Paranoia - how do I make my player's lives more complicated?

[WarKitty]

So we ran our first session of Paranoia the other night. It seemed to go well, everyone had fun, and I killed two out of the three characters at the end of the session with the help of the third. My issue is I was following a prefab adventure for the first half and a semi-prefab for the second, and it was a bit too railroady. The players weren't getting enough opportunity to try to further their own private plans without being very obviously off the rails.

Now, some of this may be attributable to player newness and issues with not knowing what to do with their various goals. I still feel however that the would benefit from more opportunity to be sneaky and cause trouble. So far the plots have felt very railroady - not too many ways to accomplish the given task, few opportunities to utilize different routes, and so forth.

[Selrahc]

Encourage note passing. By example, and by rewarding perversity points to those who play along. It really does up the intrigue level quite a lot if players are throwing in secret actions everywhere.

Throw in some extraneous scenes where the players are *obviously* not observed, and without a constraining time pressure. (Possibly they actually are observed, if you need something to nail them on in debriefing, but give them the impression that they're on their own and off the clock.) Broken transcar. Mission briefing failure. Additional equipment needed. Room to breathe for a second. Make mention of the obviously broken secure-cam. The malfunctioning wash-bot attracting IntSec attention in the area. Etc.

Make the secret society goals mutually contradictory, and parade the objectives in front of them.

[TheCountAlucard]

+1 on the note-passing. Don't be afraid to occasionally mix in dummy notes, such as, "Look at the player to your right in a conspiratorial fashion, write something on this note, and then pass it back to me." :smallamused:

[Gravitron5000]

Your first problem is that you have given your troubleshooters a task that has any solution at all. In my experience, the best adventures have either impossible missions or trivial missions that are made impossible through circumstance. There is plenty of opportunity for shenanigans while beating your head against the wrong coloured wall.

Pacing is something that also helps. Most of the adventures I have seen for Paranoia are railroady, but that does not mean that the stops on the train are all right next to each other. Give the troubleshooters some time between train stops and it's likely that they'll take the opportunity to shoot at something.

Lastly, embrace the crazy that is Paranoia. If (when) the troubleshooters get off the rails, you have an opportunity to ad lib some insanity into the mix to keep things moving, and if things stop moving Plot-B-GON can show up and point (down his laser barrel) the troubleshooters to the next applicable or convenient train station.

[Selrahc]

Your first problem is that you have given your troubleshooters a task that has any solution at all.

I'd doubt that, honestly. Most of the prefabricated missions don't actually have a real solution. I quite like most of the prefabricated missions for Paranoia. While I'd be more likely to mine them for inspiration than actually use them, you'd be hard pressed to say that they're out of the spirit of impossible chaos that pervades Paranoia.

But if running them, I can see somebody running right from one scene of carnage and confusion to another, without any time to allow players to breathe. Particularly if the players just go along with things.

[Okizruin]

Remember the one important detail: make the humor as dark and tasteless as you can.

[Lapak]

Make the secret society goals mutually contradictory, and parade the objectives in front of them.Quoting this to give it the emphasis it deserves. Nothing - nothing - will cause Paranoia players to introduce their own complications more quickly than giving them mutually-exclusive goals and not telling them what the other players need to do.

[WarKitty]

I think part of the issue has been that they don't take their secret society goals seriously enough. The players expressed that they aren't sure how to go about these goals or they don't feel like they have the chance to accomplish them.

[houlio]

I think part of the issue has been that they don't take their secret society goals seriously enough. The players expressed that they aren't sure how to go about these goals or they don't feel like they have the chance to accomplish them.

I had this problem too when I was running Paranoia. I got the Secret Societies more involved by directly putting the Secret Societies into the players paths, forcing the PC in the society to make a decision between which set of "allies" he or she will side with. Choosing either way involves some kind of traitorous activity, which I think should be at the heart of every Paranoia session.

[MickJay]

I think part of the issue has been that they don't take their secret society goals seriously enough. The players expressed that they aren't sure how to go about these goals or they don't feel like they have the chance to accomplish them.

Whenever I play paranoia, the secret objective tends to be my primary concern. When the goal was "kill the Romantic in the team", I'd try to kill everyone at least once, just to be on the safe side. When the goal was "kill the person in possession of the orange hammer", I did the same. When the goal was to steal the super-secret item the team was sent after, I nearly succeeded in getting it, too.

Main reason for that is that the main goal is almost always impossible (and your character doesn't usually care about it anyway), while the secret society goal is personal, and occasionally doable. Perhaps try pointing that out to the players? They still need to at least pretend to pursue the main goal if they want to survive anyway.

That said, I've been in one game where the main mission was a success - it was when most team members actively tried to sabotage it.

[WarKitty]

Whenever I play paranoia, the secret objective tends to be my primary concern. When the goal was "kill the Romantic in the team", I'd try to kill everyone at least once, just to be on the safe side. When the goal was "kill the person in possession of the orange hammer", I did the same. When the goal was to steal the super-secret item the team was sent after, I nearly succeeded in getting it, too.

Main reason for that is that the main goal is almost always impossible (and your character doesn't usually care about it anyway), while the secret society goal is personal, and occasionally doable. Perhaps try pointing that out to the players? They still need to at least pretend to pursue the main goal if they want to survive anyway.

That said, I've been in one game where the main mission was a success - it was when most team members actively tried to sabotage it.

Could be that their main goal was to start a riot...and thankfully acting like trigger-happy idiots does do that.

[Kurald Galain]

One way of making adventures less railroady is to incorporate random elements. Make a table of 10-20 arbitrary friendly demands The Computer could make, or random side-effects of today's Happy Pills, or random high-ranking clones that could drop by, and roll on this table whenever you're bored happy. Feel free to interrupt whatever the troubleshooters are doing with utter randomness. Especially before the players clue in to how random this actually is.

There's even a Mad Libs adventure in one of the sourcebooks, where e.g. the troubleshooters go to R&D and are given a <noun> that <verbs> when <verbed> by a <noun>. Go wild :smallcool:

[Diskhotep]

One of my favorite things to do was to assign them a mission that was incredibly easy to accomplish - something no more complicated than "take this black ink pen (which you are absolutely cleared to carry) across the sector to be delivered to Bill-Y-BOB-4 at a PLC station that you are definitely allowed to enter. They'll have to go on foot, however, as all of the sector's transbots are in the shop for detailing. There are no other complications along the route (i.e., there are no high security areas they are required to pass through, no commie saboteurs blocking their path, no anti-mutant riots going on), and give them ample time to get it done. A suspiciously looong time, in fact - a week.

Give each of them not one, but three secret society missions. Each should be required to kill one of the other members, protect one of the other members from harm, and attempt to subvert one of the other members. But base each mission on a specific clone number for that troubleshooter (roll a d6 for each mission, with numbers lower than the current clone treated as the current clone).

Then load them down with R&D - one item each. Pick annoying items that are not inherently deadly (no experimental ray guns or tacnuke grenades). Require each one to be used at some point during the mission, and each to be returned intact with a detailed report on its use and effectiveness. Make each troubleshooter responsible for one item.

Sounds like a cakewalk, right? Give them one final R&D item that the team as a whole is responsible for: Mult-I-PLY-6's Instant Clone Replacements. It is a small container resembling an aspirin bottle (including child-proof cap, which will prove nearly indestructible until conditions are right). The label is worn and nigh-unreadable without a microscope, but if they manage to read the fine print they will be able to make out the phrases "just add moisture" and "contents: twelve gross". Make sure at some point the container gets wet, either through the efforts of a troubleshooter or via environmental effect (I like junior clones with super-soakers). At this point the cap comes off, and each sand-grain-sized pill expands into life-sized troubleshooters in action poses. Remember those green plastic army men that came in bags by the dozen? Make them 1.5 meters tall in red jumpsuits (but still plastic and weighing about 50 kilos apiece). Remember - the troubleshooters are responsible for each and every one of them. The replacements are incredibly flammable, bulky, and ultimately inconvenient in every way. Because they are troubleshooter replacements infrareds are not allowed to move them, and with all the transbots gone the players will have to be creative in getting around with them. Make sure every firefight or plan they come up with causes massive collateral damage on the replacements, which vanish with a loud "POP" when damaged, leaving a pile of foul-smelling chunks behind.

The rest of the game is just watching them stumble over each other trying to complete the mission while carting around 1728 mannequins. When/if they finally arrive, of course, they will discover that Bill-Y-BOB-4 has been demoted to Orange Clearance. Although he is still high enough clearance to accept the pen, their orders specifically state that they are to give it to Bill-Y-BOB. Let them find their own solution. (My players actually managed to pull it off by helping Bill-O frame his boss for treason, earning a commendation and promotion back to Yellow so he could sign for the pen).

If they do succeed, reward them for their ingenuity, but make sure to fine them for each mannequin that was not returned intact - about 100 credits each should suffice. If they fail, throw them a couple of treason points each for failing such a simple task, then fine them.

[MickJay]

Could be that their main goal was to start a riot...and thankfully acting like trigger-happy idiots does do that.

Nope, mission was to protect the life of an NPC. At least two secret societies wanted him dead. The NPC got killed three times in total (losing his last clone), at which point, instead of execution of everyone, the team was commended for uncovering and disposing of the traitor (and the briefing the team got originally was fake, the real mission was simply to kill the NPC).

[Kyeudo]

Sounds like a cakewalk, right? Give them one final R&D item that the team as a whole is responsible for: Mult-I-PLY-6's Instant Clone Replacements. It is a small container resembling an aspirin bottle (including child-proof cap, which will prove nearly indestructible until conditions are right). The label is worn and nigh-unreadable without a microscope, but if they manage to read the fine print they will be able to make out the phrases "just add moisture" and "contents: twelve gross". Make sure at some point the container gets wet, either through the efforts of a troubleshooter or via environmental effect (I like junior clones with super-soakers). At this point the cap comes off, and each sand-grain-sized pill expands into life-sized troubleshooters in action poses. Remember those green plastic army men that came in bags by the dozen? Make them 1.5 meters tall in red jumpsuits (but still plastic and weighing about 50 kilos apiece). Remember - the troubleshooters are responsible for each and every one of them. The replacements are incredibly flammable, bulky, and ultimately inconvenient in every way. Because they are troubleshooter replacements infrareds are not allowed to move them, and with all the transbots gone the players will have to be creative in getting around with them. Make sure every firefight or plan they come up with causes massive collateral damage on the replacements, which vanish with a loud "POP" when damaged, leaving a pile of foul-smelling chunks behind.


You could probably remove this section and still have them falling all over themselves if you randomly assigned secret missions properly.

[Mustard]

Here's a couple things I picked up from running Paranoia, towards the goal of making a troubleshooter's life, and that of the player, complicated (though I probably went out of scope a couple times):

R&D/PLC Equipment:

Try to get into the habit of thinking about inventions every once in a while, take notes over time.
Every once in a while, provide a completely functional device and completely correct instruction manual free of propaganda, just so that they can't assume all books are propaganda containers. The books and equipment don't need to look legit. Perhaps they look fake, but that's just due to budget cuts.
If you tend to supply a lot of electronic R&D prototypes, try thinking beyond that, such as chemicals, new weapons.


MBDs:

If your PCs aren't doing their MBDs, have the mission handler or The Computer call up and ask for progress.
You don't always need a Team Leader.
Exclude options based on the mission.
If you haven't used the multiple choice test from the book, use it once.
Use a different method of assigning MBDs each time. Get preferences from the players. Most of the time, make them think you're assigning them MBDs they don't like, but every so often, give them exactly what they want.


Conflicting Orders:

When giving conflicting orders, try to make it so one is not obviously an override of others, e.g. through emphasis or clearance difference.
The orders should sound reasonable during briefing. "Go to room 202 and pick up the monitoring device." They get there, but there are two monitoring devices. Not a fantastic example, but you get the idea.
It's all in how the players justify their actions during debriefing, or throughout the mission.


Secret Society goals:

Generally, they should be possible to do, but it requires distraction or killing witnesses.
Include some kind of guilty knowledge that the troubleshooter must avoid exhibiting knowledge of.
Provide goals or details that are dependent on an unknown that is expected to be revealed later.
Have multiple troubleshooters receive messages from their SecSocs saying to expect an undercover agent with some defining characteristic some time during their mission. When the time comes, someone does approach, and matches that characteristic. Decide whether that someone is actually an agent at the last moment.


Friend Computer:

If the troubleshooters ask for help from FC, indulge them, but make them regret it. E.g. it provides bad advice, or wrong/faulty equipment.
Have The Computer or mission handler frequently call and ask for status updates, especially right after some calamity, or in the middle of a firefight.


Here are some good things The Computer can say:

"I can't spare the resources." Or: don't forget about that red-tape table.
"Hello, <wrong name>. You aren't <wrong name>? Why are you impersonating <wrong name>?"


For the Players:

Make the players remember codes, sector names, and things of that sort. For example: FC calls, "Report to SWQ sector." A distraction comes up in the form of a RED citizen asking for directions, and then tries to engage them in friendly chat. Resume, and ask the players what they want to do. Hopefully, they remembered SWQ. If they ask FC, it will scold them, charge them for the phone call, and then supply (hopefully) the right code, if you need to fill up time or something.
I'm going to start to do this, to see how it works out: When rolling a die, think out loud about how the die roll is interpreted according to the rules (or some new made up rule just for this). This gives the players knowledge of a rule, which they must pretend not to know.


(Edit: corrected a "not")

[TheOOB]

I try to make it so my players cause most the problems. If at least one team member isn't trying to make the mission fail, something is wrong(try giving the whole team orders to sabotage the mission in different ways sometimes, your loyalty officer will have a field day.

[Skelengar]

Be sure to make the society missions interact in various ways. Player A must kill Player B, Player B must protect Player A.

Also, don't rely too much on a preset path. The best game I ever ran had a vague mission goal of "It's SKI sector's grand opening. Make sure it goes smoothly." Then throw random complications, such as a MBD that consisted of being filmed for "Troubleshooters Live." Since SKI sector was classified, this was problematic.

The mission ended with SKI sector being besieged by multiple Secret Societies with conflicting goals, and the whole thing was on live television.

(By the way, yes, SKI sector is a ski resort.)

[LibraryOgre]

Computer arbitrarily marries them to each other. They are required to be in accord with their spouse on all things.

If THAT doesn't make things complicated, nothing will.