tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post6339029114554627369..comments2024-03-19T03:02:38.228-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Retrospective: ParanoiaJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35791688795391566432010-06-19T09:46:09.153-04:002010-06-19T09:46:09.153-04:00Paranoia is a great campaign game! Our DM started ...Paranoia is a great campaign game! Our DM started by having a massively deadly briefing (everybody ended up dead but me), sent us out on a mission with me as party leader (I got killed pretty quickly), and then we started the campaign. Not really as much secret society and backstabbing action as there could have been, but the DM was keeping us busy doing various troubleshooting missions. The campaign ended with a huge struggle between us and some Vultures, with us armed with a whole Vulture van full of weapons, which would have been great except that our team leader tacnuked everyone. The DM put him through a horrifying debrief, complete with real darkened room and spotlight on his face, but his Fast Talk triumphed and he was promoted. Awesome.Bansheehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12594214770417497135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-77780021934897005202010-06-17T17:28:36.621-04:002010-06-17T17:28:36.621-04:00I loved this game. Yeah its more for one shots the...I loved this game. Yeah its more for one shots then continuity and it has a poltical tinge, but some of the best laughs I ever had came from this game.<br /><br />Its alot of fun.carmachuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06037584604296331790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-74554657258876152812010-06-17T14:55:41.420-04:002010-06-17T14:55:41.420-04:00When the first MMORPGs started revealing their wea...When the first MMORPGs started revealing their weaknesses as sandboxes for actual role-playing -- idiots running around being absurd and griefing each other, no consequences for dying, pointless fetch-quests handed out by the designers and their soulless quest-dispenser NPCs -- my first thought was that the only RPG that would work as designed in this environment was Paranoia. I still think the idea has a lot of potential. In fact, my sense is that playing World of Warcraft is actually closer to the experience of playing Paranoia than anything else.Picadorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01244353406711565712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-81621881304811491652010-06-17T12:18:35.450-04:002010-06-17T12:18:35.450-04:00I dearly love this game, but definitely recall a t...I dearly love this game, but definitely recall a tinge of melancholy. In particular, as GM I recall the players being assigned to disable a robot. The secret is that the robot is harmless. The halls and rooms the characters traverse are filled with destruction, injured people, radiation alarms, etc. They finally reach the room with the robot. The robot begins to roll towards the players harmlessly enough, but the players immediately cower in the opposite corner trying to find ways of defending themselves.<br /><br />My thought at the time was that the situation was hilarious, but it was a pity that I as the GM was the only one in on the joke.Todd A. Gibsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16177477114706281373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35062978418009402432010-06-17T04:37:11.983-04:002010-06-17T04:37:11.983-04:00There's an unofficial card game here:
http://...There's an unofficial card game here:<br /><br />http://dvorakgame.co.uk/index.php/Paranoia_deckanarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71566123167628441512010-06-17T02:04:34.162-04:002010-06-17T02:04:34.162-04:00You said that many people see Paranoia as everythi...You said that many people see Paranoia as everything they hate about games and gamers. Those are people who don't understand satire. In addition to satirizing cold war paranoia, it also satirizes gaming. The guy who invents reasons to shoot PCs in the back? The guy who dies in a stupid way then creates a "new" character who is exactly the same? The GM who creates an underground dungeon that's just an excuse to throw inescapable traps at the party? That is all a part of the Paranoia world. It's a satire of old school dungeon crawling.<br />People who hate Paranoia for that reason don't realize that Paranoia is mocking the things they hate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85958044527757184962010-06-17T01:13:43.142-04:002010-06-17T01:13:43.142-04:00Oh -- Back circa 1988 I had a Paranoia game where ...Oh -- Back circa 1988 I had a Paranoia game where every piece equipment was given as a physical prop (toys guns, towel cores for laser barrels, etc.) I can remember how aghast the one guy put in charge of equipment looked at receiving this big box (lose or break anything, treason, of course) -- then appointed an assistant equipment guy and highjinks ensued as they tried to entrap each other.<br /><br />Also, the party videocam was an actually camcorder, so I got the whole thing on tape by the player assigned to recording duty.Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-25705596156870318482010-06-17T00:37:50.349-04:002010-06-17T00:37:50.349-04:00I think it's a mistake to consider it a "...I think it's a mistake to consider it a "GM vs. player" game. In Paranoia it's the GM's job to portray a malevolent universe, but he's not doing it to "beat" the players. The ultimate goal is still to entertain (and be entertained).<br /><br />Because of GMs thinking "no more Mr. Nice Guy" meant "you're in it to win it", the essential element of Paranoia was lost: In other words, the <i>paranoia</i>. It's a fine line between a well-tuned <a href="http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/creations.html#tomb-horrors" rel="nofollow">Tomb of Horrors</a> and "<a href="http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05032002.shtml" rel="nofollow">Rocks Fall, You All Die</a>", but it's an important one.<br /><br />Of course, it's not just GMs: I've seen plenty of players ruin the game, too. Comedy is hard. Comedy gaming is harder.<br /><br />But very rewarding when it can be pulled off successfully.Justin Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02227895898395353754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72469731195544742122010-06-17T00:07:26.307-04:002010-06-17T00:07:26.307-04:00My group loved this game. We weren't quite as ...My group loved this game. We weren't quite as malevolent as some posters are describing, but we really hammed it up and went for the cheap jokes constantly. We wouldn't play it all the time, but we played often enough, and everyone had a blast. Would love to play again, but that group has long since disbanded. Maybe for a reunion...Baron Greystonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16636292202674906870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89697227020231492282010-06-16T21:27:53.768-04:002010-06-16T21:27:53.768-04:00"In the hands of the right referee, it can be..."In the hands of the right referee, it can be a thing of beauty."<br /><br />This is true of many games, but PARANOIA very much so -- to make it work right, the players AND the referee need to have the right mindset, the right attitude, and balance neatly between "cooperative play" and "kill everyone else at the table."<br /><br />Weirdly enough, PARANOIA is the only game I can think of that I've played consistently over the years where an argument NEVER erupted at the table. EVER! Blow a PC's head off without warning or save? Your buddy stab you in the back and toss you off a cliff? No one griped, ever. You simply activated your next clone and plotted your revenge...Tom O'Bedlamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11821487402927475042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-12825572846947412152010-06-16T18:26:36.382-04:002010-06-16T18:26:36.382-04:00Paranoia was one of the most-anticipated events, w...Paranoia was one of the most-anticipated events, when it came to play-testing (and, apparently, playing) at SIMCON, the years it was run (which was multiple). <br /><br />But the most amusing - and fun - was the LARP that was run in the late-teens/early 20s of SIMCON. Including the famous Hidden Elevator of Meliora Hall, with a sign loudly proclaiming its entry status as INFRARED on the outside...<br /><br />...wait for it...<br /><br />...and another sign proclaiming it's exit status as INDIGO on the <b>inside</b> of the elevator.<br /><br />The referees took an informal count. At one point, there was apparently half a dozen people in that elevator, as the jerks inside would cheerfully <b>not</b> tell people entering what the trick was....Izzylobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06678997105147635959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-14155855671832716452010-06-16T17:51:20.165-04:002010-06-16T17:51:20.165-04:00To be honest, I had more fun reading [i]Paranoia[/...To be honest, I had more fun reading [i]Paranoia[/i] than playing it. It never quite worked for me, as a game. Not sure why.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89049037511329675212010-06-16T17:48:15.726-04:002010-06-16T17:48:15.726-04:00paranoia is responsible for some of my fondest rpg...paranoia is responsible for some of my fondest rpg-memories. monty python meets 1984... simply awesome.<br /><br />loving paranoia is mandatory, citizen!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88273831030452490382010-06-16T17:28:23.417-04:002010-06-16T17:28:23.417-04:00Oh, we had soooo much fun with this one back when ...Oh, we had soooo much fun with this one back when it came out. My brother was already known for his wacky sense of humor, and so we naturally elected him referee. <br /><br />He turned his science-fair display board, made from pegboard, into a white (of course) Screen of Fear and Ignorance, from which we couldn't see him most of the time. <br /><br />The only game in which I've ever laughed so hard at facing a giant rubber chicken.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-13758505371745509902010-06-16T17:02:11.721-04:002010-06-16T17:02:11.721-04:00Sorry James. I did misread your post.
D'oh! (s...Sorry James. I did misread your post.<br />D'oh! (slaps forehead)blackstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11205963961656803303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-69772004314226613372010-06-16T16:47:00.673-04:002010-06-16T16:47:00.673-04:00Paranoia is to RPG's what Diplomacy is to boar...Paranoia is to RPG's what Diplomacy is to boardgames. If you can handle that your friends MUST lie to and betray you, great fun.Zzarchovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07714805545939725730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-57022339252150043512010-06-16T16:16:25.922-04:002010-06-16T16:16:25.922-04:00Played it once. I killed off all the characters i...Played it once. I killed off all the characters in the first encounter, well... those that didn't kill each other. One of the players actually had his character stand up and announce during the firefight that he was a communist, at which point everyone on the battlefield shot him.<br /><br />Of course, what do you do for an encore after that?<br /><br /><br />I found rules to actually be worthwhile just by themselves and adapted them into a fun Robotech: Invid Invasion campaign.jdh417https://www.blogger.com/profile/14541882649762424101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89525310071871532042010-06-16T16:04:50.909-04:002010-06-16T16:04:50.909-04:00Some of James's analysis is invalidated by the...Some of James's analysis is invalidated by the current (Mongoose Publishing) edition of PARANOIA, which Gareth Hanrahan wrote based closely on my 2004 edition. The 2004+ rules encourage the GM to adopt an attitude of Skinnerian conditioning of players, dancing them like puppets and turning them against one another for entertainment value. This contrasts with the original PARANOIA's encouragment of an openly malevolent GM.<br /><br />Those who repeat the conventional wisdom that PARANOIA isn't suitable for campaigns should look at the 2006 mission collection "WMD." The lead mission there, Dan Curtis Johnson's "Hunger," brilliantly brings the PCs from lowly RED Clearance all the way up to BLUE, and along the way shows how an RPG scenario can be effective satire without hitting players (as opposed to Troubleshooters) over the head.Allen Varneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10751693785863649469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-16666379507912241462010-06-16T15:13:58.179-04:002010-06-16T15:13:58.179-04:00Sometimes I think that this is the best RPG yet ma...Sometimes I think that this is the best RPG yet made. It's been years since I've played, so the nostalgia factor may weigh in here, but I don't think I've ever run any other game and had such a good time and felt pretty confident that the players had too (those that could get into the absurd spirit of the thing)Ragnorakkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03812860633134547618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40268206012806366792010-06-16T15:01:09.217-04:002010-06-16T15:01:09.217-04:00@Ross: I found the latest version to be rather dis...@Ross: I found the latest version to be rather disappointing compared to the original game. It's very different.<br /><br />Part of this is the different style of writing, which is much dryer and more rulesy,* but the other thing is the rules are a lot looser.<br /><br />A good part of the fun in the old game was having the Players book explain a highly intricate and detailed simulation system which the gamemaster subsequently totally ignored.<br /><br />And the new gamemaster screen is no longer guaranteed to blind people who look at it. =8(<br /><br />But at least it's not as bad as the infamous 5th edition (although it does want to head that way).<br /><br />[*In addition to having a tendency to parody itself, which is never a good idea.]Reverance Pavanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01217657347160811310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-58526503912661699292010-06-16T14:49:37.524-04:002010-06-16T14:49:37.524-04:00I love the feel of the original Paranoia. It'...I love the feel of the original <i>Paranoia</i>. It's a great game to run, because at heart, the objective of the game is for the players to amuse the gamemaster (and be amused in turn). It's not a game that should be run seriously, but like all good comedy it should be played straight. You're not out to hose the players, but are there to let the players hose themselves.<br /><br />It's also a great game to run semi-freeform. A good paranoia game will be immersive. Even with a tabletop play, get your players to act appropriately. Encourage them to ham it up. If you ever get to the end of an "adventure" then you are probably doing it wrong. That's because the players themselves will take it off the rails and do your work for you.<br /><br />Although one common elementary mistake is players shooting each other for treason. This is fine. The traitor is dead (he must have been a traitor because The Computer's loyal troubleshooters killed him, qed). Then execute the character for wasting The Computers valuable resources (to whit, the "treasonous" troubleshooter). Curbs that behaviour right off.<br /><br />One of my favourite games had 3 different Troubleshooter teams receive the same Mission Alert, and then receive only enough equipment for one team. (Yes that is 18 players; Paranoia becomes easier the more people you have playing). There were even survivors (and by that I mean a player who made it through on their first clone [by not drawing attention to himself by either being in the forefront or clinging to the background; he even got an award for the multicorder record of the game he made), so I promoted him to Mission Leader for the next one. <i><grin></i><br /><br />My favourite secret for running the game is that the game works very well if The Computer (yourself) <i>really</i> is Your Friend. Works even better if it the Friend of the last person who speaks to it. [If they want combot support, give it to them. This...<br /><br /><i><crash><bang><zap zap zap zap></i><br /><br />[I'm sorry, but Pa-V-ANE-3 is no longer available to talk to you at the moment. While you exit through the Alpha Complex Gift Store, may I suggest picking up some excellent Paranoia fiction, such as <i>Stormshooters and Troubleknights</i>, <i>Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Shot</i>, <i>Title Deleted For Security Reasons</i>, and the comic.]Reverance Pavanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01217657347160811310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-10665172163464506892010-06-16T14:49:18.317-04:002010-06-16T14:49:18.317-04:00Um ... I do like the game. I'm not sure why yo...<i>Um ... I <b>do</b> like the game. I'm not sure why you think otherwise.</i><br /><br />Perhaps <b>blackstone</b> read "fault line" as "fault"?Jon McNallyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06349882237118956838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37942817560971803902010-06-16T14:41:45.435-04:002010-06-16T14:41:45.435-04:00I like the game for the very same reasons James do...<i>I like the game for the very same reasons James doesn't: the PVP & player vs. GM attitude.</i><br /><br>Um ... I <i>do</i> like the game. I'm not sure why you think otherwise.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73950843482683056802010-06-16T14:34:32.498-04:002010-06-16T14:34:32.498-04:00I like the game for the very same reasons James do...I like the game for the very same reasons James doesn't: the PVP & player vs. GM attitude. Plus with a huge dose of black comedy, you have Paranoia.<br /><br />I think it's one of those games where you aren't expected to take it seriously, and to a larger degree the RPG scene should be like that too.<br /><br />Just this past week I got into a HUGE debate with someone about how detect evil/good works at another forum. IT got to the point where he was quoting page and paragraph out of the DMG to me...because I wasn't doing it "Right".<br /><br />Eventually I had to say that this discussion is pointless because we're arguing over a rule in a game about dragons and fairies. Lighten up people!<br /><br />Eventually we got over the whole thing with no hard feelings.<br /><br />And that's what Paranoia is: a way to "lighten up" and not to take RPGs too seriously.blackstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11205963961656803303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75227769975816262522010-06-16T14:14:20.585-04:002010-06-16T14:14:20.585-04:00> The premise sounds like it could be used for ...> The premise sounds like it could be used for a very 'grim', serious game. Why is it comical? Is it just the writing?<br /><br />"The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice."<br /><br />Oops, sorry, wrong game (...just about ;)<br /><br />Grim and comical can work well together, even if that's more typically better for shorter periods, and kinda glad the current generation of (computer) gamers haven't yet been lulled into some totally fluffy My Little Pony wish-fulfillment MMORPG without having to suffer - and even enjoy - knockbacks along the way. :)<br />If you wish to try to "convert" a die-hard computer gamer to tabletop RPG gaming as well, Paranoia's a pretty good first port o' call, IMO.irbyzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12215185881501392755noreply@blogger.com