awaiting execution

» 51

In a Skimmer bike race

» 22

In a high speed skimmer chase with the law

» 52

Travelling on a high-speed grav-train

» 23

Lying low in a motel in a town

» 53

Hiding out in the sewers of an industrial planet

» 24

Running from other S/D Agents

» 54

On a war torn planet

» 25

In the cabin on a luxury starliner cruise

» 55

On an industrial planet

» 26

In the hold of a pirate ship

» 56

On a dustball frontier

» 31

Conscripted into an alien army as a prisoner

» 61

On a space station

» 32

In a backwater frontier town like Dreadwood

» 62

On a paradise planet

» 33

Locked in a cell on a human-controlled world

» 63

On a dangerous world full of lethal flora and fauna

» 34

Milton Keynes Ghetto

» 64

About to travel to another time or dimension

» 35

Drinking their life away in a seedy bar

» 65

Tracking down the S/D Agents sent to find them

» 36

Playing cards in a gambling den

» 66

Selling the badges of dead S/D Agents to make money

CH/4: ALPHA’S WORLD

The 22nd Century of Strontium Dog that Johnny and Wulf explore is full of interesting planets and backdrops. The adventures of the two S/D Agents span numerous galactic locations and even delve into time and dimension travel. This chapter opens with a time line of events that begins with the launching of Wulf’s career and ends with Johnny’s resurrection and beyond. Following this is a whistle-stop tour of some of the systems and planets the PCs might end up visiting. Buckle up, grab a time drogue and get ready to drink in some thrill-powered bounty-hunting action!

STRONTIUM DOG THROUGH THE AGES

These are the major events in the comics from across the centuries that form the backdrop of the setting. For the purpose of this roleplaying game, the time line is assumed to centre on 2180 AD and go forwards or backwards from there. There are some issues with the time line in the comics, since the destruction of the Doghouse seems to occur in the very same year that many classic stories are set: 2180. To avoid continuity conflict date, the time line here places the event firmly within the Final Solution storyline in 2187.

TIME LINE

The comic or storyline being referenced is presented in italics after each description. All of the events are listed as the name of a particular comic run or graphic novel.

793 AD: Johnny Alpha takes a trip back to the Scandinavian Peninsula from the 22nd Century to apprehend notorious galactic criminal, Max Bubba, and his gang. He meets the powerful Wulf Sternhammer for the very first time and they fight. Bonding soon after the pair team up, defeat Max Bubba and return to 2170, where Wulf joins Johnny as his partner. - Ragnarok 1945: The Committee for Ultimate Retribution puts out a massive bounty on a special target, who is revealed to be none other than Adolf Hitler. Johnny, Wulf, and the Gronk travel back to the end of World War II to apprehend the man. Unfortunately, other S/D Agents also follow suit. Alpha and Wulf prevail and bring their man back to the 22nd Century to face justice. - The Schicklegruber Grab 1987: Kaiakok-I Freedom Fighters manage to kidnap US President Ronald Reagan and transport him to the year 2187. Johnny teams up with Durham Red to rescue Ronnie. - Bitch 2108: Johnny and Wulf arrive in the Big Meg and encounter none other than Joe Dredd. They have several run-ins with the law of Mega-City One before eventually returning to 2176 after evading the Judge. - Top Dogs 2114: Johnny Alpha arrives in Hondo City to terminate the dangerous criminal known as Sabbat. - Judgement Day 2123: The mutant-hating Nelson Bunker Kreelman is born. revealed in The Rubicon, Judge Dredd Megazine 380 2130: Diana, future wife of Nelson Bunker Kreelman and mother to Johnny Alpha, is born. 2139: Nelson Bunker Kreelman takes a trip to Mega-City One. The Rubicon, Judge Dredd Megazine 380 2149: Johnny’s sister, Ruth Kreelman, is born. 2150: The Great Nuclear War. Strontium-90 hits the atmosphere, leading to an increase in the birth of mutants. In the later stages of her pregnancy, Diana Kreelman is exposed to Strontium 90 while journeying from the Scilly Isles to Salisbury. - Portrait of a Mutant 2150: Later that same year, Nelson Bunker Kreelman enacts the anti-mutant laws, creating a hit-list and placing them into ghettos. Diana gives birth to John. Nelson is horrified to discover that his son is a mutant. 2162: Fleeing his father, John Kreelman runs away to join the Mutant Army led by General Armz. He soon becomes known as the mutant, Johnny Alpha. 2167: Mutants fight a series of battles in the First Mutant Uprising. Alpha is seconded to William Blood Moon.

WARNING – TEMPORAL DISPLACEMENT DETECTED – WARNING 69

2170: The events of Blood Moon transpire and Alpha is left wanting revenge. - Blood Moon 2170: Alpha is hired by an incredibly wealthy man to search for his son, this draws Johnny into a complicated case. - The Mork Whisperer 2170: Max Bubba and his gang escape and travel back in time to 1st Century Scandinavia. 2173: Alpha’s partner Sniffer Martinez is killed. - A cure for Kansyr (flashback) 2174: The events of the Triton Wars happen. 2176: Sadan the Demon Maker is captured by Johnny Alpha. 2176: The events of the Complaint. 2176: Johnny and Wulf head to Mega-City One in the past to track a bounty. 2179: Don Dork is trapped in the Hell dimension. 2180 (Current): Johnny and Wulf go after the criminal Max Quirxx after he destroys a city on Bario-3 with a P-Bomb. - Max Quirxx (the first SD story) (Starlord) 2180: Johnny and Wulf travel as cargo aboard a ship when it is attacked by notorious space pirates. - Papa Por-Ka 2180: A bounty is placed on a notorious and powerful criminal, the alien called Kansyr. Johnny and Wulf travel to the planet Metastis to stop this criminal. - No Cure for Kansyr 2180: Circes is a planet controlled by computers, Alpha takes on a bounty from the computer governing the planet. - Planet of the Dead 2180: Johnny and Wulf go after another mutant bounty and get their mark. Tired of being constantly challenged, however, they go after another mutant who proves to be a bit more than Alpha can handle. - Two-Faced Terror 2180: Johnny and Wulf visit Johnny’s sister, Ruth. Meanwhile one of Alpha’s old enemies sets demons on all of them. Demon Maker 2180: Johnny and Wulf are hired to destroy the ultimate

weapon designed by a criminal mastermind. - The Brain 2180: While heading back to Earth, with their prisoner: Ratface Regan, Johnny, Wulf, and the Gronk encounter a Wolrog Warship and are embroiled in the events that follow. - The Galaxy Killers (2000 AD & Starlord) 2181: Johnny, Wulf, and the Gronk go after Fly-Eyes Wagner and track him to a roadtrain. In the events that follow, Wagner escapes through a dimension portal into Hell. - Journey into Hell 2181: Johnny and Wulf engage in a bounty hunt on an alien world. As per usual, things do not go well for the pair. - Death’s Head 2181: Johnny, Wulf and the Gronk go back in time to capture Adolf Hitler and are pursued by other S/D Agents keen on the epic bounty. The Stix are hot on the heels of the pair’s mark and double-crossing follows suit. - The Schickelgruber Grab 2181: Johnny and Wulf come to the rescue of the Milton Keyne’s Mutant Association, helping them out of a tight spot. Muties Luck 2181: Johnny and Wulf go after a doctor for a ruthless ruler. In a turn-around, Alpha changes his mind on the Bounty and cements his moral code at the same time. - The Doc Quince Case 2181: Vicious alien outlaws known as Bubo and his Bad Boys raid convoys and towns, Alpha and Wulf go after them. - The Bad Boys Bust 2181: Fur trappers threaten the whole of the Gronk species. The Gronk Affair 2181: Johnny Alpha is hired to escort Sorry Dobbs off world, problem is, Dobbs attracts gargantuan levels of bad luck bordering on the supernatural. - A Sorry Case 2181: S/D Agent Kid Knee teams up with Alpha and Wulf to take down “The Mutator”. Kid Knee is killed in the final confrontation. - The Kid Knee Caper

2182: Johnny and Wulf are drawn into different dimensions and end up travelling to a bizarre cornucopia of universes. - Roadhouse 2183: A young boy (Moses) is killed in the crossfire of a duel between Johnny and another mutant, the S/D Agent is racked with guilt. He approaches Malak Brood, a big mistake. -The Moses Incident 2184: Johnny Alpha enters a deadly game arena to take down the criminals competing, and end the reign of those organising the bloodsport. - The Killing 2184: Two identical clones from the Stix cause Johnny Alpha and Wulf some serious trouble as a price lands on their heads, with a murder at the Doghouse all hell breaks loose for the pair. Outlaw! 2184: Johnny travels deep into the mutant ghetto and unearths things about his own past; he has to face a moral dilemma: to help his people, can he also betray them? - Traitor to his Kind 2184: Johnny teams up with a fellow mutant, a member of the Fuzz family and is embroiled in numerous events as they embark on a wild goose chase. - A Shaggy Dog Story 2184: Johnny Alpha tracks down and kills Groule the Slayer. - The Glum Affair 2184: It becomes open season on a planet where Criminals were once free, Johnny, Wulf, and Middenface team up and go bounty hunting! - The Big Bust of ‘49 2185: Johnny goes after a group of slavers, proving that he does not just do the job for the money. - The Slavers of Drule 2185: Johnny and Wulf decide to retire to Moondog Mountain and build a cabin, the events yet to come shake Alpha’s world. - Smiley’s World 2185: Wulf is killed by Max Bubba and his gang; this sets Johnny off on a revenge spree in classic Sergio Leone fashion. - Rage 2187: Galactic terrorists abduct Neutron Ronnie Reagan from 1987. - Bitch 2187: King of Britain, King Clarkie the Second, hires Johnny Alpha to protect him while he goes to Milton Keynes. - The Royal Affair 2187: Johnny Alpha and Middenface are put on trial for staging a free-for-all fight with a huge cash prize. This fight draws out several high profile criminals. - The Rammy

2187: Once more Alpha teams up with S/D Agent Durham Red to investigate the murder of several Strontium Dogs. Stone Killers 2187: Johnny, Middenface and others are hired to find and retrieve holy relics from a planet known as a feud-world. - The No-Go Job 2187: A cataclysmic series of events spirals into the death of Johnny Alpha by Lyran Sorcery, and the destruction of the Doghouse via a bomb. - The Final Solution 2188: Durham Red takes a contract to hunt down a being known as the Goth Lord. - Island of the Damned 2193: A new Doghouse is built and business continues as usual. 2194: Precious Matson enlists the help of Bounty Hunter and friend of Alpha’s, Middenface McNulty to search for Johnny Alpha’s body. 2195: The Doghouse gains a new Agency Controller known as Dave Heckle. 2196: The mutant known as Feral is executed. 2196: At the request of Middenface McNulty and Precious Matson, the Stone Wizards revive the very dead Johnny Alpha. 2197: The events of the Second Mutant Uprising begin. Dogs of War 2199: Johnny Alpha and his crew are recruited from prison. The Stix Fix 2199: Alpha and his crew are still in prison, to win their freedom they must do one last rob. They need to take back the Rock, a galactic crime lord’s lair in a huge asteroid. - Repo Men 2199: Alpha and McNulty travel to Mega-City One in 2139 to take Judge Dredd to the year 2220 where he is to be tried by clones of Chief Judge Cal. - By Private Contract 2201: Kenton Sternhammer, son of Wulf Sternhammer, joins the Search/Destroy Agency. - The Son 37th Century: Johnny, Wulf, and the Gronk time-jump to the 37th Century with their prisoner, Adolf Hitler. - he Schickelgruber Grab

A DOG EAT DOG GALAXY

The conurbations mentioned in the previous chapter offer a handful of immediate places that S/D Agents might visit. These overviews offer GMs an insight into the rough and lawless locales that the Strontium Dogs may be required to visit. The numerous planets and systems that follow can serve to provide a home for those population centres. Some are drawn from the comics , which might have been little more than a name. Where possible, these have been fleshed out a little more. S/D Agents also explore a whole new panoply of places. Time to grab a Westinghouse from the rack, put a requisition in for a couple of time-bombs and hop a shuttle to new places and new foes.

THE GALACTIC GAZETTEER PART 1: KNOWN WORLDS & LOCATIONS Earth Earth is a planet still recovering from a devastating nuclear attack that not only wiped out seventy percent of the population, but also gave rise to the mutants. Caught in the grip of widespread hysteria and anti-mutant sentiment whipped up by the likes of Nelson Bunker Kreelman (affectionately known as Bunky), it is a place that no selfrespecting mutant really wants to go. Those mutants who are lucky enough to escape the planet and the Sol system usually end up in one of the far-flung colonies. Occasionally, one or two enter the Doghouse as S/D Agents. Earth still very much bears the scars from the bombs. New Britain is very different from its appearance before the war. There is now a huge deadzone known as the Greater London Crater and another site called the Birmingham Gap. Salisbury has become a major political centre and a massive area of focus since the devastation. The Conurbation of Glasgow, Newcastle, Dover, Christchurch and Bournemouth houses much of the non-mutant population along with areas such as Cardiff, the Scilly Isles, and Winchester. Parliament and most of the monarchy rule from the flying building known as Upminster which hovers above the island, looking down on all below. Mutants are crammed into ghettos all over the planet, but there is one specific ghetto worth mentioning in New Britain: the birthplace of Durham Red, Milton Keynes.

Planet Alpha

There are quite a few worlds in the comics, although not much is known about many of them beyond a few lines delivered here and there in the pages of Starlord or 2000 AD. This section offers a sketch of those worlds based on what is known from the strips and anything extrapolated from the original design for the worlds penned by Wagner and Grant. GMs can use these worlds as they are, fold them into their own campaign and even create their own. There are thousands upon thousands of potential worlds in the Strontium Dog universe—all just a comfortable cargo crate cabin ride away.

Ireland still exists in some way during 2180, along with the US and Canada. The Rad Wars turned Antarctica into a tropical biome with marsh land, and rainforest. The largest city there is known as Antarctic City and all military and police concerns are handled by the Antarctic Militia. Other areas of Earth have a large mutant population, including West Africa and its rather distinct Mutant Republic. There is a large underwater prison in the Atlantic Zone, which is found in the northern hemisphere. The Atlantic Space-Port is situated not far from there. Two-thousand miles from the starport and reachable by a long distance teleportation network is the small town of Charity Valley, home to the Charity News newspaper. Charity Valley is also known to be one of the more thriving business sectors on the planet.

The Doghouse The Doghouse is the home away from home for the mutant Bounty Hunters known as Strontium Dogs. The Director and Overseer of the Doghouse, the human officer known as Harvey (circa 2180, at least) offers a wide and varied array of bounties for the likes of Johnny Alpha to undertake. All GCC commissions are routed through Harvey’s system and disseminated in the briefing hall daily. In line with the Ezquerra Stellar Design Guild blueprints, the Doghouse contains numerous rooms and facilities. In addition to shuttle bays, docking facilities and more, there are cabins for the Strontium Dogs when they require an extended stay, plus mess halls, lounges and an extensive and well-stocked

armoury where the S/D Agents can requisition their equipment if personal stocks run low. There are no hand-outs here, and all purchases are considered final with no refunds. The Doghouse has holding cells built to house alien, normal, and mutant criminals and also comes complete with several vapour chambers for those quieter executions. A time travel machine is locked away in a secure area of the station, where only authorised personnel and those S/D Agents cleared for travel are allowed. Power generation is in the lower section of the station, along with gravity generators, life support and other important engineering facilities overseen by norm engineers who ensure the Doghouse runs in tip-top condition twenty-four seven.

Caytor This is one of the many inhabited planets that falls under the direct jurisdiction of the Galactic Crime Commission. Situated millions of light years from Earth, Caytor is the home of the Caytans and serves as the administration planet of the Dorian Nebula another nearby world called Bario-3. Caytor is responsible for a lot of the paperwork (digital or otherwise) which occurs in the Dorian Nebula, and the flow of information in and out of the world occurs at a phenomenal rate. Like many of the inhabited planets that fall under the GCC, though, the world is rife with hidden troubles and outright anti-mutant discrimination emanating from the lowliest Caytan citizen to the haughtiest of the noble families.

Bario-3

Pol

A sister planet to Caytor, and located only a short shuttle ride away. Bario-3 suffered a recent and devastating terrorist attack that it is still recovering from. A criminal— since terminated— activated a P-Bomb in one of the cities there following a blackmail deal that went awry. The devastation of the city put this criminal on the GCC’s most-wanted list and placed an immediate termination warrant on his head. Bario-3 shares a lot of similarities with Caytor and many of the top administration staff of the sister planet hail from Bario-3’s administrative stock. There are several mutant ghettos on Bario-3, plus a large crater which leaks nuclear radiation thanks to the P-Bomb. Several mutated predator class animals now also stalk the ruins.

The Pol star system shares its name with one the smaller worlds it harbours. It is also the penultimate stop of any astroliner tour. To describe it as rustic would be an understatement. The place is positively feudal in tech level to the point that it has a sheltered spot to allow astro-liner travellers the opportunity to disembark discretely. One half of the planet has cities and all the amenities that you might expect, while the other half is firmly in the dark ages and has no idea the second half exists. Many bored astro-liner passengers like to dress the part and “roleplay” in the kingdoms of Pol on the other side. They must all sign a disclaimer which covers the company in the event of accidental death by execution or other events. Pol space is also home to the asteroid planet of Metastis.

Kaol-7 Kaol-7 is a popular location for astro-liners that leave Earth. Known for hot springs and several kinds of hallucinogenic co*cktails, it is a popular resort spot for bored monarchs and rich Earth folk.

Cedus Major Cedus Major is a steaming world covered with thick jungles and dense foliage. It is well known for a certain flavourful dinolike meat from many of the chameleon-like Uber-raptors which stalk the furthest reaches of the Cedus Rainforest. A hunting permit can be obtained from astro-liner captains by invitation only or through huge sums of credits and a maze of legal paperwork.

Cassiopeia Cassiopeia, often referred to as the ‘club’ planet, has the largest per-settlement dispersion of clubs, bars, hotels, night spots and entertainment facilities than many of the known worlds put together. It is impossible to walk a mile without being accosted by a human or alien wearing some form of bright glowing light bangle and inviting you to an after party.

Cygnus 9 Cygnus 9 is a cold planet, but thanks to the wonders of thermal dispersion technology and high tech solutions such as terraforming, parts of it have been made habitable. Boasting a huge grav-ski resort, the world is a popular destination for astro-liner passengers on their whistle-stop tours of the luxury worlds in and around the Sol system.

Ursa Minor There are several space stations in Ursa Minor which cater to astro-liner travellers, most of which are self-contained holiday locations. Each one has a specific style of biome and holiday resort in mind, ranging from mountainous ski biomes to sea and aquatic, forests, deserts, and more all designed to provide that special getaway for the ardent star-born holidaymaker.

Blas The planet Blas in the Gallego system is home to the timid, adorable, metal-eating excitable creatures known as Gronks. Blas is a world that is quite devoid of excitement. It also has numerous medical facilities dotted about the surface, which translates to many Gronks having medical experience. Special care has been taken to keep the temperature of the planet at acceptable levels, otherwise the population of the most excitable species in the known universe would end up experiencing a series of lethal heart attacks. Blas is sometimes the target of fur traders seeking a good price for Gronk pelts, and considering the Gronks die if they are subjected to too much excitement or too many shocks, hunting them is often a case of turning up in a loud and obnoxious manner and picking bodies up off the floor. Blas is also known for relaxing sandy holiday beaches and several spa-like resorts that cater to Gronks. Visitors should heed one warning: it is not wise to venture in the sinister swamp lands of the planet nicknamed the Neverglades without at least a guide and a big gun.

Metastis Metastis is an asteroid world that is home to a local population known as the Metastens. It is a run-down, rustic kind of place, with a frontier attitude and a slew of sleazy bars

the Jox flourished for seventy years, right up until the five great city states were destroyed as the Great Neutron War broke out. Radiation levels have almost reached acceptable safe levels in the years since. City 4 is the last remaining city state. Hidden somewhere in the Northern District of City 4 is the final stronghold of the Jox, where they hide away from the computer called McIntyre, once known as Zxplok the Terrible.

Paprika It can take up to five days to charter a shuttle to visit the planet of Paprika, which is located in the Spice system at the edges of explored space. Once there, visitors can look forward to a whole lot of dust and tumble weed. Vast sections of the planet are covered by a huge wasteland that is regularly swept by dust devils—especially the Big Dusty, which lies just outside one of the larger towns. The town itself is a resting spot for waifs and strays, and boasts the likes of a bathhouse, sauna, hotel and a police office. The planet is also home to Jubal’s Alien Extravaganza travelling circus. Laser whip duels remain a popular pastime for duellists on the world. These duels follow the Carlsson rules, and state that the first hit to a combatant with the Las-lash is declared the winner.

Coriander

and other locations of note. A popular location for criminal types to hide out, the asteroid is far enough away from Earth to be considered outside of the GCC’s reach. It lies in the Pol system, not too far from other worlds and the planet Pol itself. It is possible to find alien smugglers who traffic in the likes of Preying Zorgs and Fundian Slime Dripplers.

Laz Laz is a large planet with a supremely cold western region. It has a population of troublemakers and lawless aliens, with many of them embarking on a life of crime at an early age. One of them earned the enmity of Johnny Alpha when he shot down Sniffer Martinez, Alpha’s partner at the time, an act that only earned a fine for the death of an S/D Agent from the authorities.

Circes One of the many planets in the frontier, Circes is ruled by a mighty computer called McIntyre. One hundred years ago, the city states handed all their power over to their computers and all was well for a time. The indigenous people known as

A twin to Paprika at the edge of known explored space in the Spice system, Coriander is slightly larger than its sibling and enjoys a higher tech level. Shuttle wait times are slightly less compared to Paprika, while the overall crime-level of the planet is significantly less. Coriander has a larger entertainment industry, with the town of Oregano at the eastern edge of the Tumeric Basin proving the most popular location. All kinds of entertainment can be found here, from the seedy bars of the West End to the upperclass clubs of the Oliver Gardens. The Ramsey Diner is a popular place to grab a bite, often proving just as entertaining for the floor show as it is the delicious things they can do with Mork.

Rajus Minor Rajus Minor is one of the many inhabited worlds controlled by law enforcement, with laws heavily enforced by a militant police force. The Galactic Crime Commission has a vested interest in this planet, and crime is punished harshly. There are no end of officers willing to go to any extent to ensure the population live free of both criminals and mutants—who are considered one and the same for the most part. Rajus Minor has a thriving casino economy and a huge skimmer racing community, along with Mork races and gladiatorial bouts involving mutants versus creatures such as the Smiling Chuckwalla and the Preying Zorg.

Larg Larg has long since been ruled by its own despotic government, known collectively as the Dictators of Larg. The planet is inhabited by the Largans, who employ a currency known as the Bykini (a billion of these are enough to buy several small planets). Mutants are often forbidden to land on the planet, but the Dictators can make an exception in times of crises or intervention. One of the most iconic locations on the Planet Larg is known as Niblitz Square. Situated very close to the Dictators base of operations and their briefing room, it is a location that S/D Agents are likely to frequent a great deal until they are allowed on the planet proper.

Q17 This curious planet is home to a race of Brain-creatures that emit a viscous slime and are able to use their psychic powers to kill with a thought. The slime has an extremely foul smell to humans. The planet itself is largely covered in slime-covered rocks, swamps and biomes. Another native creature known as the Waterwort dwells in boggy land. Waterworts are prized by the Brain-creatures for their excellent ability to mimic and their rather special talent for being able to sing in a chorus when trained to do so; they make wonderful tenors. A famed waterwort named Cornelius was taken offworld and raised in captivity, though it met its end during a bounty hunt led by Johnny Alpha as he sought to destroy the Ultimate Weapon of the Brain on the planet Larg.

Quadrant B12 Home to a brand-new space resort, little is known about this quadrant other than the resort allows holidaymakers to surf stellar storms and enjoy relaxing poolside quantum breaks.

Isthman Galaxy This large galaxy can be reached by astro-liner in around thirteen standard days travel. It is home to the warlike alien race known as the Wolrogs and the Sandorian Nations. Their war is not just for control of one planet but the whole galaxy, making the location extremely hazardous. S/D Agents who are routed there are likely to be caught by the Wolrogs and pressed into service in various penal battalions.

Rog The Warlord of Rog rules this world with an iron fist. Constructed rather than natural, the planet itself is fifty miles across and houses a plethora of slave factories, mines, prison camps and more that use women and children as their

workforce. Humans are treated worse than other alien races due to their supposedly weak knees. Men are allowed to fight in many of the penal battalions, while women and children are sent to the factory workforce. Rog is also surrounded by the Wolfrog’s military might that consists of a thousand Battlecraft, and several thousand other smaller vessels such as troop carriers, repair vessels, and supply tankers that work tirelessly to keep the fleet well stocked and functional.

Nykos Currently under Sandorian Control, this particular planet is besieged by the Wolrog. Eight Sandorian strongholds fall during the war. A Sandorian Laz-Fort here houses the Sandorian High Command. Built by the Sandorian Defence Institute, this impressive structure of trenches and networked tunnels extends for hundreds of miles below the surface.

XX161-D This planet is one of the casualties in the war between the Wolrogs and the Sandorians.

Alzir A planet on the Western Spiral star cluster renowned for lawlessness, vicious alien gangs, one-Mork towns and unscrupulous lawmen. Plagued by the like of Bubo and the Bad Boys, Alzir has its fair share of troubles with towns and convoys being hit almost daily as the alien raiders search for loot and food. A town under the watchful eye of Deputy Marshall Abe McCabe called Esmerelda is one of the many towns on Alzir that has been plagued by Bubo and his Bad Boys. Cargo is carried by both land wagons and high speed trains, though none of those are safe from the alien bandits.

Laredo A frontier planet lit by the light of twin suns, Laredo sits in an area of space known as the Megellanic Clouds. Just like many of the other planets in Johnny’s universe, Laredo has a severe dislike of mutants and the Laredan population would rather starve to death or die of thirst than accept a helping hand from a mutie. Stronts looking for a place to stay, can find a mutant friendly establishment in town called Mason’s Mutel. There are dangerous badlands full of predators and bandits outside each one of the many towns.

Vega Not a planet, but actually a massive space station that orbits Earth, Vega is a huge gambling den, gaming resort and pleasure station that sits two hundred miles above the planet’s

surface. There are dozens of casinos and dens, including the likes of Fat Jax’s place.

Wilderness-4 Somewhere deep in the Constellation of Draco sits the planet dubbed Wilderness-4. A small settlement called Fever Creek is noted for having an excellent doctor in the hospital there and a close-knit community of norms. With a few saloons, a small police station and a hotel, it is not close to anything that could be described as bustling. The favoured mode of transport on the world is by a stubby grav vehicle known as a Guggy.

M-Skel Under galactic convention, the planet of M-Skel is allowed to remain in a state that closely resembles medieval or feudal society. Considered backward by many of the other worlds in the system, M-Skel is ruled by the despotic and unhinged King Kel. Modern elements are slowly creeping into the world over time, and one such new innovation is the T-Model Laze-Flash blaster that is capable of blowing the top of a guard’s helmet off at thirty paces. M-Skel deals with traitors and criminals using a variety of bloody and over the top methods, such as the execution pot, which entails a massive rock dropped from a great height into a pot-like receptacle which house the victim.

Neridian 5 Intergalactic Fun-Fun Tours decided to buy most of this planet. They then proceeded to build a massive fun-fair on one particular island. They had a plan to capture most of the tourist trade which meant that astro-liners would regularly pass by the planet. Sadly, due to a more lucrative offer by other, more ambitious companies, the space lanes were re-routed further away from the planet and the whole thing fell through. What remains is a gaudy, haunted-looking, run-down complex that has been left to twist in the howling wind.

Kane’s Kolossal Kasino This incredible space station orbits the planet of Megista and is packed with every kind of game and vice a gambler could want. There are multi-complex stores, cafes and amusem*nt arcades, all of which are renowned for being so incredibly cheap to access. The Dream-Scope Dome remains the prime attraction; a place where a visitor can be soothed by their own fantasies and forget all of their problems for a while. Hunting Sabre-Catz in the huge synth-safari park also remains a popular pastime.

Byn-L Byn-L is one of the many Galactic Rim-World planets and has several towns and cities which are considered extremely affluent. Byn-L is the known location of professional killer, Gorgo Godber, and his gang.

Ice-World 4 A freezing ice-ball of a planet, Ice-World 4 lives up to its name with temperatures dangerously low enough to freeze a being in seconds unless they wear suitable protective gear. It is the home of the wretched Glacier Gang.

Stavros A frontier planet with a medium-sized starport and a mutanthating populace. The most inhospitable place is a haven for bandits and brigands alike, with many old castle-like sandstone strongholds hidden amongst a place that has been collectively labelled as the Badlands. Miles and miles of dangerous rocky valleys and deserts teeming with alien creatures await the unwary explorer.

Mab Garden City The gigantic floating metropolis of Mab Garden City lies in

the Olol’B System, midway between the fourth and fifth planets of the Olol Empire—Heer and Therr respectively. A popular way-station for inter-system commuters, Mab’s gates are open to all kind of alien races. Strontium Dogs are not considered alien, yet even in a cosmopolitan place such as this, an S/D Agent need to be wary of the mutant-bashing squads that roam the streets looking for easy pickings. A quick bite to eat and a good drink can be found at Freny’s Bar or the Lobotomy Bar. The highlight of Mab Garden City’s day comes when the Imperial Stateship of the aging Emperor Odgood the Okay docks at the station.

Nomi’s World Situated in the Galaxy’s outermost spiral, Nomi’s World is controlled by norms and is an example of one of the many colony worlds in the system. Typical of these kinds of planets, the surface is covered in high tech buildings and luxury normhabitats. There is no place for mutants on this world, with those mutants who do live here facing oppression and worse every single day—just like on Earth. Even criminals are allowed to build an empire here, which includes the likes of the Zitch’s Zaloon establishment run by Dobie Zitch.

High Nebulae Through the outer corona of a dying Red Giant lies a planet that is never spoken of, even in whispers. Here is the Island of the Living Dead, home of Malak Brood. A bleak space-rock and former prison from which no soul has ever escaped, the Island is now home to a wicked man.

Zdwhkkrswrld Zed for short. An otherwise unremarkable planet that boasts only one thing which it is famous for: The Killing. This no-holds barred ritualistic murder-fest happens every year and sees ninety-five beings compete to kill each other for a prize of one billion zeddies. All in the name of the Despots of Zed. A whole quadrant of the city is used for this massacre.

Och-Eleven Och-Eleven is a water world known for many stilt towns such as Jock’s Landing and Hentoon. The inhabitants of these towns are considered to be descended from the original Scottish colonists who left Earth a long time ago.

Forox A hot place, Forox is one of the many desert planets full of settlements and Badlands. It is also a perfect location for S/D

Agents to find plenty of work, since it has a large contingent of criminals who hide out in the various abandoned forts and settlements.

Valdez Valdez is another planet which is mostly comprised of desert and sand dunes. The thick sand here makes for good hiding holes, with many inhabitants digging their homes into the ground and packing the sand around outsides to camouflage their dwellings.

Fargo Fargo is an inhabited world three systems away from Valdez. This temperate planet is known for large overaptor predators.

Deevon A small planet famed for producing a high quality MacMac which might even rival that of the product from Och-Eleven.

Banbree Not much is known about this world since it went subdimensional before the gazetteer crew could document it.

Burrito Burrito is an inhabited world ruled by a government keen to look the other way. This has made the world a tax-haven and criminal hotspot for the entire known galaxy. The Badlands of the 49th Territory on Burrito has been home to criminal types for years, which has reaped the current government a rich reward so far. Change is on the horizon, however, as the soon-to-be elected Heavy Discipline Party will come into power, leading to an open season on all criminals.

Smiley’s World & System Smiley’s World is a welcoming place with nice folks. In fact, lots of pleasant people pay the astronomical travel price of the long haul required to travel to the planet. As the planet is devoid of heavy industry and machinery, settlements such as Good Hope are crafted from the raw materials the settlers have to hand. Serendipity is one large town situated on the planet. It is served by a law office and medical facilities. Circuit Traders that travel between towns often stop off here. Many forests cover the landscape. One such place close to Moondog Mountain would make a wonderful get-away for an S/D Agent to retire should they desire it.

There are six worlds close to Smiley’s World. K-3 and Guido have a toxic atmosphere that is noxious to humans. The planet of Jerboos is a notorious location for slavers, especially those from Drule. Its surface is full of monuments constructed by thousands of slaves and is also home to the Valley of the Kings, where the inhabitants still cling to the very old ways and eschew most technology. There is a thriving slave market on the planet of Charn and an illegal battery farm where humans are often kept as a delicacy for the meat-eaters of the planet.

of the miners’ year. The annual card game at Freeny’s Bar brings in all the big spenders.

Mayger Minor

The rough and rocky world called Spitoon sits deep in the Drule System and is often used as a hideout by the Slavers of Drule. Amongst the rocks and ravines there are many dangerous predators, and sneaky hideouts used by slavers across the system. Some of the ravines are large enough to hide a ship in.

Known mostly for wide open plains, strange alien skies, trees and isolated farmsteads where the inhabitants go about their daily jobs, Mayger Minor is one of the many alien worlds in the Galactic Rim’s frontier. Settlers here keep a blaster shotgun at hand and a wary eye on strangers. Many of them are mutants that like to keep to themselves, and not without good reason as a group of human settlers called the Goobers (led by one Cy Goober) cheat and swindle the farm-steader’s out of hearth and home. Minor City serves as one of the largest population centres, with its large starport enjoying a lot of off-world traffic. Mayger City is likewise another large populated zone, albeit smaller than Minor. Shuttles travelling from Mayger to Minor are the quickest way to get around planet.

Dragan’s World

M-17: The War Zone

A huge colony planet, Dragan’s World has eight major landmasses which all together comprise an area of roughly twenty million square miles. Except for the harsh and freezing western polar region called Boraein, the planet’s surface has norm and alien settlements dotted all over it. There are numerous mutant settlements scattered across the planet as well, since many of them were drafted in during the early days of the colony. Some of the mutants of Dragan’s World are even accepted in norm settlements, rather than being pushed out onto the fringes of society, which is a first for many. A huge amount of ferrous iron particulates in the oceans of the planet cause thwe waters to radiate a strange red glow. Other places to visit on planet include United Agri, a huge agri corp farm, Peebles Hyrdo, Fallon Ridge, and Blake’s Mine. There are several Geo Rigs which mine Carrington Crystal deep below the planet’s crust. One of the biggest landmasses on Dragan’s World is that of the Great Continental Landmass of Yen. Laced with riches as it is, there are many company-owned towns that are all similar in scope and atmosphre. So much so that they all begin to look the and feel the same after a while, which includes the pelt-heavy towns such as Skinburg. Redport is a little town on the South Coast that is famous for a delicacy known as Squiddlydids, while the Monastery of the Little Chums of Dennis sits at the southernmost tip of the Great Continental Landmass of Yen. Dragan Beach is a town that hosts a yearly party for all the miners, frontiersmen and diggers. They gather there to spend the spoils of their toil. A lot of drinking and other vices take place at the party, which is very much considered the highlight

War Zone is a massive planet continually wreathed in the flames of war. Oddly, the aliens there have no idea why they are fighting for the most part, they just continue to perpetuate the constant battles. It is a popular place for mercenaries to find work. The Plain of Xeses is often used for norm hide outs, and the notorious Kreelers were found there by Johnny Alpha later in his career after the fatal events on Smiley’s World and the retribution on Dragan’s World.

Spitoon

Kaiak Habbakak City is the main population centre on the Planet of Kaiak. The alien city is a densely populated technological marvel that even boasts its own Time Room. The people of Kaiak suffer under an uncaring colonial human government, so they formed a movement known as the Kaiakos-K that is dedicated to freedom at any cost. A prime method of travel for the inhabitants involves grav-rickshaws pulled by citizens.

Munro’s World Munro’s World is a human colonial planet deep in the Carolina System. Dotted with various settlements and cities, Munro’s World sees a lot of traffic from the S/D Agency due to several GCC HQ buildings and local cop stations being located here, the latter of which also accept accredited bounty hunters like the Strontium Dogs. Recently, a local cop station suffered a spate of unexplained occurrences, including burst pipes and brown outs. Starcrash City has a large starport and a flourishing intergalactic trade thanks to many trade ships using it as their hub of choice.

Marbellas

Scooby’s World

A rich and affluent planet on the edge of the Western Spiral Arm, the planet of Marbellas not only caters for the rich and famous, but also dozens of lawyers. Paradise Beach is a section of coastline containing hundreds of miles of prime real estate that is renowned as a playground for rich folks. Some of these residences also belong to various criminals whose sizeable bounties set off alerts the moment that an S/D Agent arrives on planet. The criminal homes are protected by the Sanctuary Zone rule, however, which states that as long as they pay their taxes they are free from punishment by any lawful agency.

Scooby’s World is another of the human-driven huge colony worlds that makes its money off the toil of others. Tinseltown is one of the largest settlements on planet, boasting thousands of buildings and a cadre of elite agents who help clients with their problems. If the bright lights of the big city are not to a visitor’s taste, there is always Boondock for a tour of the lizard farms and other small holdings.

Coriolanus A dust ball of a world hardly worth mentioning save for the fact it seems to be a lethal location where numerous S/D Agents have been found dead recently. The world is on the watch list pending a GCC investigation.

The Granite Planet This world is a dense and rocky planet populated by people made entirely from stone. Known as Granulans, these wellspoken, polite people have made staggering leaps and bounds with technology. Non-Granulans are referred to as Squashies by the locals. Besides a law office, it is also home to the Stone Gang located on Crystal Street.

Skybo-Tsong Despite being unremarkable to many folks, the planet of Skybo-Tsong is home to a most famous distillery. Eldorado Mist is a popular, strong whiskey drink that can get the likes of Middenface McNulty drunk in a matter of a few glasses.

Zeta-9 For those needing to get a shuttle to another destination in the known systems, the Zeta-9 mid-space shuttle station is the best place to hop one. Shuttles to Antares, Cygnus and beyond regularly leave the station and usually depart from Boarding Lock 11. Due to recent outlaw activity in the sector, several shuttles heading to Vegas Gaming Satellite have been delayed.

No-Go No-Go falls under the moniker of a Feud World. The government rents out landmasses to anyone who wants to turn a fight into a full scale war. There are likely to be a dozen or so groups battling it out on the planet at any one time. One of the more dangerous non-mercenary predators appears in the form of the lizard-cats, ferocious feline-lizard hybrids that stalk the forests of the world. Murph’s Rock, a giant boulderlike protrusion near the centre of the landmass, is an infamous landmark that many have fought and died over.

Trigol-3 Part of the Darma system, Trigol-3 is one of several worlds there, though this one is famous for a huger model that orbits

the planet. Cast in the shape of a prospector with a gleam in its eye, the statue seems ready to dig up precious resources on the planet. Nickel City used to be a fine place to visit for those looking for somewhere to go, but has since been renamed Lawless due to criminals running riot. Until a Strontium Dog or other law enforcer clears it up, it is likely to remain that way.

Hirfu The settled worlds get more desperate and sleazier once you go out beyond Arcturus. Planets like Hirfu are hellholes, though few more so than this unrepentant, vile dirtball of a world. Known for terrible weather and even worse food, Hirfru is the last place anyone, including S/D Agents, want to visit. There is a rumour of a seer-like blind lady who can see many things living deep in the desert. Many seek the Walking Lady for her prophetic powers, although few return.

THE GALACTIC GAZETTEER PART 2: EN WORLDS En System (En Space) The En System is a star system that sits on the frontier regions of known space. Acting as a border between warring factions caught in an endless civil war, it suffers from uncontrollable levels of crime which the beleaguered law enforcement have a hard time controlling on the best of galactic days. In 2180, the En System is the perfect place for a new Galactic Crime Commission HQ to be set up. Officially designated as K3N-N3L in the Galactic Cartographer’s Guide, the rest of the known universe has gifted the GCC HQ the affectionate name of the Kennel. Acting as a forward base for the GCC, the Kennel sits in neutral space between the planet of Rime and the asteroid penal colony of Ryson. The rest of the En System is packed with planets that boast a diverse population, though they are often still plagued by the anti-mutant sentiments perpetuated by the likes of Nelson Bunker Kreelman and his lackeys. En is home to noble houses, kings, queens, crime lords, and alien warlords alike, there is no shortage of work for the Stronts of the Kennel here. The system also includes places such as the ice-bound planet of Freon and the Ghetto World of Konkrete, which is a planet wrapped in a giant double-wall and ruled by a mad dictator who took notes from a diary brought back by time-travellers. The GCC believe that these time-travellers visited the bunker of Adolf Hitler not long after “the Schickelgruber Grab” incident. S/D Agents can expect to hunt a lucrative sector of space for big money bounties. In addition to planet-based threats and troubles, S/D Agents are warned to be on the lookout for a notorious Pirate Queen known as the Hellion. A dangerous

mutant with a massive fleet and a long reach, the Hellion operates out of her battle-cruiser “the Mercator” and is known to rarely take prisoners in a fight. She is protected at all times by a bodyguard of seven mutant-animal hybrids that possess feline features and characteristics.

EN SYSTEM LOCATIONS KN3-N3L The galactic coordinates for the location of the Kennel place it in the En System at the exact centre of the space considered neutral territory in the war between two worlds. Functionally similar to the Doghouse in 2180, it is based on the same modular space-station design which was created by the Ezquerra Stellar Design Guild. The current Agency Controller of the Kennel is a human officer from Earth named Jenksie. He claims that a clerical error resulted in his transfer to this remote outpost, as he was due to take a well-earned rest on the holiday planet of Barbaydos (a subsidiary of Atoll Protected Incorporated that is in turn a subsidiary of the Twee Travel Agency). As a result, Jenksie is a no-nonsense character who does not shy away from getting his hands dirty. He would rather be out there hunting the criminals himself than handing the warrants over to mutant bounty hunters. That is not to say he loathes mutants, more that he is just a little burned out having to pilot a desk. In addition to the Doghouse’s regular facilities (see pg. 73) the Kennel has the following specialised equipment, all of which require high level S/D Agent access. » The Time Machine: S/D Agents can be sent into the future or the past using high-powered tachyon engine generators and unique technology. A specially adapted version of the time bomb is available to return the S/D Agents to the point of departure. » Dimension Gate: Only the best get access to this room, which always remains on locked down. Used to transport S/D Agents to different dimensions, the portal is unable to remain open for long. Agents must achieve their goal and move to a predefined extraction point. The energy required to rip a hole in the dimensional fabric is such that the whole station power dims when the room is in use. » CPU Brain Server: This giant server room houses the W00D-H0U53 computer system which links into the GCC crime database and beams information to the warrant scanners for all active S/D Agents in the sector.

Taggart Station Taggart Station serves as the headquarters of the system’s stellar law enforcement. This ramshackle space station barely holds on to functionality as the system law likewise spirals

further and further out of control. A fleet of police enforcement vessels is always tethered nearby. The station’s commander, Jane Taggart, is a tough woman with an even tougher job, as she has to frequently juggle station economy and legal administration when she would rather just be out among the stars busting criminal heads.

Weaver’s Rock At the edge of the En System, right on its border with the Swearengen System, lies the small mining world of Weaver’s Rock. Many miners set out on their ships to find the next big payload during the early days of the En System’s colonisation. One of those ships was Weaver Corp’s Big Dixie Miner 89’er, which managed to get lost and end up on the wrong side of the system from where its auto-nav had been programmed to take it. The colonists wound up on a planet devoid of the Carrington Crystal they had been hoping to mine, but found they had discovered a world that was rich with tin instead. Despite not being the outcome they were looking for, the colonists did their best. The colony grew over the years that followed and the first of the big city locations was established. Out on the eastern plain, beyond the now-ruined settlement of Beggar’s Rest and out past the mutant-friendly Meertown is the home of the Hutchinson Family Casino, which itself basks in the bright lights of Paradise City. This den of inequity is famous for gambling, vice and entertainment, with its biggest bar by far known as Mo-Mo’s. Access to Paradise City is strictly controlled, with no mutants allowed in unless on official S/D Agency business. A policy that Mayor Hutchinson prefers to see strictly enforced. It also has a huge System Police station that sees a steady flow of perps. Out to the west of Paradise City lies the small ex-mining town of Dreadwood, home of Rebecca’s Bordello, Pat’s Mutel (Mutie Town), the Kat House (a mutant run bordello) and the jalhouse bunker of the sheriff, Salty “Lick” Gimbal. The Sheriff’s Office has two modes of operation: a regular office hours mode where anyone can walk in, and a voiceactivated bunker mode that locks the building down with armour plating and murder-holes. Dreadwood is often plagued by outlaws from the Wispa Gang, a local skimmer gang formed from a sheriff’s posse that went rogue. The ring leaders, John and Dirk Wispa, each currently have a 20,000cr. bounty on their heads.

Rime A water-world with two moons, Rime also the penal colony of Ryson—described below—orbiting above it. Rime’s two moons, Gap and Abyss respectively, exert a strange effect on the planet’s oceans, causing the surface to bubble with

a caustic super-heated acidic liquid that gives off a valuable gas. As a result, exploring the world without protective gear is extremely dangerous. A huge floating rig called the Turbine serves as the biggest city on Rime. It sits fifty miles above the planet’s surface, suspended there by powerful anti-grav generators. Turbine is connected by umbilical lifts to the mining platforms below it. The rig houses a System Police Office and a huge starport with immigration for both mutants and norms. Rime is governed by the Company rep known as Sister Claudia Wrinkemann. There are numerous bars and services in Turbine City, with the lower sectors known as the Gantries. Despite the presence of law enforcement, the rig is a lawless place which harbours is a thriving black market in human slaves run by ex-slavers of Drule.

Ryson Ryson is a large asteroid penal colony orbiting the planet Rime. The System Police maintain the colony and use it as a place to stash dangerous criminals, both mutant or norm.

Ryson is surrounded by a ring of A.I. controlled space-based gun satellites and run by a super-computer known as the Warwick. A.I. Rehabilitation. Detention. Execution. Network, or W.A.R.D.E.N for short. The network is named after the man who invented it, Doctor Ruben Warwick. Ironically, Dr Warwick was also found guilty of embezzling funds to build the network by the System Police and subsequently imprisoned by his own creation inside the penal colony. Many of the inmates are sent to specially-constructed mining rigs to gather the corrosive gas from the planet below.

Konrekte When the self-proclaimed ex-President of the Galaxy, gazillionaire playboy Rax Medrom, first retired on the world called Barnabus, he made sure of two things. Firstly, he used his considerable stolen wealth and power to secure the whole planet and throw all the aliens and mutants he could find into massive ghettos. Secondly, he built a wall around the whole world and renamed it Konkrete. The planet has recently changed hands and is now under the sway of an alien leader called Tango Polyp, which has only made things worse. Influenced by a diary he found in Rax’s private quarters, the orange-skinned tufted terror has quarantined the whole planet and built a second wall around the first. No one is allowed in or out, especially mutants. Alien mercenaries patrol the spaceports and border locations of the planet to enforce this. Those rich enough are able to procure prime real estate on the Big Rock Plain. Some even go so far as large penthouses in the City of Sin itself, the Big Shiny, where every building is covered in gold and precious metals. The Big Shiny is a taxdodgers paradise and every criminal in the sector has a base of operations there, fully protected from the system’s law, of course. Criminals here continue to live free and are able to prey on good and decent folk. The city has every service imaginable, including a huge zero-g golf course that boasts an unobstructed view of the despot’s tower. All S/D Agents in the system are being made aware that a 5.2 million cr. bounty was placed for the removal of Polyp’s head some twenty-one days ago. A surgical strike may be needed and all active S/D Agents in the system are required to fill in an A-3756-B Form before accepting the bounty.

Freon As one of the furthest planets away from the system’s sun, Freon is an ice ball. Why colonists chose to build on this rock is a question that has plagued Galactic Cartographers for many years. Not least because the planet is home to packs of vicious Freon Keldhounds, dog-like polar-bears who roam in extended

packs, are intelligent enough to hide from human hunters are even capable of setting traps. The indigenous alien people do not take kindly to visitors. The Iceny Tribe are territorial, extremely dangerous, often eat norms and consider mutant meat a delicacy. They are also terrified of the one thing that the planet Blas has in great supply: Gronks. For some inexplicable reason, the most timid creature in the known universe scares the frosting out of these long-limbed alien meat eaters. Still, humans come here by the droves to settle out in the wilderness and construct thermally protected towns, cabins and cities. Why? The larvae of the Icefang Wurm is the chief reason. Unhatched young can fetch up to a million cr. to the right Galactic Gourmet, and the Icefang Wurms are prolific breeders who drop hundreds of eggs during any one mating season. Payday is big for those brave enough to live on Freon and hunt some voorm (as Wulf would say).

KAL-3 As a planet full of predators that is also blanketed in thick and impenetrable forests, KAL-3 is known has become a popular hunting ground. It is the brainchild of the Galactic Fun Excitement & Entertainment Company. Situated in orbit around the world is the station known as Entry. This orbital is a big game hunter’s paradise that is full of the best weapons money can buy, the ultimate in hunting equipment and some of the rarest trophies this side of the Glass Nebulae. Once a shuttle has been taken down from the station, visitors can disembark at the Hunting Ground spaceport on the northern side of the Big Green, which is a massive forest that sprawls across thousands of miles to the south. Hunting permits are provided for credits both on the station and at the spaceport, with fees dependant on the type and size of creature being hunted. The GFEEC used government sanctioned time-travel to hop back to a point in Earth’s time that allowed them to capture a bunch of dinosaurs. Especially the lethal predator kind. They brought them back to the present with the aid of mutant mercenaries and installed them onto KAL-3 with a view to turning it into a dinosaur playground. Now the rich and famous come from all across the known worlds to try a bit of dino-hunting mayhem.

Donner One of the many frontier planets in the En System, Donner has a rich history of gambling and some of the towns there are home to big or small games, night and day. The main city on Donner, affectionately known as Swindle, is home to the

biggest game on the planet, often with millions of credits up for grabs every single hour. Other locales here include Ma Doober’s Hutchinson Family Casino, Thurk Durble’s Big Money House and the mutant run, highly illegal underground casino operated by Hands ‘Head’ Handy Molloy. Swindle also has a small law office, which usually takes hefty bribes to look the other way, and a GCC HQ that is under siege by the criminals who operate in the area. The System Police have long since given up trying to maintain law in Swindle and have barely maintained a foothold elsewhere on the planet. Meanwhile the Casino Gang—hired thugs working for the casino owners—continue to tear each other apart in their war to get the most customers. One place the System Police do hold sway is the town known as Drytown. Most consider this the most boring place in the system, where the law is strict, all forms of fun are outlawed, alcohol is prohibited and any form of vice is not tolerated. This does not stop human or mutant criminals from attempting to peddle their wares to the population of the town, most of whom crave something more than the humdrum existence foisted on them by their town mayor, Officer Drubble King.

Dahn-Unda Planet XK-32-G ,otherwise known as Dahn-Unda, is the result of severe cosmic radiation, a history of violence, and a battering from the violent rad storms which hammer the surface almost daily. Only ships protected by heavy rad shields and containment systems are capable of making it through the atmosphere and past the radioactive-laced energy tendrils that snake out from the clouds. After exiting the clouds, ships are greeted by a war-torn surface littered with the ruins of civilisation and left barren by the lancing cosmic energies dance across surfaces. The bright lights of landing beacons beckon visitors to a landing pad, which in turn drops below the surface into a decontamination tunnel designed to cleanse a ship on the way down. Once beneath the surface of the planet, visitors then encounter the starport of Radway and the welcoming mutant town of Nada’s Crafter. Due to the radiation of the world, the population of the planet are either mutant or alien, with norms actually considered as second class citizens. This inversion of normal society is a refreshing change for some and provides one of the few safe havens for mutants in the system. Nada’s Crater is linked to other underground towns and cities by via a grav-train that utilises subways and metros. While each station offers something different, they all have basic amenities and a mutant-run law enforcement agency that welcomes Stronts and usually has a lot of work for them.

The most famous stations include: » Karndecob: Considered a lawless place even by DahnUnda’s standards, Karndecob is a den of thieves, cut throats and murderers. Nagler Fromage leads a band of hardline criminals beneath the surface here. » Howard’s Way: A small underground town with a band of norms as the major population. Howard’s Way was founded when Howard Wont left the town of Nada’s Crater in the early days of the colony and took some of his norm friends with him. Fed up with being treated as second class, he outlawed mutants from the town with orders to shoot on sight and declared Nelson Bunker Kreelman a God. S/D Agents are not welcome there either. » Big Ma Jo’s Town: The daughter of a mutant and alien pairing, Big Ma Jo is a huge mutant who towers over ten feet tall. She runs her town with a fair hand, which is likely made easier by the fact she has enough strength to crush a person’s skull with her little finger. The town is known for a Ravine Steam Sauna, Exotic Cave-Slug Café, and the mutant only Flesh Palace. » Trench: The deepest and sleaziest city under the planet, Trench is a hedonist’s dream. It is said that anything can be yours if you pay enough. Trench is a massive sprawling underground city with miles of tunnels and caves set aside for any kind of delight a mutant or alien might want. » Way-stations: These small towns are much the same, all have a subway/metro stop and basic amenities. Mutels are common here, with prices varying from cheap to astronomical depending on the proprietor. » Lowdown Town: Half way round the track and part spaceport and town, Lowdown is a simple and friendly enough place to visit. Six-Eye Mutel is a popular location to rest, but the star attraction is the multi-vocal, three-headed Sarah Beus, the angelic-voiced singer at the Odyssey Club. » Westinghouse Town: Named after the popular brand of Westinghouse Cartridge Blasters, this small town is also a good place to buy them. One of the biggest warehousetowns on planet, the town holds a huge stock from the Westinghouse range plus minor stock from others. Every single bar, club, saloon and venue is named after a brand of gun. Twin sisters Smith and Wesson, ex-S/D Agents who retired here three years ago, run the show, and they have a really good and well-armed (often multi-armed) posse to back them up.

K-345 (Kärntnertor) Kärntnertor is a planet that has been designed for one purpose and one alone: music. Often called the Theatre or Concert World, Kärntnertor sits between three moons and

has been converted to one giant mega-stadium sized music hall for the express purpose of delivering the most impressive aural experience. All captured in stunning vibrant Sonicon Tri-D Planetary Sound™. Via an orbiting space-station dock called Aria, music lovers are beamed onto the planet through a short-range teleportation network. Once there, they take their seats for hours of performances which range from opera to classical music renditions. Guests are given state of the art Tri-D headphones to protect them from deafness. The sound levels are so high that special sonic dampners are employed at sites where there could be geological instability caused by the concerts. Especially planet-wide rock concerts. While Kärntnertor is used as the theatre-world, the actual performances are crafted on the three moons which orbit the planet: Mozart, Bach and Schumann. Each one contains the audio and performance capture technology to facilitate the Tri-D experience. There are no cities on the planet or the moons, but there was once a case where an escaped Waterwort wreaked havoc on Kärntnertor via Bach’s audio rig. It took six hours to recapture the creature during a performance of Carmen 2185, the much-adored sequel to the Old Earth opera. The planet and the moons have a strict no-mutant policy and the Sonicon Corporation allows S/D Agents to operate only under strict observation while accompanied security personnel drawn from Aria Station.

Drank’s Bile Drank’s Bile is a tiny world covered by swamps, each of which is full of man-eating predatory plants and ooze-like lifeforms. Though interesting and unique, the plants are not the reason that folks flock to the planet. The slime-like creatures are. These Drank Slimes are highly prized by the Galactic Gourmet’s and fetch a good amount of credits to the right buyer. Of the several towns on Drank’s Bile, the biggest by far is called Quick. Situated at the edge of a huge bog known as the Grumblegut Swamp, Quick has all the on-world amenities that would expected in a world like this. There is even a bathhouse for deep cleansing after explorers get all muddy from chasing down the Drank Slimes. The town also has a functioning starport and a bunch of rowdy saloons, the most famous of which is the Duelling Zango on the north east dock. Right across the road is Earl’s Bargain Shootay’s, which is the perfect place to get a cheap slug-throwing firearm. A few isolated shacks of the Slime Trappers make this world a good hiding place for criminal scum looking to evade the law, or S/D Agents seeking some time out. The best way to get around on Drank’s Bile consists of hiring a grav-scoot to zip around the swamps in style.

Muddy Warthog is a notorious boar-headed mutant criminal who hides out in the swamp. No bounty has been set on him yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Pitstop Station It takes a certain kind of captain and crew to ply the space lanes, what with pirates like Papa Por Ka and the notorious Hellion waiting out there to pounce. Only hardy norm or mutant captains apply for such a dangerous job, and in some cases the pay just is not worth the hassle. Many veterans of the run between the planets Keller and Bro find solace in the little space station that sits part way through the journey. Pitstop Station, a home away from home for galactic truckers and packed to the brim with diners, fly-ins and dives. The fuel costs a lot, but the food and atmosphere more than make up for it. The System Police keep a law office here on station, and there are always a few minor bounties to be had for S/D Agents looking to top up their income or just take on an extra job here. Anti-mutant sentiment runs high on the station for the most part. Muties are kept in the lower sections in their own little sector called the Carnival, which is mostly by the norms. TA few sectors tolerate mutants, including the Rust Sector that is home to the Comet Lane Trucker Company.

Keller Keller is an agricultural world (agri-world) that makes up one part of the Keller-Bro trucker run which enjoys a lot of space traffic all throughout the year. Covered in rich, fertile land, Keller is an alien world colonised by norm colonists back in the day that is now full of farms. The farmers of Keller had a rough time during the early days, right up until the truck companies started sending their big space rigs to pick up the produce grown on the world. Now, this agri-world makes up nearly 80% of the food needs of the En System. Case City is the biggest city-farm on the planet, with fields that spread hundreds of miles in either direction. Its habdome remains right in the middle of them all. Flight paths are carefully plotted to avoid harming the produce, while an environmentally friendly shuttle service ferries passengers to and from Kuhn Spaceport at the edge of the North Field. The norm governor of Case only adheres to some of Kreelman’s ideas, meaning Mutants are permitted on planet as workers. Governor Satchel fields a private security force made up of trusted norm or alien folk, though no mutants.

Bro If the breadbasket of the En System is Keller, then the source of raw materials is definitely Bro. This world has been stripped

of every bit of green using hi-tech strip-mining grav-rigs that can deforest whole sectors in a few hours. The vegetation is fed back into huge reactors where it is converted and consumed as bio-fuel. Since every other bit of land is a claim owned by hundreds of operational mining companies, these giant citylike rigs are the only place visitors are allowed to land on Bro. The planet’s atmosphere has degraded over the years to the point that protective gear is a requirement for continued survival outside of the grav-rigs. Pound City, Chomper Town, Gearteeth City, and Grinder Town are all big grav-rigs that accept the few visitors that deign to breach what is left of Bro#s toxic atmosphere. The smaller rig-towns of Harvest, Pyrite, Coal, Newcastle, Midlands, and Carbon do not support starport facilities and need to be reached by a shuttle from one of the other rigs. Flight time is dependent on where each rig is at the time. Pound City and Gearteeth are both holdings that have been deemed significant enough to warrant a System Police HQ, which also includes a GCC HQ at the latter. Pound City has earned its name thanks to the massive las-pneumatic piledriver that smashes into the ground every few minutes, which creates a huge thwomping noise that reverberates for miles in every direction. On the other hand, Gearteeth is a gaping maw of grinding teeth that is easily capable of chewing up mountains in a few short hours.

The Disc A small disc-shaped space-station that resembles an inverted flying-saucer, the Disc is situated deep within a mineral-rich asteroid field known as Shugart’s Belt. There are approximately one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six inhabitants aboard the station, with over ninety percent of them taking part in criminal activity to some degree or other. This has resulted in numerous possible bounties for an intrepid S/D

Agents to collect. Unfortunately, there are no law-enforcement headquarters or GCC buildings located within the maze-like passages and corridors and the residents look after their own, making bounty hunting a dangerous proposition at best. The Disc is a place where it is possible to get the best black market goods, which includes restricted weapons and the occasional piece of Stront tech. Oolar Pronk, a norm black market specialist, pays a thousand credits for S/D Agent badges, which he then sells on to his more nefarious customers. The station enjoys an uneasy peace between the norm and mutant criminals aboard, although it is always balanced on a knife’s edge.

Dobbyn’s Star Dobbyn’s Star is the name given to the En System’s brightly burning sun. A small solar research station named Helios sits close to it, studying the effects of solar radiation upon certain mutations. The station is staffed by a small team of researchers, all of whom are overseen by Professor Kirkleatham.

Babylon A lush, vibrant world, Babylon contains huge swathes of forest and jungle that stretch for thousands of miles across the planet. The ground beneath the canopy is considered to be the habitat of endangered species, which has resulted in a noninterference order placed upon the entire planet. This means that no one is allowed to venture down there for any reason. Only scientists are allowed any sort of permit to visit the forest floor and even then they have strict protocols to follow. All dwellings and locations on Babylon are arboreal. Soneva Kiri is a vast city that has been built atop the trees and kept in place with the aid of anti-grav engines and other tech. Named after a famous treehouse from the 20th Century, it is the largest

city-port on the planet, boasting three star-ports with canopy based landing pads capable of dealing with the seemingly endless stream of ships that come to the planet seeking permits. It is also a popular stop-off point for astro-liners and holidaymakers all over the En System and the known planets. The city is also a mutant-free zone and thus popular with those seeking to cut mutants out of their lives for good. Only S/D Agents are allowed into Sonova Kiri and they are strictly monitored by the planet’s jet-pack equipped police force. The tower is the central operations centre for all police force activity on the planet. Without fail S/D Agents are directed to the private landing pad here. A clause in the non-interference order provides S/D Agents with clearance to pursue dangerous bounties onto Babylon’s floor. However, they must also be accompanied by specially trained rangers who form part of the elite arm of the Babylon Police Constabulary.

Hydro Once an ice world akin to Freon until it was bought by the Mistmann Corporation and terraformed extensively, all of the ice on Hydro has all but melted and the planet is now mostly covered in water. Unlike the stilt-cities of Och-11, Hydro has floating cities and towns which sail around the oceans on pre-programmed routes in order to avoid each other. Deep sea fishing is extensive on Hydro and there is a vast profit to be made from trawling the depths for the juiciest catch of the day. Many cities like Seabury and Hewer have their own fleets of anti-grav trawlers plying the fish-rich ocean waters around them daily without fail. The floating city of Grimsby is the largest of its kind on the planet by far. The huge sprawling flotilla is made from several other platforms all slaved to a central control vessel. Each platform has its own wheelhouse and control systems that are linked together to ensure the whole city moves as one across the vast waters of Hydro. Mutants are welcome in Grimsby, though they are segregated to one of the older regions known as Stern. Travel between regions is mostly permitted, barring the upper class norm only platform at the city’s heart. Grimsby Naval Investigation is a private police force with ties to the GCC. This link allows S/D Agents to operate freely across Grimsby which includes the mutant settlement of Stern and the norm-restricted Cuttle. There are also several deep-sea mining corporation rigs far below the waves, the biggest being Marianas Trench. These armoured behemoths often vie with the huge cephalopods that drift through the deeps.

Brynner’s World (Robotopia) Robotopia was the brainchild of Albert Heifensterfer, who decided to take his proprietary and highly dubious technology, market it, capitalise on it, then lose it all in a drunken card game to a businessman called Kalan Demerara. As owner of the Big Planet Entertainment Corporation, Kalan took Heifensterfer’s tech and used it to create a theme-park world full of fun robots and attractions on Brynner. He also made sure to freeze Albert out from any of the profits. Not one to take this lying down, Albert sabotaged the A.I. controllers on the planet. Unfortunately, this meant that the whole robot network went on a killing spree, resulting in them attacking guests, workers, other robots and everyone else. It was a horrendous bloodbath that many still talk about. Worse yet, Albert Heifensterfer remains at large to this day. Kalan Demerara, on the other hand, was killed during the opening hours when the robots from the Zombie Attack attraction surged across to the Happy Fun Daycare centre and massacred everyone inside. Tens of thousands died across multiple themed events that stretched across the entire planet. Robotopia is a world that is now considered off limits to everyone, including S/D Agents. Every robot has gone berserk and the exhibits themselves constantly wage war against each other. The once picturesque city domes and holiday hotels are now just the shells of ruined buildings, all backlit by weaponsfire and violent automaton attacks that blaze away night and day. If a robot or machine falls, it is often dragged away and cobbled together with other spare parts to form a new and often nightmarish minion.

CH/5: BOUNTY CONTRACTS The Galactic Crime Commission posts daily bounties at places like the Doghouse, the Den, and the Kennel, providing a huge database of outlaws and brigands for S/D Agents to pursue. Some of these bounties include hardened criminals responsible for terrible crimes, which also usually means a Termination Warrant, serious danger and great reward. The following chapter presents six interconnected contracts for your rookie or veteran S/D Agents to undertake. Ranging

across the known galaxy and beyond, GMs can seed them individually as part of their own story arc or use them as presented to form a larger overall narrative. In either case, the final bounty pits the PCs against a nefarious villain who has been intent on nothing less than causing total chaos. Text presented in this font within this chapter can be read aloud to the players.

BOUNTY HUNT 01: CARELESS WISPA’S THE LOWDOWN

Weaver’s Rock is a small mining world on the outer edge of the En System. More information about this long-suffering world can be found in Chapter 4, p. 82. Weaver’s Rock is currently tormented by the grip of John and Dirk Wispa, a pair of notorious norm criminal brothers who have been responsible for harassing and extorting the good folk of Dreadwood for a while now. The Wispa Gang have taken to robbing cargo trucks that are transiting between the planet’s main hub and largest city, Paradise (the largest city), and a small town on its western frontier known as Dreadwood. Dirk Wispa is the brains behind the scam for the most part. Frequently masquerading as a crewman aboard the target freighter, he ensures that a tracker is placed on the most important cargoes so they are easy to find. As soon as the ship lands or departs from Dreadwood’s tiny space port, he sends a coded message telling his brother to get ready for a score. Once the cargo is loaded and ready for transport, Dirk either slips away to join his brother in their hidden camp north of Dreadwood or play possum amongst the freighter’s crew. The gang ride out on stolen skimmers and prepare to ambush the truck on the road between Dreadwood and Paradise, which threads between east and west along Snake Ridge, past Beggar’s Rest and across the White Mork Plains. The gang’s main tactic has involved killing the guards and stunning the workers. Unfortunately, the last ambush went south fast, which led to everyone dying and the bounty on both the Wispa’s being set to a Termination Warrant. The gang had also been in talks with one Ace Vagabundo to televise their raids, which haunts the sheriff in the next scenario. While Wispa’s got away, two of the sheriff’s best deputies were killed. The sheriff of Dreadwood, Salty ‘Lick’ Gimbal, has finally snapped and grudgingly called in the S/D Agents. He even went so far as posting the bounty himself, bypassing the Planetary Law Enforcement who operate out of Paradise City.

Staking a Claim The bounty was set at 50,000cr per brother after the Wispa’s killed the two officers of the law, which equates to a cool 100,000cr for both. They were originally Wanted Dead or Alive, but that status has now changed to Terminate on Sight. For the sake of expediency, Officer Jenksie of the Kennel has decided who he would like to tackle the bounty, rather than throw it out to the first bidder. He specifically passes over the PCs for any jobs at the morning briefing, then quietly takes them aside and offers them the bounty in private once the other Stronts leave. The random bounty hunt tables on p. 65-68 can be used to create juicy hunts for Jenksie to pass the PCs up on, which can be done during play or predetermined. Jenksie pulls the S/D Agents into his office and shuts the door. He makes a show of checking for bugs and then opens up with the following dialogue: “Right you lot, listen. I’ve got a job for you. It’s a Termination Warrant that pays 100,000 credits on completion. The names are John and Dirk Wispa. Check your Warrant Scanners for details. Read the brief and I’ll answer any questions.” Jenksie will give the PCs a little time check their scanners and then answer any basic questions which they might have. Beyond the Lowdown, opposite, there is little else he can tell them. He is also eager to get things moving and has already footed the bill to get the S/D Agents to Weaver’s Rock. They are going to be cooped in cargo class on a merchant vessel called the Bright Booty Express for six days straight. Once Jenksie has answered as many questions as he is able, he packs the PCs out of the door. He is a busy man with little time for niceties, especially as there are a lot of criminals out there who need arresting or putting in the ground.

Armed and Dangerous The next location the PCs will likely want to visit is the armoury. The quartermaster, Thaddeus Thackery, is on hand to help them stock up on any gear they might want to buy with their starting cash. Keeping a close eye on what goes in and out, he will let the S/D Agents gear up as long as they can pay the cost of the equipment. He does not offer handouts.

Mutant Baggage A shuttle docked at the Kennel will take the PCs to their waiting ship once they are geared up and ready to go. From there it is a straight six day hyperjump to Weaver’s Rock on the border of the EN and Swearengen Systems. The S/D Agents will be travelling in the lowest part of the ship, in an area reserved for livestock and cargo. Lacking basic amenities, this whole section of the ship crammed with stinking animals and environmentally sealed cargo crates containing produce and goods for Paradise. Warning the PCs not to wander, the crew is stand-offish or outright rude. Once the ship emerges from hyperspace it is a short hop from the arrival point to the planet of Weaver’s Rock. The Bright Booty Express only has clearance for the small star-port near Dreadwood. It cannot land directly in Paradise because the shipping company refuse to pay the exorbitant docking fees required to land at the extensive capitol. A dust bowl with a hefty amount of stone and cracked earth awaits the S/D Agents as the ship lands at the star-port by the frontier town. Of course, the crew of the Bright Booty Express make sure they are on hand to sneer and jeer at the PCs as they disembark. They are met outside the port by a tall lawman wearing a wide-brimmed hat standing next to a semi-sized grav-truck. This might just be the warmest welcome they have ever experienced on any planet since beginning their careers as bounty hunters for the Search/Destroy Agency.

Grav Truck Buddies “Howdy, I’m Blake Vargas, the Deputy of this here town of Dreadwood. You best climb aboard and I’ll take you the sheriff. I don’t agree with him hiring on Stronts, but I’ll damn well support my boss. Get in.” Blake is not anti- or pro-mutant. He just does not like bounty hunters as he feels they complicate a lawman’s job. He would be exactly the same with norms doing the same role. He takes the S/D Agents a few miles into town and drops them off next to the Sheriff’s Office. While the office resembles a ramshackle building with a corrugated roof on both outside and in, it actually has a voice-activated high-security lockdown mode which transforms it into an armour-plated bunker.

“Sheriff’s inside.” Is all they will get out of Blake before he pulls the grav-truck away and heads off to get his lunch.

Salty’s Bounty Once inside, the PCs get to meet Salty ‘Lick’ Gimbal of Dreadwood, an older man with wise-eyes and laughter-lines on his face. Although pro-mutant, he is careful of how he expresses this sentiment since many in Dreadwood are fans of Kreelman’s laws and attitudes. Salty will welcome the PCs openly and get them seated, then spend some time explaining just what has happened of late to lead him to posting a 100,000cr bounty. “Well, you finally got here. Ok folks, listen. I ain’t a man who stands on no ceremony. I know we all got jobs to do, and you’re probably itching to tangle with the Wispas. But listen up, I posted this bounty since the brothers recently killed two of my lawmen and murdered a whole truck full of civilian workers. Now Wispa ain’t done nothing like this afore, it’s right out of character for them… but that don’t mean I’m gonna let em get away with it on my watch.” Salty then pauses for a big swig of whiskey. “You get yourselves to Mutie Town and book in at Pat’s Mutel. I’ve told him you’re comin’ so you’ll get a welcome there. Your badges give you the right to ask around town and see if you can dig up any information my folks might have missed. The mutants there might talk to you more freely than they do us, considering. Oh, and if you have any questions, now‘s the time.”

EXPLORING DREADWOOD

As sheriff, Salty knows a lot about recent occurrences. He can answer questions that are directly related to the investigation and also any the PCs may have about certain amenities in town.

Norm Town Locations: » Bordello: Rebecca’s Place. A pretty nice establishment. Good services for norms, no mutants allowed. » Saloon: Tipsy McDingle’s Bar. Mutants allowed in the back, norms in the front, no mixing between the two. Good drinks, good food, excellent roasted Mork. » Garage: Barry Haggar’s Garage, behind the Sheriff’s Office. The law keep their skimmers here. Barry has been told to hire them out to the S/D Agents if needed.

» Hotel: No mutants allowed. Mutants wishing to stay in Dreadwood normally use the Mutel across in Mutie Town. » General Store: Over his dead body, Pat Robertson refuses to sell to mutants. » Gun Store: Emily Thacker sells quality slug-throwers and blasters. If no one is looking, she will even sell to mutants. » Town Hall: The Mayor of Dreadwood, Burt Eigler, is a tough no-nonsense kind of man who smokes synth-cigars and drinks imported whiskey right from the bottle. He makes the rules, works closely with Salty in keeping their town safe and for the most part leaves mutants alone as long as they keep to their own.

Mutie Town Locations: » Mister Hiss’ Mork Meats: The snake-headed mutant known as Mister Hiss sells some fine quality Mork from his stand. PCs can grab some for just a handful of credits and garnish with a choice of condiments. Tasty! » Pat’s Mutel: Side-Face (Si-Fi) Pat, a mutant with a face on the side of his head, runs the Mutel and keeps a fairly clean and sober place for the most part. » Kitty Kat’s Purr Palace: The mutant bordello that caters to all manner of vice and fetish. Kat cares not where her money comes from and she will even entertain norms if the price is right. » Three-Head Saloon: JimHimJim, a mutant with three heads, runs the saloon here. JimHimJim has a lot of information for the right price. He also enjoys drinking competitions with himself—all three of him. » Mutie Market: The law in Dreadwood is relaxed enough to allow mutants to operate businesses and own property; Salty saw to this when he took over as a young man by ensuring that mutants got a fair deal. The mutie market is a general market where mutants can source most goods. The various stalls here cater to basic produce, clothing, beverages and more. » Mutie Town Hall: Having mutants in charge of their own town is a step too far for many, so Mutie Town’s mayor, Sally Ride, is a norm with mutant affairs at heart. She worked extensively with the mutants of Milton Keynes before emigrating here with her miner husband. Sadly, he was a casualty of the Wispa Gang’s first raid.

Trouble Rolls In With their heads swelling faster than their reputation, the Wispas are getting too big for their boots. John has convinced Dirk that it is time to take their operations to the next level with a plan to drive the mutants out of Dreadwood and take over. They will ultimately need to kill Blake Vargas and the annoying sheriff to accomplish this. First, though, they need to let the

mutants of Mutie Town know they are no longer welcome on Wispa turf. He sends out six of the Wispa Gang, one of them armed with a blazooga, in a stolen beat-up grav-van to attack Mutie Town’s big Town Hall and deliver the message. The gang park their van close to the edge of town then proceed on foot toward Mutie Town’s Town Hall, all with the express purpose of raising hell. As luck would have it, this just happens to be right as the Strontium Dogs are wandering around Dreadwood after having booked in at Pat’s Mutel and spent a few hours exploring the town. The PCs should spot the duster-wearing, heavily armed gang of norms strolling into Mutie Town as though they own the place. The apparent leader, one Howling Joe Moonshanker, clearly has a Blazooga protruding over one shoulder. Use the Mob Enforcer and Mob Henchman stats from Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD for Joe and his posse. Unless the S/D Agents stop and confront the gang, a whole lot of people are going to be blown into their caskets. The PCs can tackle the scene in a few ways, including: » Draw the gang into a gunfight. This is a good way to up the pace of an investigation heavy scenario like this one. Each gang member is a minor player in proceedings and they flash up on the Warrant Scanner at 500cr per head, plus 1000cr for Howling Joe. The PCs also get to loot a Blazooga if they manage to keep it intact. » Talk the gang down. This will require a lot of roleplaying, posturing and perhaps a demonstration of force by the PCs. Though not normally how S/D Agents handle things, GMs may very well have players want to avoid every confrontation turning into a blaster brawl. » Leave the gang unopposed. The Wispa’s wreck the Town Hall, kill dozens of mutants and leave a powerful message before rolling out. The sheriff and residents will not look kindly on the PCs if aware they could have intervened. » Plant a tracker. Clever PCs may leave one gang member alive to run off on the gang, then follow them back to their hidden hideout in the Beyond Badlands to the north. If the PCs kill the gang members, the Wispa brothers hear the news in a day’s time and send out another group of gang members to take them down. They also delay their next attack on the newest convoy and change their focus to eliminating the newest arrivals. The PCs can expect gang members to regularly show in the hopes of taking them down. If the PCs manage to talk the gang down, they leave without incident and report to the Wispa Brothers. S/D Agents on the scene make them edgy, so they delay their next attack on the cargo trucks while deciding what to do about the PCs If the gang were left to their own devices, they might not have even see the S/D Agents. In this case, the Wispa’s will wait

a day then attack another convoy, this time killing Blake Vargas and other defenders in the process. As mentioned, the last outcome likely puts the PCs in a bad light with Mutie Town and Salty, who feel that they could have at least done something to help. Salty, of course, knows that it is not really the S/D Agents’ problem and they are concerned only with the bounty on the Wispas. It still annoys him though.

Harassment The Wispa’s harass the town relentlessly over the next few days. Unless the S/D Agents take steps to solve the issue, they attack another convoy and generally cause trouble across Mutie Town. The gang’s actions are otherwise largely defined by the PCs’ response during the previous gang encounter. If the S/D Agents are having a hard time finding solid leads on the gang, then feel free to introduce them to Jimmy Fallon, below.

The Wispa about Dreadwood This scene should take place as the PCs are poking around Dreadwood after their first encounter with the Wispas. One of the gang’s minor members, Jimmy Fallon, is undertaking some recon near the edge of town. Unfortunately for him, a mutant nearby recognises his face. The mutie quietly gets the S/D Agent’s attention and makes his allegiance known. The Agents can follow Fallon or place a tracker on his skimmer. Either way, they should be able to shadow the guy and tail him to the gang’s hideout. The purpose of the scene is to hopefully draw the PCs to the Wispa Gang’s camp before the bad guys can cause any more trouble. If they dither too long, the Wispa brothers will escalate their plans and turn the town into a bloodbath. Unscrupulous S/D Agents might think that the bounty on the Wispas will increase in this case. While they would be right, the higher bounty also entices more S/D Agents into aiming for the prize, which includes big names like the Stix. In the latter scenario, the sheriff becomes increasingly irked and requests additional support. He also increases the bounty to 400,000cr for the brothers, which may entice the likes of Alpha and Sternhammer to become involved and take the

bounty out from under the PCs’ noses. If they have spent too long sitting on their hands while the Wispa’s harass his town, Salty will only pay the PCs the original amount regardless.

The Beyond Badlands Holed up about thirty miles to the north of Dreadwood, the Wispa Gang have a moderately fortified hideout in an old mining camp called Glitter Creek, though the glitter has long since been mined out. Situated as it is in the centre of the creek, there is only one way into the camp: from the front along a long winding track that is perfect for ambushes. A couple of gang members are hide nearby on lookout. One shoots at intruders while the other runs to alert the rest of the gang. GMs should allow the PCs some time to plan an approach. If they are in possession of a Life Wire, they could scale the upper part of the ravine and use that as a convenient way to get a drop on Wispa’s Gang by zipping down into the camp. John and Dirk are well aware by now that they have Termination Warrants on their heads. Their frayed nerves are also related to the fact that they used to be small time criminals, but the recent massacre bumped them into the big leagues. Not likely to go gently into the night, they will fight tooth and nail to take down the PCs or die in the attempt. It is likely that the gang are at least six members down, leaving the camp with the two lookouts, the Wispa brothers and twelve other gang members to deal with. GMs can adjust as required to ensure the PCs do not get overwhelmed, although they should not be given an easy time of it. They should be fully prepared to use every dirty S/D Agent trick in the book. Number 4 cartridges, grenades, a Blazooga, and timebombs are all fair game. The camp itself is in an inverted horseshoe shape with the main gate at the centre of the curve facing the single track. There are several buildings inside, plus a shack the Wispa brothers use as a HQ and bolt hole once the shooting starts There is also a small area for skimmers, which currently holds the ten the gang use to get around. These explode really well. Use the Pirate Leader and Space Pirate stats on p. 149-150 for the Wispa brothers and their crew.

Each recorded kill of a gang member will net the PCs an additional 500cr. The brothers provide 100,000cr for the pair regardless (50,000cr each). If he is not already dead, Howling Joe Moonshanker and his Blazooga will be present, providing 1000cr if dealt with. Once the dust settles and the gang is no more, the PCs are free to loot the bodies. They will gain the Blazooga if it is still intact or not taken already in Dreadwood, plus several blasters variants. As the Wispas have not yet managed to fence their most recent haul, they will also find 150,000cr worth of stolen goods. This can of course be smuggled out, though returning it to Dreadwood will see the grateful residents raise an additional 50,000cr bonus for the PCs.

Claiming the Reward Contending with John and Dirk will net the promised reward, plus a bonus of 1000cr per agent if they manage to sort the issue out expediently. In the latter case, an appreciative Salty offers the PCs the freedom of Dreadwood for their stay. “The rest of the town will just need to suck it up and put their prejudice aside.” If the PCs managed to get the skimmers from the camp and got them back to town, they will be unable to sell them as they belong to Barry. However, the man will pay the S/D Agents a recovery fee of 500cr per skimmer, which equates to another 5000cr if all ten are returned. Even if he has to upped the bounty to 400,000cr, Salty will still only pay the PCs 100,000cr. He does not reward shoddy jobs or lackadaisical behaviour. If the Wispa Gang were allowed to tear up his town and kill his people, he wants the PCs off world as soon as humanly possible. Salty’s attitude should be adjusted based on what the PCs’ actions in Dreadwood.

Beyond Dreadwood Assuming that the Wispa Gang have been successfully dealt with, the PCs are free to leave the planet if they like, or they can stick around and hopefully enjoy their freedom of the town. If they choose to stick around then, GMs can use the following threads and seeds as interesting side plots or diversions: » Someone is murdered at Rebecca’s Place. One of the norm customers is claiming that a mutant girl did it. Trouble is, there are no mutant workers at the bordello. » Blake Vargas (or a new deputy) wants to hunt down the last of the Wispa Gang’s contacts, including the fence that operates out of Paradise City, and offers to take the PCs with him. GMs should check the information at the top of the second column of p. 94 for Blake’s understanding of the current situation and tailor it to suit the fact that

the Wispa’s have been dealt with. (This links to the next scenario in Paradise City.) » A hitman who is a mutant shapeshifter tries to kill Salty. The sheriff is saved at the last minute by Mister Hiss, though the meat vendor is fatally wounded in the encounter and the hitman gets away. The only lead the sheriff has is a downed drone that was beaming a signal to an address in Paradise City, although the signal has since stopped transmitting. Who hired the shifter and why? (This thread also leads to the next scenario in Paradise City.) » A con-man rolls into town and blags mutants out of their life savings. A typical snake-oil salesman, Pifford Rundy is a dab hand at peddling his con-coctions, but does he have more sinister powers at his beck and call? » The PCs are tasked to bring in a drunkard who set fire to the Mutel in Meertown. The drunkard, Bad Rhys Johnston, is a low-down lying piece of space trash that claims to love mutants and pretends to be their friend. He stole something from the Mutel, and now he is on the run. » A group of shady miners arrive in Dreadwood with tales of Fewls Gold. A notorious shooter back in the day, Elijah Fewl killed seventeen men before the law took him down. They say he hid his gold in the back of Beggar’s Rest’s saloon behind an old Mr. Shootay Slot-Machine. GMs wishing to tie this in to the longer six-part story arc interlinked within this chapter should begin introducing a strange spherical drone with a single optical eye that occasionally trails the PCs. After having been spotted a few times, the tiny drone zooms out of sight and are not seen again on this planet. More information about the drones and the reason for their presence is contained within Bounty Hunt 4: Night of the Preying Zorg. GMs should of course feel free to tailor the actions and presence of the drones to suit the pace of their own campaigns.

THE MAJOR LOWDOWN The major villain threaded throughout the bouny hunt scenarios, one Ace Vagabondo, is slowly introduced to the PCs via his camera drones and shapeshifting stooge, Mister Vile. Ace has a grand plan for the PCs, which is covered in The Lowdown section of Bounty Hunt 4: Night of the Preying Zorg. If running each bounty hunt as an interconnected narrative, GMs are encouraged to read each scenario first and keep Ace’s grand plan in mind when running them. Although he does not want to reveal himself to his new stars, he may well plan additional shenanigans intended to boost his ratings. All for the sake of entertainment, of course!

BOUNTY HUNT 02: TAKE ME OUT IN PARADISE CITY THE LOWDOWN

Continuing the unifying theme of each contract and providing further opportunity to explore Weaver’s Rock, this is the second scenario that takes place on the small mining planet. The first six bounty hunts in this chapter are linked together in various ways to provide the option for an extended campaign, with most scenarios having various connections to the next. The main villain’s stooge from the sixth bounty hunt, Mister Vile, provides the unifying factor in this second instalment, as he has sent a hitman to deal with Salty Gimbal. All of the seeds from Beyond Dreadwood can be used in some if wished, but the Blake Vargas thread that entices the PCs to track down the Wispa’s contact in Paradise City directly connects to this scenario, as does the aforementioned hit on the sheriff. Depending on how GMs plan the PCs to tackle events, either or both threads can be used. As Blake Vargas—or his replacement if he is now in a pine box—is planning on heading to Paradise City, it would even be prudent to have him accompany the PCs when investigating Salty’s leads. As it turns out, Blake’s quest to chase the Wispa Gang’s connection down is a straight chance turn to earn more credits. The follow-up on the hit is the true gem of this tour of Paradise. Of course, with this being a game about tough and tenacious bounty hunters, there are several smaller criminal elements in the city that the PCs might want to call in on—all for the sake of a few easy credits.

One Stop Connections If the PCs are in Paradise City following on from the first bounty contract, they will almost surely be there for one or both of the reasons already mentioned. If the PCs are coming into this one blind as a standalone, then it could be entirely possible for them to meet Blake Vargas at the Law Office or perhaps hear about the Salty incident while checking in at the space-port, with either scenario then leading on to the investigations. GMs could also potentially run the first and second bounty hunts in reverse, with the PCs arriving on planet for different reasons but soon becoming embroiled.

Optional Bounty Lead The S/D Agents are on Paradise City as part of a bounty posted at the Kennel. They are on the trail of one Wiley Z. Peyote, wanted for cheating at cards at the Hutchinson Family Casino. Bounty set at 2000cr for bringing in alive. This may seem small fry, but times are often hard in the En System.

PARADISE CITY

Paradise City is a huge complex and the main hub on Weaver’s Rock. It is a fine example of engineering and was built—according to the Hutchinson Family—entirely without mutant labour. This is a massive lie, but the Hutchinson’s effectively control the truth. The domed city is built in a large circle with the weather carefully regulated by environmental control systems that keep it seasonable for the norms inside. Mutants are forbidden inside the city’s limits. although some slipped in from the Badlands and hide deep in the tunnels beneath. However, the Hutchinson Family understands the value of putting mutant lives at risk to deal with criminal issues, so S/D Agents are allowed in the city when on official business. Strontium Dogs have two means of legally accessing the city. The first is the front gate, where they are checked by the gate guard, subjected to the usual dismissive behaviour and told to present their carcasses to the Law Office within the city. The second is the star-port, where they can enjoy a slightly more tolerant guard who just really wants to get her job done and move folks along. They will still need to present themselves to the Law Office in the Enforcement Sector, regardless. Paradise City is built in sectors, with the Entertainment Sector right at its heart. This neon-infused, raucous, unsleeping zone is home to the big casinos and other, seedier venues. The East and West Zones of the city host the remaining Sectors. East Zone houses the Enforcement, Population, and Market/ Retail Sectors, while West Zone is home to the Medical, Technical, and Corporation Sectors. The entire colony of Weaver’s Rock is fairly affluent, which translates to a lot of rich folk living within the city’s walls; there are very few poor residents in Paradise. Almost everyone can afford a grav-car, and there are quite a few high-end models that whiz around the connecting Zip Ways (the high-speed motorways that cater to grav vehicles).

Enforcement Sector The first port of call before the S/D Agents can travel around Paradise City without too many restrictions is the Law Office. This huge police station in the East Zone of the city is staffed with hundreds of cops and each one of them has a dislike of mutants in various ways. Captain Lukas Thacker, who is mostly tolerant of mutants, heads the Law Office. Originally from Earth, his son mutated due to Strontium-90, which forced him to leave Kreelman and his mutant-hating creed behind in search of somewhere a little more tolerant. Unfortunately for him, they ended up on Weaver’s Rock.

The Captain is a well-spoken man who always aims to get the S/D Agents registered as quickly as possible. The Law Office has a special meeting room set aside for Stronts; Thacker may be mostly tolerant of mutants but it does not mean he wants to let them into his private office.

The Welcome Speech “As you’ve hopefully seen, Paradise City is full of good and decent normal people for the most part. Although they don’t often see mutants, you aren’t the first mutant bounty hunters to land here. You are cleared to operate in the city and check the bounty board over there for any outstanding warrants. Apart from that, stay out of trouble.” If the PCs have arrived here following the optional bounty lead on the previous page, Thacker also adds: In the past twenty-four hours, two more of your kind have registered here, including a rather brutish, foul-smelling, pig-headed Stront by the name of Porky Lites. He’s already caused a ruckus by turning in a two-k bounty for the warrant on one Wiley Z. Peyote.” Of course, Wiley is the PC’s target. Someone has gazumped their 2000cr, which is likely not going to sit well with them. Complaining to Thacker will illicit: “Oh dear, he was your man was he? Well, no honour amongst your kind it seems. Present company excluded I am sure.” At this point, a tall and rugged frontiersman perks his ears and saunters over. Blake Vargas is the stony law-type made popular by our own early 20th Century actors and he loves to get one over on the big city cops. “Howdy folks! ‘Scuse me big city law fella. Might I interrupt you for one moment. Seems that these folks here are in need of a new job, and I’m in need of a posse to help me take down a fella in this Paradise. Figure that we can all help each other out. I can also match that two-k bounty and then some for this snake in my grass.” Thacker simply looks relieved that someone has stepped in and saved him from potentially upset mutants who have been stiffed on their bounty.

Blake Vargas takes the PCs to a nearby café (complete with disbelieving norms) and explains his situation: » He is willing to foot a 5cr bounty on a scumbag fence who worked for the Wispa Gang. He is wanted alive. » The fence’s name is Wendel Blone. » He was last seen operating out of an office in the Corporation Sector. » Blake and his sheriff got tired of the Wispa Brothers antics and decided to go after one of the links in their chain. In this case, the fence. Blake thinks that leaning on the fence will get him to roll over on John and Dirk Wispa. (This can re-link back into the first contract and allow the PCs to hunt down the Wispa’s since they will have not yet done so.) It GMs are relating this information in response to Beyond Dreadwood from the previous scenario, they can jump to the Fencing Moves section and adjust things based on the meeting with Blake. The scene will essentially play out the same way, with the main difference relating to Blake’s actual attitude towards the PCs since he will hopefully already like them somewhat for their role in taking down the Wispa Brothers. If the PCs ignore Blake and move on to the bounty board, then GMs can provide the bounties listed below. Their badges and registration allow them to explore Paradise City almost freely, which includes undertaking any local bounties: » 1. 1000cr bounty for Ma Hennesy related to repeated jaywalking offences. Wanted Alive. » 2. 3000cr bounty for Dubbs Bubbs related to a stolen cargo truck. Wanted Alive » 3. 500cr bounty for Bandon Rickets for pickpocketing old ladies. Wanted Alive » 4. 4000cr bounty for Billy No Mates in connection to Grand Theft Auto. Wanted Alive » 5. 8000cr bounty for Zed Dead for murder of a city official. Wanted Dead or Alive » 6. 250cr bounty for Sister Sweet, who has been stealing candy from babies. Wanted Alive This scenario focusses on the two leads that link previous and subsequent contracts, meaning that GMs will need to further develop these if they are used.

Coming from Beyond If the PCs know Blake because of their antics in Dreadwood, they will have travelled from Dreadwood to Paradise with him. They will still need to register on arrival after their twoday journey via grav-truck. The PCs get the once over when they turn up at the gates to Paradise and are then ordered to head to the Law Office in the Enforcement Sector. All of the information up to and including The Welcome Speech in the Enforcement Sector section is still relevant up to this point.

Beyond that, the meeting with Thacker is cordial and genial unless the PCs obviously rile him. He seems keen to clear them for operating in the city and then getting them off planet as quickly as possible once they have done their job. Thacker will not put himself out to help them beyond this. Thanks to a few glares and the fact he barely speaks to the man, it also becomes painfully clear that he regards Vargas as a country bumpkin. Thacker stamps the S/D Agent’s papers and scans their badges, points them to the bounty board and basically lets them get on with it. He does warn them they will be observed and ensures that their badges will not protect them if they turn his city into a charnel house. As he explains: It’s really just a formality. The PCs can check the bounty board for the kind of jobs available in Paradise City as seen in the previous section. Once the PCs leave the Law Office and hit the city proper, they will be working with Blake Vargas to hunt down Wendel.

FENCING MOVES

The hunt for Wendel will take the PCs to the West Zone, where they get to see the luxury side of the city. Their visit will illicit a lot of stares, offhand comments, rude gestures and obnoxious behaviour from the locals. Well dressed nobles and rich corporate-types will sniff the air as though there is a bad smell, and parents will actively steer their children away from the mutants as though they might be infectious. If PCs are spotted carrying out something that the residents might consider dubious—which could be anything really— then they can fully expect calls to the cops and citizens running interference, which includes constantly recording their movements. Alongside using these encounters to add life to the city, GMs can use them as a tool to drive home how much prejudice Strontium Dogs and mutants face thanks to Kreelman and his anti-mutant sentiment.

Wendel on the Run The Corporation Sector is a truly glitzy place, complete with tall towers, sprawling complexes, and a dozen or so high-end eateries within a stone’s throw of each other. According to Blake’s informant, Wendel has been seen dining in the Mork Alork Restaurant on 5th and Fergie. It seems this information is pretty recent, as the PCs arrive with Blake just as Wendel is finishing up his salty grilled and bread-battered Mork lunch. Wendel knows who Blake is and begins panicking the moment he spots the deputy strolling through the streets. He panics further as he sees the iconic S/D Agent badges flanking Blake. So he does what every self-respecting criminal idiot does. He shoots at Blake. Use the Heister stats from p. 235 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD. This sends the lawman to cover and scatters everyone in the area. Patrons dive under tables and folk scream blue murder. One or two citizens actually mistake the PCs for hitmen and take aim themselves (use the Norm Civilian stats on p. 154). Killing the citizens will be very bad for their rep, so Blake will encourage the PCs to talk the witless citizens down. Wendel only uses this as a distraction. He does not actually hit the lawman, he just wants to create chaos and get away. He does so nimbly and heads out of the back door. Once no more blaster beams are zipping out of the restaurant, Blake gives chase and runs for the open front door. Waving his deputy badge before he barging in, he yells: “Wendel, you son of a Snecker, get your slimy carcass out here now!” Wendel attempts to elude the lawman and the S/D Agents. This should be a decent chase that starts as he runs out of the back door through the kitchens. Use the chase rules on p. 128 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD. Blake also gives chase, indicating that their most direct route is through the building. Cutting off Wendel is not possible

at this point due to the structure’s design. Going round to the other side would require a mutant with super-speed and perhaps even the ability to leap the building in a single bound. The chase has been broken up into various sections to keep it fluid and fun. The chase rules from p. 128 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD apply. In true cinematic style that leads to a rooftop showdown. Resourceful PCs who are able to catch Wendel early, however, should still be granted their moment to shine by catching their man at a suitably dramatic moment. » Kitchens: Raucous and chaotic. Chefs are tussled aside, with debris from broken plates and tray carts everywhere. » Rear of the Restaurant: Wendel’s backside can be seen as he vaults a fence onto a busy road, then sprints across and is narrowly missed by cars in his terrified flight. » Zip Way: Anyone crossing this must be out of their mind. Grav trucks, cars and more whiz past at speeds that are considered unsafe at the best of times. Controlling his panic somewhat, Wendel chooses a safer route via the underpass to cross under the Zip Way. Debris here potentially slows the S/D Agents down. » Outdoor Zero-G Pool Party: Renowned sky surfer, Glitz Masterson, and his family were having a great time until the chase exploded through their party. Wendel steals a grav board and takes off across the skyline. The PCs can give chase using borrowed boards of their own (which is highly dangerous but part of the fun). This should be portrayed as a tense high-speed chase through the tall towers of the city corporate sector, complete with near-misses and acrobatic stunts. As he is too unsteady to risk a board, Blake follows the chase from the ground. Anyone taking a shot at Wendel risks killing him outright and voiding the bounty, plus loses a Blake’s lead in the investigation. » Rooftop Finale: Wendel’s board eventually runs out of power and forces him onto a rooftop. Unfortunately for him, he is out of options to run. As the door is locked, he is left with only one place to go. Meanwhile, Blake Vargas is heading to the rooftop thanks to the assistance of a Paradise City PD cop car and Officer Moira Stalwart.

Cornered Rat Wendel plants himself on the edge of the and teeters there, then attempts to bargain with PCs who have also managed to land their boards on the tight landing spot. Thanks to Officer Stalwart, Blake arrives not long after and the pair hop down from the patrol car. Although far from happy with the PCs and Wendel right now, Stalwart stays out of the confrontation as Blake has convinced her to let the Stronts handle the show. The talks that follow should remain fairly tense and involve a fair amount of back and forth. Wendel has little intention of jumping but is petrified of repercussions if he surrenders. He

knows the kinds of criminals he works for and is well aware that they will assume he will have talked. S/D Agents on his tail are another matter entirely, as he just does not know what they plan to do with him. As he is also as prejudiced as the next norm, mutants scare him senseless thanks to the numerous horror stories he has heard. There is extremely little chance that Wendel will leap on his own, but he may well lose his footing if he is too scared. If the PCs take too long, a criminal element may send a shooter after having seen the chase on local news. Vargas, of course, wants Wendel alive; he needs Wendel’s information to close out the Wispa case if the brothers are dead or to track down more leads if the pair of bandits still live. Using reason and offering witness protection will allow the PCs to make checks to convince Wendel to come quietly. In this case, three successive CHA checks are required against his MENTAL DEFENCE of 17 (Wendel receives a +5 bonus due to his state of mind). Using force should require a combination of STR and AGI checks, with multiple failures resulting in Wendel falling. Once this is resolved, Officer Stalwart uses her access to get everyone down from the roof. She helps Blake get Wendel into custody and takes everyone back to the Law Office. Successfully apprehending Wendel wraps up the hunt for the PCs, who are paid immediately by Blake. Depending on the status of the Wispas and the result of this bounty, he will also offer them more work if they want it. If the gang are dead, then he has more ex-gang members to round up. If they are alive, he offers to take them to meet Salty and the first bounty begins. This concludes the Wendel encounter in Paradise City.

ON THE TRAIL OF AN ACE

Mister Vile is both a stooge and a thorn in the PCs’ sides across several hunts. He is most likely the one constant that shows up time and time again. It is unlikely that the PCs will enjoy a chance to repay Vile and his employer, Ace Vagabondo, for their interest in them before the final bounty hunt. For now, they will only just be hearing Ace’ s name. This scene only triggers if the PCs have met Salty and are aware of the assassination attempt on him.

Welcome to Paradise Muties The trail follows the same entry pattern as Fencing Moves and takes the S/D Agents into the Law Office of the Enforcement Sector. They are following the shred of information gained from Salty after an unsuccessful attempt on his life by a mutant assassin. Mister Hiss (the Mork meat vendor) pushed Gimbal aside but was fatally wounded himself. The sheriff returned fire at the assassin and, though he missed, managed to clip a drone that had been hovering beside the

assailant. Hiss also related that the assassin changed into the form of a woman and embarked on a bus heading for Paradise City. Hiss sadly expired from his wounds at Dreadwood’s medical centre and left the town much poorer because of it. The hit happened across the road from the bus station in broad daylight. Early examination of the drone detected a signal that was traced to an unconfirmed address in the Market Sector of Paradise City. The snake-headed mutant’s heroism and an attempt on a lawman’s life pushed Salty to put a bounty on Patsy to the tune of 20,000cr. Wanted Alive for questioning. GMs should refer to the Enforcement Sector section to get the lowdown on the Law Office and Thacker, which can include showing off some of the minor bounties on the bounty board. Information regarding Patsy (Vile) can be gleaned by talking to several people in the city. Thacker provides the PCs with free license to search the city for the dangerous mutant assassin.

On Vile’s Trail Thacker takes the entire incident very seriously and calls in Officer Martinez, who was on gate duty when the bus returned. They review the vid-slug footage and, with the help of facial recognition and the city’s cameras, track the middle-aged women to the East Zone, where she quickly vanishes in the Market Sector. The drone signal and video footage should be enough to get the PCs moving. The PCs will be able to wander the Market Sector to peruse various stalls and shops selling all kinds of things. Although eclectic in terms of goods on sale, norm reactions to mutants is the same deal as elsewhere in the city, especially heavily armed and dangerous-looking Stronts. The PCs can expect revulsion, terror, fear, bemusem*nt, curiosity and worse. At best, people will be stand-offish, while most will outright refuse to talk to the S/D Agents. Masquerading as Patsy Spite, Vile has bought himself a couple of plants in the market, a pair of norms who he has worked with previously to arrange accidents. Barb and Doug Dubble are just the right kind of stand-offish as to not tip the S/D Agents off (Demanding [21] INT check to notice deception). They can be bribed or eventually coerced into giving directions to Patsy’s hideout on the north of the Market Sector. They will of course neglect to inform the PCs that Vile left instructions for any law person or Stront on his trail to be directed to his house.

Vile’s Hide-a-way Surprise Once the PCs track down Vile’s apartment thanks to the info given to them by Barb and Doug, they should be able to find his secret passage into the hideout proper. Patsy (Vile) has already flown the coop but has made sure to leave a lovely gift for anyone looking for him.

A motion sensor is set to trigger as they look around the office-like room for clues. Spotting the device before it activates is a Difficult [16] INT (electronics or perception) check, while deactivating it is a similar difficulty using (computers or electronics). If it is triggered, a door snaps open and a rumblingvoice intones: “Hey Buddy…” The trap has released a Smiling Chuckwalla, a voracious and hungry creature that will crash out and attempt to tear the PCs apart. See p. 162 for the creature’s stats. Left with a choice of killing it or running away, the PCs should probably stop the beast before it can get out and eat half the market folks. Once they deal with the beast, they can freely search Vile’s HQ for clues. It is relatively easy to discover that he recently bought a ticket on an astroliner called the Star’s Pride, which has unfortunately already left. While the PCs cannot catch up with Vile in this particular encounter, asking around the star-port about the astroliner reveals that it is heading to a place known as Venk’s World, which is outside the En System in Deep Frontier space. It will take them twenty four hours to secure a ship and follow the elusive assassin’s trail. Although the trail has gone cold on Weaver’s Rock, the PCs have the next thread to pull and the next contract to look forward to. The PCs will probably want to contact Salty, who will be irked but understanding, especially as it is not easy to track down a shapeshifter. He asks them what they plan to do next and tells them that he will be increasing the bounty for Patsy to 150,000cr considering the dangers the shifter seems to pose. The PCs are free to look at the Paradise City Bounty Board and pick any bounty there, or GMs can include some other interesting bounties of their own. The PCs can also take advantage of their permits and explore the city some more while they have a permit to do so. Vile has a few agents on planet still, who might decide to take a shot at the S/D Agents if they hang around the city. He has left instructions to take out any law dog or bounty hunter snooping around if the Smiling Chuckwalla did not take care of them in the hideout. Whatever happens, the S/D Agents are in for a fun time in Paradise City, and this certainly may not be the last time they come here. Law enforcement does not take kindly to mutants doing their job in the city, however, meaning the PCs will eventually wear out their welcome and either have to return to Dreadwood or ship out on the trail of Mister Vile. If not, the PCs can always return to the Kennel or jump to any other planet in the En System or Alpha’s World.

BOUNTY HUNT 03: THE TASTY OPTION THE LOWDOWN

In this scenario, the PCs find themselves taken prisoner aboard a cargo ship bound for a frontier planet called Venk’s World. The Agents are chasing a bounty on an alien assassin known as Patsy Spite. The bounty stands at 150,000cr Wanted Dead or Alive. Either the PCs are following the trail from Weaver’s Rock and the previous bounty hunt, or Jenksie has secured them passage from the Kennel. Either way, they end up travelling in cargo along with the livestock and the crates on a medium-sized merchant hauler vessel called the Venice. Mid-way to Venk’s World, the ship changes course when the it is redirected to the Smiley’s World System and the planet of Charn (more information on both can be found on p. 78-79). The first indication the PCs will have that something is wrong occurs when they realise the cargo area is sealed. The crew also ignore any hails. Then the ship pops out of hyperspace near Charn and it is obvious they are no longer going to Venk’s World. Deprived of their actual bounty for the moment, the PCs will be able to check their warrant scanners and discover that there are several open bounties on planet, some of which are more lucrative than the one they are chasing. Which includes one for the Slaver-Lord Merlock for a start. A couple of human bounties are also present on the planet, although they seem to have been taken to one of the battery farms in the area to be fattened up for an alien banquet. Charn might not be their original stop, but it is a world full of full of potential for enterprising S/D Agents.

CARGO LOCKED

If this bounty is being run independently of the others, GMs should provide the PCs with a simple brief of the previous trouble on Weaver’s Rock (see the first bounty). Wherever they travel from, read the following aloud when ready to depart: After your short brief, you are provided with a shuttle to a merchant ship known as the Venice. The usual bout of remarks and hassle from the crew occurs before you finally surrender your weapons to a secure locker as per the protocols. You get to travel in style, resting amongst the grunting livestock and uncomfortable boxes for the three day journey to Venk’s World. Once there, however, you will be able to close a bounty for the shapeshifter, Patsy Spite. Wanted Dead or Alive for 110,000cr.

You settle back for the journey and try to get as much rest as possible as the ship leaps into hyperspace. The Strontium Dogs are escorted to the cargo levels by the crew of the Venice. Their weapons are put into secure storage on the ship as per usual protocol and the adventure opens up with them now locked in cargo after the vessel drops out of hyperspace. They are expecting to arrive at Jenk’s World, which is exactly where they are as for as they are concerned—if they can access a viewport, a Demanding [21] INT (astrogation, astrology or astrophysics) might be able to tell them otherwise. Before entering hyperspace, a pirate operative acting as navigator aboard the ship rerouted the vessel’s navigation to send it to Charn. They then let their pirate crew aboard as soon as the ship arrived. Unfortunately, the stooge had no interest in checking the crew manifest, and, not wanting to be blasted to pieces, the crew quietly surrendered but conveniently neglected to tell the pirates about the Strontium Dogs in the cargo hold. The alien pirates were not overly concerned with livestock and cargo, as human meat sacks are the best currency on Charn. As humans are considered a fine delicacy by the inhabitants of the planet, and the aliens will pay a fortune for freshly fattened human. Tasty! An apprentice engineer named Beeson managed to slip away in the confusion and hide in the pipe works near the lower decks. She slipped out once it was clear and made her way to the cargo hold to free the Strontium Dogs. While this is happening, GMs can ensure the PCs have time to get to know each other if they do not already. A quick meet and greet scene can take place between them aboard the ship. The PCs can talk amongst themselves and pass time however they like. They may only realise they are locked in if they attempt to wander about the ship. Poking amongst the cargo reveals: » Square Cows. These perfectly packed livestock are destined for the Cow-U-Like company. » Square Hogs. Same as square cows, only pigs. » Two caged Morks. » Several cargo crates secured by keypad that contain machine parts and miscellaneous cargo. Getting out of the hold should be extremely difficult but not impossible. For a start, one of the safest places while in transit is in the cargo hold, which benefits from protective fields that ensure livestock are not turned inside out or strangely warped in some way during hyperspace travel. Bypassing the locks should be difficult enough, let alone the protective field.

GMs can run a detailed trip or keep it brief. The real fun for the PCs, however, should happen on arrival at Churn.

SMILEY PIRATES

Hopefully, the Strontium Dogs are none the wiser until they arrive near Churn. Their Warrant Scanners are programmed to ping bounty alerts when they arrive near a planet, so they are about to get a heck of a wakeup call as the ship drops out of hyperspace and the pirates come aboard. Three days pass slowly until the ship shakes and rattles as it finally pops out of hyperspace. The vessel’s deceleration and emergence from hyperspace has awoken anyone who was sleeping. The cargo hold is protected somewhat from the sudden change in speed, though you can still hear the sound of the outer hull’s shell slowly returning to normal after faster-than-light travel. Now you just have to sit back and wait for someone to release the lock, give you your weapons and get you off this vessel. Jenk’s World awaits! An hour passes and no one has come. Another hour and finally there is a rattle and at the door, followed by the soft sound of cursing until the door pops open. A thin woman in engineer’s overalls slips through the gap. “We’re in some deep sneck. Pirates… crew… help?” she whispers desperately.

Sheila Beeson, lowly engineer aboard the Venice and the only person to escape the pirates, looks scared, and not just because she is freeing the mutants in the cargo hold. If the PCs ask her questions, she can tell them the following: » Janky Marko is a low-down back-stabbing son of a Mork. He changed the ship’s course on the nav-computer to somewhere, other than Jenk’s World. He also let pirates onto their ship, who have taken the crew to their shuttles. » Beeson stole the key before to the secure locker holding the PCs’ weapons before she came here. Well, technically she borrowed the key in the interests of crew safety. » The ship is definitely in orbit around another planet. » Beeson saw the pirates take a bomb to engineering. She thinks they are going to blow up the ship once they are sure the vessel is empty. » There is an escape launch at the rear of the ship, which is usually reserved for the captain and his bridge crew. As it is still there, it is a potential way to escape. Apart from this, Sheila knows very little about anything else. She is a lower deck engineer who cleans pipes and carries out menial jobs while everyone else takes care of the fun stuff. If they opt to do so, the PCs will need to work extremely hard to regain control of the ship. A countdown clock against both hacking the bridge and defusing the bomb will need to be initiated. GMs should also remember that mutants are banned from owning a businesses or property, and a ship falls under the latter if they wind up in another system. Otherwise they could rapidly end up as being considered rogue and little better than pirates themselves. Whatever course of action they decide, a ping on the PCs’ warrant scanners takes place shortly after meeting Beeson.

Anyone who checks their scanner will be greeted with the following message:

High Priority Bounty, Wanted Dead » Name: Merlock » Crimes: Slavery, Murder, Extortion, Grand Theft Astroliner, Unlicensed Time Travel » Role: Slaver Lord » Location: Planet Charn, Smiley’s World System » Proximity to S/D Agents: Close » Addendum: Terminate with Extreme Prejudice » Bounty: 500,000cr This kind of bounty does not come along very often and Merlock is just on the planet below them. Since Merlock is the kind of bounty that can make an S/D Agent’s career and only the likes of Alpha usually gets to go on these big jobs, it should be enough to put all thoughts of flight out of the PCs’ minds. If the PCs choose to ignore the bounty and get out of Dodge, they will need to consider whether any of them can pilot, navigate and competently crew the ship. Plus there is a bomb to consider. Sheila will offer the PCs 1000cr if they can get her off the ship and safely onto the planet below. This is all the money she has, but she will gladly pay it if they can get her to the nearest town or settlement when planet side. GMs should allow the PCs the chance to disarm the bomb and make a run for it if that is their choice. A handful of pirates remain in engineering to set the bomb while the rest are heading on planet to deliver their cargo to alien slavers. Use the stats for Space Pirates, p. 150.

Escape the BOOM DOOM Beeson will lead the PCs to their weapons in the secure locker and then lead them to an escape launch at the rear of the ship. Unless GMs choose to make matters even more interesting, there are no pirates to stop them as they are all busy elsewhere. A countdown clock for the bomb—Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD, p. 136—can also be used to add tension. The PCs find the escape launch unguarded. This cramped little vessel is no more than a sleek bullet with stubby wings. More an escape pod than any kind of ship that can be piloted. It is pretty simple to use: climb aboard, seal the hatch and punch the red button. Then hang on hoping that the pod’s auto-nav does not malfunction and slam you into a volcano, rather than finding a safe landing spot close to an inhabited town.

100

3-2-1 LAUNCH! You punch the launch button on the little vehicle and it shoots out of the bay,leaving the stricken merchant ship behind. The acceleration provided by the escape launch’s powerful engines punches the pod down toward the planet below. Not a moment too soon, as a blossoming ball of light engulfs the ship and it blazes into thousands of fragments, providing a surreal light show for the folk down below on the planet. The pod’s autonav takes over and brings you down through the atmosphere. Despite a bumpy ride, you land safely and skids to a halt not long after. Although a little bruised, you are thankfully alive. A metallic voice intones: Landing Complete. Planet Charn. Nearest settlement, Chumba Town, 3 kilometres. The S/D Agents have landed just over 3 kilometres away from a small trade town known as Chumba Town. Assuming they want to head for the town, they are able to salvage some rations and a blaster from the pod before they leave. The area they have landed in is rocky and full of small lizards. It is also scorchingly hot, so they will need to get a move on before they bake in the hot sun of this region; though excellent weather for the lizards, the PCs start suffering if they stay in this environment without shelter— see The Environment, Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD, p. 152. Larger predators in the form of lizard-cat hybrids will also be drawn to the S/D Agents if they linger (see p. 160 for their stats). As long as the PCs set off soon after landing, the thirty minute journey to Chumba Town is unveventful. True to her word, Sheila pays the PCs 1000cr on arrival.

CHUMMY IN CHUMBA TOWN

Despite being inhabited by aliens, Chumba Town is a fairly mediocre place with no humans in sight. Most humans who arrive on the planet are crew members from various trade vessels that dock in the nearby bigger town of Yucca. The slim-faced aliens who inhabit the planet are very much fond of human flesh as a delicacy, so the norms try to steer clear of remoter places for the most part. Mainly as they always feel like they are part of the menu. Thankfully, Sheila is able to procure transport from Chumba Town to Yucca that is certifier ‘Snack Free’. She is keen to pay the PCs as soon as she can, hop on the transport and put the whole mess behind her. She has no clue as to the whereabouts

of her crew, but then, her loyalty to them is as deep as the S/D Agents’ would be to Nelson Kreelman. There is little the PCs can say or do to keep her around, which should be fine as they have bigger fish to fry; two additional close proximity bounties ping up on the PCs’ warrant scanners: » Duncan Brunt: 2000cr. Wanted Alive for Smuggling Gronks » Nik-Nik Doog: 1000cr. Wanted Alive for Lewd Exposure to an Official Duncan is currently being driven out of the gates on a truck, heading to one of the planet’s many battery farms where he will be prepared for a meal. GMs should keep the 500,000cr bounty for Merlock in mind. The pirate who sold Duncan to the aliens is currently walking right across the street and thumbing a nice wad of fresh credits. The pirate, Murk, is a skittish fellow. Approaching him with anything but force will elicit a laugh and an obnoxious comment. Beating his MENTAL DEFENCE with a CHA (intimidation) type test causes him to quickly rat on his cronies, since he really does not want to be shot or beaten to a pulp. Due to his strangely pointed nose and wide, podgy face, Murk speaks in a whiny, nasal voice while relating the following: » The truck that just left is going to Pronk’s Farm, a battery farm for humans that fattens them up for sale to alien gourmets across the planet. » The pirates just sold a big wad of humans as slave labour to Merlock, the slaver lord who operates out of a base in the Firestop Mountain. » A large order for slaves came through and the pirates were given the Venice as a target. Murk does not know the name of the person who supplied the info, although he is aware it came from a norm who runs a lot of shady deals in the En System of planets. (GM Note: This links to the overall En System antagonist, Ace Vagabondo). » The crew met with a norm fixer to get the details. The fixer’s bodyguard and shadow was a tall fellow in a widebrimmed hat who called himself Stix. » The crew of the ship is definitely the cargo sold to Merlock. Murk is worth 500cr as a minor bounty himself. If the PCs can be bothered with this small fry, they will need to consider some way to secure him for later transport to a GCC office. The aliens do not consider Murk to be a criminal. After that, the PCs can go after Murk—jump to the Merlock of Firestop Mountain section—or visit Pronk’s Farm in the next section.

Pronk Pronk! Pronk’s Farm is a huge warehouse and sprawling battery farm located approximately thirty miles north-east of Chumba Town. Over sixty humans are currently held in cubicles and force-fed super-charged grub that ensures they are perfect for alien dinner tables across the planet and beyond. Even the Galactic Gourmets Association of the En System is a client here. A couple of gate guards armed with stormers are the only threats the PCs will need to overcome if they go in the front gate. If they are opting for a stealthier approach, they can consider cutting through the back fence and sneaking through the complex to the big livestock warehouse. There are a approximately a dozen aliens here. Most of them are workers, with only four of them—gate guards included— actually armed and tasked with guarding the produce. As the guards are only really there to protect profits by ensuring that no-one escapes, they are not expecting to face anything resembling serious firepower. The manager of the complex, a huge obese alien called Grabby A’nds, is situated in the top office of the warehouse building. He fights with a blaster pistol in one hand and a huge las-cleaver in the other. Use the Alien Handler and Alien Thug stats on p. 157 and p. 158 for Grabby and the guards. The PCs can consider rescuing all of the humans trapped in the livestock pens, or opt to just claim the bounties. Whatever they decide, there are enough trucks for the PCs to escape with everyone and get across town. Although GMs can run an extended scenario if preferred, the ultimate aim is to swiftly progress towards the big 500,000cr finale.

MERLOCK OF FIRESTOP MOUNTAIN

Firestop Mountain is part of a huge mountain range located roughly a thirty mile to the south of Chumba Town. Travelling on foot to the fortress of the Slaver-Lord will take approximately one-and-a-half days. Situated on top of a massive mine complex, the entire complex is packed with armed guards and prisoners. The fortress itself is built into the mountain and has three distinct levels or zones, with Merlock’s private area right below the complex on level three. The exterior walls bristle with automated las-gun turrets. The PCs are in for a tough fight, particularly if they want to rush the front door. Specialist gear such as time-bombs and the Westinghouse will even up the odds, but will by no means make their task easy. GMs should provide ample time for the PCs to plan their approach. Enough guards to provide a challenge are a must, but more can pour out of the mines and other areas if the PCs are having an easy time of it. An alien

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thug with a blazooga is always going to throw a spanner in their best laid plans. If the PCs organise their approach well and risk steam-rolling through to Merlock, GMs should consider rolling with this. Guards can still be thrown under the wheels of their train, but planning and foresight should be rewarded. As with all of the bounty contracts in this chapter, this scenario provides an overview and snapshot. GMs are free to add in their own exciting additions and threats. Regardless, there should be plenty of scope for exciting gun play and sneaky shenanigans no matter how the PCs choose to tackle it. If this is scenario is being run as part of the bigger arc, the PCs are observed throughout by several camera drones that flit around and camouflage themselves when anyone takes a bead on them. While shooting them down will be hard, doing so should not be impossible. Each drone is quickly replaced by another, however. It is clear that someone is extremely interested in events at the fortress. More info on the drones can be found in The Lowdown of the next bounty hunt.

Outer Wall This huge thick wall has a massive gate, four automated las-gun turrets, and is overwatched by a sniper armed with a blaster rifle fitted with a night vision scope. The PCs can of course rush this gate, but they may want to consider taking a stealthier approach to get into the main courtyard.

Main Courtyard The main courtyard provides plenty of opportunity to utilise cover, including small buildings that can be used as transit points. There is also ample opportunity to indulge in shootouts with the guards or take the stealthier option and sneak past patrols towards the mine, which is reached via a lift shaft at the back of the complex.

The Mine The mine area is entered via the lift or emergency stairs. However, the stairs take a fair amount of time to descend and are regularly patrolled. If the PCs are lucky, they can catch the lift during a quieter moment within the compound. The mine itself is a maze-like area of tunnels crammed with human and alien slaves toiling away to unearth the dark red blood-crystal deposits that are found deep below the earth here. Gunfights within the mine will involve taking cover behind mine-carts, porta-generators, small tool sheds, and storage crates. Stealth may again be their best option initially, although there should be tense moments where the PCs are almost discovered, only for the guards to walk the other way. Or the PCs are able to knock the guards out/dispose of them quietly. Inciting a slave revolt by freeing the ship’s crew and other slaves is also an option, which will provide allies and a

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major distraction as the slaves fight for their freedom. Picking a fight in the mines will introduce the overseer, Thrun the Hound Handler, plus his two adorable Dervish Dogs: Bite and Gnaw. Use the Alien Gunslinger stats on p. 157 and the Dervish Dog stats on p. 159 respectively. A heavily-guarded lift in a remote part of the mine leads directly to Merlock’s Throne.

Zone 3: Merlock’s Throne This huge chamber is full of bright lights and generators. It mainly consists of a large circular area where the aliens regularly hold death matches between slaves for their own amusem*nt. Merlock’s command centre and throne are also situated here, both providing a front row seat to the carnage. If the PCs have snuck in, it is highly likely that Merlock is relaxing with alien company. Otherwise, he will be on high alert and ready to face any trouble that has blasted its way in. Regardless of their approach, Merlock is not going down without a fight. He will aim to put his Thwup Gun and huge two-handed las-axe to good use. He also has a batch of frag grenades on hand. Merlock is a huge, muscled monstrosity, with a gaping, elongated maw that holds a row of shark-like teeth. His scaled skin is covered by armour plating. (Adjusting for mutations, use the Mob Capo profile on p. 238 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD for Merlock.) As he is part shark, Merlock also has a surprise in store for the PCs. At an opportune moment, he begins flooding the chamber with a press of a button. Merlock, of course, is just as deadly in water as he is on land. Should they defeat Merlock and kill him, the PCs will be able to get the evidence from his body to allow them to collect the 500,000cr bounty. The PCs are also free to loot gear from the guards and collect Merlock’s Thwup Gun and axe. Once Merlock is dealt with, the hunt is over. There are other bounties that can be taken care of if they haven’t been already, or GMs can seed other jobs on Charn in the meantime. There is the small matter of tracking down a way off-world. It will take a few days before a new ship lands on planet at the main city of Ungol’s Breach. The PCs will need to hitch a ride from Chumba Town to Ungol’s Breach, which is probably undertaken on a transport truck. Money may initially be an issue, but the PCs may get by on the fact that they will be claiming a large bounty once they get to the city’s Law Office. The city of Ungol’s Reach is huge. Although it is not specifically detailed, it has all of the amenities that the S/D Agents will likely be looking for. There is even an alien-run Law Office here, whose officers will be very keen to know about the black market trade in human flesh. The PCs are able to hitch a ride on a starship and either jump to another planet or head back to the Kennel for some rest and relaxation.

BOUNTY HUNT 04: NIGHT OF THE PREYING ZORG In this bounty hunt, the PCs find out that a scientist has created a gas which causes rapid-growth acceleration in humans, turning them into zombie-like mutants as it does so. Worse yet, a criminal has been paid to steal it with the sole purpose of releasing it into the wild, all in the name of entertainment.

THE LOWDOWN

As with all of the bounty hunts in this chapter, this particular adventure can be run as a standalone, or tied into the overall En System arc that interlinks each one. As has been alluded to up till now, almost every event that has happened as part of this sweeping arc has been directed by a certain gentleman with a grand plan. This scheme entails a new kind of reality Holo-TV show, which he broadcasts from a pirate Holo-TV broadcasting ship hiding out in the Baird asteroid belt. So far, the PCs have made excellent stars! Ace Vagabundo is exactly the kind of person who would hire a criminal assassin—someone like Mister Vile—with a view to making his show more interesting. He could then secretly recording each move that a group of Strontium Dogs made as they tried to track the villain down. Of course, it would also be entirely necessary to throw other bumps in the road along the way. All in the name of entertainment. If a GM is using this as part of the arc that is threaded through each bounty hunt, it is high time that the PCs being to pick up on more tangible clues. In this scenario, GMs should allow the PCs to once again spot a camera drone or two, with INT or LOG checks allowing them to puzzle out that the drones are always angling for a better camera angle. These spherical High-Def Tri-D HoloTV recorder drones usually run cloaked to ensure they are not spotted. The

DRONING ON Detecting the presence of a static, cloaked drone requires a Herculean [33] INT (perception) check, reduced to Demanding [21] when they are in motion. A relevant scanner can also provide a bonus. Each drone also incorporate a tranmitter. Every case that the PCs have been on so far has been livestreamed to a local transponder, which then beams the signal to Vagabundo’s hidden pirate HoloTV starship via a convoluted interstellar relay system. All so the inhabitants of a planet deep in the Munro System can enjoy the show from the comfort of their armchairs.

ratings of Ace’s show have been performing well, so he believes it is time to give them another boost. Vagabundo has hired on a lunatic scientist called Doctor Maglev to create a show-stopper virus, an airborne contagion that not only transforms humans into fungal zombie-like monsters, but also creates a rapid mutated growth in Preying Zorgs. Rather than have Maglev release the virus, he hired Mister Vile to steal it and release it in the wild on the planet of Castrovalva in the Derbyshire System—specifically in a zone where he had seeded the area with a dozen or so Preying Zorgs. Vile decided to go slightly off script, however, and killed Doctor Maglev. With an extremely powerful biological weapon to hand, the assassin decided that it would be better if he used it to blackmail an entire world. Unfortunately, this did not exactly go to plan. Once the criminal fraternity heard of the weapon, they all wanted to get their hands on it. Several contracts were put out on Vile’s head, one of which was handed off to the Stixes— a pair of trenchcoat wearing S/D Agent bounty hunters with loose morals and crack-shot reflexes hailing from the planet of Freedonia in the Town of Stixville (see Stix, p. 137). Vile was confronted by the Stixes in the wilds of Castrovalva. They shot first but the bullet only managed to clip Vile, who dropped the canister in the middle of the area. That set the virus loose in an area containing more than one Preying Zorg. Ace Vagabundo could not ask for better TV than that! The canister exploded, catching Vile and the Stixes in the blast and releasing the pathogen into the wild, which was carried rapidly through the wind. When the Stixes came to, Vile was gone and they were short a bounty. They were also facing down large Preying Zorgs, so they decided to, quite literally, bug out. After letting loose a few shots, they beat a hasty retreat back to the nearest safe haven. Meanwhile, Ace brought more drones in to capture all the delicious carnage and chaos. He is just missing one thing, however. The one thing he really needs to make his show sing: the stars attractions of Bounty Dogs 2180. Needing a way to get the PCs on planet so that the fun can really begin, he framed an entirely innocent man for the virus bomb and made sure that the S/D Agents were put onto his trail with a bounty too large to resist. The bounty is big, the danger even bigger, but for Ace, it is as simple as Lights, Camera-Drones, Action!

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IN HOLOMEDIA RES

The scenario begins with the PCs having already arrived on planet, which is currently the beautiful green-blue world of Castrovalva located in the remote Baker System. Baker is just shy of a few thousand light years from the furthest planet in En Space after a left turn at the galactic navigation beacon.

Castrovalva Delights Castrovalva is noted for its larger-than-life flora, which includes large tracts of giant forest criss-crossed by vast, fast-flowing rivers. It is a tropical garden world, a gorgeous planet that enjoys a generous quantity of rainfall that in turn contributes to luscious growth throughout its warm, extended year. There are many different types of native fauna on the planet, each of which must contend with various types of carnivorous flora and their ingenious methods of catching a meal. A large meteorological monitoring station called the Logo Polis orbits the planet, putting its several high-tech radar dishes to good use on the planet’s weather patterns and beaming the information to the receivers near the capital. Kaled Spaceport is the biggest port on the world, followed closely by Hartnell, McCoy, and Whittaker. Kaled forms part of the big City of Derbyshire on the northern reaches of the Capaldi Plains. The PCs arrive at Kaled after a week’s travel in the cramped cargo area of a system patrol vessel called the Liberator:

After several days in the cramped interior of the Liberator, the patrol ship that begrudgingly carried you here, you gladly stretch your limbs as you step from the sleek vessel onto the concrete of Kaled Spaceport’s landing pad. Small whispers of steam drift beneath the ship, which quickly evaporate into the skies overhead. The heavens themselves are blue and inviting, just like the gleaming waters surrounding the City of Derbyshire that you spotted on your descent. You have arrived on the planet of Castrovala in the Baker System on the trail of a man called Lucas Brunt, a wanted criminal on whose head the GCC have placed a respectable 400,000cr bounty. Brunt is Wanted Alive for the murder of the brilliant scientist, Doctor Maglev, and the theft and subsequent release of an airborne virus bomb. The GCC tracked Brunt’s recent whereabouts to the City of Derbyshire.

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Officer Jenksie informed you he wants this one finished quickly. He also warned that other Search/Destroy Agents are tracking your mark, and further remarked that it would be best to not hang around, as he had received word that a pair of Stix are also on Castrovalva. Now that you have arrived, it is time to make your play. Your first stop: immigration. Kaled Spaceport is a huge, sprawling and chaotic maze of domes and landing pads. Ships take off and land almost constantly, creating a deafening, relentless, thundering noise that shakes everyone to their bones —unless they do not have any, of course. The PCs are met by an official named Terence, who quickly ushers them towards immigration. Like many humancontrolled worlds, this one is no different when it comes to norms and mutants. Terence shows them to the correct line and wanders off again, barley speaking a word the whole time. If they approach the line of their own volition, the PCs can join it behind a few mutant workers who have recently arrived on planet. It takes a good thirty minutes to process the people in front, mainly because the norm officers in charge deliberately take their time. If the PCs are belligerent and flash their S/D Agency badges, they will get shoved to the front past a bunch of disgruntled mutant workers. However, this does result in them being processed first and shortens their time to a few minutes. They might spot a spherical camera drone watching them and moving from angle to angle during this time. Despite being painted blue and white and sporting a star-port security logo, it has as a distinctly recognisable shape. (It is, of course, one of Ace’s many cameras for the show.) Once they are through the line, they can take a grav-train— cargo class at the rear with the other muties—to the central city area. They need to check in with the City of Derbyshire’s official Bounty Hunter Office and the local GCC Officer in charge there, Officer Aldread. Officer Aldread Goodman is one of those few humans who does not actually mind mutants, though only so long as they do not make her life hard. She does not go out of her way to make friends, but she actively supports the S/D Agents by making their arrival at her office a pleasant experience rather than a nightmare of red tape and forms.

Aldread’s Office The S/D Agency central office for bounty hunters is a sleek-looking building, as are all the homes and locations in Derbyshire. The office is replete with shiny surfaces and swish modular furniture, and while some of the chairs, tables, and

walls of the various cubicles might wobble from time to time, the overall effect provides an austere and modern vibe. Aldread Goodman sits at her desk in the front lobby and watches the PCs as they enter. A woman dressed in the uniform of the GCC with auburn hair shot through with tiny streaks of grey looks up from her desk. “Hello, Strontium Dogs. Welcome to Castrovalva and the City of Derbyshire. I’m Aldread Goodman and I’m your liaison officer for this region.” From this point on, so long as the S/D Agents play nicely with her, Aldread will be as nice as she can be to them. They do not get an easy ride throughout, though, as there are still plenty of belligerent human officers in the building, all of whom are on hand to make snide remarks and derogatory comments to counter Aldread’s niceties. She asks to see the S/D Agents identification and checks them off. She then looks up the bounty information on Lucas Brunt and nods before relating what she knows of Brunt: » A resident of Derbyshire City, he is a sanitation worker at the H2O for Norms water treatment plant. » He has no prior history of criminal activity. » He is unmarried. » He is known to be an insular man. » He has only been off-world once, two months ago. Until recently, all seemed well on his return. » He lives on the south side of Derbyshire in a hab-block called Newman.

Meanwhile... While the PCs are beginning their investigation, the virus has spread to the Zorgs and they have begun to show signs of rapid genetic mutation. One pretty impressive specimen will soon reach heights that no Zorg ever reached before. In addition, a small human research team studying the flora in the area close to the bomb’s detonation has also been infected by the fungal virus. As the PCs continue their investigations, the Zorgs and humans will continue to mutate, just so they are ready to turn up and complicate things at the most appropriate moment.

Back at Goodman’s Office Apart from the information related above, Aldread cannot offer the S/D Agents any more leads. She clears them to operate in the city, tells them she will also contact Derbyshire’s Law Office so as to ensure no mistakes are made and also politely warns them that they are not the first Strontium Dogs to cross her path. She would like to stay on friendly terms.

She then explains that the Stixes were on planet chasing a different bounty, but will not reveal details to the agents no matter how much they ask. Confidentiality is a matter of law, after all. She does, however, assure them that the Stixes were not after the PC’s current bounty. She winks and assures them that theirs is reserved for them alone—her treat. By now, it should be pretty obvious to the PCs that they need to get to Newman hab-block and find their mark. According to Aldread, Brunt is yet unaware that he has been targeted for retrieval by the GCC, so it should be a pretty simple case of apprehension without too much trouble. Of course, the PCs should also be well aware that things are never simple, though, which is soon reinforced by a slight bump on the skylight that draws their attention upwards. It appears that a camera drone has been observing their meeting with Aldread Goodman. The PCs should just catch a slight lens flash and perhaps be able to take a single snapshot at the drone before it disappears. Aldread, on the other hand, may not take too kindly to weapons being drawn in her office.

TO NEWMAN AND BEYOND

At approximately sixty miles distant from the GCC Office, Newman Hab is a little bit far too distant for a daytime stroll. Fortunately, the PCs have several options available to them: » Take a Sky Car: Using this option will cost approximately 600cr for a one-way trip (1200cr for the return). Although pricier, this is the quicker option. (Thirty minutes.) » Take a Ground Car: Cheaper at half the price for a single trip, this option is slightly slower. (One hour.) » Hab Bus 1: A bus that goes directly to the Hab, runs every hour, and does not let mutants travel for free. Only norms may do so. 100cr and the cheapest option. The trip takes about as long as the ground car. Newman Hab is very easy on the eye. It is an idyllic, Garden of Eden style location filled with semi-circular hab buildings, all arranged in neat little blocks. It is also populated with pepperpot style gardening robots who roam around and occasionally issue the warning, “EXFOLIATE!” The PCs will have a chance to spot a different model of spherical drone when they arrive. Although this one is watering some plants, it appears to occasionally turn to follow them before going back to spraying liquid over the blooms. However, the PCs may very well be distracted by another Strontium Dog who has turned up to claim their mark. Enter Jane Doon, a rhino-headed big muscled S/D Agent who yells: “Brunt, you’re coming with me. DEAD OR ALIVE!” Use the Entertainer stats, p. 152, for Jane.

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The PCs may remember that their warrant states Alive, which a quick check by them can confirm. Although they will not be aware of this, Ace has rapidly grown bored with the current lack of action. To counter this, he decided to spice things up a little by sending in someone to shake things up. Although definitely a mutant with an S/D badge, Jane Doon is certainly not a bona fide Strontium Dog. Her outfit, her gun and her badge are all props that Ace had made for another show which subsequently fell through. Jane herself is a mutant actress that Ace has kept up his sleeve for occasional bit-part roles and ‘verbal encouragement’. For her part, Jane appears to be exceedingly good at shouting loudly. Unfortunately, all this does is panic Brunt, who decides to make a run for it. Grabbing one of the pepper-pot gardeners and kicking it from its grav-assisted mount he shouts, “Funt you all, you won’t take me!” Brunt then attempts to soar off across the skyline but ends up flying straight into the maw of a giant Preying Zorg.

Another Catch Up... To roll that back a little, during the period it took the PCs to travel to the Newman Hab, the virus has had time to fully mutate the Preying Zorgs mentioned on the previous page. As intimated, one of the alien creatures received a huge dose of the virus to the point that it has grown into something that Ace has since labelled a Zorgzilla. All in the name of entertainment, of course. Ace Vagabundo is smugly satisfied that he will be laughing all the way to the space bank when this episode airs. The Zorgzilla bursts out of the water just as Brunt attempts to make his escape. At a few hundred feet tall, the creature is as hungry as any Preying Zorg gets. Just to add insult to injury, there are also a few shambling fungal humanoids behind it.

Back to the Action Although Lucas Brunt is not dead yet, the PCs should be well aware that his bounty is basically void if the Zorg continues to chomp down on him. For her part, Jane Doon panics and beats a hasty retreat, yelling, “You got this, Stronts. Sneck you Ace, this is above my funting pay grade!” as she does so. She then does her best to leave Zorgzilla and the remains of the research team to the Strontium Dogs. Zorgzilla, on the other hand, seems fairly intent on eating everything in its path, which includes the little flying man now trapped in its maw. Lucky for Brunt and the PCs, though, the oversized Zorg is having a hard time adapting to the size change and is pretty clumsy because of this. Making a Called Shot (Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD, p. 141) and choosing the disable option against Zorgzilla’s

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maw within 1d6 rounds of its arrival allows Brunt to slip free of its fangs. If this happens, Brunt then attempts to zip off across the skyline and shoot out over the wild. Otherwise, Zorgzilla chomps down on its tasty snack and soon looks for fresh meat. Stats for the Zorgzilla can be found on p. 163 in Chapter 6. If Brunt does get free, Zorgzilla gives chase, smashing a small building into rubble with its giant abdomen and long spindly legs as it does so. It moves slowly, however, so does not cover a lot of ground as it stomps out across a connecting bridge to the land mass beyond Derbyshire City. Brunt seems to have unwittingly saved much of the city from destruction for now. The S/D Agents are contacted by Aldread at this point: “OK, mutants. I know this is not usually your job but I need you to do me a favour. The GCC is willing to up your pay if you can deal with the big Preying Zorgs, the other mutated things, and somehow stop the... wait a moment. Moffat, someone. Get this funting drone out of my face.” There is the unmistakable sound of a blaster on the other end of the communication. “Sorry about that, security drone went haywire. Where was I? Oh yeah. If you can somehow stop the Giant Funting Preying Zorg. I’m sending Officers Russel and Davies to you with a Blazooga. That might help. Keep after it and they’ll catch up. Taking care of these things is worth another 200,000cr if you can take them down. Oh, and one more thing, the boffins tell me that the fungal things used to be people. Apparently, killing them means you risk turning into one of them. Good luck!” In Strontium Dog, money makes the galaxy go round, so this alone should provide a pretty sweet incentive for the PCs to go after the biggest Preying Zorg the planet—and possibly the galaxy—has ever seen. That’s without mentioning the kudos they will garner with their fellow S/D Agents. After all this has taken place, the PCs should also have the chance to spot two of the gardening drones taking to the air to follow the chase. They clearly appear to be acting as though controlled by an outside source. If it hasn’t done so by now, this should all start to feel mighty suspicious to the PCs.

FUNGAL SHARPY

The dozen or so of the research team who were infected are shambling toward the S/D Agents. To make matters worse, many of Newman’s inhabitants are running around like

headless Morks in the area. If one of the infected kills someone, the corpse is also infected and proceeds to rise as one of the floral dead. Which is not a good thing to happen so close to a city full of people. The PCs will need to deal with the situation quickly, plus tackle the four giant Preying Zorgs who have come along for the ride. The PCs’ weapons should be enough to deal with the threats that are present. IF they plan accordingly, the fight is likely to be very one-sided. The good news for them is that mutant blood cannot be infected, so they can go toe-to-toe with these fungal walking plant-people without fear. Of course, they do not know they can do this until they try, so allowing them to think they can be infected might add to the tension. If the PCs choose to stop and fight, they will quickly realise they are using their weapons against targets that do not shoot back—a luxury in the world of bounty hunting. The Zorgs can usually utilise blaster pistols if they really want to but the virus has impaired their intelligence, so it is unlikely they will do that (unless the GM plans it as surprise for the S/D Agents). It is recommended to adjust the number of floral dead to suit the number of PCs. The scenario is destined for a group of four PCs, which can be increased or decreased as needed. Unless a GM is seeking to overwhelm the PCs, the scene should be fun but fairly balanced. This is the same for the Preying Zorgs. As they are giant versions, however, GMs will need to adjust the numbers to suit, keeping in mind that these creatures can both dish out and receive more punishment. If the PCs choose to not fight the floral dead or giant Zorgs, then things are going to go badly for the folk of Newman Hab. Hundreds will die and rise as newly infected, which forces Aldread to send her personnel out beside the local Law Office in an attempt to bring the situation under control. She will not thank the PCs for this. If GMs want to make things apocalyptic, this could be the beginning of the end for Castrovalva.

ZORGZILLA

Once the situation with the floral dead has been resolved, it is on to the big catch of the day: Zorgzilla. This beast is promising to be the impromptu star of Ace’s most-watched episode yet. If the PCs chase the creature onto the bridge, they are met by Officers Davies and Russel, who drop off the Blazooga in their sky car and then beat a hasty retreat to avoid any potential collateral damage (which includes themselves). As they do not like mutants, the officers are not very talkative. They simply leave the weapon on the bridge’s roadway and beat a hasty retreat. There are several abandoned vehicles dotted around, which provides the PCs with a few options to chase Zorgzilla. If the vehicles are not enough to get the PCs moving, two sky cars land and the terrified pilots hand over the keys to them before running off screaming. Jo and Lucy Tronker are actors on the payroll of Ace Vagabundo, who feels it is high time for this chase to take to the skies! The S/D Agents should not really look this gift car in the bonnet. They can now take to the air and follow Zorgzilla as it tramples all over the Silurian Forest in its hungry pursuit of Lucas Brunt. Castrovalvan sky cars are fairly fast and agile. They also have enough room to seat up to five PCs (including the one piloting). Two of them should be enough to get the ball rolling and provide a really fun, sky-based chase sequence as the PCs tackle Zorgzilla and chase down Lucas Brunt on his stolen garden-bot grav-chair. The chase rules on p. 128 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD will cover the action, while the sky car has similar stats to the hover car in the table on p. 121 of the same book. To spice things up further, the cloaked camera drones that are zipping around the area can get into the line of fire and add further complications. If the PCs take a shot with the Blazooga, it might just hit a camera drone, adding to both the tension and Ace’s expenses.

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The entire scene should be a long-form chase in which the PCs shoot at the oversized alien while it attacks them and Brunt in equal measure. All while Brunt is trying his best to control his ungainly mode of stolen transport. The group should crash through the trees, veer close to holiday makers and generally enjoy being involved in a B-Movie style monster chase. Up to the point they get near Logo Polis Receiver Station, of course.

Somewhere Off-World... Ace is in his makeshift studio, jumping up and down in his chair and screaming for his producers to green light a spin-off show where giant monsters destroy big cities, all while it is recorded on LIVE HoloTV! Credits baby!

Back at Logo Polis The chase scene should play out for as long as the GM feels necessary without becoming overcooked. If the PCs have not brought the Zorgzilla down before it gets close to Logo Polis, a few well-placed shots here will trigger the end game scene. Zorgzilla smashes to the ground and lands a few feet away from the radar station. No one is hurt or killed, but it was close. Ace’s drones get a few more good shots before they zip off and flash out of sight. If the PCs have not already brought Brunt down, the creature lashes out one final time, clipping his chair and forcing it to strike the nearest radar dish. The chair flies out from under Brunt, who is saved from falling by his impossibly long scarf that wraps around his right leg and leaves him dangling hundreds of feet above the ground. Although many might consider this lucky, it is worth bearing in mind that Lucas is wanted Alive for a whole lot of trouble that he never started in the first place.

Winding Up this Scene Lucas Brunt is stuck to the radar. If the PCs do not get him down, he will eventually fall to his death and void their bounty. If they opt to get him down and detain him, he vociferously protests his innocence and claims he had nothing to do with the charges brought against him. The S/D Agents can simply hand him off to Officer Aldread in the city and get paid for everything they did. For her part, Aldread ensures that there will be a full investigation into the events. Unless the GM has opted for an apocalyptic end to Castrovalva, the fungal plant monsters and giant Zorgs in the city are also being dealt with. Not long after they get paid, the PCs receive a pre-recorded communication from an anonymous comm unit.

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“You do not know me and I do not know you. Lucas Brunt is innocent. Go to the Relative Dimension Plaza and pick up the package in the right-hand trash bin. It has the proof you need to go after the real monster here.” This anonymous message should be enough to send the PCs to the plaza. They can involve Aldread and the local law enforcement it they wish, although there will be much suspicion over why a bunch of mutants are receiving an anonymous tip related to the recent events. Once recovered, the PCs open the package to find a vid-slug that has the following footage: A figure sits in a director’s chair while another bunch of norms swirl around him on various tasks. The figure in the chair is wearing a hat with the word ACE stencilled across it. He appears to be talking to someone off-camera. “OK. Look, I need to get my stars on planet. It’s likely that Maglev will need to go. I don’t care how you do it, Vile. Just make sure there isn’t a trail, because, you know, secrets. We’ll use that fool Lucas to bring my Dogs to the yard, which is all that matters at the moment. I kill three Morks with one stone here and get a real ratings boost. That’s showbiz!” Whoever this ACE is, he really loves the sound of his own voice. The recording continues but is the audio is overlaid by a heavily edited voice that cuts over the director’s. “Ace Vagabondo is a monster. Even more so than you muties. He needs to be stopped, and who better to do it than his pet Dogs. I am not ready to tell you who I am yet. I am risking a lot by contacting you. If Ace finds out, I am dead. He will kill me, of that I am pretty sure. Make sure you keep an eye out for a bounty on one Rooster Frogburn. That will lead you to Ace. Good hunting, Strontium Dogs. I am a big fan.” This concludes the fourth hunt and provides a solid lead on the person behind the events. GMs can choose to fade to black in a similar manner to the close of a TV episode or stay with the PCs as they help clean up the mess before heading back to the Kennel.

BOUNTY HUNT 05: THE MALEFICENT SEVEN Sit back, buckle up, and prepare for one sneck of a ghoulish tale as the S/D Agents are trapped in a strange dimension created by Malak Brood and his foul sorcery.

THE LOWDOWN

Malak Brood is an evil sorcerer who featured within the Strontium Dog comic strip. Before he was sent away to the Island of the Living Dead—more specifically, the prison there—he was responsible for a whole lot of pain and suffering throughout the galaxy and beyond, which includes the En System. Brood is a necromancer, a powerful sorcerer who can bring back the dead and perform sorts of evil tricks besides. Although the PCs will not be going up against the sorcerer in this adventure.—that joy belongs to Johnny Alpha later on in this timeline—they will be feeling the reach of his powers. The stars of the continuing show will be caught in another dimension. One where the dead do not stay dead for long, and the outlaws do not stay buried. They will need the souls of seven dark and deadly undead gunslingers to be able to open up the Soul Gate and leave the accursed place. Which is all in a day’s work for the hardened veterans of the Search/Destroy Agency, clearly. If this adventure is part of the six bounty hunts that form the bulk of this chapter, then a couple of camera drones are trapped with the Strontium Dogs as well. Though they are unable to send their footage back to the mastermind behind events for the time being, they will be able to do so once the Soul Gate is open. If this bounty is not being run as part of the sequence, then GMs can still run the scenario without worrying about the camera drones and the footage.

ANOTHER DIMENSION

The S/D Agents have landed on the planet of Blas in the Gallego System when this adventure sets off. Having launched from the Kennel in a shuttle, they rendezvoused with a large cargo ship that was heading in that direction. They are on the trail of a mutant troublemaker called Blob D’ Slob, who is responsible for terrorising a whole community of sunbathing Gronks. The fatalities caused by this outlaw have put him firmly on the GCC most-wanted list. Bob is Wanted Dead or Alive for 160,000 cr, with a bonus of 10000cr if he is brought in Alive plus another 5000cr if no Gronk lives are lost during this mission. Having boarded the Sergio Leone cargo ship, the PCs flew to Blas, took a shuttle to the planet’s surface and succeeded in

luring Blob away from the Gronks so that no more harm could be caused to these mild-mannered aliens. Blob D’ Slob is an amorphous, blob-like mutant with stubby arms. Something of a cross between a slug and a jelly, he is horrible to look at and easy to track by scent alone. The adventure opens with a bang as Blob D’Slob launches a blazooga round at the S/D Agents before running for cover behind a rock on the hillside. He clearly had not been expecting S/D Agents to turn up on his trail and seems intent on shaking them off. Fortunately, the PCs have him trapped on this hillside and there appears to be nowhere to run. If this scenario is being run as part of the intertwined arc, then he actually does have a way out, because all of this has been set up by the PC’s favourite producer, Ace Vagabundo, and his Bounty Dogs 2180 HoloTV show. If this scenario is being run as a straightforward one-off, then Blob manage to procure his own escape route for the eventuality that his antics would catch up with him. Although the device cost Blob a lot of credits, a way out of any trouble that had followed him was well worth the price. Regardless, Blob is in possession of a dimensional gate device, which is one-way, pre-programmed ticket designed to send him... somewhere else. If it was given by Ace’s people then this is all part of Ace’s Spooky Event HoloTV special. If it was purchased by Blob, then it was sold by an unknown stranger. This stranger is actually the Collector, a manifestation of the destination dimension’s need for fresh souls which goes around finding people like Blob and tricking them into entering the dimension. When they cross over and die, their souls feed the entity that controls the dimension. Thankfully, Blob’s blazooga shot goes wide and misses the PCs by a mile, but it should send them ducking for cover and perking their ears up at the start of this tale: A blast of energy rips from behind a large rock on the nearby hillside, followed by a gurgling bellow. “You’ll never take me alive, Doggies!” roars from behind the rock as your target, Blob D’Slob, once again opens fire from his hidden vantage point. Lucky for you Blob is a really poor shot and the blazooga immolates a herd animal grazing nearby in a flash of smoke, fire, and molten flesh.

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“DROKKIT!” you hear Blob yell, and then he throws down his blazooga. “OK OK, you win! I’m done. I can’t keep up with you Stronts any longer. Take me in, don’t kill me. I know I’m worth more alive than dead.” Blob has no real idea what the ‘way out’ he was given actually does. He was poised to just use it behind the rock, but studying the spherical device and its buttons a little more, he now thinks that it may be a weapon. One that can perhaps kill a bunch of S/D Agents and label him a hero amongst his criminal peers. It is worth a shot. No one ever accused Blob of being very bright. Blob slowly slithers from behind the rocks and slimes his way over to you. With hands aloft, he has no weapons on his person that you can see. He stops a few feet away and splutters, “OK, take me in.” You hear a timer counting down as you close on your bounty, and Blob releases a triumphant blorp. “DIE SNECKERS!” The PCs are given an open invitation for the adventure to continue. Not quite a railroad, more an open door for them to plunge headlong into. While the device does nothing to pull them in, it pops open a dark hole in space-time and sucks Blob right through it with a sudden POP! The portal then sits there swirling invitingly, exotically and somewhat dangerously. If the PCs head right in, then the hunt can continue and they can be introduced to the dimension beyond the portal—see Into the Dank Dimension, below. If the PCs walk away, however, it is hunt over. They do not get paid and they miss out on all the fun beyond the door. The grav-ball is in their court. The portal will not stay open for a short period, so GMs can let the PCs talk it out and decide what they would like to do. The rest of this scenario assumes they choose the door of darkness over the planet of scared metal-eaters, though.

INTO THE DANK DIMENSION You step into the portal. Time alters, space shifts and you plunge headlong into a dark morass of... nothing. There is a buzzing for a moment, then a pop, a whistle and a sound that is best left to the most macabre imaginations. It is all over suddenly. Assuming you have them, the smell of foetid water and the stink of swamp gas

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assaults your nostrils. You are no longer on Blas, that much is certain. Also, there is no sight of your target. The PCs have arrived in the Unhallowed, a dimension created by the Curse of Malak Brood. They are either alone or trailed by a pair of cloaked camera drones that are recording their every move for Ace’s newest episode of Bounty Dogs 2180. They have landed in Harrow Swamp, which is just west of a shanty town called Trouble. Their slippery, blobby target has slithered his way west; the PCs can see traces of his residue drifting on the boggy surface as they look around. Huge swamp-trees dip into the water, giant insects flit everywhere and a small gathering of fire-flies dances just above the dark brown liquid’s surface. Trouble is approximately ten miles from the PCs’ current location. Due to the time distortion of the portal, Blob appears to have a decent head start. Most of the trek takes place through the foetid water, with occasional patch of dry land. The PCs are likely to be attacked by several Dualligators during their journey, which is a kind of alligator that has two heads, only one of them spits acid. The stats for the Dualligator can be found on p. 159.

A TOWN CALLED TROUBLE

Trouble is a small town on the edge of Harrow Swamp. It is full of dead-eyed, soulless inhabitants who have had their souls sucked to the point of no return. They speak in whispers and communicate slowly. What little remains of their humanity has been siphoned off to strengthen the creature that Malak Brood left here to guard this twisted dimension. The S/D Agents will not face off against the dimension’s guardian until they have collected the seven souls of the gunslingers. He is the last obstacle before they can return to their own dimension. Right now they need to get their bearings. Trouble is a small town full of essentially lifeless husks, so it does not really have much going on. It does have the PCs’ first lead, however: a gunshot. A sound that resembles a blaster pistol echoes through the streets of the shack-town, seeming to come from the graveyard. This is soon followed by a pair of rapid shots and then a louder third. This second batch of shots do not sound as if they are made by a slug-thrower, rather than a blaster pistol. Once the sounds have drawn their attention, it is easy for the PCs to spot a trail of slime heading in the same direction. Upon investigation, the S/D Agents close in on a simple graveyard and a strange scene in which a ghoulish gunman with a wide brimmed hat and a pair of six-shooters is facing down Blob D’Slob. Blob has been shot three times and the wide gaping holes ooze blue goo. “You can’t kill me, snecker,” the gunslinger rasps. “We can’t die, ha, ha! No way in hell you can send me to rot in my grave. Or my name’s not Stanton Kree.” Kree blasts Blob several more times, sending him to whatever reward is waiting for him. The PCs will likely want to question this sinister gunman, who catches them all in his gaze and whispers menacingly: “Walk on strangers, less’n you be next.” There is a shout from the nearby graveyard gate soon after, however: “Kree, enough!” bellows a woman in a long duster and a hat like Kree’s as she tilts a shotgun in his direction. “You shot my pa to take his last beer, and it’s time to settle the score.” If the PCs get involved in a gunfight with Kree, they will soon realise that they just cannot simply kill the gunslinger. He is bound by the Curse of Malak Brood, which means that only employing a particular means will kill him for good. With more deathless gunslingers on the horizon, the PCs are about to get

clued in on the need to meet certain requirements by Lucy Dreadless, the woman with red hair bent on revenge for her pa’s murder and daughter of the murdered man in her speech. If the PCs engage in a gun battle with Kree, he will return fire readily. Use the Ghoulslinger stats on p. 164. Unfortunately, no matter what they throw at him, Kree will just not stay down. All of the PCs’ gadgets will also fizzle. If they toss a TimeBomb, it fails to go off. Blast a Number 4 cartridge, he walks it off. Blazooga, his parts mesh back together. Disintegration, flensing... whatever the PCs try, Malak’s curse undoes it all. Eventually, Lucy clips Kree with her rifle and kills him, causing him to expire just as described in the text below. Lucy also finishes with the same question for the PC. If they decide to stand back and watch, however, then the scene unfolds like this: The red-haired woman levels a Kree and closes one eye. “This to my ma,” she spits. “And her her before that. You recognise

rifle toward gun belonged ma gave it to it?”

“Should I?” Kree snorts, foetid breath rasping from his lungs. “Just take your shot so I can kill you and get back to my drinkin’.” “It has a bullet in here Kree, with your snecking name on it,” she calmly replies, which causes Kree’s eyes to widen in surprise. There is a sharp crack and the ghoul’s forehead explodes with a bright white light as the shot hits home. Stanton Kree expires at this moment and turns to dust before your eyes. The woman lowers her rifle and looks at you all. “What do you want, strangers?” At this point, Lucy is on hand to talk to the PCs about the Curse of Malak Brood and the Seven Ghoulslingers who terrorize the dimension of No Hope. If they ask her questions, she can offer the following insight and information. » Lucy Dreadless has been hunting down the man who killed her father. Stanton Kree murdered him in cold blood and stole his last beer. He was hung for it, but rose again and just kept on murdering folks. Lucy found out about Malak Brood’s curse from Preacher Max and eventually worked out that she needed to use her mother’s rifle to fire a specially made bullet with Kree’s name on it. » The PCs are in No Hope, a dimension created by the Curse of Malak Brood and guarded by a dreadful undead

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guardian called Foetid Jack. This creature feeds on the souls of those who die here, causing them to rise again as the souless walking dead. She tells the S/D Agents that most of the folk here are husks like that, even her pa. » She knows there is a way out. It is a portal out in Bone Head Canyon, past Ghoultown where the other Ghoulslingers sometimes hang out. » The portal can only be opened once all of the Ghoulslingers are dead, and there are now six left. » She knows who they are and where they can most likely be found. See the information on The Six Left, below. Preacher Max relates the details, Lucy the locations and quirks. The info below is mainly for the GM. Max relates matters as described opposite in Max is the Key. » Much like Kree, each Ghoulslinger has to be killed in a specific way or they will simply come back. » Foetid Jack will be there to guard the portal once they end up killing the last of the six remaining guardian outlaws. » Preacher Max has been looking into how to kill the Ghoulslingers. He can be found inside the run-down church just on the edge of Trouble.

The Six Left: » Bella Donna Bradley: Fearsome lady of leisure, explorer, gambler and mean shot with a blastinger. She can be killed by ‘the hand of a woman’. No man can actually kill her, but if a woman takes the shot that drops her, she’ll die. If there are no women on the PCs’ group, this can be adjusted to include the bullets or the gun being made by the hand of a woman. Otherwise, the S/D Agents can always return to Lucy and ask nicely for her help in putting an end to this ghoulish gambler. If not in Ghoultown, Bella can often be found in Oakley Town, eight miles north of Trouble. » Ma Hennesy: An old lady with a shotgun and a mean and angry drunk, she beat her husband to death with a milk pail. She has also stolen and robbed more than any one of her male partners. Ma Hennesy needs to be set on fire before she can be killed. Luckily, the S/D Agents can do this with a variety of weapons to hand, like the trusty Westinghouse. Or they can improvise. Old Ma is found to the south of Trouble, in the aptly named Ghoultown. » Lawless Argus: Originally from Och-11, Argus got involved in a bar room brawl, drunkenly lashed out at a fellow patron and ended up with a knife in his gut. Something odd happened though; he ended up in a place called Hell. Legends say he fought and stabbed his way out of Hell until he stood before the Devil. He bargained hard and thought he had won. The Devil challenged him to a fiddle playing contest, but Argus lost and so the Devil sent him to No Hope as punishment. Argus rides between Ghoultown,

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Trouble and Old Cosgrove’s Shack, causing trouble for the homesteaders around there and robbing them daily. He can only be put to rest by stabbing him through the heart with his own knife. Note: GMs wanting to learn a little more about the devil mentioned here can do so by reading the Journey into Hell storyline. » Old Coot McGroot: Cantankerous old geezer, ex-miner, saboteur, whiskey-drinking psychopath. Old Coot swindled miners out of claims and stole land, women, men and anything else that was not nailed down. He ended up in No Hope when he met the Collector and thought he could swindle the creature. Old Coot can only be killed when he is blind drunk, but it is not just any whiskey that will do. Old Cosgrove’s Shack has a bottle of the really good stuff that must be used as his poison. The PCs will need to convince Cosgrove’s ghost to give it up, though. Old Coot is often found strumming a banjay—which is a form of banjo, that has a double-neck—out by the old Kolgate Mine, ten miles south of the portal in Bone Head Canyon. » Big Bo Badaboo: Bo loved a guy who loved a girl, so he blew the girl sky high with stolen dynamite. Unfortunately, he also managed to blow himself into oblivion at the same time. He awoke in No Hope with no idea of how he got there. He spends his time collecting things that have the potential to explode, wears a vest that made of dynamite and breaks into song at a moment’s notice. He is actually a pretty decent singer and probably could have made a name for himself if it were not for the fact that he sings of madness and rage. He roams the whole region looking for the girl he blew up, as he swears that she haunts him here. He can only be killed when singing, though he does not seem to know that this is his weakness. The Curse of Malak Brood has a wicked sense of humour, it seems. » Ol’ Slim Bones: A lanky gunman with a wicked smile, Slim is a practiced hand at many forms of murder. Ol’ Slim Bones is not old, but he is slim; this walking skeleton wears only a pair of cowboy boots and his gun belt. A poor shot, a terrible outlaw and often the guy who ended up making the coffee back at the camp during his living years, Slim was always the last to be chosen for the train capers. He was not destined to be a legend in any shape or form in the outlaw community where he lived. He was caught in the crossfire between two gunslingers and shot through the heart, which just summed up Slim’s luck. But Malak Brood’s curse had a way of picking on anyone who was down and out, and the Collector snapped him up for No Hope. Over the years, this set of bleached bones has become a deadshot Ghoulslinger who now roams the whole region looking for people to duel. He can only be put to rest by a killing blow that was not intended for him.

MAX IS THE KEY

As Lucy mentioned Preacher Max, the S/D Agents will probably want to see him at some point. If this chapter is being run as interconnected bounties, it is worth GMs remembering to throw in the odd glimpse of a camera drone just flickering here and there, just to remind the PCs that Ace is likely getting all of this juicy footage. Max is a weary fellow who is not dead yet, but also not quite alive. The way this place draws a person’s soul out is slowly killing him. He is friendly enough to the mutants, which they might find refreshing considering that norms are utterly foul to mutants, apparently even in places like this. If asked, Max admits that he has never been fond of Kreelman’s laws or attitude. Live and let live is his philosophy. The PCs can discuss Max’s research with him here and also ask to join forces to put the six remaining Ghoulslingers down for good. Max has info on all of them (as seen opposite, with his notes forming the key to the whole mystery. The preacher will readily give the PCs his notebook, all that he asks is that they take him with them through the portal. Max’s notebook offers a few clues to Malak Brood, an evil sorcerer he had heard rumours of prior to being sucked into this realm. He feels he is here as some form of torment for the knowledge he gained. He relates the following info on each Ghoulslinger. (The Six Left info, opposite, is mainly for the GM.) Bella Donna: I think she can die by the hand of the fairer sex. There was something written in an old book. Not sure how they knew about this, but it is worth a shot. Ma Hennesy: The old lady, she does not like fire, so I would probably start with that and hope she does not just get snecked off by being made into a torch. Lawless Argus: Some young gun over at Ghoultown claimed he knew how to kill Argus. He died before he could try it, but it is apparently something to do with stealing Argus’s prized possession and then stabbing him in the heart with it. A fitting end for a godless creature. Old Coot: I know something about this one. He was a drunkard in life, and now he claims that only Cosgrove’s Whiskey can get him dead drunk again. I believe there is some truth to this. Here is a map of how to get to Cosgrove’s Shack. Watch out, the old ghost can be a mite temperamental. I would be nice to him if I were you.

Bo: I am not sure about this one. I have dug around and listened to talk here and there. Read some things and even spoken to a man who claimed he had injured the creature. This talk of shooting him and drawing blood while he sang, though. I find it hard to believe even here. Slim: Slim is a dangerous one. I have seen plenty of good folk gunned down by this outlaw. They are all now literally shadows of themselves. He has no remorse, does not speak and shoots first in a draw. It has taken me years to work it out, but I think the only other avenue left to rid us of this ghoul is to kill him indirectly. If the direct approach does not work, perhaps an accident might just be enough to put an end to him once and for all. Note: If the PCs do not actually ask the right questions, GMs should still aim to be a little forgiving when passing out information. If they choose not to meet the Preacher Max, however, or decide to not play nice with Lucy, they will need to find all of this information out on their own, which could prove painful or even deadly. The ball is in their court from there on out, since it will make their journey to the portal a lot more difficult and painful in the long run.

MALAK WHO? The Curse of Malak Brood is not his own to control. It’s something else, a power that was at its height during the time of the Lyran Sorcerers. Brood and his brothers tapped into that power, stole from it and proceeded to kill hundreds with the necromantic arts. Malak, however, was always that bit greedier. When the brothers were imprisoned together on the Isle of the Living Dead, he killed them with his soul-draining blade and used their essence to increase his own power. Then he killed everyone else and brought them back as living dead. If it were not for his curse, a huge ball and chain on his ankle that grows with the weight of his guilt, he would have escaped by the time the PCs find No Hope. The ball and chain are big enough for the ripples to be felt across other dimensions, and Brood’s recent vile acts caused a rip in space-time that created a pocket dimension that the S/D Agents have tumbled into. Unfortunately for them, the greater the evil that Brood enacts, the stronger and deadlier this new dimension grows.

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HUNTING GHOULS TO THE END

As long as the S/D Agents hunt down the Ghoulslingers using the information they have hopefully been given, they should be able to deal with them in a piecemeal fashion. Since it is fairly sandbox in nature, this adventure is likely to last longer than any other in this chapter. Taking time to add additional prep to each scene will involve a little extra work for the GM, but will pay dividends when it comes to the epic action. Of course, if a GM would like to create a truly epic climax, then an ultimate showdown between the surviving Ghoulslingers and PCs should be arranged. Once a few of their number have fallen, there is a good chance they will realise that someone or some persons are coming for them. Once the last Ghoulslinger has fallen, the way out of No Hope will open and the sky changes colour. A pillar of dark red light blazes across the heavens, which indicates that something is taking place at the portal stone on the other side of Ghoultown. For its part, Ghoultown is, as mentioned, one of the outlaw towns of this dimension. A place where the undead gunslingers of No Hope gather and the few mortals who remain here try to steer well away from. It is a lawless place where the dead just do not stay dead. There are eternal gunfights to determine who is the best shot, complete with jaws being shot off and heads blown away. The shooters always regenerate, however, and start their antics all over again come the next High Noon. The PCs can pass through Ghoultown on the way to the portal or try to carefully skirt it. If the drones are present, the PCs are always followed by a pair of cloaked and sneaky cameras. If the get a chance, the drones will stop and record a few good shots of macabre gunfights and saloon brawls that do not involve the PCs.

FOETID JACK AND THE PORTAL OUT OF HELL

Perhaps not so much Hell, more No Hope, but it is likely that this pocket dimension sits to the side of Hell at this point in time. The will need to travel to their showdown with Foetid Jack, the nefarious guardian of the portal. At ten feet tall, Jack is a hulking, mean-eyed Ghoulslinger armed with a pair of pistols that spit fire and rain down retribution. As you enter the stone clearing, your eyes are drawn to a ring of seven menhirs that sit evenly spaced on a dark dais. The stones are lit by a crackling oval of energy that pulses red and orange at the centre of the dais. A huge macabre-looking gunslinger prowls the monoliths, keeping watch for anyone trying to escape No Hope.

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Its parchment-like skin creaks as it turns and tips its hat in your direction. “Only way out of this place is through me. I am the last Ghoulslinger. The key.” He snaps his fingers and the portal shuts. Then he draws two huge pistols, the ends of which flicker with red flame. “Let’s get this done so I can go back to sleep, shall we?” This is the final epic showdown that leads to the PCs escaping this soul-sucking dimension. Jack will not summon in allies to aid him. He plans to defeat the PCs on his own, as he considers them to be a real challenge worthy of adding to his legend. The stats for Foetid Jack can be found on p. 164. Should they defeat Jack, he expires in a cloud of smoke and ash that slowly dissipates on the wind. His hat is the last thing to go, swirling away on the breeze. Then the portal opens with a flare of red light and flickers ominously: The portal opens with a blaze of light but soon beings to waver and flicker in intensity. It does not look like it will remain open for too long. If the PCs step through, they are transported away from No Hope and back to Blas, where they can maybe take some time to rest and recuperate with the friendly Gronks. If they stay, they are stuck in No Hope for good and they should probably review their decision-making skills. The warm air of Blas greets you and the freshness of the breeze is a welcome breath of fresh air. You are out of that strange dimension and grateful to have your souls intact. Although Blob is still dead, you could still argue your case for the bounty and claim some well-earned credits. Having just fought for your very souls, however, you are sure that the money will have an extra meaning to it. That concludes this hunt. Only one in the great Vagabondo arc remains. The big one, in which the S/D Agents will be going after Ace himself and are able finally confront the man behind the cameras. One last note. If they have survived, the two camera drones escape with the PCs and beam their footage directly to Ace for editing. What a show!

BOUNTY HUNT 06: BOUNTY DOGS 2180 The hunt is now on for Ace Vagabondo, the renegade pirate HoloTV creator that has been surreptitiously using the PCs as stars in his TV series. Operating from a hidden starship out in the Baird Asteroid Belt, Ace is a hard man to catch up with.

THE LOWDOWN

So he can be interrogated by the Galactic Crime Commission regarding the use of the Strontium Dogs as unpaid actors in his Reality HoloTV epic, Bounty Dogs: 2180, the S/D Agents are sent to bring Ace in alive. The GCC have taken umbrage with the fact that Ace has been using the Stronts without their knowledge. They are also annoyed that he has been raking in money from the people of Munro since the show aired, all without the GCC seeing even a minor percentage of profits. Plus he is acting illegally and is also responsible for the deaths of hundreds. The last bit is not an afterthought on the part of the GCC, honest. If this is part of the whole Bounty Dogs: 2180 arc, then the PCs will be finally be able to get some answers as to why events throughout the scenarios have transpired in the way they did. If not being run as part of the interconnected arc, then it will be a fun romp resulting in the downfall of a larger-than-life pirate with a love of bombastic action. There is also an army of robots that can be used as cannon fodder, just in case. They also get tipped off by their mysterious benefactor rather than being hired by the GCC directly.

The Nipkow System Nipkow is a system bordering En Space that acts as part of the ring which connects them with the Swearengen and Farnsworth systems. Nipkow is graced with a large sprawl of asteroids known as the Baird Asteroid Belt. This belt is the secret hiding spot of Ace Vagabundo and the pirate production studio various that he uses for various reality HoloTV projects. Nipkow has three planets, of which only one is graced with a moon. It is also a fairly quiet system compared to the likes of Swearengen, EN and Farnsworth. Takayanagi Station is the primary space station in Nipkow. It orbits the blue-purple world of Munro and provides all the facilities that one might expect from such an orbital meeting point. The other two planets are called Rosing and Zworykin. Finally, there is a small mining operation on the moon of Karos that orbits Zworykin. Black moon rock, a highly unstable and valuable commodity found only in the Nipkow system, is harvested from this barren moon.

HOLOTV CELEB HUNT

If this scenario is being used as a stand-alone, then the following bounty note can be handed out at the Kennel. This can either be delivered part of a morning brief on the station, or as a bounty ping on the PCs’ Warrant Scanners. » Wanted: Alive; Ace Vagabundo; Pirate Media Mogul » Crimes: Grand Theft Starship (Multiple Counts); Incitement to Violence; Mayhem; Broadcasting Without a License; Illegal Use of S/D Agency Propaganda (the Strontium Dogs); Other Minor Offences too Numerous to Count. » Bounty: 600,000 credits. » Client: Galactic Crime Commission; Officer Jenskie » Addendum: It is the Galactic Crime Commission’s belief that Ace Vagabundo, director and pirate broadcaster, has wilfully stolen GCC property, used fake likenesses and contravened a thousand minor copyright infringement laws of the 22nd Century. Operating out of the Nipkow system, Vagabundo has secretly filmed Strontium Dog operations throughout the run of his popular illegal TV Series, Bounty Dogs: 2180. Vagabundo has not applied for, or received permission, to broadcast or use recorded footage from S/D Agency sanctioned missions. Furthermore Vagabundo has also been using his considerable influence and money to manufacture crimes in order to boost his ratings. Several S/D Agents have observed spherical drones in or around the scenes of their activities. These drones are believed to be Vagabondo’s preferred method of illegally capturing footage. Vagabundo is believed to be non-hostile and must be brought in alive. This is not a Termination Warrant. » Addendum to the Addendum: Though it should be! The PCs are given the opportunity to jump on the trail of Ace Vagabundo. With a bounty of this size, GMs may wish to run events up to the claiming of the bounty in a comical fashion, with Stronts trying their hardest to outmanoeuvre each other in their efforts to stamp their name on the prize (see the Schicklgruber Grab storyline from the comic strips for inspiration here). Once they have staked their claim, the PCs can arrange a transport to the Nipkow system and Takayanagi Station. GMs should jump ahead to the Nipkow System section on the next page and refer to the Nipkow Arrival heading.

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TIPS FROM TIPSY MCSWAGGER

If this is part of the six story arc that has been going on, then the S/D Agents are going to find out a lot more than just the regular bounty information from their new best friend: the mysterious informant amongst Ace’s crew. Tipsy is the sound engineer and recording specialist on Ace’s crew. He has had enough of being part of the blood on Ace’s hands. He has seen the worst of the man, the entirety of which has not been fully brought to the GCC’s attention yet. Although most of this relates to callous murders in the name of HoloTV and the real danger he has put actors and actresses in just to get an explosive scene for Bounty Dogs: 2180, GMs are free to add to his list of unknown crimes.

A Second Missive from Tipsy This particular message arrives with the PCs when they are enjoying some down time, which could perhaps be taking place back at the Kennel, or else during some rest and relaxation after having just finished up a smaller bounty. Regardless, this messages should only trigger after the fifth bounty hunt of the overarching story arc: Hey, so it’s me again. Your big fan. Now I know you have no reason to trust me, but we have a mutual problem and I think we can help each other out. I’ll be at Takayanagi Station in the Nipkow System. Please come and find me so I help put an end to the man behind all your woes. T

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THE DIRECTOR’S POV There is no doubt that Ace is a villain. Not that he feels he is doing anything wrong. To him, this is just business. In fact, the Stronts should be grateful that he has even been able to give them their five minutes of fame. He has been creating crimes and masterminding Many of the situations the S/D Agents have encountered so far. He has taken a hand in each of the hunts and either directly or indirectly influenced each scenario. Although they might not see it in the same way, he has also been a factor in the amount of credits the PCs’ have banked. The Stronts should be thanking him! Regardless, he is a 600,000 credit bounty that is about to ping onto the PCs’ scanners fairly soon. If he has not already. Enclosed in the message package are tickets on a hauler—in cargo class, of course—that will soon leave EN for Nipkow. If the S/D Agents take the trip, they will arrive in Nipkow after a few days of uncomfortable travel. Of course, it is entirely reasonable that the PCs believe this to be some kind of trap, so they may prefer to charter their own travel. Arranging their own transport should be a relatively straightforward matter, as ships transit between the two systems regularly. They might even be able to convince Jenskie to help with the arrangements. The PCs’ are the stars of Ace’s show, of course, so if they decide to travel without attempting to disguise who they are, he will soon know they are heading in his direction. In his arrogance, this does not bother him too much as he is hoping to wave a ton of credits in their face in the hopes of joining the show officially. A show about rogue S/D Agents battling their own would double his profits!

If the PC’s opt to travel incognito—perhaps by using fake IDs and disguise kits—it is highly likely they will be able to get the drop on Vagabondo. The PCs may choose this option as a means to avoid any potential trouble from the mysterious ‘T’ in the message, which will inadvertently allow them to stay one step ahead of Ace. If the S/D Agents choose to avoid Nipkow entirely, a new, juicy bounty in the Nipkow System could soon be dangled in front of the noses. Could the message and the new bounty be related somehow?

NIPKOW ARRIVAL The shuttle docks aboard the Takayanagi Station without difficulty. The starlight flickers in the background as you disembark, and you notice the bay you have landed in is ram-packed with smaller shuttles, cargo and transporters. Robots scurry everywhere, all doing their jobs and making the place run like clockwork. You are immediately accosted by port security and told to head toward the mutant only sector. Business as usual then! Depending on whether this scenario is being run as part of the collective or not, one of two things can happen here. If this is a stand-alone adventure and the S/D Agents have not had a message from ‘T’, they are about to meet McSwagger regardless when they arrive at the station on behalf of the GCC. If this is part of the intertwined story arc and the PCs did receive a message, then they will get a very different welcome.

Option 1 - Connected: The rough looking norm security guard indicates a mutant only door and a line that is twice as long as any other in the dock. Just before you head there, however, a welldressed male norm in casual attire walks up. “Hey, I know you,” he says excitedly. “You are S/D Agents like those ones who star in Bounty Dogs: 2180!” Several other people follow suit, making it seem like the S/D Agents are a big hit all of a sudden. Even though it relates to a bunch of mutants, a lot of people on Munro are fans of the show. The guard tries to remain unimpressed, but even he seems to be a little star struck. He steps back and lets the crowd draw attention away from his possible blunder. As the crowds swarm around you, someone offers you a data pad and asks you to sign

it for their nan, who is apparently a big fan. Everyone looks on expectantly. This gets the attention of Tipsy McSwagger, who is waiting to catch a shuttle out of Nipkow and put his old life behind him. When he spots the S/D Agents, he quickly decides that maybe he can do some good and take Vagabundo down on his way. Tipsy waits for the crowd to disperse, then approaches the S/D Agents in the guise of a shy fan. As the excited crowd slowly melts away,a short, red-haired norm lad in a garish tartan suit tugs at your sleeve. “Sorry tae bother ye, but I’m a big fan. My name’s Tipsy McSwagger. ‘T’ fer short.” Tipsy pulls the S/D Agents to one side and whispers. “Meet me in the loonge on t’other side o’tha mutant door. Ah kin help ye find whit ye’re lookin fer.” GM should now jump to the section called The Meeting on the next page.

Option 2: Introduce the space station using the very same intro paragraph under Nipkow Arrival, then continue with the following description: Before the guard can move another inch, a red-haired male norm dressed in garish tartan clothes intercepts you all. “Eh laddie,” he chides the man. “Is that any wae tae tak tae th’ stars o’ Bounty Dawgs: 2180, eh?” He offers you all a sly wink before fixing the guard with a cast-iron glare. “I ken ye auld mam watches th’ show, so gerrof yer high hoss an gie th’ stars some room, ye wee Sassenach.” The small man then turns to you all. “Name’s Tipsy McSwagger, formerly o’ Och11. Nice tae meet th’ stars. I git yer VIP lounge n’ passes al’ here.” Tipsy then turns back to wave some cards in the face of the guard. “If’n ye’re lucky laddie, Mister Vagabundo won’t be too mad at ye fer interferin’ wi prime HoloTV stars. Now away n’ bile yer heid!”

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McSwagger looks over his shoulder and nods his head in your direction. “Follow me tae th’ VIP area please folks.” You might not quite know what is going on, but this strange norm may well have the answers. Is this your mysterious benefactor from the City of Derbyshire?

THE MEETING

This meeting takes place either in a special area that Tipsy has managed to secure for the meeting or in the space port lounge in the mutant only area of the station. Ultimately, so long as the pertinent information is translated to the PCs, where it takes place does not matter too much. If it is part of a stand-alone adventure, then the Bounty for Ace Vagabundo will pop up just as they are about to meet Tipsy in the station lounge beyond the dock of the space port. Refer to the bounty previously posted above for details and remind the S/D Agents that is it: 600,000 credits. » The small man is Tipsy McSwagger. He works for Ace Vagabundo, the villainous director responsible for some of the bad things occuring in EN and the creator of the Bounty Dogs: 2180 show. Or rather, he worked for Ace until very recently. » He contacted the S/D Agents twice previously. He is indeed the mysterious T and the big fan. (If the bounties are interlinked.) » He carried out general tech work, sound editing, and maintenance on the camera drones. » The lengths that Ace will go to in the name of showbiz have grown increasingly deplorable, including killing people to keep secrets regarding his shows. » When he realised that Ace had no qualms in getting people killed for the sake of Reality HoloTV, he knew he had to get out somehow. » Ace has even let a Smiling Chuckwalla loose in an orphanage and filmed the grisly results for his horror show, Smiley the Chuckwalla. » Ace operates out of the Baird Asteroid Belt here in Nipkow. » Ace has an army of lackeys and robots who will literally die for him. T is not sure exactly why this is but suspects something in the food supplements. (He always made sure to do his own cooking.) » Ace worked with a mutant assassin called Mister Vile. As a shapeshifter, Vile was perfect for Ace’s plans. Vagabondo is planning a third hit show for Vile: Killer Amongst the Stars. » T does not know where Vile is now. He recommends the Stronts do not tangle with that mutant if they can help it.

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» T can help the S/D Agents track down Ace’s base in the asteroid field. » T also explains that the S/D Agents have been filmed almost constantly since Ace saw them in action. They are the stars of Bounty Dogs: 2180, after all. While he does not think they are being filmed right now, Ace’s drones do have cloaking and stealth systems. (Tipsy can relate this even if GMs are not using this scenario as part of the set.) » Many people find Ace to be a charming comedian, but at his core he is a monster who film his own brother’s death at the hands of a Fundian Slime Dripper if it meant more profit and better ratings. (This particular episode can be watched on pay-per-view at only 10cr. Just search up Stranded in the Swamp. Rated M: for Mutilation.) The intention of this scene is to impart to the PCs just how utterly ruthless Ace Vagabundo is and the lengths he will go to in the name of entertainment or in search of higher ratings. It is also important to impart just how worried Tipsy is for his own skin. The red-head does not intend to hang around. Although he has no wish to go back, Tipsy is still dedicated to helping the S/D Agents in any way he can otherwise. He will pull as many strings as he can to get them to Ace’s broadcast ship out in the Baird belt. This scene between the PCs and Tipsy should be roleplayed out as much as possible. Social checks to intimidate him into travelling back to Ace’s hideaway with the PCs can always be attempted, though Tipsy receives a +5 bonus to his MENTAL DEFENCE against such checks. The stats for a Tek Judge on p. 246 of the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD rulebook represent Tipsy well. (GMs should be sure to replace any Judge gear with a suitable replacement.)

TO BAIRD AND BEYOND!

Ultimately, the PCs can take the matter of getting to Baird into their own hands or rely on Tipsy and the useful contacts he has aboard the station. Tipsy is able to pull strings like there is no tomorrow and has a variety of friends who are willing to help where they can. As long as he pretends he is still working for Ace, he can actually convince several of the shuttle pilots to give the S/D Agents a lift to see Ace in person. So long as the PCs and Tipsy play their cards close to their chests, nobody will be any the wiser. If the PCs take matter into their own hands, they will have to do some explaining as to why they are heading out into the Baird belt. They will also likely need to pay a premium rate. Also, it is highly likely Vagabondo will hear that Stronts are heading his way in this case. Once a shuttle has been arranged, the PCs head out to the ore-rich elliptical asteroid field known as Baird’s Belt.

You manage to get a shuttle from the station all the way out into Baird’s Belt. The pilot is pretty happy to be ferrying such VIPs to the pre-determined coordinates given to him by Tipsy. All in exchange for a bottle of MacMac and a promise that he would get Ace Vagabondo’s autograph. Following Tipsy’s coordinates, the pilot takes you deeper into the belt until you eventually spot a large vessel hidden in the shadow of an even bigger rock. For a man who is supposedly trying to hide, Ace Vagabondo’s ship does not strike you as particularly designed for stealth. It is painted all manner of garish colours and covered in neon lights that help it stand out, even against the colourful nebulae in the background. A communicator flares into life as your shuttle approaches the large and outlandish ship. “Hey, hey party people. I am really glad you stopped on by to peep the old space homestead. But look, buckos, this is as far as you go. I am a busy man and you should really have made an appointment. So turn that bucket around and disappear, before I blast you into space dust and film it for Space Things that go BOOM? You Gronk me?” If Tipsy is with the PCs, replace his name with the pilot’s in the following dialogue. Otherwise, the pilot is the one who speaks. Before Ace can make good on his threat, the pilot speaks into the comm. “Mister Vagabundo sir, I’d not do that if I were you. I have some right grand folks aboard. They are big fans of yours. They would like to come and see you in person. Thank you for the stardom, like.” “Wait, woah, hold up. Belay that firing order! Georgio, you mad Ocher you, is that you? What are you doing out here? Are you bringing me some company again?” “Not this time. Well, not so pretty anwyay. Look, can we come aboard and I’ll explain all in person?” The mic goes quiet for a while and then a chuckle follows.

“Sure, sure. Sorry for the gun threat and the whole blasting thing. Gronk knows why I said it. You know how it is. Showbiz can be so stressful. Who did you say you with you?” The pilot grins at you all. “Only the stars of Bounty Dogs: 2180. You know, the Stronties themselves.” “Oh man! Why did you not say so before, you crazy Gronk you! Bring them aboard! I’ll break out the MacMac and set out the tartan carpet! Yes! My babies, my stars... my little Gronks. Come and see Daddy!” With that said the big hangar bay doors open, inviting your little ship in. The pilot expertly docks the vessel and sets her down on a landing pad. “Welcome to Ace Vagabondo’s Broadcast Ship, the John Logie,” the pilot says with a shake of their head. “The man is as tapped as a box of waterworts.”

THE JOHN LOGIE

Ace’s broadcast vessel, his film set, and his home away from home is a huge monstrous ship floating deep the Baird Belt. The vessel has deck after deck and is ram-packed with robots all waiting to do their master’s bidding. Ace also has a crack crew ranging from lawyers to drone operators and more. A firefight on this ship is likely to turn into a full scale war that would likely go south for the S/D Agents pretty quickly. Of course, this is entirely up to how the PCs wish to play things. Ace is reasonable when he thinks he is in control, but he is also totally lacking in a moral compass and is always seeking an angle. The S/D Agents are met on the deck of the hangar by a robot who introduces himself as Nigel: “Hi, I’m Nigel. I’m Mister Vagabondo’s personal droid. Please, follow me. I will take you directly to Ace. I must say, he is utterly delighted to finally meet you.” The pilot hangs back and explains that they will wait at the shuttle. Unless Ace decides to throw a party, of course. Nigel leads the S/D Agents deeper into the ship, passing legal on the way. This suite of offices is full of steely-eyed lawyers who look up from their desks and offer narrow-eyed stares to the S/D Agents before turning back to their duties.

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The PCs eventually arrive at a huge garish circular office full of various vid-slug players, screens, and several of the spherical camera drones that S/D Agents have been seeing of late. Stood waiting to greet them with open arms and huge back-slapping hugs is the man himself. Well, Mister Vile in the guise of Ace Vagabondo is, anyway. You step into Ace’s main office and centre of operations. Screen upon screen surrounds you, as do vid-slug players, camera drones, and other studio gear. Including such welcoming sights as Ace’s leopard print casting couch beside a holographic fish tank. The walls are covered in platinum and gold plated vid-slugs protected by plexiglass. The man himself takes centre stage. Tall and broad-shouldered, he is dressed in green and yellow and sports clothing. His huge coif-like platinum blonde hairstyle is possibly the latest fashion somewhere on a planet with no taste. Ace gives you a tightlipped smile and strides forward for a bear hug. Vile is not showing his teeth as the real Ace’s are coated in bright neon. At the GM’s discretion, the PCs might have picked up on this snippet from Tipsy, the pilot or someone else. As Vile

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cannot mimic the neon coating, he keeps his trap shut when he smiles. Which is a lot. The PCs may be able to pick up on this strange and awkward phenomenon. “Oh my lovely Gronks. My beautiful stars. So good to meet you! So good. I cannot believe that you came all the way here to meet your lil’ daddy starmaker in person!” Other than the teeth factor, Vile plays his role effortlessly. He would normal have made himself as scarce as possible, but Ace has paid him a literal king’s ransom for this role. He also agreed to extend Vile’s show. And deliver a spin-off. Vile has been instructed to play the part fully, and has even been empowered to make deals on Ace’s behalf. All while Ace watches from a hidden area nearby. He does not fully trust the S/D Agents and, while he does not know about the bounty, he has seen them in action. Depending on how the S/D Agents play it, the meeting with Ace-Vile can go a few different ways. By law they have to inform him that a bounty warrant has been served on him, or legal will have all of their hides. If they do not tell him he has a bounty on his head, Ace (Vile) offers them regular pay and royalties if they work for him full time. Of course, he cannot declare it because mutants are not allowed to have jobs. What the government does not know, however, cannot be used in a court of law!

ACE IN THE HOLE!

The moment that the S/D Agents reveal there is a bounty, Ace pops up from his hiding place, neon teeth and all, and shouts: “I knew it! I snecking, Gronking knew it! My stars have turned on me! Stabbed in the back by Dogs. Oh, the humanity! Not that you would know about humanity, you back-stabbing muties. Other Ace, I’ll triple your fee if you fire these ungrateful Gronkers!” A triple fee and all the other deals offered to someone like Vile is more than enough to seal the deal. Vile draws his hidden blaster and opens fire on the S/D Agents while the real Ace runs for it. He also activates a force field that can only be turned off by using the controller on his person. Vile is a bonus bounty. By now, he is at least 500,000cr worth of mutant scumbag who seriously needs to be put in a hole. If the S/D Agents are playing this as part of the entire story arc, this amount includes the bounty money put forward by Salty in the first hunt. The Elite Blitz Agent on p. 234 of Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD can be used to represent Vile. Once they defeat Vile and drop his forcefield, the PCs can then follow Ace down through his escape hatch. The chase is on as they follow Ace into the depths of his ship.

ACE VAGABOND!

The chase rules on p. 128 of the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD rulebook should be used. Ace knows the ship, though, so he gains a 2d6 bonus to each check. The stats for an Entertainer on p. 152 can be used for Ace, although GMs can adjust as they feel necessary. If doing so, however, it should be kept in mind that the final showdown with Ace relates more to the tools he can throw in the path of the PCs more than his own personal prowess with a blaster. On that note, Ace uses the twisted passages of the lower decks to get away from the PCs and leads them into his testing range. This is where he trains his security bots to shoot first, last, and always.

Security Training Grounds The S/D Agents will encounter half-a-dozen security bots as they chase after Ace. He runs through the back door of the training grounds and leaves the bots to deal with any intruders. They are armed with pistols and rifles. One of them is armed with a Crackler. This can be another shootout, or clever S/D Agents can use the nearby ducting—if they spot them on a Difficult [16] AGI (perception) check—as a way to get around the bots. Big enough to crawl through, the ducts pass over the room and allow the PCs to exit safely on the other side.

The Sets Ace finally makes it to the various sets he has created, which he makes use of when he needs to film a show on a tighter budget. The big ship appears to practically be a huge studio set in various places. This studio offers different planet types, all created through the use of holograms, practical special effects, and environmental controls. Ace flees from room to room using a number adjoining hatches. He has bolted through here in order to set off various effects as traps. As the S/D Agents are on a whistle-stop tour of this part of the ship, the following are all viable options: Snow Planet: Ace turns up the ice on this one. He also runs through and activates the robot ice monster that slowly comes crawling out of the snowy caves here. This creature looks like a huge, slightly metallic white-grey yeti that makes tinny roaring sounds. It looks scary, but is little more than a distraction. Rock World: Ace has a couple of Preying Zorgs caged in this area. He lets them loose as soon as the S/D Agents chase him in here. He hits the switch and then flees for another exit before he can be stopped. Ace is still trying to stay ahead of the S/D Agents at this point. The Zorgs are interested in eating anyone, which includes Ace. GMs may allow them go after him and leave the PCs alone if they need to catch up. Sponge World: This sucking, spongy slime world has no real dangers. It does stink, however, plus there is a fake animatronic Fundian Slime Drippler in the far corner that does not quite work fully. It moves back and forth and makes unconvincing noises. Ace sets off a fake slime jet which does slow down the S/D Agents a little as they chase after him, inflicting a -1d6 penalty to their chase checks while in this studio. Zero-G: The final room on Ace’s set list. He is aiming to get to the hatch at the back of this room so that he can make it to his secret escape craft. Once there, he can make his final escape with his pet Gronk, McGee. If he makes it, he runs through the hatch into the control room and seals it behind him, takes the ladder out, then leaves the PCs to navigate Zero-G to reach the hatch in the roof. There are no apparent dangers here.

MCGEE THE METALHEAD

Ace Vagabundo has reached his secret escape craft, but all has not gone to plan for him. If they have not caught him already, they find Ace trapped in the secret Ace Away Hangar. His ship, a bullet-shaped vessel with ACE emblazoned on the nose cone, is stranded on the launch bay. The man himself is holding a blaster pistol and facing a sheepish looking Gronk that is holding a bunch of wiring. “Oh McGee, what have you done you Gronking Gronker. You ate my ship, what did I tell you about eating the ship?”

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“Sorry Mister Vagabundo, sir. I gots hungry. And when I gets hungry I have to eat something or I will just go into a rage, sir.” The words Gronk and rage are pretty strange to hear in the same sentence together. “So sir, please do not make me hungry, you will not likes me when I am hungry.” Ace sighs and turns to face you. “OK babies. Look, maybe I was hasty. How about we work something out, yeah? Profits, your own big time show, how about a ship of your own?” “Mister Vagabundo, sir, have they come to takes you away from me?” “Yeah, they have.” Ace looks at McGee. “You’ll be OK buddy Gronk, you’ll be OK.” “No!” the Gronk’s eyes turn red and he picks up a blaster. “You are not taking my Ace. Mister Ace is the kindest, most amazing Gronker there is!”

For Mister Vagabondo! Wait, what? A Gronk with a blaster? Gronks who die from heart attacks if someone sneezes? McGee is a mutated Gronk. One who does not suffer heart attacks. He is also extremely vengeful Gronk and will try to kill the S/D Agents if they take Ace from him. He would rather be shot to death than lose his best buddy. GMs can use the stats for the Gronk on p. 127 for McGee. It is recommended to remove the Poor Heartsies exploit and then mix in some suitable exploits from Wulf’s profile on p. 126, such as Hour of the Wulf and Viking Berserker.

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What the S/D Agents do from this point is up to them. They have several choices that will allow the case to be resolved in different ways: » The GM can allow that the GCC have tracked the S/D Agents to Ace’s ship. On Officer Jenksie’s command, they have landed a crack-team of troops to secure the HQ in support of the PCs. This may be an option that is discussed before they leave the Kennel, or Tipsy may have sent a message himself. » If the PCs fight the Gronk, McGee will give his life for Ace. He will attempt to kill them with the blaster first, then pick up anything he can make use of and charge straight at them. » Ace will cower as the battle happens. He is co*cky so long as he has the upper hand, but once he is deprived of any kind of advantage he folds pretty quickly. » If GCC troops storm the ship, they take prisoners and leave a group of police to detain the legal team. They soon find that the lawyers have a bunch of illegal, high-powered weapons in their office. » It should be exceedingly difficult, but Ace can be convinced to give himself and McGee up so long as they can be taken in together. Just one man and his lovely but somewhat homicidal Gronk. If the PCs kill Ace, they get one third of the promised bounty and a stern talking to at the Kennel. The kind that sees their S/D licenses revoked for a month and results in them being put on a dangerous agent watch-list by Jenksie. If the PCs bring Ace in, they get the money and kudos. Plus a promise from Jenksie to put them on the ‘preferential‘ list. If this is part of the Bounty Dogs: 2180 story arc ,the PCs can also send updates to the affected parties they met throughout the entire series. If not, well, there will always be more hunts to do and more criminals to bring in. This concludes the entire adventure. If the GCC are on the scene, they will give the PCs a lift back to the Kennel, in style for once. Which might mean they are offered a hammock, or it could result in something that resembles a cabin. If still alive, there is also poor McGee to consider. He will be locked up without his buddy unless the S/D Agents intervene. Warn the GCC of the creature’s homicidal nature when separated from his friend will save a lot of pain for the guards and other inmate. The GCC will ensure they lock them both in a cell that cannot be eaten by the Gronk. Job done. Time to retire and enjoy the good life, right?

BONUS BOUNTY BOARD: THE JUDAS OPERATION Thanks to the help of the G4R3TH Bot, this is a bonus bounty that can be offered to a group of Strontium Dogs. Rather than a full scenario rundown, this bounty is presented as a sprinkling of seeds that can then be further expanded upon by GMs. This bounty involves time-travel of a serious nature, so only S/D Agents with the correct clearance will be able to participate. At the hirer’s request, the PCs will also be working alongside another S/D Agent for this one. This crazy caper is a bonus thread that can be dropped into an ongoing campaign. Alternatively, it can be more fully expanded and adapted into a campaign in its own right. Profiles such as the Legionary on p. 166 will make excellent adversaries for this bounty hunt.

THE JUDAS OPERATION

The Strontium Dogs are hired by the Historical Retribution Committee on behalf of the New Omni-Church. They are tasked with travelling back in time to the Crucifixion and arresting Judas, whereupon he is to be brought to forward in time to face trial and punishment for his crime. Accompanying the characters is an NPC Dog called Nuclear Ned, an infamous and highly skilled bounty hunter who wears a containment suit to shield everyone from his mutated form. Ned is so irradiated that he’s actually just short of critical mass. The Stronts are to be transported forward in time again at Potter’s Field as soon as they arrive there with Judas. The reward for this bounty is a cool 1,000,000cr. The contract stipulates that Judas is wanted alive. In fact, it repeats this several times. » The PCs travel back in time to AD33, but something goes wrong. Instead of arriving after the Crucifixion, they arrive a week beforehand. Worse, Nuclear Ned blasts them all with a stun grenade as they materialise, then uses a dimensional shifter to summon up lots of nasties as he makes his escape. The PCs have to fight their way past these demonic assassins and make sure they are suitably disguised before heading into Jerusalem.

» They arrive just in time to see Nuclear Ned blast his way through the Garden of Gethsemane, grab Jesus, and timeshift himself forward to the future. The characters need to rescue the apostles from Pilate’s guards and come up with a plan. Their best chance of getting home still seems to be finding Judas and heading to Potter’s field. » Back to the future! The characters capture Judas and get scooped up by the time machine. Arriving back at the Doghouse, they find that the New Omni-Church has become the biggest religion in the galaxy thanks to the fact that they now have the living Christ as their frontman. Jesus is bigger than Elvis. The paradox caused by the change of history, however, means that reality is about to collapse. The end of the world is coming and unless Jesus is sent back in time, it’s all over! » The characters will need to break into the headquarters of the Omni-Church and extract Jesus. This massively fortified complex has no easy means of entrance. Unless the PCs can get tickets for the audience of Jesus Loves A Sinner talk show, which is basically the Son of God in a larger-thanlife, audience participation, reality talk show. To infiltrate the Omni-Church and get close to Jesus, the PCs will need to take the further step of coming up with a scandalous, salacious and bizarre reason to appear as guests. » Assuming they get on to the talk show, they can grab Jesus and start shooting their way out. This will result in a deadly chase scene with Nuclear Ned and a lot of zealots in pursuit. They need to flee back to the Doghouse and make use of the time machine there. » Just before Nuclear Ned goes critical and turns the Doghouse into shrapnel for the Earth below, Jesus heals the atomic leper. » The PCs travel back in time and return Jesus to his proper place. Everything is back as it should be, more or less. They just need to hop back to their own timeline and make sure Judas is put on trial. Hang on... did that gospel always say that?

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CH/6: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE ALIEN The planets of Strontium Dog’s universe are home to a lot of norms, aliens and other creatures. This chapter presents a lot of allies and enemies that can be used to help or hinder the player characters. GMs are free to create their own for the PCs to encounter as they explore various planets, dimensions and other strangeness in pursuit of justice and credits. The standard rules from the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD rulebook, p. 222, can be used to create the statistics for additional S/D Agents, Rogue S/D Agents, Criminal Scumbags, and more. KEY NPCS BY TYPE S/D AGENTS » Johnny Alpha 125 » Wulf Sternhammer 126 » The Gronk 127 » Blubberlips / Kid Knee 128 » Maeve the Many-Armed 129 » Middenface McNulty 130 » Durham Red 131 » Rookie S/D Agent 131 » S/D Agent / Veteran S/D Agent 132 ROGUE AGENTS & BOUNTY HUNTERS » Darkus’s Howlers 134-135 » Rogue Bounty Hunter 135 » Slabhead 136 » Stix 137 » Fly’s-Eyes Wagner / Hiss Weerd 138 » Cuss Weerd 139 » Silent Weerd 140 CRIMINALS / OUTLAWS » Billy Joe 141 » Bubo and the Bad Boys 141-142 » Kansyr / Malak Brood 143 » Max Bubba 144 » Impetigo Jones / Low-Down O’Phee 145 » Brute Mosely 146 » Sadan the Demon Maker 146 » Skull / Steekreeg 147 GENERIC OUTLAWS » Alien Raider 148 » Papa Por-Ka / Pirate Leader 149 » Space Pirates / Wolrog 150 MUTANTS AND NORMS » Bartender / Dock Worker 151 » Entertainer / Mutel Owner 152 » GCC Officer / Kreeler Officer 153 » Kreeler Officer / Norm Civilian 154 » Police Officer 155

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KEY NPCS BY TYPE (CONTINUED) ALIENS AND ROBOTS » Alien Gourmet 156 » Alien Gunslinger / Alien Handler 157 » Alien Thug / Black Boab 158 » Dervish Dogs / Dualligator 159 » Fundian Slime Drippler / Lizard-Cat 160 » Mork / Robodog 161 » Security Robot / Smiling Chuckwalla 162 » Zorg / Zorgzilla 163 THE SUPERNATURAL » Foetid Jack / Ghoulslinger 164 » Zombie 165 COMBATANTS FROM OTHER ERAS » 20th Century Soldier / Legionary 166 » Knight / Viking Warrior 167

S/D AGENTS

The Search/Destroy Agency is a huge repository of folk, although the majority of them are mutants since norms can get any other job they like. Wulf is the most famous norm serving amongst their ranks, which is largely thanks to his iconic happy stick and friendship with Johnny Alpha. The characters that follow rank amongst the most renowned and infamous S/D Agents your group are likely to encounter or fight alongside.

Johnny Alpha //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMAN [10D6] //BROODING, HEROIC MUTANT BOUNTY HUNTER A whole lot of Strontium-90 drifted through the skies of England when the bombs started dropping in 2150 AD. While seventy percent of the country’s population had been wiped out in the war, there were kids being born who had been mutated by the fallout from the radiation. One such child was the son of notorious mutant-hater Nelson ‘Bunker’ Kreelman, who was highly placed in the British government. He was shocked and dismayed when he found out he had a mutant son, which soon turned to violence and hatred. Hiding his son’s true nature from the world, he locked Johnny Kreelman in a cell for four years and drafted laws which turned mutants into second-class citizens. Johnny, meanwhile, began to stoke an intense hatred for his father. Bidding farewell to his sister, Ruth, he fled his father’s evil regime and soon found himself in the company of other mutants. To hide his true name from his new companions, who all harboured an intense hatred for his father, he gave himself a new name: Johnny Alpha. At age seventeen, Johnny became one of the leaders of the First Mutant War. In an attempt to change their lot, he teamed up with other mutant generals against Kreelman’s government. The fighting was brutal, with Kreelman resorting to using T-Weapons against the mutants until he was finally deposed and was forced to flee the planet. The Mutant Army was pardoned for their actions, but on one condition: they had to leave Earth for good. They chose to become members of the newly minted Search/Destroy Agency operating from the orbiting space-station commonly known as the Doghouse. The S/D Agents soon came to be known as Strontium Dogs. Intended to be a cruel nickname, many took to wearing it like a badge of honour. Johnny took to bounty hunting like a natural and racked up an impressive number of bounties in a short time. A bounty hunter with morals, Johnny adheres to a code of honour when hunting down mutant, alien and norm criminals alike. There is no one more dependable than Alpha, who always has his companions’ backs. Johnny’s eyes not only emit alpha rays that allow him to see through solid objects, but also allow him to manifest minor

psychic powers. He can get into a target’s mind, read it, and even implant visions that make them hallucinate. He can also fake his own death by stopping his heart and inducing a deathlike state, which has saved his life several times and allowed him to get the drop on an enemy. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 15 [5d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 15 [5d6]

LOG 15 [5d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 15 [5d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 15 [5d6]

PSI 12 [4d6] MELEE DEFENCE 24

RANGED DEFENCE 40

SOAK 10

MENTAL DEFENCE 30

VULN none

INITIATIVE 8d6 SPEED 6

VITAL DEFENCE 30

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 10d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 11’/6’

HEALTH 40

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Electronux 6d6 [3d6+3 electricity damage, stun, ignores all SOAK] Westinghouse Variable-Cartridge blaster 7d6 - No 1 Cartridge [4d6 damage, heat, range 12, sidearm, beam] - No 2 Cartridge [2d6 damage, heat, range 12, beam, ignores 15 SOAK] - No 3 Cartridge [1d6 damage, heat, range 12, beam, ignores all SOAK, combust 2 - No 4 Cartridge [3d6 damage, heat, range 12, beam, burst 1, double damage to robots and inanimate objects, combust 1] Webley custom hand blaster 7d6 - Standard [3d6 damage, heat, range 8, sidearm, beam, range finder] - Flesh [3d6 damage, heat, range 8, sidearm, beam, range finder, organic targets are vulnerable] - Stun [3d6 damage, heat, range 8, sidearm, beam, range finder, stun] SKILLS brawling 3 [2d6], piloting 3 [2d6], swimming

3 [2d6], hardy 6 insight 1 [1d6], 1 [1d6], pistols stealth 3 [2d6], 1 [2d6], tactics

[3d6], intimidation perception 10 [4d6], 6 [3d6], riding survival 3 [2d6], 6 [3d6]

GEAR Westinghouse variable custom blaster, Webley custom hand blaster, knife, leatherene armour, helmet with vid-slug and camera, warrant scanner, communicator, handcuffs

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Alpha Vision. Unless they are lead-lined or over two inches thick, Johnny can use his eyes to see through objects within 30’. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Alpha can use a reaction to move SPEED 6 and either get prone or behind cover. Gimmick. Alpha normally has a technological gadget secured on his belt or up her sleeve. He can spend a LUC die to choose a device from the table on page 134. High Noon. Alpha always beats the bad folks to the punch, especially in a standard spaghetti western style stand-off. He stares down his opponents and locks eyes with each and every one while slowly tapping a finger near his gun. Prior to combat that begins with a stand-off, Johnny can make a REP (intimidation) check against the highest MENTAL DEFENCE of the opponents arrayed against him. If he succeeds, everyone in the fight who is on the bad folks’ side goes last when the combat begins, while Alpha and his allies always go first. Improved Aim. By taking an action to aim, Alpha gains +2d6 to a ranged attack roll taken in the same turn. Mind Delve. This invasive technique allows Johnny to read another’s mind. He makes a PSI vs. MENTAL DEFENCE attack against any target he is touching. If he is successful, he is able to read the target’s uppermost thoughts until his next turn. Johnny can choose to delve deeper and gain access to his target’s inner thoughts and secrets. Doing so is painful, however, and inflicts 1d6 psychic damage to his target. Radiation resistance. Alpha is immune to radiation damage. Stone Cold Stare. Alpha has an intimidating presence and can mess with peoples’ heads. As an action, he can makea 7d6 CHA (intimidation) check against the MENTAL DEFENCE of a target within 30’, inﬂicting the Afraid condition on a success.

Wulf Sternhammer //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMAN [8D6] //CHEERFUL VIKING COMRADE A huge man in both heart and body, the mighty Viking, Wulf Sternhammer, hails from 793 AD and encountered Johnny Alpha when the S/D Agent was sent to this time period to capture Max Bubba and his gang. Believing Alpha to be a demon sent to torment him, Wulf fought Johnny until they eventually reached an understanding. The pair then worked together to bring down Max Bubba, with Alpha saving the red-haired man’s life several times. Wulf was caught in the blast when Johnny used a time-bomb to capture Max. Now in the far future, Wulf also found himself in a GCC cell until Johnny convinced them to let the big man go. Wulf swore a life-debt to him and they became inseparable S/D Agents from then on. By the year 2180, Wulf and Johnny are seasoned Dogs who have worked together for several years.

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It is impossible to mistake Wulf for anyone else, and not only because he is the only norm in the S/D Agency; he is never seen without his Happy Stick, the huge warhammer that he always brings along for the ride. In his later career, he also wears the pelt of his first Gronk friend, Gloppus, who had the big man skin him after he died of a heart attack. With a desire to do the right thing, Wulf is a good man and he always backs Alpha up in any play he makes. He often refers to folk as cucumber. “Sorry old cucumber, maybe next time, ja?” STR 15 [5d6]

AGI

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

LUC 10 [4d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 32

6 [3d6]

RANGED DEFENCE 16

SOAK 9

SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 16

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6

END 15 [5d6]

VITAL DEFENCE 32

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 6d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 11’/6’

HEALTH 80

REACH 5’

CARRY 300lb [MAX LIFT 750lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawling 7d6 [3d6+4 blunt damage] Happy stick 8d6 [4d6+4 blunt damage] Webley custom blaster 6d6 - Standard [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam - Stun [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam, stun SKILLS carousing 3 [1d6], brawling 3 [2d6], clubs 6 [3d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], intuition 1 [1d6], reflexes 1 [1d6], riding 3 [2d6], stealth 1 [1d6], perception 1 [3d6], pistols 3 [2d6], sailing 1 [1d6], survival 3 [2d6], swimming 1 [2d6] GEAR Webley custom blaster, happy stick, knife, leatherene armour, gronk fur waistcoat, warrant scanner, communicator, handcuffs

Aim. By taking an action to aim, Wulf gains +1d6 bonus to a ranged attack action taken in the same turn. The action must come immediately after the aiming action. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Wulf can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover. Hour of the Wolf. Rather than fall unconscious at zero HEALTH, Wulf can choose to remain active. If he does so, he automatically removes 1d6 from his countdown pool at the end of each round (there is no need to roll). Any additional damage he receives instead removes one die from the pool. Wulf still dies once his countdown pool reaches zero. He can choose to end this effect at any time, at which point he falls unconscious and rolls the countdown pool normally. Viking Berserker. Wulf enters a berserk frenzy when reduced to half of his HEALTH or below, gaining +1d6 damage to melee attacks. Unless he succeeds at a Challenging [13] WIL check or spends a LUC point to snap out of the condition, he cannot stop attacking until all foes are dead. Whirlwind Frenzy. Wulf can attack all adjacent targets with a brawling or clubs attack, but only does 1d6 damage to each. He must still make an attack roll against each target. Any target he hits is pushed back one square, clearing a space around him.

The Gronk //SMALL SENTIENT ALIEN [5D6] //TIMID COMPANION WITH AMAZING HEALING SKILLS Hailing from the Planet Blas in the Gallego System, Gronks are timid and fearful creatures that are prone to heart-attacks

as a result of any source of shock. They also could not fight their way out of a bowl of custard. They are protected by several galactic laws, however, and their planet is one huge resort world of sandy beaches, tropical paradises and serene skies. Alpha and Wulf met their first Gronk companion, Gloppus, aboard the astro-liner, Sondheim, when Papa Por-Ka’s belligerent space pirates attacked the ship. Though he died during the encounter, Gloppus told Wulf to skin him and wear his pelt before he passed in accordance with Blas’s odd laws on friendships. Though bemused, Wulf adhered to the pact. Their next Gronk, ultimately the most famous of his kind, joined Johnny and Wulf on the planet Paprika. Simply called the Gronk, the alien was there in disguise as a female human fortune teller called Madame Desiré. Recognising the pelt of his brother, the Gronk insisted on joining the pair. He quickly became their medic and friend. In the year 1234 in the Gronk’s timeline, he leaves Johnny and Wulf to go his own way. Some assume he died, others that he simply retired and went back to Blas. There are even rumours that he suffered another heart attack after Alpha’s apparent death and the destruction of the Doghouse, only this one did not kill him. Instead, it provoked a change in the Gronk’s nature, making him highly aggressive and fearless to the point that he took up Alpha’s badge in the company of the mutant known as Feral Jackson. Whether these rumours are true is unknown. STR 3 [2d6]

AGI

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 12

6 [3d6]

RANGED DEFENCE 17

SOAK 3 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 20

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6

END 3 [2d6]

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 6’/3’

HEALTH 15

REACH 5’

CARRY 50lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

*Bite 3d6 [2d6+2 piercing damage/3d6+2 acid damage against inanimate metal objects ignoring 5 SOAK] SKILLS biology 1 [1d6], herbalism 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], genetics 1[1d6], herbalism 1 [1d6], medicine 6 [3d6] GEAR Medi-kit

*Not usually used against living creatures.

127

Cute or Scary. The Gronk gets +1d6 to CHA checks made to influence human children. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, he can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and get prone or behind cover. Medic Mr. Wulfsies. The Gronk can use basic medical equipment to restore 2d6 points of HEALTH to any adjacent creature as a single action outside of combat. A given creature can only benefit from this healing once per day. Poor Heartsies: The Gronk gets scared at a moment’s notice. Make a Difficult [16] WIL check when he is in a distressing or tense situation. Failure applies the Afraid condition. What’s Wrooong? The Gronk gains a +1d6 bonus to checks made with a medical scanner, or when identifying and treating diseases. If he succeeds at a Difficult [16] LOG check on a patient, he discovers a new form of treatment that provides a +1d6 bonus to treat them. This stacks with all other bonuses.

Blubberlips //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //DEPENDABLE ALLY A strange ally of Johnny Alpha, Blubberlips is dependable and good at his job. He is able to use his cosmetic mutation to make a surprising range of vocalisations and has been known to use this talent to startle and confuse enemies in combat. Outside of action his vocalisations are often used to entertain, support and raise the morale of his allies.

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 4 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 8’/8’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Customised blaster 5d6 - Standard [3d6 heat damage; range 9; sidearm, beam] - Stun [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam, stun] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], carousing 1 [1d6], hardy 3 [2d6], humming 3 [2d6], knives 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], pistols 3 [2d6], reactions 1 [1d6], riding [skimmer] 3 [2d6], stealth 1 [1d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR customised blaster, knife, helmet and leatherene armour

Fizzer. Blubberlip’s customized blaster has a setting that releases a concentrated volley of beams. He can choose to give his pistol Blast 1. One of the Team. When on a mission with allied Strontium Dogs, Blubberlips gains +1d6 to all WIL checks. Radiation Resistance. He is immune to radiation damage. Raspberry. Blubberlips can taunt his target by making a 5d6 mental attack. If successful, the target focuses all their attacks on Blubberlips until the start of their next turn.

Kid Knee //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //STRONTIUM DOG WHO HAS LOST HIS NERVE Not every mutant Bounty Hunter can be as great as Johnny Alpha or Durham Red. Some are just unable to draw a winning hand from an entire deck of cards. Enter Kid Knee, a washed-up S/D Agent who used to be decent. Something happened that broke his nerve and he turned to bottle after bottle of Mac-Mac for solace. Not everyone has Middenface’s iron constitution when it comes to booze, Kid Knee included.

128

Kid Knee is always down on his luck, always being pipped to the post regarding bounties and always falls short of the money he needs to retire and get away from the ‘game’. In search of one last score, he made his way to Mab-Garden City (see p. 77). Blind drunk on Mac-Mac, he ended up being mutiebashed and would have died that day if not for the Gronk spotting him and Johnny Alpha and Wulf stepping in. Kid told the team of a big lead on an alien shape-shifter known as the Mutator, whose bounty would allow him to retire. He offered to split the cool half-million if they would help him, so Johnny, Wulf, Kid Knee, and the Gronk set off to track down and finish the Mutator to rake in that sweet bounty. They tracked the alien down but soon split up as Knee’s resolve gave out. When the mutator tried to trick Alpha by masquerading as Knee, Johnny saw through the ruse by recalling that Kid was too shaken to shoot properly. His gun hand could barely hold a bottle, let alone be accurate enough to save his life with a blaster. Johnny shot the imposter and returned to find the Gronk passed out and the real Kid Knee dead. He never did get to retire. STR 5 [2d6]

AGI

6 [3d6]

END 5 [2d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 5 [2d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 24

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 6d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/3’

HEALTH 12

REACH 5’

CARRY100lb [MAX LIFT 250lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawl 3d6 [1d6+2 blunt damage] Blaster 2d6 [1d6 heat damage; range 6; beam, sidearm] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], carousing 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], stealth 1 [1d6], tactics 1 [1d6] GEAR Bottle of Mac-Mac, leatherene armour

Hunker Down. Cover grants Kid Knee one extra die of cover. One More for the Road. By spending a LUC die, Kid Knee can find a bottle of Mac-Mac in his pocket. Radiation Resistance. He is immune to radiation damage.

Maeve the Many-Armed //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //IRISH STRONT AND CELTIC WARRIOR QUEEN There are mutants who make up the ranks in the Doghouse, and there are those who stand out from the crowd. One such bounty hunter is Maeve the Many-Armed, a mutant from mistshrouded Ireland blessed with four arms. Possessing a wry sense of humour and always meaning business, she wields the sword of CuChulain and three other weapons at once. She is a competent bounty hunter who has worked alone and alongside other Stronts to claim her prize. A good leader and team player, Maeve is tough, resourceful and wears the mantle of the Queen of Connaught well. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 8’/8’

129

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 3

Sword 5d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] Blaster 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 9; beam, sidearm,] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], disguise 1 [1d6], drive chariot 3 [2d6], hardy 3 [2d6], Irish legends 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR sword, 4x blasters, Celtic style robes and decorated leatherene armour

Ambidexterity. Maeve does not suffer the usual -2d6 penalty to attacks made when dual wielding a double weapon or a secondary offhand weapon. Many Arms. Maeve’s extra arms grant her an extra action each round (giving her 3 actions total), although she cannot move more than twice. Radiation Resistance. Maeve the Many-Armed is immune to radiation damage.

130

Middenface McNulty //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //HARD DRINKING SCOTTISH STRONTIUM DOG Archibald McNulty, otherwise known as Middenface or the ‘Tartan Terror’, grew up on Earth under a cloud of mutant oppression. A rebellious youth, he always got in trouble with the law by pushing the boundaries of what they considered acceptable. He started to gain increasing notoriety as time went on and expanded his small acts of rebellion into full-scale open defiance, setting fire to police vehicles and spraying slogans over government buildings. When the Mutant Uprising kicked off in 2167, Middenface went from a young rebel with a cause to General McNulty of the Mutant Army. He joined forces with the likes of Clacton Fuzz, Studs Boyce, and Evans the Fist. It was also here that he met the young Johnny Alpha and formed a bond with the mutant.

Having been impressed by Johnny from the outset, he left Earth beside the other survivors once the whole sorry business with Kreelman was concluded and signed on at the fledgling S/D Agency , where he joined up with Alpha, Wulf and even the infamous Durham Red on several bounties. He can mostly be found on the Doghouse, getting drunk and singing raucous and bawdy songs to any who will listen. Middenface is an extremely tough nut to crack, especially as he has a head as hard as iron. His lumpy bonce is perfect for deliver staggering headbutts that often leaves his enemies stunned. He is also a renowned brawler, having won a great many fist fights in his time. McNulty seems blessed with some kind of preternatural luck, as he always manages to avoid anything with the potential to kill him. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 10 [4d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 10 [4d6]

LUC 10 [4d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

10 [4d6]

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 12

SPEED 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VULN none

INITIATIVE 6d6

END 10 [4d6]

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 6d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 11’/6’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawling 6d6 [3d6+4 blunt damage] Custom blaster 6d6 - Standard [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam] - Stun [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam, stun] SKILLS appraisal 1 [1d6], carousing 6 [3d6], combat 3 [2d6], driving 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6] GEAR custom blaster, knife, leatherene armour, warrant scanner, handcuffs, money belt, bottle of Mac-Mac

Bar Brawler. Middenface gets a +1d6 bonus to use brawling and improvised weapons when in a saloon or bar. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, the Middenface can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover.

Glasga Kiss. If Middenface does damage with a Called Shot by head butting the head of an opponent of medium size or smaller, the victim gains the Dazed condition. Occasional Leader. If sober, Middenface can donate one or more of his LUC dice to an ally. This is a free action that must declared before any dice are rolled. Radiation Resistance. He is immune to radiation damage.

Durham Red //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [10D6] //ATTRACTIVE BUT FEARSOME VAMPIRE BITCH A straightforward statement is offered for free amongst the veteran S/D Agents about the Blood Woman: Durham Red is dangerous and cannot be trusted. A mutant from the ghetto of Milton Keynes, she has a thirst for blood that can only be slaked by consuming the sweet crimson lifeblood of her enemies, or allies in Johnny’s case. Capricious and mostly without morals, Durham Red is an apex predator who has spent much of her life holding a blaster, fighting to get any kind of edge she can. Like any Strontium Dog, credits are a big motivation. But in her case, she also uses each bounty as an excuse to experience the thrill of the hunt. Often referring to herself as Strontium Bitch, Durham Red strikes fear in the hearts of mutants and norms alike. Her name evokes terror in those she hunts, and distrust from those she deigns to work alongside. She teams up with Johnny Alpha as partner and love interest at various points, though the two part ways due to Red’s nature. Like a leopard, she really cannot change her spots and the monster inside her always wins out in the end. When Durham is on your side, you can pretty much assure yourself that she has your back. If the money is good and she can get a sneaky stun shot in, watch out, because she even dropped Alpha when they met. Her superhuman reflexes, strength and vampiric mutation mean she often outclasses her prey. Her desire to consume blood can overrule her head, though, which means she might not be able to control the urge to take just one little taste of anyone injured near her. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 15 [5d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 15 [5d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 20

15 [5d6]

RANGED DEFENCE 40

SOAK 14

SPEED 15

MENTAL DEFENCE 30

VULN none

INITIATIVE 8d6

END 12 [4d6]

VITAL DEFENCE 30

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 7d6 CLIMB 5

JUMP 30’/10’

131

Red regains 1d6 HEALTH. When the dice pool reaches 0d6, the victim is slain. END can be recovered at a rate of 1d6 per day. Red loses 1 END attribute point for each day she does not consume one pint of fresh blood. Blood Hunt. Once every 24 hours, Red can select an unfortunate human or mutant she has recently met or sighted as prey and gain +1d6 to any attribute checks she makes to track or stalk them. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Red can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and get prone or behind cover. Mobile Attack. Red can use her actions to make two moves plus a single ranged attack at any point within the movement. Radiation Resistance. Red is immune to radiation damage. Vampiric Fortitude. Red’s base HEALTH and SOAK are increased by x2. (Already included in Red’s stats.)

Rookie S/D Agent //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [4D6] //YOUNG BOUNTY HUNTER, EAGER TO MAKE A NAME FOR HERSELF The galaxy’s most dangerous profession leaves no room for mistakes. Many Stronts do not last their first few weeks, let alone days. Those rookies who last are adopted in the Doghouse as fully-fledged S/D Agents once their bounty record proves their mettle. Rookies are given basic accommodation and support by the S/D Agency until graduation. After all, you do not want to spend time and resources on a potential corpse. HEALTH 60

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 6d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] Shrecks NOS-4-R2 custom blaster 6d6 - Standard [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam] - Flesh [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam, organic targets are vulnerable] - Stun [3d6 damage, heat, range 11, sidearm, beam, stun] SKILLS acrobatics 1 [1d6], carousing 3 [2d6], climbing 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], flirtation 3 [2d6], hardy 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], intuition 1 [1d6], reflexes 3 [2d6], stealth 6 [3d6], perception 6 [3d6], survival 3 [2d6], thievery 1 [1d6], tracking 3 [2d6] GEAR custom blaster, knife, frag bomb, mesh armour, warrant scanner, handcuffs

Blood Drain. A bite attack allows Red to sink her teeth into its victim and drain its blood. This reduces the victim’s END dice pool by 1d6 but does not do normal damage; however

132

STR 4 [2d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 4 [2d6]

INT 4 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 3 [2d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 1 [1d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 4

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/3’

HEALTH 12

REACH 5’

CARRY 60lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 4d6 [2d6+2 piercing damage] Blaster 3d6 [2d6 damage; range 6, sidearm, beam] SKILLS hardy 1 [1d6], knives 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], thievery 1 [1d6] GEAR blaster, knife, leatherene armour

Mutation. Unless the GM chooses to roll on the Manifestation Table on p. 10, the Rookie has a minor mutation with no game effects. Panicked Unload. The Rookie fires two shots at a target, and if both hit, he gains a third shot at -2d6 to the test. Radiation Resistance. The Rookie is immune to radiation damage. Wings of Fear. The Rookie gains +2 SPEED when fleeing.

S/D Agent //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6d6] //COMPETENT LICENSED BOUNTY HUNTER When you bring in your first big bounty, or survive the life for at least a few weeks, you are no longer considered a rookie by many of your fellow S/D Agents. Your first big bounty brings you a great deal of kudos amongst the Strontium Dog, meaning the likes of Harvey, the GCC officer in charge of the Doghouse, take note. It is not long before you are given more lucrative and dangerous assignments. Bigger bounties means more credits and a shot at fame. S/D Agents have a fairly decent level of support from the Doghouse, often get a better cabin and earn far more than their rookie counterparts. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 8

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 8’/8’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 5d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] High power blaster 5d6 [3d6 damage; range 9, sidearm, beam] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], reflexes 1 [1d6], riding 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR high power blaster, knife, leatherene armour, warrant scanner, handcuffs

Aim. By taking an action to aim, the Agent gains +1d6 bonus to a ranged attack action taken in the same turn. The action must come immediately after the aiming action. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, the Agent can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover. Mutation. Unless the GM chooses to roll on the Manifestation Table on p. 10, the Rookie has a minor mutation with no game effects. Radiation Resistance. The Agent is immune to radiation damage.

Veteran S/D Agent //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //ONE OF THE TOP DOGS OF THE BOUNTY HUNTER TRADE When you have been at the job for years you get to call yourself a veteran. After fifteen years the likes of Alpha and Wulf are definitely veterans. Veteran S/D Agents get to pull in the really big bounties, take on the roughest and most violent of the criminal scumbags and earn a big pile of credits. They also get shot at a lot more, have more chance of ending up in a body pod and usually never see retirement. Even when they retire, there is always some up-and-coming gunfighter or outlaw willing to try and make a name for themselves by taking out the infamous: Insert Your Name Here. Veteran S/D Agents have the best cabins on the Doghouse, largely enjoy a friendlier atmosphere and also have the respect of some officers and peers. They also get called on when jobs are so dangerous that Harvey knowns they need a professional who can at least survive the first few days on whatever task he has assigned. To be a Veteran S/D Agent is to live with a perpetual target on your back. Note: These agents can be any kind of mutant and have useful, or just plain cosmetic mutations. Some ideas include: a cat, dog or horse head, additional legs or arms, scaled, irradiated, or a face on the back of their head. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 11’/6’

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HEALTH 49

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 6d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] High power blaster 6d6 [3d6 damage; range 11, sidearm, beam] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], intuition 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d6], riding 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 6 [3d6], survival 3 [2d6, throwing 1 [1d6]] GEAR high power blaster, knife, leatherene armour, warrant scanner, handcuffs

Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, the Veteran S/D Agent can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover. Dogged Pursuit. Any attribute checks the Veteran Bounty Hunter makes when actively pursuing a target gain +1d6. Mutation. The Agent has a mutation selected or generated from the Manifestation Table on page 10. Perfect Aim. The Veteran S/D Agent gets +2d6 for aiming instead of +1d6. Radiation Resistance. The Veteran S/D Agent is immune to radiation damage. Gimmick. The Veteran S/D Agent has a technological gadget secured on his belt or up her sleeve. When encountered roll 1d6 on the following table:

ROGUE AGENTS AND BOUNTY HUNTERS

Not all S/D Agents are the good folks, or the ones who might make a fair anti hero. There are those who are just downright vile and give all S/D Agents a bad name. These mutants usually either have a chip on their shoulder or a grudge the size of the Milky Way. They are often backstabbers who are likely to shoot you down and steal your bounty once you have done the hard work. Or they turn a Wanted Alive bounty into an Extremely Dead and Buried warrant. This includes the likes of the Weerds, Darkus and his clan, the Stixes and Fly’s-Eyes Wagner of the galaxy; these are all examples of what happens when an S/D Agent goes rogue and dishonours the badge. In the case of the Stix, they often get away with outright murder. They even manage to frame Alpha and Wulf for an attack on Och-11, turning them into outlaws.

Darkus’s Howlers Not all bounty hunters are mutants. The dangerous yet potentially lucrative lifestyle also attracts aliens such as the vicious Darkus and fellow Howlers hailing from Kunghung.

Darkus //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //sad*stIC LEADER OF A BAND OF HOWLER BOUNTY HUNTERS Darkus is a Howler from the Planet Kunghung. Like his own Howlers, he resembles Bubo and many of that outlaw’s Bad Boys. The main difference being that Darkus leads the Howlers, a crack-squad of brutal alien hunters who also wear the official badge of Strontium Dogs. Darkus is a good example of what happens when you put a hungry, dangerous alien creature in charge of a group of like-minded aliens and give them a bounty hunter badge. Darkus and his Howlers kill for fun, even if they do not get paid. They simply relish the pain they inflict. Darkus and his crew fell foul of Johnny and Wulf during the events of the 49th Territory on the Planet Burrito. Things got ugly when both groups attempted to claim the bounty on Xen the Brainwraith, resulting in a shootout. A six million credit bounty meant Darkus was determined to claim it.

DEVICE

[1-2] Blastinger; [3-5] Wrist Computer; [6] Electronux

[1-2] Binoculars; [3-4] Military Scanner; [5-6] Medikit

[1-3] Tracer and Hand Held Tracker; [4 -6] Vidslug and camera

[1] Beam Polarizer; [2] Electro Flare; [3] Blackout Grenade; [4] Stasis Grenade; [5] Thermo Bomb; [6] Gas Bomb

[1-2] Anti-grav Chute; [3] Gravity Belt; [4] Anti-gravity Globe; [5] Force Field; [6] Chameleon Cloak

STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

[1] Time Bomb; [2] Time Drogue; [3] Time Trap; [4] Time Shrinker; [5] Short Range Teleporter; [6] Dimension Jump

CHA 6 [2d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 7 [12 v cold]

VULN none

INITIATIVE 6d6 SPEED 7

134

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 6d6 CLIMB 6

JUMP 20’/10’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

Howler

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //CRUEL MEMBER OF DARKUS’S BAND Darkus’s Howlers are fanatical, ambitious and brutal, just like their leader. They all kill for sport, and they all enjoy it.

Bite 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Blaster 6d6 [3d6 heat damage, range 11; beam] Knife 6d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] SKILLS acrobatics 1 [1d6], carousing 1 [1d6], climbing 3 [2d6], interrogation 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], knives 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], pistols 3 [2d6], riding [grav bike] 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6], tracking 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6] GEAR blaster, knives, trophy pole, tracer and tracker, skimmer

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 5 [10 v cold]

Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Darkus can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover. Great Leap. Darkus gains +5’ to horizontal and vertical jump distances and uses his full jump distance from a standing start. Leadership. Darkus can donate his LUC [3d6] dice to allies; he must declare this before any dice are rolled. Sneaky Does It. When on the trail of a target with a bounty on them Darkus gains +1d6 on stealth and tracking rolls. Thick Fur. A thick mane and fur, means that Darkus is immune to cold-based environmental effects and gains natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 20’/20’

HEALTH 35

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 heat damage, range 8; beam] Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], climbing 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], reactions 3 [2d6], riding [grav bike] 1 [1d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6], tracking 3 [2d6] GEAR blaster, knife, trophy pole, skimmer

Great Leap. The Howler gains +5’ to both horizontal and vertical jump distances and uses his full jump distance from a standing start. Sneaky Does It. When on the trail of a target with a bounty the Howler bounty hunter gains +1d6 on stealth and tracking rolls. Thick Fur. A thick mane and fur, means that the Howler is immune to cold-based environmental effects and gain natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

Rogue Bounty Hunter //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //GREEDY, CALLOUS BOUNTY HUNTER GONE ROGUE Generic stats for rogue agents. GMs can use these as a basis to create interesting and dangerous foes for the PCs to face, which includes creating recurring villains.

135

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 6 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 8

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 8’/8’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 6d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] High power blaster 6d6 [3d6 damage; range 9, sidearm, beam] SKILLS bribery 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 3 [2d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], reflexes 1 [1d6], riding 1 [1d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], thievery 3 [2d6] GEAR High power blaster, knife, mesh armour, warrant scanner, handcuffs

Slabhead //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //GREEDY STRONT WITH TWO DERVISH DOGS Another tough but unremarkable mutant, Slabhead was an S/D Agent who went rogue when he backed the play of Big Cynthia and others during the Schickelgruber Grab. While he could be listed as an S/D Agent, Slabhead contravened several of the GCC Ultimate Retribution laws when he used unauthorised time travel, which put him firmly into rogue status. He Is a ruthless and ambitious mutant with a pair of dangerous Dervish Dogs under his control. Although neutralised by Alpha and Wulf when he attacked them during the Shickelgruber operation, he can be found with Big Cynthia and others until that point. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 4 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

Ambush Tactics. The Rogue Dog gains +1d6 to rolls made to access the ambush turn. Any attack they make during the ambush turn gains +1d6 to the check. Mutation. Unless the GM chooses to roll on the Manifestation Table on p. 10, the Rogue Dog has a minor mutation with no game effects. Radiation Resistance. RogueDogs are immune to radiation damage. Twisted. The Rogue Dog gains +1d6 on intimidate rolls and +1d6 damage against an object of their hatred, determinedby rolling on the table below.

136

Objects of Hatred

[1-2] Relative, [3-4] Ex-Partner, [5-6] Corporation

[1] Children [2] Street walkers [3] Piano players [4] Beggars [5] Farmers [6] Dogs

Norms

Police

[1-2] Aliens [3-4] Droids [5-6] Clones

[1] Soldiers, [2] Priests, [3] Politicians, [4] Psykers, [5] Mutants, [6] Strontium Dogs

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 4

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Blaster 5d6 [3d6 heat damage, range 11; beam] Brawling 4d6 [2d6+3 blunt damage] Garotte 5d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], carousing 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], garotte 3 [2d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], perception 3 [2d6], pistols 3 [2d6], reactions 3 [2d6], running 1 [1d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], tracking 1 [1d6] GEAR blaster, garotte, leatherene armour, whistle, leashes

Dog Whistle. If Slabhead’s Dervish Dogs are within 50’, he can use his whistle to rouse them. They recover 2d6 HEALTH. Each Dervish Dog can only benefit once per day. Huntsman. When accompanied by his dervish dogs, Slabhead adds +2d6 to Hunting rolls. On Spiro, On Giro! Slabhead can donate his LUC [2d6] to his Dervish Dogs; he must declare this before dice are rolled. Radiation Resistance. He is immune to radiation damage.

Stix //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //STONE COLD KILLER To discuss the Stix Brothers, you have to talk about all of them. There are a lot of Stixes in fact, with many of these cloned mutants having crossed paths with Alpha during his career. There is just one Stix brother in action during the early part of 2180, then a few more who appear to don the badge of S/D Agent after the Shickelgruber incident. The first Stix sets the tone for every one that follows, each notable for their laconic manner, faded duster and wide brimmed hat. He also manages to snatch Hitler from Alpha in the Schickelgruber Grab. Although this Stix died, that was not the end of it. Two other Stixes soon took his place and both worked alongside Kreelman during his attempted takeover of the Doghouse. The Stixes murdered the inhabitants of Jock’s Landing on Och-11, farming Johnny in the procces. They also terminated Harvey at this point, allowing a disguised Kreelman to step in as Director of the Doghouse. Over the years, it becomes apparent that there are hundreds of Stixes in a town called Stixville on a planet called Freedonia, which includes Stix women and children. Silas Stix is the human father of these mutant gunfighters. Later on in Johnny’s timeline—after Alpha’s resurrection— Silas hires aliens to kill Alpha in revenge for deaths of the first three Stix brothers. It gets complicated, but Silas dies cursing Johnny’s name all the same. As for the Stixes themselves, the ones who pop up in 2180 and beyond, they are mutant Bounty Hunters in the S/D Agency. Wholly without morals and virtue, they have excellent reflexes and are cunning enough to frustrate Alpha’s hunts time and time again. These ruthless stone-cold killers are excellent shots and possess a superhuman durability which protects them from many things. They are not immune to bullets or explosions, however. Stixes may have a modicum of psychic power that allows them to read minds. Able to bend

metal bars and crush concrete with their fingers, they are certainly strong. They are excellent trackers who make excellent boutny hunters, irrespective of their homicidal ways. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 12

VULN none

INITIATIVE 6d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 5

JUMP 20’/10’

HEALTH 49

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawling 6d6 [3d6+4 blunt damage] High power blaster 6d6 [3d6 damage; range 11] SKILLS bluffing 3 [2d6], combat 3 [2d6], climbing 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], intuition 3 [2d6], reflexes 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6] GEAR high power blaster, kevlar coat, wide-brimmed hat

Greed Your Only Weakness. Excepting bribery, Stix can impose a -2d6 penalty on any attempt to influence him with a [Social] test. Radiation Resistance. Stix is immune to radiation damage. Slow and Implacable. Stix can shake off temporary conditions on a 4, 5 or 6 (instead of a 5 or 6). Stone Cold Stare. Stix has an intimidating presence. He can make a 5d6 mental attack against a target within 30’, inflicting the Afraid condition on success.

137

Fly’s-Eyes Wagner //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7d6] //SKILLED BOUNTY HUNTER WITH AN EVIL STREAK Fly’s-Eyes Wagner was an S/D Agent who went rogue. After murdering his partner for reasons unknown and indulging in a killing spree, he soon found himself hunted by Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer, and the Gronk. Fly’s-Eyes fled to his home town of Sharpsville, where he attempted to kill his father, who he believed to be responsible for his mutation. Unable to lose Alpha and his crew, Fly’s-Eyes opened a dimension warp and fled. He was soon followed into Hell-World by Wulf, Alpha, and the Gronk. Fly-Eye’s attempted to escape his hunters several times but was shot down by Alpha. This did not kill Fly’s-Eyes, however, who soon regenerated thanks to the dimension’s strange dynamics. When Johnny finally managed to get a ticket out of Hell-World, he used it to send Fly’s-Eyes to the office of the GCC and straight into custody. It is unknown whether or not the Galactic Crime Commission made good on Fly’s-Eyes request of being killed rather than sent back to Hell-World . Fly’s-Eyes Wagner’s mutation is wholly cosmetic mutant. He has no other powers, although he is a decent shot with a blaster. He likes to kill with impunity, though, having gunned down his partner in the past and left a trail of dead in his wake. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [6d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 6d6 SPEED 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 6d6 CLIMB 5

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 120 [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawl 5d6 [3d6+3 blunt damage] Blaster 6d6 [3d6 heat damage; reach 9, handgun 11, beam] SKILLS bluffing 3 [3d6], brawling 1 [1d6], climbing 1 [1d6], driving 1 [1d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], perception 3 [2d6], pistols 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [1d6], survival 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6], throwing 3 [2d6] GEAR blaster, 3x dimension warp, leatherene armour

138

Ambush Tactics. Fly’s-Eyes gains +1d6 to rolls made to access the ambush turn. Any attack he makes during the ambush turn gain +1d6 to the attack roll. Elusive. Once a turn, when someone misses Fly’s Eyes with a melee attack, he may use a reaction to move at 5 SPEED away from the attacker. Motion-sight. Fly’s-Eyes compound eyes are very sensitive to motion. A moving subject gives him +1d6 to INT (perception) checks. Radiation Resistance. Fly’s Eyes is immune to radiation damage.

THE WEERDZ

Hiss Weerd //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //VENGEFUL AND TREACHEROUS BULLY WITH TWO SIBLINGS Hiss Weerd is one of three mutant brothers who fought alongside Johnny Alpha in the First Mutant War. Lacking anything else to do at the end of the war, Hiss became a bounty hunter alongside Johnny and others. He took on bounty after bounty with his brothers Cuss and Silent, with their actions leading them to become known as ruthless and amoral Strontium Dogs. Unfortunately for them, they eventually wound up in a place that resembled Hell. Their travels in Hell-World led to the City of Hate, where Hiss resorted to doing what he did what he did best: backstabbing, lying and cheating. The brothers were able to steal three tickets out of Hell-World thanks to a bizarre competition and were all set to escape. Enter Johnny Alpha and Wulf. A gunfight took place that resulted in all three brothers shot down by Alpha. Death is impossible in Hell-World, however, so as Alpha and his crew escaped, Hiss and his brothers came back to life and regenerated from their wounds. Alpha’s new travelling at the time, Don, drove his truck so close to Hiss’ head that he managed to sever several of the mutant’s snakes. This obviosly did not sit well with Hiss, who swore revenge on everyone involved, but especially on the white-eyed Dog freak called Alpha. The brothers eventually managed to escape Hell-World and soon became workers for the notorious galactic gourmet and poacher called Cruso Slugg. They led Slugg to Blas and slaughtered the Gronks there. They then sent a fake message to Alpha and Wulf in an attempt to lure them out and kill them. It did not work out well for Hiss, Cuss, and Silent. Silent was eaten by a swamp monster, while both Hiss and Cuss were outclassed by Alpha and Wulf. No match for the pair’s razor-fine blaster-shooting reflexes and draw speed, Hiss and Cuss were ignominiously gunned down.

A backstabber through and through, Hiss is a backstabber who betrays everyone eventually. Even his own brothers are not out of the question. His Medusa-like head of snakes are extremely poisonous and match his personality perfectly. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 4 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

VULN NONE

INITIATIVE 4D6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE RADIATION

PERCEPTION 5D6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/3’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 120 [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawl 5d6 [3d6+3 blunt damage] Snakes 5d6 [1d6 piercing damage; poison] High power blaster 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; reach 9, handgun, beam] SKILLS combat 3 [2d6], driving 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], interrogation 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], piloting 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], survival 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6] GEAR high power blaster, hidden knife, leatherene armour

Back Blaster. If shooting someone in their rear with a pistol, Hiss adds +1d6 damage. Big Brother. Hiss can donate his LUC dice to his brothers; he must declare this before any dice are rolled. Poison. The vicious snakes that sprout from Hiss’s head allow him to deliver a poison which causes the Poisoned condition on a hit. The snakes only attack once a turn, but the attack is a free action. Radiation Resistance. Hiss is immune to radiation damage.

Cuss Weerd //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //CONNIVING STRONTIUM DOG WHO SWEARS AT ALL AND SUNDRY One of the three Weerd brothers, Cuss is very much like his siblings in that he should be considered untrustworthy and dangerous. In fact, Cuss could arguably only be trusted with the most basic of tasks. Even then, however, he would likely shoot you in the back if there was even the chance of a small profit to be made.

A sloping forehead and moral compass that is firmly fixed towards wickedness have labelled Cuss with a certain amount of cunning and dastardliness. Cuss’s mutation is wholly cosmetic, making him unremarkable amongst mutankind. He is in good physical form, however, and is known to be competent when it comes to trakcing a bounty. Unfortunately, he tends to be too slow on the draw against others. So, just like Hiss, he is gunned down by Johnny Alpha and Wulf Sternhammer when the Hiss brothers try to trap and kill Alpha for their humiliation on Hell-World. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 4 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

VULN NONE

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 32

REACH 5’

CARRY 120 [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 5d6 [3d6+4 piercing damage] High power blaster 5d6 [2d6 heat damage; reach 9, handgun, beam] SKILLS combat 3 [2d6], hardy 3 [2d6], interrogation 1 [1d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], piloting 1 [1d6], reflexes 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6], thievery 1 [1d6] GEAR high power blaster, blaster, hidden knife, leatherene armour

Back Stabber. When Cuss attacks somebody from behind with a melee attack, he infllicts +1d6 damage. Cuss Hard. By making a CHA mental attack, Cuss can taunt a target within 30’ to enrage it. If successful, the target focuses all its attacks on Cuss until the start of Cuss’s next turn. Cutthroat. If holding a knife, Cuss can attack an adjacent prone opponent with a free action. Radiation Resistance. Cuss is immune to radiation damage.

139

STR 4 [2d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 4 [2d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 3 [2d6]

LUC 0 [0d6]

REP 4 [2d6]

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 10

SOAK 4 [14 v sonic]

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 16

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE radiation extra Blind and Deaf effects

PERCEPTION 2d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/2’

HEALTH 24

REACH 5’

CARRY 60 [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawl 4d6 [2d6+2 blunt damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; reach 6, handgun, beam]

Silent Weerd //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [4D6] //HAPLESS DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND STRONTIUM DOG As the last of the three Weerd Brothers., Silent is also one of the least effective. Still mean and competent, he is hampered by the fact that he cannot see, smell or communicate in any way shape or form. Why he followed his brothers into a life of bounty hunting is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, he forms an important part of the trio known as the Weerd Brothers. Instrumental in the plan to trap Alpha by slaughtering the Gronks, he finally met his end at the end of Wulf’s Happy Stick. With their luck finally escaping them, the Weerd Brothers made their last stand near the ruin of their wrecked starship in a murky swamp on the planet of Blas in the Gallego System. Silent was silenced for good after being smashed into an ejector seat by Wulf’s huge warhammer, causing the seat to fire and dropping the hapless Weerd Brother into the gaping maw of a swamp creature. Perhaps one small mercy to this ignominious end is that he never knew what happened or what killed him.

140

SKILLS combat 1 [1d6], intimidate 1 [1d6], mime 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d6] GEAR blaster, leatherene armour

Get On With It. Silent’s brothers doesn’t have much patience for whining about bumps, bruises, or scrapes, especially those they inflict on him themselves. Once per day Silent can pause for two actions and recover 2d6 HEALTH. Radiation Resistance. Silent is immune to radiation damage. Weerd. Somehow, Silent has an uncanny, albeit vague, sense of the world around him. His statistics have been factored to allow for his disabilities and he cannot suffer any further effects from the Blind and Deaf conditions.

CRIMINALS / OUTLAWS

This section includes a number of outlaws that have been known to plague the galaxy. These are the worst criminal scumbags the galaxy has to offer, many of whom have tangled with the likes of Johnny Alpha at least once. From the infamous Max Bubba, who will always be remembered as the outlaw who put Johnny on his path of revenge following the murder of his partner, Wulf Sternhammer, to the likes of Bubo, an alien of the same species as Darkus who plagued the Planet Alzir, these enemies exist to throw a spanner in the PC’s greatest works.

Billy Joe //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //TWIN FACED CRIMEOVERLORD OF A BACKWATER PLANET A Janus-faced mutant, exceptional master of the Las-Whip and extremely dangerous outlaw, Billy Joe terrorised the planet of Paprika in the Spice System and managed to accrue a large 50,000cr bounty on his two-faced head. Corrupt Paprikan police officers set Johnny and Wulf onto Billy’s trail, although it was mainly in the hope the pair would be killed by the LasWhip wielding outlaw. Which nearly happened to Johnny after his defeat by Billy Joe in a duel. When Johnny eventually got back on Billy’s trail, he had trained under one of the best Las-Whippers and become a truly talented wielder himself. Goaded into a rematch, Billy discovered that the Stront he had beaten down was now more than capable of holding his own. Fleeing from the confrontation, which took place in a circus, Billy ended up atop a cage that contained a fearsome and very hungry Smiling Chuckwalla. He pleaded for mercy but Alpha simply cut through the roof of the cage where Billy was cowering and dropped him right into the lap of the beast. “Hello Buddy.” These were the last words Billy Joe heard as the creature closed in. Prior to this event, Billy can be found killing and raiding across Paprika, where he uses his Las-Whip to terrorise the local populace. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

HEALTH 49

REACH 5 [10’ with Las Whip]

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2 or 3

Brawl 4d6 [2d6+4 blunt damage] Las Whip 6d6 [3d6+4 heat damage, reach] SKILLS brawl 1 [1d6], bribery 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidate 3 [2d6], reflexes 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], thievery 1 [1d6], whips 3 [2d6] GEAR Twin Las Whips, communicator, leatherene armour

Back Up. Within his own territory, Billy Joe can summon 1d6 henchmen to rapidly back him up. They arrive within 5 minutes. Extremely Ambidextrous. Billy Joe suffers no offhand penalties. As long as the same head and arm have not performed two of his actions, he gains a bonus action with one of his arms. More than Two Eyes. Having a face on the back of his head helps prevent Billy Joe from being taken unawares. He gains all-around vision and cannot be ﬂanked. Radiation Resistance. Billy Joe is immune to radiation damage.

Bubo //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //FEARED LEADER OF AN OUTLAW BAND OF HOWLERS Like Darkus, Bubo is a fearsome alien from the planet of Kunghung. He eventually ends on the planet of Azir, where e attacks caravans and towns at will, carving a bloody wake of terror across the planet’s surface eating people out of their houses and homes—quite literally. The murderous antic of Bubo and his Bad Boys caught the attention of Johnny Alpha and Wulf, who tracked the aliens across the dusty surface of Azir and took down several of the Bad Boys. Having tracked Bubo to a train, Alpha and Wulf were caught in a firefight, although the alien managed to escape when he derailed the train. The rest of the train plunged over a cliff edge, taking Johnny with it. Bubo, meanwhile, went returned to his gang in the belief that the mutant meatbag was finished. Though he survived, Johnny was in a bad way and Wulf set out for revenge on his behalf. The enraged viking tracked two Bad Boys but left an opening for Bubo, who almost got the drop on the big man until Johnny sent his friend a telepathic warning. This resulted in the alien meeting the business end of Wulf’s blaster. Bubo joined the Gronk pelt worn by Wulf a short time later.

JUMP 11’/11’

141

Leadership. Bubo can donate his LUC [3d6] dice to allies; he must declare this before any dice are rolled. Stone Cold Stare. Bubo has an intimidating presence. He can make a 5d6 REP mental attack against a target within 30’, inﬂicting the Afraid condition on a success. Thick Fur. A thick mane and fur, means that the Bubo is immune to cold-based environmental effects and gain natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

The Bad Boys

Bubo and his Bad Boys make for a thrilling caper on Wild West planets such as Alzir, where they could readily be found hitting towns, trains and convoys.

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //SAVAGE OUTLAW BAND OF MORK RIDING HOWLERS These ravenous, carnivorous aliens hail from the same planet as Darkus. They argue, follow Bubo without too much trouble and generally cause terror where they go. They love the taste of human meat but will eat each other if is nothing else to hand. They are usually very hungry, which causes them to range far and wide for sustenance.

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6 [11 v cold]

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 5

JUMP 12’/6’

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 5 [10 v cold]

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 5d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Blaster 5d6 [3d6 heat damage, range 9; beam]

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 9’/3’

HEALTH 30

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 heat damage, range 8; beam]

SKILLS acrobatics 3 [2d6], combat 3 [2d6], climbing 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], reactions 3 [2d6], riding [mork] 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6]

SKILLS acrobatics 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], climbing 3 [2d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], reactions 3 [2d6], riding [mork] 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6]

GEAR Hand blaster, knife, mork

Ambush Tactics. Bubo gains +1d6 to rolls made to access the ambush turn. Any attack he makes during the ambush turn gain +1d6 to the attack roll. Great Leap. Bubo gains +5’ to horizontal and vertical jump distances and uses his full jump distance from a standing start.

142

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

Ambush Tactics. Bad Boys gain +1d6 to rolls made to access the ambush turn. Any attack they make during the ambush turn gain +1d6 to the attack roll. Great Leap. The Bad Boy gains +5’ to both horizontal and vertical jump distances and uses his full jump distance from a standing start.

Thick Fur. A thick mane and fur means that the Bad Boy is immune to cold-based environmental effects and gain natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

HEALTH 49

REACH 5’

CARRY 250lb [MAX LIFT 750lb]

ACTIONS 2

Kansyr

Steel hook 5d6 [3d6+5 piercing damage] Combination blaster 5d6 - Standard [3d6 heat damage; range 11, sidearm, beam] - Heat [2d6 heat damage; range 8, sidearm, beam, combust 2, burst 2]

//LARGE SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //KINGPIN OF A BACKWATER LAWLESS SETTLEMENT USED BY CRIMINALS One of Alpha’s earlier enemies, Kansyr was responsible for the death of Johnny’s first partner, Sniffer Martinez. Johnny and Sniffer had tracked the young Laz-Punk down but Kansyr took a shot and killed Sniffer while he was distracted. Alpha took Kansyr in and handed him over to the authorities. They did not take the death of a Strontium Dog seriously, however, resulting in them hitting the alien with a massive fine then letting him go. This led to a seven-year spree of terror and Kansyr becoming one of the most notorious and dangerous criminals in the galaxy. Johnny once again found himself on the alien’s trail, although this time he had Wulf watching his back. It was the perfect moment for more torment. Kansyr used a gun that allowed him to embed severe hallucinations into their heads. He almost succeeded in killing Wulf and Johnny by tricking them into seeing each other as aliends. Though used to the occasional scrap, the two almost bit their partner’s bullet. Johnny eventually confronted Kansyr and turned the tables. Thinking that Alpha was defeated, Kansyr took time to gloat and savour the S/D Agents death. Johnny put his gun to his own head, set his range-finder and shot Kansyr as the beam passed harmlessly through his skull to detonate at the impact point that he had just selected. Kansyr died instantly. Amongst his other abilities, Knasyr is known to have had superhuman strength. He is also armed with the Halugin, the experimental gun that causes hallucinations. It goes without saying that he is considered a dangerous criminal with a string of deadly heists under his belt. The GCC recommends that only Veteran S/D Agents attempt the Bounty. STR 15 [5d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 16

SOAK 7 [12 v cold]

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 28

VITAL DEFENCE 23

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 4’/2’

SKILLS bluffing 3 [2d6], bribery 3 [2d6], combat 3 [2d6], concentration 3 [1d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], law 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], survival 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6], thievery 1 [1d6] GEAR high power customised blaster, halugin, steel hook, leatherene armour

Ambush! Kansyr is a skilled ambusher. In the ambush turn, he can take two full actions rather than just one. Illusions. Kansyr can use the halugin to project illusions in the mind of a target within 30’. He makes a 6d6 mental attack against a target, with a success inflicting an illusion for 1D6 turns. Characters suffer the Confused condition while under the gun’s influence. If a character is given reason to doubt their perceptions, they can attempt to shake off the condition (and thereby the illusion) as normal. Characters told that they are experiencing an illusion shake off the condition on a 4, 5 or 6. Thick Fur. Kansyr is immune to cold-based environmental gains a natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

Malak Brood //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [9D6] //EVIL NECROMANCER Malak Brood is a dangerous and psychotic necromancer from an alien world. He wound up crossing paths with Johnny Alpha in the comic strip during an event called the Moses Incident. Malak Brood was a thoroughly evil being from the day he arrived in the Galaxy. He was finally imprisoned on a floating island prison to pay for his crimes, where Lyran Sorcerers cast him adrift with his brothers after binding their sins into balls and chains. They then left the brothers to rot. Brood had other ideas, however. He killed his brothers and used their life force to escape his cell, then went on a killing spree. He murdered the other prisoners, stole their life force and reanimated them as the walking dead. He did not realise that killing his brothers would also transfer their sins to him. He is thankfully bound there by this ball and chain, which has now grown so large that he cannot leave.

143

He encounters Alpha and Wulf and almost succeeds in killing them, but Alpha tricks him into stabbing his own ball with a powerful necromantic knife. That seemed to be the end of Malak Brood. For now, at least. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 10 [4d6] / 1 [1d6] with chain

END 6 [3d6]

INT 15 [5d6]

LOG 15 [5d6]

WIL 15 [5d6]

CHA 15 [5d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 15 [5d6]

PSI 21 [6d6] MELEE DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 10

SOAK 5 INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6/3

MENTAL DEFENCE 36

VULN none

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 7d6 CLIMB 2/-

JUMP 3’/1’ / -‘/-‘

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 60lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Death blade 5d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] Eldritch Bolt 6d6 [3d6 damage, force, range 14] Eldritch Blast 6d6 [3d6 damage, force, range 9, burst 1; double damage to robots and inanimate objects] SKILLS bluffing 6 [3d6], intimidation 6 [3d6], knives 1 [1d6], meditation 6 [3d6], occult 10 [4d6], perception 3 [2d6], stealth 6 [3d6] GEAR Death Blade, tattered robes

Create Zombie. Malak can resurrect a corpse within 30’ as a Zombie that proceeds to serve him (see p. 165). Dark Sight. Malak Brood can see in darkness as though it was daylight. Dismiss Missile. As a reaction, Malak can attempt to counter ranged weapons that are used to attack him, unless they target him from behind. He makes an opposed PSI (6d6) check vs. the incoming attack roll.. If Malak’s roll succeeds, thrown weapons vanishes to limbo and other attacks are blocked without harming him. Drain Life Force. Using the Death Blade, Malak can attempt to drain the life force from a creature that is damaged by it. In addition to normal damage, this reduces the victim’s END dice pool by 1d6 but does not do normal damage. When the dice pool reaches 0d6, the victim is slain. END can be recovered at a rate of 1d6 per day.

144

Stone Cold Stare. Malak Brood has an intimidating presence and can mess with peoples’ heads. He can make a 5d6 REP mental attack against a target within 30’, inﬂicting the Afraid condition on a success.

Max Bubba //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //MURDEROUS MUTANT WITH A BAND OF KILLERS In the comic strip, Max Bubba was an infamous criminal mutant who worked alongside and led other notables such as Impetigo Jones, Low-Down O’Phee, Brute Mosely and Skull. This gang of criminals escaped from custody several times and then managed to hop into a time-machine to 793 AD. It was here that Bubba concocted a plan to murder humanity for treating mutants so poorly. Not known for his cleverness, he decided to kill off the Viking ancestors and eliminate all of human history at the same time. Never once stopping to consider that it would break his own timeline too. Thankfully, he was stopped by Johnny Alpha and his soon-to-be partner, Wulf. His defeat never sat right with Max, so having escaped once more, he gathered his old gang and embarked set out for revenge. That need for vengeance sparked a chain of events that lead to the death of Wulf Sternhammer and the release of pure, unbridled rage in Johnny Alpha. Bubba’s crew staked Alpha and Wulf out in the sun on Smiley’s World—the once place where they had planned to retire. Bubba and his crew gunned Wulf down as he tried to escape, made sure a calling card was tattooed into Alpha’s chest and then left the Stront for dead. A dead man got up eventually and came after him. He stalked every gang memner, killing each one until he managed to track Bubba to Dragan’s World and gun him down. Still Bubba survived. He recovered. He stole the cash box out of the hospital that saved his life. Alpha shot Bubba several times as he stepped from the shadows to confront the man who had taken his best friend. It did not end well for Max Bubba that day. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 9

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 11’/6’

HEALTH 49

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Las knife 6d6 [3d6+4 heat damage] High power blaster 6d6 [3d6 damage; range 11, sidearm, beam] Blazooga 6d6 [3d6 damage; heat, range 11,antivehicle 3, burst 1, heavy, beam] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], riding 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], survival 3 [2d6], thievery 1 [1d6] GEAR high power blaster, blazooga, knife, leatherene armour

Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Max can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and get prone or behind cover. Kill Him! Max can choose one target, pointing and screaming commands. The target may not benefit from cover until another target is selected. Leadership. Max can donate his LUC [3d6] dice to allies. He must declare this before any dice are rolled. Radiation Resistance. Max is immune to radiation damage. Top Dog. Bubba gains +1d6 to attacks made with brawling and pistols, plus any social checks in which he is seeking to assert his dominance of his gang.

Impetigo Jones //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //CALLOUS, FACIALLY DISFURGURED HENCHMAN Just like Max Bubba, Jones was a mutant criminal who travelled to the past. He followed Max faithfully and eventually died when Alpha embarked on his revenge. Despite being renowned as ugly and murderous, Jones was otherwise known to be fairly unremarkable as mutants go. He was complicit in the death of Wulf Sternhammer, and that was enough to put him on Alpha’s hit list. When it comes to plans, Jones does not think things through. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 5d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Repeater Stormer 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 9; beam, auto] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [1d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], reactions 3 [2d6], riding 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], thievery 1 [1d6] GEAR repeater stormer, blaster, knife, kevlar long coat

Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Jones can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover. Radiation Resistance. Jones is immune to radiation damage and radiation sickness. Spray. Jones can use his stormer to blanket a 30’ cone in a hail of beams, attacking all targets within that area.

Low-Down O’Phee //SMALL SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //SMALL BODIED MUTANT GANG MEMBER Low-Down is a short mutant with a short fuse. Also complicit in the death of Wulf Sternhammer and the raid on Norway, he put himself firmly on Alpha’s hit list for revenge. Beyond being unremarkable, little else is filed on this mutant gangster.

145

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 17

RANGED DEFENCE 17

SOAK 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 4

VITAL DEFENCE 13

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 25

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], driving 1 [1d6], knives 1 [1d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], pistols 3 [2d6], reactions 1 [1d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], thievery 1 [1d6] GEAR heavy blaster, knife, leatherene armour

Radiation Resistance. Low-Down is immune to radiation damage and radiation sickness. Up and at Em. Once per turn, Low-down can stand immediately from prone as a free action or reaction.

Brute Mosely //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //HULKING MUTANT GANG MEMBER Mosley was a big blue mutant who enjoyed killing and murdering just as much as the others. He went back in time with Bubba and was thwarted with the rest. He was also very much complicit in Wulf’s murder. Alpha encountered Brute when he was crushed by a rockfall and abandoned by Bubba and Jones as they fled the angry Strontium Dog. Mosley begged for help. Alpha walked off. Mosely bled to death. AGI 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 9

SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6

146

END 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 5d6 [2d6+4 piercing damage] High power stormer 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 9; beam] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], carousing 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], knives 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d6], riding 1 [1d6], rifles 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR high power stormer, knife, mesh jacket

Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage Heavy Blaster 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 9]; sidearm, beam]

STR 10 [4d6]

HEALTH 48

JUMP 8’/8’

Bllaam! Brute is able to attack two adjacent targets within 15’ of him as a single action. Brute’s Senses. Brute’s large ears and his baboon like nose give him +1d6 to smell and hearing perception checks. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, Max can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover. Radiation Resistance. Brute is immune to radiation damage and radiation sickness.

Sadan the Demon Maker //SMALL SENTIENT HUMANOID [8D6] //ALIEN CRIMINAL WITH POWERFUL PSIONIC ABILITY Fortunately for every living being in the galaxy, this alien criminal was apprehended by Johnny Alpha. He currently resides in a lead-lined vault where he cannot use his incredible psychic powers. Sadan, otherwise known as the Demon Maker, is a creature known as a Telekine from a system called Troges. After being arrested by Alpha, he was imprisoned beneath the Atlantic Ocean but managed to escape four years later. Sadan sought out Johnny and managed to catch him during a rare visit to his family. He then proceeded to kidnap Johnny’s niece, Marci, and attempted to use her to force Johnny to confront him. Although the resultant battle led to Sadan once again being imprisoned and Marci freed, a rift also formed between Johnny and his sister in its wake. Sadan was incarcerated in a lead lined prison with no chance of release. Sadan is an extremely dangerous alien with powerful psychic abilities. As recommended by the GCC, he should only be approached by Veteran S/D Agents in all cases. Able to use his telekinesis to hurl objects, he can also transform inanimate matter into demons, which he then directs to attack his foes.

STR 2 [1d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 3 [2d6]

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 15 [5d6]

LOG 15 [5d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 4 [2d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

PSI 15 [5d6] MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 4

VULN none

INITIATIVE 6d6 SPEED 3

MENTAL DEFENCE 32

VITAL DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VULN none

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 8d6 CLIMB 2

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 15

JUMP 3’/1’

HEALTH 24

REACH 5’

CARRY 30lb [MAX LIFT 100lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawl 2d6 [1d6+1 blunt damage] SKILLS bluffing 3 [2d6], concentration 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d6], stealth 3 [2d6], telekinesis 6 [3d6] GEAR wave reflector

Demon Maker. Sadan can turn inanimate objects into demons that follow his bidding. He must target an inanimate object and make a Routine [10] PSI check, creating a demon on success—use the Preying Zorg statistics, p. 163. Each time Sadan uses this power, the benchmark increases by one step. The benchmark decreases by one step once a demon is defeated. All demons disappear at the end of the scene. Lead Interference. Sadan’s known weakness relates to lead, which completely blocks any use of his psychic abiliites. Wave Reflector. Sadan has a special device that picks up his brain waves and redirects them, making attempts to track his psychic abilities extremely difficult. While he is in possession of the wave reflector, checks to detect Sadan’s pyshic abilities or the use of his powers suffer -2d6.

Skull //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //SKULL HEADED MUTANT GANG MEMBER Skull was a mutant and one of Max Bubba’s gang. He was complicit in both the plan to wipe out humanity, and murder Wulf Sternhammer and Johnny Alpha. Skull had a mutation that made him look like a skull-faced monster. Like the others he enjoyed killing and maiming, and occasionally he took a break to murder folk. In the end he was shot by a coldlyfurious Johnny Alpha in the chest several times, then stumbled backward into the volcanic crater behind him.

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 4

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE radiation

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 35

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] High power stormer 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 8; beam] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [1d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], knives 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [2d6], rifles 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR high power stormer, knife, leatherene armour

Radiation Resistance. Skull is immune to radiation damage and radiation sickness. Reckless Act. Skull gains +1d6 to ranged attacks when he is not concealed, in cover or wearing a shield. Skull Face. Skull has a skull for a face. He gains +1d6 to intimidate checks but –1d6 to other social interaction checks.

Steelkreeg //MEDIUM SENTIENT MECHANOID [7D6] //ROBOT KILLER FOR HIRE A robot assassin who took part in the annual event known as the Killing, Steelkreeg was a cunning machine with an impressive arsenal of weapons unmatched by all but Alpha and Wulf. He went into hiding to wait for the other participants of the ritual game to kill each other, calculating his odds of survival would be much better should he simply wait for the opposition to murder one another. He was eventually brought out of hiding after a short, intense and deadly fight with Alpha and Wulf, who attempted to apprehend the assassin. Instead, Steelkreeg was shaken to pieces atop a bell tower as bell’s sonic vibrations took their toll upon him. Possessed of superhuman strength and machine cunning Steelkreeg was considered a superb killing machine. His personal armoury included the firepacks and claymore-like mines that he preferred to use to take down his foes.

147

STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 10 [4d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

CHA 10 [4d6] MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 14

SOAK 11

VULN 1d6 electricity, 2d6 ion, 2D6 sonic

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE Sick, Fatigued

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 8’/8’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 6d6 [3d6+4 slashing damage] Firepak 6d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 4, combust 2, heavy] SKILLS hardy 6 [3d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], heavy weapons 6 [3d6], knives 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], piloting 1 [1d6], scanners 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6] GEAR firepack, frag bomb, military sensor, infrared sensors

Infrared sensors. Steelkreig can effectively see in the dark as well as light. Mechanoid. Mechanoids are immune to mental attacks, are vulnerable (1d6) to electricity damage and vulnerable (2d6) to ion damage. They are usually immune to the Sick and Fatigued condition. Scanner. Steelkreeg has an inbuilt military scanner. Spray. Steelkreeg can use his firepack to blanket a 30’ cone in a deluge of fire, attacking all targets within that area. Weapon. Steelkreeg has an inbuilt knife.

GENERIC OUTLAWS

Not every outlaw in the S/D Agency’s sights are as dangerous as the ones that have been presented previously. Some are worse. Most are not worth the time of day. The following profiles prvide some generic outlaws that enable GMs to quickly place a criminal or two in the PCs’ path.

Space Pirates & Raiders Space is a vast, mind-bending void. Even the galaxy is so huge that it would be impossible to list all the pirates, raiders, and ne’er-do wells that plague it on a daily basis. Which is without taking adjoining galaxies into consideration. The statistics here offer profiles for the worst bucaneers out there.

Alien Raider //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //WARLOVING SOLDIER OF A WARLOVING RACE Wolrogs and other aliens love to conquer. The statistics here provide a generic alien raider profile that GMs can use to hound their Dogs across the stars with. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 4 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 4 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 25

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bayonet 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Stormer 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 8; sidearm, beam] Hand bomb 3d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 3, burst 2] SKILLS combat 1 [1d6], hardy 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], stealth 1 [1d6], tactics 1, throwing 1 [1d6], zero-g 3 [2d6] GEAR stormer, bayonet, knife, hand bomb, hostile environment suit, helmet, hand com

148

Dive for Cover. If a ranged attack misses a raider, he may immediately move half his speed as a free action and either throw himself prone or get behind cover if it is in range. Slay them all. The Alien Raider can attack an adjacent prone opponent with a fixed bayonet as a free action.

Papa Por-Ka //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //TREACHEROUS AND sad*stIC LEADER OF A SPACE PIRATE CREW An infamous pirate leader, Papa Por-Ka was also a victim of Alpha’s sense of humour in a way. Por-Ka had the misfortune of attacking an astroliner when Alpha and Wulf were on board. The pair managed to defeat Por-Kas’s pirate crew and fight their way to the bridge, where Johnny managed to disarm the pirate leader with a range-finder shot that whizzed past the hostage Por-Ka was hiding behind. Alpha then entered into negotiation with the pirate leader, who agreed to let them go. As Johnny and Wulf were leaving, however, Por-Ka communicated that he was coming back for revenge. He never got the chance though, since Alpha had dropped a pocket nuke onto the pirate’s body before he left. Needless to say, Por-Ka was instantly vapourised. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

CHA 10 [4d6]

LUC 10 [4d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 14

SOAK 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VULN none

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE none

Boarding. Papa Por-Ka receives a free movement action if it involves transferring from one vessel into or onto another vessel. Grab Hostage. Papa-Porka grabs his victim in a choke hold; on a successful hit, the target gains the Restrained condition, which requires a melee attack to escape. The target automatically suffers 1d6 damage at the start of any turn it begins grabbed. Until then, Papa Por-ka gains the protection of a shield of the same size category [e.g. a medium-sized creature is a medium shield]. Additionally, attacks which miss by 3 points or less hit the grabbed creature instead. Leadership. Papa Por-Ka can donate his LUC [4d6] dice to allies; he must declare this before any dice are rolled. Secret Pirate Base. Hefty bribes and cunning navigation ensure that Papa Por-Ka’s ship is hard to track down. Unless pursuing his craft within 24 hours of a sighting, all rolls used to try and locate his ship in space or at the asteroid he uses are at -3d6.

Pirate Leader //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6d6] //SWAGGERING SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN Not every pirate leader is as renowned as Papa Por-Ka. The profile here represents lesser captains, though even they offer a significant threat. Especially when backed by their crews. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

INITIATIVE 5d6

PERCEPTION 5d6

MELEE DEFENCE 18

SPEED 3

CLIMB 2

SOAK 6

FLY 7

JUMP 5’/1’

RANGED DEFENCE 18

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

Knife 6d6 [3d6+4 slashing damage] Blaster 6d6 [3d6 ballistic damage; range 11]

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

SKILLS carousing 3 [2d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], interrogation 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], piloting 1 [1d6], ship tactics 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6], zero-G 3 [2d6]

Cutlass 5d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] Heavy blaster 5d6 [3d6 ballistic damage; range 9]

GEAR heavy blaster, blastinger, knife, leatherene armour, grav chair

SKILLS carousing 3 [2d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [3d6], interrogation 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], ship tactics 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6], zero-G 3 [2d6] GEAR heavy blaster, cutlass, leatherene armour

149

Boarding. Space Pirates receive a free movement action if it involves transferring from one vessel to another. Cold Stare. The Pirate Leader has an intimidating presence and can mess with peoples’ heads. He can make a 5d6 REP mental attack against a target within 30’, inﬂicting the Afraid condition on a success. Leadership. The Pirate Leader can donate his LUC [3d6] dice to allies; he must declare this before any dice are rolled. Ship Rat. The Pirate Leader has an overall familiarity with starships and gets a +1d6 bonus to checks related to them.

Space Pirates

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 4 [2d6]

CHA 4 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 30

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Stormer 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 8; beam] SKILLS carousing 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], hardy 3 [2d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], survival 1 [1d6], zero-g 3 [2d6] GEAR stormer, knife, kevlar vest

Boarding. Space Pirates receive a free movement action if it involves transferring from one vessel to another. Fearsome Crew. If there are fifteen or more allied Space Pirates present, their intimidation rolls receive a +2d6 bonus. Scattershot. When using a stormer, the Space Pirate can attack two adjacent targets within 15’ as a single attack.

150

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //WARLOVING SOLDIER OF A WARLOVING RACE Hailing from the Planet Rog, these alien invaders are warlike, ugly and extremely violent. They often take slaves and butcher anyone else who resists. Wolrog huge fleets of massive ships and take their galactic conquest extremely seriously. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 4 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 4 [2d6]

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //MURDEROUS SCUM OF A HUNDRED RACES WHO PLAGUE THE SPACEWAYS A profile for generic space pirates who might follow Papa PorKa or any other pirate leader plying the space lanes for plunder. Space is their domain and woe betide anyone who gets in their way. Prepare to be boarded! STR 6 [3d6]

Wolrog

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 9

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

8’/6’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 5d6 [3d6+4 piercing damage] Stormer 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 8; sidearm, beam] Hand bomb 3d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 3, burst 2] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], carousing 1 [1d6], hardy 3 [2d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], light armour 3 [2d6], rifles 6 [3d6], survival 1 [1d6], zero-g 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6], throwing 1 [1d6] GEAR stormer, knife, hand bomb, hostile environment suit

Close and Personal. When the Wolrog gets close enough to a fire-arm-wielding foe with a knife, it does +1d6 damage. Glory. Wolrogs take pleasure in battle, and pride in their wounds. When reduced to below half HEALTH, they gain a +1d6 die bonus to melee attack rolls. Scattershot. When using a stormer, the Wolrog can attack two adjacent targets within 15’ as a single attack.

MUTANTS AND NORMS

The folks within this section can be met everywhere the PCs travel, from spacestations to planet based towns, cities to smaller settlements. Norms consider themselves the number one life form in their own galaxy and very rarely shut up about it. Some might dislike mutants, some might love them. On the other hand, mutants can be equally as diverse in form and opinion. Each one is certainly individual.

Bartender //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //THE MAN WHO HAS HEARD EVERYONE’S DREAMS AND PROBLEMS The good old bartender can usually be relied upon to be gruff and dependable. These folk tend bars across thousands of worlds, from spit and sawdust hovels to glamorous affairs. They can be a wonderful source of information or a pain to get anything out of. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 0

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 20

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/3’

HEALTH 15

REACH 5’

CARRY 90lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Club 3d6 [2d6+3 blunt damage] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6] carrying 3 [2d6], counselling 1 [1d6], local knowledge 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6] GEAR club, apron

Bouncer. The bartender is used to dealing with drunkards and gains a +1d6 bonus to all checks against intoxicated individuals. When the Fighting Starts. His bar counter grants the Bar Tender one extra die of cover.

Dock Worker //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //THE UNAPPRECIATED GREASE THAT MOVES COMMERCE These folks dot the starports and sea ports across the known worlds. They lift things, drive vehicles and shove cargo from one ship to the next. They also make great cannon fodder for shootouts in crowded dock areas. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 3 [2d6]

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 0

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 9’/3’

151

HEALTH 18

REACH 5’

CARRY 150lb [MAX LIFT 450lb]

ACTIONS 2

Tool 3d6 [1d6+3 blunt damage] SKILLS carrying 3 [2d6], climbing 3 [2d6], hardy 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], zero-g 3 [2d6] GEAR club, tools

Jemmy. Armed with a tool, a dock worker adds +1d6 to checks made to lever open doors, panels and containers. Tools. A dock worker can use the tools of their trade as weapons with no improvisation penalty.

Entertainer //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //ADORED CELEBRITY SPOILT BY EASY WEALTH Media personalities are prone to getting in trouble, making them wonderful kidnap victims. Although most are legitimate, others might have a fake accent and make use of a backing artist to help them sound better. They are there to make life hell for the S/D Agents, since it is a safe bet they will be bossy and snide for the most part when muties are involved. STR 3 [2d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 10 [4d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 0

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 20

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/3’

HEALTH 15

REACH 5’

CARRY 60lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawl 3d6 [2d6+1 blunt damage] Blastinger 3d6 [2d6 heat damage: range 8; sidearm, beam] SKILLS bluffing 3 [2d6] carousing 3 [2d6], dancing 3 [2d6], driving 1 [1d6], flirtation 3 [2d6], singing 6 [3d6] GEAR silvered blastinger, portable vidphone, recreation drugs, expensive clothing and jewellery

152

Adoring Crowds. Once every 24 hours the entertainer can contact her agent to leak her location. 4d6 citizen fans will assemble within 3d6 minutes at a large starliner, crowded spaceport or a civilized city where she will be present. Do you know who I am? When arrested for a minor offense, the celebrity can use their fame or a brief call to a lawyer to keep themselves out of jail. Personal Repertory. Individual celebrities can replace the listed (performance) skills with others from the category.

Mutel Owner //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //CANTANKEROUS PROPRITOR OF VERMIN INFESTED LODGINGS Most mutel owners are norms who like to boss mutants around. Just like norm hotels, the Mutant Motels—or Mutels— can be found in all sorts of shape and size. Visitors might end up staying in a nice one now and then. And there is a slim chance the owner might also be a mutant themselves. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 0

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 20

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 6’/3’

HEALTH 15

REACH 5’

CARRY 60lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 3d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Shotgun 3d6 [2d6 ballistic damage; range 8] SKILLS carrying 3 [2d6], counselling 1 [1d6], local knowledge 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6] GEAR stumpgun, club

Prying Eyes. The mutel owner gains +1d6 on all perception checks within his own mutel. Scattershot. When using a shotgun, the mutel owner can attack two adjacent targets within 15’ in a single action.

GCC Officer

Kreeler Officer

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //HARRASSED BUREAUCRACTS WHO FACILITATE THE MUTANT BOUNTY HUNTERS TRADE Officers of the Galactic Crime Commission, the Directors of the Doghouse, and the Commanders of places like the Kennel. These folks are here to hand out bounties, help your S/D Agents if possible—or hinder them if they are feeling particularly mean— and basically provide an interface between the GCC and the mutants.

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //PARA-MILITARY, MUTANT HATING OFFICER If GMs are looking for the ultimate nemesis to the mutants freedoms and rights, then these people are definitely it. These norms follow the bigoted Nelson Bunker Kreelman. Antimutant to the extreme, they are in charge of t-weapons, men, and vehicles that are designed and trained to beat the hell out of mutants on the streets and gun them down in cold blood. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

STR 3 [2d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 6 [3d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 3

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 20

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 6

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/6’

JUMP 9’/3’

HEALTH 15

REACH 5’

CARRY 90lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Brawling 3d6 [2d6+2 blunt damage] Blaster pistol 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 9, sidearm, beam]

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Club 5d6 [2d6+3 blunt damage] Blaster 5d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 9, sidearm, beam]

SKILLS bureaucracy 3 [2d6], computers 3 [2d6], law 6 [3d6], negotiating 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], pistols 1 [1d6], surveillance 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6], zero-g 1 [1d6]

SKILLS bureaucracy 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], conviction 1 [1d6], driving 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [1d6], interrogation 3 [2d6], intimidate 3 [1d6], leadership 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], politics 1 [1d6], tactics 3 [2d6]

GEAR blaster pistol, mesh jacket, uniform, communicator, handcuffs

GEAR blaster, club, mesh vest, communicator, wrist computer, handcuffs

Backup. Inside his assigned station, the GGC Officer can call 1d6 GCC guards as backup. They arrive in 1d6 minutes and have the same template as above but without any exploits. Crime Files. The G.C.C. Officer gains +1d6 to access details of SD agents and also convicted criminals and any individuals with warrants posted on them.

Call in Support. When on duty the Kreeler Officer can call in 1d6 Kreeler Soldiers who arrive in one minute. Leadership. The Kreeler Officer can donate his LUC (3d6) dice to allies; he must declare this before any dice are rolled. Mutie-hater! The Kreeler has a clear loathing for mutants but is a bully. All his attempts to intimidate a mutant with a lower MDP gain a +1d6 bonus. Stone Cold Stare. The Kreeler Officer has an intimidating presence and can mess with peoples’ heads. He can make a 5d6 REP mental attack against a target within 30’, inflicting the Afraid condition on a success.

153

Kreeler Soldier //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //PARA-MILITARY, MUTANT HATING THUG These bigoted human soldiers follow the orders of their officers to the letter. Often armed with t-weapons in later years, they love nothing more than making mutant lives a misery right up until Kreelman is deposed.

STR 4 [2d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 4 [2d6]

WIL 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 1 [1d6]

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 2

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 4 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 5

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 18

REACH 5’

CARRY 90lb [MAX LIFT 200lb]

ACTIONS 2

Club 4d6 [2d6+3 blunt damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 9, sidearm, beam] SKILLS combat 1 [1d6], driving 1 [1d6], hardy 1 [1d6], intimidate 1 [1d6] GEAR hand blaster, club, mesh vest, communicator, handcuffs

Keep ‘em down! When holding a club, the Kreeler can attack an adjacent prone mutant opponent with it as a free action. Mutie-hater! The Kreeler has a clear loathing for mutants but is a bully. All his attempts to intimidate a mutant with a lower MDP gain a +1d6 bonus.

Norm Civilian //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [4D6] //DEFINITELY IN THE WRONG PLACE WHEN THE SHOOTING STARTS There is a good chance that these people will be somewhat down on mutants, especially if they are from Earth. Anti-mutant sentiment is ripe throughout the galaxy and these regular folks are often no different in their opinions. Some might embrace S/D Agents and mutants, others might run a mile or hold their noses. Civilians are great as innocent bystanders or unruly crowds.

154

VULN none

INITIATIVE 2d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/3’

HEALTH 12

REACH 5’

CARRY 80lb [MAX LIFT 200lb]

ACTIONS 2

Club 2d6 [1d6+2 blunt damage] Pistol 3d6 [1d6 ballistic damage; range 6] SKILLS bureaucracy 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], computers 1 [1d6], driving 1 [1d6], local knowledge 3 [2d6] GEAR club, pistol

Getting About. Depending on the main means of transport used by a local population the driving skill entry can be replaced with riding or sailing. Mob Attack. Though weak on their own, civilians work together well in a mob. Any civilians adjacent to the victim count as ﬂanking, gaining +1d6 bonus to attack for each civilian beyond the ﬁrst. When 4 or more civilians are adjacent to the victim, the victim gains the Fatigued condition at the start of their turn.

Police Officer

HEALTH 18

REACH 5’

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //FREQUENTLY OUTNUMBERED AND OUTGUNNED REPRESENTATIVES OF LAW AND ORDER They are the law, but not THE LAW. These officers have a hard job and often walk a thin line. The profile here represents the rank and file of all the law enforcement agencies across thousands of worlds. Some are corrupt, others might shoot first and ask questions later, some might try and arrest the S/D Agents on sight. Like other norms, their opinions of mutants can vary greatly, though is often laced with heavy disdain.

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 5

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/3/

Club 4d6 [2d6+3 blunt damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 9, sidearm, beam] SKILLS bureaucracy 1 [1d6], combat 1 [1d6], driving 3 [2d6], hardy 1 [1d6], law 3 [2d6], light armour 1, local knowledge 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], tactics 1 [1d6] GEAR hand blaster, club, mesh vest, helmet, communicator, handcuffs

Backup. In their urban environment, the Police Officer can call for backup in the form of 1d6 police officers; they arrive within 5 minutes. Bouncer. The police officer is used to dealing with drunkards and gains a +1d6 bonus to all checks against intoxicated individuals. Dive for Cover. When missed with a ranged attack, the police officer can use a reaction to move SPEED 5 and either get prone or behind cover.

155

ALIENS AND ROBOTS

It is a wide galaxy out there, which is full of more than just humans and mutants that often populate the worlds of Strontium Dog; there are a large variety of aliens too. Some may be humanoid, others are blobby, many are just plain violent and hungry. The profiles here are just a few samples of alien life in the Strontium Dog universe. With a view to making each game unique, GMs are encouraged to be creative and come up with many more for the S/D Agents to encounter. To facilitate this, GMs can opt to select a mutation from the Mutations Table as a representation of an an alien race’s feature.

Alien Gourmet //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //GLUTONOUS TRAVELLER WHO SEEKS A CONSTANT VARIETY OF EPICURIAN DISHES The likes of renowned gourmet, Cruso Slugg, are not the only creatures in the stars who like to eat other things. Alien Gourmets have turned the act of consuming other beings into an art. These ravenous creatures will pay a handsome fee for all sorts of tasty treats. There is a notorious gourmet in the Ramsay System called G’rDun who loves to eat humans and complains loudly when they are not cooked to perfection.

156

STR 4 [2d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 10

SOAK 3 [8 v ingested poison]

VULN none

INITIATIVE 2d6 SPEED 3

MENTAL DEFENCE 20

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP -

HEALTH 21

REACH 5’

CARRY 60lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Steak knife 3d6 [2d6+2 piercing damage] Brawl 3d6 [2d6+2 blunt damage] SKILLS cooking 1 [1d6], bribery 1 [1d6], carousing 3 [2d6], etiquette 1 [1d6], food connoisseur 6 [3d6], hardy 3 [2d6] GEAR Steak knife, dining suit

Down in One. If holding a Restrained creature that is tiny or small-sized creature, the gourmet can swallow it in a gulp, taking its HEALTH to zero and rendering it unconscious. It automatically removes one die from its countdown pool each round until it dies. Gourmet’s Senses. The gourmet gains +2d6 to PERCEPTION checks that involve smell or taste. Iron Guts. The gourmet can eat just about anything. He gains +5 SOAK against any poisons he ingests. Renowned Diner. The gourmet gains +2d6 to REP checks involving anyone connected with the restaurant industry.

Alien Gunslinger //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //STEEL EYED, PISTOL TOUTING, ALIEN Armed with a blaster and fully capable of using it, this represents another form of space cowboy. It is possible that these gunfighters have seen vid-slugs of Old West movies and now wander the stars looking to shoot anyone who gets in their way. They might also be out on a plain and simple revenge spree. EIther way, they are often also down and dirty hustlers.

Rapid Hammer. If the Gunslinger hits her target when attacking with her gun, which must not have the Single trait, she may immediately make a second attack. This is a free action that applies a cumulative -1d6 penalty to any subsequent shots taken in the round. Quickdraw. If the Gunslinger is disarmed, she may immediately draw another weapon as an immediate reaction as long as she has one available.

Alien Handler //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //WRANGLER OF FEARSOME MONSTERS These skilled aliens have made other creture their speciality. They really know their lifeforms, too. They know which end of a Dervish Dog to avoid and what a Smiling Chuckawalla really prefers to eat. Often found in galactic carnivals or travelling interstellar circuses—alien handlers can really spice up an adventure when they let loose their trained Preying Zorgs! STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

SOAK 3

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 8

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 24

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Blaster 5d6 [3d6 heat damage; range 9; sidearm, beam] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], carousing 1 [1d6], gambling 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [1d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], pistols 3 [2d6], reactions 3 [2d6], riding [morks] 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR 2x hand blasters, knife, kevlar long coat

RANGED DEFENCE 15

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/3’

HEALTH 15

REACH 5’

CARRY 60 [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Electro-prod 4d6 [2d6+3 electricity damage; stun] Whip 4d6 [2d6+3 slashing damage; reach] SKILLS animal handling 3 [2d6], combat 3 [2d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], veterinary 1 [1d6] GEAR whip, electro-prod, padded armour

Hup! If the Animal Handler cracks his whip, he can choose an animal within its range to gain +1d6 on its next roll. Kiss of the whip. When attacking with a whip the animal handler can choose to inflict the Pain condition.

Gunplay. The Gunslinger can perform fancy tricks with her pistol which gives her a +1d6 bonus to any subsequent intimidate checks that are relevant.

157

Alien Thug //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [5D6] //ALIEN BRUISER WITH ATTITUDE As if there are not enought norm and mutant criminals in the galaxy, there are also aliens who are well built for criminal enterprises. Alien thugs work for their paymasters as henchmen. They guard things well and serve as great cannon fodder when the S/D Agents need to raid a facility or three. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 1 [2d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 15

RANGED DEFENCE 15

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 15

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Knife 4d6 [2d6+3 piercing damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 heat damage; range 8; sidearm, beam] SKILLS combat 1 [1d6], hardy 6 [1d6], intimidation 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d67 GEAR hand blaster, knife, leatherene armour

Close Mouthed. When interrogated—by the police or, even worse, Strontium Dogs—the alien thug’s steadfastness grants +2 to their MENTAL DEFENCE. It’s Just a Flesh Wound. Alien Thugs are expected to ignore injury and discomfort when ordered to do something. Within 30’ of their boss, an alien thug gains +3 SOAK which stacks with any other SOAK they may have.

Black Boab //MEDIUM SEMI-SENTIENT BEAST [4D6] //VICIOUS MUTT OCCASIONALLY ACCOMPANYING MIDDENFACE MCNULTY Granny McNulty has occasionally saddled her grandson, Middenface, with looking after a half-feral, vicious dog. Dougal was killed accompanying McNulty on a dangerous mission but was soon replaced by Black Boab, a brother from the same litter. This beast has survived a time trip to Mega-City One in 2112 in which the Tartan Terror attempted to capture the Clootie Gang. STR 3 [3d6]

AGL 6 [3d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 1 [1d6]

WIL 3 [2d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 0 [1d6]

REP 3 [2d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 14

SOAK 4

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 8

MENTAL DEFENCE 10

VITAL DEFENCE 10

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 4

JUMP 12’/3’

HEALTH 24

REACH 5’

CARRY 60 lb [MAX LIFT 150 lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 4d6 [2d6+2 piercing damage, grab] SKILLS combat 1 [1d6], reactions 3 [2d6], running 10 [4d6], scent 10 [4d6], swimming 4 [2d6], tracking 10 [4d6] GEAR Collar, fleas

Grab. Black Boab inflicts the Restrained condition on a creature, which requires a melee attack to escape. The natural damage is automatically inflicted at the start of the grabbed creature’s turns. Pounce. Black Boab can leap its horizontal Jump distance [8’] from a standing start when making a bite attack. This counts as a charge (+1d6 damage) and also knocks the victim prone on a successful attack.

158

Dervish Dogs

Dualligator

//SMALL SEMI-SENTIENT ALIEN BEAST [5D6] //ALIEN DERVISHES OF DESTRUCTION Two alien monsters that served as attack war-dogs to Slabhead. These creatures are possessed of a singular mind-set. Once set upon that path they will smash and chop their way to the target, destroying and killing anything or anyone in their way. It is best to fight behind them and never get in their direct path. Two infamous Dervish Dogs were deployed by Slabhead (see p. 136) and cut through a World War II armoured Panzer division like a las-knife through rockbutter.

//LARGE SEMI-SENTIENT AQUATIC REPTILE [7D6] //RAVENOUS TWO-HEADED PREDATOR Dualligators are ravenous two-headed alligators that reside in Harrow Swamp and other morrases of the pocket dimension called No Hope. If two heads are not enough of a danger, one head spits acid at its intended prey. For more information on No Hope, see Bounty Hunt 05: The Maleficent Seven, p. 109. As the dimension itself is a result of the twisted energies released by Malak Brood, it is possible that these creatures are also a result of the nefarious sorceries related to Brood.

STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 2 [1d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

INT 3

[2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

LUC 0 [0d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

CHA 3

[2d6]

LUC 1 [2d6]

REP 3 [2d6]

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 22

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 5 [10 with personal weapon]

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 10

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE afraid

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 10’/3’

HEALTH 50

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

MELEE DEFENCE 26

RANGED DEFENCE 14

SOAK 14 (scales)

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 3

MENTAL DEFENCE 14

VITAL DEFENCE 30

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 3d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 6’/6’

HEALTH 70

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

[Gyro] Axe 5d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] [Spyro] Energy mace 5d6 [3d6+3 force damage]

Bite 7d6 [3d6+4 piercing damage, grab] Acid Spray 5d6 [2d6 acid damage; range 3; combust]

SKILLS combat 3 [2d6], intimidation 1 [1d6] reactions 3 [2d6], tracking 6 [3d6]

SKILLS combat 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6] reactions 1 [1d6], stealth 6 [3d6]

GEAR Spyro: Energy mace Gyro: Two-headed axe

GEAR -

Charge. The Dervish Dog moves its SPEED and makes an attack with one action. Crazy Killer. The Dervish Dog is immune to the Afraid condition and once it has performed a Charge exploit it cannot stop attacking until all foes are dead. Deflecting. While attacking with its personal weapon, the Dervish Dog counts as having +5 SOAK. Smash and Slice. The Dervish Dog does double damage to any inanimate object or vehicle it hits with its weapon.

Camouflage. Many Dualligators have evolved a bark-like colour and texture to their hides, augmented by random tendril-like growths that resemble twigs. This adaption gives the creature a +1d6 bonus to avoid detection when in its natural environment. Grab. A creature which is hit by the Dualligator’s bite attack is Restrained until it can shake off the condition. The Dualligator can only grab one victim at a time, and once it has successfully struck a victim, the victim automatically suffers 3d6+4 piercing damage at the start of each turn. The Dualligator cannot bite another target while grabbing, but it can move at half SPEED (possibly drowning its victim). Twin Maw. The Dualligator’s two heads grant it a free action each round, which can only be used for an additional bite attack or acid spray.

159

Fundian Slime Drippler

Lizard-Cat

//MEDIUM SENTIENT [6D6] //BLOATED LEECH-LIKE ALIEN This mucous covered monster may or may not be capable of using a blaster. Regardless, it is utterly repellent and has an eyewatering stench. The GCC’s database image displays a monster with a single eye in a worm-like, bulbous body. Two stubby arms sprout from its trunk, either of which could be able to wield a blaster. Wulf sees Johnny Alpha as one of these during Kansyr’s mind attack via the Halugin Gun.

//MEDIUM SEMI-SENTIENT BEAST [6D6] //FOUR LEGGED HUNTERS Roughly the size of panthers, these creatures appear to be a cross between lizards and cats. They are quick, agile and often hungry. They work in packs and often prefer to hunt weakened prey. That said, they will attack anything that disturbs their hunting grounds. Lizard-cats are native to many different planets across the various star systems. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 6 [3d6]

STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 1 [1d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 2 [1d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 24

CHA 1 [1d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK6

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 3

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VITAL DEFENCE 24

JUMP -’/-’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Claw 4d6 [2d6+4 piercing damage] Slime 5d6 [3d6 acid damage, range 2, pain] Blaster 2d6 [1d6 ballistic damage; range 9, handgun, beam] SKILLS perception 3 [2d6], reactions 1 [1d6], slime 6 [3d6], stealth 1 [1d6], survival 3 [2d6] GEAR Blaster

Crush. Against a target of the same size or smaller, the Slime Drippler can use two actions to make a make a melee attack that uses its STR [4d6] to overbear its opponent, resulting in the Dribbler ending up prone. If successful, the target takes 4d6 blunt damage becomes prone and gains the Dazed condition. Ground Fighter. Opponents do not gain a bonus to hit the Slime Dribbler when it is prone. Slippery. Coated with slime, the Slime Drippler adds +2 to attempts to shake off the Restrained condition and can use an action to automatically escape from the Grabbed exploit.

160

SOAK 11

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 2

RANGED DEFENCE 24 VULN 1d6 [cold]

INITIATIVE 6d6 SPEED 9

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VITAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none PERCEPTION 4d6

CLIMB 5

JUMP 20’/6’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 6d6 [3d6+3 piercing damage] Claws 6d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] SKILLS combat 3 [2d6], hunting 6 [3d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 3 [2d6], running 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6] GEAR -

Pack attack. Lizard-cats work together in prides. Any allies adjacent to the victim count as flanking, gaining the +1d6 bonus to attack. When 3 or more lizard cats are adjacent to the victim, the victim becomes overwhelmed at the start of its turn and becomes Fatigued. Pounce. With a single leap, the lizard-cat leaps upon its victim, bearing it to the ground and inflicting its claw damage. The target must be within the lizard cat’s horizontal jump distance (20’).

Mork

Robodog

//LARGE SEMI-SENTIENT BEAST [4D6] // UBIQUITOUS RIDING BEAST STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 12 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 1 [1d6]

WIL 3 [2d6]

LUC 0 [0d6]

REP 3 [2d6]

CHA 3 [1d6] MELEE DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 2

VULN none

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 8

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VITAL DEFENCE 14

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 4

JUMP 8’/8’

//MEDIUM NON-SENTIENT MECHANOID [5D6] // RELENTLESS ROBOT TRACKER Excellent trackers and manhunters, robodogs are sleek dog Robots programmed to hunt and even kill. Robodogs usually hunt in packs and are adept at working together to bring down their prey. While not especially clever, they are very cunning, as well as being fast and deadly. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 4 [2d6]

END 12 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 1 [1d6]

WIL 3

[2d6]

CHA 3 [1d6]

LUC 0 [0d6]

REP 3

[2d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 10

RANGED DEFENCE 12

HEALTH 24

REACH 5’

SOAK 2

CARRY 390lb [MAX LIFT 1,050lb]

ACTIONS 2

INITIATIVE 3d6 SPEED 8

MENTAL DEFENCE 12

VULN none

VITAL DEFENCE 14

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 4

JUMP 8’/8’

kick 4d6 [3d6+4 blunt damage] SKILLS carry 4 [2d6], [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], running 10 [4d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR -

Herd Beast. If there are at least six unridden and unburdened Morks within 30’ and all in sight of each other they gain +1d6 perception to detect prowlers and ambushers.

HEALTH 24

REACH 5’

CARRY 390lb [MAX LIFT 1,050lb]

ACTIONS 2

kick 4d6 [3d6+4 blunt damage] SKILLS carry 4 [2d6], [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], running 10 [4d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR -

Mechanoid. Mechanoids are immune to mental attacks, are vulnerable (1d6) to electricity damage, and vulnerable (2d6) to ion damage. They are usually immune to the Sick and Fatigued conditions. Dart In. Move SPEED 6, attack, then move SPEED 6 back again. Pack attack. Each additional ally adjacent to the target grants +1d6 to attack. Remorseless tracker. Once a robodog starts tracking a target, it will never stop. It will continue to chase the target, without tiring, until either the target or itself is destroyed, without exception. Often, robodogs used as guard dogs are programmed to enter hunt-and-destroy mode upon detection of an intruder, making them an extermely effective deterrent. Robodogs will chase vehicles across an entire continents in pursuit of a target.

161

Security Robot

Smiling Chuckwalla

//MEDIUM SENTIENT MECHANOID [7D6] //STERN AND DEDICATED ROBOT These expensive and capable Robots are essentially urban combat Robots. While they have a few social skills to allow ‘community policing’, they are mostly designed to arrest or detain criminals until local law enforcement arrive. For this reason they are well versed in the law and record their actions to keep a good record of any crimes. However, they are emphatically not police robots and their powers and jurisdictions are strictly regulated and defined. Some are used on the streets of urban developments, but mostly they work for wealthy companies to provide security.

//LARGE SEMI-SENTIENT BEAST [7D6] //DEADLY BUT AMIABLE SEEMING PREDATOR The Smiling Chuckwalla is undoubtedly one of the most feared aliens in the galaxy. Covered in fur and possessed of a singular voracious appetite, his massive beast is notorious for its seemingly friendly nature. Right up until it hugs you and pushes you into the razor-sharp teeth that line the mouth it has in its stomach. Picturing a Gronk on a bad day and will not even come close to one of these beasts. Prized by circuses across the stars, the Smiling Chuckawalla is the first and last time anyone will be part of a good meal. “Hello Buddy!” May well be the last thing ever heard.

STR 15 [5d6]

AGI 5 [2d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6

[3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

STR 15 [5d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 15 [5d6]

CHA 6

[3d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 1 [1d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 21

RANGED DEFENCE 21

SOAK 10

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE none

VULN

1d6 electricity, 2d6 ion

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

JUMP 10’/10’

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 14

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/5’

REACH 5’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 250lb [MAX LIFT 750lb]

ACTIONS 2

CARRY 300lb [MAX LIFT 750lb]

ACTIONS 2

SKILLS combat 1 [1d6], hardy 15 [5d6], law 6 [3d6], perception 3 [2d6], tactics 3 [2d6] GEAR metal truncheon

Mechanoid. Mechanoids are immune to mental attacks, are vulnerable (1d6) to electricity damage, and vulnerable (2d6) to ion damage. They are usually immune to the Sick and Fatigued conditions. Infrared sensors. Security Robots can see in the dark as though it were daylight. Recording equipment. Security Robots have a continual, detailed record of their encounters. Pacification. Security reboots are programmed to pacify aggressive behaviour. A hit from their truncheon can optionally inflict the Dazed condition instead of doing damage.

VITAL DEFENCE 30

IMMUNE none

HEALTH 49

Truncheon 6d6 [3d6+5 blunt damage]

162

RANGED DEFENCE 10

SOAK 7 [12 v cold]

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 3

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 26

Bite 7d6 [4d6+5 piercing damage] Claws 6d6 [3d6+5 slashing damage] SKILLS bite 3 [2d6], bluffing 1 [1d6], claws 1 [1d6], intimidate 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 1 [1d6], survival 1 [1d6] GEAR -

Grab. A claw attack inflicts the Restrained condition on a creature and requires a melee attack to escape. The Chuckwalla’s bite damage is automatically inflicted at the start of the grabbed creature’s turns. Thick Fur. Smiling Chuckwalla fur means they are immune to cold-based environmental effects and gain natural SOAK 5 vs. cold damage.

Zorg

Zorgzilla

//LARGE SENTIENT INSECTOID [7D6] //LETHAL JUNGLE AMBUSHER When Kansyr used the Halugin on Alpha and Wulf, they both saw each other as aliens. Wulf believed Johnny to be a Fundian Slime Drippler, and Alpha viewed Wulf as a Preying Zorg. These dangerous aliens are intelligent and able to use blasters just as well as humans. Although not much else is known about their habits, their GCC database image reveals that they are certainly some kind of mantid species.

//ENORMOUS SENTIENT INSECTOID [12D6] //RAVENOUS OVER-SIZED PREDATOR A massive example of the dangerous Preying Zorg, opposite, this alien predator became super-sized after Ace Vagabondo arranged for the release of a deadly virus into the wilds of Castrovalva. The events of Bounty Hunt 04: Night of the Preying Zorg, p 103, include a deadly encounter with the might Zorgzilla. STR 30 [7d6]

AGI 2 [3d6]

END 30 [7d6]

STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 15 [5d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6

[3d6]

LOG 2 [1d6]

WIL 15 [5d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 2 [1d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 10 [4d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 15 [5d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 44

CHA 3 [2d6] MELEE DEFENCE 26

RANGED DEFENCE 16

SOAK 7

VULN none

INITIATIVE 7d6 SPEED 7

MENTAL DEFENCE 14

VITAL DEFENCE 23

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 5d6 CLIMB 7

RANGED DEFENCE 16

SOAK 24

VULN none

INITIATIVE 6d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 24

VITAL DEFENCE 52

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 6d6 CLIMB 6

JUMP 10’/10’

JUMP 20’/6’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Claw swipe 7d6 [4d6+4 piercing damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 ballistic damage; range 11, handgun, beam] SKILLS intimidate 3 [2d6], natural weapons 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], reactions 6 [3d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6] GEAR Blaster

Ambush! Zorgs are skilled at ambushing others in their native jungle. In the ambush turn, they take two full actions rather than just one. Grab. If using both claws, the Zorg inflicts the Restrained condition on a creature in an attack and requires a melee attack to escape. The Zorg’s bite inflicts natural damage at the start of the grabbed creature’s turns. Insectoid. Climbing is a natural movement mode for insectoids. The creature gains a CLIMB speed equal to its regular SPEED and does not need to make checks to climb. Such creatures can move on walls and ceilings normally. Jungle Camouflage. Within lush jungles, the Zorg gains +2d6 to stealth rolls.

HEALTH 120

REACH 10’

CARRY 600lb [MAX LIFT 1,500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Claw swipe 7d6 [4d6+4 piercing damage] Blaster 4d6 [2d6 ballistic damage; range 11, handgun, beam] SKILLS intimidate 3 [2d6], natural weapons 3 [2d6], perception 3 [2d6], stealth 3 [2d6], survival 3 [2d6] GEAR Blaster

Frenzied Rush. Zorgzilla charges in to attack, moving its SPEED and attacking with one action. Grab. Zorgilla grabs a creature, inflicting the Restrained condition on it. The creature must succeed at a melee attack to escape. Zorgzilla automatically deals its natural damage to the Restrained creature at the start of the grabbed creature’s turns. Insectoid. Climbing is a natural movement mode for insectoids. The creature gains a CLIMB speed equal to its regular SPEED and does not need to make checks to climb. Such creatures can move on walls and ceilings normally. Trample. Zorgzilla can move through a smaller creature’s square, getting a free melee attack which knocks the target aside and prone. Zorgzilla also inflicts its natural damage. If the attack misses, Zorgzilla must stop its movement.

163

THE SUPERNATURAL

Malak Brood and others with necromantic powers, such as the Sorcerers of Lyra, can summon and control abominations beyond the understanding of mortal science. More supernatural foes and rules for necromancy can be found in the O.L.D. range of WOIN publications.

Foetid Jack //LARGE EVIL SENTIENT UNDEAD [10D6] //PORTAL GUARDIAN OF NO HOPE At ten feet tall, Jack is a hulking, mean-eyed Ghoulslinger armed with a pair of pistols that spit fire and rain down retribution. He zealously guards the portal out of No Hope. Alongside the Ghoulslingers, opposite, Foetid Jack makes an appearance in Bounty Hunt 05: The Maleficent Seven. STR 15 [5d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 15 [2d6]

INT 10 [4d6]

LOG 10 [4d6]

WIL 15 [5d6]

CHA 15 [5d6]

LUC 6

REP 15 [5d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 36

SOAK 10

MENTAL DEFENCE 30

VULN holy

INITIATIVE 7d6 SPEED 5

[3d6]

VITAL DEFENCE 20

IMMUNE Sick, Bleeding, Fatigued

PERCEPTION 10d6 CLIMB 5

JUMP 20’/15’

HEALTH 100

REACH 5’

CARRY 300lb [MAX LIFT 750lb]

ACTIONS 2

Claw 5d6 [5d6+5 slashing damage] Hellfire Pistol 10d6 [4d6+4 heat damage; sidearm; combust] SKILLS intimidation 6 [3d6], hardy 10 [4d6], perception 3 [2d6], pistols 6 [3d6], tactics 6 [3d6] GEAR hellfire pistols

Darksight. Foetid Jack can ‘see’ in the dark. Hellfire Blast. If Jack hits his target when attacking with a gun, he may immediately make a second attack against a separate target. This is a free action taken at -2d6. Lifesense. Foetid Jack can sense living creatures within 50’. Quickdraw. If the hellfire pistols are disarmed from Jack, they immediately return to his hands.

164

Ghoulslinger //MEDIUM EVIL SENTIENT UNDEAD [7D6] //GHOULISH OUTLAWS THAT DELIGHT IN SEWING TERROR The Ghoulslingers are cursed revenants who haunt the dimension of No Hope. Wicked and heartless, these undead gunslingers can only truly be defeated by fulfilling the conditions of their vulnerabilities. The profile below can be considered the basis for each Ghoulslinger. GMs can build on this as they choose but should remember to adjust the MDP accordingly if necessary. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 10 [4d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

CHA 10[4d6] MELEE DEFENCE 14

RANGED DEFENCE 28

SOAK 10

VULN special

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 10

MENTAL DEFENCE 21

VITAL DEFENCE 21

IMMUNE Sick, Bleeding, Fatigued

PERCEPTION 7d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 10’/6’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 3000lb]

ACTIONS 2

Claw 3d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage, diseased] High-Power Blaster 7d6 [3d6+3 heat damage; sidearm; beam] SKILLS Scent 6 [3d6] GEAR -

Backpedal. When someone attempts a melee attack, the Ghoulslinger uses a reaction to step back 10’ and take a shot. Cursed. Until a certain condition is met, Ghouslingers are cursed to unlife and quickly regenerate wounds. They recover 4d6 HEALTH at the start of each of their turns. Damage inflicted via each Ghoulslinger’s unique vulnerability cannot be recovered in this manner. The GM must specify what type of damage or attack renders the Ghoulslinger’s Cursed ability ineffective. Some examples are provided in the text for each named Ghoulslinger on p. 112. Darksight. Ghoulslingers can ‘see’ in the dark. Diseased. The claw attack of a Ghoulslinger renders the target Sick. A character reduced to zero HEALTH by a ghoul develops flesh rot. Lifesense. Ghoulsingers can sense living creatures within 30’.

Zombie //MEDIUM EVIL SEMI-SENTIENT UNDEAD [4D6] //WALKING CORPSES THAT HUNGER FOR LIVING FLESH STR 3 [2d6]

AGI 3 [2d6]

END 3 [2d6]

INT 3 [2d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 3 [2d6]

CHA 3 [2d6]

LUC 3 [2d6]

REP 3 [2d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 9

MENTAL DEFENCE 16

VULN holy

INITIATIVE 3d6

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE Sick, Bleeding, Fatigued

PERCEPTION 3d6

SPEED 4

CLIMB 2

JUMP 6’/3’

HEALTH 24

REACH 5’

CARRY 60lb [MAX LIFT 150lb]

ACTIONS 2

Bite 3d6 [2d6+2 piercing damage; zombie fever] SKILLS scent 6 [3d6] GEAR -

Darksight. The Zombie can ‘see’ in the dark. Lifesense. The Zombie can sense living creatures within 15’. Unstoppable. A zombie keeps going, no matter what. The only way to destroy it is to make a Called Shot to the head that deals 25% of the zombie’s HEALTH in one attack, which kills it instantly. Zombie Fever. Those who suffer a critical hit from a zombie’s bite contract zombie fever. Additionally, any slain by a zombie rise one hour later as a zombie themselves.

UNDEAD CREATURES

Undead is a creature classification that provides the following qualities: » Undead have the Evil virtue (O.L.D. p. 33) » Undead gain +5 SOAK due to lacking vital organs

ZOMBIE FEVER

As suggested by its name, this disease turns its victim into one of the undead, a mindless zombie hungry for living flesh. In the meantime, however, victims have the Poisoned condition while suffering this disease. TRANSMISSION

POOL

DIFF.

INTERVAL

Contact

END

Difficult [16]

Daily

» Undead have superior darksight and lifesense to a distance of 5’ per point of INT » Undead are ageless and continue forever unless destroyed » Undead are vulnerable (1d6) to holy damage » Undead cannot heal, although some may have regenerative powers » Undead are usually immune to the Bleeding, Intoxication and Tiredness conditions.

165

COMBATANTS FROM OTHER ERAS

Expeditions into Earth’s past can encounter soldiers and warriors from a variety of cultures and technologies. The following templates can also be used for representing opponents from archaic civilizations that exist in unexplored or conservative- minded regions of the galaxy of the late 21st Century.

20th Century Soldier //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //EXPERIENCED INFANTRYMAN OUT OF HIS DEPTH WHEN CONFRONTED BY GUNMEN FROM THE FUTURE Hardened SS soldiers in the ruins of a Berlin city fight or US conscripts trying to get safely through a tour of ‘Nam. STR 6 [3d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 6 [3d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 4 [2d6]

WIL 6 [2d6]

CHA 4 [2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 12

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 3

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 6

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

VITAL DEFENCE 12

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 3

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 18

REACH 5’

CARRY 120lb [MAX LIFT 300lb]

ACTIONS 2

Trench tool 4d6 [2d6+3 slashing damage] 20thC auto rifle 5d6 [3d6 ballistic damage; range 9; auto] Grenade 4d6 [2d6 heat damage: range 3; burst 2] SKILLS brawling 1 [1d6], driving 1 [1d6], hardy 3 [2d6], perception 1 [1d6], rifles 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], tactics 1 [1d6], throwing 1 [1d6] GEAR auto rifle, knife, frag grenade, helmet, camouflaged uniform, entrenching tool, pay book

Aim. The soldier gains a +1d6 bonus to their ranged attack if they spent the previous action aiming in the same turn. Camouflaged Uniform. In the correct environment the soldier gains +1d6 on attempts to hide. Dive for Cover. If a ranged attack misses a soldier, they may immediately move half their speed as a free action and either throw themselves prone or get behind cover if in range.

166

Legionary //MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //TRAINED SOLDIERS OF THE ROMAN LEGIONS The roman legionaries were professional heavy infantrymen that came into service a century or so before the birth of christ. In addition to being soldiers, they often served as law enforcers, peacekeepers and bodyguards. The profile below will make an excellent adversary for the time travelling shenanigans of The Judas Operation, p. 123. STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 10 [4d6]

INT 5

[2d6]

LOG 5 [2d6]

WIL 9

[3d6]

CHA 5

[2d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 8

[3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 24

RANGED DEFENCE 12

SOAK 15

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 15

VITAL DEFENCE 24

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 20’/10’

HEALTH 42

REACH 5’

CARRY 200lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Shortsword 6d6 [4d6+4 piercing damage] Javelin 6d6 [2d6 piercing damage] SKILLS climbing 3 [2d6], lances 3 [2d6], riding 3 [2d6], heraldry 3 [2d6], heavy armour 3 [2d6], hunting 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], swords 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6] GEAR scalemail, galea, shield, short sword, javelin, dagger

Shield Push. A Legionary can push their target back 5’ as part of an attack. This ability only affects creatures of medium size or smaller. Shield Wall. Legionaries train to support each other in the shield wall. Any allies directly adjacent to a legionary and attacking the same target to the front gain +1d6 to their attack. If a legionary has at least one other legionary directly adjacent to them, they also gain +5 to their MELEE DEFENCE when attacked by their chosen target.

Knight

Viking Warrior

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [7D6] //NOBLE ARMOURED WARRIORS The noble knights of earlier centuries fight with valour and courage. Equally as effective on foot as when on horseback, the charge of a mounted knight can sunder an enemy’s defences.

//MEDIUM SENTIENT HUMANOID [6D6] //SUPERSTITIOUS, BUT BRAVE AND SKILLED, DARK AGE SCANDINAVIAN RAIDER Tall and powerfully built warrior, from the race that produced Wulf Sternhammer.

STR 10 [4d6]

AGI 6 [3d6]

END 8

[3d6]

STR 8 [3d6]

AGI 8 [3d6]

END 10 [3d6]

INT 6

[3d6]

LOG 6 [3d6]

WIL 10 [4d6]

INT 6 [3d6]

LOG 3 [2d6]

WIL 6 [3d6]

CHA 6

[3d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 10 [4d6]

LUC 1 [1d6]

REP 6 [3d6]

MELEE DEFENCE 28

RANGED DEFENCE 14

SOAK 14

VULN none

INITIATIVE 4d6 SPEED 4

MENTAL DEFENCE 14

VITAL DEFENCE 28

IMMUNE fear

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 2

JUMP 12’/6’

CHA 6 [3d6] MELEE DEFENCE 18

RANGED DEFENCE 18

SOAK 9

VULN none

INITIATIVE 5d6 SPEED 5

MENTAL DEFENCE 18

IMMUNE none

PERCEPTION 4d6 CLIMB 4

JUMP 12’/6’

HEALTH 70

REACH 5’

HEALTH 36

REACH 5’

CARRY 180lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

CARRY 160lb [MAX LIFT 500lb]

ACTIONS 2

Axe 7d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] Longsword 7d6 [4d6+5 slashing damage] SKILLS climbing 3 [2d6], lances 3 [2d6], riding 3 [2d6], heraldry 3 [2d6], heavy armour 3 [2d6], hunting 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], swords 3 [2d6], tactics 1 [1d6] GEAR longsword, plate mail, helm, dagger

Honorable. The knight’s courage and honor are such that he is immune to the Afraid condition. Mighty Charge. When mounted, the knight can move through the square of a medium-sized or smaller creature, knocking the target aside and prone when doing so. The knight can also make a free melee attack against the creature as part of this move. If the attack misses, the knight must stop their movement.

VITAL DEFENCE 18

Axe 5d6 [3d6+3 slashing damage] Throwing Spear 5d6 [3d6 piercing damage; range 3] SKILLS bravery 3 [2d6], carrying 1 [1d6], climbing 1 [1d6], combat 3 [2d6], hardy 6 [2d6], hunting 1 [1d6], intimidation 3 [2d6], light armour 1 [1d6], perception 1 [1d6], reactions 3 [2d6], sailing 3 [2d6], survival 1 [1d6], swimming 1 [1d6] GEAR axe, spear, dagger, shield, leather and metal armour, helmet, ornaments

Charge. The Viking Warrior moves his SPEED 5 and makes a melee attack in the same turn. Mighty Blow. The Viking Warrior can use all his actions to make one gigantic swing of his axe. If he hits, he does double damage.

167

INDEX A

A Dog Eat Dog Galaxy 72

BOUNTY CONTRACTS 88-123 Bonus Bounty Board: The Judas Operation 123 BOUNTY HUNT 01: CARELESS WISPA’S 88-92 Exploring Dreadwood 89 Beyond Dreadwood 92 Mutie Town Locations 90 Norm Town Locations 89 The Lowdown 88 BOUNTY HUNT 02: TAKE ME OUT IN PARADISE CITY 93-97 Fencing Moves 95 On the Trail of an Ace 96 Paradise City 93 The Lowdown 93 BOUNTY HUNT 03: THE TASTY OPTION 98-102 Cargo Locked 98 Chummy in Chumba Town 100 Merlock of Firestop Mountain 101 Smiley Pirates 99 The Lowdown 98 BOUNTY HUNT 04: NIGHT OF THE PREYING ZORG 103-106 Fungal Sharpy 106 In HoloMedia Res 104 The Lowdown 103 To Newman and Beyond 105 Zorgzilla 107 BOUNTY HUNT 05: THE MALEFICENT SEVEN 107-114 Another Dimension 109 A Town Called Trouble 111 Foetid Jack and the Portal out of Hell 114 Hunting Ghouls to the End 114 Into the Dank Dimension 110 BOUNTY HUNT 06: BOUNTY DOGS 2180 115-122 Ace Vagabond! 121 HoloTV Celeb Hunt 115 McGee the Metalhead 121 Nipkow Arrival 117 The John Logie 119 The Meeting 118 The Nipkow System 115 To Baird and Beyond! 118

CAREERS 22-40 CIVILIAN AND OUTLAW CAREERS 22-33 Animal Rights Activist 22 Anti-Mutant Enforcer 22 Bandit 23 Bandit Chieftain 23 Bike Ganger 23 Bureaucrat 24

168

Corporate Executive 24 Corporate Lord 24 Coyote 25 Eco-Hermit 25 Fringe Cultist 25 Gunslinger 26 Habitat Technician 26 Hired Gun 27 Interplanetary Pilot 27 Law Enforcement 28 Mutant Railroader 28 Planetary Shuttle Pilot 28 Politician 29 Ranch Hand 29 Scout/Special Forces 30 Settler 30 Smuggler 30 Space Crew 30 Space Pirate 31 Theme Park Staffer 32 Vid Presenter 32 Xenodiplomat 33 MUTANT CAREERS 33-34 Mutant Cultist 33 Mutant Irregular 33 Mutant Stalker 34 Wall Hopper 34 S/D AGENT CAREERS 37-40 Agent in Time 38 Dimensional Agent 39 Rookie S/D Agent 37 S/D Agent 39 Veteran S/D Agent 40 S/D AGENT RECRUITMENT 35-37 Born To It 35 Mentored by an Old Dog 35 Score to Settle 36 CREATING AN S/D CHARACTER 8–41 CIVILIAN AND OUTLAW CAREERS 22–34 (see CAREERS) CIVILIAN AND OUTLAW ORIGINS 21–22 (see ORIGINS) MUTANT CAREERS 33–34 (see CAREERS) MUTATION TABLES 10–18 S/D RECRUITMENT AND CAREERS 35–41 (see CAREERS) SPECIES 8–20 (see SPECIES)

EXPLOITS 22-34 Animal Attorney 22 Are You Not Entertained 34 Backup 23 Contender 24 Dead or Alive 23 Dedicated to the Cause 28 Destroy the Cursed Machines 33

Evasive Driving 24 Evasive Manoeuvre 24 Fervent Defender 22 Flint Hearted 23 Free Time 25 Full of Tricks 34 Get Him, Boys! 23 Haul 23, 34 Hidden Ways 34 Hideout 23, 34 Legal Loop Holes 28 Mad Dogs 33 Mounted Pursuer 34 Mutant Hunter 23, 33 Notoriety 23 One with Nature 25 Pedal to the Metal 24 Push the Limits 24 Road Gunner 24 Rugged Rider 34 Safe House 28 Secrets of Survival 33 Sideslip 24 Stronghold 23 The Boss’s Cut 23 Tough! 33 Vigilant 33

GALACTIC GAZETTEER 72-87 EN WORLDS 81-87 Babylon 86 Bro 85 Brynner’s World (Robotopia) 87 Dahn-Unda 84 Dobbyn’s Star 86 Donner 83 Drank’s Bile 85 En System (En Space) 81 Freon 83 Hydro 87 K-345 (Kärntnertor) 84 KAL-3 83 Keller 85 KN3-N3L 81 Konrekte 83 Pitstop Station 85 Rime 82 Ryson 82 Taggart Station 81 The Disc 86 Weaver’s Rock 82, 88, 93 KNOWN WORLDS AND LOCATIONS 72-81 Alzir 76

Bario-3 74 Blas 74, 127 Burrito 78 Byn-L 77 Cassiopeia 74 Caytor 73 Cedus Major 74 Circes 75 Coriander 75 Coriolanus 80 Cygnus 9 74 Deevon 78 Dragan’s World 79 Earth 72 Fargo 78 Forox 78 High Nebulae 78 Hirfu 81 Ice-World 4 77 Isthman Galaxy 76 Kaiak 79 Kane’s Kolossal Kasino 77 Kaol-7 74 Laredo 76 Larg 76 Laz 75 M-17: The War Zone 79 Mab Garden City 77, 129 Marbellas 80 Mayger Minor 79 Metastis 74 M-Skel 77 Munro’s World 79 Neridian 5 77 No-Go 80 Nomi’s World 78 Nykos 76 Och-Eleven 78 Paprika 75 Pol 74 Q17 76 Quadrant B12 76 Rajus Minor 75 Rog 76, 150 Scooby’s World 80 Skybo-Tsong 80 Smiley’s World & System 78, 98 Spitoon 79 Stavros 77 The Doghouse 6, 7, 10, 21, 23, 28, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 42, 51, 52, 60, 69, 71, 72, 73, 81, 88, 123, 125, 127, 129, 131, 132, 133, 137, 153 The Granite Planet 80 Trigol-3 80

169

INDEX Ursa Minor 74 Valdez 78 Vega 76 Wilderness-4 77 XX161-D 76 Zdwhkkrswrld 78 Zeta-9 80 GEAR 51-52 Anti-Grav Chute 51 Anti-Grav Globe 51 Chameleon Cloak 51 Gravity Belt 51 Handcuffs 51 Handheld Tracker 51 Infra Torch 51 Life Wire 51 Mork Tack & Harness 52 Range Finder 52 Short Range Teleporter 52 Tracer 52 Vid-Slug + Camera 52 Warrant Scanner 52 Wrist Computer 52

NPCS (THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE ALIEN) 124-167 ALIENS AND ROBOTS 156-163 Alien Gourmet 156 Alien Gunslinger 157 Alien Handler 157 Alien Thug 158 Black Boab 158 Dervish Dogs 102, 136, 159 Dualligator 110, 159 Fundian Slime Drippler 118, 121, 160 Lizard-Cat 100, 160 Mork 29, 52, 54, 61, 66, 70, 76, 88, 89, 90, 95, 96, 99, 161 Robodog 161 Security Robot 162 Smiling Chuckwalla 18, 75, 97, 118, 141, 162 Zorg 3, 75, 92, 103, 105, 106, 147, 163 Zorgzilla 106, 108, 163 COMBATANTS FROM OTHER ERAS 166-167 20th Century Soldier 166 Knight 167 Legionary 123, 166 Viking Warrior 167 CRIMINALS / OUTLAWS 141-148 Billy Joe 141 Brute Mosely 146 Bubo and the Bad Boys 141-142 Impetigo Jones 145 Kansyr 143

170

Low-Down O’Phee 145 Malak Brood 71, 78, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 143, 144, 159, 164 Max Bubba 144 Sadan the Demon Maker 146 Skull 147 Steelkreeg 147 GENERIC OUTLAWS 148-150 Alien Raider 148 Papa Por-Ka 149 Pirate Leader 149 Space Pirates 150 Wolrog 150 MUTANTS AND NORMS 151-155 Bartender 151 Dock Worker 151 Entertainer 152 GCC Officer 153 Kreeler Officer 153 Kreeler Soldier 154 Mutel Owner 152 Norm Civilian 154 Police Officer 155 ROGUE AGENTS AND BOUNTY HUNTERS 134-140 Darkus’s Howlers 134 Fly’s-Eyes Wagner 138 Rogue Bounty Hunter 135 Slabhead 136, 159 Stix 20, 137 The Weerdz 138 Cuss Weerd 139 Hiss Weerd 138 Silent Weerd 139 S/D AGENTS 125-133 Blubberlips 128 Durham Red 37, 40, 48, 55, 56, 57, 61, 69, 72, 131 Johnny Alpha 4, 6, 7, 20, 21, 37, 40, 43, 48, 50, 51, 53, 55, 56, 60, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 79, 109, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 138, 139, 141, 143, 144, 146, 147, 160 Kid Knee 13, 70, 128 Maeve the Many-Armed 129 Middenface McNulty 7, 16, 18, 40, 71, 72, 80, 130 Rookie S/D Agent 37, 132 S/D Agent 39, 133 The Gronk 8, 55, 69,70, 72, 127 Veteran S/D Agent 40, 133 Wulf Sternhammer 6, 44, 69, 72, 126, 138, 139, 141, 144, 145, 147 THE SUPERNATURAL 164-165 Foetid Jack 112, 114, 164 Ghoulslinger 111, 112, 113, 114, 164 Zombie 87, 144, 165

ORIGINS 21-22 Ghetto-Raised 21 Street Runner 21 Upper Crust 22

PLACES TO GO 61-64 Big Cities! 63 Conurbations 64 Frontier Settlements 61 Mutant Ghettos 61 Towns 62 PORTRAIT OF A MUTANT’S WORLD 57-60 Collateral Damage 60 Rot You, Alpha 58 Sample Tone Setting 57 Showdown Time! 59 What is their Angle? 57

SHIELDS 53 Shields Table 53 Stront Forcefield 53 Telkin Shield 53 SPECIES 8-20 Gronk 8 Howler 9 Human 9 Mutant 9 Robots 18 Stix 20 Starting Credits 42 Strontium Dog Time Line 69–72

THE THRILL OF THE HUNT 65 Bounty Tables 65–68 Time and Dimension in Space Wild West 60 Travel in the 22nd Century 60

VEHICLES 54 Grav Bike/Skimmer 54 Grav Car 54 Vehicles Table 54

WEAPONS 44-51 BOMBS, DEVICES AND GRENADES 48-51 Beam Polarizer 48 Blackout Grenade 48 Dimension Warp 48 Electro-Flare 49 Frag Bomb 49 Gas Bomb 49 Pocket Nuke 49 Stasis Grenade 49 Thermo Bomb 50 Time Bomb 50 Time Drogue 50 Time Shrinker 51 Time Trap 51 DAMAGE TYPES 43 Disintegrate 43 Flesh 43 MELEE WEAPONS 44 Der Happy Stick 44 Electronux 44 Las-Staff 44 RANGED WEAPONS 44-48 Blaster 44 Blaster Rifle 44 Blastinger 44 Blatling Gun 44 Blazooga 44 Compact Stormer 44 Crackler 44 Firepak 45 High-Power Blaster 45 High-Power Stormer 45 Hunting Las Rifle 45 Mortar 45 Napalm Blister Blaster 45 Repeater Blaster 45 Repeater Blaster Rifle 47 Repeater Stormer 47 Scatterbeam Stormer 47 Stormer 47 Thwup Gun 48 Webley Custom Hand Blaster 48 Westinghouse Variable-Cartridge Blaster 48 SPECIAL TRAITS 43 Stasis 43 Variable 43

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& The Worlds of 2000 AD

Welcome to the Worlds of 2000 AD! Voyage into the far future in this versatile tabletop game of science fiction adventure. Mutant bounty hunters hunt down the scum of the universe. The noble houses of a resurgent imperial Russia use every means at their disposal to attempt to become the supreme power; using bribery, assassination, espionage, diplomacy and war. Genetic Infantrymen fight a never-ending war against the vicious Norts on the poisonous battlefields of Nu Earth. Criminal hitmen fulfil their contracts, blasting their way though rivals and bodyguards to achieve their bloody payday. Occult investigators hunt down demons and restless spirits threatening both the lives and souls of the people of Britain.

& The Worlds of 2000 AD

And then there is Dredd. The top lawman in a vast city of over 800 million citizens. He contends with criminals, mutant raiders, aliens, rogue robots and enemy agents from other, hostile, megacities. This roleplaying game provides the core rules for the science fiction worlds of 2000 AD. It also provides in depth material allowing you to create and run adventures in the world of Judge Dredd.

TABLETOP ADVENTURE GAME

PEARCE SCHWALB ROBINSON MORRISSEY

LUNA-1 ON THE LUNA FRONTIER ONLY & The Worlds of 2000 AD THE STRONG SURVIVE! Get assigned to the moon to keep the peace as Judges in the Luna Marshal campaign, or deal with a criminal gang in the frontier town of Grey Rock as Civilians and Perps in Sundance Rising. THE ROBOT WARS All across Mega-City One, the Robots are turning against their Human masters. Chaos reigns as the charismatic Robot leader, Call-MeKenneth, rallies the city’s Robots to WHITE PEREGRINE AUGUST his side, and only the Judges stand in JUDGE DREDD & THE WORLDS OF 2000 AD their way. ®

REQUIRES

COREBOOK

GET READY TO JOIN THE DOGHOUSE! Johnny Alpha and the bounty hunters of the Search/ Destroy agency hunt their targets relentlessly across the galactic frontier. Mutants all, humanity relies heavily upon these Strontium Dogs to root out the deadliest of criminals and keep the fringes of the galaxy safe. For the S/D agents, it’s a thankless task that often sends them into mortal danger on strange and bizarre worlds, or even across time to bring in the worst villains that history has to offer. Step into the Doghouse, polish your S/D badge and take your place alongside famous agents such as Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer and Durham Red to await your next contract. Taken from the same hallowed comic book pages as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog steps into the year 2180 and offers the entire galaxy as a playground. With new careers for S/D agents, unique equipment like the variable-cartridge blaster, time bomb and time drogue, a gazetteer of the galaxy and guide to creating new and exciting locations, sample contracts and adventure seeds, plus a whole host of adversaries and allies, this supplement provides an entirely new way to explore the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD roleplaying game. Requires the use of the Judge Dredd & the Worlds of 2000 AD core rulebook.