History ParanoiaFuel / TabletopGames

** The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Skaven]] in general, honestly. You could be a human peasant in the capital of the Empire, or a dwarf mining underground, or an elf in the forest - and skittering under your feet at this moment are ''swarms'' of malevolent RatMen plotting the [[AbsoluteXenophobe death of everything that isn't them]]. The only thing holding them back from global domination is their own selfishness and cowardace. If they attacked in full force the world wouldn't stand a chance. The Skaven battletome for ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' even states that if the surface races realized the true extent of the under-empire, they would be [[GoMadFromTheRevelation driven to madness and dispear at the sheer size of it]].

** The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Skaven]] in general, honestly. You could be a human peasant in the capital of the Empire, or a dwarf mining underground, or an elf in the forest -- and skittering under your feet at this moment are ''swarms'' of malevolent RatMen plotting the [[AbsoluteXenophobe death of everything that isn't them]]. The only thing holding them back from global domination is their own selfishness and cowardace. If they attacked in full force the world wouldn't stand a chance. The Skaven battletome for ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' even states that if the surface races realized the true extent of the under-empire, they would be [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm driven to madness and dispear at the sheer size of it]].

* ''{{TabletopGame/Paranoia}}'', fittingly enough. You never know when or how your compatriots will try to betray you, on top of the BigBrotherIsWatchingYou setting.

And one more twist of the knife. You want kids? You can't have them; you're a close imitation, but not so close that you can make a new life. But maybe you can... if you're lucky and you truly love the person you're trying to have kids with (oh, and you mustn't know that you're not really human -- AchievementsInIgnorance and all that). The pregnancy will be difficult, the mother mightn't survive, but in the end you've got a bouncy baby... but the baby is going to be a CreepyChild. If you're lucky, it'll be a Fetch-Child; seemingly socially disordered until puberty, able to sense things that normal humans can't, and stalked because of rumors that its blood is poison to TheFairFolk. If you're unlucky, it'll be a Fetch-Spawn; an EnfanteTerrible with no capacity at all for morals or empathy and which cannot be restrained by ''anything''. Lock them in a room? The door opens the moment they touch it. Bind their arms? It falls with the slightest flex. Handcuff them? It springs open in an instant. So you can't keep them in (or out), you can't reason with them, you can't "cure" them, and you live and evade pain only so long as they don't feel like torturing or killing you. And you have no way of knowing which you've had (or even if both types can actually exist in your world) until it's old enough to be able to try and kill you.
*** What about the Changelings themselves? These are humans who have been warped into half-faerie {{Emotion Eater}}s -- and you can't tell them apart, unless you're very lucky. Vampires, werewolves, even mages all have some sort of tell that you can use to spot them. Changelings? Nothing works. Even other monsters are hardpressed to realise what they are...
*** Here's some more bad news for both Changelings and people - Some of the changelings never escaped, or escaped and then decided they wanted to go back. They're loyalists and they make a job of betraying Changelings, or innocent and interesting people, into hell at the behest of their masters. And you have no idea which they are, and any pacts you might make with them are just as binding as they are with any Changeling. Even worse is mortals can make a pact without ''realizing'' they've done something real. Trust no one.

** The worst paranoia isn't from any of these. It's all of them as a collective. There are monsters ''everywhere,'' they pretend to be human and there's ''no way'' to defend yourself against them. Thank God for [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil the Vigil...]]\\

On the other hand, the Vigil has the [[NiceJobBreakingItHero potential]] to [[FromBadToWorse make it even worse]]; that werewolf pack they took out? They could have been the only thing standing between your neighborhood and a bunch of irritable spirits that want to force their way into your world and wear your skin like a new set of clothes.

*** First and biggest is the [[DeusEstMachina God Machine]], which is less an entity and more of an ''ecosystem'', the sum of all of its [[HiddenInPlainSight Infrastructures]], [[InMysteriousWays Occult Matrices]] and [[AboveGoodAndEvil Outputs]]. That new building being erected outside? Might be an Infrastructure. That random serial killings that suddenly pop up and disappear as suddenly? Might be an Occult Matrix at work. And what is the Output of said Occult Matrix? What is the GM's goal this time? It's telling that the {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s of the setting are the ones ProperlyParanoid; after all, they used to build the systems.
*** The GM's agents are everywhere, and take on different forms. That restaurant owner or grave digger may be an Angel sent by the GM for its own inscrutable motives. That mortal may just be an UnwittingPawn, or a Stigmatic who can suddenly go berserk and wail on your face. And good luck when the Knights of St. Adrian is after you - it means your cover is blown and they have powers that make them more than a match for a Demon. Demon is the first gameline where reaching 0 KarmaMeter is not an automatic game over; it 'merely' forces you to go into permanent OneWingedAngel and you can still play as normal. But that also makes you stick like a sore thumb, with the GM and its agents able to see ''exactly'' where you are. If you can't get any new Cover immediately, you'll soon either be dead or suffering a FateWorseThanDeath. [[FridgeHorror Let that sink in]]: they don’t need any special mechanic for a NonStandardGameOver, all they have to do is to just strip you of your disguise, and let nature takes its course.
*** Even the Unchained are not safe from each other. Each and everyone of them is ConsummateLiar without equal, able to fool even supernatural lie detections. And if one of them is an [[LesCollaborateurs Integrator]], they ''will'' sell out the rest for their own agenda. To say they have trust issues is an understatement.

** [[MegaCorp Pentex]]. The company that produces everything, from computer chips to duct tape, that you might come into contact with during the course of modern life -- and makes sure that all of it is in some way designed to destroy your health, your sanity, or your very soul. That hamburger you're eating? It's tainted with spiritual corrosion. That movie you're watching? It's engineered to turn you callous and violent. That aspirin you just took for your headache? It's going to give you something a whole lot worse.\\

** The Technocracy in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''. They have their hooks in nearly as many things as Pentex... and are dedicated to hiding the fact that the world isn't the orderly, static, mundane place they want everyone to believe it is -- in order to try to make the world that place. Which works for you if you're part of that world, but if you see something you shouldn't, or worse yet, by chance end up being ''part'' of the supernatural world they try to suppress -- especially if you turn out a Mage, who they actively oppose moreso than any other element of the supernatural, or a Changeling, who find their mere presence toxic as the antithesis of the wonder and magic the Faerie stand for -- things can get very ugly, and they ''will'' find out. Oh, and remember Pentex above? The Technocracy is ''another'' thing they have their hooks in, so there's a chance that whatever they do to deal with you will wear down your resistance to becoming an unholy mutant, if it doesn't kill you outright.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': In-universe, Clan Eshin deliberately cultivates an image of being deadly, unavoidable killers that could be hiding in every shadow and whom no-one and nothing is safe from. The fear of being paid a visit by Eshin agents is never far from ambitious Skaven's minds, and this hanging threat is often as effective a tool in quelling rebellions as the actual assassinations.

** Chaos cultists and any other form of subversive anythings are absolutely the in-universe paranoia fuel. Anything that looks like a human but secretly wants to do anything other than die for the Emperor's glory is to be hunted down and destroyed. Hence the various flavors of Inquisitors who would absolutely LOVE to talk about all those disloyal thoughts you've been having...

** Also, you could be (and probably are) serving [[TheChessmaster Tzeench]] and not even know it.

** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' is ''made'' of ParanoiaFuel. Where other gamelines are often touted as 'personal horror', this one is touted as 'Techgnostic Espionage'. Let's see...

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' contains a HordeOfAlienLocusts that eat ''galaxies'' and are slowly but inexorably making their way here.
** Which often home in on signals from scouts that have been established on the target already. Lictors you don't see coming, but they just kill you. Genestealers, on the other hand, implant a tiny "seed" in your body that makes you think you've barely escaped a fight with the 'nids with only minor wounds, so you're completely unaware of being infected.

** Really, ''anything'' can be a monster. The ceiling? A lurker. The floor? A trapper. That [[ChestMonster treasure chest]] against the wall? A common mimic. The ''room'' the treasure chest is in? ''Greater'' mimic. Stalactites on the ceiling? Piercers. Stalagmites on the floor? Bi-nou. Boulders in the cave? [[RockMonster Galeb-duhr]]. Creepers growing on the wall? Assassin vine. Sheet of paper on a table? Palimpset. Pile of rags in the corner? Raggamofyn. Discarded clothing? Raiment. Patch of darkness? [[LivingShadow Shadow.]] Patch of wet stone? Gray ooze. Empty stretch of dungeon corridor? Might contain an Invisible Stalker, Phantom Fungus, or any other naturally-InvisibleMonsters. Anything resembling a statue, made from any material? Could be a {{golem}}. Is it anything not listed above? Might be an animated object. The friendly NPC who sent you on the quest? Could have been replaced by a {{doppelganger}} while you weren't looking. Even that BagOfHolding you got at the end of the adventure could really be a cursed Bag of Devouring, the mouth of an extradimensional creature that will try to eat you the next time you reach inside.

*** The GM's agents are everywhere, and take on different forms. That restaurant owner or grave digger may be an Angel sent by the GM for its own inscrutable motives. That mortal may just be an UnwittingPawn, or a Stigmatic who can suddenly go berserk and wail on your face. And good luck when the Knights of St. Adrian is after you - if they ever go after you, it means your cover is blown and they have powers that make them more than a match for a Demon. Demon is the first gameline where reaching 0 KarmaMeter is not an automatic game over; it 'merely' forces you to go into permanent OneWingedAngel and you can still play as normal. But that also makes you stick like a sore thumb, with the GM and its agents able to see ''exactly'' where you are. If you can't get any new Cover immediately, you'll soon either be dead suffering a FateWorseThanDeath. [[FridgeHorror Let that sink in]]: they don’t need any special mechanic for a NonStandardGameOver, all they have to do is to just strip you of your disguise, and let nature takes its course.

* In a meta sense, any time the GM makes an obvious roll for ''something'' before saying "Okay, go ahead."
* According to the 4th edition of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', in its ''TabletopGame/NentirVale'' setting, ''every single star in the night sky'' is actually an EldritchAbomination that wants to eat us. Have fun on your next stargazing trip!
** Earlier ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' had a monster called the Cloaker. On the upside, you'll know if one attacks. On the downside, it can manipulate shadows and sound to create illusions (including mirror images of itself), make itself completely invisible, lull you into a helpless torpor, and unnerve you so badly that you can do nothing but cower in fear. All this before it actually attacks...
** Older ''Dungeons and Dragons'' was stuffed full of monsters designed for this - pretty much ''anything'' could secretly be a monster. People learning to be careful about treasure chests because they might be Mimics? Why not greater Mimics that can look like buildings? How about a stalactite or a statue? Or the dust under the bed? Or the floor you're standing on? Any of these could secretly hunger for your blood. It's a miracle people in that world ever took their heads out from under the covers - but maybe it was because the blanket could be a monster too.
** One epic level spell, Demise Unseen, instantly killed its target and gave control of the corpse to the caster that exact moment, with whoever was around to see it none the wiser. Your teammate could well be dead, and have been dead for days already, under control of a powerful necromancer who may have used him to steer you right where he wants you to be.

* ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'', as fitting any game about occult conspiracy, is up to its gills in this. Case in point, [[spoiler: fast food workers are magically poisoning you to bend you to their needs.]]
* Indie [=RPG=] ''Exquisite Replicas'' is about an alien reality somehow stealing away things and even people, and replacing them with perfect replicas. Nobody knows why the invaders are doing this, or how, or what the replicated things and people might someday end up doing - if anything. Only the player characters are able to sense the difference and it drives them almost mad with revulsion, especially when someone close to them is taken and replaced. Or the player characters might be mad and hallucinating, and destroying things and killing people for no reason. The idea is based on a real mental disorder called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capgras_delusion the Capgras delusion]], where someone becomes convinced that a close friend or family member has been replaced with an identical impostor.
* ''{{TabletopGame/Paranoia}}'', fittingly enough. You never know when or how your compatriots will try to betray you, on top of the BigBrotherIsWatchingYou setting.
* ''{{TabletopGame/Planescape}}'': Portals. Sigil, the city of Portals, the main setting for the game, is lousy with them. Any enclosed area (arch, doorway, barrel opening, two broomsticks leaning on each other) can be a portal. Portals can lead anywhere, from next door to Hell to a parallel dimension consisting entirely of chocolate. There is no rhyme or reason whatsoever to what portal leads where, the keys that activate the portals can be literally anything, and there's nothing to say that a portal uses the same key to open from the other side. For example, walking through your front door on your way to the supermarket might be perfectly harmless, but coming home and walking through the same door carrying a loaf of bread and twelve apples while whistling "Hail To The Chief" might see you landed on an endless plane of black obsidian with no way to get home.

*** Per "Night Horrors: Enemy Action", the God-Machine is entirely willing to create Angels to ''pretend to Fall'' and serve as double agents. Just in case you weren't worried enough already.

*** First and biggest is the [[DeusEstMachina God Machine]], which is less an entity and more of an ''ecosystem'', the sum of all of its [[HiddenInPlainSight Infrastructures]], [[InMysteriousWays Occult Matrices]] and [[AboveGoodAndEvil Outputs]]. That new building being erected outside? Might be an Infrastructure. That random serial killings that suddenly pop up and disappear as suddenly? Might be an Occult Matrix at work. And what is the Output of said Occult Matrix? What is the GM's goal this time? It's telling that the {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s of the setting are the ones ProperlyParanoid; after all, they used to design and build the systems.
*** The GM's agents are everywhere, and take on different forms. That restaurant owner or grave digger may be an Angel sent by the GM for its own inscrutable motives. That mortal may just be an UnwittingPawn, or a Stigmatic who can suddenly go berserk and wail on your face. And good luck when the Knights of St. Adrian is after you - they have powers that make them more than a match for Demons, and if they're ever after your ass, that means ''someone told on you.'' Demon is the first gameline where reaching 0 KarmaMeter is not an automatic game over; it 'merely' forces you to go into permanent OneWingedAngel and you can still play as normal. But that also makes you stick like a sore thumb, with the GM and its agents able to see ''exactly'' where you are. If you can't get any new Cover immediately, you'll either be dead soon or suffering a FateWorseThanDeath. [[FridgeHorror Let that sink in]]: they don’t need any special mechanic for a NonStandardGameOver, all they have to do is to just strip you of your disguise, and let nature take its course.

*** Here's some more bad news for both Changelings and people - Some of the changelings never escaped, or escaped and then decided they wanted to go back. They're loyalists and they make a job of betraying Changelings, or innocent and interesting people, into hell at the behest of their masters. And you have no idea which they are, and any pacts you might make with them are just as binding as they are with any Changeling. Even worse is mortals can make a pact without *realizing* they've done something real. Trust no one.

*** Even the Unchained are not safe from each other. Each and everyone of them is ConsummateLiar without equal, able to fool even supernatural lie detections. And if one of them is an [[LesCollaborateurs Integrator]], they ‘’will’’ sell out the rest for their own agenda. To say they have trust issues is an understatement.

** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' confirms there's a God, and it's a Machine; [[DeusEstMachina The God-Machine.]] But it is in control of ''everything'' in the setting, and yes, [[GreaterScopeVillain that includes different gamelines.]] And it's not a specific entity, but rather an ''ecosystem'', building Infrastructures which are put in action as Occult Matrices for the desired Output. Infrastructures may stick out like a sore thumb to those in the know, but the GM has many ways to hide Infrastructures, and that includes [[RealityWarper hiding them into folded space outside normal time-space continuum.]] Occult Matrices work by [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic exploiting the loopholes in the laws of reality]], but they are [[InMysteriousWays weird and nonsensical]] to the common people; and the Conspiracy Theorist Demons are considered ProperlyParanoid, because they used to help design and build such systems. To make things worse, agents of the GM known as Angels are everywhere, and even when you are sure you are dealing with mortals, they might be under orders of the GM. It's telling that Demons are the first gameline where reaching 0 KarmaMeter is not a game over - you 'merely' get forced into OneWingedAngel mode, which simply makes it easier for the GM to see where you are. Good luck surviving when ''that'' happens.