I don't see Paranoia mentioned much on Veeky Forums.
Opinions of the game? Stories?
Which edition is the best?
Advice on running the game?
I don't see Paranoia mentioned much on Veeky Forums.
Opinions of the game? Stories?
Which edition is the best?
Advice on running the game?
>Playing Paranoia
The best way to play it is not to even tell the players. Play a normal campaign of whatever you like, but early on in the game, pass each player a secret note with conflicting objectives on it, make sure they don't say what they're doing to everyone else.
For instance, I had a PC fight happen because one player was tasked with finding out what happened to his nephew and the other player was attempting to get revenge on a serial killer. Player trying to get revenge on the killer blows him away at the first chance he gets despite agreeing to take him alive as an agent of the police. Second player goes nuts because the only lead on where his nephew is being held now has a smoking crater for a head.
Third player's goal was to deflect blame for the kiddnapping of the nephew to someone else, which he did a pretty good job of setting up the serial killer to take the fall and using the first guy to prevent any line of questioning.
I just think the setting seems really fun to work with, even ignoring the distinctive game mechanics.
That's kinda shit. Since they don't know they aren't supposed to know stuff, they'd just end up murdered for "treason" the first time they mentioned the sun, etc.
PARANOIA IS A GREAT GAME
TO SAY OTHERWISE IS TREASON
TREASON IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
Second edition is best edition
I'm currently reading the first edition. What differences are there?
Second is better
You don't see it much because Veeky Forums hates fun. Also, it's a lot harder to get players who haven't had their creativity ruined by D&D.
Really though, has it right. Even the book says it "Alpha Complex is not a place but a state of mind." The easiest way to do this is making the players not trust each other, and when that happens they won't trust anything else either.
If you do happen to go for Paranoia, I would suggest the XP edition purely for the size of the GM section. It has possibly the best GM section of any rulebook I've seen, and also includes detailed descriptions for the different game styles.
Alternatively, go for Paranoia: High Programmers. It gives the players more money and power than gods, then makes them wish they didn't have the responsibility. Extremely easy to get new players into the game, and I've never had a bad game of it. How many games can you say that about?
I actually like 1st Ed better, but that might be because of the additional materials.
I can't say much between first and second, but there's a large jump to XP/Troubleshooters. That difference is speed-cloning/memomax technology.
In First/Second, you're cloned in "families" of 6 clones. All alive at the same time, when one dies another is promoted to their original place. In XP, you are speed-cloned, and your memories right up to (and including) your painful death are loaded into your new brain. This means more powerful rivalries, as you remember exactly who pushed you down the disposal chute (even if you can't prove it for termination reasons).
Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues was our favorite pre-gen adventure.
Paranoia is great. It takes some innate skill to GM for, as you have to make stuff up on the spot constantly.
I managed to develop a way to do a drop-in system for players that allows newbies to enter fairly easily (it involves a draft)
Also, favorite gag- as GM, I pass a player a note that says 'ask to see player X's note'.
Player X's note says "refuse to show them this note. Eat this note."
Even better, code-name the box B3. Let the confusion build.
Citizen, please report to the Remedial Reading Comprehension Room, or RCRR.
Why? Is that where you'll be, finishing up a class? He said "don't tell the player" they're playing paranoia, and slip them notes.
Anyone whose actually played the game (or reading past the first chapter in the book where they explain and give an example of this) knows that without letting the PCs know they're in a paranoia game, they'll be murdered the second that state a known IRL facts that's (secret, the to PCs) grounds for execution.
Deal with it.
Actually, REDs are allowed to know about the outdoors, it's just not politically orthodox. XP makes a note of the "newbie net", the GM should stop new players when they do something that's not acceptable in the setting.
An experienced player though? They should know better. Terminate 'em, and anyone else who doesn't report them for their treasonous behaviour.
That was a response to a guy saying he'd throw players into a game without telling them they were in a game of paranoia, so I doubt they'd even know if they were red-level, or not.
But yeah, I forgot some of those deets, thanks.
My group has always had a ton of fun with paranoia.
One of the only ways to make the "fight a rat" for your first mission fun.
This is why I recommend the XP rulebook "The best entertainment you can get as a Gamemaster is seeing everyone have a good time." I wish this was in more rulebooks, it might make better GMs.
>don't see it much
It's a one-hit wonder - like Munchkin, and for the same reasons - but if you can find the right group, it can be great fun to play once.
Once.
It is shit. however, it feels somewhat like Space Station 13, the RPG.
>it can be great fun to play once
>Once.
You mean that it's hard to make a good campaign out of it? Why is this?
I think mostly because since the game typically encourages mad hijinks, fast and furious PC deaths, and player in-fighting it makes for a great game to break out once in awhile but for most groups it's just a lot to handle because of all the backstabbing involved. Hard to find players who are chill with basically "Betray your friends for fun and profit: The game" Radom example:
>Team Leader, mutants have been on the rise recently. Please execute any mutants you encounter on sight. Failure to kill known mutants is treason.
>Team Compliance Officer, please capture any mutants you find for interrogation later. Failure to capture mutants is treason.
>Team leader is a mutant-worshipping mutant. Everyone on the team is a mutant.
here. I've been running a High Programmer campaign for over a year now. Regular Paranoia however doesn't tend to last as one of several things happen:
Players go through clones way too fast (and don't get attached to their characters)
GMs get burned out too fast (you usually have to prepare a lot of shit)
It gets old fast (After you've gone through the same mission structure several times, it's kinda the same thing)
The main problem though is the death rate. Unless you run a game Straight (which is really, REALLY fucking hard to do), your player's clone lines will run out in a session.
On the other hand, if you like running one-off games with players that drop in and out between sessions, it works really really well. You have a flaky player? They're just not picked for the mission. Same if you have a new player.
It's also especially good for getting new players into the hobby. Instead of giving them a full character sheet, just give them a mutation and secret society, and just run their sheet as straight 7s (7/20 chance to succeed on any roll). Also roll in secret and let any entertaining action succeed. You'll have them roleplaying in 30 minutes.
tl;dr: It's good for one-off games and new players. High Programmers is amazing for both one-offs and campaigns. Paranoia is Fun. Play Paranoia.
G&S had a decent one shot stream
user, that poster wasn't saying "tell the players they're in a typical medieval-fantasy simulator setting, and then punish them for their actions because they're actually in Alpha Complex", because that would be retarded. He was suggesting setting the game in a typical medieval fantasy and running it like Paranoia (as in, all the PCs are secretly working against each others' interests).
It's great that you're so eager to get into arguments on the Internet, but you need to start doing a better job or nobody is going to engage you other than with drive-by insults.
>I don't see Paranoia mentioned much on Veeky Forums.
Most people that play Paranoia don't have blue clearance so can't visit Veeky Forums
My god. I saw this 12 hours ago and only just got the joke.
Banpu.
I thought those were waffle men for a second.
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