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BobVosh
2008-12-11, 02:21 AM
Also first time players. Any suggestions, hints, etc for paranoia in particular? I've ran D&D, Exalted, Rifts, and New Gods of Mankind (cookie for knowing this game). So not completly new at running games, but except for NGoM I have mainly run fairly rules heavy games.

What are some hangups new players seem to have to the game? Things I should watch out for?

Behold_the_Void
2008-12-11, 02:35 AM
The rules don't matter. Dice should only be rolled if you don't already know what's going to happen. The world is most certainly out to get the troubleshooters. People should die a lot.

Eldariel
2008-12-11, 02:38 AM
Don't get too caught up in the rules. Players aren't supposed to know what's going on behind the scenes. Be sure to freely hand out forms. Also, make sure that the players understand that they should be trying to expose the other traitors in the group without getting exposed themselves.

Really, the biggest problems for new players are the players trusting each other. That's a no-go. Second is that they don't make enough of an effort to go after their secret society-goals. They need to realize that that's what they truly care about. Third is that they make a crappy job of exposing their teammates, and hiding their secret agendas. So yea, just make sure they understand why the game is called "Paranoia" and make sure there's enough bureaucracy behind everything to be a pain and make sure they all have plenty of opportunities to die and it'll be a blast. And don't take it too seriously. Also, print out a billion forms. You'll need them (not that any of them would have any impact except a dead clone/misfilled form, and some "cola" for the uninformed).

TSGames
2008-12-11, 02:50 AM
Really, the biggest problems for new players are the players trusting each other. That's a no-go. Second is that they don't make enough of an effort to go after their secret society-goals. They need to realize that that's what they truly care about. Third is that they make a crappy job of exposing their teammates, and hiding their secret agendas. So yea, just make sure they understand why the game is called "Paranoia" and make sure there's enough bureaucracy behind everything to be a pain and make sure they all have plenty of opportunities to die and it'll be a blast. And don't take it too seriously. Also, print out a billion forms. You'll need them (not that any of them would have any impact except a dead clone/misfilled form, and some "cola" for the uninformed).

^what he said.

Also, if you have the Paranoi XP handbook, read up on the fluff and the 3 play styles; this will greatly help you decide how to play Citizens and Friend Computer. My group prefers Classic style, which is a light comedic, but almost entirely psychological style. Then there's Straight, and ZAP style, and I have no idea why anyone would play either: different tastes I guess.

For some actual advice: make sure your players know that this is not other non-fun RPGs, this is Paranoia. Their worst threat is a fellow party member, or the orders of a higher clearance citizen or Friend Computer; only one of these threats can be eliminated. This is not DnD; and there should not be unanimous cooperation to accomplish a goal. Make sure they know that their characters could be killed at any moment, and posthumously revealed to be communist mutant traitors.

Maybe it's just me, but I like to start off each session by reading the phrrase on the back of handbook aloud, "Stay Alert! Trust No One! Keep Your Laser Handy!"

BobVosh
2008-12-11, 03:24 AM
^what he said.

Also, if you have the Paranoi XP handbook, read up on the fluff and the 3 play styles; this will greatly help you decide how to play Citizens and Friend Computer. My group prefers Classic style, which is a light comedic, but almost entirely psychological style. Then there's Straight, and ZAP style, and I have no idea why anyone would play either: different tastes I guess.

For some actual advice: make sure your players know that this is not other non-fun RPGs, this is Paranoia. Their worst threat is a fellow party member, or the orders of a higher clearance citizen or Friend Computer; only one of these threats can be eliminated. This is not DnD; and there should not be unanimous cooperation to accomplish a goal. Make sure they know that their characters could be killed at any moment, and posthumously revealed to be communist mutant traitors.

Maybe it's just me, but I like to start off each session by reading the phrrase on the back of handbook aloud, "Stay Alert! Trust No One! Keep Your Laser Handy!"

Well they should be prepared for the most part then.

Where to get the forms, though? I got most of the ones I could find off the mongoose site, is there parts of the book I should photocopy? (books came in today, currently at work so I haven't read through it yet)

revolver kobold
2008-12-11, 03:46 AM
I believe there are some forms in the back of the book that you can photo copy out, with the Mandatory Bonus Duty form being my favorite.

Kurald Galain
2008-12-11, 05:40 AM
Okay.

If you've played any other RPG with those particular players before, parodize the heck out of it. Send the clones to DND sector, RFT sector, and so forth; have them face clones of their characters or major NPCs out of the previous campaign, and more inside jokes.

Give the characters a reason to distrust each other. Give each a secret assignment (without telling the other players) and have those conflict. Use some Macguffin that each character would be willing to obtain at any cost, including killing the others. Mandate that one character is the leader, or have something bad happen and mandate that one character is blamed, by popular vote if necessary.

BobVosh
2008-12-11, 05:45 AM
Okay.

If you've played any other RPG with those particular players before, parodize the heck out of it. Send the clones to DND sector, RFT sector, and so forth; have them face clones of their characters or major NPCs out of the previous campaign, and more inside jokes.

Give the characters a reason to distrust each other. Give each a secret assignment (without telling the other players) and have those conflict. Use some Macguffin that each character would be willing to obtain at any cost, including killing the others. Mandate that one character is the leader, or have something bad happen and mandate that one character is blamed, by popular vote if necessary.

I have played almost every game I have mentioned running with these guys, along with many more. Been gaming with one of them for about 10 years, most of the others for ~5. Do I try to encourage the players to vote the always blamed, or make someone mandate they have the Butt Monkey (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey)?

*edit* Or just always have the NPCs blame him, no reason given?

TSGames
2008-12-11, 05:55 AM
I have played almost every game I have mentioned running with these guys, along with many more. Been gaming with one of them for about 10 years, most of the others for ~5. Do I try to encourage the players to vote the always blamed, or make someone mandate they have the Butt Monkey (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey)?

*edit* Or just always have the NPCs blame him, no reason given?

Whichever method is best for increasing inter-party tension at the time. Personally, when I find a divisive issue(or am feeling lazy) I let the party discuss and vote on it. I like to twist this often by making it need to be a unanimous vote; when the players are discussing things, I sit back quietly, and just when they are about to begin reaching a unified consensus, I interject something to divide them again. This process has worked wonders for breeding a little inter-party conflict. However, sometimes the best way to achieve the right mindset is to take decisions out of the player's hands. Paranoia is a game with little mechanical emphasis, so it almost all about the interaction between the players and the GM:good and quick judgement are essential for the GM.

It sounds like you've got quite a lot of experience, so Paranoia should come pretty easy to you. It's a lot more psychology than it is math and rules; in the end you know your group best.

Kurald Galain
2008-12-11, 05:55 AM
Do I try to encourage the players to vote the always blamed, or make someone mandate they have the Butt Monkey (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey)?

*edit* Or just always have the NPCs blame him, no reason given?
No, the players should screw each other over, otherwise it's not Paranoia :smallbiggrin:

And of course they shouldn't always be blaming the same person.

The fun thing about Paranoia is that you can throw in unwinnable situations, lesser-of-two-evils, hot potatoes, Kobayashi Marus or Tei Kallistei as you wish. If the characters complain, ask them if they're Happy. There doesn't have to be a right answer to every question, there shouldn't be a non-treasonous solution to every problem.

Dairun Cates
2008-12-11, 06:05 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

Ah... There we go. Should be the one thing you need to read ahead of time.

But yeah. As an experienced servant of Friend Computer, I'd be happy to give some advice if you want to ask about some specific areas.

As for general advice, manufacture your starting scenarios to breed confusion and paranoia. Throw new players in a normal situation and they'll *shudder* work together. However, if one guy's tick is a secret society cue that leads to some explosives that causes a mutant power or two to go off... well. Yeah.

Otherwise, just keep em' paranoid, award fun ideas and play that suits the mood with perversity and "better rolls", know always what's going on, and be fast to punish treasonous behavior. Once they're conditioned, the game will run itself. The fun will FLOOD in.

TSGames
2008-12-11, 06:09 AM
One more thing....

The Paranoia XP has a really good section on design sessions; it also has some decent pre-built sessions. The only real fault I find with a lot of pre-built sessions(modules, whatever), is that the dark-room scene is too early in the session:save it for later after tensions and feuds have been built up.

BobVosh
2008-12-11, 06:39 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

Ah... There we go. Should be the one thing you need to read ahead of time.

But yeah. As an experienced servant of Friend Computer, I'd be happy to give some advice if you want to ask about some specific areas.

As for general advice, manufacture your starting scenarios to breed confusion and paranoia. Throw new players in a normal situation and they'll *shudder* work together. However, if one guy's tick is a secret society cue that leads to some explosives that causes a mutant power or two to go off... well. Yeah.

Otherwise, just keep em' paranoid, award fun ideas and play that suits the mood with perversity and "better rolls", know always what's going on, and be fast to punish treasonous behavior. Once they're conditioned, the game will run itself. The fun will FLOOD in.

How exactly do I reward someone is something I have been pondering.

I did like the mandatory bonus duties as well.

TSGames
2008-12-11, 06:46 AM
How exactly do I reward someone is something I have been pondering.

Reward them for being entertaining. Give them perversity whenever they are amusing, whenever they are the first to act, whenever they do something awesome, and whenever you arbitrarily feel like(3 perversity for a slice of pizza, 2 perversity if someone cleans the table, etc...)

Dairun Cates
2008-12-11, 07:08 AM
How exactly do I reward someone is something I have been pondering.

I did like the mandatory bonus duties as well.

I'll be less subtle. If you read up on Paranoia GM theory, your only "mechanical" reward is perversity. However, some players can get bored of having a lot of perversity or it may not be enough...

Although, I can't help but wonder what happens when actions that amuse the GM and further his evil machinations seems to WORK more often than one's that don't. If that were true, the players would want to do things that work more often and would be more prone to "fun" and not "unfun". But you can't effect the rolls of dice behind your Paranoia GM screen so that's pointless. In Paranoia XP, the players ALWAYS get to see your roll and their rolls, right? It doesn't flat out say for the GM to roll everything behind the screen in the book, right? And even if it did, there wouldn't be a sinister reason for that, right?

But yeah. There is a way to effect rolls without cheating in the player's favor. You could roll a "luckier" die for actions you like and an unlucky one for ones you don't like. Or maybe that roll was cocked. Or maybe your eyesight's not so good and that 17 looked like a 7 at the time...

But yeah. Never cheat the rolls in the name of fun. After all, Paranoia XP is EXACTLY like D&D and the die is the ultimate authority.

Of course, for Ultraviolets, I can offer a little more.

It's called Conditioning. You fudge rolls in the name of actions you want players to do. They'll start doing it instinctively. Then, if you feel like it, you can stop fudging them. The players will know what to do by then. If you have players that think how you want them to, then the stuff you prepare will seem richer as they fall into more traps. It's really as simple as that. It's generally bad to do it for most other games, but it really works for Paranoia and the GM section encourages it.

Worse comes to worst, you can also award in game rewards like cool R&D gadgets for good actions.

Also, don't forget to punish severely for bad action with... cool R&D gadgets.

Also, if you want them to accuse other people more often. Let it work the first couple of times regardless of flimsy reasoning. They'll get the idea.

BobVosh
2008-12-11, 07:44 AM
Of course, for Ultraviolets, I can offer a little more.

It's called Conditioning. You fudge rolls in the name of actions you want players to do. They'll start doing it instinctively. Then, if you feel like it, you can stop fudging them. The players will know what to do by then. If you have players that think how you want them to, then the stuff you prepare will seem richer as they fall into more traps. It's really as simple as that. It's generally bad to do it for most other games, but it really works for Paranoia and the GM section encourages it.

Worse comes to worst, you can also award in game rewards like cool R&D gadgets for good actions.

Also, don't forget to punish severely for bad action with... cool R&D gadgets.

Also, if you want them to accuse other people more often. Let it work the first couple of times regardless of flimsy reasoning. They'll get the idea.

Wouldn't stopping lead to deconditioning, causing a need for reconditioning? While admittably reconditioning is easier than the original attempt, this will be a vicious cycle...of madness I tell you.

Also sensing a bit of ..something being off. But you seem like an honest and trustworthy citizen.

Coplantor
2008-12-11, 08:05 AM
Improvise a lot, if you dont know what is going to happen then your players certainly wont.

BRC
2008-12-11, 08:10 AM
There is no problem that cannot be solved by Treason Points.


If the Players cross you, have one of them shot.

When in Doubt, that activity is prohibited at their security clearance.

Duke of URL
2008-12-11, 08:39 AM
1) Pass notes to players. Lots of notes. Prepare these in advance. Some of them should contain (apparently) useful info, others may simply say something like "nod your head and pass this note back to me". Encourage players to pass you notes as well.

Some notes should provide "clues" that other players are screwing with the note-receiver. Especially if they aren't.

2) Roll dice at random times. Make players (randomly) roll dice during inter-character conversations to foster the thought that someone is trying to bluff the other. (If they're playing right, they probably are anyway.)

3) Secret society missions should be designed to ensure that the players are working at opposing goals. Make sure at least one, if not more, have a mission to assassinate another team member.

4) If they start cooperating too much, use deus ex machina (literally, in this case!) to launch an "investigation" that only ends when a specific scapegoat is found.

5) In the course of a firefight, with all of the chaos and confusion, who's to say who shot whom? Employing a sniper to shoot the troubleshooters in the back during a fight will lead to the "obvious" solution that one or more troubleshooters are gunning for each other. Keep up tricks like this and they will be.

6) Always remember, as Friend Computer, it's easy to kill troubleshooters. The real trick is getting troubleshooters to kill each other.

Dairun Cates
2008-12-11, 03:11 PM
Wouldn't stopping lead to deconditioning, causing a need for reconditioning? While admittably reconditioning is easier than the original attempt, this will be a vicious cycle...of madness I tell you.

Also sensing a bit of ..something being off. But you seem like an honest and trustworthy citizen.

You'd be surprised. There's a reason why I linked an article to Ivan Pavlov. The initially conditioning is really all that's necessary. After a while, the dog responds entirely to the bell and not the treats when the bell rings. Doesn't matter how many times there's treats on the end, the dog doesn't stop. Of course, people are not dogs.

There's actually two reasons this usually doesn't occur:
1. Once players generally get into the Troubleshooter mindset, the actual game becomes motivation instead of success or perversity points. My players, without any warning or necessity to do so instinctively scream "Hail Friend Computer" when something goes wrong in game (and sometimes out of game).

2. After a while, if you did it right, perceived reward kicks in. The rolls that are just lucky will seem like fudging and the players will still subconsciously think they're being rewarded. They don't seem to notice the times where they crit on something mundane.

But really, once again, Paranoia XP DOES tell you to fudge some rolls for a reason. If something is honest to god really funny, roll a dice behind a screen and ignore it. Dice luck matters so little in Paranoia compared to being a smart player who knows how to scheme and twist words. There's no roll for that. That, combined with 90% of the time the entire team will die in debriefing means that people care less about the hand of fate and more about achieving their own personal goals. It sounds unfun to some people, but those people generally are the ones that think of Role-playing games in only D&D terms.

It's a fairly fragile balance, but once you get it, you'll know what to do forever.

Oh, and some other lovely tips:
1. R&D is your friend. A few well thought-out R&D gadgets can multiply the fun twenty-fold*

2. Friend Computer's word is law no matter how arbitrary and silly. Just cause the player has a good point doesn't mean that Friend Computer hasn't forgotten what that squiggly line between 6 and 8 is.**

3. Train-wrecks are fun***

4. Paranoia-live.net has some logs of actual Paranoia Games. Read through them and get an idea of how things go. Even one of my own games is up there.****





*Fun may be hazardous to your health

**Really though. Friend Computer just thinks on a higher plane of exist- OH WAIT! It's SEVEN!

***Warning: Damaging Friend Computer's property is treasonous

****Logs are Ultraviolet Clearance

TheEmerged
2008-12-11, 03:46 PM
Really, the biggest problems for new players are the players trusting each other. That's a no-go.

Second is that they don't make enough of an effort to go after their secret society-goals. They need to realize that that's what they truly care about.

Third is that they make a crappy job of exposing their teammates, and hiding their secret agendas.

So yea, just make sure they understand why the game is called "Paranoia" and make sure there's enough bureaucracy behind everything to be a pain and make sure they all have plenty of opportunities to die and it'll be a blast.

And don't take it too seriously.

Also, print out a billion forms. You'll need them (not that any of them would have any impact except a dead clone/misfilled form, and some "cola" for the uninformed).

Reformatted for clarity. The bolded parts have already been seconded by other posters but cannot be emphasized enough. Remember, you aren't playing Paranoia for the system, you are playing it for the atmosphere. Concentrate on that atmosphere.

Tacoma
2008-12-11, 04:18 PM
After they get the hang of filling out forms, start handing out special forms with a blue border occasionally. These forms, when filled out in a certain time limit, result in the Computer allocating some benefit to the troubleshooter.

And once in a while, when you receive a form, give the player a receipt form that he has to fill out and hand back. Then give him a receipt for the first form and a receipt for the second form.

Then ask for a receipt from him for the two receipts.

Dairun Cates
2008-12-11, 04:20 PM
You know. One of my older players that showed me Paranoia so I could GM it for him once had to fill out the paperwork for reattaching an arm. He was unable. So, they terminated him, made his next clone fill out 50 pages of paperwork and then proceeded to attach the arm to the old clone. I think he also got fined for wasting time.

Ah... Catch 22's. A beautiful thing.

AngelSword
2008-12-11, 04:29 PM
The Mongoose Publishing Paranoia XP (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/series.php?qsSeries=19) (stupid Microsoft) page has a good deal of forms. MBD tests, badges, and the like are there, as well as a blank sheet to create your own forms.

BRC
2008-12-11, 04:44 PM
Experimental Equipment with a Fatal Flaw has NOTHING on Experimental Equipment with a Fatal Feature. Some of my favorites
The Double Ended Laser (Attack Commies on Both Sides!)
The Sticky Grenade (100% Sticky!)
The Boomarang Grenade (No longer waste Friend Computer's resources with missed grenade throws!)

BobVosh
2008-12-11, 10:56 PM
Experimental Equipment with a Fatal Flaw has NOTHING on Experimental Equipment with a Fatal Feature. Some of my favorites
The Double Ended Laser (Attack Commies on Both Sides!)
The Sticky Grenade (100% Sticky!)
The Boomarang Grenade (No longer waste Friend Computer's resources with missed grenade throws!)

Overall the favorite Super tech I have heard of is a Tac Nuke Hand Gernade labeled "throw hard."

Lycan 01
2008-12-12, 12:12 AM
KILL EVERYONE.

Rinse. Repeat.

Dairun Cates
2008-12-12, 12:15 AM
KILL EVERYONE.

Rinse. Repeat.

As GM's, we do not just kill. It is an art-form that is to be set up to gain the maximum tension right before the skyscraper-sized cockroach eats the party.

Lycan 01
2008-12-12, 12:18 AM
It doesn't have to be direct. :smallbiggrin:


But hey, I've only dreamed of running Paranoia. I usually run Cthulhu, but my players play it like it was Paranoia. Seriously, they're so quick to flight and careful with everything - not to mention lucky when it comes to "succeed or die" rolls. I've only seen 2 PCs die over 10+ sessions! :smalleek:

BobVosh
2008-12-12, 12:28 AM
It doesn't have to be direct. :smallbiggrin:


But hey, I've only dreamed of running Paranoia. I usually run Cthulhu, but my players play it like it was Paranoia. Seriously, they're so quick to flight and careful with everything - not to mention lucky when it comes to "succeed or die" rolls. I've only seen 2 PCs die over 10+ sessions! :smalleek:

I know they are lucky. They managed to tackle pyramid-head.

Plus it IS CoC, I played it like paranoia party-coop mode. Which isn't like paranoia other than run.

Lycan 01
2008-12-12, 12:37 AM
Well, there was the time one player went PTSD and blew the samurai PC in half with a shotgun... Thats Paranoia-ish, right? :smallbiggrin:


In all seriousness, though, I might try to run a game over Christmas.

What do I need to play? Just a general idea of how the game works (d20 for everything), Troubleshooters (Leader, Happyness Officer, Hygiene Officer, Loyalty Officer, and... anything else?), clearance levels (Red, Orange, uh... whatever I feel like... XD), and funky weapons (portable black hole, nuclear grenade, et cetera...). Oh, and mutations and parties.

And of course, secret goals and whatnot. :smallbiggrin:

AngelSword
2008-12-12, 12:41 AM
Overall the favorite Super tech I have heard of is a Tac Nuke Hand Gernade labeled "throw hard."

There was a D&D spell I wrote up that was based on a bit of Super Tech called the "Explosive Cleanliness grenade." I think it might actually be in the books.

BobVosh
2008-12-12, 01:27 AM
Well, there was the time one player went PTSD and blew the samurai PC in half with a shotgun... Thats Paranoia-ish, right? :smallbiggrin:


In all seriousness, though, I might try to run a game over Christmas.

What do I need to play? Just a general idea of how the game works (d20 for everything), Troubleshooters (Leader, Happyness Officer, Hygiene Officer, Loyalty Officer, and... anything else?), clearance levels (Red, Orange, uh... whatever I feel like... XD), and funky weapons (portable black hole, nuclear grenade, et cetera...). Oh, and mutations and parties.

And of course, secret goals and whatnot. :smallbiggrin:

I'd recommend picking up the main book, it really is full of good stuff.
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/series.php?qsSeries=19
There are also some fun handouts for it on this page. Handouts are fun. Fun is mandatory.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/mbdhandouts.pdf?PHPSESSID=1d8f1efaaaccf765c744b6e6 fc5dac42

This is the Mandatory Bonus Duty Determination Test Handout. You forgot equipment guy along with communications and recording officer.

Clearance levels are as follows: Infared, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, and UltraViolet. (raindbow, if you can't figure it out, +2)
Each is color coded, as is obvious, with Infared being black and Ultraviolet being white.

Beyond that you can basically run it without any of the rules. But some of the more fun skills aren't exactly intuitive. Also the mutation tables are neat.

Just like CoC, you can run it without the info...but you will miss a lot.

Duke of URL
2008-12-12, 08:29 AM
Overall the favorite Super tech I have heard of is a Tac Nuke Hand Gernade labeled "throw hard."

One I liked was a tac nuke with a blast radius of 100' and a maximum range of 80'.

Kurald Galain
2008-12-12, 08:39 AM
One I liked was a tac nuke with a blast radius of 100' and a maximum range of 80'.

I like the Quantum Heisenberg Projector...

Duke of URL
2008-12-12, 08:48 AM
Honestly, the best R&D inspirations come from Wile E. Coyote cartoons. I once designed a "magnet gun" that could be pointed at a metallic object to attract it back toward the "gun".

Of course, it worked great in the R&D department test lab, especially in isolation.

In the field, however... well, let's just say it had a a quirky power regulator and that there a lot of pipes, machines, etc., in Alpha Complex made out of metal...

BRC
2008-12-12, 09:36 AM
Generally, The process for R&D equipment should work like this.

Step one: Quickly think of and write down awsome ideas, don't spend more than a second on each.
Step two: Think carefully about each, if you cannot find a glaring flaw with one of them, cross it out.

BobVosh
2008-12-13, 01:53 AM
Generally, The process for R&D equipment should work like this.

Step one: Quickly think of and write down awsome ideas, don't spend more than a second on each.
Step two: Think carefully about each, if you cannot find a glaring flaw with one of them, cross it out.

How carefully do you have to think to find something "glaring?"

magnet gun sounds fun.

Waspinator
2008-12-13, 05:12 AM
There's some neat forms here:
http://www.crd-sector.com/uv/download/index.htm

BobVosh
2008-12-14, 10:42 PM
So much fun. First PC death was 3 at once from a gernade. Accident from a player. He wanted to snatch a nade away and throw it out the room...4 players ran out the room. (One was fast enough to get away)

More questions when I get to work though.

kopout
2008-12-14, 10:48 PM
So much fun. First PC death was 3 at once from a gernade. Accident from a player. He wanted to snatch a nade away and throw it out the room...4 players ran out the room. (One was fast enough to get away)

More questions when I get to work though.
So....."First time running paranoia" and you already killed a player?:smallbiggrin:
You need to give catnip to the cat gods and yarn to the yarn throne.:smalltongue:

chiasaur11
2008-12-14, 11:05 PM
First time running Paranoia, killing the whole party isn't a shock.

No need to invoke the "cat", it's just part of the game.

Dairun Cates
2008-12-15, 12:47 AM
First time running Paranoia, killing the whole party isn't a shock.

No need to invoke the "cat", it's just part of the game.

Are you kidding? It's a catastrophe. If your players aren't at least taking down major portions of a sector when they die, along with innumerable innocents, then they either:
1. Don't get it.
2. Aren't paranoid enough
3. You're playing straight
4. They aren't testing their mandatory R&D gadgets.

BobVosh
2008-12-15, 01:08 AM
First time running Paranoia, killing the whole party isn't a shock.

No need to invoke the "cat", it's just part of the game.

Plus I'm responding and telling why :P

Also I failed at killing the whole party (one member got away). Well, rather, getting the party to kill the party.

All characters are supposed to have tics. That includes NPCs, right? Anyone have a large list of tics, or something that can be used as tics?

Anyone have fun, quick, easy ways to make sure the players infight and burst into a firefight?


Are you kidding? It's a catastrophe. If your players aren't at least taking down major portions of a sector when they die, along with innumerable innocents, then they either:
1. Don't get it.
2. Aren't paranoid enough
3. You're playing straight
4. They aren't testing their mandatory R&D gadgets.

They hadn't even gotten a laser barrel yet. All they had is a jumpsuit and laser pistol body. They stole a gernade from a midly suicidal bomber and killed each other. Well, one did. He got a commendation for saving an Orange clearance, and noone reported his killing of 3 reds O.o

Oh, that said (despite only barely being into the game) it is a helluva lot of fun. Fun is mandatory, and other games are Non-Fun.

Dairun Cates
2008-12-15, 01:16 AM
They hadn't even gotten a laser barrel yet. All they had is a jumpsuit and laser pistol body. They stole a gernade from a midly suicidal bomber and killed each other. Well, one did. He got a commendation for saving an Orange clearance, and noone reported his killing of 3 reds O.o

Oh, that said (despite only barely being into the game) it is a helluva lot of fun. Fun is mandatory, and other games are Non-Fun.

Oh. Well, in that case, then a commendable job on the player's part. Ingenuity is definitely the hallmark of a good troubleshooter... Or the insane one one that puts on a belt of B3 and blows up a nuclear reactor... one or the other... can't remember which.

Ippolit
2008-12-15, 12:44 PM
All characters are supposed to have tics. That includes NPCs, right? Anyone have a large list of tics, or something that can be used as tics?

Maybe this, the Wheel of Tics (http://gmftp.paranoia-live.net/max/wheelOfTics.swf) can help?
It's not as much a list of ticks as a way of randomly assigning characters a tick out of 521 possible ones.

BRC
2008-12-15, 12:48 PM
I once killed by entire party by having them waste time infighting instead of disarming the tacnuke they were supposed to disarm.

People had to leave at nine, so I said "Alright, the timer left on the Tacnuke out above your security clearance, but It will go off at 9:00 real-time".

Then I had all their secret societies tell them to get the same box, which they fought over for about half an hour, at which point I informed them that the nuke goes off, vaporizing them.

If they had gotten to the nuke in the first place, the neccessary procedures to disarm the tacnuke were above their security clearance. Had they somehow succeeded, they would have been asked how, exactly, they knew how to disarm a tacnuke.

kopout
2008-12-15, 01:32 PM
First time running Paranoia, killing the whole party isn't a shock.

No need to invoke the "cat", it's just part of the game.

Actually, I was referring to the simile titles "first time Dming and I already killed a player" Vs "First time running paranoia ...and you already killed a player"
The reference to Cat was just in case in was to subtle

BobVosh
2008-12-15, 07:29 PM
Maybe this, the Wheel of Tics (http://gmftp.paranoia-live.net/max/wheelOfTics.swf) can help?
It's not as much a list of ticks as a way of randomly assigning characters a tick out of 521 possible ones.

Perfect.


Actually, I was referring to the simile titles "first time Dming and I already killed a player" Vs "First time running paranoia ...and you already killed a player"
The reference to Cat was just in case in was to subtle

Ya, I saw what you did there :P