Blade Runner tabletop RPG launches on Kickstarter today, dream sequences confirmed
Alongside Baseline tests.
The Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the official Blade Runner tabletop roleplaying game is launching today.
A tabletop RPG based on the series that began with the classic 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott, the Blade Runner RPG is seeing the launch of its Kickstarter campaign today, with backers able to get a copy of the core rule book – as well as a limited-edition version – and a starter set with their pledges.
New details about the upcoming tabletop roleplaying game have been revealed via series of images of its rulebook, including gameplay mechanics surrounding player-advancement.
As blade runners – members of the Los Angeles Police Department who are specifically tasked with hunting down illegal androids called replicants – the players in the Blade Runner RPG will gain promotion points by doing their jobs, whether that’s finding evidence, solving a case or apprehending a rogue replicant. Promotion points can be used to gain benefits such as new specialties, gear or even better pay. Getting three or more promotion points in a single session will result in a player character getting a distinction from the Deputy Chief Holden.
However, should players fail to perform their duties as blade runners then they may be docked promotion points, possibly leading to disciplinary action. Choosing to be merciful towards a targeted replicant may lead to promotion points being lost, but it can see player characters gaining humanity points that can be used to increase skill levels. Replicant player characters can acquire humanity points by failing a Baseline Test, which is when the LAPD establishes whether a replicant blade runner isn’t slipping too far away from cold rationality and towards dangerous human emotion.
The newly revealed rulebook images also confirmed the existence of dream sequences in the Blade Runner TRPG. Both Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 – the sequel film directed by Denis Villeneuve that was released in 2017 – feature dream sequences that are crucial to their plots and to the main characters’ identity. The dream sequences in the Blade Runner roleplaying game can be used by players to determine something about their character, and even possibly unearth a clue to a mystery hidden within their subconscious.
The Blade Runner tabletop RPG will be published by Free League Publishing, the studio responsible for releasing various other TPRGs such as a roleplaying game based on another of Ridley Scott’s classic films, 1979’s Alien, and the 1980s inspired sci-fi RPG Tales from the Loop.
The Kickstarter campaign for the Blade Runner TRPG is now live.