You Can't Take It With You

[Travire]

I seem to have hit upon a small problem with my players, who after years of D&D brainwashing have begun the annoying tactic of "I'll search his body". This brings up two equipment-related questions which I've been puzzling over, and I hope someone might be able to help with.

Firstly how can I stop players searching the bodies of dead clones in order to collect all those lovely items ? Although assigned equipment would need to be accounted for, what about all the personal items they are carrying ? I've tried various destructive and original ways of disposing of these items but sometimes there is inevitably a body left to loot.

Secondly, I seem to remember in previous ( less perfect ) editions of Paranoia there were tables for rolling up treasonous personal equipment owned by troubleshooters. These would be obtained from secret societies or by other nefarious means. While the new edition of Paranoia has pre-generated characters with lots of interesting goodies included, if you make up a character from scratch personal equipment needs to be purchased from an IR Market or C-Bay.

Once a clone bites the dust presumably any assigned equipment is replaced at the generosity of the Computer. Personal equipment though would not be, especially if it was something treasonous. Are new clones therefore left having to buy new personal equipment or is there a table somewhere of random personal equipment the new clone can start with ? Not giving out any new personal equipment gives the prime clone a big advantage.

Any suggestions on these dilemmas would be appreciated.

 

[Allen Varney]

Dear me, did the dead NPC neglect to activate the personal RFID trackers hidden in his equipment? You know, the ones that tell his secret society where to find said equipment?

And all of his equipment with hidden microrecorders, the size of a dust speck, that catch everything said in their vicinity? Did all those recorders malfunction, so that at the next routine IntSec guardpost stop, the IntSec GREEN goons don't detect and download the recordings? Dear me -- that's a bad job in Tech Services, sounds like.

But on the bright side, this dead NPC was obviously so well-off, he had already paid off every installment payment of all his equipment; and so various PLC service firms aren't tracking the PCs (see RFID tag note above) and hounding them for payments due. This shows Alpha Complex is indeed the prosperous and happy place The Computer so fervently desires.

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Regarding the personal equipment of dead PCs, I suggest you have the PC's service firm and/or secret society offer a special insurance deal that automatically replaces the lost equipment as soon as the new clone is decanted from the Tech Services clone tanks -- or anyway, as soon as he can make it to his society's nearest drop point. The cost of insurance happens to equal the amount needed to keep the Troubleshooter from becoming unusually prosperous. Funny how it always works out that way. (It works a lot like that in real life, trust me.)

Perhaps it seems implausible that all this equipment would be all set for the newly-reborn PC to pick up. Whereas the idea that the character is cloned and has all his memories intact -- oh no, THAT makes perfect sense!

Remember, the whole cloning idea is a transparently bogus dodge to keep players in the game despite a high fatility rate. Concerns about replacement of equipment distract the Gamemaster from the paramount goal of creating tension and mistrust among players. Therefore, replacement of equipment is a bad-wrong-fun issue and must be ignored.

 

[Travire]

Thanks Allen !

I especially like the idea of insurance, now if there was an area of real life designed to cause paranoia that would be it ! Might play around with that idea and see if I can use it to make my troubleshooters lives any harder.

 

[Ray]

Another idea to make 'em against looting bodies is Licenced PlastiCreds.

Team Leader: "WOW! We got TEN THOUSAND Credits off that guy, A PIECE!"

*Ten Minutes Later*

Troubleshooter: "You mean that the only thing we can use these for are Infrared Happy-Happy Pills?"

Wantit-Gotit (PLC Service Firm) Clerk: "Well, most of 'em, ya. The rest are for Communist Propaganda in DOA Sector. Oh, and could you stay there? I've already alerted IntSec. Promotion, here I come!"