Recently we had an all-day gaming session trying out the Blade Runner RPG from Free League. We played through the starter set scenario, Electric Dreams in about 10 hours. I GMed the game for five players, so these are some thoughts from that perspective.
The Mechanics
Blade Runner uses Free League’s ‘Year Zero Engine’, although the differences between iterations of YZE are quite large. The Alien RPG uses pools of D6s, but Blade Runner uses different sized dice to represent levels of ability. You roll dice for your attribute and skill, each ranked from A (a D12) down to D (a D6). Rolling 6+ generates successes, and 10+ two successes. If you fail, you can push (re-roll) at some risk. 1s on a pushed roll cause physical or mental harm, and 1s cannot be re-rolled. While the raw odds of success are similar across the variants, the feeling of pushing is rather different. As I’ve discussed earlier, Alien gives a growing sense of dread as successive pushed rolls increase both risk and reward. Blade Runner feels much more controlled – there’s no building threat and the cost of a pushed roll is quite predictable.
Image provided by Free League for use in commentary. Lead Artist: Martin Grip
That might sound negative, but I really like how Free League’s games are tuned to their genre. Alien is horror, so dread and building threat are key. That’s not the case in Blade Runner, and pushed rolls are not the mechanism that propels the drama. Instead, Blade Runner uses a Countdown. This is not directly visible to the players, but each Shift (the basic unit of time in investigations, about six hours) characters can visit one location – the crime scene, a suspect’s apartment, the LAPD mainframe. After a certain number of Shifts events trigger, escalating the drama. This Countdown scales to the number of players (more investigators means a faster clock), keeping pressure on the investigation.
Cutting to the Chase
Two other changes from Alien were the inclusion of chase mechanics and critical injuries. In a chase you each choose a ‘move’ (e.g. block or cut off) in secret and reveal them simultaneously. Another deck of cards (or die roll) determines a complication based on whether the chase is on foot, in a vehicle, or airborne.
Two or more successes scored on an attack trigger a critical success leading to roll for additional effects. These range from relatively minor (broken nose) to instantly lethal (brains blown out). This results in very dangerous combat, especially with firearms which can easily kill with a single shot.
In our game these came together when the investigators were chasing a combat-model replicant. The prey’s high physical skills made it very difficult to catch up and then wrestle them to the ground. In the end the solution was to open fire (leading to severe injuries). The chase rules are conceptually very nice, but advantage in a few key areas makes them quite one-sided. This is perhaps realistic, but not always fun. We only had foot chases in our game, but I think vehicle chases could be worse, since almost all rolls are Driving tests. The chase rules also assume a single pursuer and prey, and resolution can be confusing if this is not the case.
Blade Runner Case Files
Blade Runner is on the surface an investigation game, and it is structured in Case Files. I won’t go into the details of Electric Dreams, but the inciting event is the killing of a replicant LAPD officer in a club. A briefing delivers a number of leads to the players, and impresses the time pressure on them. There are a lot of references to both films. For example, the briefing is given by Deputy Chief Holden – the Holden shot by the replicant Leon Kowalski in the opening scene of the original film. These don’t distract (and I expect I missed quite a few) but help tie the game to the source material.
Each scene has a number of clues and links to other locations. There are NPCs to interview, crime scene photos to pour over, and conspiracies to uncover. The starter set comes with a range of great props, that help convey the neon-noir setting. These also help to overcome the problem of delivering clues in descriptions of locations. Players can find the key details in crime scene photos rather than the GM having to balance giving sufficient hints in their descriptions against just delivering the plot.
to the Case File.
The Countdown also helps to solve some of the issues that can occur in investigative games. If players fail to build a case, then events overtake them and come to a conclusion regardless. Successful investigation, however, can lead to better conclusions and provide more options to deal with the climax. Overall, the starter case file was a satisfying and engaging introduction. Preparing your own scenarios with the same quality of support would be difficult, however.
Theme and Impact
I said earlier that Blade Runner is an investigation on the surface. As in the films, the investigation drives the action but that’s not what it’s really about. Moral conflict and what it means to be human lie at the core of the game. This can lead to some dark places, but for me led to an intense and satisfying conclusion. There was physical conflict and action, but there was also moral conflict and drama.
I am not sure that my experience playing Blade Runner was as directly evocative of the film as Alien, but it hit a lot of the same points. I think that the films (both Ridley Scott’s original and Denis Villeneuve’s sequel) are driven by a visual style that is hard to replicate. The handouts provided in the box help, but role-playing games are not really a visual medium. The images in the books (and the Kickstarter digital art book) are excellent, and really feel a part of the setting. In the end, however, the game is in the conversation at the table, not on a page or a screen.
Final Thoughts
For me, Free League has made another excellent game in Blade Runner. While the medium cannot deliver the visual impact of the films, it successfully conveys the same themes and style. High production values, thoughtful mechanics (albeit with some issues), and strong scenario design combine to deliver a satisfying and impactful experience. The countdown timer provides both pacing and insurance against a ‘failed’ investigation, and the simple, elegant system carries the story rather than getting in the way.