Blood Dawn

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Blood Dawn is a cyberpunk role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic Earth in an alternate 21st century. It was created by Lawrence R. Sims and first published in 1996 by Optimus Design Systems as a 240-page softcover. In 1999 the license moved to SSDC, Inc.

Gameplay and setting:
- Players can be normal humans or mutants.
- Character creation uses a point-buy system: 130 ability points to allocate among eight attributes (Strength, Manual Dexterity, IQ, Agility, Constitution, Guts, Intuition, Charisma), plus 2000 skill points for skills like animal husbandry or weather prediction.
- If you play a mage, at least 750 of the skill points must go to spells. Remaining skill points can be spent on armor, weapons, and gear.

Resolution and magic:
- Tasks are resolved by rolling a 20-sided die and succeeding if the roll is below the difference between the relevant ability and the task’s difficulty.
- Magic uses a renewable pool of spell points. Casting spends points, with more powerful spells costing more. When the pool runs out, spell points must renew before casting again.

Reception:
- The game received mixed reviews. One reviewer found it playable with effort and an interesting background but not polished enough to stand out as a complete RPG. Another reviewer called it ambitious but unfocused, praising the character creation and flexible magic while criticizing the clunky combat, sparse setting, and lack of ready-made adventures or maps.