Paranoia One-Shot

Meetup Title: PARANOIA One-Shots

Game: PARANOIA is a darkly humorous game where players publicly attempt to cooperate to achieve an ‘official objective’ while privately accomplishing secret objectives as well (that may naturally conflict with the ‘official objective’). Total Mission Failure is indeed possible (due to the conflicts between official objectives and secret objectives), but it’s okay…because “losing” is just as fun as “winning”. The game’s is about exploring the limits of the setting and engaging in the social satire as much as it is about betrayals and schemes.

Setting: Alpha Complex is an underground society led by a benevolent, but slightly insane supercomputer (known only as “The Computer”). The Computer has built a utopia (kinda, sorta), but is also extremely paranoid, and is fighting a constant war of attrition against Communists, Unregistered Mutants, and Traitors (members of illegal ‘secret societies’).

Alpha Complex is publicly controlled by eight different Service Groups (a cross between a mega-corporation and a mega-bureaucracy). While they are ‘officially’ loyal to The Computer, they tend to spend most of their time squabbling against each other. To promote efficiency, The Computer has Its own private forces - the Troubleshooters - who are sent on missions that the Service Groups can’t (or rather, won’t) do.

It is the Year 214. You’re a fresh batch of Troubleshooters - having been promoted into that rank after turning in a fellow citizen for treason. Troubleshooting is a high-risk, high-reward career. Play your cards right - and you might get promoted to a leadership role. Don’t - and you’ll be terminated for high treason.

Stay Alert. Trust No One. Keep Your Laser Handy.

If you like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, Brazil, and Catch-22, you’ll definitely like this game.

Missions will be one-shots, possibly with different Troubleshooters. Pregens will be provided, but creating your own characters is also fairly easy.

Expect: Deaths, Treason, Dark Comedy, Hostile World, PvP Combat, Semi-Cooperative/Semi-Competitive Gameplay, Clone Backups (so if you die, you can come back to life fairly quickly), Fear and Ignorance

Don’t Expect: Hostile GM (I’m not out to kill you, but I will put you into difficult scenarios), Total Party Survival

Additional Info (for those already familiar with PARANOIA): We will be using PARANOIA XP's ruleset, with a simplified damage and treason system - and a different system for dealing with mutant registration. The style of the missions will likely lean Classic.