Paranoia RPG Returns in New Edition

Allen Varney writes "The classic tabletop roleplaying game PARANOIA, originally published by West End Games in the 1980s, returns in a new edition this August from Mongoose Publishing. PARANOIA, the game of a darkly humorous future, is set in an underground Alpha Complex ruled by an insane Computer. I am writing and (re)designing the main rulebook, under direction from original PARANOIA co-designer Greg Costikyan, with contributions from novelist and game designer Aaron Allston. I'd be happy to answer questions from Slashdot's gamers."

And its the basis for...

[Supp0rtLinux]

Its worth pointing out that the story/idea behind Paranoia was also the primary basis for Resident Evil. The original coders of Resident Evil had been playing Paranoia literally for weeks prior to writing the game. I know from personal experience. :)

Re:ahh

[Anonymous Coward]

um sorry to pick mods, but "Hot fun" is a reference to the RPG that this article is about, not just a random off-topic post. Please give him back his karma.

Excellent

[swdunlop]

I recently forked over $75 for a set of the original first edition Paranoia because our local gaming group was getting way too obsessed with their stats and game mechanics. The ensuing pandemonium and infighting didn't solve the problem, but at least it entertains the game master, which is the point of it all, right?

I'm especially happy to hear that the new edition won't be using d20. I've been using Active Exploits [pigames.net], a free, diceless game system, and it has worked very well for keeping the game fast and simple -- an essential for Paranoia.

There are also some excellent resources for individuals who want to play Paranoia online; Paranoia-RPG [paranoia-rpg.com] is probably the best place to start.

And, finally, if Paranoia tickles your fancy and you want to try a different comic genre, check out Atlas Games' Over the Edge [atlas-games.com], a lightweight conspiracy game that makes Fox Mulders' wildest guesses seem tame.

Found it!

[RLW]

http://www.textfiles.com/rpg/song [textfiles.com]
Scroll down to THE ALPHA COMPLEX SONGBOOK

Re:SYB Notes

[Anil]

I agree this was a great part of the game. It did make GMing a game more confusing than actually playing the game, though.

I mean, you've got 4 or 5 people doing stuff and you are trying to direct them along while at the same time dealing with notes from all of them coming at you as fast as they can write them.

Though, the fact that the game didn't really have any rules did compensate for the notes a bit. You didn't really have to roll dice if you didn't feel like it to determine outcomes.

ahh, great game. I hadn't even realized it was out of print.

Re:Tinfoil hats

[Omega Leader-(P12)]

Infared
Red
Orange
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
Ultaviolet

Posession of any colour tinfoil hat above your clearance is treason, but so is knowing that. AUGHHH. (Goes off to the confession booth with a laser pistol as I am a good citizen)

Re:NO!

[Graff]

Does anybody remember the Alpha Complex tune ?

Well there is this song:

I'm an Alpha Complex Dandy
(Sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy)

I'm an Alpha Complex Dandy.
Alpha Complex do or die.
A new clone version of my last five clones.
Like them I know I'll soon die.
I've got an Alpha Complex sweetheart.
Teela is my Alpha Joy.
Troubleshooters find the Commies.
Beat the mutants senseless.
I am an Alpha Complex boy!

I'm an Alpha Complex dandy.
Troubleshooter do or die.
A clone replacement of my former self.
Soon I will probably fry.
I've got to serve my friend Computer.
If I don't, I know I'll die.
Kill the Commie infiltrators,
Also Troubleshooters.
I am an Alpha Complex guy!

I'm an Alpha Complex Commie
(Subversive version of the above)

I'm an Alpha Complex Commie.
Alpha Complex do or die.
A new clone version of my last five clones.
Like them, I know I'll soon die.
I'm not an Alpha Complex sweetheart.
Girls are just the same as boys.
Commie mutants beat computers.
Troubleshooters, phooie!
I'm not an Alpha Complex toy!

You can find similar songs here [textfiles.com]

Re:Christ! That brings me back!

[Nutcase]

Human Occupied Landfill is definately a more interesting read - but I always found myself more interested in actually playing Paranoia. That game rules.

Re:..ruled by an insane Computer..

[YomikoReadman]

Attempting to modify Friend Computer is an act of Treason. Please report to the nearest Termination Center. Failure to comply is Treason.

HAVE A NICE DAYCYCLE!!

Character Generation

[Papa Legba]

Long live Pax Computer!

That said one of the things I most enjoyed about playing paranoia was the lack of character generation. You could generate a chracter if you wanted, but what was the point? It was going to be dead soon. This got rid of the four hour character generation marathons caused by people taking 20 minutes to decide if they wanted to buy an extra flask of oil or a ten foot pole with the last of there money. More games ended before they started due to the fact that character generation bogged the night down so bad the adventure never got started and no one was hooked to come back the next night. Paranoia was great, people got together, you handed them a character, they read it for ten minutes and bam you were playing and having a good time.

So I guess the question inherent in this babbling is. Are you going to keep the preferences for pre-generated characters in the new edition?

Re:Looking forward to it.

[Ondo]

Lunch Money : You play a catholic schoolgirl on a playground. You beat the crap out of your opponent(s). Suggested to use consumable items such as M&Ms as life counters. You buy the deck and you get the whole game- none of this Endless Diarrhea of Expansions that other CCGs suffer. Also an excellent card based hand-to-hand combat system. :)

It's not a CCG, it's a card game. There's no "collectable". There will be expansions - Lunch Money: Sticks and Stones is coming out soon, and Beer Money (a seperate game that can be combined with Lunch Money) was just announced.

Re: Beta Testers old Module

[Allen Varney]

Is there going to be a beta testing program? Where can I sign up? And are the modules going to be updated as well? What mods to the tech trees are you going to add considering "pre-whoops!" developments like the Internet?

My, citizen, you certainly do have a lot of questions! Such inquisitiveness suggests that your creche's teacherbots have been remiss in conveying Alpha Complex etiquette.

Mongoose will reissue a collection of classic Paranoia material, updated to match the new rules, within a few months after the main rulebook appears in August 2004.

We will certainly need playtesters (as beta testers are quaintly called in the backward paper-game business). No sign-up information yet, but keep checking Greg Costikyan's Paranoia blog [costik.com] for updates.

As for modifications to the "tech trees" -- that information is available only to Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET. Thank you for your cooperation!

Re:Which system?

[Allen Varney]

Will the new version have a brand new system, use an existing system (D20, GURPS, ad infinitum), or use a mod of it's original system?

PARANOIA XP will use an updated and simplified version of the rules from PARANOIA's much admired second edition. The extent of the revision is still under discussion. More precisely, I have to type up a draft of my proposed rules and let everyone involved pass judgement.

In any case, the fundamental precept will remain: Players are not allowed to demonstrate knowledge of the rules. Knowledge of the rules is treason.

Extreme Paranoia

[Captain Chad]

In 1991 West End published a book named Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows the Trouble Ive Shot [amazon.com] that is set in the Paranoia universe. It is hilarious, and I highly recommend it.

Re:Political correctness ?

[Allen Varney]

Back in the 80's, it was OK to make fun of people and organizations. I wonder if the publisher will have to tone down the game because of the prevalence of political correctness today.

So far no one involved has raised that as a concern. PARANOIA co-designer Greg Costikyan has been inalterably opposed to such thought control for many years, as have I. I'll be writing the rulebook with the attitude that it's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Re:From the article

[Allen Varney]

what does the "XP" stand for?

It's a jab at Windows XP, but when Microsoft originally announced Windows XP, they explained that XP stood for "experience." This nod to roleplaying game terminology ("experience points") warmed my heart.

In any case, PARANOIA XP may not be the final title. None of us could think of anything better. We're certainly open to better ideas.

Re:Character Generation

[Allen Varney]

Are you going to keep the preferences for pre-generated characters in the new edition?

Yes, very strongly so. I personally favor giving GMs pregenerated "six-packs" of Troubleshooters, all with ready-made reasons to kill one another.

There will be a character generation system for those times when you run out of clones and can't afford new ones. (In PARANOIA XP you'll be able to buy indefinite numbers of clones to fill out a depleted clone family.) Ideally I'd like to keep the character generation process under four minutes, plus whatever time the GM requires to explain all the reasons you want to kill the other Troubleshooters.

Re:Lets come up with an actual question

[Allen Varney]

Besides updating the game to include more modern references, what changes are you making to the system?

I'm drafting my proposed rules now, and then everyone involved will render a verdict. I'm aiming to emphasize the elements that have historically contributed to people's favorite PARANOIA anecdotes, and de-emphasize the elements that didn't.

I've always wondered if there was a way to make campaign play possible, or if that was even desirable.

In my experience the setting hasn't been suited to a continuing campaign in the traditional sense. But it's certainly possible to run episodes week after week as long as the jokes stay funny; I've done that myself. If anyone has ideas for making a conventional campaign fun and interesting, I'm listening.

Re:Extreme Paranoia

[Allen Varney]

In 1991 West End published a book named Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Shot, that is set in the Paranoia universe.

The novel was written by Ken Rolston, PARANOIA's original line editor at West End during the game's golden period. Ken later went on to design the Morrowind computer game and is still involved with the expansions and future games in the series. Ken has provisionally agreed to contribute new material to PARANOIA XP, time permitting.

www.paranoia.com :(

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm still cheezed off that DISNEY owns paranoia.com. Any of you that are old enough to remember what used to be on paranoia.com should get a chuckle :)

Paranoia returns - on the Linksys WRT54g

[cstec]

Ha, I thought everyone had long forgotten this game. I just recently ported and (re)played the classic Unix mini-adventure Paranoia to Linux on my Linksys WRT54g!

If anyone else is up for some truly pointless fun, you can get the binary here [conklinsystems.com]

Re:Extreme Paranoia

[lysander]

There is also a paranoia novel titled Title Deleted for Security Reasons [amazon.com], about the adventures of James-B-OND-1. It's also quite good, and very entertaining.

Shameless plug: Paranoia-Live

[gumpish]

Just thought I would bring something to the attention of anyone interested in playing Paranoia over the net.

Paranoia-Live [paranoia-live.net] is a site dedicated to organizing and carrying out games of Paranoia over the internet, using a neat li'l Java app known amazingly enough as JParanoia.

Paranoia computer game!

[david.given]

Available here. [mit.edu]

The game dates from far back in the mists of time; it was originally adapted from a CYOA published in a magazine in 1977. It's a suprising amount of fun for something so small.

I use this to test new compilers and the such; it's a much more interesting variant on 'Hello, world!' (and not a lot more complicated).

File header follows:

/* This is a solo paranoia game taken from the Jan/Feb issue (No 77) of
* "SpaceGamer/FantasyGamer" magazine.
*
* Article by Sam Shirley.
* Implemented in C on Vax 11/780 under UNIX by Tim Lister
*
* This is a public domain adventure and may not be sold for profit
*
* $Source: /mit/softbone/source/src/paranoia/RCS/paranoia.c,v $
* $Author: tjcoppet $
*
*/