Free League Immerses Me Again
I purchased the Aliens RPG done by Free League Publishing some time ago.
It took me ages to slowly read through the 400 page book.
I don't actually play the RPG. I just enjoy the Aliens Universe and the immersion that that book provided me.
Fiery The Angels Fell
The opening chapter sets the stage by describing the Blade Runner World.
It is set in an alternate dystopian future, Los Angelas in the year is 2037.
The Earth has become an environmental mess, which has motivated the creation of Off World settlements.
Governments have collapsed, Megacorps rise, and the smartest and richest, have left the planet - leaving the poor and "Specials", to eek out an existence.
Technology has led to the creation of Automons, called Replicants, that run upon AI and undertake the dangerous and servant works within society.
The lead up to 2037 has caused massive amounts of tension within Earth.
Replicant revolts, jobs being lost to robots, and a decaying world has placed the world upon a knife edge.
The world is built on a wall. It separates kind. Tell either side there's no wall, you bought a war. Or a slaughter" (Lt Joshi, Blade Runner 2049)
The summary of events demonstrates the authors' love of Blade Runner. It keeps true to the movies and surrounding Lore.
It reinvigorated my enjoyment of the movies and setting.
Film Noir
A Blade Runner are specially trained police members who "uphold and enfore the UN regulations regarding the domestic use and abuse of Replicants and other monitored entities and technologies deemed as public saftety threats within Earth borders." (page8 8)
In the first movie, starring Harrison Ford, Blade Runners were human and used a Voight-Kampff machine to test is the individual was a trespassing Replicant. That was in the setting of 2019.
By 2037, a Replicant could also be a Blade Runner, and modern Replicants were identifiable by a serial number under the right eyeball.
The role then focusing on retiring older Replicant units and other policing activities around the technology and trafficking.
The Theme
The Game is set to focus upon Key Themes;
- Sci-Fi Action
- Character Drama
- Corporate Intrigue
The goal is designed to create scenarios of investigation involving Moral Conflict and Sould Searching.
Not just around the case being investigated, but also, activities surrounding the Agent's non-work life.
Time Critical
The Case involves a time line.
In order to solve the case, Characters need to keep track of their time, as well as, keeping track of the facts gathered.
That Completes the First Chapter
The next Chapter will describe how to make a Character in the game.
This first Chapter sets the scene.
You can watch the two Blade Runner movies.
You can read the book, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, that the movie is based upon, here
There is alot of difference between the book, and the movies, so I like to keep my mind open to the immersion into the genre - it is perfectly, not-perfect.
If you enjoy the setting, the artwork, the movies, film noir and roleplaying, then you will get a buzz from this.
