Blade Runner: The Next Million Dollar Kickstarter?

Free League's Blade Runner Kickstarter has just launched, and is tearing through stretch goals after funding in just 3 minutes. It looks very likely that this will be the company's second million dollar Kickstarter (following last year's The One Ring campaign, which raised over $2M). It will also be the third million dollar Kickstarter in the last month, following Matt Colville's Flee Mortals!, and Monte Cook Games' Old Gods of Appalachia.

Blade Runner was voted the Most Anticipated TTRPG of 2022 by readers of EN World right here.

Free League's other million dollar Kickstarter, The One Ring, did $521K on the first day and finished with $2M. Compared to the other million dollar campaigns in the last few weeks --

• Flee Mortals! did $788K on the first day.
• Old Gods of Appalachia did $679K on the first day.
• Only one campaign has done $1M+ on day 1, and that was Avatar Legends with $1.15M on the first day.

Check Out These Bladerunner RPG Previews

Free League has shared some previews of its Bladerunner RPG, which comes to Kickstarter next week on May 3rd and looks very likely to be the third million dollar Kickstarter in the last month.

www.enworld.org

BLADE RUNNER – The Roleplaying Game

Walk the neon-noir streets of Los Angeles 2037 in the official BLADE RUNNER RPG from Free League Publishing and Alcon Entertainment.

www.kickstarter.com

 

[Grendel_Khan]

One day i was listening to a PKD collection on audiobook and I was floored with a story called (If I remember right) "The Third Kind" -- from which the entirety of the post-bombs world of Terminator is stolen. I mean, almost word for word in places.

I think you're talking about Second Variety, which is a cool one. The movie Screamers is based on it (Ioosely, as with most PKD adaptations).

 

[overgeeked]

The early bird gift seems pretty minor (imo) in this case. I'm sure it's a nice art print, but I know I'm about 30 years too old to be displaying that anywhere.

On a related note, though, I hope Martin Grip makes as much money from this book as anyone else involved, if not more. His art is why core books like this and Alien work as well as they do.

Yeah, that’s a weird argument to me. I doubt many, if any, people who’d be interested in throwing $50-100+ at a physical copy of a Blade Runner RPG would nope out because they missed a day one exclusive art print.

 

[overgeeked]

They might have some other reason they can't leave. In the first movie, I think Sebastian mentions that he has some sort of physical ailment that prevents him from being qualified to live off world.

I backed the Kickstarter at the Off World bundle level. I'm looking forward to this and hope I can get people to play the game.

In the book, the radioactive fallout from World War Terminus mutates people. Anyone who’s sufficiently off “baseline human” is legally barred from emigrating. Only the healthy and mentally fit are allowed to populate the stars. Along with everyone owning an animal, radical empathy, Mercerism, all the other androids, Morrison Street station, and Buster Friendly…the book is filled to bursting with juicy ideas just waiting to be used. I won’t spoil the book, so don’t ask. Just go read it.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, that’s a weird argument to me.

I’m not arguing anything.

 

[darjr]

It is fun to watch. Is this in any way compatible to Alien or thier other in house engine games?

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

The early bird gift seems pretty minor (imo) in this case. I'm sure it's a nice art print, but I know I'm about 30 years too old to be displaying that anywhere.

I'm old and I back some kickstarters early to get art prints to put in my basement game room and TV room!

 

[payn]

I was waffling between standard and collector core rule book. I like the cover of the standard better, but that one time collector! Since I game 99% online now or via PDF, I went collector copy since it will likely sit on the shelf and remain pristine.

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

It is fun to watch. Is this in any way compatible to Alien or thier other in house engine games?

Yes. Not completely but close. Both use versions of the Year Zero Engine (OGL version). Alien uses a d6 dice pool and Blade Runner will use a paired die pool.

A bit dated now, but here is an article on Free League's early years. Part two (art links are broken).

 

[schneeland]

It’s interesting to see they went with the Twilight variant of Year Zero. Hopefully they will share a bit about the rules already during the campaign.

 

[GreyLord]

My guess is that it will hit a million tomorrow or the next day...wild guess on my part.