Fiery Angels — The Blade Runner TTRPG Second Case File
“…burning with the fires of Orc.”
Last year Free League released the much-anticipated Blade Runner RPG. The Kickstarter campaign was a huge success and the game earned industry plaudits. The starter pack included the first Case File, Electric Dreams, which was positioned as the first of several that would be made available. And now, Case File 02, “Fiery Angels,” is available. Free League was kind enough to send me a preview copy but I haven’t had the opportunity to play it yet. In place of a review, I caught up once again with Free League Publishing’s Lead Scenario Designer Tomas Harenstam. Tomas was again generous with his time and provided some interesting insights, as well as dropping some tantalizing hints about Fiery Angels and other things to come for the franchise.
[Ed. Note: You can find Case File 02: Fiery Angels and the rest of the Blade Runner RPG products from Free League here]
The Adjacent Possible: So just to kick things off. Can you give me a brief overview of what Case File 02: Fiery Angels is all about?
Tomas Harenstam: Sure, absolutely. It’s the first expansion for the Blade Runner RPG after the starter set that was part of the initial offering. It’s a case file just like Electric Dreams in the starter set. It’s a case for the Blade Runners to get involved in. It has lots of handouts and maps and clues to figure out and it is similar to Electric Dreams, even though there is definitely a case to be solved the big issue is not ‘who done it?’ — it’s what do you do when you learn the truth? So that’s kind of a consistent theme throughout the Blade Runner case files and this one is no different.
The AP: You mentioned how the case files are similar. And it’s not just about, point A to point B, that sort of thing. So can you maybe talk a little bit about some of the key learnings from Electric Dreams that went into the design and creation of Fiery Angels?
Tomas: I think, for the most part, Case File 01 did what we wanted to do, we also play-tested a lot and we had feedback from Kickstarter backers quite some time before printing it and so on. We managed to implement much of their feedback into Case File 01. That means we haven’t changed the structure very much for Case File 02. Actually, it stays very consistent, which we’re happy about.
That’s kind of a formula that we really enjoy, and we’re happy about how that has come together. It’s partly the structure of these case files, not only all the physical bits because they are important, but also the way it’s structured with locations, clues, and also how the timer works; that you have to time manage your investigation. You have these countdown events that will trigger after a specified amount of time unless you’re able to prevent them by solving the case or progressing faster, so you can stop something from happening. The free investigation based on locations and clues combined with the time pressure from the countdown is a structure that we’re happy with and that’s pretty much part of Case File 01 and 02.
The AP: So just to go off of the script here a little bit based on your answer. Would you say that creating the case files, and really the Blade Runner game itself, was more difficult than some of the other games you’ve done because it doesn’t have that straightforward nature, or are all games difficult in their own unique ways?
Tomas: I think all of the games that are adapted from other licenses always come with a unique challenge and usually a really fun one. But I do agree that Blade Runner is probably one of the trickier ones because it’s so complex. These stories in the films are so complex and existential in their nature that it doesn’t easily translate over, or at least you have to really think about how to do that.
So that’s definitely a challenge and that goes into the backstory and the case itself, what sort of case are you even supposed to be solving as a Blade Runner? Because they’re [Blade Runners] who are interesting to play. There is always a moral ambiguity involved with Blade Runners because to some extent, they are investigating replicants and there are a lot of moral quandaries involved with that. We’ve tried to expand that concept a little bit more.
With Blade Runner [the game], the culprit is not necessarily always a replicant, it can be any case involving a replicant. They can be the victim, they can be a variety of things happening that involve the replicant industry. And that is the case in this second case, Fiery Angels, that goes into that aspect. In the world of the Blade Runner 2049 film, the replicant industry is controlled by the Wallace Corporation and that’s also the case in 2037, the time when our game is set.
But that also has some interesting questions and consequences. If this one corporation controls replicant production, what does that mean? And what would happen if someone else tried to challenge that monopoly? What would that look like? That’s where we went into this, to create a case file that comes at the replicant issue from a different angle than perhaps you’re seeing in the film. So that’s one way to approach it. And that’s what we’re always trying to do, to find new angles about this question.
The AP: Having played Case File 01 with my friend and enjoyed it very much, we also created our own case file. And you’re right, I think one of the things that is interesting is that it doesn’t have to be “Replicant bad. Go chase replicant.” We created a scenario where it was someone else abusing replicants and the case kind of went off of that. So I think that is an interesting element. And glad to see that you’re thinking about how to go off in those different directions which leads me now to my next question. For diehard fans of the Blade Runner franchise or universe, what is in Case File 02 that they might be excited about? What’s something that you or Joe [Favi, additional scenario design & setting consultant] may have pulled from the larger Blade Runner universe that is in Case File 02? Anything that you can share?
Tomas: Yeah, that is the challenge. The question is that doing something of that nature is that it’s hard to do, without actually spoiling some of the features of the case file, which we don’t want to do. But yeah, there will definitely, I guess you could say, be some familiar faces not only from the films, but we actually pulled from other sources as well, including the old video game from the 90s [Westwood’s 1997 Blade Runner]. I think there are some cool things in there that we enjoyed pulling from and expanding. It does have a following, this old video game, and if you’re familiar with that at all, I think you will enjoy some of the familiar faces and elements from there. It’s absolutely not necessary to have played that video game to enjoy the Fiery Angels Case File, but if you have you’ll probably find a couple of things — locations, characters — that will likely seem a bit familiar.
The AP: As someone who is a fan of the Blade Runner franchise from books to comics to movies and video games, it was a treat to see that you guys have looked far and wide across the franchise to incorporate elements into the game.
The original game has been out now for a little bit more than a year. And I wonder what has surprised or pleased you about the feedback on the game since it came out a little more than a year ago?
Tomas: Overall, I think the response has been really good. I think players seem to be enjoying it. There are plenty of online video streams that look really good, really high-end type streams. I do think there is one thing that we were aware of that is a potential challenge — the fact that the way we structured the case files with all of these handouts and maps and things means that they’re not super easy to create. It requires quite an effort. And even though there are tools for creating your own case files, it’s still not a super easy game to just throw out and improvise. It requires a bit of work and I think that is something we’re very aware of, and it comes with a case file format but one thing we are planning on doing to address this a little bit is to open up to the world and the game in a different direction.
We have a sourcebook that we’re working on, called Replicant Rebellion, where you actually play the other side. You play the Replicants and they will not be doing case files, they will do [things such as] sabotage operations against Wallace Corporation, or they might be trying to free a prisoner. Those adventures will be less complex than the case files and will be shorter and a bit more direct. And what we hope to do there is give the opportunity to play something else other than the Blade Runners even though that’s really cool. We also think it’s cool to show the flip side and let players experience that, but also offer a different game style or format that perhaps is a little bit easier to improvise and play short sessions.
The AP: Knowing what you know now, if you can go back in time maybe to early 2022, when you were working on the initial game. Is there anything you would have done differently in creating the original rulebook and game design? Maybe that’s a question for you or Joe, to some degree, would you have maybe done anything differently?
Tomas: For the most part, no. I think we really made the game we wanted to make — the way it looks with Martin’s art and Joe’s setting writing and everything the way it comes together the way it’s very rules light and the way it’s focused on investigations and the existential issues and all of that. I think maybe what we could have done more is offer even more tools to create your own case files. There is a chapter at the end, allowing you to basically roll up your own case file, but that could have been even more extensive, I guess. And we do have some ideas for offering more in this regard as well down the line. I think that’s perhaps the only thing I can think of.
The AP: That seems like a tough balance to get right. I don’t do game design but just thinking about it, it seems like if you’re going to do your own case files as a player, it’s probably somebody who’s really into it. So they’re probably going to be invested in it. I wonder how much do you put into that? It seems like a tough balance to reach. So I think it’s probably something that you can only look back on in hindsight and say, ‘Oh, maybe we should have done more, maybe we should have done less.’ I think you guys did a really good job and if that’s the thing that you look back on now and say we could have done better, I think you guys did a terrific job.
Tomas: That is definitely a hard balance to strike to get that right. Because those really invested players they can probably go and do their own case files anyway without a lot of support from us. So that’s like you said, what is the right balance to hit? I guess we’ll see. And we’ll continue working on things like that. We also have ideas for offering either digital assets for creating handouts, or even physical handouts that you can use to build your own case files with as well. We haven’t really landed on when and how to do it. But it’s those kinds of ideas that we’re looking into.
The AP: In your role as Lead Scenario Designer at Free League, you’re involved in the design and development of a wide range of tabletop role-playing games. Do you ever get time to play just for fun? Or when you’re not working on one of these games do you try to get as far away as possible from RPGs?
Tomas: Actually we play quite a bit, we have a weekly Game Night here at the office. We play every Tuesday and it tends to be most of the time we play test Free League stuff before it’s released. But we also play other things in between and it can be pretty much anything. Lately, we’ve been doing some gaming archaeology. We played first edition Traveler, we played the old Indiana Jones RPG, and we played some other really old stuff for fun. That’s fun and useful. We also play new stuff of course. We tried Critical Foundation. It’s kind of a cross between a board game and an RPG. So we do play other things in between, but we also play test our own games and our own adventures. We play-tested Fiery Angels in the fall, I really enjoyed that. I definitely enjoy playing RPGs and I try to do at least that weekly session, that’s a lot of fun.
The AP: Let’s wrap it up here with a final question, and I’m going to really test your Blade Runner knowledge. Okay, you’re a replicant and you’ve been designated for retirement. Who is the one Blade Runner from across the franchise — books, movies, comics, games — that you do not want hunting you and why?
Tomas: Yeah, that is an excellent question. There is one from the comics — I think her name is Hythe — that I think was pretty sinister. I don’t want to spoil the comics, but, yeah, there is something there that would not be great to have her on your tail.
The AP: That’s a great answer. Yes, Hythe appears in the Blade Runner 2019 comic series. She seemed like part Blade Runner part Terminator, a real tough operator.
Before I let you go, anything else that you would like to mention or share about Fiery Angels or the Blade Runner game in general, that you want to share?
Tomas: I think one thing we’re doing with Fiery Angels and the case files is that they are connected and that’s still kind of an interesting thing to me, because it’s a bit of an experiment. This continues the story from Electric Dreams, again without spoiling anything, but there are definitely strong connections between the two case files and we will also attempt to continue that. They’re all stand-alone case files, you do not have to have played the first case file, or even the game, before playing Fiery Angels.
But if you do play them in order, you will experience a longer story arc and that’s going to be interesting because we’re probably looking at a complete archive of four or five case files and together they will actually create a longer narrative. And that is interesting because we haven’t announced what the full, complete backstory is. That is going to be interesting to see because that means there is a bit of a surprise coming for not only the players but actually the game runners as well as they learn more about this longer story. So I’m interested in seeing how that will play out and what people will think about that as it unfolds in these two case files, but also in the months to come.
The AP: Fantastic. That’s really interesting to hear, and I think exciting for for players and game runners as well. So, Thomas again, thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it. I’m very excited about Fiery Angels, and looking forward to diving in on that. I think you guys have put some really fun elements into this case file that Blade Runner fans are going to enjoy, so thank you very much to you and your team for all of that.
Tomas: Thank you.
