setting+clones question

[jim]

one question: when a clone is activated,he remembers his killer.So,that gives him the right to kill the killer of his former clone.i know thats not fair play and so forth,but how can i explain that to my players?give me a plausible setting reason if you can.Thanks in advance.

Also,about the setting,how does each of you describe it?I go for industrial settings at most,like H.R.Giger(if you havent heard of him,search it asap),with metalic clearance colors,plus the oddities of giant screens...also,I make the appearance of each clearance area different by adding comfort and so forth...I have also found the convenience to use all silver colorous "available by all clearances",because it helps with Infrared situations,like :
If the roads are infrared,and the transits are also infrared,its quite confusing to use them,so forth...

another subject to beginners:
many people I've met,continue to use the approach of team games,even those who have played vampire a lot.Their modus operandi is the following: stick together,kill any random loser,frame him up,and by having a full 6 member team exposing more than 20 traitors per mission their clearance is improving.
If this is the case with your players,consider the following:
a)make it impossible to frame clearance green and higher,because the Computer monitoring systems actually work at this particular moment,or a UV sees them,or they're undercover IntSec,so forth.Of course never be predictable and let them get away with it sometimes,but then THE COMPUTER only gives them commendations,credit bonuses and so forth(even though the victims have commited ultra treasonous acts)-once my team framed a Violet and his two green goons of commiting vampirism on a UV(it was so funny i just couldnt let them fail).Make clear to them that the real key to power is murdering one another and framing them.Another good oportunity is secret societies.Although kill Dave-R 1 through Dave-R 5 gets old fast,there are possibilities...Once each player starts giving away their fellows in the debriefing,things will get paranoid,quickly.Hope this was of help.

 

[Allen Varney]

Hi Jim! Your advice to new GMs is well taken -- thanks!

Every Gamemaster describes Alpha Complex differently. For some it looks like Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS; for others it's a gigantic underground Social Security office, humdrum bureaucratic dullness. Then there's the looks of THX-1138 and THE PRISONER and LOGAN'S RUN and DARK CITY and EQUILIBRIUM. All of them make good mental backdrops for what is, above all, a mental game.

About the clone-killing question: It may work best for you to declare that a new clone doesn't have memories of the minute or two prior to his most recent termination. Or 15 minutes. Or a day and a half. In decreeing how much the new clone remembers, I recommend being inconsistent and cavalier, just like irresponsible yet lovable Famous Game Designers.

 

[jim]

It is strange how human minds work...I just thought that idea about 15 minutes after posting!
I know each GM describes his Alpha Complex differently,I just want to hear other peoples' opinions!

 

[saulres]

When I'm teaching new players the game, I teach PARANOIA etiquette. Part of that is something like the following:

"If your prior clone is killed by another player, you can't just come in and kill the killer. It's not done. You know what they did, but you have no proof. Plus, they killed your previous clone, not you. So if you just came in and shot them, saying 'You killed my previous clone', everyone else could kill you, The Computer could kill you, and I will kill you.

HOWEVER. Having said that, revenge is a dish best served cold. Set them up somehow. Kill them indirectly. That's perfectly in the PARANOIA spirit, and that kind of revenge I smile upon."

 

[jim]

Yes,but that is just good etiquete.It is not plausible in the game,because you CAN accuse people of treason because you saw them.Say,for example that a player killed you using his outrageously blatant and obvious mutation.Then you have proof enough for TheComputer,and he has to play it right (commie mutant traitors messing with my mind Friend Computer ) or else he is toast.This is a good way to keep players from killing each other randomly,and thus not entertaining.Its more in the spirit to plot and so forth...

On the other hand,making them not to remember who killed them,is a bit better,so it can come up in the debriefing(monitored by cameras and stuff )

 

[saulres]

You can also accuse people of treason even if you didn't see it. But falsely accusing a citizen of treason is treason. You have to supply proof, otherwise you're accusing incorrectly. "But I saw it with my own eyes!" is not sufficient proof for The Computer. And when someone tries using that on me, well, I teach them that running to The Computer with every little suspicion is not a good idea...

 

[jim]

What exactly is a "reactor shielding"?

 

[Eric Zawadzki]

As I understand it, reactors leak radiation. Reactor shielding blocks/absorbs that radiation to prevent it from affecting the area near the reactor. Troubleshooters don't make the most effective reactor shielding, but they block and absorb some. They can't perform this duty for long before dying of radiation sickness, so "being used as reactor shielding" is a death sentence with the implication that your horrible death will still serve Alpha Complex in some small way. Why waste energy on execution lasers when you can use the traitor to absorb radiation and execute him at the same time?

 

[Allen Varney]

Check out Andy Fitzpatrick's Classic piece "Random Access Mission" in the PARANOIA XP mission collection Crash Priority for an onscreen demonstration of reactor shielding duty!