I was skeptical when Free League announced their Alien RPG, yet it became one of my favorite horror RPGs. Like, instantly. The Blade Runner franchise is less picked over — two movies, both of which I enjoyed, an animated series I’ve not yet seen, some book and comics that don’t cast a terribly long shadow. And yet, again, Free League announced an RPG, and I was skeptical (note that in both these cases, skepticism did not prevent me from, you know, buying the games).

This is the Blade Runner Starter Set (2022), which, like Alien, has a light version of the rules, dice, cards and a cinematic scenario, complete with a rather decadent envelope of handouts. The production value here is very high — this was probably Free League’s finest looking product until the release of Dragonbane, and even then the margin is narrow.

The system is a modified Year Zero. This is the first time it’s used different valued dice, but success is still a 6, so higher value skills have greater chances of success. The rest of the system seems pretty generic — combat is essentially unchanged from the last few YZE games I’ve read, there is a stress mechanic, and so on. There is a cool chase mechanic, where each side selects secret maneuvers and the GM pulls a random obstacle, then all the participants hash out a resolution, then resolve or continue the chase from there. There is a lot of framework for investigation, too — a digital assistant, ways to leverage assets and so on.

It all feels good, but I’m still a little unsure. It didn’t have that magic a-ha that Alien did. I want to see it in play, and I’m not sure when I am going to get it to the table. It’s handsome though and nails that early cybernoir aesthetic squarely — it’s so smooth and dreary and rainy it almost seems like an entirely different genre than other modern cyberpunk games. If for nothing else, I appreciate it for that. On the other hand, the only character class is “Cop,” which doesn’t feel good at all.