Security Clearance: INFRARED - Cleared for all Citizens
May I be of assistance?
Sure. Why don't you tell me how this game works?
I'm sorry, citizen. That information is not available at this time.
Huh? Most RPs are all gung-ho about the rules.
Not Paranoia. In Paranoia, you don't know the rules. You don't know who your enemies are. You don't know how your equipment works. You're never sure why you're doing anything. One thing you do know: Everyone is out to get you.
Ignorance and Fear, Fear and Ignorance. These are your watchwords.
Uhh...Someone said something about a computer?
In Paranoia, you play a Troubleshooter in service to The Computer. Trust the Computer! The Computer is your friend! You are The Computer's trusted agent and protector of Alpha Complex, The Computer's underground city of the far future.
Why am I a Troubleshooter?
You are a Troubleshooter because you turned in a friend for treason. The Computer had him executed for betraying Alpha Complex and The Computer rewarded you for your loyalty.
Now you root out all traitors and apprehend or execute them. You uncover corruption among The Computer's servants and turn them in to Internal Security. You find trouble, and you shoot it.
What's a traitor?
A traitor is a malevolent human citizen who has betrayed his friend The Computer and seeks to destroy The Computer, Alpha Complex, humanity and life as we know it. Most of them are Communists. You must unmask and destroy all traitors. Watch out! Traitors are everywhere!
Mutants are traitors. These genetic freaks have uncontrollable abilities they selfishly use for their own advancement, rather then to serve Alpha Complex. You must subdue or eliminate them.
Members of secret societies are traitors. In organizations unsanctioned by The Computer they conspire irresponsibly to undermine the good order of Alpha Complex. You must destroy them.
Oh by the way, you are a mutant and a member of a secret society. You are a traitor.
Wait, I'm a traitor?!
Correct. Your fellow Troubleshooters would be eager to unmask you as a traitor and execute you. You work with many Troubleshooters, all of whom carry extremely powerful weapons.
Let me get this straight. My job is to hunt and kill traitors. I work with other people who have the same orders. They all want to kill me?
Not quite. They all want to kill traitors. They don't know you're a Commie mutant traitor. Yet.
If they find out?
They'll apprehend or kill you, as any right-thinking citizen would. Of course, if you convict them of treason first, The Computer will have them executed, and you may survive. Be careful, false accusations of treason are treason.
So I want to prove they're traitors before they can prove I'm a traitor. If I don't, I die?
Precisely. Dead traitors cannot testify to their own innocence, or to your guilt. It is convenient to be the last Troubleshooter on your team left alive.
The good news is, Troubleshooters routinely get shot, stabbed, incinerated, mangled, poisoned, blown to bits, and occasionally stapled, so you have many opportunities to ensure your teammates meet their just end.
Stay alert! Trust no one! Keep your laser handy!
...Are you sure this is fun?
Certainly, citizen! Fun is mandatory. The Computer says so, and The Computer is your friend. Do you doubt The Computer? Doubting The Computer is treason.
Uh! No, certainly not. If The Computer says fun is mandatory, then this will certainly be fun. Only a Commie mutant traitor could believe otherwise.
Excellent! Now you're getting the idea.
Security Clearance RED - Cleared for Troubleshooters
First off, this role-play will require a certain level of dedication. If you join the game, you are pretty much required to make a post at least once a day. It's ok if you miss a day or two, but extended absences will result in your character's death. (I, however, will be gone for the next two weeks. So, post here, or PM me, (I suggest PM, for secrecy will be useful) and check up for the game thread in around 10 days.)
Second off, if you are the type of role-player that enjoys creating detailed, developed characters that grow and change over time, do not play this game. This is for two major reasons:
The average life-span of a Troubleshooter is incredibly short. Characters will die often and messily.
Second, some of the most important aspects of the characters are randomly generated. Taking the time to give your character a full personality will ultimately be rather unrewarding.
On the plus side, you will not have to make a new character every time. Thanks to highly advanced cloning technology, characters come in six-packs.
This is a play-by-post RP based upon the pen and paper RPG Paranoia. Players take the role of a group of Troubleshooters completing missions for The Computer in Alpha Complex. I will be the GM, running the game and controlling everyone that isn't a player. However, I'm not much of a GM, and my last GM did not tell me how to play this game, so if you are familiar with Paranoia, PM me material please!
What is Alpha Complex?
Alpha Complex is a massive underground city. For those that care, there are hundreds of stories and theories as to how and why it was created, but no one knows for sure. Also, inventing and spreading such stories and theories is treason.
All aspects of the city are run by The Computer (Think Big Brother on steroids and a few million times more powerful.) The city is full of corruption, bureaucrats, traitors, Communists, secret societies, and more insane robots then the Terminator movies.
Who is The Computer?
The Computer is your friend. Going against The Computer is treason. Treason is punishable by summary execution.
RPGs are full of complicated rules, books, and all sorts of crap. I don't have the time to learn any of that!
That won't be a problem. In Paranoia, you don't need to know the rules. Knowledge of the rules is treason.
What is the game like?
Think Laurel and Hardy getting jobs with the IRS on the original starship Enterprise.
More information can be found url=http://www.paranoia-live.net/content.php?article.6]here.[/url]
More information about the game will be posted dependent upon enough interest being gathered. The mission I plan to run is designed for four to six players, should more then that wish to play I will likely split it into two groups and run them separately. I will plan according to the amount of interest I see here, after my vacation.
Rules:
You said there wouldn't be rules!
I never said there were no rules. I said you wouldn't know all of them. This is just character creation.
Step One: Obtain a character sheet here.
Step Two: Character Name and gender.
Gender is for the most part meaningless within Alpha Complex; all babies are born in test tubes and one of the many mandatory drugs suppresses sexual desires. So whether you're male or female, no one cares.
Naming conventions - Citizens are named according to the following scheme
[Given Name]-[Clearance Initial]-[Home Sector]-[Clone Number]
Given Name - Your name. Can be pretty much anything.
Clearance Initial - All Troubleshooters start at RED Clearance, so this will be an R.
Home Sector - The three letter designation of the sector you are from. FMV, XPE, LEO, etc.
Clone Number - Which version of you is active. Starts at 1.
Step Three: Skills
Characters have six skills, three Action skills (Management, Stealth, Violence) and three Knowledge skills (Hardware, Software, Wetware). You have 40 points to distribute as you like amongst the skills. No skill may be lower then 4, none may be higher then 10.
Step Four: Specialties
The specialties within each skill are listed below the skill on the character sheet. You may select up to six common specialties, divided as you wish amongst the skills. These specialties have ratings 4 higher then the governing skill.
For each specialty you take, you take a corresponding weakness. Pick one specialty within the same skill and set its rating to 1.
All Troubleshooters have training in use of lasers. Energy Weapons is a vital specialty, and has a rating 4 higher then the Violence skill. This does not count as one of your common specialties, nor must you take a weakness.
Step Five: Perversity and Tics
Each player begins with 25 Perversity points. These are the player's, not the character's. You may get up to 10 more points by selecting two tics for your character. A tic is a behavior that is immediately identifiable and recognizable as your own. For ideas, visit the Wheel Of Tics.
Perversity points are spent to apply negative or positive modifiers to either your own or other people's skill rolls. Tics give you more Perversity if you use your tic in an entertaining manner.
OK, I copied that from my last GM. I don't actually know how to properly GM a Paranoia game, so if you're familiar with it, and are looking for the game you're familiar with, PM me stuff, or don't join, preferably both. Unless someone does this, I will probably not use dice as much as you're supposed to.
Some additional information that is to be made public:
Perversity and Tics-
Perversity points are spent to apply positive or negative modifiers to your, or anyone else's skill roll on a one-to-one basis. You gain more Perversity by using your tics in an entertaining manner.
Alpha Complex is its own world, completely cut off from anything outside. In fact, the majority of the citizens are kept ignorant of anything beyond Alpha Complex, and the rest are told that the Outdoors is full of toxic sludge, radiation, and glowing bears.
Security Clearances-
All citizens are given a security clearance which is a direct measure of how much The Computer trusts them. This also measures their importance within the Complex; the higher their clearance the more important they are. The scale follows the spectrum of visible light:
INFRARED - The lowest clearance and the vast majority of citizens. Kept perpetually stoned stupid. All citizens are born INFRARED.
RED - The average Troubleshooter. Pretty much the only perk is that you're not kept stoned stupid.
ORANGE
YELLOW
There is an unspoken gulf between YELLOW and GREEN clearance. Below the gulf, you are one of the working masses. Above the gulf, you are ruling class.
GREEN
BLUE
INDIGO
VIOLET
ULTRAVIOLET - The High Programmers, trusted with direct access to The Computer's programming.
Officially, it is treason to disobey an order given by someone of higher clearance. Realistically, you'll only get in real trouble if you disobey a GREEN or above.
Equipment-
Most citizens constantly wear a jumpsuit of their clearance color, making it easy to identify someone's level. (IRs wear black, UVs wear white.) All equipment is given a security rating, it is treasonous to possess equipment above your clearance. Should you be caught, it will be confiscated and you will be fined.
All citizens possess a Personal Digital Companion (PDC) which basically does everything the iPhone can.
All citizens also have a ME card, which is used as ID and a credit card.
As Troubleshooters, you are issued laser gun bodies. A laser gun has two separate components, the body and the barrel. Neither will function without the other. A different barrel is available at each security clearance, designed to fire a blast of only the corresponding wavelength. Each barrel is good for six shots.
Your reflec armor is designed to protect against blasts of its color or lower. So your RED reflec will protect against blasts from RED barrels, but not ORANGE.
Oh, and since I'M doing this, anyone who makes grammar errors (not typos, not spelling errors, just, you know, saying "twenty's" when you mean "twenties" and stuff) will be killed. But don't worry, you have another clone.
Probably.
{PM me if you want to join, because I will stop checking this thread.}
