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So, expectations are high. For me, PARANOIA XP was not just an opportunity to see an old classic polished up, it was an opportunity to replace a Second Edition rulebook that had been broken down to its component atoms from overuse. This game essentially had to be both the classic we know and love, AND a relevant update of that classic to a vastly different time. The U.S. has an enemy again, one which is actually rather threatening compared to the Soviet Union in the late 80s (whose primary weapon was, of course, Ivan Drago), there are questions about how the conflict ought to be conducted, people are scared, people are cynical, people don't know who to trust and it's another Tuesday nightcycle in the Complex.
The short version is, the book is an unqualified success. It is PARANOIA, with all of the insanity we remember, and more added. It supports multiple styles of play, it is consistently funny, and it got me genuinely enthusiastic about playing in or running a PARANOIA campaign. Heck, it got me more interested in roleplaying than I'd been in some time. But I'm getting ahead of things. I see newbies in the audience.
PARANOIA is a dark future comedy set in the high-tech post-apocalyptic fascist world of Alpha Complex, a massive underground community ruled over by a well-meaning but strict and slightly insane AI known as The Computer. You are a Troubleshooter, a low-clearance operative who, with laser gun in hand, must help purge the Complex of mutants, secret societies, and Commie traitors. You, of course, are also a mutant and a member of a secret society. So is everyone else on your team. You can't prove it- yet. If you could, though, you'd be rewarded for exposing their treason, possibly gaining a higher security clearance (denoted by color- the ROY-G-BIV scale of visible light applies here, with Infrareds at the bottom and Ultraviolets (High Programmers) at the top.) More importantly, it will prevent them from being able to expose you. And they do want to expose you.
This is the game where each character gets five extra "clones" of himself, because the mortality rate is that high. The GM is encouraged to ignore the rules, and ruleslawyering- or even demonstrating knowledge of rules that only the Gamemaster should know- is treason. Missions are wild goose chases, their goals quickly subsumed by the agendas of the players (even (especially) if those agendas consist of little more than "reduce your teammates to vapor.") There's a lot more to it than this, but you're basically up to speed.
The basic rulesset has been altered and somewhat simplified from earlier versions. Each character has six broad skills- Management, Stealth and Violence are the Action Skills, while Hardware, Software and Wetware are the Knowledge Skills. (Skills in the latter group overlap more routinely.) You can set a flat rating of 7 for each skill, roll 1d20/2 for each (though anything that would be lower than 4 counts as 4), or allocate 40 skill points among them. You may then allocate up to six specialties within each skill, though for each specialty you enhance, you must pick one in the same skill that has a rating of 1. (Choosing which specialties to enhance and which to penalize can be difficult before determining background, but this may be intentional.) That about does it for the crunchy bits of character creation- after this you determine your Service Group, Service Firm, Mutant Power and Secret Society. Characters also have Perversity Points, which may be spent to adjust die rolls and improve skill ratings, and are earned through good roleplaying, as well as taking distinctive "tics" at character creation. (Because, let's face it, Troubleshooters often wish they didn't stand out in a crowd.)
General task resolution is accomplished by rolling a d20- a result equal to or below your skill rating is a success, and the margin of success can determine just how well you did. Combat works in much the same way, with a single roll by the attacker. Damage is a bit trickier- characters have 7 wound levels, ranging from "Okay" to "Vaporized", and each weapon has a minimum damage result, a maximum, and a "Boost" number which is used with the margin of success to decide if the weapon did more than minimum damage (it never exceeds the maximum- you cannot vaporize someone with brass knuckles.) Armor and similar defenses may reduce damage results, which makes sense if you think about it.
Interestingly enough, the familiar process of accusing characters of treason works in much the same way. A player "attacks" using the Management skill, the accused has "defenses" based on his influence, and each charge has a minimum punishment and a maximum, and a boost number. Here, results can range from "Official Reprimand" to "Erasure" (Not only is the clone killed, but the entire clone batch is purged. Make a new character. Fortunately this is rare.)
PARANOIA has been played in multiple ways, and each of the three previous editions had emphasis on a different style. First Edition focused on dark, dystopian satire, Second Edition was somewhat broader and more jovial, and Fifth Edition went into out-and-out cartoon territory. Even in the earlier editions, the designers noted how groups could play the game differently, usually starting with anarchic bloodbaths and gradually moving into more involved roleplaying. Now, finally, there's rules support. PARANOIA XP has three different modes of play- Classic, Straight, and Zap! Classic games are the middle ground familiar to many players, featuring broad, often slapstick humor, but keeping things jovial. (Described as "Laurel and Hardy get jobs with the IRS on the original starship ENTERPRISE.") Zap! games are crazy, violent insanity with cartoonish mutant powers and furry-hat-wearing Commies. ("Yosemite Sam gets a job in a factory that makes sledgehammers, nuclear warheads and glass unicorn figurines.") Straight games are the darkest, and the most realistic in their depiction of a nightmarish bureaucracy gone mad. ("Yossarian from CATCH-22 gets a job in Orwell's Ministry of Truth.") Despite the moniker, Straight games are still humorous, or at least can be- recommended source material includes BRAZIL, THE OFFICE, BRAVE NEW WORLD, etc.
The rules work slightly differently for the three styles. Each style has its own list of Mutant Powers; though there's plenty of overlap, the truly goofy stuff is confined to "Zap!" games, "Straight" games have more "realistic" powers, and "Classic" games have a mix. Each charge of treason has a different range of punishment for "Straight" and "Classic" style (In "Zap!", each charge is punishable by instant death.) In "Straight" campaigns, to encourage long-term play, characters can actually buy additional clones beyond the initial six. And so on. This may be the single best decision made by the designers; there's been disagreement over whether PARANOIA is a clever satire or a collection of random violence and sleazy puns, and now it is both at the same time, and some other things as well.
I've talked about the rules enough, seeing as they're optional anyway. Let's get to the thing that makes PARANOIA great- the setting. Though the Communists are still the number one enemy of the Complex (in the Computer's mind, at least), this doesn't mean that the setting continues to languish in the 20th century. Modern Information Age technology fits in quite well with a society dominated by the Computer, and characters now have Personal Data Consoles that perform several functions (and can act as grenades if necessary), mandatory ME cards which serve as universal identification, access to all kinds of goods on C-Bay, and they get to experience the wonders of viral marketing and WMD auctions. There's a greater emphasis on raw, naked capitalism than in earlier editions- the Computer wants its citizens to spend lots of plasticreds so that they eventually end up in the pockets of High Programmers (the plasticreds, not the- actually, the citizens too.) Greed is a big part of the setting now, and the Infrared Markets of the Free Enterprise secret society are a key part of the Alpha Complex economy.
Missions in earlier editions always included a trip to R&D to see what dangerous devices needed to be field tested. Now, this privilege of tormenting Troubleshooters has been extended to all the Service Groups, and each mission will have its own Service Service that needs to be performed alongside the regular mission. HPD & Mind Control may want the Troubleshooters to test a new loyalty exercise on anyone who makes a good target, Power Services needs that uranium delivered to LNM sector pronto, and you don't wanna know what Internal Security wants. Service Groups are now further subdivided into Service Firms- a character who works in Power Services might specialize in Circuit Maintenance, Battery Backup, or be a Fuel Rod Disposal Consultant. This adds some more detail to your character (specifics are usually funnier than generalizations), and also provides opportunities for office politics. The game features the return of a couple of Secret Society "options" not seen since First Edition- Players who roll an "Other" result in a Straight game might have PCs who are spies for other Alpha Complexes, or who are members of a High Programmer's elite "program group", a kind of social club where loyal toadies jockey for position. That's an entire campaign in itself, come to think of it.
The book contains a complete "Classic" style adventure, "Mister Bubbles." (There are notes for converting the material to a "Straight" campaign, and to make it easier, none of the pregenerated characters have punny names.) Without saying too much, it's an appropriately disjointed affair which would make a good introduction to the PARANOIA style of role-playing, and it's appropriately flexible.
What's really most impressive about PARANOIA XP is just how dense the thing is. The book itself is 256 pages long, but it feels like more- there's that much stuff. Between the Service Groups, the Pharmaceutical descriptions, the optional insanity rules, even a basic look at the lifestyles enjoyed by the citizens of a given security clearance, the book covers most anything you could think of in relation to the setting and how to run it. The GM advice is smart, particularly the advice to get the PCs into a dark room early in the adventure, long enough for... something... to happen. (Wonder of wonders, this is illustrated with a story from RPG.net!) The same density of material also applies to the jokes- not only is the overall writing style snappy and funny, but there are all sorts of off-hand jokes to be found in page borders, specially-shaped Computer boxes, and High Programmer conversations about secret societies. I find myself in the same position as someone reviewing a really funny comedy movie- the best way to show how funny it is is to repeat the jokes, but I don't want to spoil anything. So, see for yourself. Comedy in an RPG can be hard to pull off- it normally tends towards puns and in-jokes- and is always impressive when done this well.
PARANOIA XP is a well-produced hardback book, with denser text than most RPGs. Despite this, it's still cleanly laid out and easy to read. Many of the illustrations are taken from earlier editions (though thankfully, there's none of the goofy cartoon art from FIFTH EDITION), and there are newer pieces by the same artist. The index, compiled late in development, is unfortunately brief, but it's not too hard to find your way around.
This may be the best roleplaying product I've purchased all year. It marks the return of a unique approach to RPGs and one of the best settings ever created for a game. There are many ways the revival of PARANOIA could've been a disappointment, but thanks to an ingenious open design process and an obvious dedication to making the game better, PARANOIA XP meets all expectations that I had for it. It's been too long.
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