Humble Bundle - Paranoia 25th Anniversary RPG MegaBundle

I have many fond memories of the Paranoia RPG, such as: not getting dice in my 1st Edition boxed set and writing West End Games a request for the missing dice. Instead, I got a letter written by Ken Rolsen with The Computer telling me to turn myself in for termination and a secret society transmission interrupting the letter. I remember playtesting Hill Sector Blues one summer evening in the WEG offices in Manhattan, wondering whose desk I was sitting at. I remember my group passing dozens of notes per game session. Those were the days :)

Over on Humble Bundle, they are offering Mongoose's Paranoia 25th Anniversary RPG MegaBundle. 32 Paranoia releases for 18 bucks, including many classics updated to the 25th Anniversary ruleset. Needless to say, I'm all in. Heh. 

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Kickstarter - Paranoia Perfect Edition

I've been a huge fan of Paranoia since the very first edition - my awesome boxed set that was missing the 2d10 dice that were supposed to have been included. I even playtested a scenario for Hill Sector Blues, and the Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues is still one of the finest RPG adventures ever written.

Mongoose Publishing is Kickstarting a new edition of Paranoia. Sure, there have been a number of editions over the years, but damn, it's such a great game for conventions and one-shots.

About 60 bucks get you the new edition of Paranoia, the Paranoia Perfect Edition in print and PDF, and that includes shipping. I'm in. There are other backer levels, but this one is mine ;)

Say hello to Paranoia Perfect Edition, otherwise known as ‘that cool game with a computer and Troubleshooters, and you shoot everything, and the GM lies, and you die repeatedly but holy cow is that game fun’.

Paranoia created controversy simply by being created. It took the traditional RPG tropes of cooperation, problem-solving and epic adventures against evil and turned them on their heads. Paranoia uses competition, problem-blaming and confusing missions against whatever you were told was evil: a villain, a convenient patsy or evidence of government corruption. Above all else, Paranoia is a roleplaying game that knows it should be fun and entertaining, so it focuses on those and not silly things like plausibility or internal consistency.

You play a Troubleshooter, which is like a volunteer fireman but for police, except it’s not voluntary and people hate you. You receive missions from everyone’s leader and best friend (as required by law), an AI called The Computer. Your job is to find trouble and shoot it. What kind of trouble? Mostly those declared traitors, which includes anyone with a mutant power or who belongs to an illegal secret society.

Oh, your character has a mutant power and belongs to an illegal secret society. So do the other players. And each of you has a laser pistol. Now, play nice! Or shoot each other in the back. That’s more likely.

 

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I Must be Paranoid - Paranoia RPG Kickstarter

How many versions of Paranoia are there now? Three West End Games versions and two Mongoose editions? Actually, this would make three Mongoose editions.

So, the latest would be the 6th Edition of Paranoia.

Do we really need 6 editions of Paranoia? Really, do we? I'm asking this question as someone who came on board with the very first edition of the game and quickly realized the rules were worthless - it was all play and players. Seriously. Charts, rolls, weapons, powers - all paled compared to notes being passed back and forth and clones falling by the wayside.

You could just as easily reprint the 1st Edition Paranoia rules as a limited run collectible and probably get the same results on Kickstarter - overwhelming success.

What kind of success?

A goal of 30k pounds, slowly inching up on 56k pounds raised with 38 days to go. Yes, that kind of success.

I just can't get myself worked up for yet ANOTHER version of Paranoia when I have the greatest version of all - 1st ;)

Bundle of Holding - Paranoia (2004 Mongoose Edition)

This is for the 2004 Mongoose version of Paranoia, which I have no experience with. That being said, if you pay more than the average, it includes updates to some of the classic originals:  Flashbacks (retail $24): This must-have 256-page mission collection presents classic 1980s PARANOIA missions updated for the 2004 edition. Learn why Vapors Don't Shoot Back, which citizens get The YELLOW Clearance Black Box Blues, when to Send in the Clones, and what to do when Something Falls Off.

I was already "in"as of last night.

Paranoia, for me at least, is as much fun to read as it is to run ;)

Rumor has it the Next Bundle of Holding will be Paranoia

I seriously love Paranoia, if only to read the adventures ;)

Let's see later on today if the Bundle of Holding rumors are right ;)

Games From the Basement - Paranoia 1E Playtest Material

So, after getting home from work and walking the dog, I continued my quest to find some of my older dungeon maps. I thought I scored when I found a graph paper notebook, but most of the maps within were from one of the early Bard's Tale computer games for the Commodore 64. Not saying I didn't find anything useful, just not all that I hoped for.

I did, however, find briefing material for the playtest of Hil Sector Blues for Paranoia 1E. I remember playtesting this in Manhattan way back in the day in the old West End Games offices late one Friday night. I have no idea who ran the session, but there were three playtesters - myself and my friends Andrew and Lenny. I guess someone didn't want their playtest material, as I have two copies of the Internal Security Hil Sector Gazette.

I think I'll add the second copy as a prize in one of this blog upcoming contests. This shit has to be at least as valuable as a Mark McGuire rookie card ;)

Should I Have Been Paranoid About Paranoia? (Circa 1985)

When I bought my Paranoia Boxed set back in 1985 (I believe it was via mail from an ad in Dragon Magazine, but I might be mistaken) I noticed a few things after opening the box (said box is sadly gone.  Well, gone as of today.  It did it's job and protected it's contents, but sadly gave it's life in doing so.)

My initial concern was it lacked the dice that the box (and the ad) said it should have contained.  Dice weren't cheap, and I went to all ends to try and keep my dice collection growing at an affordable rate.

Upon reading the rules (and they were a heavy set, complicated set of rules for what was a lighthearted game) I noticed it lacked encumbrance rules.  I also had some black market questions.

I wrote a letter to West End Games, and got the following response from Ken Rolston:

I enjoyed running Paranoia in between regular D&D game sessions.  It was a nice diversion, and my players really got into the role playing aspect of it (as you can see from the notes ;)

Time For Some Paranoid Reading

Allen Varney was kind enough to give me three of his novels (in Kindle format) set in the Paranoia game setting to review. It's nice and slow at work today, so I expect I'll actually take a meal away from my desk and get some reading in.

I have high hopes for the novels. If they can hit anywhere near the humor and lunacy of the 1st Edition Paranoia Boxed Set, the man will have a winning set of novels.

Hopefully the Computer won't notice this post...

Hoping to Rediscover Some Paranoia (West End Games) Tonight

Tonight if all goes well (and really, how often does that happen?) I'll be able to access the top part of a closet I haven't been able to access for years. Buried somewhere in there are the original Pavis and Big Rubble boxed sets (thanks to Grognardia for making me think of them today), but more importantly, my copy of the first Paranoia boxed set.

Paranoia is a game that played very well in small doses with a large group, less well as anything that resembled a campaign and read better then just about any game related novel I can think of. Many of those original modules were simply laugh out loud funny to read.

I think I also have my copy of the City-State of the Invincible Overlord up there as well as some other gems.

After this I don't think there will be any treasures left for me to rediscover ;)

Paranoid Flashback

Mongoose has recently released Flashbacks Redux for it's Paranoia game. It's a compilation of classic Paranoia adventures from the game's West End Games tenure.

I am currently having some very pleasant flashbacks, as I have many of the included adventures packed away in storage. For me, I had as much fun reading the adventures as I did running them, which I can't say for many games. At 256 pages, I'll be occupied with this and it's accompanying memories for a while.

It Contains;

* The Mandatory Mission Pack
* Clones in Space
* Orcbusters
* My First Treason
* Yellow Clearence Black Box Blues
* Code 7s
* Me and My Shadow Mark 4
* Pre Paranoia
* Vapours Don't Shoot Back

I know I own Clones in Space, Orcbusters, YCBBB, Me and My Shadow Mark 4 and Vapours Don't Shoot Back. Still, I haven't read them in over 15 years.