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Paranoia takes many forms: A
mental condition
characterized by extreme and irrational suspicion. A 2004 industrial-espionage
thriller by Joseph Finder. A
print magazine dealing in conspiracy theories. Numerous forgettable
movies. In this particular case, however, we travel to a world designed by
Kafka,
Stalin,
Orwell,
Huxley, Sartre, the
Marx Brothers and
that crazy old man at the airport bar at 2am...
Paranoia is a
darkly humorous Tabletop Game which takes place
After the End, in
Alpha Complex, an
underground and/or domed city run by a
supercomputer known variously as The Computer and "Friend Computer". After most of the human race was wiped out by
some freak accident, The Computer tried to figure out what went wrong. Unfortunately, The Computers databases
had been corrupted, and after finding some
Cold War propaganda, it came to the conclusion that
Communists caused the disaster. Or possibly some other nebulous threat; no one is quite
sure what happened any more, because what little true history of the world is left is
heavily controlled.
Already bonkers, following decades of successive subversion and reprogramming by various conflicting groups (High Programmers, Secret Societies,
aliens from Pluto and/or Dimension 2Q4B),
"Friend Computer" has
only gotten more
paranoid,
schizophrenic and
insane. Neverthless, it still
rules Alpha Complex with an
iron fist, its
dystopian society organized in a hierarchy of "security clearances" based on the
electromagnetic spectrum (specifically
Isaac Newton's version), from lowly Infrared worker drones, through
Red grunts and Yellow
managers, all the way
up the rainbow to the
Violet and
Ultraviolet elite.
* Rumors of the existence of Gamma clearance are treason. Report all rumors.
Repetition of rumors is treason.
This society is supported by swarms of
robots and
spies, omnipresent
surveillance, and
a bureaucracy so
huge and
convoluted no one's quite sure who's in charge of what any more.
Problems in Alpha Complex are solved by teams of
Troubleshooters, whose job is to
find trouble and shoot it. Threats include
Traitors,
Communists and other secret societies,
unregistered Mutants, and
Commie Mutant Traitors. This mission is complicated by the facts that Alpha Complex
is a Communist state, and, thanks to years of
clone breeding, overexposure to
radiation and
other snafus, every last one of its inhabitants
is a mutant. Everyone is
also a member of one or more
secret societies (mostly) plotting to overthrow the order of Alpha Complex. These groups include, but are not limted to:
- Anti-Mutants, who (as the name suggests) despise all mutants, including registered ones. Their goal is doomed to inevitable failure because, like everyone else, they are mutants, just ignorant or in denial about it.
- Communists, who are around mainly because of the Computer's crackdown on communism, and are rather confused about actual communist ideology. (For examples, they are proud to follow the ideals of Groucho Marx and John Lennon.)
- Computer Phreaks, a cabal of Playful Hackers, who particularly enjoy subverting Friend Computer's omnipresent (and nearly literal) Propaganda Machine.
- Corpore Metal, who strive to create a world where robots and cyborgs rule. Which seems silly for a society run by a super-computer, but actually makes sense because all the mechanical intelligences have Asimov circuits that force them to obey an insane computer.
- Death Leopard, a loose coalition of gangs whose philosophy is part anarchism, part Wacky Fratboy Hijinx.
- First Church of Christ, Computer Programmer, a quasi-underground church that reveres the Computer as an aspect of God. Tend to get a slap on the wrist at worst, as The Computer is more bewildered at the idea than anything else.
- Frankenstein Destroyers, a band of robot and cyborg-hating Luddites. Whether The Computer counts as "a really big robot that can't move" is sometimes a point of contention.
- Free Enterprise, a Mafiaesque organization that runs the "Infrared Market."
- Humanists, who want the Computer to be subordinate to human governance, and would have gotten somewhere if they weren't constantly bogged own by infighting and red tape.
- The Illuminati, a secret society so secret, most of its members don't even know its true purpose. They're not a conventional society in the sense that they plant their members in other secret societies. They also don't exist.
- Mystics, hippie stereotypes who largely use their pursuit of oneness with the cosmos as an excuse to take recreational drugs, even above and beyond what Friend Computer already assigns.
- Pro Tech, a group of technology lovers who steal (and fiddle with) technology any chance they get.
- Psion, a secret society devoted to mutant supremacy.
- PURGE, a terrorist organization devoted to overthrowing The Computer violently, but hasn't put much thought into what will come after. Naturally, their terrorist actions are always blamed on the Communists.
- Trekkies, about what you think. They all wear pointy rubber ears and jerry-rig their lasers to look like phasers. Ironically, despite membership in the Trekkies being obvious, it's the only society never punished by The Computer because it's so obviously harmless.
- The Romantics, who idolize the virtues of the "Golden Age", a piecemeal reconstruction of Earth history.
- The Sierra Club, who are obsessed with the environment and the mysterious "Outdoors", access to which is strictly limited by The Computer.
- The International Workers of the World (Wobblies), described in the first edition supplement Acute Paranoia. The Computer heard about this society and sent Troubleshooters to spy on it. The problem was that it did not exist (the Real Life Wobblies fell apart before Alpha Complex was created), and when the Troubleshooters returned with no information they were quickly executed for insubordination. A dozen or so teams later, one set of Troubleshooters got wise and founded the society solely so they could spy on it. The other societies sent spies to infiltrate this new group, and the end result is a group composed entirely of spies for other groups.
The
PCs are (usually)
Red-level Troubleshooters
working for Friend Computer,
grudgingly assigned useless,
backfiring equipment and
weapons, and
dispatched on (
often impossible)
Suicide Missions, all while
navigating the
endless deathtrap which is
Alpha Complex,
keeping their mutant powers a secret, advancing the cause of their secret society,
and trying to
earn promotion to
higher color grades. The over-the-top darkly satiric tone of the game ensures that
Hilarity Ensues as the player characters try to
juggle their responsibilities, or at least
survive for a while.
Player infighting is
encouraged, to the point that some editions recommend that there should
never be a greater danger
than each other, and
turnover is so high each player gets several
backup clones with which to
replace themselves if, or rather
when they die. And after all that comes the truly
dangerous part: the
mission debriefing. * As of the XP edition, accusations of treason are even resolved using the same dice mechanics as physical combat.
Just remember, Citizen,
Happiness Is Mandatory!
Insufficient happiness will be punished by
termination!
Beyond the
back stabbing and
Giant Radioactive Mutant Cockroaches, Paranoia was quite an
innovative RPG when introduced in 1984. It was either the first RPG or first widely played RPG to:
- Adopt the videogame approach to character lives, with clone replacements each time a player died. Until Paranoia, the death of a player character was Very Serious.
- Even more so than most RPGs, consider the rules and setting to be a collection of possibly-useful suggestions which can be cheerfully ignored when they get in the way of having fun.
- The characters were not a team, and as stated above were actively encouraged to backstab each other. This required a certain amount of maturity from the players and a willingness to forget about the "mission" in favour of roleplaying and chaos.
- Players, in theory, had no knowledge of the rules, so anyone metagaming ("I get plus one for being behind cover") could be executed for it. (If they did look, they should simply factor the rules into their schemes without admitting they know, because it's Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught)
Be aware that if you make any mention of a
published-in-1995 "Fifth Edition" of the game, you are referring to an Official
UnProduct, and Friend Computer does not like people referring to
things which never existed.Anyone interested in RPG design should have a look at the brilliant concept of Perversity Points, first introduced in the "XP" edition of the game. Basically, they're given out for being
entertaining when playing your character instead of just boringly efficient, and spent to improve your dice rolls or (this being
Paranoia) screw up someone else's, with the GM
handwaving some appropriate in-character circumstance.
With the latest edition, the game can now be played in three forms: as a Troubleshooter, an Internal Security agent, or a High Programmer. In the latter cases, The Computer progressively shifts from "That information is not available at your security clearance" to "That information is not available at this time". (Other times, High Programmers get
lots of information, but most of it is garbage.) The equipment also beefs up; Troubleshooters have laser pistols, IntSec agents have cone rifles (basically bazookas), High Programmers hang out in
the Situation Room and manipulate teams of lower-clearance citizens working for service groups or secret societies or the Troubleshooters.
A
List of those Tropes both used in
Paranoia and authorized for online viewing by individuals of your current level of security clearance can be
viewed online
here. Said List is constantly updated by a
team of trained experts for your
safety, happiness and convenience. Inability to exactly reproduce on demand the complete and current List, either verbally or in writing, including all contents of this page, is construed as
treason.
Have a nice daycycle!
psst! ya wanna see the real
Trope-link list, swiped fresh n' hot from the Ultraviolet datanet? then go here! * smash the computer!
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