I have a handful of games that I don't want to outright review, but would like to talk about briefly.
Because I'm away for the next few weeks, with family commitments and then GenCon, I'm going to stretch this out slightly, then we'll return to usual programming.
The only edition I've played is second edition (or maybe first, I'm not sure, it didn't really matter), but my research pointed me to either the current Perfect Edition published by Mongoose, or the fan favourite XP Edition. The former was praised for having solid mechanics, the latter with having the best flavour.
So I've hacked it into a Frankenstein thing mostly based on a streamlined Perfect Edition, but drawing in some of the more flavourful bits from XP.
Yes, I'm hacking the system before running it from the book, I'm a terrible person.
In summary here are the main tweaks to Perfect Edition:
Cut the character creation system and make PreGens, ensuring that everybody gets nice conflicting interests.
Successes explode, so there's always a chance, however slim, of succeeding at a task you roll for. If you want it to be impossible then don't bother rolling at all.
Anti-Dice are d6s of a different colour. Each anti-die of 5 or 6 is an anti-success and explodes just like a normal success. Anti-successes cancel normal successes or provide other negative consequences. When rolling with a negative dice total, roll the Computer Dice plus anti-dice equal to your negative score.
Moxie is reframed as XP and is used as a favour currency, not for outright modifying dice rolls. Scrap the way XP is used in the main book, and just have it as a social currency.
Scrap Initiative, it's more fiddly than what I want in here. If it matters then do a simple roll off.
Mutant Powers: Just describe how you’re using/hiding it, roll d6: 1: fizzle, 2-5: as intended, 6: overkill. If sneakiness in in doubt have everybody make Bluff or Stealth rolls as appropriate and check the Mutant's result.
R&D Prototypes: Generally just do their thing. The fun is in working out how they work. If in doubt, resolve as Mutant Power.
Characters can Assist/Interfere on a roll if in a position to do so. Before the roll, add a die or an anti-die respectively. Assistants suffer consequences if the roll fails. Interferers suffer consequences if it succeeds.
Debrief Star Rating: At the end of the mission the computer takes a moment to assess your success. Count how many of the following were successful:
Complete the Troubleshooter Task
Perform Mandatory Bonus Duty properly
Test the R&D Prototype
Carry out Service Mandate
Complete Secret Society Mission
Earn 1XP per star, winner gets double and has officially won the mission. A tie means there is no Winner except Alpha Complex as a whole.
Fair Game, Unfair World. The book has lots of examples of the GM acting unfairly to the players, which I appreciate is a touchstone of a certain style of play in this game. I'd prefer it if the game felt fair, but the world was deeply unfair. Conflict between the players is what excites me about this game, so I want the GM to feel completely impartial.
So what about that setting?
I'm mainly using ParanoiaXP as my source for setting stuff, but most stuff from Perfect Edition also works here.
The major changes from XP:
The book offers three "tones" for your game, and Straight certainly appeals to me most. Lots of dark satire, of course, but ditch the puns and groanworthy gags. A joke made by the people at the table will always be more effective than one written into the game.
Economy is back to being fully controlled by the Computer, not the semi-capitalism of XP. Getting stuff is mainly about convincing PLC to give you a req form for the thing you need. Better clearance helps here. Free Enterprise will trade req forms for XP, flags, wounds, clones, whatever.
Service Firms within the Service Groups actually represent different departments, rather than for-profit entities. Of course, they still want to grab whatever resources and influence they can from their rivals.
Coretech is there, so the Computer can technically log into your brain, but the bandwidth is super low so the Computer prefers traditional methods like cameras and monitors. It's mainly there so you can pass your memories to your clones.
Talking to Computer can be done through Coretech Messenger but you can see the person’s mouth moving and the computer is all round slow and old. This is represented by passing notes to the GM.
Secret Societies are as in XP, though I want to note that I largely agree with the way they were tweaked for Perfect Edition, merging those that felt too similar and removing some of the less interesting picks. However I also like the idea of secret societies that are strangely aligned with points of shared interest that still choose to remain distinct, so I'm approaching it as an opportunity for tension.
Wish me luck when I get this to the table.
Things are a little thin here today because I’m currently away with family, then returning just in time to fly out to GenCon next week.
Let me know if you’re going to be there, and grab me if you see me and want to say hi.
Have you read NEUROCITY? It's Paranoia-played-straight
Hey Chris, I'll be at Gencon too and would love to meet you. Any ideas on how to meet up?