It has been 20 years since Paranoia first debuted in 1984. It may have been one of the first truly unique role playing games in that players did not strive for gold, desire to slay orcs or work to co-operate with one another. Instead, this dark comedy centered around the idea of turning on each other and getting out of a room without being killed more than once. The best treasure was seeing your friends’ faces when you finally delivered the last stroke in your finely detailed Machiavellian plan.
In 2004 we are graced with the return of Paranoia XP, which is best be described as a return to the original theme of the 1984 game. The concept put forth by Daniel Seth Gelber, Greg Costikyan and Eric Goldberg is that of a deranged but well-meaning computer that runs a future gone mad. Imagine a world inspired by George Orwell’s 1984, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, Robert Anton Wilson’s Illuminatus Trilogy, Clockwork Orange, Brazil, and The Prisoner. This hardly begins to even do the game justice but may at least give the reader an idea of what they are getting into when they pick up this rule book.
At the outset I will confess that whereas I have no relationship with Mongoose or the creators of the game, my fondness of the game goes back 20 years. I own just about every product that was ever put out for it and when I heard it was being re-released, I anxiously awaited it. I will also confess at the outset that in my excitement to do this review, I contacted Greg Costikyan and Eric Goldberg (two of original creators of the game) to ask them a few things that would be of interest to fans of Paranoia. They were great help and really shed light into some of the questions about the future of the game.
A wonderful aspect about Paranoia XP is its creation had much fan input from people at Paranoia-Live.net and the designer’s site costik.com/paranoia. This shows that Mongoose wanted input from dedicated followers of the game. The input from Costikyan and Goldberg really made me think that the game was headed in the right direction.
I admit that I was very suspicious about Paranoia XP at first. When I heard that Paranoia was being released at GenCon I was nervous. I remember quite fondly the Paranoia of 1984. I remember unfondly what the Paranoia franchise eventually turned into by the mid-1990s. To say the game had gotten away from its roots would be something of an understatement. This was a game that I really loved and hoped that it would be something great. My suspicions disappeared when Costikyan told me about the license agreement. He said, “one of our requirements was that any publisher grants us right of approval on all Paranoia products, as well as right of approval over the person to write the new version of the game.” Costikyan went on to say, “Paranoia XP is largely the result of Allen (Varney’s)” who also had a major writing role in the original. At this point I felt really good about what I was getting into.
Now, with the slight history lesson aside, I will get into the specifics of the game and why you should or should not add it to your collection.
Background
For those people unfamiliar with the game, I can give a little bit of background. The characters play ‘Troubleshooters,’ agents of The Computer (a powerful entity that runs the world, or Alpha Complex). The Troubleshooters are given assignments that they cannot possibly complete. Accusations of treason, mutants and subversive secret societies are everywhere and to make matters more complicated, just about every character is a traitor, a mutant and a member of a subversive secret society. The Alpha Complex is a vast underground city (or a collection of cities or a continent or the whole world) where the characters must survive against every kind of threat imaginable, including each other.
The society of the Alpha Complex has a strict pecking order. There exist vast numbers of Infrared citizens (all in black). Above them are Red citizens. Above them are Orange citizens. And so on, all the way up to Ultraviolet (following the ROY G BIV scale). Above all of them is the aforementioned Computer. Each of these groups are petty, class warfare oriented madmen, further complicating matters for PCs who are already plotting against one another.
The good news (or bad news, depending on your point of view) is that life is so cheap that each character begins creation with himself and 5 clones. When one dies, the next clone replaces him, and jumps right into the action, ready to pick up where his ‘brother’ left off.
Typical Game
There really is no ‘typical game’ in Paranoia. Instead it is a series of dark jokes where the characters are constantly caught between two equally bad situations. For instance, a superior may order the characters to escort a series of rude robots to a repair center, only to be turned away at the door by a nasty citizen of higher level who instead gives them a new assignment (such as picking up his lunch). In the meantime, the Game Master has told each player of some secret missions or secret assignments that involve something counter to the original assignment such as ‘Your secret society has ordered you to destroy the robots’ or ‘Another member of your group is targeting you for assassination. We think it is the guy on your left. It might be the guy on your right’ or ‘Our contact will mention something about getting his lunch. Its probably code for something. Try and figure it out.’ Regardless, the real fun of Paranoia XP is the fact that you never know what is going to happen and it can be some of the best improvisation and dark humor you can find in a game. Naturally, this depends on the skills and abilities of the rest of the group. Anyone playing this expecting epic role playing, treasure gathering or community story building may be left somewhat longing.
Playability
The rules, no matter which version Paranoia XP played, are easy and every. The original point of the authors was always, presumably, ‘why spend a lot of time coming up with complicated rules when the characters usually end up dead, anyway?’ This is not to say that the game mechanics are outlandish or insultingly simple, but rather they work perfectly for what the game is supposed to be.
For instance, in order to hit, the player has to roll underneath a number on a d20. In order to do damage, the player consults the weapon they are using, determine what level of damage it does based upon a chart that has all the damage listings, compare that with the kind of armor (if any) that the victim has, and then determine what level of wound the character takes (anything from Wounded to Vaporized).
Skill checks are similar. Do you have the skill? Great. Roll under it. Depending on how much you get under your skill level on the roll of a d20 determines how successful you are. Naturally there are modifiers, depending on the situation, but it remains fairly simple.
Most mutant powers (players each get one) act like weapons assist skills or have some other positive effect on the character’s actions. But, being found out that you possesses a mutant power is usually punishable by execution (and the other people in the group will usually be more than willing to carry out the sentence).
The system is really easy to learn and takes a backseat for players who really want to have fun, go wild and have an evening full of excitement and dirty tricks on each other.
Differences
Veterans of Paranoia may be wondering what the differences are between the original system and Paranoia XP. Wondering why they should go out and spend money on a new game when they could simply dust off their old copies is certainly a legitimate question. I will do my best to create a good argument for buying Paranoia XP.
First, whereas it is the same game in essence, there are some differences. One of the major changes is the fact that the creators show three different styles of play and do a good job of demonstrating how each style can be instituted. There is the Classic version that anyone familiar with Paranoia knows and loves. Then there is the Straight game which comes off as more of a serious game with elements of dark humor thrown in. It is suited for those people who have it in their head that campaign style is what they have to do. Finally, there is the Zap style which comes off as more of a Warner Brothers/Hanna Barbera cartoon, with gags and violent jokes every 5 minutes. Sheer chaos pound per pound. Tex Avery would approve.
Second, there is the addition of something, appropriately enough, called ‘Perversity Points.’ These are handed out at character generation and players can get them throughout the game. The characters start with about 20-25 of them and can acquire them for being particularly entertaining. The way they are used is fairly simple, too: use them to boost your attacks, boost your skill checks, change your die rolls, LOWER the success of your friends/opponents, etc.
Third, there has been more detail placed in this book than in previous editions. For better or for worse, Paranoia XP explains lots of things that players and GMs alike may have always questioned. How does the clone system work? What is an average day like? What does the Computer think of . . . ? How does the whole place operate? In past versions it was always left up to . . . well, it was best just not to ask these questions. In the Paranoia XP, at least the description and background information is there. The GM – as always can use it or not use it.
Corruption
Yes, this game is corrupt. Thoroughly corrupt. Organized Crime corrupt, and the GM is the Godfather. This may come as a great shock to players not used to Paranoia but the rules actively encourage the GM to fudge dice rolls, make random rolls behind the screen and make some arbitrary decision or have one of the clones vaporized for the player asking too many questions. Rather than seeming sleazy or unfair, it comes off as feeling ‘just right.’ It helps pull off that important element of humorous and arbitrary doom and gloom that the game is known for.
Overall
This is a great game and should be on every GM’s shelf. Even if you think your players may be too ‘thin skinned’ to involve themselves in such a dirty, low down game, it provides great and humorous reading material, as well as offer up some interesting – albeit unorthodox – ways of dealing with unruly players. The well written humor in it alone is well worth the price on the cover ($39.95 – 254 pages).
It is a great game to play in an evening for a change of pace from your usual fantasy, supers or horror campaign. It would be something players in most groups could appreciate on one level or another. Naturally, what is most essential to the game is a group of players with a sense of humor as well as a GM who is quick on their feet and can deliver one liners with great frequency.
Naturally, there are some people that will be turned off by the lack of treasure, the breakdown of competition, and the ruthless and shameless killing of each other. Also, there is usually a lack of role playing with more of an emphasis on Machiavellian trickery and chicanery. This is not meant to be a criticism, but more of a warning – people without a sense of humor or people who can’t laugh at themselves will most likely react poorly to Paranoia. But for as fun as the game is, I have one suggestion: screw ‘em. It’s a great game.
While not really a hesitation, but more of a hope, when Paranoia went out of print with West End Games, it ended on kind of a sad note. They had allowed it to get closer and closer to an actual campaign style role playing game and the great products they had originally put out had not been up to that level. Such great classics as Acute Paranoia, Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues, Send in the Clones and Orcbusters really set the standard for the mood. Hopefully, Mongoose can put out a few products for it (while still retaining the integrity of the game) that allows those of us who remember Paranoia fondly to associate ‘Mongoose’ with ‘the guys who made Paranoia great again.’ After hearing from Costikyan, I am confident that the original writers will be overseeing the integrity of the product.
I offer this game a very strong 5 out of 5 but then again The Computer knows what I am writing and fear for my life if the greatness is not extolled properly.
