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Paranoia: Ultraviolet Edition (Roleplaying Game)
Welcome to Alpha Complex! Friend Computer is your friend!
I backed the Kickstarter for the box set version of this, and actually ran a game with a fast-and-loose reading of these rules, but didn’t actually get in-depth into all the material. The box set comes with multiple books, a set of dice, cards for everything (some for easy player reference, some for use in combat) and a set of dry-erase character sheets (which means they really know their audience). It doesn't come with post-game debriefing forms, and that's a bit disappointing, but those generally fit better with a “drown players in paperwork” style they’ve leaned away from. I appreciate that there are multiple booklets instead of one massive tome specifically for this game. Normally it’s annoying, but given how much information is supposed to be hidden from the players, this makes life much easier.
Noteworthy changes from previous editions: The system is a bit more sensible and streamlined like a real rpg system. (Add stat, skill and bonus, roll dice. If the bonus Computer die comes up a six, FUN! Otherwise, add up 5s and 6s as successes.) Granted, I always played older editions “zap-style” fast-and-loose, but this is clearer and seems easier to work with to build actual plots and encourage more long-term planning. Combat is heavily dependent on action cards (which reminds me of Gamma World, in that they may change randomly or at the GM’s whim), though with the added bonus that you can lie about what card you have right up until you actually use it.
Character creation is a mini-game for the whole party designed to set the stage: To whit, players are encouraged to screw each other over by assigning skill penalties and personality disfunctions to each other. XP points are officially re-flavored as the currency of Alpha Complex, so increasing your security clearance, acquiring new equipment or even Improving your skills (via purchasing skill-pack downloads) are transactions. (Refences to credits are treasonous, Citizen.)
I don’t recall the Moxie points from previous editions. They function basically like Willpower in World of Darkness, being a general meter of one’s stability and sanity. You spend them to reroll dice and use mutant powers, lose them when stressed, and regain them via time or excessive stimulants. Losing all your Moxie results in a brief but noteworthy psychotic break.
They’ve updated a lot of the satire and the sci-fi flavor to better reflect the times: Most instances of “communist” have been replaced with “terrorist”, for instance. Citizens of Alpha Complex are now officially equipped with “cerebral coretech” in their heads that provides a HUD and all times, registers “traitor stars” on other people, censors problematic content, records their memories for real-time uploading to clones, and can be used to take audio/visual recordings for later replaying. (Though there are plenty of “dead zones” to cut you off from the cloud.) It also means that Friend Computer could be monitoring you at any time, so as to nicely fit the name of the game.
There's a cute bit noting that, while everyone remains drugged to the gills to prevent sexual contact, heterosexual contact is officially treasonous, but homosexual contact is interpreted by the Computer as “enthusiastic wrestling” and is generally acceptable.
The box set includes a starter adventure that takes newly-decanted Infrared citizens into the ranks of Red-Clearance Troubleshooters over the course of three sessions. And a bonus short mission designed to make players hate you, as it should.
Overall: A solid update of a ridiculous game that plays pretty well. It’s still a comedy that can be varying degrees of wacky, and it still functions perfectly well if you hand everyone a set of secret missions that are at odds with each other. But it also feels less 70s than pretty much any other edition, and that’s a bonus.
I backed the Kickstarter for the box set version of this, and actually ran a game with a fast-and-loose reading of these rules, but didn’t actually get in-depth into all the material. The box set comes with multiple books, a set of dice, cards for everything (some for easy player reference, some for use in combat) and a set of dry-erase character sheets (which means they really know their audience). It doesn't come with post-game debriefing forms, and that's a bit disappointing, but those generally fit better with a “drown players in paperwork” style they’ve leaned away from. I appreciate that there are multiple booklets instead of one massive tome specifically for this game. Normally it’s annoying, but given how much information is supposed to be hidden from the players, this makes life much easier.
Noteworthy changes from previous editions: The system is a bit more sensible and streamlined like a real rpg system. (Add stat, skill and bonus, roll dice. If the bonus Computer die comes up a six, FUN! Otherwise, add up 5s and 6s as successes.) Granted, I always played older editions “zap-style” fast-and-loose, but this is clearer and seems easier to work with to build actual plots and encourage more long-term planning. Combat is heavily dependent on action cards (which reminds me of Gamma World, in that they may change randomly or at the GM’s whim), though with the added bonus that you can lie about what card you have right up until you actually use it.
Character creation is a mini-game for the whole party designed to set the stage: To whit, players are encouraged to screw each other over by assigning skill penalties and personality disfunctions to each other. XP points are officially re-flavored as the currency of Alpha Complex, so increasing your security clearance, acquiring new equipment or even Improving your skills (via purchasing skill-pack downloads) are transactions. (Refences to credits are treasonous, Citizen.)
I don’t recall the Moxie points from previous editions. They function basically like Willpower in World of Darkness, being a general meter of one’s stability and sanity. You spend them to reroll dice and use mutant powers, lose them when stressed, and regain them via time or excessive stimulants. Losing all your Moxie results in a brief but noteworthy psychotic break.
They’ve updated a lot of the satire and the sci-fi flavor to better reflect the times: Most instances of “communist” have been replaced with “terrorist”, for instance. Citizens of Alpha Complex are now officially equipped with “cerebral coretech” in their heads that provides a HUD and all times, registers “traitor stars” on other people, censors problematic content, records their memories for real-time uploading to clones, and can be used to take audio/visual recordings for later replaying. (Though there are plenty of “dead zones” to cut you off from the cloud.) It also means that Friend Computer could be monitoring you at any time, so as to nicely fit the name of the game.
There's a cute bit noting that, while everyone remains drugged to the gills to prevent sexual contact, heterosexual contact is officially treasonous, but homosexual contact is interpreted by the Computer as “enthusiastic wrestling” and is generally acceptable.
The box set includes a starter adventure that takes newly-decanted Infrared citizens into the ranks of Red-Clearance Troubleshooters over the course of three sessions. And a bonus short mission designed to make players hate you, as it should.
Overall: A solid update of a ridiculous game that plays pretty well. It’s still a comedy that can be varying degrees of wacky, and it still functions perfectly well if you hand everyone a set of secret missions that are at odds with each other. But it also feels less 70s than pretty much any other edition, and that’s a bonus.