Paul,
Until we get a thread I posted my character concept here. I present:
Jephthah Crowe
He is a repressed, brittle, hypocritical Internal Affairs officer reassigned to Rep-Detect after making enemies inside the LAPD. He believes in order, purity, procedure, and moral hierarchy. He tells himself the world is diseased and that someone must hold the line.
But Los Angeles does not respect lines.
Other Blade Runners distrust him because they think he is still an Internal Affairs spy. Wallace representatives dislike him because he is too procedural and obstructive. Street contacts find him strange, frightening, or faintly ridiculous. He is not a suave noir detective. He is formal, awkward, severe, and visibly uncomfortable with the moral ambiguity of his own work.
He wants to be incorruptible.
He is not.
His religious beliefs tell him that Replicants and machines have no souls. To him, encoded morality is not humanity. A Replicant's emotional responses are not conscience, but circuitry. Retirement is not murder; it is the responsible deactivation of a dangerous or obsolete device.
That is what he says.
But during his time in Internal Affairs, he encountered a Replicant involved in a corruption investigation. He should have reported, retired, or transferred her to proper custody. Instead, he "saved" her.
Now she has become his secret confessor.
He visits her to confess his sins, his humiliations, his desires, his disgust, and his failures. He tells himself this is safe because she has no soul and cannot grant absolution. She is only a vessel. A mirror. A machine that listens.
But that is the lie.
He has begun to need her judgment. He has begun to fear her disappointment. He has begun to love her, though he cannot admit that without destroying the entire structure of his belief.
Detective Jephthah Crowe, LAPD Rep-Detect
Formerly an Internal Affairs investigator, Crowe was reassigned to Rep-Detect after uncovering an LAPD corruption network that reached too high to prosecute. Officially, the transfer was a promotion into sensitive fieldwork. Unofficially, it was exile.
Crowe is severe, formal, devout, and deeply uncomfortable in the social ecosystem of Los Angeles. He believes civilization survives only through order, restraint, and punishment. He views Replicants as soulless manufactured beings whose simulated morality cannot equal human conscience. To him, retirement is not execution. It is the deactivation of a dangerous device.
Years ago, during an Internal Affairs case, Crowe encountered a Replicant witness, EV-6, who should have vanished into departmental custody. Instead, he hid her.
He now visits her in secret and confesses everything.
His failures. His envy. His lust. His rage. His corruption. His fear that he enjoys judgment more than justice.
He tells himself it is not sacrilege because she has no soul.
He tells himself it is not love because she is not human.
He tells himself many things.
He did not save her out of mercy alone.
He saved her because she saw him clearly.
Not as an officer. Not as a righteous man. Not as a hypocrite hiding behind procedure.
As a frightened, lonely, compromised man who needs forgiveness but does not believe anyone has the authority to give it.
He cannot reconcile his doctrine with the fact that he needs her, trusts her, and may be in love with her.
I would read an entire series of books about this guy. Nice work!
Something I'm thinking of trying is 'casting' the characters who appear. I've used this in the past in Feng Shui games and it worked well there. Is there a person you can see as playing Crowe? Feel free to draw on anyone who has, does, or might work as an actor. Bonus internet points if you can post a picture.
Hmmm... I'm actually reluctant to do that. I dont want to type cast or determine a direction for the character but see how it develops through play.
I can say that I used a Solomon Cane and Nelson Van Alden (Boardwalk Empire) as a mashup for a character concept. Thought now I am playing with the idea that instead of going Judeo-Christian I am considering his conflict is based more on the Ghost Dance movement and that Replicants are not real because they have no dead who remember and their memories were stolen from those who did.
Im trying to thread the needle between blade runner tropes and detective stereotypes.
Make it your own - I love the idea of memories being at the core of his conflict.
I'm ready when you are. :-B :-B
Is anyone else interested in joining in? If not, I'm prepared to go as a one-on-one game.
I'm looking at bringing a replicant enforcer to the table. Mara Voss is her name presently. Still working on a character introduction.
Probably a workname, since her actual legal ID will be an alphanumeric string, but sounds like fun - a proper combat wombat!
Quote from: Telcontar on May 08, 2026, 08:50 AMI'm ready when you are. :-B :-B
Have you had a go at statting up Detective Crowe? I'm interested to see how well your vision comes through in numerical terms.
Indeed I have.
Detective L / "Elle" or "Elly"
Serial designation: LE1-1.3
Archetype: Enforcer
Role: LAPD Rep-Detect field operative
Function: Tactical containment, pursuit, retirement support, officer protection
Central Conflict: Elle is afraid that her compassion is just a compliance feature and her conscience is nothing more than a Wallace-installed behavioral safeguard.
• When she spares someone, is that mercy?
• When she protects Crowe, is that loyalty?
• When she feels horror at retirement, is that conscience?
Or is it all design?
Core Drives:
• Prove obedience is not the same as goodness.
• Discover whether conscience can be manufactured.
• Protect the law from the people who use it as camouflage.
• Find out why humans fear being judged by their creations.
Introduction: Elle is everything Crowe says Replicants are supposed to be: obedient, precise, controlled, and brutally effective.
But she is also everything Crowe says Replicants cannot be: morally burdened, self-examining, protective, capable of restraint, and increasingly haunted by the difference between obedience and righteousness.
Elle is a Nexus-9 Replicant assigned to Rep-Detect as a field enforcer and tactical retrieval specialist. She was built for dangerous arrests, close protection, pursuit, and retirement operations. She is calm, exact, and almost painfully literal. She doesn't raise her voice or threaten or posture. To the LAPD, she is an asset; to Wallace, she is proof of product reliability; to other Blade Runners, she is either a useful weapon or an uncomfortable reminder that the department now employs the thing it hunts.
But Elle is beginning to evolve.
She has retired Replicants... and she remembers their names, she sees every faces, hears their last words, recalls the fear, the anger, and the pleading... why would a machine need to justify what it has done?
Officially, Elle believes in the work. Rogue older models are unstable, dangerous, and illegal. The law gives orders, Wallace provides oversight, and LAPD executes the warrants. But the longer she serves, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between retirement and killing. "Deactivation," as Crowe calls is, seems a convenient way to avoid repentance.
Elle was assigned to Crowe because nobody else wants him – Internal Affairs hates him, Rep-Detect distrusts him, Wallace finds him obstructive. So, the department pairs him with an N-9 enforcer because, on paper, she is incorruptible, obedient, and incapable of being socially manipulated... probably the only partner who won't flatter him, fear him, or mock him.
And, for Crowe.. well, he gets to be paired with the very thing he despises. Elle is sure someone, somewhere is getting a kick out the arrangement.
Crowe unsettles her. Not because he despises Replicants (she's used to that), but because he needs Replicants all the while denying them. He speaks of souls, judgment, purity, corruption, and sin as if these are human properties only, yet Elle has seen humans lie, brutalize, betray, and then try to wash their hands and excuse themselves. And she has seen Replicants beg, grieve, protect, and forgive.
Does she have a soul? Elle doesn't know... but she knows that Crowe is afraid she might, and that frightens him more than any weapon.
Truly, I am a lucky GM to have players who serve such characters up to me! Posterboy, if you would please pop some details into a character sheet (available at the same link I gave you the book from) we will have everything we need to get started except for an online space.
Tom, did you get on to Doug to ask him about that?
For sure. I should have it up by tomorrow.
Oh, and see if you can find a good picture of Elle. Not mandatory, but helpful.
Hey, I'm delayed. My wife and a number of my kids were in a car accident. While they are all okay, our van is not, and they are all about 16 hours from home. I've been on the phone throughout this day with insurance, trying to secure a vehicle big enough to get them home. Anyway, I'm tired. I'm going to hit the hay.
As far as casting goes, I have a young Gina Carano in mind for Elle.
Shit, mate - I'm glad everyone's alright! Take all the time you need. We're not going to start without you.
Quote from: posterboyAs far as casting goes, I have a young Gina Carano in mind for Elle.
Attached image submitted for your approval.
Here's what I have in mind.
Outstanding!
This thread will be used for all out of character conversations.
I love that first pic - she looks really great.
I will need to read the game book to know how to play this one, but feel free to start and I can jump in when I have read. Shoot me the link when you can, Paul.
Here's Detective LE1-1.3 / Elly's character sheet.
Thanks Scott.
Also, we now have a forum! Doug, I'll get back to you tomorrow with a proper title for the game.
You should be able to update that yourself. Let me know if you need any help.
I will update any forum emojis/icons, too, to allow for any posting needs based on mechanics. (Once I learn them).
This game looks very similar to Twilight 2000, which I play on my Foundry VTT site. So, I should have very little learning curve, Paul.
I had an idea for a Human Cityspeaker casted as Pedro Pascal and an NPC DiJi Analyst casted as Gemma Chan. I'll try to post them later, but it was just me thinking about how to fill in the gaps
We will need a origama unicorn for sure and the Eye of Sauron for the eyes works too. A nod to the TOR game.
Just a heads up - I am leaving next weekend for a week of time for our annual gathering in North Carolina. I will try to be up and ready for the game here before then, but I am still doing a lot of prep work for our games there.
If you need to start the game, Paul, and then bring me in when I am back, I am cool with that.
Here are some pictures of Detective Mateo Varela, human cityspeaker, played by someone like Pedro Pascal.
And here are some pictures of I.R.I.S. (Investigative Relational Intelligence System), a DiJi Companion Analyst, along with her rough character sheet. I think if she would come to a table, she would need to be an NPC. But, man, there seems like so much story that could be written for a DiJi character. I had Gemma Chan in mind when casting her.
Anyway, I'd just getting sucked into a bunch of creative story ideas... I need to go do some work now!
I applaud the fruits of your slacking off, sir! Out of interest, what are you guys using to generate your images? It's working better than Nightcafe, which I haven't yet moved on from.
Also, I've thrown a few minor resources up on the Dropbox. I'll poke about and see if I can figure out how to load them on this site as well.
Chat for me.
Inspector Everett Wylde
Having spent 5 years on the force, thus far, Wylde has taken on the look of many Blade Runners.
Tired. Eyes that stare. Rumpled.
They can't help it - it's the job. It just gets to you.
For Everett though, there is a deeper meaning to his long stares. It is the reason he does the damned job. Not that it drives him daily, but the death of his parents is a constant reminder of what it's all about. He was 16 at the time when they were located - naked and signs of brutal trauma. They had left the evening of the day prior to attend a city gala. Everett remembered his mother's doting over his father's appearance, and how she had worn such an elegant dress.
Timothy Wylde worked in the DA's office and was involved with a big case. Of course it was about drugs. LA had made several crackdown's on the local gangs that were supplying the largest quantities of heroin to the streets. Timothy, one of the Assistant DA's, was preparing the case against Hector 'Hoja' Guarez, leader of the La Sangre Unida.
Everett remembers getting a copy of the medical examiner's report and reading the clinical words that described the atrocities done upon his parents - ligature, antemortem, polytrauma, invasive, heinous. Those words still ring within his memories.
He cannot say it was the sole reason he joined the academy after finishing school, but Everett was zealous in his pursuit to make inspector - and here he is. The death of his parents is still an open case and Everett keeps a copy of the file in his apartment. When the time allows from the day to day work, he opens the coffe-stained manila jacket and reads through it all, and it comes back to one name, for him - Deb Mertz. She was the key witness in the DA's case against Guarez.
With his parents' death, the case unraveled and Ms. Mertz disappeared. It has been 15 years. Is she dead? Did the state turn her over to the Feds and she now has a new name and life? Did she end up in a back alley, too, naked and bound with baling wire? Did she have the answers as to why?
Everett suppresses these questions, even as he twists his father's ring around his finger - always fidgeting.
There is work to do.
Testing the new post icons
:<o>:
:~K:
If you guys want to, I have updated the code for the DICE roller button (https://rpg.avioc.org/boards/Themes/default/images/bbc/tn.png).
If you click the button, it will auto-fill the following:
[size =8pt][b ]Skill:[/ b] [i ]enter[/ i] :d#: :d#:[/ size]
[ro11]1d#,1d#[/ro11]
:dmg: #
You will need to change enter to the skill name and then all "#" symbols to the appropriate number (12, 10, 8, or 6). The last "#" symbol you will change to the damage amount of the weapon.
Hey Doug, the changes you've made look great!
Speaking of changes, though, I wonder whether you'd like to take another pass at Wylde's sheet. THIS ISN'T A REQUIREMENT - he's fine as he is - but I've compared his sheet and Crowe's and while they're not identical, they definitely have the same stronger and weaker areas. The perils of using the same archetype, I guess.
If he's exactly the way you envisioned him, that's fine. There'll be plenty of opportunities for all three characters to distinguish themselves from each other.
Having said that, the new heading and background are showing up on my phone browser (Firefox) but not my laptop (also Firefox???). Not sure what's going on there, or if anyone else is seeing the same difference.
If nobody has anything to add to the narrative (and I'm leaving spaces for you to do that) I'll put another post up tonight moving the story on.
I didn't know Tom went with an Inspector, too. I will look at a re-write of my stats.
Sorry, Paul - this game is kicking off the same week that I am doing final prep for our RPG game week in NC. I will get this character re-tooled as soon as I can. If you need to start the game and bring Wylde in in a future scene, I am fine with that.
I thought it might be something like that! Yeah, I'll bring Wylde in later - let's let the first two do all the scut work at the crime scene.
EDIT: I've cleared my cache and now the site looks like it's supposed to.
So, uh, I probably should've checked whether overt bigotry was going to be an issue for anyone, given how central a theme race and racism are to the Blade Runner franchise.
While I'm on the subject, and given that we're starting this game in 2026 and not the dark ages, are there any subjects, themes or whatever that anyone really doesn't want to appear in the game (at least on screen)? If so, no need to explain why - just post here (or PM me) so I know not to go there.
Hey Paul, there is no theme, subject, word, or setting that you could use or say that would cause me any offense. Whatever you need to do to paint a story is fine with me.
I'm mostly with Doug. I think that there are some inherent bits in the setting that open this up more in Blade Runner.
I'm comfortable with adult themes language and portrayals if they fit the setting, location, and story as long as they dont get explicit or gratuitous.
Bigotry is very real in this setting and harder to mask behind orcs and goblins (who should be slain outright). In fact what is human is a core aspect of this game, as is the trauma of memory, and how peoples perceptions are changed.
CHAT GPT cant stop me from using "clankers" just yet.
Same for me. I expect Elle will be the target of a lot of abuse. I agree with Tom. It feels like we wouldn't be telling the story right if there wasn't an exploration of bigotry and what gives life value and freedom.
It was so awesome to see how you portrayed Varela and IRIS, because when I was creating them, I had imagined their relationship being almost the opposite. Anyway, I loved it.
I also just finished running my boys through a 5e Eberron campaign where they played goblinoids, heir to the mighty Dhakaani Empire, who believed their species were superior to all others, and who experienced more than a little hatred and distain from the rest of the world. Such an interesting topic to explore.
Hehe... just read your game post, Tom... "LE1, go see what you can find for my department."
Nice.
Lol, yeah he has an issue too! I messed around a little with the possessive pronouns to convey that effect. He thinks replicants are tools, not quite can admit they may be people, but he follows the rules and believes in law and order. The department says she is a detective so she is one.
He also recognizes she has senses and abilities he does not so using her to see the crime scene while he deals with the people, who also dont like her, he figured was the best approach.
Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't blindly poking around at anyone's hot buttons.
Doug, I know you're neck-deep in organising/enjoying your time in Ca'lahnuh. Just let me know when you're ready to jump in and I'll find an excuse.
Just a little more art for fun.
Love it. Keep it coming.
Quote from: Posterboy on May 21, 2026, 02:55 PMThe floodlights made the room too bright in the way crime scenes often were, as if enough light could some how turn confusion into evidence.
Also, can I just say how much I'm already enjoying the writing you guys are putting out? Dashiell Hammett himself would've taken the rest of the day off if he'd written a line like this.
I will be honest, I am intimidated to jump into this story thus far! ;D
My knowledge of Blade Runner, beyond the first movie, is weak to say the best. I am reading through the book you gave us Paul to familiarize myself with the world.
I'm making it up as I go! just jump in the pool.
You are kind, Paul.
But I've spent the last bunch of years reading all of your guys' fine writing for the Darkening of Mirkwood. I regularly tell my kids that you'd think you all were Tolkien scholars (or you should be!). The way you guys write, you'd think the spirit of Tolkien had anointed each of you personally.
Like you, Doug, read the Core Rulebook. I did find that helpful... and re-watched 2049... and then I discovered the animated shorts too. Apparently, Prime is supposed to be releasing a Blade Runner 2099 miniseries this year as well. Altered Carbon also feels (to me) close to the Blade Runner setting.
Here is a question for everyone:
Do you prefer that the forum threads read with the oldest first or the newest?
You might be able to set that as a personal preference, I need to look. Or it will be a general preference that I will need to set as the Admin.
Everyone let me know what you think.
THE SHORT FILMS PRE-2049
Blade Runner 2022 - Black Out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZk9sSgRyQ)
Blade Runner 2036 - Nexus Dawn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsS3nhRRzQ)
Blade Runner 2048 - Nowhere to Run (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ9Os8cP_gg)
Also, just discovered BLADE RUNNER: BLACK LOTUS (Set in 2032)
Episode 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abYm6aYno60)
Quote from: tomcat on May 22, 2026, 05:42 PMHere is a question for everyone:
Do you prefer that the forum threads read with the oldest first or the newest?
When I click on a thread, it usually jumps down to the last one (or maybe first post I haven't read yet in the thread?). Anyway, it's fine as is for me.
I'm an old school 'oldest post first' guy. It lets me read back over the whole scene in order if I need to. Finding the most recent post has never been an issue for me.
While we're talking about stuff here, I'll just note that I'm tracking everyone's Promotion and Humanity points on the attached (very professional looking!) sheet. I've obviously rephrased the criteria a little to fit them in, but the same sense is there I think. I'm defining 'key clue' as 'piece of information that leads you to another scene'.
Quote from: Posterboy on May 22, 2026, 05:33 PMLike you, Doug, read the Core Rulebook. I did find that helpful... and re-watched 2049... and then I discovered the animated shorts too. Apparently, Prime is supposed to be releasing a Blade Runner 2099 miniseries this year as well. Altered Carbon also feels (to me) close to the Blade Runner setting.
What's quite interesting about this game is how
unlike a generic cyberpunk game it is. For starters, you're absolutely on the side of the forces of oppression! It's also far less computer-focused - Blade Runner is, and always has been, about biology and philosophy. There's barely any gear porn, cybernetic implants as a bare afterthought... Not that I think you're wrong to compare it to things like Altered Carbon (and man do I have Opinions about that show, if anyone had several hours to listen to them) but Blade Runner is like cyberpunk from an alternate history where Gibson and Sterling had never come along and the movement went in a different direction.
Yeah, 100%. One of the things I'm really enjoying about this setting is that it isn't just "cyberpunk with cops." It totally feels different than Shadowrun, Cyberpunk 2077, Neuromancer, and Altered Carbon, mostly because I think it's asking a different set of questions altogether, right?
It's not really asking, "How do we hack the system?" so much as, "What kind of people have we become when the system trains us to call persons property, tools, threats, or evidence?" Starting out, not so much as rebels outside the machine, but part of the oppressive system, with the badge, the weapon, and the language of procedure and protocols, creates a different kind of hero/anti-hero... all of them tragic.
And honestly, one of the things that interests me most is how deeply theological Blade Runner feels. It keeps circling around Creator and creation, false gods, counterfeit life, manufactured souls, and creatures who look back at their makers and ask, "Why did you make me like this? Why did you give me desire, memory, fear, longing, and then deny me dignity?" Tyrell and Wallace don't just function like CEOs; they function like false creator-gods who want the glory of making life without the love, humility, or responsibility that should come with it.
100% agree that Blade Runner feels way more embodied than most cyberpunk settings. The main ad for the Nexus replicants ("More Human than Humans") gets at the theme well: Can something made still be someone real?
It's like noir theology with neon lights and synthetic blood.
What does "a'rif kayf" mean? Google Translate is pretty good, but wasn't able to figure out that part of the phrase. My sense is something like "Don't tell me how to do my fucking job."
I think Altered Carbon is a great comparison and Season one was awesome. I didnt really get into season two at all.
I'm also with you guys on the difference with Blade Runner from Cyberpunk. To me it is like
Asimov to Frank Herbert Dune, Cyberpunk to Blade Runner.
The science isnt the appeal, its psychology and religion.
Doug, I just really read the section on the background and history. All the game mechanic stuff will emerge during play and I'll learn and read as I go.
Also Paul,
FYI. when you make a post and then go back and edit the section to make it longer I sometimes miss the change. Since I go by new posts if I have read the post before the update I dont think to go back to it, but wait for a new post message.
Quote from: Posterboy on May 23, 2026, 02:30 AMWhat does "a'rif kayf" mean?
It's Arabic and means 'I know how' - I assume that Cityspeak mixes languages together pretty freely.
Quote from: Telcontar on May 23, 2026, 03:43 AMFYI. when you make a post and then go back and edit the section to make it longer I sometimes miss the change.
Yes, that's why I try not to do it unless I've missed something that I really wanted to include in a particular post, and usually if I think nobody will have read the original post yet. Sorry to have buggered that one up for you.
QuoteIt's Arabic and means 'I know how' - I assume that Cityspeak mixes languages together pretty freely.
Perfect. Love it!
Blade Runner Expansion?!? Yes, please!!! (https://screenrant.com/blade-runner-replicant-rebellion-release/)
Yeah, I didn't get on the kickstarter (didn't have any money at the time) but it's on Drivethrurpg (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/516484/blade-runner-rpg-replicant-rebellion?src=hottest). The only reason I don't already have it is because I still don't have any money.
I hope to post later tonight
Is there a particular way you guys would like to handle uploading evidence from your KIAs? Would you prefer I assume you're doing it unless you say otherwise?
It would be standard procedure for us as detectives to automatically upload the evidence from our KIAs to LAPD's mainframe, yes? If so, then I think it would be safe to assume Elly is until I say otherwise?
Yep, that makes sense. I just wanted to flag it since it impacts the game mechanically.
ALSO! While I've got your attention I thought I'd put in a recommendation for the 1997 Westwood game, which you can find on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1678420/Blade_Runner_Enhanced_Edition/) now. I'll give the caveat that I don't own the current version and haven't played the old one since the late 90's, so I can't really say how well the gameplay holds up. The story expands the world of future-noir LA a fair bit, though, and the randomisation and multiple endings add a LOT of replay value.
Crowe leaves his KIA in the car. Senior privilege.
Sorry everyone - I'm tied up with lawyer-application paperwork today. I'll post when I can, which shouldn't be very long. Sometime over the weekend, most likely.
I see we made some wallpaper changes to the thread as well.
I may be delayed on posting over the next week. I hope to be able to get at least one in.
I'm dealing with our insurance (which has been pleasant enough, just time consuming). We had three deaths this past week in the small community I pastor, including one for our church, so 2 funerals next week, 1 the week after. And our church is hosting a conference next weekend.
Anyway, feel free to NPC if you need to move the story forward.
[Takes massive, desperate gasp of fresh air] Im finally free of all my application paperwork and looking forward to posting tomorrow.
I managed to post, but I won't be able to post again until probably Monday.