I have a handful of games that I don't want to outright review, but would like to talk about briefly.
Because I'm away for the next few weeks, with family
commitments and then GenCon, I'm going to stretch this out slightly, then we'll
return to usual programming.
Why not start with something right
at the front of my brain...
Paranoia!
The only edition I've played is second edition (or maybe
first, I'm not sure, it didn't really matter), but my research pointed me to
either the current Perfect Edition published by Mongoose, or the fan
favourite XP Edition. The former was praised for having solid mechanics,
the latter with having the best flavour.
So I've hacked it into a Frankenstein thing mostly based on
a streamlined Perfect Edition, but drawing in some of the more flavourful bits
from XP.
Yes, I'm hacking the system before running it from the book,
I'm a terrible person.
In summary here are the main tweaks to Perfect Edition:
- Cut
the character creation system and make PreGens, ensuring that
everybody gets nice conflicting interests.
- Successes
explode, so there's always a chance, however slim, of succeeding at a
task you roll for. If you want it to be impossible then don't bother
rolling at all.
- Anti-Dice
are d6s of a different colour. Each anti-die of 5 or 6 is an
anti-success and explodes just like a normal success. Anti-successes
cancel normal successes or provide other negative consequences. When
rolling with a negative dice total, roll the Computer Dice plus anti-dice
equal to your negative score.
- Moxie
is reframed as XP and is used as a favour currency, not for outright
modifying dice rolls. Scrap the way XP is used in the main book, and just
have it as a social currency.
- Scrap
Initiative, it's more fiddly than what I want in here. If it matters
then do a simple roll off.
- Mutant
Powers: Just describe how you’re using/hiding it, roll d6: 1:
fizzle, 2-5: as intended, 6: overkill. If sneakiness in in doubt have
everybody make Bluff or Stealth rolls as appropriate and check the
Mutant's result.
- R&D
Prototypes: Generally just do their thing. The fun is in working out
how they work. If in doubt, resolve as Mutant Power.
- Characters
can Assist/Interfere on a roll if in a position to do so. Before the
roll, add a die or an anti-die respectively. Assistants suffer
consequences if the roll fails. Interferers suffer consequences if it
succeeds.
- Debrief
Star Rating: At the end of the mission the computer takes a moment to
assess your success. Count how many of the following were successful:
- Complete
the Troubleshooter Task
- Perform
Mandatory Bonus Duty properly
- Test
the R&D Prototype
- Carry
out Service Mandate
- Complete
Secret Society Mission
- Earn
1XP per star, winner gets double and has officially won the mission. A
tie means there is no Winner except Alpha Complex as a whole.
- Fair
Game, Unfair World. The book has lots of examples of the GM acting
unfairly to the players, which I appreciate is a touchstone of a certain
style of play in this game. I'd prefer it if the game felt fair, but the world was
deeply unfair. Conflict between the players is what excites me about this
game, so I want the GM to feel completely impartial.
So what about that setting?
I'm mainly using Paranoia XP as my
source for setting stuff, but most stuff from Perfect Edition also
works here.
The major changes from XP:
- The
book offers three "tones" for your game, and Straight certainly
appeals to me most. Lots of dark satire, of course, but ditch the puns and
groanworthy gags. A joke made by the people at the table will always be
more effective than one written into the game.
- Economy
is back to being fully controlled by the Computer, not the
semi-capitalism of XP. Getting stuff is mainly about convincing PLC to
give you a req form for the thing you need. Better clearance helps here.
Free Enterprise will trade req forms for XP, flags, wounds, clones,
whatever.
- Service
Firms within the Service Groups actually represent different
departments, rather than for-profit entities. Of course, they still want
to grab whatever resources and influence they can from their rivals.
- Coretech
is there, so the Computer can technically log into your brain, but the
bandwidth is super low so the Computer prefers traditional methods like
cameras and monitors. It's mainly there so you can pass your memories to
your clones.
- Talking
to Computer can be done through Coretech Messenger but you can see the
person’s mouth moving and the computer is all round slow and old. This is
represented by passing notes to the GM.
- Secret
Societies are as in XP, though I want to note that I largely agree
with the way they were tweaked for Perfect Edition, merging those that
felt too similar and removing some of the less interesting picks. However I
also like the idea of secret societies that are strangely aligned with
points of shared interest that still choose to remain distinct, so I'm
approaching it as an opportunity for tension.
Wish me luck when I get this to the table.
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Wow, they added initiative, 1e's (v thematic) version was: "it all happens simultaneously, chaos reigns".
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