Another little snippet from the current version of DZR.
I’ve added a Speed stat to the models. This is a way of including a lot more variation in the model’s rate of movement, and doing so very simply.
Speed is listed as two numbers separated by a dash, eg 1-2, or 2-3.
The first number is the distance (in cubes) the model goes when it takes a Move action. The second is how far it goes with a Sprint action. Easy!
Doing it this way allows me to remove abilities such as Fast as it is already incorporated into the stat line. It also lets me easily have things that are disproportionate too, with a Speed of, say, 1-5 or 2-7. In the old system that would have needed a specific ability to describe it.
The Move result of the Command Dice may make more sense now, as it is a move of 1, regardless of the model’s Speed. This helps balance the models that are naturally Speedy, such as Veer-myn (2-3).
It also gives me a nice shorthand if I need to reference movements in other rules. The effect is the same as either the first or second Speed number.
So, a helpful addition to the stats, and a very simple way to describe a variety of alien movements 🙂
Quirkworthy 
And also a very necessary addition, now that jetbikes are a thing… being the same speed as someone whos good at sprinting wouldve been somewhat weird, I think. 😛
It would have been.
Sky Razor.. cough.. cough..
yes that one was needed especially for the upcoming light vehicles.
so the previous fast ability makes models 2-3 ?
what about slow ability ? makes it 1-0 ?
Slow is 1-1.
Nice, so now different models are more characterful and there are less special rules too look up!
you mention move and sprint, is climb gone?
Yes. No longer necessary.
Sound really good, but dose that mean that a sprint action works, as both the old sprint and climb?
Yeah.. I was wondering the same… it was kind of neat to have some models that were good at just striaght sprints, vs agile models that could move all around the 3D board..
Yes, Sprint now no longer has the restriction of keeping to the same level.
Nice change. DZR is looking better and better with every update Jake posts 🙂
Thanks Paboook.
Would a model with a 1-2 speed be able to move two cubes both horizontally and vertically (in effect the same as the old climb action) and would it be able to move two cubes horizontally and change 1 level (something that was not possible before) ?
Each cube of Speed allows a model to move into an adjacent cube (assuming there’s something to climb up). Adjacent includes diagonally adjacent and in 3D.
Assuming plague dogs will be 2-3 or better they will be able to climb up really tall tower fast. That just seems wrong for a dog to be able to do.
Maybe put a notation in there indicating the fastest movement value a model may climb? like 2C-3: meaning Move of 2, Sprint of 3, and can only climb while performing a Move. And then zees could be 1C-2C meaning Move of 1, Sprint of 2 and can Climb for either action.
Perhaps the Beast rule could include something where they can’t ascend x cubes or more vertically in the same Move Action, unless they hop up cubes that are x cube “steps” one after the other, or use the same kind of ramps meant for Vehicles.
Beast (0) would then mean that the model can never ascend unless there are ramps.
Beast (1) would let you climb a single cube high roof, then onto the top of the attached two cube high roof, and then an attached three cube high roof, like stairs. Still wouldn’t be able to start at the bottom and try to climb the straight vertical side of the two cube high or three cube high faces, as they would be too sheer.
Otherwise Beast could just be simplified even further so that they need ramps just like vehicles full stop. Though it would be a big deterrent for those who love Plague Hounds and Mawbeasts. You’d have to knock opponents off their high perch so that these models could get some attacks in, and then any objectives above ground level might never be held by beast models unless they begin and remain on that level or above at the beginning of the mission.
Veer-myn goin 2 base sounds a bit scary. A model that can walk twice as far as another is a huge advantage. I’d think it should be 1/3 instead. Give the +1 MV to a Sprint Action only, ‘stead of both.
Its exactly the same speed as current fast or agile models. An Yndij can sprint as a short action (~first move value, 2 cubes) or sprint and move (~second move value, 3 cubes). Theres really no difference. You could just say that Veermyn are fast. But theres less rules clutter this way.
Yes, the same for Fast/Agile. Never said it wasn’t. A full faction that has lotsa shooting being able to MV2 is different than Fast/Agile parts of a faction.
Tyr is right – there’s no real difference in tabletop movement here, just fewer rules.
Blaster is also right that there’s a difference in having some or all of your models move at this rate. I think there are so many armies that we should be using both options to get the variety in the game.
And yes, it’s scary 🙂
veermyn ARE scary… they have tiny eyes that shine with a barely veiled malevolence
You’ve seen them too?
& then a Command Dice +1 MV would mean it could go 2/4. Seems a lot less scary & crazy.
Veer-myn can already outnumber most other factions. Which means a lot of SH [albeit less accurate]. I’d hope that only non-shooting models would be the ones with a base MV more than 1.
we dont know the rest of the game changes, especially how overwatching has been streamlined.
so i would rather wait and see.
and the plague being fast do convert into the same speed stats : either run as short action (2 cubes) or run + move (3 cubes), so there is nothing new there
Yes, wait & see. I did say it *sounds scary* though. The entirety of a factions base troopers with double the MV of other factions troopers is a scary thought, nonetheless. & pointing out that tacking the extra MV onto only the long action, ‘stead of both, is a valid thought.
The Veer-myn balance their Speed with a lack in other areas. Their shooting is abysmal as well as short range, and rarely effective. They need to get in close, and the other side can see their dangerous shooters (the ones with the acid sprays) coming, so generally target them preferentially. Shooting for the Veer-myn is both difficult and unreliable. if they couldn’t move quicker than the people shooting them effectively, then they’d never get anywhere.
It also makes them play differently, which is important when you’ve got this many armies.
DZR sound really good, cant wait for the beta
Will movement rules be clear about climbing straight up? Like onto highest level of that tower on pg. 13 of current DZ rulebook.
The intent is that the rules are clear about everything 🙂
I like how you appear to have cleaned up a lot of the moving rules for changing levels and moving about in general. What about stepping off of a level to glide/fall?
Also, can we now climb over 1 cube high walls now, without needing a jump pack? Seemed weird to me that you could climb a cube high level to a rooftop or walkway but couldn’t climb the same distance and just drop down over a wall unless you had a Jump Pack. This freedom to change levels during a Sprint and moving in general seems to suggest this is the truth, but what about vertical movement? Is there any restriction on how much of your Speed you can use to change level? Do Veer-myn for example, possess the ability to ascend 3 levels now or what?
You can use as much Speed to change level as you like. So Veer-myn are very scampery.
The example you mention is an awkward one for a couple of reasons and I’m still working on how to clearly define the answer in a sentence or two.
In general, whilst you are correct that it is a little odd, it has a number of very positive game effects, so I’m very tempted to let that abstraction stand. Still not entirely sure. Maybe I should do another poll to se what people think 😉
Pingback: Deadzone Forgefathers progress | Heretic 30k
Will there be movement type symbols for models? I remember Heroclix and Mechwarrior etc had speed symbols for how they moved about, feet for on foot, wings for flyers, wheel for ground vehicles. If you need that kind of diversity. Could even give the likes of Teratons a teleport symbol or something. Maybe a jump pack symbol for Enforcers.
I don’t think we’ll be doing that. There’s no difference for the vast majority of troops, and the few that have funny movement types are as easily done by an ability. For the most part, vehicles are the only models that really care much about movement types.
I don’t know if someone asked before. I played deadzone 1.0 at my local store in some demos and always seemed to have something off, missing, and now that I discovered redux, I bought a box to play with my friends. Will it be possible to have some alpha rules to start playing the new game? Thanks!!
We’ll be putting up a public beta soon.
Thanks a lot, that would be great.
how many of the old tokens will still be used in the new rules, I am asking because I am contompleting buying the accylic tokens, and will Plague still mutate?
I don’t have a set of the acrylic ones, so I’m not 100% sure what’s in it. However, DZR still uses wounds, activated, and all the items, among others.
Mutations probably won’t be in the core game, but I’d like to bring them back later in an expansion, possibly a bit more developed.
ok thanks
Would love to see what else has changed so far in DZR. Even hints of. One thing if you haven’t already thought of it, or murdered it already would be changing Tough and Really Tough to Tough (X). Perhaps adding that Armour is hit first before any Tough comes into play for rules like Volatile (if they even still exist in DZR).
Plague Mutations revised? I know you mention above about them not being in the core DZR game, but maybe they aren’t that hard a thing to update. Spamalot and I were discussing them last Tuesday.
Current Mutation List:
Acid Bite – Fairly easy, just a weapon line.
Acid Breath- Same, only ranged
Crippling Spasms – Speed is now 1-1 or current Speed whichever is worse.
Overactive Metabolism – Speed becomes 2-3 or current Speed whichever is better.
Razor Claws – again, a weapon line.
Spiny Growths – Model gets Tough (1) or uses own Tough (x) whichever is better.
Vestigial Wings – Glide (if this rule still exists)
Wasting Muscles – model gains Vulnerable. (or perhaps Wounds (1) if models now have Wounds (2) stat as standard, those with Vulnerable would be Wounds (1).)
Done. Probably.
Hope we’ll see Mutations again for the Plague faction !
Or perhaps just Plague model variants with the appropriate mutation in effect, so its easy to tell at a glance, gives hobby lovers something else to paint, and a few less tokens to move around the board.
i think mutations should be made an integral part of the xp system for the plague faction so that
temporary mutations would be a cool feature also for plague commanders !
and i still wonder why plague do not have a “contaminate” special ability that turns any wounded model in cqc into a new plague model (either over the next turn or for the next campaign scenario !).
that would make important for enforcers for instance to recover fallen troops and/or to equip them with self destruct devices !
so much ideas can be found around the existing zombie / plague / alien themes in games, movies, comics and books that i could probably write a full faction book around it ^^
Enforcers that wear the head to toe armour (Enforcers and Peacekeepers at this point) should probably have a really low chance of becoming Plague, and then get a chance that they die instead due to internal countermeasures kicking in.
Marauders are already immune to the Plague’s method of infection, as would constructs and construct like models. Some vehicles might not be so immune, like guntracks and bikers.
Perhaps instead of counters to track mutations the more industrious hobby people among us could just kit bash mutated versions of Plague models ready to swap into play, complete with (hopefully) obvious mutations on them. Vestigial Wings, Spiny Growths, Acid Bite and Razor Claws shouldn’t be too hard. Acid Breath might have a firebreather cloud, while Wasting Muscles might be painted with obvious bruising to look already injured. The Overactive Metabolism and Crippling Spasms might just need re-poses.
The jumping Stage 2A and running 3As could serve that purpose as is. Maybe the hunchback 2A could be the Crippling Spasms guy.Though most of the bad mutations would probably be dumped onto the cheap plague hounds, so you’d probably just need the hound variants for the lame mutations.
Aren’t we gonna get some more Deadzone: Redux news soon? I need more! Or perhaps the public alpha rules? I’m really starting to itch for the 2nd edition of this game. Quicker, bloodier and faster.
Liking this. There is may a need for another stat or two as well to dissolve other key words (Like a weapon just stating how many Shoot and/or blaze away dice it gets in this same manner). I just hope this doesn’t mean that all these speedy rat brats and the like are just gonna ensure the current trend of melee or bust with so easily climbing up ladders. Terrain already doesn’t have nearly the impact it should (even the less the way I’ve seen some play).
The big one I’m looking to see as far as stat interaction goes as well is to see fight and survive work in conjunction in melee, not just choosing one over the other. One’s offense/defense may be better, but they are used in concert, not exclusviely, when fighting hand to hand. This is part of what makes Enforcers incompetent (due to the fact the current movement rules and field size make it all about melee).
But I don’t want to take away from the fact that so much has made me concerned, and this alleviated a little of it.
Dust Tactics v2 did a similar thing for a similar reason and it’s worked well there.