 Goto [ Index ] |
Introduction
It didn't bother my players (Zap! Zap! ZAPPITY ZAP!), but while I could improv equipment malfunctions ("Hmm... blast radius of a tacnuke cone...") and mutations ("Now, how did it work in GAMMA WORLD?"), Secret Societies were trickier. After all, while I've played sf rpg's with modern-day equipment, and superhero rpgs with kewl powerz, at least this GM doesn't have much experience with conspiracy rpg's.
Sure, secret societies make great NPCs. Villainous Commies. Free Enterprise'rs whispering, "Hey Buddy! Wanna buy a watch?" Sierra Club'bers communing with nature by attacking the players with pointy sticks. But players? How big of a stunt gets a Death Leopard promoted? What does a Humanist do? How does IntSec infiltrate a society? And where besides a recycling bin can I put a secret message?
In the core book, we learned that secret societies provided color and motivation for PCs. GMs often used secret societies to provide side-missions to players, and add the occasional crazy NPC to a scene. The Traitor’s Manual goes one step further, treating secret societies as the corrupt, splintered conflicts they are. In addition to fleshing out the sixteen Secret Societies, it begins with a section called 'Conspiracy Theories', a useful Gamemaster section, and a Classic / Straight adventure.
Art, Layout, and Writing
And great Jim Holloway cartoons. He's the same illustrator of the Paranoia XP core book. The Traitor's Manual art is improved over the core book (distinct lines rather than "fuzzy" lines), and the humor (deadpan caricatures of Secret Society members) look all new. The layout follows the three-column format. The information is less dense / complex than the core book, so reading and finding information is easier. And while the core book is humorous, the Traitor's Manual is both humorous **and** full of ideas to inflict on your players.
Conspiracy Theories
The ten-page introductory chapter of the book begins with an anatomy of treason: the psychology of the lie, the **true** surveillance capacity of The Computer, IntSec and its informers, the equally **true** organization of a secret society, and how everyday people deal with everyday treason. Next are the elements of a secret society: cells, code names, recruitment (including common recruitment sites), initiation, message drops and communication, ranks, information control, and splinter groups. What's interesting about this section is how it lays the groundwork for the rest of the book. Instead of the absurdist SNAFU world of The Computer, we will see how everyday people react to impossible circumstances, resulting in secret societies.
Secret Society Descriptions
The bulk of the book devotes four or so pages to each secret society. Each society entry's is divided into six sections: Beliefs, Recruitment, Initiation, Code Names, History, Structure, Attitudes, Subfactions, Advancement, Duties, Benefits, and Missions. Beliefs include the philosophy of the society – but go beyond the core book by mentioning the ulterior motives of the more senior members. Recruitment describes how and what targets the society recruits from. Since PCs are typically low-ranking society members, and low-ranking members often are charged with recruiting, this section can give a GM some ideas for a secret society mission. Initiation describes how someone becomes a society member. Again, the GM can assign a PC an initiation-related mission. Code names add color. History provides the background of the society – whether or not it’s true is up to the GM, of course. Structure describes the organization and hierarchy of the society. Since PCs are typically low-ranking members, they probably won’t survive long enough to learn the hierarchy, however. Attitudes are brief quotes a typical society member would make of other organizations. Subfactions are short descriptions of currently existing subfactions in the society. I personally would have liked to seen the subfactions further fleshed out, although this would probably double the size of the book. Advance provides an overview of what tasks (easily translating into missions) a PC undertakes to advance in the society. Duties and Missions break down what tasks are done by which ranks. Benefits describe what benefits are available to which ranks. In addtion, each secret society section includes a piece of recruitment propaganda (useful for player handouts!), a caricature of a typical secret society member, and some conversational flavor text.
Overall, I was impressed at how many ideas each section provided to throw at your players. Unlike other splatbooks, the writing emphasizes less abstract background (useless) and more specific ideas to spring on your players (evil). It provides a very good information for both GMs who like to further flesh out material on their own, and GMs who are extremely lazy and rampantly steal ideas.
On a more subtle note, the write-ups of the secret society are sufficient to individualize them beyond the core books and wacky NPCs. (Whether or not your players will live long enough to notice this is something else entirely.) Indeed, you can easily provide each player with their unique secret society subplot -- and split the party. To prevent this, The Traitor's Manual presents some very useful GM advice in...
The GM Section (Spoilers)
While the secret society sections provide a mine of ideas and background, this short three-page section tells the GM how to properly use them. You don’t want to use a secret society mission to send a PC away from the main plot. You do want to use a secret society mission to compliment the main story, and/or conflict with another player’s secret society mission. In only four pages, this section analyzes the different types of missions a GM can use, and how he can use them in a Paranoia game. Additionally, this section includes a nifty table that helps the GM determine the **real** current state of the PC’s secret society.
The Missing Chapter: Elective Activity or Pursuit Clubs
As a free download, available on the Mongoose Publishing site, the Social Club section is a five-page chapter also suitable for the core book. Social clubs tie in to secret societies as recruiting ground for new members. The chapter describes no less than twenty-five clubs, from FunBall and PowerGolf, to Citizens United Through Song and Volunteer Form Checkers. The chapter leans more towards background than examples for use.
The Adventure (More spoilers)
My expectation for the adventure was that it would introduce, in-depth, the secret society ideas and concepts introduced in the previous sections. It doesn’t. However, while it does include secret society elements (quite well, I might add), it’s an interesting challenge to players. In this 3-6 player / 5-9 hour / 20-some page adventure, they go undercover in Alpha Complex as **Infrareds**. And, no, they don’t get to have their laser pistols! It’s in the Class / Straight style of play, and players worry less about tension (Who notices Infrareds?) and more about money (Don’t spend your five credits all in one place). On the offchance you don’t want to play the adventure, you can mine it for five or so locations in Alpha Complex, plus two nifty player forms to fill out.
Compatible with All Versions!
I should mention that this book can be used with any edition of Paranoia. The only mechanics are guidelines of play for characters as they increase in ranks (specificallly, higher rank titles, more difficult missions, greater duties, and better benefits). The adventure itself should be adaptable to previous editions: The adventure NPC stats use a range of 1-20, so can be easily used in 2nd edition and faked for 1st.
Conclusion
The Traitor's Manual follows the Paranoia tradition of an absurd world and hilarious reading. The Traitor's Manual further provides insightful understanding of secret socities, and concrete ideas for a GM to inflict on his players. In my opinion, it ranks as high as first edition's Acute Paranoia, and second edition's Manditory Bonus Handout. A great supplement for all editions of Paranoia.
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
