So sell me Paranoia...

C

Cailet

Mongoose
Well, it says it on the tin really. A local bookshop has 2 copies of Paranoia (wrapped looks like they may be the old GW version) for £25 each.

I have no RPG group but I'm starting to GM a few over the 'net (currently preparing a WFRP 1st Ed adventure) so it needs to be workable as an internet based game.

So will it work for me and why is it worth my limited amounts of cash?
 
I don't think it will work over the net, but I've never done any game over the net, so what do I know?

But Paranoia is a face to face game, you just have to be in a game with cutthroat players, to really enjoy it.

It might work over the net as a Straight game, I don't know. Hopefully, some entrepreneuring Paranoia player has done so. Gosh, I hope so!
 
I think it could be done over the net, but I'd have to agree that the fun seems geared towards being able to look your betrayer in the eye when you swear vengeance upon death.

Consider this though, you may find it hard to gather a regular gaming group, but Paranoia is excellent for those rare times when you can gather a group and want to run something fun that is good for a solid one-shot. In fact, some may say this is where Paranoia shines above many other games.

I will offer this final observation, even if I never run Paranoia I'll never regret picking up the books. Not only have I had more fun reading them, but they will go to greath lengths to remind even the most burnt out GM what it's like to run a game that is fun above all else.

The ideas in these books are worth the price.
 
I will offer this final observation, even if I never run Paranoia I'll never regret picking up the books. Not only have I had more fun reading them, but they will go to greath lengths to remind even the most burnt out GM what it's like to run a game that is fun above all else.

The ideas in these books are worth the price.
Click to expand...

How right you are (but you knew that).


Thanks for the link darth, have to check it out sometime, when I have some time (get it? somtime:some time? Ah, forget it).
 
It's http://www.paranoia-live.net. The Java-based JParanoia online client is available for free download there, and they run online games quite frequently. PARANOIA is unusually well suited to online play, because it's fare easier to pass secret communications to the Gamemaster.

As for whether PARANOIA is worth buying, I recommend to you the reviews listed in the sidebar on the PARANOIA development blog (http://www.costik.com/paranoia), and the Paranoia-Live.net forum thread "Is it all worth it?" (http://www.paranoia-live.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3172). We didn't manage to convince poor nerve-wracked Citizen867 the new edition was worth it, but perhaps you will feel less nervous.
 
Paranoia does work very well across the internet, giving it its own kind of flavour. Tabletop games are more hands on and you use body language for cues, whereas online games give you a little more thinking room as you type. Online games also gives you a much more diverse pool of players, which rounds out your GMing skills nicely. The JParanoia client here is free, and handles the private messaging/notepassing very well.

I would say face-to-face zapping is best, but if you don't have a gaming group available locally (like me, or even if you do) JParanoia is darn good.
 
I don't know if playing online is something I would care to do. I tried playing chess online once, I could have sworn I was playing against a computer, they all seemed unbeatable. So much time to think about a move in advance, I guess. I always gave it a little thought, and made the move, like I normally would playing a "live" game. No use sweating gallons of water over a game, like the pros do, eh? But allowing players to think and brood over their next move? That just doesn't seem like Paranoia to me. Unless it's a totally straight game I guess. I haven't tried playing the game "straight" yet, and I'm not sure I would like it. I have Aftermath RPG or The Morrrow Project, or even Gamma World, if I want to play it straight. Online, I just don't know. I guess the only way to know is to play, right?
 
dunderm said:
I don't know if playing online is something I would care to do. I tried playing chess online once, I could have sworn I was playing against a computer, they all seemed unbeatable. So much time to think about a move in advance, I guess. I always gave it a little thought, and made the move, like I normally would playing a "live" game. No use sweating gallons of water over a game, like the pros do, eh? But allowing players to think and brood over their next move? That just doesn't seem like Paranoia to me. Unless it's a totally straight game I guess. I haven't tried playing the game "straight" yet, and I'm not sure I would like it. I have Aftermath RPG or The Morrrow Project, or even Gamma World, if I want to play it straight. Online, I just don't know. I guess the only way to know is to play, right?
Click to expand...

If run right, and things were kept intense, it might play to a good GMs favor. All that brooding, and second guessing yourself plays well into the game if the player is paranoid that his action may not work in his favor.

I guess this might be helped by keeping things as near death as possible. Zap might be rather fun this way. You can really crank up the insanity to balance the slow pace of the game.
 
I guess this might be helped by keeping things as near death as possible. Zap might be rather fun this way. You can really crank up the insanity to balance the slow pace of the game.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. No matter what you do, you probably won't be able to save your own skin, right? That might just work, zap if they try to out think it, zap if they don't. But don't let on their "planning" can't do 'im much good. I should of realized that sooner. I'm just a little slow to get the picture, sometimes (most of the time).
 
JParanoia works out very well. Admittedly, you don't get to see the other players conniving, but it's a lot easier to pass notes to the GM.

And the bulk of the game takes place in a large chat window - it does NOT feel sterile and computerized at all. Or slow, either. There's no time to think and brood, because the GM is continually typing. Those who do nothing are assumed to be just standing there, doing nothing as Jim-R charges up the plasma generator and Timmy-O calls in the horde of scrubots...

I would actually advise not using JParanoia for Straight games, though, just becuase of the wonderfully goofy sound effects that are included. Campy screams for clone deaths, the "Gamesters of Triskestelon" music for combats...
 
Cailet said:
Well, it says it on the tin really. A local bookshop has 2 copies of Paranoia (wrapped looks like they may be the old GW version) for £25 each.

I have no RPG group but I'm starting to GM a few over the 'net (currently preparing a WFRP 1st Ed adventure) so it needs to be workable as an internet based game.

So will it work for me and why is it worth my limited amounts of cash?
Click to expand...

All i can say is PARANOIA the game where violance must happen once evey few seconds
 
Good stuff! It has been so long since I ran a Paranoia game so I wish you luck (it must be four years since I even played in a game...sigh, poxy 3.x overwhelming the local RPG interest...
 
Im running one online at the moment, its brilliant, the first full session the cryborg brefing officer went nuts and kneecapped a troubleshooter for being a commie, another troubleshooter moved to helpt he first and got his nads shot off for his trouble and bled to death, a third troubleshooter tried to break the second troubleshooters neck, in response the first troubleshooter threw a surgical knife accross the briefing room, striking the 3rd troubleshooter square in the left eye and killed him... In response the nutso briefing officer fired on the 1st troubleshooter, the laser pistol exploded and took the cyborgs hand off, who is currently bleeding to death....

That was 1 night....
 
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