PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#1

In preparation for the PARANOIA chat game, I will begin posting relevant information here.

Welcome, Citizen, to your new Clearance of RED. For dutifully turning in a traitor to Alpha Complex, you have been promoted and will now join the exciting ranks of the Troubleshooters! It will be your duty to root out and expose traitors, unregistered mutants, and members of subversive secret societies who have not accepted the great wisdom of friend Computer.

With your previous INFRARED Clearance, you were expected to work full time for your Service Firm. As the least trusted members of society you were given very few privileges. As a Troubleshooter, you will be moved to part time work, giving you ample time to fulfill missions of great importance to the health and well-being of the Citizens of Alpha Complex. You will also be given extra privileges, such as the addition of REDdimeals to your diet (more Soylent Red and less FunFood) and even the occasional real meal.

As Troubleshooters experience a 27,000% higher mortality rate than the rest of society, The Computer has generously granted you an additional 5 clones at no extra charge. Upon the destruction of your current clone, one of these 5 backup clones will be decanted and prepped to complete the current mission.

Be aware that subversives sometimes manage to end up on a Troubleshooting team. This is regrettable, but also gives you the opportunity to hone your Troubleshooting skills by rooting out traitors within your own midst. Should at least one of your clones survive a mission, you will be required to explain any lapses in reporting treasonous activities among your team. We have found that such techniques are excellent at promoting team cohesion and effectiveness. More traitors have been exposed this way than with previous methods.

In addition to your personal gear, you are to be provided with the following:

1 Laser Pistol (no barrel attached; a Clearance appropriate barrel will be assigned at the start of a mission)
1 Suit of red reflec armor; any complaints about poor sizing will need to be reported via the Armor Replacement Form, which should be successfully processed within the month
Any equipment associated with Mandatory Bonus Duty
1 Series 1300 PDC (Personal Digital Companion); to be used for communication and the recording of treasonous activity

-- Ren-Y-XRT-3

More to follow...

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#2

Maybe the awesome friend computor could tell us more about the various treasonous elements, so that we may better discover them and punish them according to protocol? For instance which heretical goals each mutinous faction pursues.

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#3

Important information regarding behaviors and how they are categorized in PARANOIA:

Acceptable, Insubordinate, Treasonous, and Meritorious Behaviors

Acceptable

Understanding acceptable behavior, insubordination, treason, & meritorious conduct
Knowledge that a pre-Computer time occurred without expressing curiosity or in-depth understanding
Knowledge of the existence of specific Secret Societies, mutant powers, the Outdoors, or plants & animals
Envy of those with higher Clearance and the associated perks
Ambition; expressing a desire for greater service and rising in rank
General jokes/warnings about service groups and/or higher Clearances (this is impolite and may draw suspicion)
Vandalism and destruction of property of equal or lower Clearance, but only while in the line of duty
Asking questions relevant to a mission

Insubordination

Asking questions that are not relevant to a mission
Not wearing the appropriate uniform; being sloppy
Being unhappy
Sharing bad news
Curiosity about Old Reckoning times (before The Computer)
Evading IntSec or bypassing surveillance
Excessive impoliteness (includes some acceptable behaviors done too frequently)
Failing a hygiene inspection
Disregard for the importance of a mission
Disrespect for someone of higher Clearance (includes jokes and questioning ability or judgement)
Turning off a PDC during a mission
Vandalism and destruction of property of equal or lower Clearance while not in the line of duty

Treason

Accusations:

Being accused
Falsely accusing another

Conduct

Arguing with or lying to the GM
Assault
Entering a higher-Clearance area
Loss of assigned equipment
Demonstrating a knowledge of the rules above Clearance
Failure to defer to someone of higher Clearance
Framing someone for a crime
Knowing a treasonous skill
Possessing unauthorized items or information
Refusal of prescribed medication
Theft
Threats
Destruction of higher Clearance property

Missions

Disobeying an order
Failure to complete a mission (includes failure to file a report on the mission)
Refusing an assignment or mission

Mutation

Possessing a banned mutation
Suspicion or proof of possessing an unregistered mutation

Society Membership

Confessing to, suspicion of, or proof of Secret Society membership
Knowledge of Communist doctrine
Being a Communist

Terminations

Terminating a Citizen without sufficient evidence of treason

Meritorious Conduct

Being extremely happy
Completing a mission
Completing a mission successfully
Completing an assigned service and filing a report
Performing spontaneous favors for higher Clearance Citizens
Risking one's life to protect a higher Clearance Citizen, Alpha Complex, or The Computer
Terminating a traitor with sufficient evidence
Turning a traitor over to IntSec
Unctuous flattery

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#4

Maybe the awesome friend computor could tell us more about the various treasonous elements, so that we may better discover them and punish them according to protocol? For instance which heretical goals each mutinous faction pursues.

Good question. I will post a general list of societies later, along with common perceptions of these societies. (Although the question of goals borders on insubordination ;) )

I will post some pre-genned characters later, each with a minimal description, to choose from. As each player chooses, I will send PMs with the full details, including knowledge of specific societies.

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#5

Insubordinate actions result in fines and can be dealt with by Troubleshooters. Treason is dealt with via medication, brainscrubbing, or termination.

Treason must be reported directly to The Computer or a mission official of GREEN Clearance or higher. Evidence, such as photos, recordings, or documents, must be presented along with the report (although this can happen post-termination if the Troubleshooter felt termination in the field was the appropriate response.) Remember, an accusation of treason without evidence is itself treason.

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#6

I will post some pre-genned characters later, each with a minimal description, to choose from. As each player chooses, I will send PMs with the full details, including knowledge of specific societies.

But we do get to choose the society/societies ourselves? Or do they come with the character?

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#7

If you are so inclined, you may use the alternate Secret Society membership rules, which have you roll a 1d20 and consult a chart. If you wish to do so, let me know and we can do this in chat. Know that I will be a fair and partial, err impartial, GM who will be completely aboveboard on the results of your roll.

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#8

You meant to say Waterboard, right? :)

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#9

If you are so inclined, you may use the alternate Secret Society membership rules, which have you roll a 1d20 and consult a chart. If you wish to do so, let me know and we can do this in chat. Know that I will be a fair and partial, err impartial, GM who will be completely aboveboard on the results of your roll.

Hmm, well I suppose if they are predetermined it will be easier for the DM to prepare missions/agendas for us. If the option is chance, might as well leave it up to you, I should think.

Re: PARANOIA: Welcome to your new clearance of RED, faithful Citizen!

#10

A few notes about game mechanics:

The basic mechanic is 1d20 vs a target number, usually a skill level. Rolls equal to the target number or lower mean success. Higher means failure, so rolling low is good. The degree of success or failure is also important. If your Demolitions skill is 8 and you roll an 8, you are successful in setting that charge but it may not cause as much destruction as you'd hoped. A 3 or 4 means things went much more as planned, whereas if you roll a 20... well, they're probably prepping that fresh clone as we speak.

To make things interesting (this is PARANOIA, after all), each player gets a pool of Perversity points. These are awarded at the beginning of play and also when you, the player, make things more fun. And by fun, I mean keep things interesting, lighthearted, exciting, and deadly (but only in a stylish way ;) ). Perversity points can be spent to adjust a target number. Any player's target number, not just your own. You must provide some narrative reason for this modifier ("I know it looked like an easy shot, but you just hit your head on a piece of low-hanging conduit and that threw off your aim. I'm spending 5 Perversity points to give Fred-R-BKZ a -5 to hit.")

Damage calculations are based on degree of success and statistics from the weapon in question. This will become clearer during play. There are 7 level of health (or lack thereof): Ok, Snafued (stunned/distracted), Wounded, Maimed, Down (mostly incapacitated; you may be a bloody mess but you can still say a few words, hear your soon-to-be-killer gloating, pull the pin on a grenade, etc), Killed, and Vaporized (usually meaning killed with style.) Troubleshooters are outfitted with laser pistols and reflec armor which is only (somewhat) effective against laser weapons (and only the kind of laser weapons that RED Clearance Citizens are allowed to have.) Laser pistols have replaceable barrels, each containing 6 shots.