Has Judge Dredd been soft Retconned?

[Frank]

the brain still ages and (in the real world) dementia is the leading cause of death, at 10% or so.

Only if you count different kinds of cancer separately, and Dredd shook off the Big C like a sniffly cold.

Death Of A Legend and Alzheimer's Block were 20 and 26 years ago, respectively - back when all the Carousel clinic could do to offset the effects of the aging process was sell you a slightly blurry mirror *.


* The only reason Tharg booked an appointment with Doc Carousel was to stop us moaning that a septugenarian couldn't take the punishment doled out to Dredd every week. I can't see us carping because a 90 year old Dredd can still remember where he left his keys.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I can't help but think that this thread is a whole debate over nothing. Is the Dude's point really that he's miffed that Rebellion are keeping Dredd alive? If so, fundamentally, why?

I like reading Judge Dredd and am happy with the stories and it feels like a gripe without basis. Still, The Internet.

in rebuttal it can be argued that all the threads on this Forum are about nothing! This is afterall a fictional character that has no impact upon anything other than our entertainment. There are obviously enough people who wish to discuss this topic with some attempt at rationalising this whole age issue, because it is enjoyable to just ponder it for its own sake.

The why question what Rebellion are doing? Why not the editor or writers?

[PDitta]

The Dredd RPG I run dealt with the issue of Dredd's rejuve directly (I'm going to kill him off). Rejuve treatment for someone of Dredd's age is spectacularly expensive and subject to the law of diminishing returns. He will require more expensive treatments more often as he gets older and the probability of degenerative failure increases over time.

So, in the version if MC1 I RPG in, Dredd is a significant budget header for Justice Dept. He's a symbol, and the council of five underwrite the expense. They simply don't do it for other, less storied judges.

In my RPG, Dredd is starting to show signs that the degeneration is kicking in. There are also the crop of younger judges who think HE is part of the problem; he's a throwback to an era that is over. The infallibility of the judge system has been disproved and they are starting to ask the question: Are we actually the best for MC1 or do we need to start preparing the ground for a return to some sort of democracy?

Anyway....my two cents.

[Richard]

That's an interesting argument. On the other hand, the fact that Total War, a pro-democracy terrorist group, were in league with the people who were responsible for Chaos Day, might have discredited democracy somewhat (not necessarily fairly, but still).

[Proudhuff]

I'd love to see the Stupid Gun come back. Just saying.

You're in Canada, how could you tell?

[Trout]

I'd love to see the Stupid Gun come back. Just saying.

You're in Canada, how could you tell?

I could take a glance at how the UK has been voting.

[JLC]

Who cares, any way they think of to keep him going is fine with me.

[hippynumber1]

I'd love to see the Stupid Gun come back. Just saying.

You're in Canada, how could you tell?

I could take a glance at how the UK has been voting.

Ouch! 

[sheridan]

The Dredd RPG I run dealt with the issue of Dredd's rejuve directly (I'm going to kill him off). Rejuve treatment for someone of Dredd's age is spectacularly expensive and subject to the law of diminishing returns. He will require more expensive treatments more often as he gets older and the probability of degenerative failure increases over time.

As a matter of interest - which rules system are you using?  One of the pre-existing JD RPG, or adapting something else?  For the record, the pre-existing ones are GW (vaguely WFRP-based), D20, Traveller and the upcoming WOiN-based World of 2000AD game.