Paranoia RPG Returns in New Edition 363
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."
ahh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:ahh (Score:3, Funny)
With or without hormone supressant therepy? Bzzt! Wrong answer, citizen! (*splat*).
Long live Death Leopards!
I have a question... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have a question... (Score:5, Funny)
*zott*
Re:I have a question... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have a question... (Score:4, Funny)
myself and my friends.
Even when playing D&D, at least one of the team
would start back-stabbing people, if it offered
the slightest touch of comedic value.
Re:I have a question... (Score:3, Interesting)
Man, I wish I could've seen those last few sessions.
Re:I have a question... (Score:4, Funny)
..ruled by an insane Computer.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:..ruled by an insane Computer.. (Score:4, Informative)
HAVE A NICE DAYCYCLE!!
One hasbro (Score:5, Funny)
One Hasbro(R) to rule them all
One Hasbro(R) to find them.
One Hasbro(R) to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them
Parker Brothers(R), Milton Bradley(R), Selchow & Richter(R), TSR(R), SPI(R), Avalon Hill(R), and Wizards of the Coast(R) are registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. Their use here is not to be construed as a challenge to their trademark status.
Christ! That brings me back! (Score:5, Interesting)
Of all the old roleplaying games, the only one I still own and cart with me when I move is Paranoia. I'll probably never play it again, but I can't bear to get rid of such an entertaining rulebook.
Good luck with the next edition. It will be hard to write a book that stands up well next to the original.
Re:Christ! That brings me back! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Christ! That brings me back! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Christ! That brings me back! (Score:4, Funny)
so you and your brother played a lot of Synnibar?
Trust the computer (Score:5, Funny)
- Dave #2
Purchase yours today, citizen! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Purchase yours today, citizen! (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, that'll learn 'em.
Re:Purchase yours today, citizen! (Score:3, Funny)
Report to the Bright Future Reeducation immeidately for Preventive Clone Activation Sequence initiation.
The Computer is your friend, and only seeks the best interests of you and Alpha Complex. Have a nice day!
so, uh.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:so, uh.... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:so, uh.... (Score:3, Funny)
Failure to comply is also an act of Treason.
HAVE A NICE DAYCYCLE!!!
It will be printed on black paper... (Score:4, Funny)
And its the basis for... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:And its the basis for... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And its the basis for... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And its the basis for... (Score:4, Interesting)
There's original author has (or had?) a website up with supplemental mission information and scenarios. I can't seem to find it now; google's turning up 404s. I've got a hardcopy of it somewhere...
Haven't ran it yet, mainly because the people I game with don't follow Cthulhu and thus wouldn't get any of the jokes.
Ia! Ia! Ultraviolet programmer with a thousand clones!
SYB Notes (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:SYB Notes (Score:4, Informative)
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:SYB Notes (Score:5, Funny)
The first guideline: KILL THE BASTARDS. (that is, the players). If you were overly swamped by notes from the players, the appropriate response would be to discourage further notes through the judicious application of death. Commies.
Re:SYB Notes (Score:3, Funny)
Re:SYB Notes (Score:3, Interesting)
I went through clones fast sometimes, especially with kill happy GMs, but that guy lost all 6 in less than 20 minutes, and only about 3 of which he had a character in the game - with the most lenient GM I've ever had for Paranoia (heck,
Re:SYB Notes (Score:4, Funny)
The Computer decrees: (Score:4, Funny)
you're in the know! (Score:3, Funny)
Does the computer REALLY love us?
Re:you're in the know! (Score:4, Funny)
Reporting a Commie Mutant Traitor expressing seditious doubts of the Computer's benevolence!
Beta Testers old Module (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Beta Testers old Module (Score:3, Funny)
Re: Beta Testers old Module (Score:5, Informative)
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!
Tinfoil hats (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Tinfoil hats (Score:3, Informative)
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)
Praise the Computer (Score:3, Funny)
Oh wait, that's illegal...
(enter clone #2)
Can I get Ultra-Violet clerance now?
(enter clone #3)
(Happy Officer takes a core sample)
(enter clone #4)
Can I have a happy pill?
In-character (Score:5, Funny)
I think this is the only time I've ever seen a product-existance-denial actually be in-character.
Excellent (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:Excellent (Score:3, Insightful)
Each skill branch was a collection of skills based off of a stat (Dex, Agility, Moxie, whatever). Characters' skill ratings were based off of a value derived from their stats (basically the stat/4 -- a 20 stat would give you a base 5 in every related skill) plus however many skill points they invested in their trees as they advanced. Instead of rolling to meet a challenge rating, Paranoia players would try to roll under their combined skill rating.
The only
My kind of MMORPG (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:My kind of MMORPG (Score:4, Insightful)
but how would the game implement the GM directive to reward players for original, extraordinary and spectacular actions?
Minsky (Score:5, Funny)
I can't wait. (Score:4, Funny)
Like Slashdot with dice!
Looking forward to it. (Score:4, Offtopic)
I used to be a hardcore tabletop gamer, but I stopped several years back for a whole heap of reasons. The only gaming supplies I still have are a set of stock DnD dice, a couple of first edition DnD books (my ex roommate needed money), the Lunch Money* CCG (best. CCG. EVAR.), and the HOL** manual and expansion.
If the Paranoia rulebook is even HALF as entertaining as the HOL manual, I'm buying two- the article links paint the game up into a similar category, which is good- this is the first I've even thought about tabletop gaming in months.
Good thing there's a gaming store about three blocks from work.
* 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.
** Human Occupied Landfill. The most heinously WRONG gaming manual ever written.
Re:Looking forward to it. (Score:5, Informative)
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.
What I loved about Paranoia (Score:5, Insightful)
That - and I loved the wry satirical and self-referencing tone in which 2nd Edition was written. Sometimes I would sit and just read the rulebook for fun! Reading it as a teenager, I learned a lot about both pop-culture and serious political thought ("Imagine a world designed by Orwell, Sartre, Kafka, Stalin and the Marx Brothers...")
Basically, if The Onion did a sci-fi RPG, it would be Paranoia.
Can't wait to see the new edition!
and remember...THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND! ALL HAIL FRIEND COMPUTER!
Re:What I loved about Paranoia (Score:4, Insightful)
Argh...that's what really turned me off to AD&D...I always ened up gaming with these dorks that would basically arrange for the DM to *give* them all sorts of magic items, gold, experience points...then they would sit in a huddle giggling about their "awesome" characters. It was really pathetic.
Contrast with Paranoia where "ambitious" players have their character killed off double quick and the very concept "leveling up" is non-existent. Meanwhile, powerful weapons usually blow up on the guy wielding them, having a lot of credits can be used as evidence of treasonous behavior, and players invariably try and push the deathtrap-like "magic items" (R&D experimental equipment) onto each other.
I think the GM manual put it something like this: "Be boring and you're dead." Also "Kill the bastards."
Cyrano-V-ARG
Re:What I loved about Paranoia (Score:3, Funny)
Another quote from the second edition manual (which is actually a quote from another book whose title I forget):
Ok, I have a question... (Score:3, Funny)
We all know we won't have a high enough security clearance for the answers.
From the article (Score:3, Insightful)
The Computer: No. PARANOIA is fun. D20 games are not fun. The Computer says so.
And we all know Friend Computer is always right.
I was also wondering, what does the "XP" stand for? Though...with my clearance, I probably shouldn't even ask.
-Car-O-LYN
Re:From the article (Score:5, Informative)
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:From the article (Score:3, Interesting)
We aren't prevented from calling it anything we want. We do want to distinguish it from past editions, but the "XP" name is provisional. Any loyal citizen who provides a better name will earn a commendation point.
Character Generation (Score:4, Informative)
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:Character Generation (Score:4, Informative)
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.
XP? (Score:3, Funny)
Fear and Ignorance! Ignorance and Fear! (Score:3, Interesting)
My poor players never knew what they were in for when I ran that game. Hot fun and happy pills!
I always broke out Paranoia when my CoC or Champions players started getting a little too big for their britches with five hour character generations and rules lawyering.
This game was truly a masterpiece of catharsis for overworked gamemasters. I am so glad it's getting a rework, I could just implode with delight.
Thank you Greg! The computer is the bomb!
No wait! It's just an expression! I didn't really mean bomb! I just...ZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAPPP!
Mike-O-Phile2...you are lucky enough to have been activated for duty in service of the Great and Benevolent Computer! You are to report to Mission Room 5 in Slashdot Sector immediately for briefing.
My Paranoia experience (Score:5, Funny)
One of the guys decided to do a one-off Paranoia game. Here's how it started:
COMPUTER: Troubleshooters! Report to briefing room B-X-37-Y for your mission briefing!
ME: Friend computer, where might one find riefing room B-X-37-Y?
COMPUTER: What is your clearance?
ME: Red, friend computer.
COMPUTER: You are not cleared for that information.
Analiese: [sarcastically, momentarily channeling her D&D character] Well, I cast a spell to locate the briefing room.
ME: Argh! Mutant powers! Shoot her shoot her shoot her!
[Much expendature of Red lasers into Analiese.]
Analiese Clone #2: [arriving] You guys all suck.
ME: Argh! Questioning the wisdom of Friend Computer! Commie traitor! Shoot her shoot her shoot her!
[Much expendature of Red lasers into Analiese's second clone.]
COMPUTER: Well done, citizen! You are now cleared for Orange access.
And things degenerated from there. I don't think we made it out of the briefing room.
Re:My Paranoia experience (Score:4, Funny)
It was a group new to the game, and so I played the old "briefing room is 30 feet away down a violet clearance hallway" gags. There were of course heavily armed guards and lots of security cameras so it was impossible to just sprint down it. One of the characters jumped onto the back of another character and started choking him for no particular reason. Another player takes out his laser pistol to shoot the attacker off the back of his friend and scores a critical hit killing both of them. The other players start accusing the shooter of deliberately killing and arguments/pleading ensues. Another player notices that the guards let a Bot pass no questions asked, so he rounds the corner and finds a trash barrel, puts it over his head and starts to walk down the hall. When the guards ask what the hell he thinks he is doing he just replies: "I am a Robot beep beep boop" The guards let him pass. The rest of the group notices by now that the ruse worked so they start running around looking for more trashcans.
When they try to cross the hallway the guards are not fooled this time and ask each one to prove that they are in fact robots and not just troubleshooter scum with trash bins on their heads. The best way to tell if they are robots it's decided, is to make them all dance "the robot" The resulting dance contest forced us to stop the game for 10 minuets before we could stop laughing.
first time players (Score:3, Interesting)
If you are a regular player, you care about your character. Newbies go for broke.
I once knew a cop that attended a Nancon convention here in Houston (back in the day) who had never played Paranoia, but threw himself into the role and won the tournament.
I always wondered if being a cop gave him an edge in that game....i.e. maybe he is a professional Paranoia player...
Is Paranoia a joke between GM and author? (Score:4, Interesting)
I like Paranoia, but I like it in much the same way I like HOL [rpg.net] or Orkworld [rpg.net]. Great read, fascinating ideas, but is it actually playable? The best summary of Paranoia's problems I've seen amounted to basically, "Paranoia feels too much like a private joke between the author of a given adventure and the gamemaster." To players things (notably death) seems a bit arbitrary. The jokes often aren't comprehensible if you don't have context that only the GM has. (The "disco" scene in Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues comes to mind).
If Paranoia is just social commentary and satire, well, that's and interesting read, but it's a basis for a game I play more than once. If it's about humor than the jokes need to be visible to everyone; I'm not going to play a game to amuse my GM. I think that the core game play of Paranoia is supposed to be about the struggle to survive in a bureaucratic nightmare, but that's not the feeling I've gotten from the games I've played. It's unfortunate, because it's such an appealing premise.
I see a lot of potential, but I've never seen it pay off in actual game play. Maybe I've just been unlucky and didn't have GMs up to the task (I've been in love with Shadowrun since the second edition, but only recently actually played in a game I enjoyed), but Paranoia seems like a fundamentally difficult game to get right. The only "famous" module I've played was YCBBB. YCBBB is is generally held to be one of the best modules for the game. What I saw wasn't terribly impressive and appeared to have a strong "private joke between the author and the GM" element. (To be fair, given that the players weren't haven't alot of fun, we stopped playing after only a few sessions.)
So, is the accusation that Paranoia is a private job between the creators and the GM fair? Is there any truth too it? Is Paranoia fundamentally an extremely difficult game to run? Are you changing anything to address these concerns (including possibly working to clarify incorrect perceptions)? What do you feel is the key attraction to playing for players?
Re:Is Paranoia a joke between GM and author? (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, historically. Too many adventures were written solely to be fun to read, as opposed to fun to play.
No. PARANOIA is generally an extremely easy game to run. Players aren't allowed to demonstrate knowledge of the rules (no rules-lawyer arguments). The Gamemaster has absolute and unquestioned authority. Players generally entertain themselves by busily plotting against one another.
That said, good gamemastering does call for a sharp sense of humor and a willingness to improvise. This can alienate certain prospective Gamemasters.
The PARANOIA supplement line will have to do this. I'm just writing (most of) the basic rulebook. I hope the Mongoose line editor will avoid the trap of PARANOIA's adventures from the latter 1980s and early 1990s, which had The Computer deliberately setting up traps to kill its Troubleshooters. This is all wrong. The Computer means well; it wants loyal Troubleshooters to survive and thrive in its service. The problem is that The Computer is totally nuts and inevitably finds treason even where none exists.
I will certainly include campaign advice along this line in the rulebook, which may help Gamemasters detect and correct errant supplements.
In every other RPG on the market, you're supposed to cooperate with everybody, be a team player, know the rules, and generally behave. In PARANOIA you are specifically enjoined against any of this. You aren't allowed to behave. For players this can be an exhilarating and genuinely liberating experience.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Extreme Paranoia (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Extreme Paranoia (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re:Extreme Paranoia (Score:3, Informative)
I'm turning you all in! (Score:3, Funny)
Computer, I request immediate authority for summary execution of all fellow forum readers! I'll fill out the termination vouchers in triplicate later.
Damn I love Paranoia!
- OrbNobz
Are you going to fix it? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Are you going to fix it? (Score:4, Insightful)
First, it's not a problem if the players are having fun. Second, the frenzy you describe, recognized among experienced PARANOIA GMs as "Phase 1" play, usually subsides after players play a few (or many) sessions. "Phase 2" play sees players get more into the spirit of the setting, though they die almost as often. By "Phase 3" you see canny political skills emerge. These players somehow manage to wriggle through every deathtrap and succeed in the mission, while disposing of all opposition and ending with commendations and a promotion. They're really something to see, those Phase 3 players.
Favorite Paranoia Gags (Score:3, Insightful)
For example, if you are a group of high school seniors, invite a freshman kid over to play. He will try way too hard, and will be way gullible. If he's not, then congratulations, you actually found one worth keeping.
Always make sure that nobody knows more than one other person present (excluding gamemaster).
It's a lot easier to fear the unknown.
Always take each individual aside and assure them that you are on THEIR side against everyone else.
Everyone wants to feel special
ABOVE ALL ELSE: Don't forget the tactical nuclear hand greandes.
Boom ---- Yeah, way cool about the continuation of this game. This literally made growing up bearable. Reading and grocking paranoia makes it a lot easier to understand the world, and try to keep going. BTW, anyone ever read the six part comic series? Beautiful work, I miss my copies.
Shameless plug: Paranoia-Live (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Classic Moments in Paranoia Gaming (Score:3, Interesting)
2. A paranoia mission known as "Whitewash", wherein players were tasked with painting an Ultraviolet-clearance hallway Black. A Code-7 masterpiece, it was fully capable of killing dozens of clones with literally no prompting on the part of the GM.
Experienced players don't even bother with that one.
3. Telescopalmine. Visomorpain. Rolactin.
4. Invisible Commies, sub-bots and Plaid-clearance rooms in "Alpha Complexities".
5. The sheer, character destroying joy of "Me and My Shadow", in which characters are tasked with guarding a Mark IV Continental Siege machine.
Anyone remember the simple joy of "A Piece Falls Off"?
Paranoia computer game! (Score:4, Informative)
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:
* "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:
* $Author: tjcoppet $
*
*/
Re:yay first post! (Score:5, Funny)
Please report to the nearest termination center.
Thank you!
There is a god! er I mean computer, dont shoot me! (Score:5, Interesting)
In short, it's the best pen and paper RPG ever made. Not that I am biased or anything.
Stick to soilent green (Score:5, Funny)
You'd be a lot safer sticking to soilent green. In fact, there was a lot more of the stuff around after this accident. Not sure why.
Re:Stick to soilent green (Score:5, Funny)
Not at my clearance level.
Eve-R-Dense
Re:There is a god! er I mean computer, dont shoot (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds about right to me. In a first-time Paranoia party, if they survive all the way to the mission briefing room, you are clearly doing something wrong. :)
Warning: The following text is classified ULRAVIOLET. Do not read if you are not a Game Master. Should you accidentally make out some of the words as you scroll by, terminate yourself immediately. Your clone will be commondated for your loyalty.
One campaign which I designed that I never get tired of running with new groups of players is a scenario where key high-level people in Alpha Complex who were members of the "trekkie" secret society conspired to have a fully-functional "Enterprise" built. The party is sent up to command the bridge. Lots of great conflicting interests from secret societies (The "Whovians" consider it blasphemous and want it destroyed, for example), lots of tech that can go wrong: There are the insanely dangerous transporters. All five clones are stored in stasis on board for faster activation from the captain's chair (now you know what all those buttons are for!) An android First Officer who suffers from MPD (fans of different eras of Star Trek wanted him to be like different "logical" characters from the series, so one moment he talks and acts like Spock, the next like Data.) Lasers are replaced with "Phasers," which penetrate reflective armor, but are prone to "overload" and violently explode.
I even wrote an element of the campaign where they actually encounter a "Klingon" opponent, but the one party that lived long enough to encounter them never even turned on the view screen. When they were detected by the ship's sensors, the conversation between me and the guy playing the Communication Officer went sort of like this:
"A red light starts blinking on your console."
"Does anybody else seem to have noticed."
"No, everybody else is too preoccupied"
"I ignore it then."
A few minutes later...
"The light has begun blinking again, faster this time."
"I unscrew it and pretend nothing is wrong." (Note: clearly an experienced Paranoia player, that one!)
The computer is your friend. (Score:5, Interesting)
- The computer is your friend
Basically, every player starts out with 6 clones, a couple of mutant abilities and membership in a small handful of secret societies.The computer is your only friend
Trust the computer
Trust only the computer,
and remember: in all likelihood the computer wants you DEAD
You (usually) start at one of the lowest security ranges (InfraRed) and your goal is to climb to the highest security range (Ultraviolet -> programmer) -- mostly by fixing the damage done by secret societies, commies and mutants.
Oh, and did I mention that exposure of either your mutant abilities or your secret society membership is cause for instant termination??
In any case, my favorite mission occured with a couple dozen of us playing at a science-fiction convention (Orycon, if I remember corectly). Within 45 minutes we had about 8 dead and another dozen or so seriously wounded.
We hadn't made it out of the briefing room.
Re:Be careful (Score:3, Insightful)
-dameron
Re:Be careful (Score:3, Funny)
Alpha Complex and other tunes (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, I'm glad I'm not an Alpha Complex commie,
That is what I'd really hate to be
Cuz if I were an Alpha Complex commie,
All the citizens would shoot at me.
Or this one, to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man":
It's 9 o'clock in Computer time,
A communist crowd shuffles in
There's a White-Class sitting next to me
But I'm not cleared to look straight at him...
Let's not go there, though. That was a silly time.
Found it! (Score:3, Informative)
Scroll down to THE ALPHA COMPLEX SONGBOOK
Re:NO! (Score:5, Informative)
Well there is this song:
You can find similar songs here [textfiles.com]
Re: Alpha Complex Dandy (Score:5, Interesting)
Those lyrics were written by Warren Spector, my collaborator on the early Paranoia adventure Send in the Clones. Truth! Warren has since become a well-known producer of computer games, including Deus Ex, and runs the game studio Ion Storm Austin.
Re:NO! (Score:3, Funny)
I seem to recall the Armed Forces sourcebook containing a variant marching cadence that ended with:
Treason is the life for me,
computer's now my enemy!
People would blanch as the Sargeant lead them up to this line. Singing it was obviously treason and grounds for termination. Breaking cadence was obviously treason and grounds for termination. Good times.
One thing I really wish I could find was my copy of the R&D Catalogue. The description of the "IT" superweapon remains possibly the funniest piece
Re:Matrix and Terminator (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Matrix and Terminator (Score:3, Funny)
It's called Brazil....
Re:Paranoia! Hoooorray! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Paranoia! Hoooorray! (Score:4, Funny)
Wheel out Llywelyn_03
Re:Which system? (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re:Political correctness ? (Score:5, Informative)
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:Political correctness ? (Score:3, Funny)
Serious question:
Is waiting until after you've released PARANOIA XP, and until after I've purchased my copy, before reporting both of you for treason on the grounds of that remark, itself an act of treason?
(Or is reporting you for
Re:Are commies still the computer's nemesis? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm surprised at you, citizen! Don't you see that traitors are everywhere? The Department of Unspecified Threat Assessment has recently raised the Unfocused Anxiety Index to THREE, and I don't have to tell you what that means.
We will keep the Communists -- that is, the absurdist PARANOIA flavor of Communists established in past adventures -- but we'll also add plenty of new and subversive secret societies, new "service firms" (privatized service groups) in bitter commercial rivalry, and weirdly altered bot behavior provoked by zealous open-source bot-liberation advocates. Among many other things. Trust me -- enemies are everywhere!
Re:Lets come up with an actual question (Score:3, Informative)
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.
In my experience the setting hasn't been suited to a conti