Monday, March 30, 2020

Paranoia RPG

Followup  to today's FB live video about the Paranoia RPG, players need a very dark sense of humor when playing this game. They also need to understand that they are at the mercy of Friend Computer and they are essentially cogs in a machine. It is fun to argue back to the Computer as long as you understand that the outcome will be that character's immediate termination for treason.  Anyone who takes the game too seriously is in for disappointment. That is why you have 5 additional clones. You are probably going to say something wrong, push the wrong button or go into the wrong place and get killed.

Of course, if you are the sort who thrives on creating chaos in the game,  you can do that and even get away with killing fellow player characters, because almost any action can be justified as "treason". Of course, do it to much and your fellow players will probably kill you off, because almost any action can be justified as "treason".

Every player belongs to a secret society and has a mutant power, both of which are treasonous so revealing them is grounds for termination. Generally, players have secret objectives to complete during their missions. Successfully completing those missions, since the purpose of them is generally to undermine the stability and direction of Friend Computer, is treason.

Successfully serving Friend Computer, AND surviving the mission, will often raise your status up a grade and get you an additional clone but that is not the purpose of Paranoia. Moreso than any other game of which I know, with the possible exception of Toon, having laugh out loud fun during the game is the point. Do not play this game if you want to develop an intricate backstory for your character and have them surmount numerous challenges, growing their legend along the way. That won't happen in Paranoia. You will die, laughing.

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