Huge Massive "Getting Started" Post

[Tankdriver]

I just got my copies of Paranoia, Sector Zero and the Little Red Book today and I am anxious to get in on the fun. Because Fun is mandatory.

Here is a list of questions:

1. How do I explain the game to my usual group of players when their native tongue is German?

2. Which style do you play, Zap, Classic, Straight?

3. What can I expect from the first game?

4. What tips can you give for designing new adventures?

Thanks.

 

[Tankdriver]

Did I ask too many questions?

 

[Allen Varney]

Patience, citizen. It is untoward, verging on a threat to good order, to expect a response within seven hours, especialy when those seven hours coincide with the sleeping hours of the relevant authorities.

1. How to explain PARANOIA to native German speakers? Hmmm. My own knowledge of German science fiction stops at Perry Rhodan, which is perhaps not an ideal analog. But really, PARANOIA's setting, the underground city of the future, is a common trope; and the fear of backstabbing and betrayal is undoubtedly universal.

2. The three play styles presented in the book are intended as guidelines, samples from which each Gamemaster picks and chooses to evolve his own unique individual style.

3. For the first session or two, expect your players to blow off a lot of steam killing each other's character pretty much at random. The usual first experience for any new PARANOIA group is, "We ran out of clones before we even got out of [R&D/the briefing/our bunks]."

4. For designing new misisons, your best tool is the Gamemaster Screen, which includes in its 32-page insert booklet a handy "mission blender" that lets you generate tons of new missions with the roll of a mere 60 or 80 20-sided dice. The GM Screen is currently out of print, I understand, but you may well still be able to find a copy at your friendly local game store.

 

[Tankdriver]

Thank you.