For sure - technoir would not be my first choice for a blade runner game - I think it would work, but the system is pretty slim and light. It’s basically settingless but the “playbooks” (or whatever they are called) contain the setting - which again is pretty light; just enough to let you know what’s going on in terms of tech, the environment and social order and who’s who in the zoo.
I’ve played it 3 times. The 1st was probably one of the best rpg experiences I’ve ever had - the other 2 fell a little flat (which to be fair was relative to my first experience with it). I GMed. Some of the problem I think was my inexperience with detective-style / investigation games.
What it does really well is:
- leaning on contacts to get info - the act of leaning involves the contacts in the story directly or indirectly - they generally double cross you and/or get screwed over and compromised by helping you
- finding of clues - if there is a clue you will find it OR you will at least find something that drives the story forward - e.g. you don’t get the clue BUT you suspect that your contact is holding out about something …. you don’t know why, but it’s enough to make you get active on another lead, unless you want to push harder and threaten the relationship - in fact the game focuses on conflicts between people and has no rules for task resolution outside of conflicts (e.g. a hacking attempt would be against the counter hacker or however set up the security); you can either break down the door (because of your “tags”) - or you cannot
- the use of “tags” (aspects) to compel, block and drive certain actions. This takes a LOT to get used to but once you’ve played something like the Sprawl / apocalypse world or better a 2d20 modiphius you kind of get how it’s meant to work. There’s kind of no defined way to end a conflict - i.e. no health, no stress boxes etc - it just follows the narrative and this is a bit jarring at first. If I was to play it again I think I would get it and we’d be able to lean into it more and it would work
- that the only way of getting better and getting the juicy information is to get hurt in some way - sounds like that classic detective that is constantly getting black eyes, reputation damage, threats to their life etc etc
- it’s super easy to set up and make characters - they are done in about 15 minutes and they feel sufficiently fleshed out, they are already linked to contacts and protagonists in the game setting. People will know all the rules in 10 minutes.
What it does not do well is campaign play - or even re-using the same characters once an adventure is done. It’s really a bit like Alien in this way (but not because all the PCs are dead
but because the NPC personal mysteries have been uncovered and because character generation creates the links with NPCs - you could make it work but it wouldn’t feel right because the setting is created at the same time as character version).
So …. Here we have something where the core of the game is 1) investigations 2) personal conflicts leading to dramatic showdowns. It’s not a bladerunner feel I think. The Sprawl rpg does heaps of stuff right, and I love the way they deal with the corporations and emerging faction threats - but it’s not really about investigation and it’s cyberpunk and not noir as a feeling - so again - I don’t think that would work either !!