Paranoia in the Playground: Experimental Equipment

[BRC]

I GM a Paranoia group, and one of the challenges I have when making missions is coming up with sufficiently devious experimental equipment. If you arn't familiar with Paranoia then you should know that Experimental Equipment should be in some way deadly or hazardous to the PC's, it comes in one of two styles
style 1: Fatally flawed, seemingly useful equipment with a hidden flaw, example: A grenade launcher that backfires on certain rolls.
Style 2: Fatally Featured, the deadly aspect is built right in! example: Boomarang grenade.
I'm hoping to come up with a good collection of Experimental equipment that I can use. I can make the specific stats, thats the easy part (Paranoia is a game for lazy GM's), just post some devious concepts. The computer is your friend.

[TheOOB]

How about an item that allows you to roll a larger die type then normal thus allowing you better odds at a task, the catch, player's don't have clearance for the game rules, so saying you are using a larger die type then normal constitutes treason.

[Dairun Cates]

How about an item that allows you to roll a larger die type then normal thus allowing you better odds at a task, the catch, player's don't have clearance for the game rules, so saying you are using a larger die type then normal constitutes treason.

Actually, Paranoia is a roll-UNDER mechanic so a higher dice would be bad. As for RD equipment... Well, I'll have to go get the list of horrible things I've springed on my group.

[Kurald Galain]

An old trick is to demand that the PCs both test the equipment and return it undamaged. Try that with a grenade.

Have several bits of equipment that look the same. E.g. a box of assorted grenades (frag, paint, sonic, dud) that are unmarked, so you don't know what you're throwing.

The "door opener" is a nice one. It's basically a remote with one big button and lots of little lights. If you press the button, nearby doors open. Usually. This may include an unnoticed compartment over your head, or the trap door you turned out to be standing on, or other inconveniences.

One fun thing I remember from a source book is the personal force field. It surrounds you by a greenish impregnable bubble of force. The catch is that you have to insert a plasticred every turn for it to work, and that the fusion reactor it uses is powered by a hand crank (this IS alpha complex, you know). This can backfire in a number of interesting ways including overload meltdown.

The first game of Paranoia I mastered had a mutant detector helmet. Since I had told the players that one of them might be the mutant (and of course all of them were) they were all trying to get their hands on the helmet so that it wouldn't be used against them. When someone finally put it on, it detected the closest mutant (i.e. the wearer) and self-destructed.

Finally, there's the Quantum Heisenberg Projector, which is also a box with a button, and basically generates a wild surge (per Nahal's Reckless Dweomer) whenever used. Great fun for the family!

[Duke of URL]

Basing items on Wile E. Coyote cartoons always works well.

For example, a high-powered, portable magnet gun that the wielder can point at a metal object and have it pull the object toward them. In the lab, it works perfectly -- point it at a small metal orb, which moves toward the technician demonstrating it.

Of course, in the field, its power output is... well... variable. Basically, if it could be actually useful, all of a sudden it doesn't have the power to attract a loose staple. On the other hand, if used in a kitchen with a lot of knives and heavy pots (full of hot liquids) laying around, it suddenly attracts everything in sight, with extreme acceleration.

[BisectedBrioche]

I don; know that much about the setting of Paranoia, but: A communist detector, which is really the head of a sapiant robot.

[Moonchill]

Seven Mile boots. They allow you to jump great distances. Offcourse, there's gonna be a problem when you try to land softly...

[B!shop]

Some idea already in this thread can be expanded.


Seven Mile boots.
They allow you to jump great distance. Seven Miles.
ONLY seven Miles. Not more, not less.


One fun thing I remember from a source book is the personal force field.
It surrounds you by a greenish impregnable bubble of force.
So impregnable that nothing can move out or in it, neither air.
An airproof bubble.


Also, some other ideas.

A keen-edged dagger, so keen it'l cut his sheat and everything it touches (even the floor if it falls).

A movement detector that sometimes loose its gauge and detect even the atomic movement.

A nanobot scout that yells if finds enemies.

[BisectedBrioche]

A hand launched RPG capable of tracking down the nearest heat source.

You'd better have a good throwing arm....

[Fualkner Asiniti]

A flash drive/CD/Whateva that can easily hack into security systems. Unfortunetly, this sometimes involves triggering the alarm, sealing certain doors, or just simply leaving the PC's calling card.

[XtheYeti]

a machine gun that the bullets turn arround in mid air and hit the wielder if they dont sing the national anthem of a differrent country then the one the PC's are form in its native language?

[BRC]

The first game of Paranoia I mastered had a mutant detector helmet. Since I had told the players that one of them might be the mutant (and of course all of them were) they were all trying to get their hands on the helmet so that it wouldn't be used against them. When someone finally put it on, it detected the closest mutant (i.e. the wearer) and self-destructed.
THat is deliciously evil






A hand launched RPG capable of tracking down the nearest heat source.

You'd better have a good throwing arm....

Ive already done a homing grenade, butI like your thinking

some of these are good, keep em coming.

[BisectedBrioche]

A device which instantly creates a pit trap with spikes at the bottom, perfectly camoflaged.

Perfectly camoflaged.

[BRC]

A device which instantly creates a pit trap with spikes at the bottom, perfectly camoflaged.

Perfectly camoflaged.

you just gave me an idea
Invisibility device, makes you invisible to enemies/teamates(is there a difference in paranoia?)/anything else, including security cameras.
The Computer: Friend citizen, records show that you suddenly vanished at 3:35:15 while on a mission, abandoning your team during a mission is treason!
John-R-PUB: I was there, but invisibile Friend Computer.
The Computer: Invisibility is a documented mutant power citizen, please stand bye.
John-R-PUB: Oh shi *vaporized*

[Okizruin]

How about a medbot given the 'wrong medicine' but unaware of the fact it has toxins instead of healing supplies?

[BRC]

How about a medbot given the 'wrong medicine' but unaware of the fact it has toxins instead of healing supplies?
hmm, just make a roll on the random side-effect table, I like.

NOTE: I like my experimental equipment to have some use for the players, however it should be amusingly dangerous.

[Okizruin]

How about a bomb-on-wheels that detonates upon seeing blood? Unfortunately, it can't tell blood apart from RED-clearance uniforms, and...

[BisectedBrioche]

What about a water based stun gun (I forget the correct name, sort of like a tazer which uses two jets of brine instead of wires) which leaks.

[jindra34]

A bomb that detonates on coming into contact with anything over 75 degrees farhenheit in tempurature.

[Korias]

There have been two peices of equipment which I thoroughly Enjoyed, as they both made me the team leader.

The First was a Red-Clearance Ball. When Kicked, the ball would fly at an insane speed. On a roll of anything but a 1, your were hit in some vital body part and you moved to the next stage of damage (Fine->Bruised->Bashed->Bleeding->Dead). If you passed, you could make an Stealth roll to catch it. (The score to beat was 4.)

The next was a Small Droid. At first, it had a lable that said "Blaster Recharg Station". Naturaly, One of the team put their blaster in the top. Then the blaster overloaded, killing the dude. We sent it into the commie base first.

I was promoted to a Yellow Class citizen after all of this.