Nine players for Paranoia? *Panics* [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Katana_Geldar

2011-03-27, 07:52 PM

Well, the word has gotten around at how much fun Paranoia is and I may be GMing for as many as nine people in a few weeks.

This will either be a lot of fun, mayhem or both.

I'm thinking of doubling up on the MBDs, having two team leaders, two Loyalty Officers and maybe two recording guys, to get the different angles of commie burning.

Any other tips? I wonder how many people I can terminate at once. :smallbiggrin:

TheCountAlucard

2011-03-27, 08:59 PM

This will either be a lot of fun, mayhem or both.My guess is both.
I'm thinking of doubling up on the MBDs, having two team leaders, two Loyalty Officers and maybe two recording guys, to get the different angles of commie burning.Don't go with two team leaders; the whole point of the Team Leader is that he's leader of the team... when the other members' jobs don't take priority. And if your other Troubleshooters are playing it right, their jobs will always take priority.

You might break up some of the other MBDs into sub-MBDs, to account for this...

Katana_Geldar

2011-03-27, 09:08 PM

But quite like the idea of two team leaders fighting over who's in charge...

TheCountAlucard

2011-03-27, 09:23 PM

But quite like the idea of two team leaders fighting over who's in charge...Even though neither of them is really in charge? :smallwink:

Yeah, I suppose that works. :smallamused:

Katana_Geldar

2011-03-27, 09:28 PM

Well, it's Paranoia. If it doesn't work, you cheat. :smallbiggrin:

How would I break up the MDBs? I guess I could have a sound guy and camera guy for the recording officer.

Friv

2011-03-27, 11:22 PM

Add some extra MBDs - this works particularly well if the players are veterans, because it gives them new things to worry about:

* The Public Relations Officer, whose job is to make sure that the characters don't upset any citizens that they meet, and that said citizens have good things to say about the team.

* The Agent Provocateur, whose job is to pretend to be a traitor in order to snare real traitors. (Probably a bad plan if your players tend towards the shooty side of the scale, but tons of fun otherwise).

* The Official Deputy Officer, whose job is to take over the jobs of any and all agents who are unable to do their own jobs for whatever reason, until they're fit again.

Katana_Geldar

2011-03-27, 11:24 PM

But I am using the standard MDB test.

CarpeGuitarrem

2011-03-28, 12:49 AM

Why don't you tell both "Team Leaders" that they're the real team leader. It's a loyalty test. The other team leader is a Mutant Commie Traitor, of course. Or something along those lines. Or you appoint one guy Team Leader, pass other players notes that they're the one and only Team Leader, and anyone else claiming to be Team Leader is an imposter Commie Mutant Traitor Spy.

Heck. Why not do that for all the roles?

The Big Dice

2011-03-28, 04:50 AM

Somewhere out there are pdf files with questionnaires for Troubleshooters. The idea being that the players fill out these forms and the person who gets the lowest score for a given section is given that position. Because obviously the least suitable candidate should get the post, as they ned the practise to get good at it.

And The Computer would never make a mistake like giving a job to an incompetent commie mutant traitor.

Greylond

2011-03-28, 06:24 AM

The classic thing is that 2 Different Factions/High Programmers were accidentally given the task to setup and run the mission, so each one of them is trying to setup the Team the way that they think best but neither one of them is willing to work with the other. Setup Two Team positions for everything, then setup Two Briefings, that are scheduled at the SAME Time and see which team members go to each one. Something like.

Team Leader A gets a message that he MUST bring the Team to Briefing Room # 54527890520-9G at 0700 or he will be shot as a Traitor.

Team Leader B gets the same message but is told to be at Briefing Room# 789403214701-5A.

And it turns out that the two rooms are across the Hall from each other.

Once the meetings start, have the Computer Lock the Doors so no one may enter or leave(Except Fresh Replacement Clones that drop in from hidden Ceiling Trap Doors). Then make each Character sign a Form that they will not share any information with anyone who is not in the Meeting without proper Authorization.

Also, only give Half the Briefing Info to each Meeting. So that if they don't share information they can't complete the Mission.

Katana_Geldar

2011-03-28, 04:55 PM

I can even do this with two different rooms, and go between them.

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. This is going to be great!

Greylond

2011-03-28, 06:22 PM

Best Advice ever, from one of the actual Adventures, "Everyone should lose at least one clone by the end of the briefing..."

Katana_Geldar

2011-03-28, 06:29 PM

I've only had a few clones go bye bye during the briefing, and one because the player put down "Communist" under the question "Are you a member of a secret society?"

I usually do the MDB in the briefing though, this may change things a little...

LibraryOgre

2011-03-28, 06:41 PM

Avoid employing unlucky troubleshooters. Have everyone roll 1d8. Anyone who rolls the same number dies.

nedz

2011-04-05, 04:57 PM

+1 to the two teams idea, but give each team contradictory secret orders.

JediSoth

2011-04-06, 01:42 PM

And for that true Paranoia feel, if you're creating the characters, make one of the characters an Internal Security guy who is a Communist with Machine Empathy. Then have his secret society mission be to gank the IntSec goon and his Service Branch mission to be to root out the Commie. For added fun make sure at least one other PC's mission is to gank the IntSec guy and another's is to help the IntSec guy. But be sure that at least one of those two is from a secret society that reveres The Computer and machines in general and is a registered mutant.

The IntSec player will have such a mind screw going that the game will essentially run itself.

Katana_Geldar

2011-04-06, 10:39 PM

Been there, done that. Had an Intsec commie who was Loyalty Officer in my very first session.

But, it looks like I will have only seven or eight players, not nine or ten.

TheCountAlucard

2011-04-06, 11:01 PM

Been there, done that. Had an Intsec commie who was Loyalty Officer in my very first session.Err, wow. Wow. Wow. This is how my game went.
:eek:

Katana_Geldar

2011-04-06, 11:05 PM

Even better, he wrote he was a communist on his MDB test. He was the first to die.

Mutazoia

2011-04-14, 08:43 AM

Best Advice ever, from one of the actual Adventures, "Everyone should lose at least one clone by the end of the briefing..."

During one briefing I burned through 3 of my friends clones because he kept rolling his green dice, which were obviously color coded above his security level.

dsmiles

2011-04-15, 07:09 AM

Here it is in a nutshell: 9 players = 90 deaths, right? Character + 9 clones? That should take maybe three sessions. Tops.

Kurald Galain

2011-04-15, 07:15 AM

During one briefing I burned through 3 of my friends clones because he kept rolling his green dice, which were obviously color coded above his security level.

Yeah, I've used this trick too. It's also nice if you put a bowl of M&Ms on the table... :smallbiggrin:

dsmiles => you get five extra clones per player, known as (and officially kept track of with) a "sixpack".

LibraryOgre

2011-04-16, 11:06 AM

Yeah, I've used this trick too. It's also nice if you put a bowl of M&Ms on the table... :smallbiggrin:

dsmiles => you get five extra clones per player, known as (and officially kept track of with) a "sixpack".

"Whoops. Decanting error. Looks like I'm down another clone."

*belch*

LibraryOgre

2011-04-16, 06:58 PM

OH! OH! OH!

Nine rings for mortal clones
Doomed to Die!

Run the Lord of the Red Rings of Death!

Lochar

2011-04-16, 07:55 PM

So Friend Computer is an Xbox then?

Mutazoia

2011-04-16, 10:47 PM

So Friend Computer is an Xbox then?

Given the era when the game was written, Friend Computer is probably a Commodore 64

nedz

2011-04-18, 04:13 PM

Given the era when the game was written, Friend Computer is probably a Commodore 64

TRAITOR !
Friend computer is a ZX81
:smallbiggrin:

Lord Raziere

2011-04-18, 07:06 PM

Just give them this mission:

There is a debriefing on the mission that you will be undertaking on the other side of the Complex. Only one person can hear the mission debriefing for security reasons, the guy who gets there first gets to hear it.

Now watch them race to the location killing each other along the way until the last person alive gets there, gets into the debriefing.....and Friend Computer says to them "Traitor identified. Just as planned." and the last player is killed.

Kurald Galain

2011-04-19, 03:48 PM

TRAITOR !
Friend computer is a ZX81

Sorry, citizen, the term "ZX81" is classified for VIOLET and higher clearances only. Please report to the nearest termination center to explain where you have heard of it.

Celebrochan

2011-05-11, 05:29 PM

Or... you could send two teams on the same mission... someone didn't fill out form 12123xps correctly and the bureaucratic shuffle resulted in two teams being sent to fix the same problem... Or for more fun... give the two groups opposite missions... Destroy / Repair a machine, paint the walls black / red, turn up / down the heat... etc.

Katana_Geldar

2011-05-11, 10:34 PM

In the end I had just seven, a more worklable number. Two of them had to leave unexpectedly.

Player: So, what are you going to do about the other two people?
Me: What other two people?
Player: ...
Me: Yes, and we have always been at war with Eurasia, citizen.

More recent news: ran it at a con. I got a big cheer when I got up to present my trophies.

DontEatRawHagis

2011-05-20, 03:40 PM

Greylond

2011-05-20, 08:54 PM

Katana_Geldar

2011-05-21, 05:49 AM

What were my categories?

Happiest Troubleshooter
Most Loyal Troubleshooter
Most Efficient Troubleshooter
Computer's Pet Award
Most Creative Use of a Mutant Power (a guy managed to use Doom Magnet to drown another person)
Most Amusing Death

I'm going to run it again with An ARD Days Night in October.

DontEatRawHagis

2011-05-22, 09:33 AM

How closely do you follow the rules? I realized that when I did my first shot at a game that I ruined some of the fundamentals, such as execution versus other forms of punishment, my classic game devolved into zap.

Katana_Geldar

2011-05-22, 06:23 PM

I am sorry citizen, but that information is not available at your security level.

I tell the players they need to prove their case with dice rolls to Friend Computer if they wish to summarily execute someone. And sometimes it ends up backfiring if their reasoning is not sound and if they roll bad.

But I find I'm more an instigator than anything, the best time in Paranoia is when I do absolutely nothing.