It's Paranoia, but not as we know it ...

[Gentleman John]

Alright, I know that Brave New Complex has now started the long road through Development Hell, but it has set me thinking: what alternate backgrounds are appropriate to be used with Paranoia?

Eliminating the blindingly obvious (THX 1138, We and 1984 are all far too obvious), does anyone have any ideas? I'm not talking about anything too original. After all, if you quote your sources it's research or homage - not plagiarism :wink:

To set the ball rolling, I have a couple of suggestions taken from reasonably popular culture.

1) Based upon the 2000AD Rogue Trooper comic strip. The players are cloned soldiers fighting against an enemy. The soldiers are indoctrinated by propaganda to be loyal to their command and ruthless to their designated enemy. Equipped with strange, experimental weaponry that only they can handle, in the event of their death the soldiers' memories and personalities are downloaded into new bodies so they can fight again.

2) Based upon the Earthsearch radio series and novels. The players are crew on a generation ship that has suffered a disaster wiping out most of the original crew. The new crew have been brought up by the ship's onboard systems and believe everything they are told by it.

3) Based on John Varley's Eight Worlds series of books. The players are ordinary citizens in extraterrestrial arcologies that have been set up following the annexing of Earth by a mysterious alien race. Biological modifications are commonplace, along with downloading and altering of memories. Most arcologies are managed by benign AIs that genuinely have the interests of their citizens at heart.

These keep some of the aspects of Paranoia, but do not divert too much from the core premises behind the rules.

 

[The Greek]

Good grief. If you add in for the Rogue Trooper the spies, traitors and the chance of your own side shooting you in the back then this seems more and more like Paranoia...

(With Fort Nuro (or whatever) and its particular lunacy it comes even closer).

Even the Norts seemed to be thinly disguised commies early in the strip.

Maybe there is a Paranoia game smewhere in this...

 

[lastbesthope]

You missed the blindingly obvious Brasil.

:lol:

LBH

 

[Tankdriver]

Brave New Complex?

 

[lastbesthope]

Brave New Complex?

Indeed, I second the question.

LBH

 

[Allen Varney]

Brave New Complex is a (presumably) forthcoming PARANOIA campaign supplement, written but not yet scheduled, that describes a variety of alternate settings for the game.

Some of these settings are variants of the basic Alpha Complex setting, with minor changes that explore new kinds of fear and ignorance. For example, in the default Alpha Complex setting, robots are rather clunky mechanical affairs. In "Simulacra," one of the variant Alpha Complexes described in BNC, robotics has advanced so far that there are humanoid androids indistinguishable from real humans. (This was one of Philip K. Dick's favorite themes.) In another variant, the First Church of Christ Computer-Programmer has taken over, and The Computer is now openly worshipped as a god. And so on.

BNC also includes a farther-out bunch of variant settings that translate the game's fundamental concepts (secret societies, mutations, cloning, etc.) to other genres, such as Tolkien-style fantasy, Star Trek-style space opera, and even historical settings. PaulB has written a great version set in the Avignon Papacy of medieval France, and there's one in the Ottoman Empire that you won't believe.

Brave New Complex exists in manuscript, but I haven't laid it out yet and in fact haven't even sent the illustration order to Jim Holloway. It isn't on the schedule yet. I don't know when it will be. One of these days....

 

[Gentleman John]

You missed the blindingly obvious Brasil.

:lol:

Another possibility. It has the overbearing bureaucracy, the ubiquitous surveillance and the constant threat of terrorism from unknown sources. It also has that annoying tune, which I really must get a hold of for my next Paranoia game. It's either that or I inflict my collection of "Fly Me To The Moon" on the players.

Still, any other ideas to keep us going?

 

[Tankdriver]

Brave New Complex is a (presumably) forthcoming PARANOIA campaign supplement, written but not yet scheduled, that describes a variety of alternate settings for the game.

Some of these settings are variants of the basic Alpha Complex setting, with minor changes that explore new kinds of fear and ignorance. For example, in the default Alpha Complex setting, robots are rather clunky mechanical affairs. In "Simulacra," one of the variant Alpha Complexes described in BNC, robotics has advanced so far that there are humanoid androids indistinguishable from real humans. (This was one of Philip K. Dick's favorite themes.) In another variant, the First Church of Christ Computer-Programmer has taken over, and The Computer is now openly worshipped as a god. And so on.

BNC also includes a farther-out bunch of variant settings that translate the game's fundamental concepts (secret societies, mutations, cloning, etc.) to other genres, such as Tolkien-style fantasy, Star Trek-style space opera, and even historical settings. PaulB has written a great version set in the Avignon Papacy of medieval France, and there's one in the Ottoman Empire that you won't believe.

Brave New Complex exists in manuscript, but I haven't laid it out yet and in fact haven't even sent the illustration order to Jim Holloway. It isn't on the schedule yet. I don't know when it will be. One of these days....

THIS MUST BE DONE!!!! How can I help?

 

[Elrick]

Blackadder in the far future (seen briefly in Blackadders Christmas Carol).

Either version - the one with Blackadder as the Lord High Admiral, or the one with Baldrick as the Lord High Admiral...

 

[Allandaros]

One conversion for Paranoia which I've yearned to do was a Warhammer 40,000 riff. Dark Heresy, but playing up the self-defeating, ridiculous, and comitragic nature of the Imperium. Bureaucracy, stifled innovation, and utter paranoia over the nature of the universe...it fits pretty darn well.