Paranoia RPG
review by Alapai
The Paranoia RPG is a role playing game from Mongoose Publishing. In it, you and your group are Troubleshooters, trying to fix various problems happening in your shared home Alpha Complex. Unlike most RPGs, where working together is an important part of the game, Paranoia keeps lots of things hidden from you, especially with what the other members of your group might be trying to do.
The basic rules for trying to do something that might fail are as follows. When a player attempts something, the GM sets a Difficulty rating for that task; this is how many successes the player needs to roll to, er… succeed. They can share the information with the players, but do not need to if they do not want to (adding to the paranoia if the player fails). Then the GM chooses a Stat and Skill for the player to roll with; this number is the NODE, aka how many dice they get to roll. The player then adds dice from equipment they have that helps and the Computer Dice*. The player then rolls their NODE dice, succeeding on 5s and 6s. If the player rolls more successes than the Difficulty rating, they succeed at the task. If the Computer symbols shows up on the Computer Dice (6 on a regular die), then Friend Computer starts paying attention to what the Troubleshooters are doing, potentially interfering if the GM decides it is necessary. Players are also able to help (or hurt) by spending points of Moxie to change failures to successes (or successes to failures), being careful as running out of Moxie means the Troubleshooter Loses It and freaks out, causing trouble for everybody.
The basic rules are pretty simple, but the main appeal of Paranoia is the setting. Paranoia takes place in a dystopian utopian future ruthlessly enforced watched over by Friend Computer, the paranoid helpful overlord friend that wants everything running smoothly in Alpha Complex. As such, Friend Computer utilizes squads of Troubleshooters to troubleshoot problems. Since there are traitors everywhere that could infiltrate important groups, Troubleshooters are made up of six random individuals who are unlikely to have the skills required to complete the tasks assigned to them. It’s a game where the GM knowingly doesn’t give out information to the players and where success at a mission isn’t the main goal of the game. Paranoia is a darkly humorous game that jokes about dark topics and is satirical in nature, mocking lots of different concepts in its execution.
While most RPGs are games where you, as a player, are supposed to know the rules well enough while not necessarily having memorized the book, Paranoia works differently. RPGs will often mention that the rules in them are suggestions, not strict guidelines, Paranoia goes even further and says that GMs should be the only ones to know the rules and mess with them to their heart’s content. The rulebook specifically mentions that players are not expected to know the rules and that powergaming and rules lawyering are not part of Paranoia. The GM can change or delete rules as they see fit, not needing to be consistent if they don’t want to be. You should not play Paranoia if you’re looking to be a powerful, competent individual who alway succeeds as the GM is explicilty told to not let you and to make your character suffer in game if you try to quote rules to the GM.
In general, when I create characters for RPGs, I am not trying to powergame and make super badasses who break the rules. I will often randomize as much as I can with characters. For example, with Dungeon World, I rolled dice to randomize where I assigned my stats and made a Psion with an 8 (-1 to the stat) in Wisdom, the stat the Psion uses in its moves. As such, I was constantly failing when trying to use my moves (which did help me level up), but the game was entertaining. With Paranoia, you can’t help but have a character that is not great at things you will likely have to do. The GM will assign Mandatory Bonus Duties to characters each mission, such as Team Leader or Happiness Officer that you have to try and succeed at, no matter how unskilled you are.
Paranoia is not an RPG for everybody. As the book itself mentions, powergaming and rules lawyering are not part of how the game wants to be run. If you don’t want a game that pokes fun at governments, religion, crime, etc, then Paranoia probably isn’t for you. Even if you use roleplaying tools like Lines and Veils or the X-Card, Paranoia will probably be neutered to the point of not being worthwhile if you don’t want a game with dark humor. But if you do want a game of dark humor where player control is right out the window, Paranoia is a great one!
Paranoia: The Core Book and other Paranoia items are available now from our webstore.
*As the book says “Yes, there is only one die. Yes, we write dice. Deal with it.”
