I've finally tried Paranoia, and I love it!!

[Wicht]

As I recall, differences between the editions are more fiddly than anything else, mostly corrections and revisions. Until you get to the Mongoose (?) edition, which also shows you how to run it as a straight grim dystopian game.

Which is nice and all, but kinda misses the point. (And anyway, all the best jokes are for the GM.)

Wikipedia has a nice summary of the various editions.

It is worth noting that the 2004 XP edition, which introduced the possibility of running it straight, was done with full approval of the original designers who viewed the later West End editions to be too cartoony in their presentation of the satire. The first edition was a much darker, less humorous take on the world than second edition. I would guess though that for most of us who like Paranoia, the feel of second edition is what we tend to remember. 2nd edition was certainly the system I played back in the day.

The latest edition by Mongoose is a bigger departure from the original rules than most of the preceeding editions in that it introduces card combat and a d6 dice pool mechanic.

 

[Bird Of Play]

Until you get to the Mongoose (?) edition, which also shows you how to run it as a straight grim dystopian game.

It does entirely miss the point - but it's a nice idea at the same time. Mmh.

 

[Bird Of Play]

it introduces card combat and a d6 dice pool mechanic

So, were the other editions less about rolling dice?

 

[Wicht]

So, were the other editions less about rolling dice?

Rolling dice gives the illusion of agency. One always wants the clones to feel like they have a chance.

IIRC, the 2nd edition used a d20 mechanic. Straight dice rolls are simply different than dice pools.

 

[Bird Of Play]

Rolling dice gives the illusion of agency. One always wants the clones to feel like they have a chance.

IIRC, the 2nd edition used a d20 mechanic. Straight dice rolls are simply different than dice pools.

Were the dice rolls still pretty much limited to some events where you use one of your stats?

I felt Paranoia isn't as roll-heavy as D&D.

 

[Wicht]

Were the dice rolls still pretty much limited to some events where you use one of your stats?

I felt Paranoia isn't as roll-heavy as D&D.

I would hazards that your Paranoia experience is going to change somewhat from Table to Table, and Group to Group; but I would also guess that on average, most Groups are going to run it slightly less roll-heavy.

Personally, as I said, dice give the illusion of agency, and when running it, I myself would not hesitate to let players roll plenty of times to try various things. You want them to feel like there might be a chance. And you want, when bad things happen, to allow them to blame the dice instead of you.

 

[aramis erak]

So, were the other editions less about rolling dice?

Not in my experience. It's always about the chance of absurd failures... which dice nicely provide at all the most amusing moments....

 

[Hand of Evil]

What I always found fun was relating it to my job, I was Help Desk and Data Processing at the time and we had sayings we used in the Data Center.

• PINIC - Problem In Chair, Not In Computer. Would get calls asking why systems were unavailable and provide the answers to the caller, after working with them, you would find out it was on their end.
• You run what you brung (spelling is correct in this case), meaning programmers were accountable for the code they provided. There are good and there are bad programmers but once they did their part, they walked away from their code.
• No food or liquid in the Data Center.
• Disaster Recovery Test is performed at least once a year. A true test would be where the primary contact for a system was considered dead and the secondary would have to have to travel to the backup site and have the system up and active within 24 hours based on the recovery documentation. You can see this could be great for Paranoia.
• Fire Suppression and alarm test performed twice a year. Our Data Center was small, 3000 Square Feet but during the test, temp went from 60 degrees to 115 in twenty minutes. It was best to have it done before a disaster is created, systems would start failing between 15 and 120.

Great fun. Now I am going to have to look into running a game.

 

[Wolfram stout]

My record as the Computer: 24 dead clones in under an hour. We were playing 1st edition adventure Clones in Space. All the clones are activated and sent to outerspace. One player herded his clones into the airlock and then hit the blinking read button (opening the outer door). The others tried to wield a piece of metal over a small crack with a plasma gun (blowing out the side of the ship). Sad thing on that was that I told them that the crack was not losing enough air to be a concern.

One of my very few TPKs, and I got no blame whatsoever from the players.

 

[the Jester]

Paranoia rules. I have run or played it since its first edition, and it has always been amazing... for those who have a sense of humor.