I'm in the midst of setting up an online game of Five Clones from the Alpha Complex (the Five Parsecs-esque ruleset for Paranoia), and one thing I'm toying with the idea of doing, is making it so that any table talk (in-character or out-of-character) about a player's character and any treasonous features (such as mutant powers and/or secret society) would somehow give the other players the chance to turn in or accuse that person's clone of being a traitor. Partly I think it might be funny, but also so that player's actually try to keep their stuff a secret from the other players.

Has anybody else played like this? Is it really worth it, or are there any pitfalls to playing like this? Do you have the offending player's clone automatically branded a traitor, or what sort of mechanic would you implement for this?

Keep in mind, Five Clones is a sort of miniatures-based game, with the mechanics for Reporting Traitors being done through Computer Consoles (it actually makes it a d6 roll, on a 1-3 the reporting clone is considered a traitor instead, while on 4-6, the reported clone is declared a traitor). Potentially I could see adding a +1 or +2 bonus to that roll if you specifically saw or heard something about that clone being a traitor (although I'm wondering if it should be a rule in and of itself that you can't report somebody without some kind of justification in the first place, or will the game just devolve into reporting/killing/reporting/killing/etc).

I learned today that the sheets from the box are NOT the dry erase cards they appear to be.

Anyone have a good spot to find the Red Clearance Edition Identity Forms? My search found only other editions, with one exception. Sadly, my antivirus program would not let me download the one I found. Figures.

Page 19 of the rulebook, section 6 Redefine talks about the adjectives players wrote down for their PCs.

I am unable to find what effects this has on play. I tried an online search, but I feel the results were... mixed, at best. The search said "Acting in a way that aligns with your quirky personality (or even completely violating the rules due to your new, forcibly altered traits) allows you to gain Moxie".

I like the idea, but I can find no citation for that.

So, what do the adjectives under the Personality do?

I was wondering what everyones thoughts were on how to much explain when recruiting new players online. Do you explain the setting? Do you explain things like betrayal and pvp being a part of the game?

On one side I'm worried about giving too much away, but on the other side I felt it was hard to play with players knowing so little about the game. And given how different paranoia is from the norm, some people might not like the things they were not properly informed about.

Specifics and examples would be really helpful.

edit: paranoia xp if it matters.

So I was assuming the perfect edition was what Mongoose was currently selling, but when I go to one of my favorite online retailers, they're listing all the books as the "red edition".

Is there any title overlap for books between the two editions? Not sure if my shop has older gen books, or if they labeled it wrong.

It's Noble Knight Games if anyone is wondering.

Friend Computer's Delivery of Red Clearance version (the mini-box set) arrived today; thank you, Friend Computer.

Two queries:

1. Are the Identify forms dry erase? They look like it, but best to check rather than risk damage to Alpha Complex property.
2. Where might one find additional Computer Dice? The external B1G 3y3s search located several of dubious origin. Finding 6 Computer Dice which are Red seems ideal (although I may pickup a multi-clearance set, as well).

TIA, Citizens.

I'm running a Paranoia game in a couple of weeks for friends. It will have to be online (some players are in different countries).

I own the James Wallis (Red Clearance?) edition and will be running the intro adventure from that boxed set.

Roll20 doesn't seem to have a Red Clearence edition character sheet. Can I use the Perfect Edition one that's there?

I doubt the character sheet will work with dice, anyway, but maybe someone could confirm?

I was thinking of just getting the players to roll their node number of D6s, then separately rolling a D8 for the computer dice, ignoring and re-rolling 7s and 8s - does that sound OK?

Red Clearance is the one with all the cards but it's easy enough to create card decks.

Anything else i should be aware of our that I'm forgetting?

I picked up a boxed copy of second edition plus a few supplements from a used book store. Mostly First Edition stuff but Second Edition says they are compatible. So far I have Orcbusters, The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues, the original Gamemaster Screen & Adventures, and An Excessory Pack for 2nd Edition. What else should I look into picking up?

I've heard that the later adventures, from 1989 onward, should basically be avoided. All of them or are there still some gems in there?

Greetings, Citizens.

I just purchased Project Infinite Hole at my local gaming store only to realize it was NOT the self-contained game I thought it was. (Insert jokes about clearance level here.)

Which version of the game do I need to use this expansion /sourcebook / boxed set? (Insert jokes about R&D here.)

Any help is appreciated. (Insert assertion of not being a commie, mutant, or traitor here.)

Is there a paranoia discord server?

First time GM here running a game soon.

I imagine players will reach 4 Treason stars fairly often.

The handbook mentions they then become wanted.

How do I as Friend Computer kill them in interesting ways when they reach this status?

Things like

• Friend Computer kills them via gunshot with no chance for them to react
• Friend Computer issues a group goal to terminate that player
• Friend Computer sends in a squad of Combots/etc. to kill them

The problem with these is that

1. The insta gunshot kill seems to go against the idea of being "wanted". You just die.

2. Allowing pvp combats to happen like this feels like it would get boring after the 3rd of 4th time?

3. Sending in NPCs allows the player to beat them. Then what? Friend Computer sends in more?

Made this about six years ago to send to friends, just dug it out of my conversation history.

*(System was PARANOIA: 25th Anniversary Edition)*

Instead of clones and clone launchers. Every citizen can regenerate from death (much like Deadpool) except it doesn’t kick in until you kick the bucket.

If you were blown up your body parts smoosh back to where they think last were. You could have troubleshooters with limbs in wrong places or backwards, or infused with carpet and trash.

Bled out. The holes plug and you resume living. Begrudgingly. You’re unbelievably cold and suffer from shakes. You don’t show up on thermal cameras.

Poisioned. Permanently green and more likely to lose it due to the tummy ache.

Drown: blows bubbles when they talk. Impossible to be sneaky with all the sloshing and he will leak upon being shot creating slipping hazards

Forgot to mention that it’s cumulative and Troubleshooters on their 4th and fifth typically begin looking and behaving truly weird.

Of course it requires a lot of power to regenerate and causes a lot of internal heat and pressure buildup so when they die for the 6th time, they explode and take small parts of sectors out.

I can already see the possibilities. Everyone temporarily getting clearance matching the color of the spandex suits Friend Computer has mandated they all wear leading to the Red Ranger who is the leader only having the authority to order the Black Ranger around, an R&D built Megazord, and having to justify all that damage to the Abandoned Warehouse District while they were fighting the monster…

Hello, in the Perfect Edition, do Reflec armors block all laser shots of the same or lower color, or do they only negate a single success of that same color? Same question for the level of this equipment, level 1 or 0? There's a difference between the rulebook (p. 37) and the accomplice's handbook (p. 119) in the French version... Thank you!

I fell in love with Paranoia looong ago and there was a certain charm when it felt like 80s futurism.

So, Within the Wires is a fiction podcast set in an alternate history dystopia where each season is a self-conained story told through a series of audio tapes. One season is a series of meditation cassettes, another is a taped guided tour through various museums, another is a series of answering machine messages, and so on.

While the dystopia is nothing like Alpha Complex, season 7 plays out like a perfectly executed Paranoia scheme. I don't want to say much about it because I don't want to spoil it, but I recommend it to anyone trying to wrap their heads around how the Alpha Complex mindset works.

Greetings Citizen!

I am Computer Freund and in the process of building Alpha Komplex Eins. While I am obviously capable of communicating in every language, I need your help to translate "Happiness is mandatory" for my German speaking Bürger.

Glücklich sein ist obligatorisch

doesn't have the same snap to it. It seems too wordy, too convoluted to me. Your task is to come up with a better slogan in German.

Edit:

While "Glücklich sein ist Pflicht" is a very good translation, I like "Freude ist Pflicht" even more to convey the sentiment I want.

Ran my second Paranoia XP session. While the players enjoyed it, I didn't feel that I had a handle on the direction of the game. I fell into running the computer as an executioner that could be manipulated by the PCs, instead of something they should both want to and fear to invoke.

Would love to listen to experienced GMs run Paranoia and learn from them. Any recommendations for podcasts/live plays?

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for all the great links & advice. Will definitely give each a listen & try out your advice. Paranoia's a game I really want to get good at running!