Paranoia

[Bottle]

Greeting citizens!

I recently played an RPG with some of my uni friends called Paranoia. It was great fun and I was wondering if anyone else has ever played it before, or if anyone would be interested in playing it.

As the name suggests, the game is set in a situation where paranoia is basically a way of life. Set in the future following some sort of generic global disaster, one of the few places remaining where humans live is Alpha Complex, which is run by The Computer. The Computer is everyone's friend and thinks it exists to make sure that everyone is as happy as possible.

Unfortunately Alpha Complex has a serious problem. The Computer has decided that the cause of the global disaster was caused by communist scum and therefore all of its efforts are put towards stamping out any communists that might be in Alpha Complex. Furthermore, The Computer is concerned that mutants may be a threat to the utopia it has created for all citizens. Therefore it regularly appoints Troubleshooters to investigate any dangerous situations for evidence of CMTs (commie mutant traitors). Anyone suspected of threatening the perfect way of life is obviously a traitor, inevitably guilty of treason, and treason is punishable by summary execution.

Furthermore, several secret societies exist in Alpha Complex. Membership of a secret society is obviously treasonous as well. Many Troubleshooter missions involve rooting out secret society members, finding evidence of their treason, and if necessary carrying out the punishment (execution, of course).

In Paranoia, players take on the role of a Troubleshooter and are generally given a mission by The Computer (plus often a secret mission given to them by their society). They must then work with their teammates to carry out The Computer's mission and also their secret one without attracting attention to themselves. Failure to complete The Computer's mission is, of course, treason.

The problem is that all players are also mutants and members of a secret society as well. In fact, almost everyone in Alpha Complex is a mutant and a member of a secret society. Not that The Computer knows this, of course. It's far too worried about making sure that everyone is happy. And happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy is treasonous. (You may be noticing a trend here.)

So, I'm looking to see if anyone is interested in this. The mission could be done either on the forums or on MSN, as most of what goes on is public but obviously there are times when you suspect someone of treason that you need to privately contact another member of your team (or The Computer) which could be done through PMs (or in a separate window on MSN). There would need to be 6 members of the Troubleshooting team, and anyone that is interested just needs to let me know. Then we can either arrange a time for everyone to be on MSN or we could just do it on the forums (which would obviously take far longer, but never mind). If we do it on the forum everyone involved would need to actively check the thread regularly. (Failure to check the thread when required would be treason.)

You'll be pleased to know that every person in Alpha Complex is a member of a family of 6 clones, one of whom is active at any one time. Should a clone be killed (for any reason), the second clone is activated and transported to where the Trobleshooter team is. This means that death is only really a minor setback, which is lucky, because the average life expectancy of a Troubleshooter is about 5 minutes. (There is some conjecture that the cloning process might be the cause of the mutations.)

So, who is interested? Let me know if you are. Bear in mind that with inactivity being treason, I will only be accepting active forum members that apply for a player role. Also let me know if you'd prefer MSN or forum play.

If you're interested but have never played Paranoia before, I suggest reading up on it a bit first. This is a good website to take a look at, and so is this. Don't worry about the rules too much, citizen. Your security clearance level doesn't permit you to know them anyway, and The Computer will organise everything for you.

So, join in. The Computer told you to. The Computer is your friend. Trust The Computer.

[sixers]

I'm playing!

I'll read the rules later.

[Bottle]

You are not permitted to view the rules at your clearance level, citizen.

[IROK]

I'll play.

[Bottle]

All potential Troubleshooters are required to tell The Computer their previous level of Paranoia experience and their preferred method of playing (MSN or forum).

[ChrisIIX]

I might give it a shot -reserves a spot-
I'll decide later on today.

[Bottle]

You do not have the necessary clearance level to reserve anything, citizen. However your application for Red Clearance may be granted if you follow the rules I stipulate in my above post. Have a nice day or face summary execution.

[ChrisIIX]

Ok, this seems to be an interesting experience. Count me in (please).

I haven't ever played this, but I prefer msn play.

[IROK]

Hmm...I guess MSN is more convenient for me as well.

[zz99]

Sure why not.

But I have to say, the background of the game is awfully similar to Aeon Flux...