Trust THE COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER is your friend.

[Hella_Tellah]

My semester-long game of Victorian monster hunters is drawing to a close, and I'm going to run a few one-shots of various light-hearted games until my players leave for Christmas. And I think I want to start with Paranoia.

Tell me of your experiences with Paranoia! Advise me on how best to execute my treasonous players!

 

[Crothian]

You are not cleared for that clearance level. Please report to the nearest confesion booth.

Just get the players to not trust each other and give them some meaninless goal to work towards and some experimental equipment. There are many free adventures out there on the net, its hard to go wrong with them.

 

[Cadfan]

In my opinion, Paranoia works best when its a one shot adventure. After all, the pcs are disposable clones, right? Might as well kill off as many as you can in one session.

Just facilitate as much motivation and opportunity for backstabbing as you can. The PCs will create their own adventure, given enough time and opportunity. And lasers and nuclear grenades and secret objectives.

 

[Slander]

There's nothing like a good Paranoia Zap game! Best thing to remember in my opinion ... $#!% always rolls downhill in Paranoia. And since players generally start out at the bottom of the hill, there's always some fun to be had.

Start off the game with the mission having already failed ... i.e. the McGuffin is already lost, the important trial has already proven to be a failure. But the PCs don't know that and it's their turn to take over. The previous shift makes a hasty retreat once the PCs arrive, the PCs just have to figure out how to survive scrutiny long enough to (hopefully) pass the buck onto someone else (the next shift, perhaps). Require progress reports, live trials, fields tests etc. and watch the PCs squirm.

Oh, and be sure at least one or two of the PCs have a secret background with a vested interest in the project failing. It's not Paranoia if everyone is working together.

 

[Hypersmurf]

And now I want to play in a Paranoia/Victorian Monster Hunters crossover game!

-Hyp.

 

[Hella_Tellah]

And now I want to play in a Paranoia/Victorian Monster Hunters crossover game!

-Hyp.

Sir,

We regret to inform you that such a game is classified "Blue", and it is our solemn duty to remind you that, as yet, your security clearance rates only "Red". Be advised that requests beyond one's security clearance are to be considered treasonous. We trust decorum shall dictate your immediate removal to a re-education facility.

Regards,

Admiral Sir THE COMPUTER, KCMG FRGS

 

[Thasmodious]

Love Paranoia, but haven't played it years. My gang was spoiled by having the guy in our high school group who was the worst DM turn out to be the most amazing Paranoia GM, and despite a few attempts, it never worked trying to play without him. Among the most fun in the game was the secret GM meetings with your treasonous groups who gave you suicidal side missions to complete while working on the computer sanctioned ones and the GMs devilishly clever R&D inventions that we had to field test, personal hygeine robots, happiness analysis kits that analyzed a character and administered pills and injections as it determined necessary to adjust attitude back to the proper state, things like that.

The real trick with our GM was just the glee with which he portrayed the Computer, it was spot on. I would advise just going for it, whole hog, as we say in the South. It's refreshing to tear into each other instead of playing the cooperation game.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I ran a semi-LARP Paranoia game at Gatorcon and it was pretty fun. We invaded a couple of the other games as well as the neighboring teachers convention.

I also played in a full-on LARP Paranoia game at Origins one year. There were probably too many people in the thing, but it was late at night so everyone was slap happy so it worked well. My favorite part was when a lowly Yellow asked to borrow my pen (I was a Blue) and I told him he couldn't borrow it until he filled out the Pen Borrowing Aquisition Form which I made up on the spot and handed him (but of course without giving him the pen).

My favorite PnP Paranoia moments as a GM were as follows.

1. In one game I made EVERY player a Frankenstein Destroyer. One guy wanted to play a warbot so I let him. Everyone had a secret society mission to kill the warbot, not knowing he was indestructable. Even the warbot.

2. I featured a morning exercise routine where everyone lined up and did jumping jacks. The person at the back of the line ended up standing on the Express-Treadbot rails. A great session of hot-potato don't get sent to the back of the line commenced.

dS

 

[Piratecat]

Paranoia is one of my favorite game systems ever!

Attached are two Paranoia RPGA adventures I wrote waaay back in the '90s. The email address on them is wrong, and please don't repost them elsewhere without permission, but feel free to use them. Every time a clone gets killed, ANN-G-ELL-1 gets her wings.

 

[the Jester]

Most of the pcs should have secret missions to kill one or more other pcs, cause the mission to fail, sabotage some piece of equipment, etc.

If you have access to Acute Paranoia or the later editions that include it, you should definitely use the MBDDT on your players to assign various roles (Hygiene Officer, Equipment Guy, Happiness Officer, etc). And to maybe take out a clone or two before they even leave the briefing room.

Remember, that which makes you laugh, ought to happen in Paranoia. Kill 'em all.