Paranoia XP- Experiences?

[SWBaxter]

my bad, I've never actually seen first edition so I had that impressive by hearing other people talk about it

In first edition, Paranoia was still trying to work out what style and atmosphere it wanted. The sample adventure leans more towards the darkly satiric than the zany, IMHO, but the mutant powers and secret societies are clearly played for laughs. It was the adventures and Acute Paranoia that really set the early wild-and-crazy tone.

What do you think of Paranoia XP? Have you run it? What should I (not) do?

Rules-wise, it's great - nice and fast. For setting, I kinda prefer a mix of the classic zany style with a heavy dash of the more serious dark satire to boot, but it's got good stuff for a wide variety of different styles. Most important thing on the "do not" list, IMHO: do not make the game adversarial; chances are, the players will do enough of that on their own. Presenting life as wildly unfair is fine, but it should be relatively impersonal - the world (personified by the GM) isn't specifically out to get them, it's out to get everybody and they just happen to be in the line of fire.

And for a do: I just got back from my FLGS where they had "Flashbacks", a hardcover with a bunch of classic old adventures updated to Paranoia XP. I don't think you can go wrong by picking it up and reading through those. Particularly "The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues", which was one of the early adventures that really shaped the Paranoia style.

 

[the Jester]

And for a do: I just got back from my FLGS where they had "Flashbacks", a hardcover with a bunch of classic old adventures updated to Paranoia XP. I don't think you can go wrong by picking it up and reading through those. Particularly "The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues", which was one of the early adventures that really shaped the Paranoia style.

Do they update Me and My Shadow Mark IV?

 

[Crothian]

And for a do: I just got back from my FLGS where they had "Flashbacks", a hardcover with a bunch of classic old adventures updated to Paranoia XP.

I haven't got this one yet, it is on my radar though. Crash Priority which has new adventures I found them to be very fun. They have a wide variety in there so it presents the many different styles well.

 

[SWBaxter]

Do they update Me and My Shadow Mark IV?

Yup. Apparently that's the most popular Paranoia adventure ever published. The others are:

Vapors Don't Shoot Back
The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues
Send in the Clones
Alpha Complexities
The three mini-missions from the GM's screen, Robot Imana-665-C, Trouble With Cockroaches, Das Bot
Three of the "Code 7" adventures from Acute Paranoia, An ARD Day's Night, Reboot Camp, Whitewash

Of the other classic adventures, Orcbusters, Clones in Space, HIL Sector Blues, and The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure are all slated for future supplements. Just about everything post-TPGRA "ranges from ho-hum to bad to spectacularly terrible" in the designer's judgement, and isn't slated for re-release.

 

[Macbeth]

Just about everything post-TPGRA "ranges from ho-hum to bad to spectacularly terrible" in the designer's judgement, and isn't slated for re-release.

What is post-TPGRA, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Crothian]

What is post-TPGRA, if you don't mind me asking?

WEG 12010: The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure 1989
Ed Bolme writes one of the most beloved Paranoia supplements, TPGRA. Not only does it continue the Secret Society Wars, it teaches everyone how to roleplay Commies. It's a classic.

 

[GravyFingerz]

The new Paranoia XP is awesome, and the few sessions I've run of it with my group have been groin grabbingly hilarious!

I believe best thing to do is to place a heavy emphasis on note passing and backstabbing. In my games, I stated that whomever's note seemed the most urgant had priority over other notes. Passing a note is the only way to do some action in secret. I've found that being a Paranoia GM is the best because you can see the mayham and chaos that will play out, and that you know everything that is going on. It was easily the most fun experience I've ever had as a GM.

 

[Crothian]

I believe best thing to do is to place a heavy emphasis on note passing and backstabbing. In my games, I stated that whomever's note seemed the most urgant had priority over other notes. Passing a note is the only way to do some action in secret. I've found that being a Paranoia GM is the best because you can see the mayham and chaos that will play out, and that you know everything that is going on. It was easily the most fun experience I've ever had as a GM.

With players who get into it, I've just set aside my notes and let them at each other. Accusations fly, they get each other in trouble, they play "hot potatoe" with blame....it seems the best sessions I've had were the ones I just sat back and let them go. And then I push them along to the next scene when needed, but lots of times I just watch.