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Replicant Rebellion, the newest expansion for the Blade Runner RPG is about to drop onto Kickstarter and by the looks of it, it’s shaping up to be a pretty essential addition to the base game.
While the Kickstarter campaign page for Blade Runner: Replicant Rebellion may not go live until May 28, we have already gotten a sneak peek of what we can expect from the release and I have to admit I’m impressed.
For those out of the loop, Blade Runner RPG is a TTRPG adaptation of the 1982 film, Blade Runner that is published by Free League – the folks behind some of the best tabletop RPGs like The One Ring and The Walking Dead RPG. Like Deckard and K, players in the base Blade Runner RPG take up the position of a blade runner. They’re faced with wrestling internal moral contradictions, pondering questions of humanity … or just wiping out those fugitive Replicants out with reckless abandon, I guess. That’s up to you.
But in Replicant Rebellion, the script has totally flipped. This time round, you embody the role of a rogue Replicant within the Replicant Underground, tasked with evading Blade Runners and building a revolution against the powers that be who wish to see your kind quietly ‘retired’.
Alongside the team that worked on the core Blade Runner book, Replicant Rebellion brings in the talents of Dune RPG artist Eren Arik, and Johan Nohr of Mork Borg (cast your eyes on our Mork Borg review if you need an idea of the kind of TTRPG pedigree we’re working with there). So, all this spells good things.
We’ve also gotten a glimpse at some of the book’s stunning art. These atmospheric pieces capture all the neon-soaked, neo-noir goodness of its source material while still feeling fresh and unique in its own right. So yeah, Free League seems to be continuing their streak of having some of the prettiest tabletop RPG books on the market.
Needless to say, I am very excited to give Replicant Rebellion a try. In my view, the appeal of cyberpunk settings isn’t just the glowing cities and cybernetically-enhanced anti-heroes. These kinds of hyper-consumerist dystopias create great narrative tension and make for really engaging underdog stories – what better backdrop for an adventure?
Replicant Rebellion has the potential to be something along the lines of a slightly grittier Detroit: Become Human, but brought to your tabletop rather than your PlayStation. That sounds like a winner in my book. If that sounds like your bag too, I’d recommend hopping over the Kickstarter page for the project and backing it soon, so you can receive the finished PDF months in advance of its full release and even score yourself some sweet Kickstarter-exclusive bonuses.
If you’re on the lookout for more top-notch TTRPG releases, be sure to take a peek at our picks for the best D&D books. Alternatively, if you prefer meeples to minis, our list of the best board games could be right up your alley.
