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More than just replicant hunting - a Mephisto review
Blade Runner Core Rules
The Blade Runner Core Rules are the basic set of rules for Blade Runner and expand on the setting and rules as presented in the Blade Runner Starter Set.
First, the book gives a detailed introduction to the Blade Runner setting. It provides the background and historical development from the 1980s, when the timeline diverges from ours, to the 2030s, when the Wallace Corporation introduces new replicants. This chapter describes exactly how the states disintegrated and how the mega-corporations became the dominant powers. You learn how Earth became a dying planet, which led to an exodus to the off-world colonies, and how eventually the artificial humans known as replicants were initially considered cheap labor, especially in the colonies. When a rebellion of individual Nexus-6 models occurred, replicants were banned completely, only to be reintroduced recently under the aegis of the ambitious Wallace Corporation. The game world focuses on the setting of Los Angeles and provides little information about the rest of the world.
One important aspect of the Blade Runner Core Rules that was missing from the Starter Set is the rules for creating your own characters. This process begins with the question of whether you want to play a human or a replicant. This choice is followed by the selection of an archetype. Another aspect here is how long the character has been a Blade Runner, which manifests itself in the statistics. Old characters have poorer attributes but better skills and specializations, and can also use more Promotion Points and Chinyen Points.
Blade Runner uses a variant of the Year Zero system, whereby different dice are used depending on the level of an attribute or skill from A to D. D stands for a d6 and A for a d12. For tests, two dice are rolled, and the aim is to get at least one 6. If you want to achieve more, more successes may be necessary.
An important element in character creation is the so-called key memory, i.e., a memory or experience that has shaped the character and which is determined by random tables. This characteristic applies to both humans and replicants. It is similar to the so-called key relation, which is a significant person in life who does not necessarily have to be a family member or friend but can theoretically be antagonistic to the character. Both concepts, which were only touched on in the Starter Set, are explored in greater depth here.
As is usual for Fria Ligan games, characters are also given a signature item, which can give them an advantage to reduce stress. Otherwise, however, the equipment is predefined as the standard gear for Blade Runners.
The rulebook once again explains the concepts of Promotion Points, which are awarded for good behavior in line with service, and Humanity Points, which are awarded for human behavior.
The professions are then introduced. These offer a few rule aspects, e.g., which specializations are available or what the core skills are, but also offer tables for appearance and names. It is noticeable here that the appearance is partly abstract and very reminiscent of the visual language of the first Blade Runner film. As professions, players can take on roles such as Analyst, Enforcer or Inspector, which are then slightly differentiated accordingly.
The book presents the skills and dice mechanisms in detail and lists the corresponding specializations. The core of the rules are combat and chases, which are tough in the case of combat because there are also tables for critical hits, which can lead to a quick death.
In addition to health, there is another value, stress, which is used when the mental or emotional well-being of the character is affected. This can happen, for example, when rolls are pushed, which means that a character first needs a break to regain their composure.
Combat rules for vehicles are also briefly explained and supplemented with random tables for chases both on foot and with vehicles. There are mainly a few minor additions here, while the core of these rules is already included in the Starter Set.
After this introduction and rules section, which takes up a little more than the first third of the book, the setting is described in more detail. The aim here is to capture the style of Blade Runner and the division of the city into two cities, namely the city of those who are mega-rich and those who have nothing. An interesting concept here is the idea that the city was built upward. This was done not only because of the available space, but also from the perspective that the impoverished population lives on the lower old floors, i.e. at street level, while the mega-rich live high up in the tops of the gigantic buildings. So you can tell someone's social status and wealth by the floor they live on.
It is also stressed that the Earth is destroyed and dying. The current inhabitants of Los Angeles are those who did not have the necessary qualifications to emigrate to the colonies, or who lack the financial means to make a good life for themselves on a broken Earth. Of course, technology, corporations, and other aspects of life are also described, although the setting here is that of Blade Runner 2049. So there are the new Nexus replicants, who can also be Blade Runners themselves, while the Wallace Corporation is the most important power factor in Los Angeles.
The city is presented by examples, with only six sectors highlighted, each offering a few exemplary locations with a brief description. This approach is deliberately chosen so that there are a few archetypal central locations for the setting, and the rest can be adapted by the game master to suit his campaign.
The outskirts of Los Angeles, such as the flooded San Diego, which has been turned into a garbage dump, are also touched upon, as are trips to the off-world colonies.
This is followed by another chapter that introduces the corporations, but also the UN as a state power, and shows how they are intertwined. Of course, the main player here is the Wallace Corporation and its charismatic leader, Niander Wallace. The replicants of the earlier series Nexus 1 to 5, the rebellious Nexus 6 and the current Nexus 9 are also introduced in detail.
The book also focuses on the role of the replicants, with the so-called Sympathizers on one side who want to grant these artificial life forms equal civil rights, while the Empathy movement would like to get rid of the replicants as job killers.
This detailed background is the element that is completely missing from the Starter Set at this level of detail, and helps to prepare the game setting for a long-term game.
The next chapter is dedicated to police work, and here there is additional information on the Starter Set, highlighting various departments and opportunities for the characters. This includes cooperation with the Wallace Corporation and expands the topic of reputation, promotion, etc. There is also an in-game leaflet explaining police work in various steps.
As in the Starter Set, the equipment chapter introduces the most important weapons, items, and vehicles and also provides a brief reference to synthetic augmentations that can be used to improve characters or buffer serious injuries. This means there are a few new features compared to the Starter Set.
The chapter for the game master is likely to be very important for the game, which once again clearly explains the game's focus. Here it is stressed that Blade Runner is not to be understood as an action role-playing game where the Blade Runners hunt down replicants, even if fights and chases are an important element of the game. Rather, this is just the outer plot around the central questions of the game, which deal with questions of being human. Here the game creates a clear parallel to the first film, which as a science fiction film was not to be understood as an action film, but rather struck a more philosophical tone.
The Blade Runner Core Rules do not include an adventure or campaign and only provide a mission generator. This means that the Starter Set plays a very significant role here because, on the one hand, it offers the rules in a compact form, but on the other hand, with Electric Dreams, it primarily contains the start of the core campaign.
Blade Runner offers a well-written and excellently illustrated and laid-out role-playing game. As usual with Fria Ligan, the rules mechanics are not too complicated, and even though the background is well worked out, it leaves plenty of room for the players' imagination.
In terms of craftsmanship, the book offers a very well-made role-playing game, which, in my view, can have certain challenges for the game master or may not meet the expectations of the players. This is because the focus here is really on aspects of what it means to be human, and whether the replicants are human or not. The cases that the player characters solve actually take a back seat and only serve as a backdrop for playing with these questions. Although this is an exciting approach in itself, it is unlikely to be easy for many game masters to consequently include in their campaigns without further ideas or ready-made adventures, and it also requires the right players to get involved.
It's probably the same here as with the first Blade Runner movie. Anyone who thinks they are being served a furious action spectacle will likely be disappointed. However, if you get involved with the themes, you will get a role-playing game that can strike a profound chord. In my opinion, this makes the game suitable for a limited target group because players who only see the action aspect are not the target group here. Even if the game has sensible but tough rules for battles and chases, these cannot carry the game in the long term — this should be done through the deeper themes. For a good introduction to better understand how the game actually works, the Starter Set is an essential addition alongside the Core Rules. In my opinion, without the campaign start, it is a great challenge for the game master to play the game as it is intended. Perhaps the Blade Runner movie can be used as a test here: Anyone who finds the movie boring and too slow is unsurprisingly also wrong for this game. However, if you can get involved in the focused setting with its deeper themes, you will find an exciting game here.
(Björn Lippold)
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