Interlinked: Blade Runner RPG Solo Campaign - Session 1: Part 1 - More human than human

Welcome back to Interlinked, my Blade Runner RPG Solo Campaign. 

Last session we created our Blade Runner, Detective Jay and came up with the case. Jay has been tasked with discovering the mysterious disappearance of another replicant named Flora. That replicant belongs to a Mr. Wyman, who had a 'special' connection with her. 

If you haven't caught up with the first session, make sure to give it a read here.

Now let's play!

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Mechanically for things in the game that happens every session, I’m breaking down a session into two parts, which will be a post each.

Tuesday, 14 September 2037, 3rd Shift

Shifts are important in Blade Runner RPG. Typically you only have time to visit one location per shift and you must take one shift per day to do some downtime activity or suffer additional stress.

Looking at the list of subjects, Blade Runner procedure states that an inspection of the scene of the crime is a priority. While this crime doesn’t have an exact scene, I think starting at Mr. Wyman’s house would be the closest thing. Records state the Replicant Flora was registered to Mr. Wyman’s house. I also expect to speak with his head of security Prei Layoun.

Jumping into my LAPD-issued Spinner and I head to the fashion district. Soon I’m above luxury penthouses and palatial apartment buildings. Landing at the Wyman estate is easy, I hop out and head inside.

Plot Unfolding Machine - I finally get to play with this. I’m excited! For this scene, I’m saying I have an expectation about how this scene with Prei will play out. I rolled a 10 on a D10. So it happens as expected and (rolling another d10) I will learn about the current or a new location. That will be helpful! OK let’s play out the scene.

Meeting me at the entrance is Prei. I’m not shocked by this, the profile on Prei stated he is a high-anxiety person. Most likely he will try to convince me there was nothing he could do or that
he wasn’t responsible.

Prei Layoun, Mr Wyman's Head of Security

“Detective Jay, I was expecting someone from the RDU, but not a ummm...” Prei starts to stutter.

“A replicant? Yes, I am a replicant. But I have the legal authority of a human Blade Runner so you can treat me normally. I’d like to see where this missing Replicant called Flora lived and then I’ll ask you a few questions.”

I notice the hesitation in Prei’s eyes. Confusion, or annoyance. Possibly anger. It’s all expected and nothing I haven’t seen a hundred times.

“Sure,” he finally ventures. “I’ll tell you whatever you need to know then I can show you where Flora lived. We’ve been through the room a hundred times and haven’t found anything but maybe you’ll have better luck with your ummm… skills.”

“Thank you Mr Layoun. Let’s find a place to sit down, do you mind if I record this interview?”

Transcript of Detective Jay’s conversation with Mr. Prei Loyoun, Head of Security for Mr. Wyman.

Detective Jay: We are recording now. Mr. Layoun, thank you for speaking with me about this case. As you know, Mr. Wyman is extremely motivated to find out what happened to Flora. I’m hoping you can tell me about her situation, what the security is at Mr. Wyman’s residence, and what you think may have happened to Flora.

Prei Layoun: Please call me Prei. I’m no Mister anything. Yeah, I’ll be happy to talk. I hope it gets Mr. Wyman off my ass about this. I told him over and over again that the Replicant was a bad idea. Look, everyone hated her, Mrs. Wyman, the son, and his whole family. Not to mention the gossip around town. Sure people have replicant lovers, but being so public about it was a bad look. People knew they could get to Mr. Wyman without even having to hurt a real person. Uhhh you understand what I mean.

J: Thank you for your honesty Prei. Let’s start with security around the residence. How many guards do you employ and what systems do you use?

P: We have at least three guards on duty at all hours, backed up by a state-of-the-art Wallace Security system. The system didn’t pick up her leaving, and nobody saw anyone enter or leave the residence. Although, we are told to purposely not surveil the inside of the residence, especially Flora’s room.

J: And why is that?

P: laughs Well I guess Mr. Wyman isn’t too keen on people watching his ummm activities with Flora.

J: Thank you Prei, I understand. So full security coverage, and yet Flora disappears. That is strange, what do you think happened?

P: I think she took off. Maybe she jumped off her balcony and she was cleaned up before we had a chance to look. I don’t know. And honestly, I don’t care.

J: What aren’t you telling me Prei? This doesn’t add up. A missing replicant. A fully secure building. Something is off here. I am a Blade Runner and I’d hate to have to call you into the station for interrogation.

Roll Empathy (A a D12), and Manipulation (B a D10)

One success

P: You're a sharp one ain't you? Not like that Flora. I swear Mr. Wyman made her dumb on purpose.

What secret was he not telling Detective Jay? Let’s roll on PUM. The who table says: An old enemy. The What table says Valuable Business. And Intent says Offer Cause. Alright. I think I know.

P: I haven’t told Mr. Wyman this or any of the other cops but I’ve actually received an offer from Dimitry Koslovski. Yeah, I know what it looks like and that’s why I’m telling you now. I always do my job and I do it damn well. It’s not my fault Mr. Koslovki offered me three times what I make here. That ain’t criminal, is it? Now if you’ll excuse me. I have business to attend to.

Transcript Ended

I watch Prei storm away into a different wing of the house. Accepting a job with Mr. Wyman’s despised rival soon after his replicant went missing. That is suspicious, but not proof. Not yet at least. I head to Flora’s room. If Prei was correct they’ve already searched it thoroughly but seeing as I have reason to suspect his motivations and I note he has a clear bias against replicants. I’ll see what I can find.

Since I don’t know what to expect in Flora’s room I’ll roll on the scene prompt table of PUM. I get troubling circumstances. Not a great start. Let’s roll on circumstances. I get Hidden presence sneaking or watching. Let’s leave it there for now. What state is this room in? I’ll roll on the Describe Table. I get specially fortified.

I approach Flora’s living quarters. The door is not standard, but heavy, metal, and secured with several locking bolts. From my experience, I know it would take a full LAPD Special squad with explosives experts to crack that door. This level of security surely isn’t warranted. Well, maybe it is actually.

I step inside and it looks and feels like a rich person’s private residence. Everything is immaculate, the furniture is the most expensive you could purchase, and it all gleams. Prei told me this room was already thoroughly searched, so if I find something, it won’t be obvious.

Roll Intelligence (C a D8), and Observation (D a D6) - No Successes

Nothing looks out of the ordinary. Damn. There is no way there isn’t a clue in this place. I redouble my efforts and try to find something. If Flora hid something it may be difficult to find. A replicant can be exacting and can do things perfectly.

Push the Roll - Roll Intelligence (C a D8), and Observation (D a D6) - 1 Success

There! In the ceiling. Small, incredibly small. A camera! The size of a pin head. She was being watched, this Flora. Cameras in the ceiling, security doors. What kind of life did this Flora live? But a camera means there will be recordings.

I move furniture around to get higher. I pull the camera out of the ceiling gently. It’s connected to nothing but an antenna. It must not be owned by Mr. Wyman. If he had a recording he would have given it to us, or taken matters into his own hand. This is someone else.

But who?

I’ve seen all I can here. I head back to my spinner and fly back to the LAPD Tower.

LA in 2037 is not a pleasant place.

Tuesday, 14 September 2037, 4th Shift

It’s late, but this city never sleeps. It’s just as busy as it is at midday. The Tower has the tools needed to look into this camera, to point me in the right direction. I head to the LAPD mainframe and plug this camera into it. If anything can figure it out, the mainframe will be able to.

Roll Intelligence (C a D8), and Tech(D a D6) - 1 Successes

Let’s roll on the Who Table. A Powerful Ally. Probably an ally to Mr. Wyman.

The mainframe chugs along for a while. The machine is powerful, but it takes its time when conducting queries.

Finally, the purchase record starts streaming across the data screen. The camera was purchased by Clara Wyman, wife of Mr. Wyman. Well shit, this case just got more complicated.

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Well, now the case is moving along. I'll be interested to see how Detective Jay uses this information, as it comes with a lot of complications. 

Thanks for reading and see you next week for the continuation of the campaign.

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