Blade Runner is a franchise I love, ever since I was introduced to it by my mother when I was young. The original book it is based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, is not one I have read though, due to being dyslexic, it’s very difficult to read, and imagine a story, yet the original film I have watched many times, and the 1997 game, I have played to being able to remember so many voice lines.

Since the recent film, Blade Runner 2049, everything has taken off, and the world of Blade Runner ever expanding. We have seen comics, an anime, various shorts, a VR game, ontop of a new PC game planned, and a new series in the works. This is before I even mention the table top roleplay game, published by Free League.

The roleplay game came out in 2022, and is set in the in-universe year of 2037. It allows players to take on the role of a Blade Runner, I can also say that I have had a positive experience playing the game, every Wednesday night. There is a starter set, that came out on launch as well, in the original Kickstarter, with a beautiful casefile, full of handouts. Following the success of this, Free League made a second casefile, known as Fiery Angels, again Kickstarter was used, and it came out in April, the group I am in has just concluded this case.

So naturally, Free League has come out with another Kickstarter to expand the Blade Runner roleplay, this time it’s the Replicant Rebellion and Asset Pack. The asset pack will be great for the game master to spin up their own casefiles much easier than having to design their own templates from scratch, which can be time consuming, and less friendly for newer game masters.

If anyone has ever run a roleplay game, they understand how hard it is to build a world for players to explore, my only experience is in running Cyberpunk RED, lucky for me, my Borg implants allow me to adapt to the unpredictable nature of humans. The Blade Runner casesfiles do railroad players more than most TTRPGs, but they also encourage the person running the game to allow players to find clues in other areas.

Of course, that is just the Asset Pack, the main feature is the Replicant Rebellion rules, and story. This allows players to go back to the point the Starter Set casefile takes place, and take on the role of a replicant, or replicant sympathiser. Exploring the abuse aimed at replicants, possibly running from Blade Runners, and hiding in plain sight.

For me personally, when this comes out, it’s going to be quite a dynamic shift as a player. My current character is one who deeply hates replicants, has done for many years, she’s been with the LAPD for 20 years. So to swap from this, to a character that either sympathises with, or is a replicant, will be a shift in the tone I have to take! Is this one I am looking forward to? Absolutely, I love expanding the range of roleplay characters I have taken on.

Currently, the Kickstarter has six days left to go, but has already met its goal, just one stretch goal to go now, and Free League have always been good on delivering their Kickstarter projects, not to mention that backing will give you a copy of the Alpha rulebook shortly after the funding ends. Even if you never plan to play the game, the artwork alone is beautiful, and I think captures everything about Blade Runner.

Finally, they also have support for the online tabletop Alchemy and Foundry, so those who play online, and not in-person can still enjoy this game. It’s great to see such a revival of the Blade Runner series, and one that is being respected by all who are adding to it.

You can find the Kickstarter here and the Free League page for the Blade Runner RPG here, should you wish to consider either, or both options.

Are you interested in the Blade Runner TTRPG? Or will you forget about it, like tears in the rain?

WRITTEN & EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com
IMAGES FROM Free League