Judging the Game

Original Boxed Set · Battle Book + Campaign Book

The Judge's Job

The Judge runs the world. Players control their heroes; the Judge controls everything else — villains, bystanders, weather, the police, the laws of physics. The Judge is also the rules referee: when the rules say "make a FEAT roll," the Judge picks the column and intensity.

The 1984 Basic Set leans on Judge discretion more than later editions. When in doubt, ask: "Would a comic book panel of this make sense?" If yes, allow it. If no, set up a FEAT roll.

Non-Player Characters

Common NPC stat blocks from the Campaign Book — use them as starting points and adjust for the scene:

Ability	Soldier	SWAT	Thug	Citizen
Fighting	Excellent	Excellent	Typical	Typical
Agility	Typical	Good	Typical	Typical
Strength	Typical	Good	Typical	Typical
Endurance	Good	Good	Typical	Typical
Reason	Typical	Typical	Poor	Typical
Intuition	Typical	Good	Typical	Typical
Psyche	Poor	Typical	Poor	Typical
Health	42	46	26	24
Talent	Military	Law Enf.	—	—

Reactions

When a hero deals with a crowd or a stranger, the Judge calls for a Popularity FEAT (see Popularity). The result shapes the encounter:

Green: Crowd is friendly, listens to advice, mild help.
Yellow: Crowd is enthusiastic, willing to do simple things (call for ambulance, watch the door).
Red: Crowd is rallied, willing to risk something to help.
White: Crowd is hostile, ignores or fights the hero.

The hero's situation matters — a crowd in a burning building won't refuse to leave just because the dice say so.

Random Encounters

To keep the campaign world feeling alive, the Judge can roll for random encounters each day. The Campaign Book provides sample tables; the basic idea is:

Roll 1d10 (or d% for nuanced tables) each game day.
If the roll hits a listed entry, that encounter occurs.
Encounters range from trivial (a fender-bender) to plot-driving (a kidnapping the heroes happen across).

Animals & Special Environments

The Campaign Book includes guidelines for stats on animals (guard dogs, insects, etc.) and rules for environments that affect heroes (vacuum, underwater, extreme cold/heat). These use the standard FEAT framework — the Judge picks the intensity and the affected ability.

Karma Awards

Karma is the Judge's main feedback mechanism. Give it generously for genuine heroism, deduct it for unheroic acts. See Karma for the full schedule.

One Karma-related tip: a Judge who never deducts Karma is just dispensing XP. The penalties are what make Karma matter — the threat of losing it changes how players approach moral dilemmas.