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For Paranoia XP Mongoose have learned a lot from earlier editions, keeping the elements which worked and doing away with those which didn't. It sees the welcome return of Jim Holloway as the official artist to the Computer and with a glorious technicolour painting this hardback rulebook looks great. Although a little on the expensive side compared to some other games Mongoose have once again produced a rulebook which is a thing of beauty. Well produced, well illustrated and, unlike many other games its actually enjoyable to read.
So, whats it all about ? Well, to put it simply Paranoia is a light hearted game set in the future in an underground city called Alpha Complex. The city is run by a supposedly omnipotent computer, known appropriately enough as The Computer. During a game the players will play the role of 'troubleshooters', performing missions and duties in the service of the Computer. Unfortunately after all the years its been around the Computer has developed an overriding paranoia that Alpha Complex is full of traitors who mean it harm. The 'troubleshooters' who are actually all traitors themselves do their best to point the finger of suspicion at other traitors, including the other players characters, in order to keep the heat off them. The result is an atmosphere of total paranoia, with no one trusting anyone and everyone doing their very best to screw the other guy over.
For many experienced roleplayers this turns one of the basic rules of roleplaying, that you work together to survive, completely on its head. Instead Paranoia is a competetive game, a matter of using various underhand tactics to be the last man standing. You may ask yourself is this funny ? Well, I think you'd be surprised at just what your players are capable of when put in this situation. Add to that the usual mad, bizarre and downright surprising situtations set up by Paranoia adventures and you are almost guaranteed a fun evening of gaming unlike anything you have tried before.
I don't want to talk too much about the rules themselves as the game stresses more than any other that the rules are not as important as the game play. Players are not even supposed to know the rules, and if a GM doesn't like a rule he is free to ignore it in favour of a more entertaining result. That said, for those who have played Paranoia before the XP edition returns to the slick fast paced rules of earlier editions. Its a D20 system in the sense that for most actions you have to roll under your skill score on a D20 to succeed. One new innovation of this edition is the introduction of Perversity Points which enable you to add or subtract from any dice roll ( including other players ) to get the result you want.
I cannot reccomend this game more highly, this new edition has breathed new life into a game which was brilliant to start with but had dissapeared into the background for the last few years. It is best played with experienced roleplayers who want something light hearted and different to play, the GM will have great fun chipping away at those old stereotyped ideas of a role playing game. At the same time though this might be just the game to introduce those who thought role playing was all about people taking themselves far too seriously pretending to be elves and wizards and the like. If you play this game in the spirit it is intended and are able to relax and enjoy it you are guaranteed a good time. Paranoia XP is a welcome return of one of the best roleplaying games on the market, welcome back friend Computer !
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