The official role-playing game based on the Blade Runner series!
Los Angeles. A neon-noir land of wonders that takes your breath away. With admiration. Or with horror. A world of contrasts and conflicts that stirs the imagination, where difficult questions are boldly asked and issues of the power of empathy, the toxicity of fear, or the burden of humanity in inhuman times are explored. A vivid, ruthless playground of endless possibilities that brutally puts you on your feet and hits you straight in the face, tearing you out of sleep.
Time to start living. Or time to die.
Winner of the ENNIE Gold Award in the Best Layout and Design category 2023
Is there a spark of humanity burning inside you?
Once Los Angeles was a city of endless possibilities. A land of towers shining in the sun, the fulfillment of every young person's dreams. They said: per aspera ad astra - and the sky was Los Angeles. The city of angels.
Soon the stars turned into neon lights.
After dark, Los Angeles is more gloomy, and its winding streets often flow with blood. That is why every day you go on duty. Here is your personal drama: a guardian of order, used to scare small children. The city fears you. It despises you. Without you, it is doomed to destruction. You endure in the rain, fog, and darkness, amidst the chaos of boiling crowds. In a worn trench coat, forever on the trail of something elusive.
In the Blade Runner role-playing game, you will become the titular android hunter from the Replicant Detection Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. As a detective - human or replicant - you will face criminal mysteries of the rainy megalopolis bathed in the light of pulsating neon. Every day brings new investigations, new case files on your desk, new difficult questions without answers, and another drama that basically does not concern you. But someone has to bear this burden on their shoulders. It fell on you.
What will you find inside?
- Mechanics based on the well-known and multiple award-winning Year Zero Engine, but specially adapted and expanded to best capture the character of gameplay in the Blade Runner role-playing game.
- A description of Los Angeles in 2037, shortly after the Wallace Corporation introduced the Nexus-9 series replicants to the market, allowing you to play as one of them.
- As many as seven types of hunters, whose choice will define your role in the team and give special skills.
- Mechanics of key memories and relationships that will give your character identity.
- Mechanics of Humanity and Career points, through which you will develop your character.
- A description of investigative procedures, equipment, and everything you need to survive on the streets of the City of Angels.
- Advice on running and creating your own Investigations, that is, gameplay scenarios.
The Blade Runner role-playing game expands the boundary of criminal RPGs, giving players the tools necessary during every investigation, not just during replicant retirements. Moreover, the world and game mechanics emphasize the most important themes of the Blade Runner series - brutal action, corporate intrigues, the drama of identity collapse, and moral conflicts.
During the game, you will doubt friends, sympathize with enemies, and check how much and if at all hope and humanity remain in you.
IMPORTANT! The Core Rulebook for the Blade Runner role-playing game refers in its content to the Starter Set. The Starter Set contains Investigation Files, that is, a scenario through which you will easily step into dystopian Los Angeles with your friends, learn the rules in practice, and face the first dilemmas that are an indispensable part of gameplay in this system.
WARNING! This game, like the entire Blade Runner series, addresses difficult existential issues. It allows creating brutal, disturbing stories and questioning players' personal beliefs. Therefore, it is not suitable for children.