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Shadowleaf
2011-01-17, 01:23 PM
Hi guys. Our usual V:tM gaming has suffered some setbacks over the last few weeks, and we are currently missing two players.

We figured we wanted to try something new and light-hearted, and landed on Paranoia. Seeing as I pitched the idea, I get the glorious task of running the game.

Problem is - neither of us have ever played it. Actually, I am the only one with prior knowledge of the system, and I only know what I've read on Wikipedia and the forums.

Therefore, I have a set of questions I hope you guys can answer, namely:

- Which edition is the most fun to play / easiest to learn?

- Which books should we pick up?

- What level of silliness should I aim for? I want it to be a silly, stupid, fun game, but I'd also love for it to make sense.

- Any other advice for a first time gamemaster, or advice for the players?

TheCountAlucard
2011-01-17, 01:49 PM
We figured we wanted to try something new and light-hearted, and landed on Paranoia. Seeing as I pitched the idea, I get the glorious task of running the game.Excellent. :smallsmile:

What level of silliness should I aim for? I want it to be a silly, stupid, fun game, but I'd also love for it to make sense.You'll want to aim for "classic mode," out of the latest setting, then.

Any other advice for a first time gamemaster, or advice for the players?For the GM: the group having fun trumps pretty much everything else in the book. Your greatest tool toward this end is ignorance. :smallamused:

For the players: See that guy next to you? He's plotting against you. Even if he's not even playing the game, he's plotting against you. :smalltongue:

The Watchman
2011-01-17, 02:18 PM
Hi guys. Our usual V:tM gaming has suffered some setbacks over the last few weeks, and we are currently missing two players.

We figured we wanted to try something new and light-hearted, and landed on Paranoia. Seeing as I pitched the idea, I get the glorious task of running the game.

Ah, another convert to the First Church of Jesus Christ, Computer Programmer! And a High Programmer at that! Fabulous!

Remember, Paranoia is fun. Other games are not fun.


Problem is - neither of us have ever played it. Actually, I am the only one with prior knowledge of the system, and I only know what I've read on Wikipedia and the forums.

Therefore, I have a set of questions I hope you guys can answer

As an experienced High Programmer myself, I can answer pretty much any questions you might have. Just let me know if you need to know anything other than what's answered below.


- Which edition is the most fun to play / easiest to learn?

In my experience, Paranoia XP is the best edition, both in terms of mechanics and for ease of play.


- Which books should we pick up?

The Paranoia XP core rulebook (titled Paranoia XP Service Pack 1, or simply SP1) contains pretty much all the information you'll ever need to play the game. The Mutant Experience does contain some helpful information on mutant powers, though, so pick it up if you'd like to go into more detail about your players'... er... I mean, those treasonous Communists' secret powers.


- What level of silliness should I aim for? I want it to be a silly, stupid, fun game, but I'd also love for it to make sense.

That would be Paranoia Classic. Most Paranoia games go for this level of Computer-approved silliness. The Computer also makes two other modes of play available, though, because, in its wisdom, the Computer recognizes that not all High Programmers have the same taste in entertainment. It generously provides Paranoia Dark, which has a distinctly Orwellian flavor, and Paranoia Zap!, which is Looney Toons with laser guns.


- Any other advice for a first time gamemaster, or advice for the players?

Ignorance is your friend. Never, ever tell the players more than absolutely necessary. Not only is the information in question likely above their security clearance (and they therefore commit treason by knowing it), but it's much more fun if they don't know. Don't tell the players about one anothers' characters. Don't tell them more about their mission than absolutely necessary. Don't tell them exactly what constitutes treason. Don't even tell them the rules.

No, seriously. Don't tell them the rules, beyond the basic explanation of how to do something (roll a d20 and try to get under your skill number; spend Perversity Points to raise the target number; spend PP to also raise or lower your friends' numbers; you don't have to tell your friends when you do something; pass notes to the High Programmer a lot). It's more fun if they don't know what they're doing. This also makes things a lot easier on you, as you can kill off a clone whenever it becomes appropriate rather than having to rely on a throw of the die. In any other, non-fun RPG, this would be considered "cheating" on the High Programmer's part. In Paranoia, which is fun, it's all part of the game.

Trial and error is more fun than planning. Besides, there are always more clones where those came from.

Oh, yeah. Clones die a lot. That's supposed to happen.

The Glyphstone
2011-01-17, 02:48 PM
A handy tip to remember: As the GM, you only roll dice if you haven't already decided what will happen.

Kylarra
2011-01-17, 03:18 PM
A handy tip to remember: As the GM, you only roll dice if you haven't already decided what will happen.You can also roll dice if you have decided what's going to happen.

The Watchman
2011-01-17, 03:44 PM
You can also roll dice if you have decided what's going to happen.

...and what's going to happen involves dice being rolled.

Kurald Galain
2011-01-17, 06:24 PM
Actually, I am the only one with prior knowledge of the system,
That's good, because for the players to have knowledge of the system is treasonous.

I'm not just being trite, either. Paranoia is the kind of game where, if you complain that you should get a +2 to-hit because you're at point-blank range, your character gets killed. Because you're arguing about the rules, and you're not allowed to know the rules.



- Which edition is the most fun to play / easiest to learn?
The latest one, if only because it's easiest to find. It used to be called "Paranoia XP" but after a threatened lawsuit happy fun talk by Microsoft, it got renamed to just "Paranoia".



- Which books should we pick up?
All of them! Buying them is mandatory!

Seriously though, just buy the first, don't let your players read it, and go from there. Paranoia is heavily about improvising anyway.



- What level of silliness should I aim for? I want it to be a silly, stupid, fun game, but I'd also love for it to make sense.
That sounds like "classic".

Paranoia has three styles. "Zap" is Three Stooges style, where you start killing each other for no reason, and the universe runs on cartoon physics. "Classic" is, well, classic, where you want to kill the other characters but need an excuse to do so, and the universe runs on idiotic over-the-top bureaucracy. "Straight" is scary, where you try to actually get ahead in a chilling dystopia.


- Any other advice for a first time gamemaster, or advice for the players?
Sorry, citizen, this information is not available at your security clearance.

Enix18
2011-01-17, 06:45 PM
A handy tip to remember: As the GM, you only roll dice if you haven't already decided what will happen.

Correction: always roll dice. All the time. (But don't let the players see!)

If nothing is happening, it will give your players the impression that something is happening, thereby inspiring Paranoia!

If something is actually happening, it will give you players the impression that you're being fair. Oh, those poor, ignorant fools!

Demonweave
2011-01-17, 08:22 PM
As you can see we all have pretty much the exact same idea about Paranoia.

Never tell them anything unless it is needed (usually only what they can see)
Roll dice regularly and for no reason (great for making them paranoid)
Kill anyone one who questions you in anyway.

My best advice is give them each a lil reason to suspect the others of treason and watch them tear each other apart.

Katana_Geldar
2011-01-17, 08:25 PM
Practise a good voice for Friend Computer that your players can recognise and distinguish from the GM voice.

Paranoia is also very compatable with meta. have "feelies" and if you can have a termination room where you send the players until their clone arrives.

The game also works best with six players, a full troubleshooting group.

Beelzebub1111
2011-01-17, 08:31 PM
Never tell them anything unless it is needed (usually only what they can see)
Arguable. You might not want to tell them something when it is needed.

Be prepared for intra-party conflict. It's part of the game.

DO NOT LET THEM KNOW THE NATURE OF THE GAME! I cannot stress them enough. Let them each think that THEY are the traitor/mutant out of the loyal troubleshooters and must sabotage the others' plans. And it is imperative that they think that they are the only ones who are. It only works for the first time, but man will they remember it.

In classic, the best position in the group is the happiness officer. You can turn any accusations around by one of two things:

1. Bring the accusor's happiness into question. ("Would it make you unhappy if I was a mutant?"; "Then I must not be, since you are happy...aren't you?" *Chk-chk*)

2. "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands..."

Demonweave
2011-01-17, 09:09 PM
Arguable. You might not want to tell them something when it is needed.

Actually yeah I stand corrected :smallamused:

The fact that your players don't know about Paranoia really works in your favour.

Kylarra
2011-01-17, 09:20 PM
...and what's going to happen involves dice being rolled.Yes, you have decided to roll dice. Whether or not those dice have any bearing on the game may or may not hold true.

Aidan305
2011-01-19, 12:17 PM
I actually ended up running a game for a group of first time troubleshooters last night. The important thing to remember is that, unlike a group familiar with the game, a first-ime group will take much longer to get in to the whole backstabbing traitors thing. They're used to working together as a team in other RPGs so that'll need to be the first thing that you break down.

A good way to do this is to trick a team member in to committing "treason" of some sort, or perhaps just doing something that will get someone with the power of life and death over them annoyed. (Example: They refuse to show sufficient respect to a violet or higher-classed citizen). Order another member of the team to execute them. If he doesn't do it immediately, order another member of the team to execute the first executioner. Keep going until someone realises what's going on and actually pulls the trigger. This relaxes the atmosphere a bit and gets the players used to the idea that dying is not a bad thing and can actually be quite fun.

After you've given out the MBD's (Mandatory Bonus Duties), take each player aside and explain what the inherent requirements of the role are. e.g. Loyalty Officer must take down notes of any and all activity that could in the slightest way, be construed as treasonous. Try and get across how this role can be used to back-stab other players without saying anything outright.

The mission briefing should be vague with only the barest outline given for what they should be doing. Any other information should be either beyond their security clearance or [File Data Not Found. Hail Purge!]

No paranoia mission is complete without a trip to R&D. Given that it's the players' first time, I would suggest avoiding overly complicated pseudo-scientific mechanisms. Go with something simpler that will be instantly recognisable by the players but with a ludicrous name. A few personal favourites are:
"The Tactical Situation Decision Assessment Device" (A magic 8-ball,
"The Experimental Gravity Amplification Device" (A ball and chain),
"Heisen-B-ERG's Uncertainty Generator" (A cat in a sealed cardboard box. This one's particularly entertaining as it's treasonous for most citizens of Alpha Complex to actually know what a cat is.)

Secret Society missions should be given out in extremely obvious IC ways, so that players know that the other party members have a secret society mission but don't know what it is. A fellow RED citizen bumping in to them repeatedly to pass a number of notes and waiting patiently for a response for example.

And remember, the character sheet only has one side.

Kurald Galain
2011-01-19, 12:23 PM
No paranoia mission is complete without a trip to R&D. Given that it's the players' first time, I would suggest avoiding overly complicated pseudo-scientific mechanisms. Go with something simpler that will be instantly recognisable by the players but with a ludicrous name.

Conversely, you can make great missions by describing common items (that are not common to Alpha Complex) in convoluted ways, and wait for the shoe to drop. For example, in one adventure I made a big deal of describing a green-clearance cone with orange-clearing spheres stuck on it, and it took them a few minutes to realize they were looking at a christmas tree, and their mission was to shoot Santa!

Beelzebub1111
2011-01-19, 12:36 PM
If you manage to have varying clearance levels in your group, have some fun with it.

A red car, with black seats, an orange gear shift and clutch, a yellow gas pedal, a Green Break pedal, and a violet steering wheel.

Kurald Galain
2011-01-19, 01:16 PM
If you manage to have varying clearance levels in your group, have some fun with it.

The Computer, in his infinite wisdom, also allows clones of any clearance to have fun with items of lower clearance.

JeenLeen
2011-01-19, 01:43 PM
There is a section of the rulebook (or at least the one my group used, but I think it was the most recent version) that is noted as Security Clearance Red, i.e., for players.

I recommend having them look at that, since that gives them an understanding of how paranoid they should be and how dangerous the world is. You could explain this all in-person, though, especially if you want to play as them just being raised to Red from Infrared.

Also, remember that the players know what their mutant power is, but they do not know what their mutant power does or what its limits are. In the one game I played, one of the fellow players got teleportation and used it to teleport my character behind another one, which prompty got me killed as a treasonous mutant. It ended fine when I used 'polymorph' to shapeshift into a dragon and ate the last surviving player... fortunately in an area where all of Friend Computer's cameras were malfunctioning.

Beelzebub1111
2011-01-19, 02:28 PM
The Computer, in his infinite wisdom, also allows clones of any clearance to have fun with items of lower clearance.

The point is that, even with all that, they still can't steer.

Katana_Geldar
2011-01-19, 04:40 PM
The Little Red Book is good to get for players as it hasno treasonous material in it whatsoever.

Demonweave
2011-01-19, 05:48 PM
This thread has now made me want to put my D&D campaign on hold for a week and have a session of Paranoia. :smallamused:

Kurald Galain
2011-01-19, 06:35 PM
This thread has now made me want to put my D&D campaign on hold for a week and have a session of Paranoia. :smallamused:

Good. Doing so will make you Happy.

(and, you know, not being happy is punishable by summary execution...)

Demonweave
2011-01-19, 09:15 PM
Sorted one game of Paranoia arranged :smallbiggrin: thanks computer. hehe

BobVosh
2011-01-19, 09:43 PM
Ah a glorious game filled with nothing but fun.

In case you want your NPCs to have tics and not to be stressed when doing such here (http://gmftp.paranoia-live.net/max/wheelOfTics.swf) someone very helpful made a wheel o' tics.

Demonweave
2011-01-25, 07:39 AM
This got me thinking about how much I like Paranoia so much that my group and I are having a game of it tonight now. :smallbiggrin:

Steamsaint
2011-01-25, 08:39 AM
"The Tactical Situation Decision Assessment Device" (A magic 8-ball,
"The Experimental Gravity Amplification Device" (A ball and chain),
"Heisen-B-ERG's Uncertainty Generator" (A cat in a sealed cardboard box. This one's particularly entertaining as it's treasonous for most citizens of Alpha Complex to actually know what a cat is.)

These are glorious.

Consider them sto-copyrighted by Friend Computer.

Eldan
2011-01-25, 09:00 AM
My favourite was always the treason detector. (An alarm clock set to beep every ten minutes, no matter what happened).