Description
Paranoia: The Core Book, hardback rulebook for Paranoia Perfect Edition, by WJ MacGuffin & Keith Garrett
“Stay alert! Trust no one! Keep your laser handy!
Traditional RPGs are great but… they can get repetitive. How many times have you created a hero to fight bad guys or prevent destruction? Aren’t you hungry for something different, maybe a game that’s a little dark but really funny? Wouldn’t it be fun to play the people causing destruction for a change?
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.
Normal RPG: ‘The orc still lives? I attack with my mace. I rolled a 4, and even with my bonuses and modifiers, there’s no way I hit. You know what? I stopped having fun. I wish I had an RPG that was crazy, funny and reasonably priced!’
Paranoia RPG: ‘My team leader still lives? I casually chuck a grenade at her feet. I rolled… oh boy, that’s not good. Failure, so that means I threw the pin instead. Heh, that’s kinda fun. Well, if I’m dying… DEATH TO THE COMPUTER AND MY STUPID TEAMMATES! Hey, when can we play this again?’
<Famous Game Designer loosens his tie> Okay, can we be real with you for a minute? We LOVE this game. Maybe more than we should? Regardless, Paranoia is very important to us. We grew up playing this game and have had so many nights laughing like crazy. Paranoia was one designer’s very first gig. We truly, deeply appreciate what this game brings to the table, so we are truly, deeply honoured to be the ones to share a brand-new edition.
Every version of Paranoia is perfect, but this edition is perfecter. Maybe even perfectest.
This is one of those rulebooks that’s fun to read and even more fun to play. Paranoia does not take itself seriously, so we can find dark humour in bureaucracy, politics, businesses, and a lot more. No sacred cows but one–make sure the GM and players are all having a great time. Is that not refreshing for a roleplaying game? Maybe that is why this science fiction RPG has won lots of awards over the years.
Many roleplaying games have rules that are applied objectively so players can help each other do heroic things like saving yet another kingdom, fighting more orcs, or something else that has been done repeatedly in other RPGs.
That is not this game. This is the Paranoia roleplaying game.
This is one of those rulebooks that’s fun to read and even more fun to play. Paranoia does not take itself seriously, so we can find dark humour in bureaucracy, politics, businesses, and a lot more. No sacred cows but one–make sure the GM and players are all having a great time. Is that not refreshing for a roleplaying game? Maybe that is why this science fiction RPG has won lots of awards over the years.
In this darkly humorous roleplaying game, The Computer loves you but it is insane happy. You will be sent on impossible glamorous missions filled with Catch-22s fun and satire safety. Your teammates are out to kill support you, and you are out to kill protect them. All in all, your missions will be dangerous entertaining and you will likely die be promoted.
And here it is, a brand-new edition for the modern world. Surely there is nothing happening these days worthy of satire, right?”
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